Chapter 76 Shadow Town 5 Collapse
"story".
Is it a script of fate, or a time-travel adventure?
Mizuki Shiraishi's voice was always like that, carrying a hint of sarcastic laughter, echoing in this small laboratory.
Her tone was gentle, yet it carried an air of superior arrogance, her mockery undisguised, as if she were admiring a small animal trapped in a cage.
But your brain is already working at high speed, constantly analyzing her words and trying to piece together a complete logic.
—Has he traveled to another world, or has he entered a pre-arranged "play"?
What you can be sure of is that this world has a "fixed plot," and as it stands, you are the only outsider—as for Shiraishi Mizuki, you can only imagine her as a character with self-awareness, but it's unclear whether her current state is one of conformity or resistance.
Returning to your own situation, you've always been just a supporting player, occasionally exchanging a few words with these four college students, but more often than not, you've been pushing them to continue with their own plans and tasks. So, are you still here because you haven't defied it, or simply because your presence hasn't been completely restricted?
There is only one point of contention: Is this a world from some kind of artistic work, or a supernatural "closed theater"?
If it's a work of art—
So, is there an "audience"? Who is watching this story?
Is the fact that Mizuki Shiraishi has been drawing all the time a hint?
"How terrible, Morita-san, Mizuki, how could everyone be like this..." Hayakawa Hana stammered as she spoke beside you.
You frowned at Hayakawa Hana. Her face showed confusion, but her mouth instinctively uttered a few illogical sentences:
"We need to get out of here quickly...it's dangerous."
Her tone was devoid of any emotion, as if she were reciting lines rather than expressing genuine fear.
You frowned, grabbed her shoulder, and forcefully questioned her, "Hayakawa, do you know what we were just talking about?"
Hayakawa Hana's eyes widened slightly, but then her lips moved a few times, as if her mind had gone blank. Her gaze was unfocused, staring blankly into the air, and she mumbled intermittently, "Because...because..."
She was basically a robot on the verge of going out of control, constantly repeating keywords but unable to form complete sentences.
Well, her understanding was locked in by the "plot," and there was no further meaning for her.
Without further hesitation, you lunged into Mizuki Shiraishi's arms, your target being her picture book!
To your surprise, she didn't dodge; instead, she effortlessly let go, allowing you to easily take the picture book.
This…you and she made eye contact, and she was still smiling—isn't this sketchbook the key?
You open the picture book, quickly flipping through the pages. Perhaps there's evidence inside to tell you what kind of scene this is, maybe even a way to leave. But you have to admit, with a sense of dismay—
There is nothing in this book!
The images inside are just ordinary hand-drawn illustrations; there are no hidden texts or symbols that could "control the plot" as you might imagine. There are no magic circles, and no escape formula.
It really is just an ordinary picture book. Although the content may not match your sensory perception, it is indeed just Mizuki Shiraishi's record of her observations in Shadow Town.
You stare at the book in your hands, and it feels like your blood has gone cold.
She looked up at Shiraishi Mizuki, whose smile grew increasingly contemptuous, her eyes filled with disdain and mockery.
"What do you think?" She chuckled softly, her tone tinged with regret, as if looking at a clumsy mouse. "Turns out you're not so great after all. You think 'picture books' are the key, but you haven't figured out that the key isn't in the books at all, but in 'yourself'."
Your pupils suddenly contracted.
—"Yourself"?
—What exactly is she implying?
Before you could ask any further questions, an unsettling fact surfaced in your mind—Saki Morita was standing there, motionless.
From the beginning of his mutation until now, he hasn't made any real "moves." He hasn't attacked you, hasn't shown any emotion, and has even had very little dialogue.
He was like... waiting for a certain moment.
You have a vague feeling that something is wrong, and slowly turn your head to look at him.
His body still resembled a human, but his skin had turned into mycelial tissue, and his eyes were now empty.
His presence at this moment is like a sculpture, a background prop supporting the plot.
He was waiting for the next plot development to be triggered.
But whether it's Hayakawa Hana who's stuck, Shiraishi Mizuki who's in an unpredictable state, or even you, no one has time to pay attention to him. The moment freezes because all the key figures are out of sorts.
"So you're finally starting to understand?" Shiraishi Mizuki said lazily, enjoying your despair.
If you squint at her, will there be more information in her expression? You then realize that even Shiraishi Mizuki's expression is mostly fixed, and only when it is fixed will she burst out with some kind of exaggerated extreme expression.
You used to think of these people as "aloof," but you didn't pay much attention to the faces of the others.
"You—" Shiraishi Mizuki suddenly spoke, interrupting your train of thought. She lightly flicked her finger, her eyes sharp as knives, "How exactly did you get in?"
Her tone was soft, yet it was like a sharp knife aimed straight at the heart.
How did you get in? I came by car, I guess. You twitch the corner of your mouth, which is now awkwardly clenched into a smile.
—I'm not kidding anymore.
"You don't belong here."
Mizuki Shiraishi tilted her head, her smile growing increasingly wicked: "You think you're an 'outsider,' but have you ever considered...?"
"Could it be that you're not even 'human' at all?"
Her words struck your mind like lightning, your body jolted, and your throat became incredibly dry.
—What if you didn't arrive here by triggering some kind of "time travel point," but rather... were "written into"?
—This world doesn't exist in itself, and there are always worlds within worlds, so how do you know if there is "some kind of force" outside your world?
Does something like "infinite flow" really exist in the normal world?
Like a nested doll, one layer inside another, it's enough to give you a cold sweat.
Mizuki Shiraishi's words were seductive, like an invisible vine coiling around your mind, trying to distort your perception and make you doubt yourself.
Do you really exist?
Once this sentence appears, it's like a seed of nightmare, taking root and growing wildly in your mind.
You break out in a cold sweat and feel like you're suffocating. You start instinctively touching your body, feeling the temperature of your skin, and trying to hear your heartbeat, trying to confirm if you are truly "real".
But the more you feel this way, the more you feel that if you could "travel" into a story, you would have no real connection with the world you live in.
You clench your fists tightly, forcing yourself to shift your attention and not let her seductive words take over your mind.
You look at Morita Akira; he is still standing there, motionless, like a silent statue.
What should you do in this situation?
Silent waiting? Or actively triggering it?
Regardless, you suppress your fear of his mutated appearance, cover your mouth and nose, and cautiously approach him.
The mycelium on his body had spread into the texture of his clothes, as if his clothes had become one with his skin, forming a new biological tissue.
If he is indeed waiting for a "trigger point", then if you approach him, will it wake him up?
Even if you stand right in front of him, he still won't react at all.
You even gently reached out and tentatively patted him on the shoulder.
—No response.
He just stood there quietly, while Shiraishi Mizuki continued talking.
Her voice was like a whisper attached to your mind, constantly drilling into your ears.
Are you really sure you're being real?
"What do you think makes you different from us?"
Do you have a past? Do you remember how you got here?
Her words peeled away your rationality layer by layer, like a scalpel cutting open a wound, precisely dissecting your perception and trying to make you doubt yourself.
You feel your consciousness starting to waver, and for a moment you even really want to think—could it be that I am just a non-existent character?
If you are just a person who has been "set up," then it means—
You shouldn't have had a past in the first place.
Your identity, from the very beginning, is that of an undefined person, like words that suddenly appear in a book, without a true "author," only a passive existence.
You feel your thoughts gradually sinking into an abyss, and for a moment you even really think that Shiraishi Mizuki is right, that you are just a superfluous character in her story, and that your existence is only to make her story more complete.
Her voice was tinged with laughter as she spoke slowly:
"Do you understand? You are not the 'you' in reality at all, you are just... 'the you seen by the readers'."
You suddenly open your eyes wide, and your blood seems to freeze for a moment.
What the readers see...?
This world is a "constructed world"!
You suddenly laughed.
Shiraishi Mizuki paused slightly, a crack appearing in her smile.
“The villain dies from talking too much,” you said softly.
Her eyebrows furrowed slightly, and the disdain in her eyes turned into a scrutinizing look.
You finally realized something—
Her goal from the beginning was not to "tell you the truth," but to make you believe her "truth."
If you are truly just a fictitious existence, then she doesn't need to waste so much time trying to convince you; she could simply ignore you as if you were air.
She went to great lengths to make you believe that you were a fake.
That means you are real.
Because you are real, she must constantly deny your authenticity, otherwise you will disrupt the balance of this world.
She's afraid you'll "realize your true self," afraid you'll find a way to "escape."
If she truly didn't care about you at all, she wouldn't be in such a hurry to brainwash you; she could simply wait for you to break down on your own.
But she keeps trying to lead you away, trying to make you give up thinking and give up struggling.
What is she afraid of?
She's afraid of you, and she's really found a way to leave!
You wipe the sweat from your brow, and the waves of soreness and coldness gradually subside. Your fingers clench, and your fighting spirit reignites in your heart.
"I can't be fake," you said softly, to yourself and to her.
You look up and stare directly into Mizuki Shiraishi's eyes. She still has a smile on her face, but you can clearly see her fingers tremble slightly.
“You are fake, while I am a person with full self-awareness.” You laugh, contempt on your face. “You may have broken free from the settings imposed on you here, but you may not know it yourself, but I can see it. Every word and action of yours is a design that does not conform to ‘normal’ logic.”
"Do you really have your own personality? Do you know how to distinguish between good and evil? Are you chasing after me and brainwashing me for your own sake, or is it simply because of a 'malicious' setting that you can only treat your companions and me with an ugly face?"
Your words were very aggressive; even the sharp-tongued master Shiraishi Mizuki was rendered speechless by your retorts.
You stopped wasting time, stopped thinking about how Morita Akira would change, and gave up on asking Hayakawa Hana questions.
Since you can't find a way out even with Shiraishi Mizuki, there's no point in staying here to continue exploring. You might even get swallowed up by the plot's traps.
Let's set that aside for now and see if we can break the rhythm of this story and find what "it" really doesn't want you to find!
You turn around and rush towards the laboratory door without hesitation.
At this moment, Mizuki Shiraishi stopped pretending to be mute. Her voice suddenly rose, still carrying a playful smile, but you could hear the anxiety in her tone:
"Oh? Where are you going?"
You ignored her, and with all your might, you strode through the metal door of the laboratory and into the dimly lit corridor.
You have no destination, but you know you must leave this place, you must completely detach yourself from this story.
This isn't "running away," it's finding loopholes!
You don't even know where the end is, but you know that only by completely abandoning them and getting away from the core of the plot can you find the real way out.
As you get to know these people, you hear a sound behind you that doesn't seem real.
It sounded like paper being crumpled, like ink being poured, like pages turning...
Book pages…
This world has begun to prevent you from leaving.
Mizuki Shiraishi chased after you relentlessly, sometimes furious, sometimes calm as the moon:
Where are you going?
"Come back, you idiot, don't ruin everything!"
"That won't work. There's no 'exit' here at all."
You didn't turn back.
You're just running with all your might towards the unknown darkness!
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Author's Note: There's more today. Tiger went ice skating first. I'll see if I can finish writing the convenience store part-time job ghost story tonight. ^ ^
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