Not a detective

Page 66

The red thread is indeed still there, but the other end of the red thread is connected to Chizuko's right wrist. Coincidentally, this thing is also in her hand.

"Why didn't you tie it on the other side..."

I sighed. The connection was indeed working perfectly, but it had completely lost its meaning.

After calming down, Chizuko-senpai realized that she had been swallowed by the "ghost story." The rule of the ghost story was that it would be triggered if one stepped onto the non-existent thirteenth step, so Chizuko-senpai was affected. However, Asakawa Riku fell directly down and was unaffected. Therefore, he decided to go up again to trigger the rule of the ghost story once more, thus voluntarily being swallowed.

"If I go there too, I can find her."

He wasn't afraid of falling into the underworld; what he feared was someone suffering in front of him, and him being powerless to stop it.

Without hesitation, Asakawa Riku couldn't abandon his senior's arm, so he tucked it under his arm, grabbed the ladder in the shaft, and climbed back up.

Upon arriving at the school clinic, the air immediately felt much fresher. Compared to that gloomy cellar, even the campus at night seemed vibrant and full of life.

But Riku Asakawa has to go down again.

"bring it on."

He imitated Chizuko's movements, obediently clinging to the iron ring ladder, descending step by step, floor by floor.

Unable to see where you're falling, slowly descending into unknown darkness, with the possibility of someone reaching out and pulling you down at any moment—this feeling is truly terrifying.

"10...11...12."

However, Riku Asakawa counted to the twelfth floor and then stepped onto the floor.

He did not trigger the legend of the thirteenth floor.

------

It's not good to end here, so I'll add another chapter tonight, a little later.

Aoandon's Autumn: Chapter Thirty-Three "Little Helper"

why?

To ensure it wasn't a coincidence, Asakawa Riku repeated the process several times to increase the sample size.

He tried several times but couldn't find the thirteenth step or trigger any abnormal phenomena. He simply stepped into the basement.

Why is it that only he is affected? Or rather, why is it that only Chizuko is affected?

Their actions were no different; they all followed the rules of ghost stories and simply went down.

Asakawa Riku always believed that his "magic resistance" was lower, so he should be more easily attracted to such strange phenomena, but for some reason, the "underworld" rejected him this time.

Why is it that even the underworld won't let him in?

Even actively seeking it out is useless.

He stood in the basement, gripping his senior's fair arm, feeling utterly helpless.

It was a familiar, frustrating sense of powerlessness, just like what had happened that summer, when Riku Asakawa was utterly powerless to deal with the supernatural phenomena on his own.

Even if he could demolish the entire basement, or even dig through all four walls, it would be pointless; he still wouldn't be able to find Chizuko's whereabouts.

"Do you need help...?"

Asakawa Riku took out his phone and found the contact information for someone named [Kazematsuri Akihisa].

Among his network of contacts, this is probably the only one who can resolve supernatural phenomena. As the head priest of that shrine, he would surely rush over without delay if it were to save his daughter.

But in the end, Asakawa Riku took back his phone.

This operation was a secret between the senior student and him, and it could not be exposed unless absolutely necessary. He decided to use the rescue as a last resort when all other options were exhausted.

If possible, he wants to solve the problem on his own; otherwise, he will be forced to ask for help every time he encounters this situation, which is not his style.

"Think... Calm... Reason."

Asakawa Riku closed his eyes, trying to recall his past experiences and the name of their club.

He has no superpowers, no spells or magic, no shikigami to assist him, and he can't see strange things. All he can do is use everything he can.

Even things right at hand...

"Wait." He suddenly realized something, his eyes widened, and he looked at what he was holding.

There is only one thing we can use.

Asakawa Riku remembers that when Chizuko attacked "Hanako in the Toilet," she used her prosthetic leg to kick her, and when she attacked the piano in the music room, she also used her leg to smash it, instead of using the umbrella. Why would a dignified exorcist use such physical techniques? Now that he thinks about it, there must be a reason...

Why did Chizuko, an ordinary girl, suffer the disability of having one leg and one arm amputated at such a young age? What accident happened to her?

I've never heard her mention it.

Her family is not an ordinary family, and she is not an ordinary person either. She wouldn't have been injured or lost a limb for no reason, which suggests that this incident has some kind of meaning.

"The conclusion is... the prosthetic limb is a [weapon], and it is very likely a [weapon capable of attacking spirits]!"

Riku Asakawa arrived at the final conclusion.

He gripped Chizuko's arm tightly; the red thread connecting their hands made him feel as if he had received "permission to use" her.

Align with the last step of the shaft—

"I'm sorry, senior... if you want repairs or compensation, just deduct it from my reward for this operation!"

It slammed down hard!

...

Meanwhile, Chizuko was in what felt like hell.

She found herself in an area she couldn't even discern, surrounded by a crimson world, devoid of any light, with a surging tide rising from the ground.

It was some kind of creature, like ocean waves. Only upon closer inspection did one realize that it consisted of crawling limbs, dissected organs, and various parts of the human body.

Like wriggling maggots, twisting venomous snakes, moving in an unsettling manner, it was advancing toward Chizuko.

"hateful……!"

She opened the red paper umbrella above her head to ward off the attack, while the giant ghost "Akiku" frantically waved its claws, protecting her Onmyoji.

But this was of no use. The monsters were endless, constantly draining Chizuko's power.

Chizuko's right arm was empty except for the sleeve. In this situation, most of the "seals" were unusable, and she had no way to escape.

She could only wait anxiously, not even knowing what she was waiting for, when she kicked away one of the monsters that had slipped in.

"How much... has this Aoandon actually accumulated this much power?!"

Chizuko secretly regretted that she had only brought in Okiku and Yamawaro as shikigami. If she had known it would be like this, she might have been better prepared.

But it's too late now...

boom!boom!boom! !

As if in response to her complaints, an unsettling sound echoed from the sky, as if some even more terrifying monster was approaching.

Chizuko looked up uneasily, but unexpectedly frowned.

No... that seems to be something else.

An unusual aura emanated from the sky, and a crack appeared in the crimson sky, which continued to widen, as if a giant hammer was forcefully smashing the barrier!

The cracks gradually widened, and fragments of the sky fell continuously, striking the monster and eliciting screams and howls...

A beam of light shone in, and descending from the sky was a hero, a savior, a person no one had ever expected.

Asakawa Riku, holding her arm, smashed the gates of the underworld and landed with a thud—

"Yo!" His face still held a touch of innocent excitement as he laughed and exclaimed, "Senior, I finally have a means of [magical attack]!"

That was a bad joke, and the guy even waved the severed arm around like he was showing off his new toy.

"you……"

Chizuko was dumbfounded, regretting that she was holding an umbrella in one hand and didn't have the other hand to point at him.

"don’t worry."

Asakawa Riku thought his senior was worried about him being in danger, but he had already noticed the approaching monsters and was making a circle with his hands.

He gracefully spun around, demonstrating not only his mastery of hand-to-hand combat but also his profound skill with weapons. With a stroke as sharp as a sword, the monsters vanished instantly.

He became more and more excited as he fought, and even rushed into the tidal wave formed by the monsters.

"They're just monsters... Since I can run up the stairs and cross water, stepping on these monsters is no problem for me! Yes, this is a new kind of training!"

With a light touch of the toes, they tumble and leap.

Everywhere they went, there was a sea of ​​blood.

"You...don't use my hand as a weapon!!"

The girl's desperate screams were completely drowned out by the madman's loud laughter, and she could no longer hear them.

Aoandon no Autumn: Aoandon no Autumn AFTER1

XX Middle School Newspaper, September 11, 2024, Issue 9, Special Supplement.

The Mystery Club's Investigation Report on the "Seven Mysteries of the Campus"

Contributor: Kazamatsuri Chizuko; Investigator: Asakawa Riku.

Have you heard the story of the "Seven Wonders"?

These are the many strange tales surrounding this school; perhaps everyone hears a different version, and perhaps everyone who sees them has their own story to tell. Undoubtedly, this isn't something that should be discussed openly, but rather fodder for casual conversation, or a test of courage. But that's how strange tales slowly emerge; if left unchecked, they'll only grow larger, becoming increasingly frightening and unsettling.

Therefore, in order to dispel superstition, our mystery club has decided to publish this report.

Over the past few days, we have conducted a detailed investigation into the current "Seven Unbelievable Things," discovering many interesting situations and witnessing astonishing sights. Based on the intelligence we have gathered, we have deduced the following conclusions. This report is not intended to be serious; please take it with a grain of salt.

Therefore, we will proceed with the cracking process step by step, in order.

First, Hanako in the toilet.

[Legend has it that if someone goes to the third-floor restroom at night, they must not look at the faucet while washing their hands, nor look at the floor while using the toilet, and they must not approach someone calling their name. If they do these three things in a row, they must not knock on the second toilet door four times and ask, "Are you Hanako?" A reply from inside the toilet will be, "Yes, I'm here." The door will open, and Hanako will appear, drag the person inside, and kill them.]

Our investigation has revealed that this phenomenon does not exist.

[After arriving at the restroom alone at night (at the individual's strong request, it must be stated that no one else was using the women's restroom at the time), the investigator carried out the above preparations as instructed by the ghost story, but did not find the closed door to the second restroom stall. When asking, "Are you Hanako?", no response was received.]

[However, investigators found traces of red paint in the restroom, seemingly intended to disguise bloodstains. They were invisible during the day because the paint was a special luminescent material, only visible in sufficiently dark environments. This, perhaps, made it especially eerie at night, which is likely the origin of the ghost story. Could it be a malicious prank? Driven by this curiosity, we checked past student records and discovered the name "Hanako."]

To protect the privacy of the individuals involved, we will not disclose Hanako's surname or other information. Hanako is a very common name; all you need to know is that she was a former student of this school. We are not using the phrase "graduate of this school" because poor Hanako did not graduate. She suffered abuse at home at the hands of her father, her hair was pulled out, and she was forced to have a kappa-like hairstyle, only to be ridiculed by her classmates. Ultimately, with nowhere else to turn, she chose to end her life in the school restroom.

We speculate that these red paint "bloodstains" were left by Hanako's friend from back then. She was unwilling to accept Hanako's fate, so she wrote those terrifying images and spread this horrifying tale to frighten the classmates who caused the tragedy, and also to remind those who come after us to remember Hanako's ordeal.

This is the truth behind "Hanako-san of the Toilet".

Second, the human anatomy model in the biology classroom.

Legend has it that the anatomical model in the biology classroom possesses a soul and is alive. During the day, when students are at school, it remains motionless in the classroom, but at night it comes to life and roams the school.

Our investigation has revealed that this phenomenon does not exist.

[Actually, we asked biology teacher Mr. Nishimura, and he said the anatomical models in the biology classroom were purchased by the school many years ago. Back then, the models were extremely realistic, vividly recreating muscle texture, bones, skin layers, and internal organs. Therefore, they could be somewhat nauseating and frightening, and such strange tales are to be expected. Now, anatomical models on the market are divided into "medical research models" (mostly used by university medical schools) and "secondary school teaching models." The latter have adopted suggestions from the public, reducing the level of realism and making them less gory and horrifying, thus better suited to the mental and physical well-being of teenagers.]

This is the truth behind the "human body model in the biology classroom."

We have suggested to the school that the old version of the anatomical model be scrapped, and we believe the new model will soon appear in the biology classroom.

Third, the piano in the music room at night.

Legend has it that in an empty music classroom, the piano will automatically begin playing the famous piece "Für Elise," and if you listen to "Für Elise" three times, you will die.

[Upon investigation, we found that this phenomenon does not exist; to be precise, the latter part of the statement is untrue.]

[Ms. Mizuno, the very popular music teacher at school—I'm sure everyone knows her name. This is a secret scoop that our mystery club managed to get our hands on. Please forgive us if the teacher sees this, but we discovered that Ms. Mizuno was practicing piano in the music room this evening. She not only plays "Für Elise," but also other pieces. However, after listening to a few more, we realized that her repertoire consists entirely of world-famous pieces that we teach in music class. Therefore, the conclusion is quite obvious.]

[Ms. Mizuno is a music teacher who recently graduated from studying abroad and joined our school. Her main profession is violin, and I'm sure everyone was impressed by her skill and poise at last year's school festival. However, not all music teachers can play the piano. Perhaps Ms. Mizuno has some basic skills, but she lacks confidence. So, before teaching us, she always practices secretly by herself. Yes, the reason for the strange rumor that she "plays the piano by herself" is because Ms. Mizuno practices secretly by herself.]

Doesn't she look even cuter now? What a dedicated and wonderful teacher! So, everyone, please rest assured, you won't die after listening to her recite "Für Elise" three times. Her skills are truly amazing… In other words, whether you'll be silenced or not is another matter. On that note, our mystery club will be avoiding her for the time being.

This is the truth behind the "piano in the music room at night."

[Fourth, the portrait of Beethoven with blood flowing.]

Legend has it that in the music room at night, the eyes of the Beethoven portrait hanging on the wall would bleed.

Our investigation has revealed that this phenomenon does not exist.