Tokyo: The evil god doesn't want to be the top star

Chapter 110 Unnatural Suicide
"Come to think of it, they are actually fox ears? I was always guessing they were cat or dog ears..."

Watching Yayoi Tsuki and her agent leave, Xia Fan's gaze remained on her pair of lively animal ears.

"Because ordinary people can't see, they are more accustomed to using their ears to express their true emotions like animals, so their facial expressions are not that rich?"

A boring doubt in his mind was finally solved, and he also came to a "half-demon observation conclusion" by the way.

"Hey, everyone's gone, but you're still watching."

"Mr. Xia, Yayoi Tsuki never shows off her affection to others. Not only is she very aloof in the company, but she has never had any scandals in her three years since her debut. Yet, she actually approached you for a 'closed-door private chat' just now without any hesitation..."

When Xia Fan came to his senses, he found that Yamazaki Hiroshi was looking at him with a teasing expression.

"Section Chief Yamazaki, the look in your eyes... don't get me wrong, we were just talking about songwriting in the room just now."

"Yeah, yeah, I understand. Handsome men and beautiful women, talking about music, it's normal, it's great to be young..."

Ignoring Xia Fan's serious explanation, Yamazaki Hiroshi had an ambiguous expression of a "experienced person".

Just then, Xia Fan's cell phone rang.

"Hello, Miss Jinguji."

Seeing that the caller was Aoi Jinguji, he quickly picked up the phone.

"Mr. Xia Fan, is it inconvenient for you to have other people around you?"

On the other end of the phone, Jinguji heard something strange in Xia Fan's address and asked sharply.

"Well, I'm working."

"There is an urgent investigation here and I need your help. Is that okay?"

"Yes, I can... Specifically, what kind of investigation is it..."

Although Jinguji Aoi's tone was as respectful as ever, Xia Fan could hear a hint of anxiety in it.

"Speaking of this matter, you have been implicated to some extent... Where are you now? I will pick you up right away. We can talk about the details on the way..."

After confirming the location with Xia Fan, Jinguji Aoi ended the call in a hurry.

……

Twenty minutes later, Xia Fan was already sitting in the speeding black business car.

"In the past three months, the suicide rate in the entire 5th district has increased by basis points year-on-year."

"That is to say, in the past three months, the number of suicides per 10 people has increased by five compared to last year."

"The Metropolitan Police Department noticed the abnormality of this indicator last month. Section 9 initially screened a number of recent individual and group suicide cases and found no 'supernatural factors'. The Metropolitan Police Department attributed it to factors such as rising unemployment, rising prices, and economic downturn."

In the front passenger seat, Inspector Higurashi was respectfully reporting the case.

"Since it has been confirmed to be an ordinary suicide, why are we reopening the investigation now?"

Hearing this data, Xia Fan was not too surprised.

Due to a combination of factors such as frequent natural disasters, continued economic downturn, the popularity of the aesthetic of mono no aware, the suppression of individual personality, and the dominance of men over women, the people of District 11 have regarded suicide as a "solution" since ancient times, resulting in the suicide rate being consistently ranked among the top two in the world.

According to statistics from the past decade, half of suicides are due to "health problems", a quarter are due to "family problems", and another quarter are due to "economic/life" problems.

Over time, in District 11, "suicide" has become a traditional culture, and many literati and poets even regard suicide as a kind of "beauty".

What’s even more exaggerated is that in recent years, there have even been websites that guide people to “suicide by appointment.” Many young people who are strangers to each other get together through the website, eat, drink, and have group sex, and then commit suicide together.

Of course, after eating, drinking, and exercising, there are many people who regret it at the last minute. "Speaking of which, it was because of you, Mr. Xia Fan, that I first discovered the clues..."

Sitting side by side with Xia Fan, Jinguji Aoi, dressed in a red and white shrine maiden costume, rested her chin on her hand, looked at the scenery outside the window, and said softly.

"because I?"

"That's right. Last month, you helped others and saved a beautiful half-demon fox girl..."

"The next day, when the ninth lesson went to conduct a 'suicide prevention follow-up visit', the half-demon mentioned that he was drinking at home because he was in a bad mood. He flipped through a booklet and suddenly had an uncontrollable 'suicidal thought'."

"But after you rescued her and she returned home, she couldn't find the booklet at home, and she couldn't remember anything about the contents of the booklet."

"Chapter 9 recorded this 'abnormal factor' at the time, but was unable to continue investigating because the suicide victims were already dead."

Jinguji Aoi narrowed her eyes lazily, glanced at Xia Fan resentfully, and told the story slowly.

"No wonder Yayoi Tsuki said that her suicide was influenced by some 'supernatural factors'. Does it sound like it has something to do with 'a certain manual'?"

Thinking of the conversation he had with Yayoi Tsuki in the B Company building just now, Xia Fan suddenly realized.

"Just two hours ago, the Tokyo Suicide Prevention Center's 24-hour suicide hotline received a call for help..."

"The caller said, 'Although I am very depressed about being fired and the manual also taught me to die, I really don't dare to do it.'"

"When the local police arrived at the caller's residence through location tracking, the man was already lying on the outside of the balcony on the 12th floor."

"According to the description of the police officers at the scene, when they broke into the room, the other party just said, 'I'm sorry to trouble you, but the manual taught me to do this,' and then jumped down."

After Rimu finished explaining the case with a heavy face, the business car stopped downstairs of a row of elevator apartments.

"Eh?"

Several people got out of the car and appeared in front of Xia Fan. When he looked up, he saw "himself".

On the side of the road in front of him, there stood a life-sized conjoined human billboard...

On the left side of the billboard is himself dressed as a samurai.

On the right is the shrine maiden, Aoi Jinguji, wearing a bunny mask at an angle, revealing only her beautiful profile.

At the bottom of the billboard, it says "Matsumoto Kiyoshi Israel Binilai Dead Sea Black and White Mud Mask".

"I was shocked. It turned out to be an advertisement for a drugstore."

When he came to his senses, Xia Fan noticed that the street-facing shop downstairs from the apartment building was the ubiquitous "Matsumoto Kiyoshi" drugstore.

"Wait, you actually agreed to authorize them to make human-shaped billboards?"

He pointed at the billboard and looked in surprise at Aoi Jinguji who had just got off the bus.

Such behavior is totally inconsistent with the image of Aoi Jinguji, a mysterious psychic who holds a high position.

"I heard from the manufacturer that you have agreed to the authorization. So, I thought that if we all work together, the authorization doesn't matter..."

Aoi Jinguji seemed to be explaining calmly, but her ears were burning.

"You two, this is the building... The man fell in the green belt over there."

Higurashi pointed at a unit in front of him, then moved to the bushes farther away.

(End of this chapter)