An infinite journey starting from paradise

Reiko Mikami stood up.

"Excuse me, I'm a little hungry. Well, I'll come and help."

Maintaining this simulated dream world was quite costly, so Lin Shangren really needed to take in some nutrients. Of course, this wasn't the virtual nutrients found in the dream world.

"Luckily, I'd prepared well. I'd hidden a lot of food in the shadows of my stomach walls, and I'd also stored a lot of glucose solution in the shadows of my blood vessels. Even though my consciousness was in a dream, my real body would automatically release this stored energy when I became hungry.

Judging by the rate of consumption, it can still last quite a while. However, time in the conscious world is separate from the physical world. A few days in a dream might pass in a flash in reality. This world should be enough to sustain me until I can uncover the truth."

……

An hour later, with the help of Lin Shangren, Sanshin Reiko prepared dinner.

A man and a woman were alone in the same room, sitting across from each other at the same dining table. After Sanshen Reiko expressed her gratitude to Lin Shangren once again, she didn't know what to say, and the atmosphere was very awkward.

In the end, it was Lin Shangren who spoke first: "Teacher Sanshen, could you introduce me to the principal of Beiyejian Middle School? I would like to conduct an on-site investigation at the school as a teacher."

"Ah, ah, of course. It's a bit late now, is tomorrow okay?"

"Thank you."

"..."

"..."

"that……"

"Ah, you say!"

In her nervousness, Reiko Sanshin's chopsticks fell out of her hand.

"What am I doing? Why am I so nervous? I'm behaving so strangely..." Reiko Mikami kept blaming herself in her heart.

Reiko Sanshin, who has lived alone for many years, is indeed not very good at interacting with people. She has a carefree personality but is also very sensitive. She has a lot of inner drama and is prone to internal exhaustion.

"I want to know where the hotel in town is. I just got here today and haven't found a place to stay yet."

Sanshin Reiko replied subconsciously: "If you don't mind, you can stay at my house tonight. There are many empty rooms in my house..."

As soon as she said it, she felt a little regretful. Was this too abrupt? What if she was misunderstood?

"That's great, thank you Miss Lianzi." Lin Shangren said.

"Ah...ah?! No, I mean, you're welcome."

The author says:

Author's words: Here are more than 4,000 words. If nothing unexpected happens, I will continue to update twice a day tomorrow.

Chapter 324: Speculation

"Sister's room is empty, and the quilt and pillow are still there... should be okay, right? And... oh oh! There's so much unwashed clothes piled up in the toilet and bathroom. What if someone sees... ahhhhhh..."

Although Sanshin Reiko maintained a faint smile on the surface, her heart was already making a sharp explosion.

Since Lin Shangren had already agreed to stay tonight, it was obviously difficult for her to find an excuse to ask him to leave. There was no other way, so she could only bite the bullet and take him to her sister's room, and then find a chance to hide the dirty clothes in the bathroom somewhere else.

Wait a minute?

Right now!

Mikami Reiko stood up abruptly. "Sorry, I have to excuse myself for a moment. Thank you for your hospitality... oh no... Anyway, I have to leave for a while!"

"Um... please."

Looking at Sanshin Reiko rushing to the bathroom in a panic, Lin Shangren finally couldn't hold back his laughter.

"Puchi... This girl is just too funny. Luckily, I saved her... at least in this dream world."

The time in this simulated dream world is roughly two weeks after Lin Shangren captured Kaito Kidd, which is three weeks before the real world. In other words, according to normal time logic, the real Sanshin Reiko has already met with an unexpected accident...

Fortunately, the real world doesn't follow normal time logic. Before being observed by outsiders like Lin Shangren, everything remains uncertain. Sanshen Lianzi is still in a quantum superposition of life and death. This is why her consciousness can enter this world of consciousness.

"Fortunately, this world has been constantly being rewritten, and the display is not fixed. In this way, some irreparable tragedies have also waited for the opportunity to be changed and rewritten." Lin Shangren thought to himself.

"Xiao Ai, you said this world is so abnormal. Could it be that someone is constantly rewriting the reality of this world because they want to rewrite an irreversible tragedy, or save someone who died accidentally?

If that's the case, then wouldn't I be the biggest suspect? Hey, hey, hey, don't let it end up being me who's directing and acting all by myself here, if that's the case I'm going to curse everyone out!"

[Hehe. Do you believe it yourself? (?_?)]

"That's obviously unbelief."

Lin Shangren stretched, his body had already replenished its energy in the real world.

"But speaking of redeeming someone, the curse in the original novel of 'Another' originated from the fact that the students of Class 3, Grade 3, couldn't bear to see their classmate die in vain twenty-six years ago, so they pretended he was still alive... and then the following year, the deceased was resurrected in Class 3, Grade 3... eh?!"

Lin Shangren seemed to have grasped something important.

"I didn't pay much attention to this when I first watched 'Another'. After all, it's a mystery based on setting, and the setting is just the beginning of the mystery question, just for fun. However, after mixing in this world view where magic exists, things may be different.

Could it be that this wasn't a curse at all, but some kind of magical ritual to resurrect the dead, with those who died in the disaster being the sacrifices?

No...it's not just this town, if we expand the scope..."

Lin Shangren suddenly had a memory from his previous life flash through his mind. It was a conversation between him and his friend after he recommended "Another" to him.

"Hey, Lao Lin, if we bring the world view of "Another" into Conan, wouldn't Kudo Shinichi have died long ago?" Hou Yi asked. "Huh? What the hell?"

Hou Yi continued, "Look, is there a possibility that Kudo Shinichi died after being drugged by Gin, and Conan is actually the product of his resurrection in the form of a dead person. He is dead but does not know it, and has returned to the world of the living. And those murders are the disasters caused by him. Doesn't this just explain his physique of the god of death?"

"Fuck, it makes sense and is convincing. I suggest you write it into a manga online novel." Lin Shangren replied perfunctorily.

"So what did we do? I think we started a thrilling game of MK11. I was Liu Kang and Hou Yi was Scorpion. I brutally finished him off twice, and then he was at red level and insisted on having a real-life death match with me...

No, that's not the point. The point is the strange phenomena here, in Beika Town, and throughout the world: the absurdly high homicide and death rates, the tampering of people's perceptions and memories of certain events—people outside have their perceptions of seasons and time distorted, and people here have their memories of the resurrected dead altered... well... the resurrection of the dead itself is a rewriting of existing reality.

If so, could the reason behind the resurrection of the dead and the disasters happening in this town be the truth behind the world being overwritten?"

Thinking of this, Lin Shangren finally confirmed the direction of his next investigation: to investigate the original deceased twenty-six years ago, the student named Misaki.

"There isn't much description of Yamiyama in the original work. The character closest to him is probably Kitayami Junior High School's librarian, Chiyo Tatsuji. He was the homeroom teacher of Class 3, Grade 3, 26 years ago.

However, this world is very different from the original work. Even Sanshin Reiko's parents died early. Could he have met with an accident as well?"

Thinking of this, Lin Shangren quickly spread out his shadow touch, and the sticky darkness instantly spread across the entire town under the setting sun.

"Bei Ye Jian Middle School... Bei Ye Jian Middle School... Found it, and then..."

Just as Lin Shangren was about to take in the details of what was happening inside Beiyejian Middle School, his stomach began to growl again, and he began to feel dizzy. Then, Yingzhao instantly retreated to his feet, and Lin Shangren himself, as if suffering from hypoglycemia, staggered and dove headfirst into the plate on the table.

“Ahahahaha… I was so rude just now… Eh?!!!”

Sanshin Reiko walked back with an awkward smile, just in time to see Lin Shangren grabbing the plate with his head.

Fortunately, Lin Shangren's reaction was quite quick, and his waist muscles were well-developed. He instantly jumped up and sat up straight before his face touched the curry rice on the plate.

"Officer Lin?"

"Ah... Miss Sanshen's cooking skills are amazing, and the curry smells so good..." Lin Shangren replied, his face a little pale.

"Officer Lin, are you okay? You look so bad. Are you feeling unwell?" asked Sanshin Reiko worriedly.

"It's okay... I'm fine."

Lin Shangren's body in the real world began to absorb stored nutrients again, and his physical condition quickly adjusted back to normal.

"It seems that most of the energy in my body is used to maintain this world. Not only can the Four Beasts Dice and Heart Shadow abilities not be used for the time being, but other abilities can't be used at high power either."

Lin Shangren calmed himself down and then asked Sanshin Reiko, "Miss Sanshin, is there a teacher named Qianye Chenzhi in your school?"

"Mr. Qianye? Yes, he used to teach Chinese and was my homeroom teacher. He's now the school librarian. And his house isn't far away, just one block away. Why is Lin Shangren asking this? Are you investigating Mr. Qianye?"

"I do have some questions I want to ask him. Is Miss Sanshen available? If possible, could you introduce him to someone?" Lin Shangren asked.

"Of course." Reiko Mikami replied.

……

Half an hour later.

Under the guidance of Sanshin Reiko, Lin Shangren came to the home of teacher Qianye.

This was a row of two-story, single-family houses, each with a small front yard. The rough-hewn concrete walls showed signs of age, and the front doors were still the old-fashioned style, painted red with white lines and tied to a mailbox with wire. One of the houses was the most severely deteriorated, with signs of rot visible even at the base of the wooden door. The front awning was covered in bougainvillea, a dense mass of green that swallowed up the delicate flower buds in the center and cascaded over the wooden door, giving it the appearance of a deserted house from a distance.

This house, which looks particularly shabby among a group of old houses, is Qianye Chenzhi's residence.

"Dong dong dong..."

Reiko Sanshin knocked on the door of Qianye's house.

"Teacher Qianye, I'm Sanshin. A police officer wants to see you. Teacher Qianye..."

"Click~Crunch~"

The door opened, and out came a thin man with medium-length white hair and black round-framed glasses. There were not many wrinkles on his face, and his clothes were clean and decent, but he still gave people a feeling of decadence and old age.

"Teacher Mikami, and... who is this?"

"Special Inspector Hayashi Naoto of the Metropolitan Police Department." He showed his credentials. "I'm here to ask you some questions, Teacher Qianye. Are you available now?"

"police?"

Qian Yechenzhi looked at Lin Shangren with confusion, then he made way for him and said, "Please come in, both of you."

Chapter 325: Meteorite? Pandora?

Hayashi Naoto and Sanshin Reiko followed Chiye Tatsuji into the house. Chiye's interior was as spartan as it looked from the outside. The living room contained only two old sofas and a Mitsubishi CRT TV, which looked quite dated under the dim tungsten light. However, the floor was remarkably clean, and the house, while shabby, was still quite tidy.

"Please feel free to sit down. Since few people come to visit me, I don't have any water cups for guests at home. I apologize for the poor hospitality." Qianye Chenzhi sat on the sofa and picked up the remote control to turn off the TV series that was broadcasting the evening news.

Then he asked Lin Shangren, "Excuse me, Mr. Policeman, are you here to investigate a case that requires my cooperation?"

Lin Shangren didn't mince words, but went straight to the point and asked, "I'd like to know about Yamiyama Misaki, and what happened to Class 3, Grade 3 after his unexpected death 26 years ago?"

"Have the police finally believed the curse?" Chiye Chenzhi seemed a little excited. "Or is it that the government is finally willing to abolish Kitayami Middle School?"

Lin Shangren followed up Qianye Chenzhi's words and said, "These things can only be confirmed after we have thoroughly investigated them. So, I hope that you can cooperate with me, Teacher Qianye."

"Well... well." Qianye Chenzhi sighed, "To be honest, I really don't want to talk about that incident twenty-six years ago. However, if you ask who knows the most about what happened in Class Three, Grade Three back then, I'm the only one in Beiyemi Town."

Chiye Tatsuji closed his eyes, as if reminiscing. Then, in a low, cautious voice, he spoke, "Twenty-six years ago, Misaki, the most popular student in Class 3, Grade 3, died. Everyone in the class was so sad, so we all pretended Misaki was still alive. We kept Misaki's seat, and during breaks, some students would go to her seat to chat and play, and even pretend to walk home with her after school..."

No one had any ill intentions; everyone was kind. The teachers understood the students' grief and acquiesced to the action. At the graduation ceremony, the principal even reserved a spot for a photo with Misaki, but he didn't expect..."

"Please wait a moment." Lin Shangren interrupted Qianye Chenzhi and asked, "Teacher Qianye, who was the one who proposed to pretend that Yamiyama was still alive twenty-six years ago?"

"Who was the first person to bring this up?" Chiye Tatsuji rested his knuckles on his chin as if in deep thought. "It was a spontaneous act by the students of Class 3 back then. There's probably no one deliberately organizing it. If we're to say who was the first to pretend Misaki was still alive, it must be Misaki."

"Misaki? Misaki or Misaki, is it a surname or a name?" asked Lin Shangren.

"It was her name. Her name was Tokita Misaki," Chie Tatsuji recalled. "She was a good friend of Misaki Yamiyama. They were childhood sweethearts and neighbors, and their names were pronounced the same. They were very close, like siblings. She was probably the student who was most heartbroken after Misaki passed away."

"Oh? Is that so? Then may I ask if this Tokita Misaki is still in Kitayami Town?" Lin Shangren continued to ask.

Chiye Tatsuji thought for a moment and replied, "She must have moved away. Maybe she returned to her hometown, or maybe she married and moved to another city. I don't know where exactly she went. But her two younger sisters still live in Kitayami. Officer, you can ask them. They are twins, Mitsuyo and Yukyo. Mitsuyo married into the Fujioka family on the other side of town. Yukyo lives closer. Coincidentally, Yukyo's husband's last name is also Misaki. She now runs a doll workshop."

"Oh, you mean the three sisters' original surname is Shitian? Then their hometown should be Liujiao Village, right?" Lin Shangren asked.

Chiye Tatsuji said, "Officer, you've also heard of the Clock House in Rokkaku Village, right? Yes, the sisters are from the Tokida family of the Clock House. However, I heard that the Tokida family doesn't recognize women who marry out of the village, so they probably didn't have much contact with the Tokida family."

"Teacher Qianye is really well-informed."

"After all, I have lived here for so many years, and they are students I taught. I still remember their information very clearly." Qianye Chenzhi replied.

"Oh, right. Teacher Chiye, can you tell me about Yamiyamasaki's cause of death? The police files are confusing. Some say it was a plane crash, others say it was a car accident. What was the real cause of death?"

"It was a fire. I remember it very clearly. One night in May, his house suddenly caught fire and the whole house was burned down. No one in the family was spared, including his parents and his younger brother who was one year younger than him." Qianye Chenzhi recalled.

"Fire? What was the cause of the fire? An accident or arson?"

"I'm not sure about that. It probably wasn't set by someone. I've heard people say it was caused by a meteorite."

"Huh? Meteorite? Is it true?" This time it was Sanshin Reiko who raised the voice of surprise.

"Teacher Mikami, don't you know? Legend has it that Mount Yami was formed from a meteorite that fell here tens of thousands of years ago. This area produces meteoric iron ore, and during the Warring States Period, Hideyoshi even built an arsenal here. Legend has it that the wealthy Hannya family from Rokkaku Village took root here during that time.

Many meteorites have fallen here in modern times. The Chaomidai (Morning View Terrace) across the river was built during the Meiji era for observing meteors and Halley's Comet. Misaki's family lived near the Chaomidai (Morning View Terrace) in the western suburbs. Someone testified that they saw a meteor fall nearby that night, suspecting it was the cause of the fire... but it seems no meteorite fragments were collected by authorities.

Meteorites, Halley's Comet, fire, Rokkaku Village, Hannya family, magic, curse, reality rewriting, distorted consciousness...

A series of key words kept flashing through Lin Shangren's mind.

"What's missing? Something to connect everything? If everything in this world is intrinsically connected... Pandora!"

Lin Shangren's mind instantly flashed back to information about Pandora: Thousands of years ago, when Halley's Comet reached perihelion, the fragments from its tail disintegrated into the Orionid meteor shower, an unprecedented meteor shower. Within this shower, a strange blue-purple meteorite fell to Earth and was retrieved by ancient alchemists. At the meteorite's core, the alchemists recovered a "gem within a gem." While later generations have no way of knowing what this "gem within a gem" meant, they only know that the alchemists named the gem, imbued with powerful power, "Pandora."

Seventy-six years after Pandora's arrival, Halley's Comet once again reached perihelion. On the night of Halley's Comet's passage, Pandora shed a tear at the full moon. Alchemists discovered that this tear contained a powerful life force, and swallowing it could grant immortality.