Chapter 53 -4 Floor Elevator (2) Takeichi is at a distance from the building...
As Takeichi sat on a bench in a secluded park not far from the building, the appearance of Dazai Osamu and Edogawa Ranpo interrupted his plan to strengthen the ghost stories, but also brought new variables.
He couldn't let them completely resolve this strange tale, as that would cause him to lose a large amount of strange tale points that were about to be earned.
This may also reveal more information about Takeichi himself.
So how do we take advantage of this situation?
...
During Dazai Osamu and Edogawa Ranpo's investigation, new rumors about the elevator began to circulate among the building's residents.
"You wouldn't believe it! I heard fingernails scraping against the wall in the elevator, it was terrifying!"
"Furthermore, one day when the elevator doors were about to close, I caught a fleeting glimpse of the -4 floor indicator light. Also, the old lady who lives on the tenth floor dreamt of the missing Ms. Muto Kana, repeatedly saying, 'Don't open the door... It's not me outside.' It terrified her!"
These fragmented and suggestive messages, spread through conversations among residents and small-scale networks, further fueled the panic.
This information subtly reinforces a perception.
-4 is a real space; it is a dangerous alternate dimension connected to unknown horrors.
“Someone is manipulating fear.” Edogawa Ranpo put down his pen, revealing a complex diagram and analytical lines on the white paper in front of him.
He pointed to the newly compiled rumors: "The timing of these rumors is too coincidental. They don't seem like a naturally fermenting panic, but rather a deliberate and purposeful catalyst."
Dazai Osamu looked at the few frames of the surveillance video with the most severe static interference, trying to find a flaw, but to no avail.
“It seems our ‘friend’ doesn’t want us to resolve this easily. He’s creating obstacles for us, or rather… he’s using the grandmothers’ investigation to increase the suspense and ‘box office’ of this incident.” A cold glint flashed in Dazai Osamu’s eyes.
Edogawa Ranpo threw down his pen and slumped onto the table: "On another note, I don't think Takeichi intended to use us from the beginning."
"The beginning of the biggest changes—"
“It’s the subway,” Dazai Osamu and Edogawa Ranpo said in unison.
Dazai Osamu turned around, a slight smile playing on his lips: "Takeichi is closely connected to ghost stories. Ghost stories come from the underworld, so where exactly is Takeichi-kun, who has been missing for many years?"
"How could the great detective not have noticed all this time?" Edogawa Ranpo said angrily. "He's been turned into an idiot by that strange thing. How annoying."
"I hate Takeichi too!"
"But with the changes in Takeichi-kun, is he still the Takeichi we know?" Dazai Osamu pondered.
“That’s what’s troubling me.” Edogawa Ranpo opened his eyes: “Which side is he really on?”
“Kunikida and Takeichi have a good relationship, even with Ango,” Dazai Osamu said. “Should we tell them about Takeichi’s unusual behavior?”
"They'll find out sooner or later, whether we tell them or not," Edogawa Ranpo said indifferently.
"That's true."
"Alright, instead of worrying so much, let's find a way to break the rules now and prevent the opponent from growing stronger. Hmph~ The great detective will definitely catch him by the tail."
The two decided to split up. Edogawa Ranpo stayed on site to use his super-reasoning to analyze all the details, trying to find loopholes in the rules or the possible location where Muto Kana might be trapped.
Dazai Osamu plans to make a dangerous attempt—to ride the elevator alone at midnight.
Edogawa Ranpo looked at him but didn't stop him. He just warned, "Be careful. The famous detective thinks that place... might reflect the things you least want to face in your heart."
...
Midnight.
The building fell into a deathly silence; the daytime hustle and bustle and human activity had completely vanished, with only emergency lights casting flickering light in the empty lobby and corridors.
Most residents had already locked their doors and dared not go out, as no one knew if something terrifying might appear at this time.
Dazai Osamu stood alone in front of the elevator. Under the lights, the elevator doors reflected his thin and somewhat lonely figure. His usual frivolous smile had disappeared, and his iris-colored eyes were filled with darkness. Then he pressed the up button.
The elevator doors slowly opened, revealing an empty room with only cold lights and mirrors reflecting people's images.
He went inside and pressed the button for the 12th floor.
The elevator began to ascend smoothly, and the numbers started to jump: 1...2...3...
Dazai Osamu leaned against the elevator wall, seemingly relaxed, but in reality, all his senses were heightened to the extreme.
When the floor number jumps to 8.
Buzz—
A slight low-frequency vibration was felt, the lights in the elevator dimmed for a moment, and then returned to normal. But all the numbers on the button panel went out instantly, as if they had been wiped away by an invisible hand.
Immediately afterwards, the crimson -4 in the center, like the open eyes of hell, slowly lit up.
It's here!
Dazai Osamu could clearly feel that the surrounding temperature was gradually dropping, and that a force was trying to invade his senses and distort his perception.
The elevator did not stop, but continued to descend in a way that defied the laws of physics. The number on the display screen remained at -4, and a hollow, whooshing sound, as if passing through a tunnel, came from outside.
The image in the mirror began to blur and distort. Dazai Osamu looked at himself in the mirror, his face sometimes appearing young and his eyes empty. At other times, he transformed into the Port Mafia, shrouded in shadow, and he was gradually drawn into it, sinking deeper and deeper... These were fragments of memories he didn't want to touch deep within his heart, now forcibly stirred up by the power of ghost stories.
In an instant, he saw the red mark on his neck. The young man, who exuded an aura of decay, stared straight at him. The other man seemed to have seen him and slowly revealed a mocking smile.
Dazai Osamu's pupils contracted, and he took a step back, instantly regaining his senses. When he looked again, his figure had transformed into one dressed in a kimono.
"you……"
The elevator's operation felt like an eternity, yet also like a fleeting moment.
Finally, with a soft "ding," the elevator came to a stop.
The door slowly opened to both sides.
Dazai Osamu looked over, but instead of the endless darkness or terrifying scene he had expected, there was only... a void of gray.
It was like a game scene that hadn't loaded, with no concept of up, down, left, or right, no sound, no smell, just a desolate and suffocating emptiness.
In the center of that gray and white expanse, a blurry figure huddled there—it was the missing Kana Muto. Her eyes were lifeless, she was hugging her knees, her body was trembling slightly, and she seemed to be on the verge of a mental breakdown.
Dazai Osamu did not immediately step out of the elevator. He first looked back at the mirror inside the elevator, which had returned to normal and reflected his image.
"Miss Muto." Dazai Osamu tried to call out, but he felt something was off about this space, so he didn't go out easily.
The huddled figure trembled, slowly raising her head. When she saw Dazai Osamu in the elevator and the normal lights inside, a strong will to survive instantly burst forth in her eyes.
"Help me...help me!" Her voice was hoarse and choked with sobs. "This place...this place is so scary! I can't get out."
“Come back to the elevator with me.” Dazai Osamu extended his hand to her, his tone calm and reassuring.
However, just as Kana Muto was struggling to climb back into the elevator, the gray space began to shake violently.
"Quick!" Seeing this, Dazai Osamu stepped out of the elevator, grabbed Muto Kana's wrist, pulled her up from the ground, and ran wildly towards the elevator door.
But then black shadows appeared on the ground in the gray space and wrapped around their ankles, causing them to fall to the ground. No matter how much they struggled, the black shadows held them tightly.
At this stalemate—
A pair of shoes came into view. Dazai Osamu looked up and saw Takeichi slowly taking off his hoodie hood and mask, looking at him expressionlessly.
“As expected.” Dazai Osamu lay on the ground, looking up at Takeichi who had suddenly appeared. Takeichi had removed his disguise, but his wine-red eyes were devoid of any emotion. Dazai Osamu stared straight at Takeichi: “You were the one who orchestrated everything from behind the scenes.” His tone was not a question, but a statement of certainty.
Whether it's the subway, Echo Alley, or the elevator, Zhu Yi's appearance at this moment connects all the clues into a clear line.
Takeichi simply stood there quietly, looking down at Dazai Osamu, neither confirming nor denying his accusations. His silence itself was an answer.
"Is this your choice?" Dazai Osamu chuckled. "Exploiting the fears of others, creating chaos, and even... watching the death of that father in Echo Lane—is this what you're after?"
"Does Kunikida know?"
He mentioned Kenichi Ishishita, the man whose body was chewed up by a monster and left no trace in front of them, the father of that child.
Zhu Yi's eyelashes trembled slightly, and something seemed to flash in the depths of her wine-red eyes, but it was too fast to catch, and then it was covered by an even thicker layer of ice.
“You wouldn’t understand.” Zhu Yi finally spoke, his voice flat and without any inflection, as if stating a fact unrelated to himself: “Some prices must be paid.”
He evaded Dazai Osamu's questioning and gave a vague and cold response.
"The price?" Dazai Osamu scoffed, his voice particularly jarring in the silent space. "Using innocent people as the price? Takeichi, when did you become like this?"
His gaze was fixed on Zhu Yi, trying to find a trace of the past in those eyes, even a trace of struggle or pain, but he found nothing.
Cold and emotionless.
"Miss Muto is innocent, those people are innocent, what exactly do you want to do with the things you've collected?" Dazai Osamu's voice carried a hint of sternness.
Takeichi's fingers, hanging by his side, twitched slightly. He saw the fear mixed with pleading in Mutou Kana's eyes because of Dazai Osamu's words.
“That’s not important.” Takeichi looked away, no longer meeting Dazai Osamu’s gaze, but instead turning his eyes to the shadows that were trying to drag the two of them into even greater darkness: “What is important is that you shouldn’t have come here. This is not a territory you can interfere in.”
As soon as Takeichi raised his hand, the shadows seemed to have met their nemesis, letting out a mournful cry and quickly releasing Dazai Osamu and Muto Kana.
"Leave here." Zhu Yi's voice carried a command: "Forget everything you've seen. This ghost story ends here."
He did not explain why he had come to the rescue, nor did he respond to any of Dazai Osamu's questions.
Dazai Osamu helped the still-shaken Mutou Kana to her feet. He then looked at Takeichi again, and he could tell that Takeichi didn't want to kill them, at least not at this moment.
He could also clearly feel the chasm between the two of them; Zhu Yi in front of him had become so unfamiliar.
"Is this the end?" Dazai Osamu repeated the word. He didn't say anything more, but instead helped Muto Kana step by step toward the elevator door that represented the normal world. Just before stepping into the elevator, he turned back and took one last look at Takeichi.
A familiar young man dressed in a kimono appeared out of nowhere and stood next to Takeichi, seemingly saying something to him.
As the elevator doors closed, their eyes met, and the other person smiled, their lips moving slightly.
[Nice to meet you.]
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