A villainous girl created by paranoia

There's a sound... The sound is coming from above my head...

Half-asleep, I opened my eyes and vaguely saw something on my ceiling: a huge black shadow. I could vaguely make out the black and white pupils of that enormous creature.

My sleepiness vanished instantly, and I stared intently at the enormous creature. As my eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness, I began to make out its general appearance.

It was a... giant spider hanging from the ceiling. The spider's body was smooth and flat, and its color was close to flesh-colored. This was perhaps the only part of the giant spider that was pleasing to the eye.

As my gaze shifted, I saw something even more eye-catching: eight scythe-sharp spider legs were deeply embedded in the ceiling, reflecting a chilling light in the dim light remaining in the room. But that wasn't the most captivating thing.

What's most eye-catching is the surface of the spider's eight legs. It's described as 'hairy,' but the "hair" in quotes is just a metaphor; what's actually wriggling on the spider's legs are tiny, bloody hands, like the red hands of a baby. These red hands aren't painted with red dye or are naturally that color; they're dripping with real blood, which is still 'drip-drip'ing down from the ceiling.

Some of those tiny hands were waving aimlessly, some were scratching at something, and some were twitching slightly. What's even more chilling is that these blood-stained little hands were growing one after another on the surface of the spider's legs, which is a real treat for people with trypophobia.

Cluck cluck! Cluck cluck!

The sound from its sleep continued! Following the sound, I saw a pair of clear black and white eyes, and a long neck. The 'clucking' sound was from it twisting its neck.

I'm sure everyone can accept the image of a monster girl with the upper body of a beautiful girl and the lower body of a spider, but what if the upper body was replaced with a snake and the lower body with a spider?

The creature's head... that part of the creature can no longer be called a head or upper body; that part can only be called a neck.

Its neck was a flesh color similar to human skin, and the eyes that met my gaze came from its head, which was located on its neck. Its eyes were no different from human eyes, except that there was no light or emotion in its pupils. Its mouth was like an unopened lotus flower, thick and coarse. Its sparse hair was practically nonexistent, and you could even see its shiny, oily skull.

It just stared at me like that, then slowly stretched its neck and brought its face within ten centimeters of me. And then, I was lucky enough to see what it looked like when it opened its mouth.

Its mouth is like a lotus flower, with petals that bloom in full. In addition to the foul-smelling yellow-green liquid it secretes, there are also sharp, thorn-like teeth. Note that these are not the teeth that a normal living creature should have. To put it simply, they are like toothpicks that are several times larger.

What's unacceptable is that this guy's teeth are actually retracting and extending inside his mouth, sometimes almost completely retracting into the alveolar bone, and sometimes looking like they're about to fall out. Observing those densely packed teeth up close, and seeing them retract and extend so freely, I felt goosebumps all over my body. I had an urge, an urge to pull those teeth, which looked like giant toothpicks, out of his mouth.

I endured the stench emanating from the creature's mouth and reached out my hand. Perhaps because its mouth was fully open, it didn't see my movement.

After grabbing a slippery, sticky tooth, I pulled it out with all my might.

boo.

Its tooth came out easily when I pulled it out with force, which was easier than I expected.

After I pulled out one of its teeth, I felt refreshed and much more comfortable. Although I knew it was disgusting and that the monster in front of me was just a hallucination, I did it anyway.

For no particular reason, it's just that doing this makes people feel really comfortable and happy.

But while I felt comfortable, it did not. It retracted its neck and closed its mouth in pain. The only sound was the 'clucking' of its neck retracting. It did not scream or make any other sound.

It shouldn't have vocal cords, or be unable to produce sound.

But the next moment I paid the price for my misjudgment, because after the creature retracted its neck, countless crying faces of babies instantly appeared on its originally smooth and flat flesh-colored torso. Those faces were one after another, and many even overlapped. The next moment, all those densely packed crying baby faces opened their mouths at the same time.

Aaaaaaah!

I apologize for my inability to describe the sound of hundreds of babies crying at the same time.

Anyway, my head exploded after hearing that incredibly powerful sound. I'm not exaggerating; my head really did explode. Blood splattered everywhere, and brain matter flew everywhere. The entire bedroom turned into a terrifying scene.

Of course, I also know that all of this is just my paranoia acting up again.

And indeed, when I sat up in bed again, it was still 5 a.m., and the giant spider was no longer on the ceiling.

"Hmm, it feels like it's been a long time since I've seen a new hallucination. To be honest, I'm getting a little tired of seeing Lan wielding a knife and randomly slashing at me all the time lately."

Actually, the hallucinations I saw were recurring. I don't know why, but the individual hallucinations I saw were all very vivid, and these hallucinations even repeated themselves to kill me. The long-necked spider I just saw was something I'd never seen before. That's why I stared at it so intently and observed it so closely.

"S-rank? No, it shouldn't be that strong. Let's give it an A+ rank then. As for the name, let's call it Infant Serpent Spider, number 743. Its strength ranking should be within the top 200?"

I was so bored that I even rated my hallucinations, gave them names, and ranked them by strength.

The blue-skinned woman who stabbed me in the back with a katana—I call her Blue—has a strength ranking of 678, is number 13, and is rated C. It's a hallucination I've had since I was very young; you could even say that Blue and I grew up together.

When I first saw Lan, she was a child about my age, but now she's grown into a young woman. Lan isn't very powerful; she can only appear behind me, backstab me once, and then start wildly slashing at me. I see Lan more than 700 times a year, and over time I've basically stopped paying attention to her.

The large black hand that shoved me into the bathtub was actually a coal-like being, completely black. He was even weaker than Blue, a regular among the bottom 50 in the sequence. His name was Carbon, his strength sequence was 723, his number was 78, and his rating was D. Carbon couldn't even kill me; he could only suddenly appear, make an attack gesture, and then disappear.

Speaking of the illusion of being the first in the sequence, it was the most terrifying illusion I could think of. It, or rather, it affected me for a whole month. Even during that month, I was in a state of constant panic. Thinking about it now still makes me tremble.

Sequence 1, number 444, rating super S+, I call it, Black Abyss.

The illusions from Sequence 2 to Sequence 57 will affect my physical body, especially the chain in Sequence 25, which is a short, humanoid illusion made entirely of black chains. If I am killed by the chain, my body will suffer at least 48 hours of phantom physical pain, a pain that is intangible and deeply etched into my soul and spirit.

Even if I had to experience the horror of Sequence 1 again, I wouldn't want to be killed by the chain a few more times.

The most bizarre hallucination was the Grim Reaper of Sequence 13. He could interfere with reality, like the Grim Reaper had just arrived, attacking me with all sorts of deadly accidents. The Grim Reaper of Sequence 13 appeared a total of 14 times, and I was fortunate enough to survive all 14 of them.

Sometimes I even think that the hallucinations I see might actually be real, because none of them are figments of my imagination; they seem to be randomly generated, without any logic whatsoever.

These hallucinations have been present since I can remember. I went through a phase where I was almost scared to the point of suicide, a phase where I was almost scared into a mental hospital, and I learned all sorts of self-suggestion. I also learned some basic martial arts and fighting skills under the torment of these hallucinations.

I've been punched and kicked to death at least eight thousand times, if not tens of thousands, but those deaths were just illusions of myself. At least I am still alive now.

Just as I was thinking about these things, I suddenly heard a buzzing sound in my ears. I turned my head and saw a huge black shadow, three meters tall, walking towards me step by step with a chainsaw that had already been activated. I couldn't see his face, not because of insufficient light, but because he simply didn't have a face.

This is Faceless Man, Sequence 199, ID 422, Rating C. As for why Faceless Man has such a low rating but such a high sequence, it's because the way he killed me was very cruel. He didn't kill me all at once, but slowly sawed my body apart. He learned to saw my fingers into 20 pieces from Faceless Man.

I didn't intend to run or hide. The illusion wouldn't disappear until it achieved its goal. Moreover, Faceless had another rule: constant speed. The faster I ran, the faster Faceless could run. Our speeds would always be the same.

Since I knew I couldn't outrun Faceless, I might as well lie on the bed in a starfish position, pull back the covers, and let Faceless saw me as I pleased. In fact, that's exactly what I did. To make it easier for Faceless to saw through my body, I spread my body out as evenly as possible, and even my five fingers were spread out in a very cooperative manner.

If Faceless had emotions, he would be very happy if I cooperated with him like this.

The chainsaw was getting closer and closer to my body. It would be a lie to say I wasn't nervous, so I used self-suggestion to crush my nervousness and let go of my thoughts as I waited for the chainsaw to fall.

Finally, the chainsaw came down, blood splattered, and the little finger was easily cut off in half by the chainsaw. Then the other half of the little finger was cut off with the chainsaw.

My heart was pounding, for no other reason than the intense pain I was in, and the knowing pain would last a long time. After all, every time I experienced a hallucination, I felt an incredibly real phantom pain, as if I had actually suffered those injuries.

The reason I protected my heart from the blue light when I was in the bathroom was because the pain of having my heart cut open is indeed very painful.

About five minutes passed. My arms had been cut into sixty pieces by the chainsaw, and my lower body had been sawed off below the knees. Blood had already soaked my bed.

The Faceless illusion lasts for at least ten minutes, because it will cut my body into 180 pieces, which takes exactly ten minutes. During these ten minutes, even if my heart is cut into pieces, the Faceless illusion will not disappear, and I will not die, because the purpose of the Faceless illusion is to cut my body into 180 pieces.

The phantom pain was present throughout this period.

To be honest, I kind of hate this feeling of being unable to struggle and having to lie flat to be cut.

But what can I do? I can attack illusions, but I can never kill them. The only way for illusions to disappear is to accomplish their purpose.

Ten minutes later, after Faceless cut my head into four pieces, I sat up in bed again. This time, I was covered in sweat. The moment I touched the sweat, I knew it wasn't real, but an illusion.

Just then, a buzzing sound rang in my ears again. Looking in the direction of the sound, I was overwhelmed with emotion. Seeing the tall figure of the faceless man, I gave up all resistance and collapsed onto the bed.

Hearing the approaching roar of the chainsaw, I instinctively grabbed the sheet, my legs slightly bent, and I bit my lower lip. I was afraid, I was resisting, because this hallucination was just too much.

Sequence 122, number 4, rating A+, its name is Repetition. Simply put, this hallucination is experiencing my last death ten times. That is to say, I will be sawed to death by the Faceless Man about ten more times. Thinking of this, my body trembled involuntarily.

I'm afraid I'll go crazy. The way Faceless would kill me would be extremely cruel. I'd rather have the Infant Serpent Spider blow my head off a hundred times than be killed by Faceless ten times.

As it turns out, I didn't go crazy in the end, and I ended the repetition normally.

When I woke up this time, it was already dawn. I didn't sit up, but just lay in bed, staring at the clean ceiling. Slowly, tears streamed down my face.

Do I deserve sympathy? Do you think I do?

Bullshit! I don't even pity myself! Whose pity do I need? Whose kindness do I need?

I cried because I was venting. I felt that crying was a faster way to release my emotions than yelling or screaming.

I crushed those negative emotions that I should have vented, and simply cried for the sake of crying.

"Waaah..."

But when I realized that feeling that had been watching me ever since the container was opened, I resisted crying. I instinctively covered my eyes with my arms and bit my lower lip hard.

But I quickly moved my arms away, and the crying gradually grew louder, like a child abandoned by their parents, a student ostracized at school, a stray cat whose only food was stolen by a homeless person, or the same miserable crying I made when I was repeatedly tortured by Faceless.

--split line--

Although there are some spoilers, I still want to say it.

These illusions will become the heroine's fighting power later on; you can think of her as a summoner.

Chapter Seven: Inukai Tsubaki (Part 1)

After washing up, I changed into another school uniform. After all, it's Friday, and as a normal high school student, I still have to go to school today.

Because of yesterday's supernatural kidnapping incident, after sorting through the spoils from the sewers, I had some extra self-defense items on me, such as a hanging bag on my thigh hidden by my skirt. In the bag were a switchblade, a flathead screwdriver, and five small daggers that I had taken from Zhou Fangming.

I also made some minor alterations to the uniform skirt. I added two pockets to the inside of the hem, which, naturally, are for storing the daggers I confiscated from Honda the Serpent. The poison needles sewn into my clothes and the short saw blades hidden in my stockings are still there, and I've even increased the number. I've also hidden some poison needles in my hair; because my hair color is very similar to the color of the needles, even if they reflect light, it won't arouse much suspicion.

As for the projectiles and other items... I didn't take them with me, but put them back in the sewer's hidden compartment.

After preparing all that, I went to school as usual. But before I went to school, I had to see someone. I didn't know if she was still alive. I hadn't given her anything to eat for three days.

Entering the separate kitchen on the first floor, I stared blankly at the large refrigerator with three doors in front of me.

"If she dies, should we care about her body? If we don't, won't it rot? Or should we just burn the body?"

After the refrigerator was moved, the floor underneath was no different from a normal tile floor; at least to others, this tile looked no different from a normal square tile.

I used a dagger to cut open the putty in the gaps of the floor, and then used the dagger to pry up the square tile. What was underneath? Of course, it was a thick layer of cement. But I used my palm to move this thick cement piece away bit by bit. This is not hard to understand. There is a layer on the ground used to store this cement slab.

When in use, the cement board will be moved into the mezzanine; when not in use, the cement board will be moved out of the mezzanine.

It took me about three minutes to move the concrete slab completely into the mezzanine. Underneath the concrete slab was complete darkness, and all I could see was the front of the escalator.

This is a passageway leading to my basement. I slowly climbed down the escalator. The space around me was very small, and I could even smell the earthy odor.

However, I quickly climbed to the bottom. It was very dark down there, just like the passageway, but I could clearly feel that the space had become more spacious. I could also vaguely hear a somewhat rapid breathing sound.

I lit the lighter, and the faint flame illuminated the scene within a meter around me. This lighter was not a trophy, but just an ordinary lighter.

Following the sound of breathing, I saw a blurry shadow. If an ordinary person saw that shadow, they would definitely be startled, but I knew what it was, so I wasn't afraid at all.

Actually, the main reason I was able to cut the rope so quickly inside the container is that... I also used that method to tie people up, only I was more ruthless.

The person making the breathing sound seemed to have noticed my arrival, emitting rapid "whooshing" sounds, as if something had been stuffed into her mouth. And indeed, I had stuffed a ball into her mouth.

As I approached, the faint firelight gradually illuminated the figure of a girl, who was bound to a chair, wearing a black blindfold, and with a ball stuffed in her mouth.

My treatment was about the same as yesterday's~

However, as someone who was able to escape from that kind of restraint, I naturally wouldn't leave the other party any means of escape. So before I tied the girl to the chair, I stripped her naked, leaving her only in her underwear.

If I were a man, I probably would have taken advantage of her in this incredibly erotic scene, but unfortunately I don't have the tools and I don't intend to do it.

"Inukai-kun, it seems I've arrived at the wrong time."