Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 20: Umeta Oshima

A club activity room that was temporarily borrowed.

Heisei Ryu, accompanied by his assistant and Principal Asano who had arrived after hearing the news, stared sternly at the student sitting in the chair, trembling with panic.

"Oshima-kun, what exactly did you see last night? Tell me everything right now, don't try to fob me off with ghost stories. Or were you threatened? Tell me honestly, I assure you, the school will protect you, and the Metropolitan Police Department will protect you too."

Principal Asano looked earnest and anxious.

Why is this poor kid claiming to have seen demons and monsters? Where in the world do such things exist? He's been the principal for so long, how could he not know whether there are real ghost stories in the school?

It's just that these teenagers have a lot of ideas and scare themselves all the time.

You see, the longer the case drags on, the more pressure he'll face from above, and in the end, all that pressure will fall on him. Right now, he doesn't dare to sleep for even a minute.

"That's all I know! I really told you everything, it's all the truth! That sound and the sudden change in the images were terrifying! I was so scared that I ran all the way home before I came to my senses. I have no idea what happened after that!"

This student was the only MVP to leave the old teaching building unscathed last night.

Well, if you really look into it, he only stepped halfway in—and then he was scared away by the sudden shout.

Next, he probably saw a hallucination similar to that of Shin Higashiyama, but because he ran away in time, he was not left behind.

Ping Shenglong looked at his assistant, who had just drawn a vial of blood from the guy and was using a portable device to test the guy's reaction to hallucinogenic drugs.

As blood is injected into the test tube, the cylindrical mechanical device contracts and deforms, and with a high-speed rotating sound, a ten-second countdown appears on the mini LCD screen.

After ten seconds, the device lit up with a green light, and a thermal paper and the expelled blood waste were printed out at the rear.

"Negative."

Upon hearing this answer, Ping Shenglong looked thoughtful.

All the testimonies now point to some unbelievable phenomena, yet no hallucinogenic substances are found in anyone's body.
Not long ago, Shingo Nakajima had already taken brief statements from two recovered injured men at the hospital, and their answers were quite consistent.

The student who was knocked unconscious by a severe blow to the head claimed that he was being chased by a dark figure and fell down the stairs while fleeing in a panic, which caused him to lose consciousness.

The student who fell from the window and broke his leg discovered Inoue's body in the corridor. He was then slowly approached by a charred, black figure with a red smile, before he chose to jump off the building.

Almost all the clues mentioned the same person, a character from an old Komagome Academy ghost story whose name was tentatively given to him by Heisei Ryu as "Charcoal Teacher".

“Oshima Umeta, we will verify what you said with the classmates who were present at the time. Now please think carefully again, did you see anyone other than yourselves, or did you see anything strange besides the terrifying scene you just mentioned?”

Heisei Ryu interrupted Principal Asano's follow-up question and spoke in as calm a tone as possible.

Oshima sat dejectedly in the chair, fidgeting with his hair, looking as if he was deep in thought, but what flashed through his mind was the conversation he had with his mother the night before.

"Mrs. Mei, remember, if you're targeted by the supernatural, no one in this world can save you right now, including me. So stay away from the supernatural as much as possible, reveal as little information as possible related to it, and try not to be alone these days, and..."

"Keep this snake bone close to your body and never let it leave your side."

His mother gave him the snake bone pendant that she cherished dearly.

"I'm sure, that's all I saw, I swear!"

Oshima gritted his teeth and said, but in the end he still didn't tell them about how he felt an unknown entity watching them when he arrived at the old teaching building last night.

Heisei Ryu glanced at Oshima's arm, which was instinctively reaching for his heart, and nodded slightly: "Thank you for your cooperation, Oshima-kun. Principal Asano, please take Oshima-kun back to his classroom."

"Okay, okay, come on, Oshima, I'll take you back first, and then you can tell me in detail what happened last night." Asano led Oshima out of the activity room, leaving Taira no Ryu and his assistant behind.

Ping Shenglong glanced at the time, opened his phone, and sent a message.

"Takagi, I'll leave the school matters to you for now. I need to go out and investigate some leads."

"Understood, leave it to me, Chief." Takagi Sara saluted and began scanning and inputting the collected data into the Metropolitan Police Department's internal AI system.

Higashiyama Shin controlled Ueda and watched for a while from behind.

It was an AI system developed specifically for the Metropolitan Police Department. It connected a massive amount of data related to the Metropolitan Police Department, including national household registration information, criminal records, and case files. The AI ​​was called "Tenjin," but the criminal investigation department preferred to call it Sherlock Holmes.

A ruthless crime-solving machine.

So, can electronic AI detect evil spirits? Shin Higashiyama, who has been observing from the sidelines, is pessimistic about this.

While Higashiyama Shin was looking at the "shared vision," Ikeda returned to the class and began the election for class positions.

They didn't wait for the four students who had been called in for questioning to return, perhaps because they assumed the students were unsuitable for any position.

The election process is simply a matter of self-nomination, followed by a speech, and finally a vote. If only one person is running, they are directly elected, which is convenient and hassle-free.

"So, the first position is class representative. Who among you wants to take on this responsibility and hone their interpersonal skills?" Ikeda introduced in a formulaic manner.

The classroom fell silent, and many people turned their gaze to Shin Higashiyama.

He sat upright in his chair, neither nonchalant nor overly serious, and naturally met the gazes directed at him. He gave a polite smile to a few familiar faces and gently shook his head.

Seeing this, two people who wanted to run for office breathed a sigh of relief and raised their hands to run.

Ikeda Rui, standing on the podium, glanced at Higashiyama Shin with a hint of surprise.

The allocation of class members is deliberate. Higashiyama Shin was originally the best leader in the class, but it seems that he has given up the position.

However, it's also possible that he/she is focusing on his/her studies and preparing wholeheartedly for university.

There are quite a few people like this. Some simply cancel all club activities and go straight to tutoring classes after school, which means they have made life plans in advance.

Since others stepped forward to take responsibility, he didn't insist on anything. He even skipped the secret ballot and vote counting, opting instead for the quickest, but not entirely fair, method of raising hands.

“Ikeda is a decisive person who is willing to sacrifice some ‘unnecessary’ processes for the sake of efficiency and results.”

After the election, Chiba Shion summarized her thoughts.

“I agree.” Dongshan had no objection. “I think this kind of homeroom teacher is a good thing.”

Chiba Shion nodded slightly: "It seems correct at the moment."

Ultimately, a boy named Oda Kuranosuke was elected as the class representative, a girl was elected as the academic representative, and there was little competition for other positions such as health care, cleaning, and audiovisual education, so the elections were held quickly.

At this moment, the four people returned.

Their faces showed some unease, and Nobita kept his head down, his knuckles clenched so tightly they turned white.

He seemed to be afraid of something.

(End of this chapter)