Chapter 43 The Alley (3) Dazai Osamu looked at Takeichi, he had just...
Dazai Osamu looked at Takeichi. He had clearly felt the unusual energy burst and its sudden calm afterward, as well as the subtle fluctuations around Takeichi for a moment.
Is Takeichi really just a sensory being? What role does he actually play in it?
Edogawa Ranpo's emerald eyes opened at some point. He looked at Takeichi, then at the alley, as if many clues were connecting, but he said nothing, only a subtle smile appeared on his lips.
"Let's go back first," Kunikida Doppo suggested. "If what Takeichi said is true, we need to develop a more comprehensive plan. Takeichi, you can also take a rest."
Takeya nodded, and Kunikida Doppo helped the other person up.
"Do you have the strength?"
"It's okay, I can still walk." He lowered his head, concealing the expression in his eyes.
The initial contact was completed. He confirmed the potential and characteristics of the ghost story, learned about the child's current situation, and also demonstrated his value and efforts to the Armed Detective Agency.
Most importantly, he validated his idea.
Now, all we need to do in the follow-up actions is to quietly accelerate the development of this ghost story, making it more terrifying and spreading it more widely, so that we can harvest more ghost story points.
As for the two children trapped in the ghost story, he promised not to harm them and that he would find a way to strengthen the ghost story while ensuring their safe rescue.
Time is running out.
Dazai Osamu and his group probably sensed something was amiss long ago. Even if the system was influencing their thinking, they would still notice something was wrong. Their keenness exceeded Takeichi's expectations. There may not be conclusive evidence yet, but Takeichi knows that once the seed of doubt has been planted, it will be difficult to eradicate.
He must complete his plan before the detective agency takes further action or before the mystery is completely solved.
This means that more precise planning and control are needed.
Takeichi followed the other party to the Armed Detective Agency. He declined the full examination with Yosano Akiko on the grounds that he was too mentally exhausted and returned to his temporary residence alone.
He returned to his rented room, closed the door, and shut himself out of the outside world.
Zhu Yi leaned against the door and slowly slid down to the ground. The fragments of memory brought him waves of discomfort. He rubbed his temples and took a deep breath, trying to peel away the heavy emotions he had gained from his encounter with the ghost stories.
This is not just mental exhaustion, but a kind of pollution on the level of the soul, coming from that strange tale that feeds on negative emotions.
He stood up unsteadily and walked to the center of the room.
The Yokohama sunset had completely sunk below the horizon, leaving the room dimly lit. The city lights outside the window shone through, casting only a blurry halo that cast an indistinct glow on Takeichi's pale face.
In his current situation, he needs two things.
First, there needs to be a sufficient amount of "strange tale value" to catalyze and maintain the subsequent influence of the tales. Second, there needs to be a channel that can efficiently and discreetly spread the fame of the strange tales.
First, he needed to use his reserves. Second, he thought of the lurking demon, Fyodor D., who had a deep interest in ghost stories.
As consciousness sinks into the system, a cold notification sound rings out.
[Current Ghost Stories Value Reserve: 15000]
[Estimated requirement for Catalyzing a Ghost Story (Low-to-Mid Level): 8000 Ghost Story Points.]
[Confirm execution?]
Zhu Yi did not hesitate at all.
"confirm."
[Command received, initiating energy injection.]
An invisible, immense energy, connected through the system, traversed space and flowed into the depths of that seemingly ordinary alleyway.
In the real world, nothing seems to have changed, but in the inner space, a dramatic change is taking place.
The boundaries of the maze began to blur and expand, and the old building blocks and photos on the walls seemed to come alive, wriggling and piecing together more bizarre and fantastical scenes.
The music box music became increasingly shrill, mixed with more children's cries and screams, even some adults' sighs and whispers, and angry insults.
The two trapped children trembled in the colorful shadows, bursting into tears at the sudden change. The maze around them became more complex, and the illusions became more realistic.
[Energy infusion complete.]
The scope of the rules' influence is expanding.
Zhu Yi could sense that the ghost story was becoming increasingly hungry and aggressive.
Now, just by throwing a spark into it, the ghost stories will ignite like a raging fire, drawing in more and more people and generating massive amounts of fear and discussion, thus bringing him a continuous stream of ghost story points.
All you need to do is throw Zhu Yi into Mars.
He needed to contact Fyodor, but how could he contact a elusive demon? Searching directly would be like looking for a needle in a haystack, but he had a system.
From the very beginning, they planted ghost stories to monitor the other party.
Zhu Yi first used the system to find Fyodor's recently active network nodes.
[Searching... Three potential encrypted communication nodes have been located.]
He then selected one of the nodes that appeared to be the most active and also the most heavily guarded. He didn't need to breach it; he only needed to leave behind an "information bottle" that would pique the other party's interest but couldn't be easily tracked.
Zhu Yifang's message was very simple, consisting of only a few words, using a mixture of languages and metaphors.
"Yokohama, Koto, Echo Lane. The labyrinth of ghost stories has expanded, and an interesting phenomenon is unfolding, perhaps adding a new variable to your boring game. A potential collaborator, since [name omitted]"
He left no signature or any traceable identity information, but he believed that Fyodor's keen senses would surely notice the message and become very interested in it.
Next, we just have to wait, wait for Fyodor to take the bait, and wait for the public opinion in Echo Alley to start to ferment.
If Fyodor had other ideas that deviated from his plans, then he did not recommend giving him a memorable experience through ghost stories.
Meanwhile, in a dark, safe house somewhere in Yokohama.
Fyodor was processing intelligence from around the world across multiple screens when suddenly a node on the edge, which he had marked as having the highest priority encryption, emitted a subtle alarm.
His pale, slender fingers tapped rapidly on the keyboard, bringing up the source of the alarm.
It was a message that infiltrated like a ghost, bypassing the several layers of protection he had set up, without causing any damage or theft, but leaving behind only a layer of code and information.
Fyodor's deep purple eyes narrowed slightly as he quickly deciphered the code and information set by the other party.
“Yokohama… Echo Lane…” he murmured, immediately accessing information about the place and quickly connecting it to the recent child abduction cases and the involvement of the Armed Detective Agency.
He carefully analyzed the energy fluctuation diagram attached to the message, which was different from the energy fluctuations of the supernatural abilities recorded by the Special Abilities Division. This made him think of something he had overheard about another power, something called ghost stories.
“A potential collaborator…?” Fyodor chuckled. “How interesting.”
He didn't completely believe the information, but it undoubtedly pointed him to an area he was extremely interested in: the power of another system.
"Spread fear, amplify its impact."
He immediately understood the collaborator's underlying needs; for him, seeing through the other party's motives was effortless.
Based on the previous strange tale, the other party was interested in his ability to control public opinion and online information, and gave metaphorical hints for cooperation.
He wouldn't mind helping the other party.
He was also curious about just how far the power of ghost stories could spread.
If given the opportunity, I would love to meet this potential collaborator.
After a moment's hesitation, Fyodor took action, using multiple anonymous online channels under his control to begin fabricating urban legends about Echo Alley.
He used his superb information skills to spread these rumors across various social media platforms, especially among young people interested in urban legends.
...
The next morning.
The Armed Detective Agency's phone lines were practically ringing off the hook.
It's not just about new missing children inquiries; there are also a lot of questions from social media and the public about rumors like "the alleyway eats people" and "the cursed Echo Alley."
"What's going on? Where did these rumors come from?" Kunikida Doppo asked, his brow furrowed as he answered the phone.
Dazai Osamu scrolled through anonymous forums on his phone, looking at the vividly described posts, most of which were obviously fabricated, but some people still believed in their personal experiences. He looked at them with amusement.
"The speed of transmission is too fast, the source is hidden very well, and the methods are very professional. Even I have a hard time tracing it."
Dazai Osamu put down his phone: "It seems the rats in the shadows have emerged again. This urban legend that went viral overnight must have been orchestrated by someone in the dark."
"It tastes so familiar." Dazai Osamu looked disgusted.
"That thing in the alley has probably gotten a lot stronger." Edogawa Ranpo, unusually, didn't eat any snacks but looked out the window: "Even though we're at a distance, the great detective can sense that the thing inside is getting even hungrier."
Kunikida Doppo's expression changed. He remembered the last ghost story incident. If what Edogawa Ranpo said was true, then the children would be in even greater danger, and the surrounding residents would also be affected.
"We must act immediately! If the ghost stories are indeed intensifying, every second we delay will increase the danger to the children and nearby residents," Kunikida Doppo said.
“Calm down, Kunikida-kun.” Dazai Osamu’s voice remained steady: “The enemy wants us to lose our composure. Acting rashly would not be wise. We need more detailed intelligence.”
“Dazai is right.” Yosano Akiko crossed her arms, her expression serious. “Yesterday, only Takeichi knew exactly what changes had occurred inside. He had the most contact with ghost stories, so we can ask him for more information.”
“He was very exhausted yesterday and is resting in his room,” Kunikida Doppo replied. “I contacted him this morning, and he said he needs more time to recover and cannot perform a second perception test for the time being.”
"This way, we have no idea how powerful the ghost stories have become, or whether the rules will change."
"What a coincidence," Dazai Osamu said inexplicably.
"What?" Kunikida Doppo was confused.
"It's nothing." Dazai Osamu flashed a bright smile. "Then I'll go pay Takeichi a visit myself. After all, we laymen know absolutely nothing about ghost stories~"
-----------------------
Author's note: I will continue to update more chapters. I feel like I can't finish writing it all, sob sob sob. I will try my best.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
