Chapter 25 Peeping Through the Wall (5) "What can we do now?"...
"What can we do now?" Kobayashi Yuta's eyes were slightly red, his tone filled with self-mockery and despair: "Are we supposed to get rid of me? It's because of my appearance, and... and I can't afford the service fee at all!"
He clutched his hair in anguish, the financial hardship and mental fear threatening to crush him.
"Don't worry about that. The higher-ups will know about this incident, and the expenses can be reimbursed."
Yuta Kobayashi's eyes lit up.
Dazai Osamu shifted his gaze from Kobayashi Yuta and returned it to the crack. The keen interest in the depths of his iris-colored eyes did not fade; instead, it was replaced by a deeper contemplation.
"Kunikida, Tanizaki-kun." Dazai Osamu's voice broke the oppressive silence in the room: "The task of comforting Mr. Kobayashi and the initial isolation is entrusted to you. I need to go out for a bit."
"Go out? Where are you going?" Kunikida Doppo immediately pressed, habitually pushing up his glasses: "The situation is unclear right now, you need to explain your purpose."
"Hmm~ Go check out some minor speculations." Dazai Osamu waved his hand, his tone light, but his eyes were unusually serious: "Ango's information is timely, but too fast."
"Too fast?" Kunikida Doppo asked, puzzled. Isn't being too fast a good thing?
"Although the Special Abilities Division's detection system is very sophisticated, this level of mental pollution fluctuation, especially in an ordinary apartment that is not a traditional paranormal location, should not have triggered the alarm level down to the room level so quickly."
"Unless... this fluctuation experiences an unusual increase or spread in a short period of time."
Kunikida Doppo was taken aback, and immediately understood Dazai Osamu's implication: "You mean, there is external intervention."
“Perhaps.” Dazai Osamu gave a vague answer, a smile playing on his lips: “I always feel that there’s something behind this, secretly making a fuss.”
He didn't explain further, but nimbly bypassed Kobayashi Yuta and Kunikida Doppo, and walked out of room 307.
"Well then, I'll be going now. I'll leave this to Kunikida~" Dazai Osamu said with a smile, his hands clasped together.
Meanwhile, in a dark, yet remarkably reliably signaled safe house somewhere in Yokohama.
Fyodor Dostoevsky's pale, slender fingers hovered above the table, switching back and forth between the multiple computer screens and keyboards arranged side by side in front of him.
Countless encrypted data streams, dark web chat logs, and some blurry surveillance footage flashed across the screen.
Suburban apartment.
Room 307.
High-intensity mental pollution.
Voyeur host...
He paused, tilting his head slightly. The encrypted communication segments, captured through clandestine channels, clearly came through the listening device, and a hint of amusement appeared in his eyes.
"Besides the superpower system, what other mysterious forces are there?"
He had investigated information about ghost stories a long time ago, but the information he obtained was quite limited, which undoubtedly piqued his curiosity.
Fyodor quickly noticed the anomaly described by Yuta Kobayashi at the police station, and took this opportunity to conduct a small test to verify the authenticity of the ghost story.
He had only spread some rumors, but he didn't expect the ghost story to have such an influence.
It seems the information we obtained is indeed true.
Moreover, it seems I've heard some truly remarkable news.
"Abnormal mental pollution..."
"A cognitive cluster caused by something other than superpowers."
He murmured, "How interesting."
It is not a direct creation of superpowers or books, but it possesses similar properties—it draws upon human emotions and cognition to strengthen itself.
Is this a manifestation of the subconscious, or is there a more hidden force manipulating everything behind the scenes?
He believes that this phenomenon may be related to the influence of fragments of books, or the power of the dark side deep within the collective unconscious of mankind.
Either way, it's an excellent test subject.
For example, it's a perfect breeding ground for testing the vulnerabilities of human nature, as well as power tests related to ghost stories, and many more interesting things hidden beneath the surface.
Fear, voyeurism, suspicion...
These emotions are highly contagious and can easily catalyze chaos.
A tiny spark is enough to ignite human fear.
It seems that we need to give it another boost; the power of ghost stories is far from sufficient right now.
More negative emotions are needed.
Fyodor Dostoevsky's lips curled slightly.
And the Armed Detective Agency probably sensed something was wrong as well.
He looked at the screen, and his fingers began to tap on the keyboard at an astonishing speed.
Through layers of encrypted anonymous nodes and bot accounts, he injected a series of meticulously planned, distorted, and amplified messages into specific channels.
An anonymous post quietly appeared on an underground forum frequented by paranoid enthusiasts.
The above is a vivid description of the cursed eye in the old apartment building in Yokohama, written from the perspective of a firsthand witness. It describes the eye as an eye in a crack in the wall that can devour souls, and subtly implies that a person with a special constitution is currently living in the apartment.
"He is the source of ghost stories and the source of curses." The words of an eyewitness revealed a huge revelation.
Similar emails exposing urban legends were also received in the inboxes of some third-rate online media outlets that were only interested in profit and eager to dig up urban legends to gain traffic.
The above content is even more exaggerated, not only fabricating eyewitness handwritten testimonies, but also attaching several blurry and unrecognizable surveillance screenshots as false evidence. After all, these kinds of media only care about popularity and don't care about the truth. Moreover, the media is inherently profit-driven and most enthusiastic about digging up some scoops to gain traffic.
He directly provided the approximate area of the apartment where Yuta Kobayashi lived and some of its features, describing him as a cursed person.
Fyodor's method was exquisite, like a swarm of rats spreading plague, silent and stealthy.
He did not create information directly, but rather distorted existing fragments of information, amplified them, and then mixed in pure lies before precisely targeting those people and organizations who were most willing to believe and most adept at spreading such information.
His plan had a very clear objective.
To spread panic among the public, broaden the scope of knowledge about ghost stories, and provide more material for ghost stories.
The more people know about it, believe in it, and fear it, the more food this nascent ghost story can draw upon, thus growing faster and becoming more unstable and dangerous.
At the same time, pushing Yuta Kobayashi to the forefront will not only create more trouble for the Armed Detective Agency, but also attract the attention of various forces.
By stirring up the waters of Yokohama, he can better observe the reactions of the ghost stories from behind the scenes and collect data on them.
Even... at the right time, try to capture or guide the power of this ghost story for your own use.
On the other side, Dazai Osamu stood outside the apartment building, the evening breeze ruffling his slightly curly black hair. He didn't go far, but leaned against the wall, took out his phone, and quickly browsed something.
His brow furrowed slightly, just as he had sensed; the speed and pattern of the information's spread were somewhat unusual.
Dazai Osamu noticed that a post about the "Cursed Eye" on several paranormal forums that usually had low traffic had become a hot topic in a very short time.
The poster's reply was full of overly excited speculation and detailed additions, so vivid that it seemed as if the poster had witnessed it firsthand.
It also contains some subtly revealed information, with terminology that bears a slight resemblance to that used in the professional analysis provided by Ango Sakaguchi.
Through a simple inquiry via the Armed Detective Agency, he discovered that in the past hour or two, several small media reporters had begun trying to inquire about unusual events at the old suburban apartment building.
This pattern of spread doesn't seem to be caused by a simple, frightened victim (like Yuta Kobayashi) or by unconscious transmission. Instead, its spread seems to be deliberately orchestrated by an organized group.
Although it was well concealed, the method of precisely targeting human weaknesses and fanning the flames gave Dazai Osamu a very familiar and unpleasant feeling.
This reminded him of someone.
"As expected..." Dazai Osamu muttered to himself, a cold glint flashing in his iris-colored eyes: "There's more than one [monster] watching this place."
He put away his phone and looked up at the window of room 307.
As darkness fell, the window appeared pitch black against the backdrop of the lights illuminating the surrounding neighborhood lights.
It was as if the eye in the crack was slowly opening, greedily absorbing the fear and rumors that were gathering from afar.
Because of interference, the situation is deteriorating rapidly.
The hidden forces behind this have a purpose that is far more complex than simply fostering a ghost story.
The business card of the ghost story consulting firm is a clue, and Takeichi's existence is the key figure to break the deadlock.
Dazai Osamu's gaze fell on the nearby surveillance camera that was flashing a faint red light.
We can't contact Zhu Yi directly yet; that rat lurking in the shadows might be watching our every move.
Dazai Osamu turned around and his figure quickly disappeared into the suburbs.
He needed to piece together the clues faster, he had to be faster, he had to find Zhu Yi before that unseen hand tightened its grip.
Dazai Osamu walked towards the ghost story consulting agency from a blind spot in the surveillance.
On the other side.
While preparing cat food for the calico cat and 001, Zhu Yi suddenly felt a chill run down her spine.
He glanced down at his feet and saw the two calico cats, Hua Hua and 001, peering around the edge of the bowl.
Sensing Takeichi's gaze, the two cats stared back at him with wide eyes.
Hmm, it seems I'm being a bit paranoid. Just as Takeichi was about to scoop the cat food into the cat bowl.
Ding—! Ding—! Ding—!
The system notification suddenly blared, and the sharp sound made Zhu Yi almost stagger as he clicked on the semi-transparent panel floating in front of him.
He realized the calico cat was there, so he turned around, went into the bathroom, and closed the door.
"What's going on?" He swiped across the panel, and the ghost story value was soaring at a visible speed from the original two digits. The red numbers were like boiling blood bubbles, densely popping up and exploding.
He was clearly posting something about voyeurism—the most basic kind of introductory ghost story, which at most would make people panic and disappear after a couple of posts on a small forum. How could it have caused such a big commotion?
Zhu Yi gritted his teeth and clicked on the "Already Released Ghost Stories" interface. The next second, his pupils shrank slightly.
The entry that originally displayed "[F-rank Ghost Story]" was now enveloped in a layer of distorted black mist. The rank indicator at the end of the entry was like a malfunctioning electronic screen, flashing from "F" to "E" and then jumping to "D" in the blink of an eye. The ghost story that I had posted was constantly evolving into a higher-rank ghost story.
Zhu Yi: ? ? ?
He stared at the ever-increasing level on the panel, a bizarre thought swirling in his mind: the "small trouble" he had casually tossed aside seemed to have turned into a "big trouble."
What he didn't know was that Fyodor, who was spreading rumors online, had undoubtedly turned this investigation into the ghost stories into a more complex multi-party game.
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