Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

Page 249

The alleyway was filled with air conditioner outdoor units, and the hot air blowing out of these units made the already high temperature even higher, with a constant whirring sound.

No wonder not many people take this seemingly fast shortcut.

Xiangzi's original goal was to find a secluded place, stop the girl named Lin Hai, and try to get information out of her.

If you say something that upsets her in a crowded place and she gets away, it will be very difficult to catch her again.

Therefore, the best place is one with few people, noise to provide cover, and difficulty in escaping.

By blocking the way in front and Aiyin blocking the way behind... it sounds like I'm some kind of petty thug who corners people in an alley.

She's not that kind of person.

This is simply the quickest and most convenient method available right now: desuwa.

"Are you Lin Hai, the one who sent the distress signal? I'd like to talk to you."

Xiangzi called out to the person in front of him.

The other person turned around and observed Xiangzi through glasses as thick as the bottom of a beer bottle.

Meanwhile, Xiangzi was also observing her.

Wearing glasses, with thick bangs and double braids, he looks gloomy and doesn't seem to have many friends. He's a typical invisible person in the class, and if he's even worse off, he'll be bullied.

Indeed, that was the case. While everyone else left the school in twos and threes, she waited until the sun was almost setting before walking out of the school all alone.

This is the person who sent a distress signal to Rinrinko.

"I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Toyokawa Shoko. I work at FM. Reed Plain Late Night Radio Station. Rinrinko, the anchor, received your SOS and wants to know about your situation." Shoko politely gave a brief self-introduction and bowed slightly to Lin Hai.

"(Little Master, you're being way too direct!)" Ai Yin poked her head out from behind the air conditioner unit. "(And you sound so familiar with that part-time job excuse, how do you manage to make it up without batting an eye?)"

"(What does 'talking nonsense without batting an eye' even mean? How awful.)" Xiangzi thought to himself. "(That's called improvisation.)"

"(Okay, adapt to the situation.)"

While arguing with Ai Yin in his mind, Xiangzi also kept an eye on Lin Hai's every move.

After asking his question, Lin Hai seemed to pause for a moment.

Xiangzi couldn't see Lin Hai's glasses clearly; the lenses were too thick. She had no idea what Lin Hai was thinking.

After a dozen seconds, Lin Hai stood there as if his computer had crashed.

How is this going?

Is it the extreme kind of social anxiety, the kind where you're too afraid to say a word to a stranger?

Judging from her outfit, it's quite possible.

"(Little Master, do you think the same way I do?)" Aine poked half her head out, looking this way. "(She seems to be socially awkward.)"

Xiangzi twitched the corner of his mouth.

Even Aine noticed.

If you're dealing with someone who has social anxiety, it can be very difficult to get them to talk.

"Hello?" Xiangzi asked again.

Lin Hai stared at Xiangzi for a long time before finally managing to utter a sentence.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about."

She hugged her schoolbag, walked around Xiangzi, and continued walking forward.

"(What should I do, little master?)"

"(I'll think of a way too.)" Xiangzi's brain began to work quickly.

It's impossible to get anything out of her normally. If we use any forceful methods, we might even scare her into a stress response. This type of social anxiety can cause stress that's even more terrifying than cat stress; it could really land you in the hospital.

but......

Based on Xiangzi's experience working as a customer service representative, he learned that many people with social anxiety have completely different personalities online and offline.

Although it's a stereotype, Xiangzi thinks that Lin Hai might actually be a completely different person online.

Maybe adding her as a friend on social media and chatting with her there would work?

"(I've got an idea.)"

“(Huh?)”

"Excuse me, please wait a moment!"

Xiangzi quickly walked around to Lin Hai's side and blocked her way.

"How about this, let's add each other as friends on social media, and chat online when you have time, okay?"

The air seemed to freeze for a moment.

Looking at Lin Hai's glasses, Xiangzi felt that something was off.

Yue—Yi: Qiming's Qi San Si is very disharmonious.

Very strange.

It's not that social anxiety is strange compared to normal people, but rather a different kind of... indescribable eeriness.

"(Come on, this sounds really weird.)" Aine exclaimed. "(If a complete stranger suddenly blocks your way in an alley and asks for your social media friends, do you think a normal person would think it's a pyramid scheme or a sudden, unexpected romance?)"

Xiangzi swallowed hard, ignoring Aiyin.

She was waiting for Lin Hai's reply.

Once she answers, everything will be settled.

"Sorry, I don't know what you're talking about." Lin Hai's tone remained indifferent and distant. She walked around Xiangzi and continued forward.

Rejected decisively, Xiangzi stood still, his back to the receding forest.

"Little Master, it seems she doesn't intend to pay any attention to us."

Aiyin walked up from behind the air conditioner unit, stood next to Xiangzi, and watched Lin Hai walk away little by little.

"Even if she really knows something, isn't it a bit inappropriate for her to keep bothering her like this?"

"it is as expected."

"Huh?" Aine blinked. "What do you mean, 'I knew it'?"

Aine looked at Xiangzi's expression and noticed a faint smile on her face—the kind of smile that a certain elementary school student who is a death god would show when he discovers the key to solving a case.

Xiangzi turned around again and stopped Lin Hai before she left the alley.

Lin Hai stopped and looked up at her without saying a word.

Xiang Erliu Er (} Er) Ying/373 Ling 8 Erzi took a deep breath.

"Ms. Rinrinko, we've received more than one SOS message. We're very interested in your situation and want to offer as much help as possible. We're really not playing a prank. Could you please help with our investigation? If you feel we don't have enough time right now, we can add a serial number..."

"Sorry, I don't know what you're talking about." Lin Hai said the same thing for the third time in the same tone, and once again prepared to walk around Xiangzi and out of the alley.

"(We've already said they don't want to talk to us at all. They've said the same thing three times. Their rejection is pretty obvious.)" Ai Yin frowned, put her hands on her hips, and looked past Lin Hai at Xiangzi, who was blocking the road.

"No, this is not a rejection at all."

Suddenly, Xiangzi raised his hand, and a pistol with a silencer materialized in his hand, which he pressed against Lin Hai's forehead.

boom.

Xiangzi spoke softly as he pulled the trigger.

"She is not human at all."

clatter--

A sound like a typewriter echoed through the alley as a bullet pierced Lin Hai's forehead.

The Lost Tale: The Lost Child: Chapter 305 Program?

With a "click".

That was the sound of a bullet leaving the barrel, its tone altered by a silencer.

The bullet pierced Lin Hai's skull and exited from the back of her head, nearly creating a hole in Ai Yin's body as well.

However, that's impossible. Pistol bullets don't have that much kinetic energy, so even if they did fly towards Aine, they wouldn't cause much damage.

At most, it'll just give you a shock.

Like now.

"what--!"

Ai-yin's screams echoed in the alley, drowning out the noise of the air conditioner unit.

She watched helplessly as Xiangzi pulled out a gun and shot Lin Hai in the head, watching Lin Hai's body fall to the ground, right in front of her.

"You...you...you...you killed someone!"

Ai Yin covered her mouth as her stomach began to spasm violently.

“You—you!”

She never imagined that Xiangzi would actually kill someone right in front of her!

That's a human! Not a witch!

In Ai Yin's eyes, Xiangzi's appearance seemed to swell up in the hot air from the air conditioner unit, becoming taller and more terrifying...

"What happened to me?" Xiangzi raised his eyebrows, walked around Lin Hai, and stood in front of Ai Yin.

She bent down and gently tapped Ai-yin's forehead.

"Take a good look at what this is."

Bang bang.

"It hurts." Ai Yin covered her forehead and looked up at the figure that had completely blocked out the light from the alley.

"Why are you looking at me? Look at it." Xiangzi gestured with his pistol behind him.

Aine then turned her gaze over.

Lin Hai's "corpse" lay motionless on the ground, as peaceful as a dead person—oops! Wasn't she a dead person...?

zizi——

A pattern resembling garbled text lit up on Lin Hai's body.

what is that?

Ai Yin squinted at the lump of stuff.

Looks familiar.

The thing on Lin Hai's body was flashing and looked very familiar. That was... that looked like... the colorful snowflakes that sometimes appear on a computer screen when a program has a bug.

what.

Aine suddenly remembered that she had seen such snowflakes somewhere before.

It's not a computer, but... Su Shi.

After Su Shi revealed her true identity to herself, Xiangzi came out and rescued her. Then, Su Shi was shot several times by Xiangzi, and her body began to flash with these snowflake-like dots. Later, when Su Shi's body was run over by the tram, Aine vaguely remembered seeing something similar.

Now, the same snowflake-like spots are also appearing on Lin Hai's body.

Moreover, the number of snowflakes increased over time, and Lin Hai's body was gradually covered by the snowflakes, becoming increasingly blurry.

Is that so...

Aine seemed to understand.

This "Lin Hai" is the same thing as the "Nagasaki Motoyo" she met before.

"Well, now you know what's going on, right?" Xiangzi watched as Lin Hai's body was gradually covered by snowflakes on the ground, then turned to Aine and said, "What we're facing isn't even human, or even a familiar."

That was a "phenomenon," or rather an "illusion," created by the witch's subconscious mind to mimic reality, which should have originally existed only within the barrier.

Inside the Nirvana Barrier, those grayish ghosts were the same kind of thing as Lin Hai, whom Xiangzi had just killed.

"Ah..." Aine sat blankly on the ground, still somewhat lost in thought. "So... that's how it is..."