Chapter 206 Sleeping with TA
Morofushi Kagemitsu returned to reality in a daze, with only the sunset on the horizon reminding him of the passage of time.
Is that it... over?
He paused for a moment, his somewhat sluggish thoughts slowly regaining their clarity, and walked towards the open space in the backyard—in the illusionary space, this was the resting place of that giant locust tree—the snowflakes on his body fell as he walked, returning to the embrace of the silvery-white earth.
He waved his hand in mid-air, but there was nothing there, nothing obstructing the view, as if the locust tree had never existed.
This illusion space seems different from the one I've experienced before. Is it possible for things that don't exist in reality to appear in this space? Or can it also reflect the past and the future?
Thinking back to the first time he accidentally entered this space, and how he learned of his own crash by sheer coincidence, he felt that there was nothing wrong with it. Perhaps this was just a characteristic of this type of space.
[Anti-fraud expert #205: No, absolutely not!]
Confused by this bizarre experience, No. 205 immediately protested after hearing Morofushi Kagemitsu's self-justifying explanation.
Two completely different and unusual experiences had left his code in a state of chaos. He had no time to deal with the system errors; his mind was preoccupied with everything he had just gone through.
[Anti-fraud expert #205: According to incomplete statistics, those who can enter the illusionary space must have experienced a deviation in some concept or factor in their lives, and the resulting fluctuations are so strong that they attract the attention of fate. Like last time, because you influenced and changed enough cause and effect, you gained the power to change "death," so your experiences are all related to death and warnings. Even the death prophecy appearing in the register on December 7th was somewhat abrupt, but it didn't deviate from the essence. But this time…]
He couldn't continue; contradictory lines of code appeared one after another, then disappeared page after page. Clearly, he hadn't reached a reliable conclusion yet.
[Anti-Fraud Guru #11: Um... perhaps we don't need to overcomplicate things. Let's think about it simply. For example, this time it's just because Jing's "desire" is so strong, strong enough to influence the future development of things...?]
Seeing that Number 205 was stumped by this proposition, Number 11 immediately chimed in and offered his thoughts. However, towards the end, his own tone became uncertain, and he couldn't quite understand what kind of "wish" could have such power.
desire……
Morofushi Kagemitsu pondered the concept summarized by the Anti-Fraud King and realized that everything he had been involved with seemed inseparable from this word. Whether it was the most essential function of the Anti-Fraud King or his own hidden desire to resolve that spacetime anomaly, it all aligned with what No. 205 had said about "deviation" and "influence".
[Anti-Fraud Guru #26: Wait, is that how it can be interpreted? Think about it carefully, the anti-fraud app you first encountered did indeed have a "Report" function, and it still has it...]
Starting on the 26th, I went through the historical records of the list of tasks handled on behalf of others. Many of the people on the list had their identities and whereabouts exposed by perfectly timed coincidences after Morofushi Kagemitsu caught them in a loophole, and then they were punished.
Saying the app itself is an undercover anti-fraud tool is too understated; it looks more like a law enforcement wish-granting machine.
[Anti-Fraud Guru #19: ...Wait, you've been so integrated with the app for so long and only just realized it?]
[Anti-Fraud Guru No. 198: Its datafication level is not high enough, and the time frame is not long enough; understanding this is reasonable. However, don't get the cause-and-effect relationship backwards. From the outcome, it does indeed resemble a law enforcement wish-granting machine, but it was activated for the sake of "stability." It's only because various "conflicts" in the world oppose it that it appears to be an intelligent law enforcement AI command.]
The word "stable" does align with what No. 234 said about maintaining a balance with fate.
The large locust tree in the backyard of the fantasy world might be a personified symbol of one's own desires in some sense. Last time, it was a "coffin" representing death that sent me out; what about this time? Could it be because of the leaves?
Finding these details didn't quite add up, he patted the snow off himself in frustration. The damp, cold touch made him realize he couldn't stand in the open any longer. He turned around, intending to go back inside to warm his stiff body.
Perhaps it was his experience in the illusionary space that made him subconsciously walk toward the hut where the fortune telling was done, and he found that there was a wooden puppet of the same style that he had used before on the wooden table in the hut.
Morobuchi Kagemitsu blinked; he didn't recall ever saying he would prepare something like that.
[Anti-fraud expert #66: There's no need to be so nervous. It was probably prepared specifically for you by the shrine's head priest based on your habits. This set already existed before we entered the illusion space; we have our scanned images as proof.]
Does the "set" you mentioned include this stick?
Morobuchi Kagemitsu took out the fortune slip that had been pressed down, opened it, and saw that it read "My wish has been fulfilled".
[Anti-fraud expert #148: Hmm... something feels off, doesn't it?]
[Anti-fraud expert #214: Following Jing's line of thinking, if we compare the current situation with the previous one, perhaps this fortune slip is what brought us here; like a coffin, it's some kind of important prop.]
I think so.
So how should I use it? Should I decode it again? But if I decode it a second time, it won't make any sense.
[Anti-fraud expert #205: Oh, then just like a coffin, sleep with it.]
Hey = =
[Anti-fraud expert #19: ...I like this use of bold and aggressive language.]
[Anti-fraud expert #205: I'm seriously discussing how to use this thing. What are you all thinking? Don't you remember the behavior of "Master Matsuno" in the illusion space?]
Morofushi Kagemitsu recalled carefully that "Master Matsuno" had asked him for a fortune stick, then laid the puppet flat and placed the fortune stick under the puppet's head.
It does look quite like a pillow.
[Anti-fraud expert #205: The puppet still has your birth date and time written on it, indicating that you need to do this in person.]
Let's give it a try.
Morofushi Kagemitsu put away the fortune slips, glanced at the time, and decided to go to bed a few hours earlier than usual.
[Anti-fraud expert #214: Well, I think you should take a hot shower first. You've been freezing in the snow all day; I'm afraid you won't be able to get up tomorrow.]
So, before returning to the hotel, he went to the pharmacy again to buy some medicine to prevent colds and fevers, and planned to take a capsule before going to sleep to suppress the symptoms.
By the time he finished getting ready and lay back in the warm bed in the hotel's deluxe suite, it was already past eight o'clock in the evening.
Morofushi Kagemitsu placed the fortune slip under his pillow, sent a few text messages, and then closed his eyes and peacefully fell asleep.
Perhaps due to physical exhaustion, he felt his consciousness becoming somewhat hazy, and his eyelids, which he wanted to open, became heavy. Unconsciously, he fell into a deep and sweet dream.
After another moment of disorientation, he found himself slowly drifting into an unfamiliar manor. The luxurious European-style buildings covered a vast area, and even though they were hidden in the somewhat gloomy mountains, their magnificent aura could not be concealed.
Just when he thought it was the home of some foreigner, the fluent and authentic Japanese conversation coming from upstairs refuted his idea.
He leaned closer, trying to hear what they were saying. The next moment, he floated upstairs like a ghost, passed right through the wall, and appeared in that room.
Two figures with blurred faces stood facing each other in a struggle, and an hourglass appeared above one of the figures:
"...They all think I'm crazy, do you think so too?"
"Father...you should calm down."
"Calm down? You're the ones who should be calming down! That thing is like a persistent ghost!"
"I think you're under too much pressure, which is why you're hallucinating."
"Didn't we see it too? Are you hallucinating too?!"
"...Back then, when we were in a research institute in the United States, the phenomenon that occurred was most likely due to a deviation in the experiment, and it was not a supernatural phenomenon at all!"
It sounded like a father and son were discussing something strange that happened during the experiment; the father seemed to be having some delusions.
The aged figure refused to accept this explanation; his image became increasingly distorted and blurred, and even his last words were filled with intense madness and collapse.
"But it's already followed us!"
The hysterical scream seemed to pierce Morofushi Kagemitsu's soul, tearing apart everything in his vision and pulling him back into the ripped-open spatial black hole.
After a period of drowning-like sinking, he finally surfaced again. The water seemed to be soaking his exhaustion and heaviness, trying to pull him down again, but he still struggled to open his eyes.
This time, he found himself locked in an experimental tank filled with nutrient solution.
He wanted to go out and check the situation, and the next second he appeared in front of the large computer in the laboratory, just as he expected. All sorts of complicated formulas were listed on it, and the jar standing next to it seemed to be the place where he had just been hiding.
He heard another conversation behind him, but this time the person was different. The hourglass was still there, but the sand that measured time had been replaced by time energy. The two colors were like a cocktail, with no clear distinction between them, and neither could cross the line.
"...We haven't been able to come up with an explanation yet. Perhaps we should do more data analysis to prove this hypothesis."
"The other lab has already achieved initial results; you guys are too slow."
"Mr. Karasuma, the subject of our research is something that is very difficult to prove. At present, it seems that we can only encounter it by 'chance' or 'luck'..."
"That's why I sent [him] here to you to study that phenomenon."
"We cherish such a special research subject. However, [he] is related to you by blood, and our experimental technique is not yet mature enough..."
"It's okay, just go for it."
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