An infinite journey starting from paradise

A few minutes ago, Lin Shangren, who had decided to let things take their course and not delve into the details behind the winery, returned to the building of Seven Star Entertainment Co., Ltd. He planned to pack his luggage with Hehuan and then set off for Aomori Prefecture tomorrow.

Afterward, Lin Shangren lay down on the sofa, intending to close his eyes and take a short nap, sorting out his thoughts. Just as he was flipping through Michael Heinz's diary again in his conscious world, the four beast dice hovering above him suddenly began to spin.

Lin Shangren felt as if someone had sucked his dick, followed by a sudden pain in his balls from emptying his magazine. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself on the riverbank.

"Help! Help! Save me!!!"

Before Lin Shangren could figure out the current situation, he heard a burst of urgent cries for help.

The sound came from a bridge not far away. On the bridge, a long-haired woman in a yellow T-shirt was running away and calling for help. Behind her, a short-haired man holding a sharp knife was chasing her frantically.

Seeing that the mad man was about to catch up with the woman calling for help, Lin Shangren raised his hand and used Shadow Swamp to restrain the man's legs and trip the fleeing woman. At the same time, he teleported to the shadow behind the man, grabbed him by the back of the neck, and squeezed him unconscious with Eagle Finger.

Sanshin Reiko, who was suddenly tripped, thought she was in great danger this time. She struggled to stand up, and then she heard a gentle male voice: "How are you? What's going on? Are you guys robbing?"

Reiko Sanshin turned around and found that the madman who had just chased him was lying on the ground with foam at the mouth, and a handsome man in a black windbreaker was standing next to him.

“Saved…?”

Reiko Sanshin, who escaped the disaster, stared blankly at her savior. Her heartbeat caused by adrenaline had not stopped yet, and her brain was a little dizzy due to the sudden change in oxygen supply.

Sanshen Lianzi, who had not yet recovered from the shock, stared straight at Lin Shangren, and Lin Shangren was also looking at her with innocent eyes.

[Name: Sanshen Lianzi]

[Race: Human female]

[Occupation: Art teacher at Kitayami Middle School]

[Status: Convulsion, unconsciousness]

[Note: A young woman who had just graduated from college and returned to her hometown to work as a junior high school teacher was unexpectedly confronted by a serial killer and nearly died.]

"Mikami Reiko? It's her."

The plot of the original work "Another" flashed through Hayashi Naoto's mind. Reiko Mikami was the aunt of the original protagonist, Tsuneichi Sakakibara, and the cause of the disaster in the original work. She was accidentally murdered in 1997, but was resurrected in 1998 as the vice-homeroom teacher of Class 3, Grade 3, Kitayomi Junior High School, causing a series of deaths.

It's important to note that the resurrected "dead" are unaware of their own death, are not the ultimate cause of the disaster, and don't have any desire to rely on the death of others to extend their own lives. In short, the "dead" who caused the disaster are also quite innocent.

In the original story, Mikami Reiko is eventually discovered by Mizaki Meiru as the deceased, and is then killed again, returning to death. The disaster of that year is thus resolved.

"Judging from this scene, this should be the time when Sanshin Reiko was killed in 1997. Have I traveled through time again? Or is it something else? Xiao Ai, give me an explanation."

[Hmm... The current situation is hard to explain. Broadly speaking, you and the people here are in a "dream." But this dream is completely realistic.]

To explain it specifically, Laplace's demon can know the state of every elementary particle in the universe, and reproduce the past and predict the future based on the motion trajectory and laws of the elementary particles.

Maxwell's demon can arbitrarily transform and manipulate all matter and energy in the universe and create reality according to its own will.

Combining the two allows us to utilize the matter and energy of the present, transforming it into the past or future, thus achieving a kind of "time travel." However, at your current energy level, my Lord, this is far from possible. After all, your application of Maxwell's demon remains at the level of absorbing and utilizing energy.

However, although you cannot create things in the material world now, you can use the power of mind shadows and a limited combination of the two to achieve the above operations in an incredibly realistic group dream. The energy required to manipulate dreams is far less than that required to shape the real material world. (?×ω×`)】

"Um... in other words, I just 'accidentally' dragged myself and some people into a dream that was no different from reality, and the scene in the dream was a real time period in the real world?" Lin Shangren quickly sorted out the current situation.

[It’s like this~(￣▽￣～)~]

"If that's the case..."

Lin Shangren closed his eyes and tried to examine his own world of consciousness, but found nothing. After all, he was in it. This world of consciousness was a completely simulated reality created based on Laplace's demon and Maxwell's demon, and it completely adhered to all the rules of reality. Therefore, even if Lin Shangren was the creator of this space, he could not achieve the "wishes come true" that he could in the mind-shadow space and his own single consciousness, and he could not change the world at will.

He tried to sense the Four Beasts' Dice again. It was hanging high above this world, constantly spinning to maintain its stability. If Lin Shangren wanted to, he could take it back now, but this simulated collective dream would also be shattered.

"Was it my future self who did this?" Lin Shangren pondered.

He spread out his shadow touch to sense the scope of this collective dream, and found that this dream world only contained the entire Beiyejian Town, and there was only nothingness outside the town.

"I've dragged myself and the people of this town into a dream world that's completely identical to reality. Do you want me to investigate this town? Because it's a dream, even if something irreversible happens, it won't affect reality, so I'm doing this.

Hmm... besides Mizaki Mei, the only other valuable things about this town are the resurrection of the dead and the coming of disaster. The original story only vaguely states it's due to a curse, but in this world, there's probably a different truth to all this, Lin Shangren thought.

"This...Mr."

Sanshin Reiko's trembling voice interrupted Lin Shangren's thoughts.

"Um...can you help me up? My legs are so weak...I can't stand up."

"Oh, sorry." Lin Shangren helped Sanshen Lianzi who had fallen to the ground, and then put the sharp knife on the ground into the evidence bag with ease, and handcuffed the unconscious murderer.

Then Lin Shangren picked up the unconscious murderer and said to the frightened Sanshin Reiko: "My name is Lin Shangren, and I'm a policeman who happened to pass by."

"Police...? Oh, by the way, I've seen you on TV!" Reiko Mikami suddenly realized that the person who saved her was the policeman who caught Kaito Kid on TV a few days ago.

"Is your leg okay? If possible, can you take me to the police station in this town? I just got here." Lin Shangren said.

"Of course! Of course... ah, right!"

Sanshin Reiko seemed to suddenly remember something and quickly bowed to Lin Shangren. The movement was so big that her glasses, which were already a little loose, fell to the ground.

"Thank you so much! Thank you for saving my life! Ah! Glasses... ow..."

Reiko Mikami squatted down awkwardly, picked up her glasses and put them on in a hurry, her cheeks flushed red because of her loss of composure.

"Um... you're welcome. It's my duty." Lin Shangren answered calmly, but the corners of his mouth couldn't help but rise. After all, Sanshin Reiko's panicked look at this moment was indeed a bit... humorous.

"I...I'd better take you, Mr. Policeman, to the police station."

Sanshin Reiko turned around and wanted to lead Lin Shangren, but she almost tripped and fell because of her loose shoelaces.

"Ah! No...it's okay. Mr. Policeman, please wait a moment." Reiko Mikami squatted down and tied her shoelaces, feeling so embarrassed that she wanted to find a hole in the ground to crawl into.

Looking at Sanshen Lianzi, Lin Shangren couldn't help but think: "This girl is really... a little clumsy."

The author says:

Author's Note: There's another chapter coming up tonight.

Chapter 323 Let's Stay Tonight

Half an hour later, at the gate of Sanshen’s house.

"I am back."

Although there was no one else at home, Sanshin Reiko still shouted this sentence out of habit.

"excuse me."

Lin Shangren followed Sanshin Reiko into the gate of Sanshin's house.

Half an hour ago, under the leadership of Sanshin Reiko, Lin Shangren took the madman who randomly killed people on the street to the police station in Kitayami Town.

According to regulations, Sanshin Reiko and Lin Shangren were required to remain at the police station to cooperate with the investigation, and at least give a statement. However, when the chief of the Beiyejian police station faced Lin Shangren, his superior, who was four levels higher than him, he vividly demonstrated the meaning of "rules are dead, people are alive" - ​​the inspector was here for vacation, not to guide your work. If you insist on having the inspector assist you, then you should reconsider your future work.

So, Sanshin Reiko was able to leave the police station directly. As for Lin Shangren, he followed Sanshin Reiko to her home under the pretext of escorting her. Sanshin Reiko didn't refuse. She felt relieved to have a capable police officer escort her home. Besides, she also wanted to express her gratitude to Lin Shangren for saving her life. Shouldn't she at least treat him to a meal?

As for Lin Shangren's purpose, of course, he wanted to learn about Kitayami Town and Kitayami Junior High School through Sanshin Reiko. After all, Sanshin Reiko is one of the people most closely associated with the "disaster brought by the resurrection of the dead" in the original "Another" novel, having experienced events related to the disaster in various roles, including as a student's relative, a student, a teacher, and a resurrected dead person.

Even though the events in this world will be somewhat different from the original "Another", Lin Shangren is still confident that he can investigate key information from Sanshin Reiko, otherwise his future self would not allow himself to appear at the time when Sanshin Reiko is about to be killed.

Sanshin Reiko took off her sneakers and bent down to open the shoe cabinet in the entrance hall. "The slippers are here. Ah, there is only one pair for the guests, so they might be a little small."

"It's okay." Lin Shangren looked at the shoe cabinet that only had two pairs of slippers on it. He asked, "Miss Sanshen, do you live alone?"

"My parents died when I was a child. After my sister got married, she moved to India with her brother-in-law, a naturalist. Now I am the only one living in this old house," said Reiko Mikami.

"Ah, sorry."

"Yeah, it's okay, it's all in the past. Ah, Mr. Lin, please come in. I'll make tea... um... and prepare dinner. Mr. Lin, please stay and have dinner with us tonight. It'll be a small token of my gratitude."

With that, Sanshin Reiko brought Lin Shangren to the living room, and she herself started looking for the tea set.

"Hmm... teacup, teacup... where is it? I haven't had any guests at home for a long time... um... ah, Mr. Lin, please sit down and wait a moment. I'll make tea right away."

"OK, thanks."

Looking at the flustered Sanshin Reiko, Lin Shangren smiled and sat down on the sofa, then spread out the shadow touch and inspected the situation in the house.

"As expected, you're the only one living here... Wow, you've accumulated a lot of dirty clothes. Are you planning to wash them all at once on the weekend? Hey, at least keep your underwear and bras separate."

Lin Shangren withdrew his perception.

It is certain that what happened in this world is quite different from the original work. In the original work, Reiko Mikami's parents were still alive, but her sister died in an accident when Reiko Mikami was fifteen years old due to the involvement of a disaster.

"Let's first understand the basic situation."

Thinking of this, Lin Shangren asked, "Ms. Sanshen, are you a teacher? I remember you wrote that when you left your contact information at the police station just now. Are you a teacher at Kitayami Middle School in this town?"

Reiko Mikami looked up while holding her teacup and replied, "Yes, I teach art at school."

"Then Miss Sanshen, do you know if there have been any accidental deaths in Kitayami Middle School in recent years?" Lin Shangren asked.

"Accidental death? Why do you ask this?" Reiko Mikami asked back.

"I came to Beiyejian Town this time to investigate the abnormal homicide and accidental death rates here." Lin Shangren said seriously.

This reasoning was actually quite reasonable. After all, due to the existence of the curse, Kitayami Town had a much higher accident rate and mortality rate than the surrounding areas. However, a police officer from Beika Town investigating the high mortality rate in other places was somewhat of a joke.

"Cough cough."

Lin Shangren cleared his throat and continued, "There are rumors that the frequent accidents in this town are related to Class 3, Grade 3 of Kitayami Middle School. Most of the victims in these accidents are students of Class 3 or their families. Some also say that Class 3 is cursed, and it is this curse that has led to the series of deaths.

I initially thought it was just a rumor caused by survivor bias. But after sorting through the records of recent accidental deaths, I discovered that it was indeed true. The deceased were indeed related to the people in Grade 3, Class 3. I certainly don't believe in ghosts or gods, but the reality is indeed very strange, which is why I came here to investigate. Mr. Mikami is a local and a teacher at Kitayami Junior High School. Have you heard any rumors?"

"This……"

After hearing about the curse of Grade 3, Class 3, the usually carefree Sanshin Reiko's expression turned serious. She placed her teacup on the table and sat down across from Lin Shangren. After a moment's silence, she said, "Mr. Lin, if I told you that Grade 3, Class 3 might really be cursed, would you believe me?"

"Oh? Tell me."

"That's a long story." Sanshin Reiko gripped her wrist as if reminiscing. "Well, for over twenty years now, a strange thing has occasionally happened in the third grade class three at Kitayami Middle School. At the beginning of the school year, the third grade class three would sometimes be missing a set of student chairs, as if someone had appeared out of nowhere without anyone noticing.

It is said that the first case was discovered in 1973 when a set of desks and chairs was missing from Grade 3 Class 3 at the start of the new semester. Normally, the number of desks and chairs should be prepared in advance according to the class size of that year, and this kind of problem should not occur.

Initially, the teachers and students of Grade 3 Class 3 didn't take it seriously, thinking it was a mistake made by the General Affairs Office. After replacing the tables and chairs, they didn't think anything more of it.

Ah, that's right. It's unlikely that a student would appear out of nowhere, but starting in April of that year, someone related to the class would die every month. Sixteen people died that year: six students and ten family members.

What was truly bizarre was that at the end of that semester, when the third-grade class three was preparing to take graduation photos, out of consideration for the students' feelings, the school decided to include the deceased student's portrait in the graduation photo with the remaining students. However, after the teacher placed the deceased students' portraits in their respective places, they were surprised to discover an extra set of desks and chairs in the classroom! Or rather, one person was missing.

That person had appeared out of nowhere at the beginning of the semester. But neither the teachers nor the students could recall who the missing person, or rather the extra person, was, the person they'd studied and lived with for the entire semester. It was as if everyone's memory had been tampered with.

Incredible, right? But it's true. It wasn't just 1973; similar incidents occurred many times since then: a set of desks and chairs was missing at the beginning of the semester, people died in accidents during the semester, and an extra set of desks and chairs appeared during graduation photos at the end of the semester.

One or two instances might be accidental, but when it happens too often, it's natural to wonder if Class 3, Grade 3, is truly cursed. The school has tried many things, such as relocating the classroom and even canceling it for a while, leaving only Classes 1, 2, and 4.

But such incidents still happened as usual in Class 1, Grade 3, which was... my sister's class at the time."

Having said that, Reiko Mikami sighed and closed her eyes.

"That year, my father was seriously injured in the factory due to a colleague's improper operation, and my mother was involved in a car accident on the way to the hospital... and then... I'm sorry."

Reiko Mikami picked up the teacup on the table and drank all the tea in it.

After calming down, Sanshin Reiko continued, "I really don't want to blame Mom and Dad's accident on some curse or disaster, but my sister...she's always been blaming herself, blaming herself for transferring to Class 1 just because she wanted to be with her friends. If that wasn't the case, Mom and Dad might not have died... Phew...Sorry, I lost my temper again."

"I should apologize for making you recall such a sad thing." Lin Shangren held Sanshin Reiko's hand and began to soothe her emotions with the Eagle Finger.

Feeling the warmth coming from the back of her hand, Reiko Sanshin's emotions stabilized, and then she belatedly pulled her hand back.

"Oh, sorry." Lin Shangren said.

"No...that's not what I meant. I..."

Mikami Reiko waved her hands quickly, but she didn't know what to say. She had never been alone with a man her own age before, and Officer Lin had only held her hand to comfort her, but her reaction was certainly inappropriate. Whether it was embarrassment, shyness, or both, Mikami Reiko's face flushed red again.

Seeing this, Lin Shangren brought the topic back to the curse. He asked, "If that's true, then how has Beiyejian Middle School been able to operate for so many years? Furthermore, the case files I saw mentioned that the accidental deaths at Beiyejian Middle School seemed to have stopped for a few years."

"Ah, yes..."

Seeing that the officer across from her didn't seem to mind her reaction, Reiko Mikami breathed a sigh of relief. She continued, "It's said that over ten years ago, someone came up with an idea that could avert disaster by following this. Before school starts, someone in the class is assigned the role of 'the extra person.' Everyone in the class, including the teacher, then ignores that person. This way, when school starts, the class will be filled to its intended size, and the school year will pass without incident."

I initially dismissed this as nonsense. When I was fifteen, I was assigned to Class 3, Grade 3. My classmates acted exactly the same way, and even the teacher complied: no roll call, no questions about the 'non-existent person.' It was practically like collective isolation and bullying. But no disaster really happened that year. Back then, I simply thought the disaster was a school legend. It wasn't until last year, when I returned to teach at Kitayami Junior High School, that the Dean of Academic Affairs repeatedly reminded me to abide by the special rules of Class 3, Grade 3 and ignore the 'non-existent student.'

"Is that right?"

Up to this point, what Mikami Reiko had described hadn't deviated significantly from the original novel "Another." At this point, Mikami Reiko continued, "But there's another theory about the origin of the disaster. Some say it occurs on a regular basis, every three years. Choosing students to play 'non-existent people' isn't a true solution. Many of those peaceful years without disasters simply coincided with a vacuum. This isn't the true way to avoid disaster..."

"Oh, three years?"

"I don't know the details, but I heard that a group of students have been studying the patterns of so-called disasters. Officer Lin can ask them... If you can believe what I just said..." replied Sanshin Reiko.

"Gululu..."

Lin Shangren was about to say something when his stomach suddenly growled.

"Forehead……"

"Ah, well... I'll go get dinner ready. Tempura and curry rice, please?"