Japanese Terrorist: What? I'll fight Hellstar!

"The murderer was a man, unusually tall, about two meters, with a fierce face and muscular build, like an ancient samurai. He fought his way in through the main gate and was extremely powerful. I didn't want to die in vain, so I hid and failed to protect Mayor Taka in time. This is my dereliction of duty. When Mayor Taka is resurrected, I will personally apologize to her."

The waitress lowered her head slightly and spoke in a half-truthful tone.

The Metropolitan Police Department commissioner's brow furrowed even more.

"A samurai? So, these scars on Lord Takaichi's body..."

He pointed to the corpse on the ground, its bizarre burns, bruises, and contorted expression.

The waitress's answer could not explain the existence of these scars.

"I don't know either. When the assailant broke into the master bedroom, I was unable to protect my master in time. After the assailant left, I went in to check and found Mayor Takashi in this state. Those wounds... certainly don't seem to be caused by simple swords."

The waitress appropriately feigned a confused expression.

The useless answer infuriated the Metropolitan Police Commissioner. He gave the maid a cold look and left the bedroom with a livid face.

Back in the courtyard, his trusted subordinates, who had completed a preliminary survey of the courtyard, were gathered together discussing in hushed tones. Upon seeing the Metropolitan Police Department commissioner emerge, they immediately went to greet him.

"Sir, the situation is strange. All the dead have obvious stab wounds, and they were all fatal blows. However, none of the bodies show any signs of effective resistance; it's as if they were unilaterally slaughtered."

"Sir, the main unit and critical lines of the monitoring system have been physically damaged, making it impossible to obtain any useful clues."

"Sir, we questioned the living people in the mansion, and their testimonies were largely the same. A man of unusually tall and burly build, with a fierce and demonic face, wielding a long knife, stormed in like a demon. Everyone who stood in his way was killed, but he seemed to have his own target and did not kill those who were hiding."

……

As the Metropolitan Police Department commander listened to his subordinate's report, a clear image of the murderer gradually formed in his mind.

What he was certain of now was that it was definitely not a normal human being, but most likely some kind of evil spirit.

The Metropolitan Police Department chief decided not to think about it any further. He immediately took out his phone and dialed his superior, someone who was one of the gods of this country.

"How is the situation at the border crossing and in the city?"

The call connected, and an older male voice, devoid of emotion, answered.

The Metropolitan Police Department chief straightened his back and reported on the situation at the scene, the casualties, the strange injuries, and the statements of the servants and maids.

"I can't believe such a thing happened..."

After listening to the Metropolitan Police Department chief's statement, the voice on the other end of the phone, which had been carefully maintaining its composure, cracked slightly.

The Metropolitan Police Department commissioner could keenly detect that moment of fury and deeper unease—the instinctive reaction of someone in power when faced with something beyond their control.

But the silence lasted only a few seconds.

When it rang out again, the voice had regained its usual composure and unquestionable authority.

"Continue the investigation, but do not disclose Takashi's death. We will bring Takashi back from the underworld tomorrow afternoon."

Upon hearing this, the Metropolitan Police Department commissioner also showed a look of awe.

To die and be brought back to life would have been considered a miracle in the Middle Ages.

An emergency meeting at the top of the power pyramid was convened in a very short time.

Upon receiving news of Takashi's death, the self-proclaimed rulers of the gods immediately retreated to the depths beneath the earth's surface.

It wasn't the place where we summoned Inudou Ranko for the meeting last time, but a deeper, more secluded, and safer location.

People entered the spacious conference room one after another.

There are both men and women, and most of them look to be over fifty years old.

They are the true masters of this country, the top of the Chinese, the conglomerates, the secretive bureaucracy, and a few families who wield unconventional power. They call themselves gods, not out of childish whimsy, but because they truly possess power and resources beyond reason, and an absolute, generation-inherited dominion over this land and its inhabitants.

Konoe, Kujo, Tokugawa, Takatsukasa, Nijo, Aso, Matsuura, Shimazu, Masada... They possess surnames that they consider prestigious, and most of them are large families that were very active during the war years.

There were no small talk or unnecessary formalities; everyone found their place and sat down.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the conference room became as heavy as lead.

The last to enter was Tokugawa. The old man had a solemn expression. He sat down in the main seat and his gaze slowly swept over every face present.

"The border crossing has already given a preliminary report."

Tokugawa spoke, his voice not loud, but clearly audible in the extremely quiet room.

"You have all seen the video footage from the scene before you came."

Everyone nodded in silence. Not only did the Metropolitan Police Department Chief Sekiguchi report, but their informants planted in the newcomer's residence in Takashi City also gave the same report—Amamiya Rin's move was very timely.

Before the swordsman Tomie entered the high-rise mansion and went on a killing spree, he took a walk around the mansion. This was to prevent Tomie from harming humans, but it also prevented the spies of other families from reporting information to their masters in a timely manner.

In the end, Tomie Moro brainwashed and altered everyone's memories, gave them new masters, and made it impossible for them to leak the real information.

Tokugawa took off his glasses and slowly wiped them with a velvet cloth, saying calmly, "Tonight—no, it should be yesterday, last night at 11 p.m., a thug with strength and speed far exceeding that of ordinary people used a cold weapon to break through the security of Takashi's residence head-on, causing the deaths of nearly thirty people. The bodies only had one stab wound, which was fatal with a single blow. There were no traces of the thug's injuries left at the scene. Takashi also died a violent death, and it is suspected that he was tortured before his death."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone's attention turned to the elders of the Aso and Yoshida families, Takashi being the political continuation of these two families.

Was the killer human?

Aso spoke first, his words revealing a hint of doubt.

Is it really possible for a human to kill through a high-rise mansion without taking any damage using cold weapons?

Did the city inadvertently trigger some taboo?

Yoshida also spoke up.

However, neither of them got angry or showed any concern for Takashi himself.

More than these concerns, they worry about the possibility of uncontrollable paranormal phenomena affecting them through blood ties.

Don't think this is just needless worry. In the currently collected files of "Ju-on", there have been many similar phenomena. When a person provokes a curse, the final result is the death of their entire family.

"The protective barrier around the high-rise apartment has not been destroyed."

Takatsukasa shook his head.

The Takatsukasa family has managed the shrine for generations and has inherited the power of exorcism. Although they are not as powerful as monsters like Inudou Ranko and Higa Kotoko, their lineage is stable and they can perform some exorcising rituals through objects and rituals imbued with their beliefs.

"Those are mutated humans?"

When Matsuura made his conjecture, everyone's expressions grew even more somber.

The killer being human is, in some ways, no better than the killer being a pure ghost story.

If it were a human being harboring deep hatred, one can imagine the intensity of that hatred, judging from the brutal torture suffered in Takashi.

This is hardly surprising to those who have been profiting from the shadows for years, with countless bones lying beneath their feet.

The problem is, wouldn't this person who hates Ryoko Takaichi also hate those behind the scenes? Who can guarantee that this isn't revenge from someone they've stripped of everything from, or their descendants, who have gained unconventional powers?

Someone capable of single-handedly wiping out a group of urban dwellers is equally capable of threatening the safety of any one of them.

"I've already contacted the resurrector," Tokugawa said, putting his glasses back on. "The resurrection ceremony will be held in Takashima tomorrow afternoon. The task of hunting down the murderer is now up to her... After all, no one knows better than her what happened to her, right? Hopefully, she won't let us down."

The people present looked at each other, and without saying a word, they quickly reached a consensus through their eyes.

Until the killer is identified, captured, or eliminated, and until the source and nature of the threat are fully understood, they will continue to live in this turtle shell hundreds of meters below the surface, never returning to the ground.

Indeed, these men and women who call themselves gods and control the lifeline of this nation are perhaps more afraid of death than anyone else.

They possessed far too much—endless wealth, supreme power, a long and prosperous family, and inexhaustible luxury and honor.

The insatiable greed never stopped expanding, and the fear of losing it all, the fear that death would eventually end it all, also seeped into the very marrow of the body.

To combat this ultimate fear, they frantically searched for all sorts of methods of immortality, some reliable and some absurd, while simultaneously investing heavily and employing the highest engineering technology to build this deep underground sanctuary, capable of withstanding strategic-level attacks.

This place has enough supplies to sustain the core members and their essential service personnel for a year, and has its own independent energy, water, and air circulation systems.

Whenever they sense a threat that cannot be quelled by conventional power, they retreat into this sturdy nest like the most timid mole, until they are certain that the storm outside has passed.

In Setagaya Ward, dozens of kilometers away, in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of a high-rise apartment building.

Amamiya Rin had changed back into her casual clothes and was reading through her notebook, taking out a pen to jot down her experiences of the day.

Unlike his composure, things were quite chaotic inside the [Tomie Network]. Tonight's actions clearly excited the group of Tomie's who thrive on chaos.

(This should have been done a long time ago!)

(I've disliked that ugly, old woman for a long time; she really did a great job this time, Ah Lin.)

(Hmph, as long as we control those high and mighty politicians, we'll never lack money.)

(The limited edition jewelry I've got my eye on, and the villa...)

(With enough funding, some of my ideas can finally come to fruition!)

(I need funding! We need manpower for the excavation of the ruins here, and I can't possibly pay for it myself, can I?)

"It's too easy to expose myself if I have the waitress transfer the money now. I'll go to the Metropolitan Police Department to collect my bonus tomorrow and use that money first."

As Amamiya Rin spoke calmly, she jotted down her thoughts and plans for the future in her notebook.

(After gaining control of those politicians, will they expand the size of the police history compilation office?)

(Such a crucial department, only three people? That's really worrying.)

Sensing Amamiya Rin's thoughts, Tomie couldn't help but retort.

Last time, when Amamiya Rin visited the police history compilation office and saw the thousands upon thousands of files, she wanted to complain.

With three people responsible for so many paranormal events, won't that be exhausting?

(Don't think it's that simple; there's a reason why the Police History Compilation Office is so small.)

Amamiya Rin shook her head slightly, rejecting Tomie's suggestion.

Although he hadn't heard Inudou Ranko and the others mention or complain about it, based on his understanding of the various situations in this twisted world over the years, he could roughly guess what was going on.

The existence and resurgence of many urban legends and ghost stories stem from, in part, the power of knowledge and belief. The more people know about them, the more they believe in their existence, the stronger they may become, and the more difficult they are to completely resolve. The people in the editorial department, including Ranko Inudo, are themselves knowledgeable. They not only know about the existence of ghost stories, but unlike ordinary adults who treat them as jokes, they genuinely believe in their existence.

It could be said that Ranko Inudou and the others who truly knew the truth were among the accomplices in the repeated resurrections of urban legends.

It's hard to say whether the addition of insiders will be able to eliminate urban legends in time once the police history compilation office expands, but it will certainly make urban legends even more difficult to deal with.

(So... even if we control those rulers, we won't have any allies? At most, we'll just have a large sum of operating funds?)

One of Tomie expressed his displeasure.

They thought they could relieve some of the pressure, after all, Amamiya Rin was a practitioner of the idea that with great power comes great responsibility, but in the end, they could only rely on a few people to deal with those supernatural phenomena and curses.

(No, while they can't directly leverage their resources, they're not entirely useless; all they can do is provide funding. At least, with government assistance, guiding public opinion would be much easier.)

Amamiya Rin put down his pen, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his eyes.

Three essential elements are needed to create a new ghost story.

First, his obsessive will and extreme emotions—under normal circumstances, given his meditative cultivation and Buddhist attainments, it would be impossible for him to have such extreme thoughts. But now that he has mastered hypnosis, things are different; these elements can be satisfied through hypnosis.

Secondly, the collective subconscious – to make most people believe in the existence of ghost stories, we cannot rely solely on elementary school students; in this regard, the guidance of public opinion is indispensable.

Third, sacrificing oneself, using an alienated body or a soul transcending the body to bear the power of cognition and belief in the supernatural tales—the ghosts of twilight. If one could obtain the life force of those two women, allowing the soul to exist independently of the body, while bearing the power of the supernatural tales, and using one's Buddhist attainments to stabilize one's state of mind, this would also be satisfactory.

Currently, it seems that all three seemingly demanding conditions could potentially be met. Everything appears to be waiting for the right opportunity, a moment that can connect all the elements, to create his own unique tale of the supernatural.

(Your ghost story...light?)