Horror simulator, if you survive till tomorrow, you win

"so what?"

Ito Jun didn't quite understand.

"The twisting and turning that your companion saw, or the twisting and turning that invaded the human body, was locked into this mirror stone and may have appeared in some form."

"I still don't quite understand. Is the mirror stone equivalent to a twisting eye?"

Ito Jun summarized Runma Saetsuki's words with a very superficial description.

"Then why aren't there any human figures reflected on it? I can't see anyone but can only be seen by others when I twist and turn. Is that the case?"

"That's pretty much it."

After hearing Ito Jun's description, Runjian Saetsuki thought about it and first gave a positive answer, saying that it was about the same. Then he said, "Maybe it has something to do with cognition. The twists and turns are based on human subjective weirdness. Compared with known natural phenomena, humans are more difficult to understand and recognize."

"Cognition? ... Then what is the use of this thing?"

Ito Jun was asked about what he cared about most. He was a pragmatist and didn't care what the Mirror Stone was. He just wanted to know where the Mirror Stone could be used.

"Everything is still unknown, because it won't be affected by touching it, and it won't be destroyed if you leave it there. With current science, there's no way to figure out what it's made of or what it's used for."

What disappointed Ito Jun was that Runma Saetsuki didn't know much more about Mirror Stone than he did. Runma Saetsuki's research only analyzed the principle of the birth of Mirror Stone.

From a scientific point of view, this is a great achievement, but Ito Jun is just an ordinary man, and the props that cannot be used in practice are just collections in his view.

Ito Jun put the mirror stone back into the sealed bag, still using a clip.

"These are things I pulled off my companions' bodies. They seem to have twisted around and parasitized the human body before growing out. Will this have any effect on the human body?"

Taking out a sealed bag containing a transparent substance, Ito Jun asked Runma Saeki.

Runma Saeki looked at Ito Jun in surprise. She seemed to have not expected that Ito Jun could do this.

"You can think of it as the branches of a parasitic plant. Generally, when the plant twists and turns and disappears, the branches will also disappear, provided that the person being parasitized is still alive and is still recognizing and understanding it. If the person being parasitized dies before the plant twists and turns and disappears, the branches will take shape on the body of the person being parasitized. As for its use, it is not yet known because it is too dangerous and existing scientific methods are of little help."

Ito Jun nodded silently.

It is completely understandable. Runma Saeki doesn't have a simulator and she only has one life. Facing these things that can kill you if you're not careful, if he's not careful, he won't be able to see her now.

In this case, he still has to test these things taken out from the other world himself - in the simulator.

Because it was too late, Runma Saeki did not let Ito Jun leave alone, but let him stay overnight at her house.

There are two guest rooms in the Runjian family, one of which shows signs of having been lived in, so Runjian Saeki arranged for Ito Jun to live there.

Runma Saeki explained, "My friend from university comes to stay here once in a while."

Ito Jun pretended to be casual and asked, "Boyfriend?"

"She's a cute girl. Curry, omelette rice, pasta, instant noodles, fried dumplings...what do you like to eat?"

Runma Saetsuki opened the refrigerator while speaking.

"Don't bother too much, instant noodles will do."

"Instant noodles... Is that enough? How about some thick omelette and fried chicken?"

"can."

Runma Saeki put on an apron and started busying herself in the kitchen. Ito Jun put his camera bag and camera in the guest room and walked out to walk around the living room.

The living room of Runjian's house was simple and clear, and there was nothing worth noting. However, when he walked to the storage cabinet by the wall, he saw more than a dozen photos.

I have no idea what’s in the photo. I can only see the intertwining of blue-green light, and the rich color covers up what should have been photographed.

However, only a few parts are unclear, and there are a few photos where you can clearly see the content.

Stations, tunnels, ruins, buildings, streets, woods, hillsides... There is no pattern, no similarities...

"what?"

Ito Jun picked up a photo that seemed to be a photo of a town taken from a high altitude. He felt that the photo looked a little familiar.

After careful recollection, a similar picture emerged in my mind. Isn't this the [Dao] town?

Ito Jun looked again and found three photos of Dao Town, one of which seemed to show the figure of the original body's mother.

Ito Jun narrowed his eyes, looked carefully, and found that it was indeed the original body's mother - Ito Kaori.

Ito Kaori seemed to be at the edge of the town and was running into the town. Yes, judging from the pace of her steps, she was running, and it felt like she was being chased by something, but no one could be seen in the photo.

"Teacher Saeki, did you take any pictures when you went to Dao Town?"

Ito Jun became suspicious, walked to the kitchen door with the photo and asked Runma Saetsuki.

"Yes, because I'm researching the world of the living and ghost stories, I often travel to various places in District 11, and I take pictures of any unusual places I come across."

Runma Saeki turned her back to Ito Jun and responded to Ito Jun in a flat tone while making thick omelette.

Chapter 37: Pitting the Son

"I saw a photo that looked like my mother was in it?"

Ito Jun leaned against the wall at the door and said in a questioning tone.

"Mrs. Ito seemed to be being chased by something at the time. Perhaps it was time?"

Runma Saeki spoke calmly, and didn't seem to find anything strange.

"so……"

Ito Jun held up the photo and looked at it carefully.

He couldn't tell anything from the photo, but his intuition told him that things were not that simple.

After all, my mom is a folklorist, which is not a normal profession.

"The unusual thing about Daozhen is that it's easy to get lost, right?"

"It seems to be because of the special magnetic field."

"Magnetic field reason..."

Ito Jun couldn't remember whether it was because of the magnetic field. If so, the magnetic field factor was also a strange phenomenon. Otherwise, it would not have become the last refuge...refuge?

Ito Jun's eyes became serious. In Chu Xuan's plan, Dao Town was his last refuge. Why? Because if he stayed there for too long, he would not be able to survive outside.

So why did mother Ito Kaori and father Ito Takeru, who often went out, choose to settle in the town of Dao?

In Ito Jun's memory, his parents often went out and each time they came back, they would not stay for more than half a month.

Obviously, they have a job that requires them to go out frequently, but they choose to settle in Dao Town, which affects their sense of direction. It is hard not to wonder if they also regard Dao Town as a refuge.

"Teacher Saeki, why did you come to my house as a tutor?"

"Why? There's no special reason. I got along well with Mrs. Ito. I told her that I was a part-time tutor, so she asked me to tutor you... Actually, that wasn't our first meeting. I met Mrs. Ito in Iwate in the northeast half a year ago. Mrs. Ito is also a well-educated folklorist and has a lot of insights into the legends of feathers in the northeast."

"Feathers appear?"

"It's a legend for girls. It's said that when a bride in Northeast China gets married, she will inherit feathers from her mother."

"what is that?"

"It's white and light, like the tail of a sentence or the pappus of a dandelion. It's a form that girls and children like. It's said that the feathers will hide in places that people can't see, and then multiply without people noticing, and happiness will come to that family."

"A beautiful fairy tale?"

As they were talking, Runma Saeki turned off the fire and put the thick omelette on a plate. The instant noodles were already cooked. Ito Jun immediately went in to help and brought the noodles and dishes to the dining table outside.

Sitting opposite Runma Saetsuki, while eating, Ito Jun was still thinking about his parents and Dao Town.

At the beginning, Ito Kaori insisted on not letting him leave Dao Town. Was it because they had provoked some monsters outside? If they hid in Dao Town, the monsters would not be able to find them, but once they left Dao Town, the monsters would come to them.

Is the reason why you become a folklorist and archaeologist and often leave the town of Dao to find ways to solve the weirdness?

Wait! If that's the case, then wouldn't it be more than a decade ago, before the original body was born, that the Ito couple were being targeted by the monster?

Ito Jun's expression suddenly turned ugly.

This is too fucking ridiculous, right? What kind of nightmare-level life story is this?!

After dinner, Ito Jun took the initiative to go to the kitchen to wash the dishes. After cleaning up everything, Ito Jun borrowed a cell phone from Runma Saeki, walked out the door, and called home.

Although it was already eleven o'clock in the evening, Ito Jun didn't care. He just wanted to know how the Ito couple had tricked him.

"Ms. Runjian, why are you calling at this time?"

Half a minute later, the call was connected, and an impatient female voice came from the phone.

"it's me."

"Who are you? Am I my fraud?"

"Mom, it's me, Jun Ito. I lost my phone, so I borrowed Teacher Saeki's phone to call you."

Ito Jun called out that name stiffly.

"Xiao Run? What happened? Why did you call back at this time?"

The voice coming from the phone became concerned. Ito Junya didn't know if it was an illusion, but he could hear some nervousness.

"The one-legged woman with the red umbrella, do you know her?"

"Oil-paper umbrella?! Did you see that thing? Are you okay?"

The voice coming from the phone became much louder, and the words were filled with worry and panic.

"How can it be good?! What is that thing? What are you hiding from me?!"

Ito Jun asked excitedly, after all this time, he was cheated by his parents. He had heard of fathers cheating their fathers, but it was rare to see one cheating its son!

"Not knowing is also a form of protection. Knowing too much is harmful... Now it seems that I can't not tell you. I'm sorry..."

Ito Kaori sighed and said bitterly.

"Twenty years ago, I mistakenly entered a hotel and saw a monster called the Windlass Head. It seemed that it was more than just the Windlass Head... Sorry, now is not the time to talk about folklore knowledge. The Windlass Head and I made a promise..."

At this point, the sound from the phone was interrupted. If Ito Jun hadn't been able to hear the breathing sound, he would have thought that there was no one on the other end.

"What agreement?"

Ito Jun asked urgently.

"If I have a child in the future, I will give it to it..."

After saying that, Ito Kaori fell silent again.

"What did you say?"

Ito Jun's breathing became heavy and his eyes were filled with anger.

"When I was pregnant with you, the Windlass Head found me, and the feathers inherited from my mother protected us. Later, we found a small town called Dao, and our whole family moved in to avoid the Windlass Head's pursuit... I'm sorry, Arun, so I didn't want you to leave the town from the beginning, but Jian thought you couldn't be locked up in that small town for the rest of your life."

"So you want me to come out and die?"

Ito Jun said sarcastically.

"No, how could that be? We didn't expect the amulet to lose its effect."

amulet?

Ito Jun touched his trouser pocket and took out a string of nuts, which was the so-called amulet.

"My father used to be a factory worker. He used a talisman to drive away the messenger of the windlass head... And Ken and I have been looking for a way to expel the monster..."

"Okay, I don't want to hear any nonsense. I just want to know, the amulet is ineffective, is there any other way?"

Ito Jun was too lazy to listen to the nonsense of defense and interrupted Ito Kaori coldly.

"……No."

Ito Kaori's voice was very soft, which showed that she had no confidence.

"I see."

Ito Jun hung up the phone and sighed heavily.

"What's this all about!"

Chapter 38: Black eats black

Jun Ito now has two choices.