Chapter 233: Origin Of Hanako’s Curse
He Jia’an’s sudden disappearance caught the investigators from the Chosen Alliance, who were following him in secret, completely off guard. However, their leader, Matsumoto Gin, did not show any signs of fluster. Instead, he calmly and steadily said, “He’s likely stepped into a space channel leading to the Inner World again. It’s fine, we can just go in after him.”
Upon hearing this, the Chosen Alliance investigators fell silent in their positions. After a few seconds, someone spoke on the communication channel, “Let me go.”
“Count me in.”
“Me too…”
Suddenly, the people on the communication channel began to argue and petition for exploration of the deathly realm, all volunteering to go to the Inner World.
Matsumoto Gin remained as calm as ever, as if he had anticipated this. He said, “No need to argue. I’ve already decided on the personnel. I will lead the team myself…”
When everyone heard that Matsumoto Gin was going to personally go on the mission, they were all surprised and then began to urge him not to be impulsive.
But Matsumoto Gin’s decision was made. He said, “Becoming an S-class investigator is not a noble identity for me, nor is it a higher-ranking title. It’s as if receiving this title means I no longer have to do dangerous things. Quite the opposite… As a senior investigator, the more dangerous the event, the more I should be involved.”
Simply put, with great power comes great responsibility.
In a way, Matsumoto Gin is actually the same type of person as He Jia’an.
…
He Jia’an’s foot slipped, and his body plunged rapidly. After a fall through a dark passage lasting about ten seconds, he found that he had lost the sensation of weightlessness. His feet landed on a floor covered in stains and blood. He staggered and supported himself on a wall panel, barely preventing himself from falling.
“Where is this… Have I returned to the Inner World again?” He Jia’an wiped the blood from his hands. He intended to pick up his fallen hat, but finding it stained with blood, he gave up the idea. He walked out of the toilet with his head, still bandaged, on.
Ah—
As soon as he walked out of the toilet, He Jia’an’s gaze quickly caught sight of a huddled figure on the corridor. Without hesitation, he immediately pursued, “Kanon, don’t run! Talk to Uncle, Uncle will give you a red envelope!”
Hanako screamed again and fled in a wisp of black smoke, clearly feeling a strong threat from the power of the New Year’s red envelope.
Chasing all the way, he unknowingly arrived at the location of the biology classroom again. Since the door to the biology classroom was hidden, He Jia’an could not see the entrance to the classroom. However, Hanako easily passed through the wall and reached the space within the wall.
“I see, so this is the source of Hanako’s curse?” He Jia’an understood. He stepped forward and touched the spot where Hanako had just passed through the wall, but only felt the solid wall. He knocked on the wall, and it responded with a dull echo, as if telling him that the wall was thick and there was nothing inside.
“I’m very sorry, but today I have to dispel you no matter what.” He Jia’an murmured to himself softly. He walked into the adjacent office room, then opened the room’s window and jumped out. He stepped onto a protruding white edge that extended along the wall.
He Jia’an took a deep breath, summoned his courage, pressed his back against the wall, and moved sideways like a crab, crawling towards the window of the adjacent hidden room.
Below was solid ground, at least twelve meters high. Falling from here would surely be fatal. Moreover, for some reason, the weather in the Inner World today was very abnormal. It was not calm like when he entered this world last time, and he could still see the deathly silent red moon. Now, a storm was brewing in this city of the Inner World. The wind was howling, and dark clouds flashing with red lightning in the sky were gathering about two or three kilometers in front of He Jia’an. The sky had a huge void, and the clouds were swirling, lightning flashing amidst the wind and clouds, and thunder booming incessantly.
“Hey!” A gust of wind hit his shoulder. Just as he was about to lose his footing and fall, He Jia’an tightly grabbed the frame of the adjacent classroom window, narrowly avoiding a fall.
With a forehead full of cold sweat, He Jia’an quickly moved to the window, then opened it and successfully climbed into the biology classroom.
The moment he climbed into the classroom through the window, it was as if the classroom possessed some kind of will, realizing its bug, and immediately repaired itself, sealing the classroom window, leaving only a few gaps between wall bricks for light. However, the harsh weather outside offered no possibility of light penetrating, and the entire classroom was dim.
He Jia’an took out his mobile phone and turned on its flashlight to illuminate the biology classroom he had returned to.
The biology classroom was clean and tidy, as if nothing had happened. The human model was still placed by the wall, and countless jars of human tissue were neatly arranged on rows of shelving units.
Although he had only caught a glimpse last time and hadn’t paid much attention to the details, He Jia’an still sensed something strange.
The last time he escaped this classroom with Misaki Naomi, at the final moment, a huge monster had emerged from the summoning magic array of the ritual. Its size had almost filled the entire height and width of the classroom, like a massive train that had destroyed everything in the biology classroom.
Yet now, the classroom was clean and tidy, with all objects neatly placed, looking completely undamaged, and no signs of anomaly. It was as if the classroom had been reset, and all damaged items had been restored.
When the flashlight beam shone on the classroom’s blackboard, He Jia’an saw the magic array for the ritual, deliberately lacking in detail, just as Misaki Naomi had described the scene she saw during her experience.
“If I don’t complete it, it should be fine, right?” He Jia’an moved back a bit, making the light circle larger, and saw the almost complete blackboard. He then thought, “Speaking of which, where did Hanako hide?”
He Jia’an began to search around the biology classroom, not forgetting to observe the shelving units. When he reached the third to last row of shelving units, his expression immediately changed, because the transparent jars on this row of shelving units contained human heads!
“These should be Hanako’s trophies,” He Jia’an said, looking at the rows of “lifelike” human heads. Some had their eyes wide open in death, others had their eyes closed in regret, their expressions frozen at the last moment of their lives.
In one jar, He Jia’an saw a human head that had been dissolved by a chemical potion. The liquid inside the jar was turbid, and he saw a label stuck behind the jar, clearly reading “Kikuhide Ichi”.
But that wasn’t the end. He Jia’an continued to observe the heads on each shelving unit and soon made another discovery.
In one of the jars, a woman’s head was submerged, and the label on the jar indicated the name of the head’s owner during her lifetime.
Takayama Keika.
