Horror simulator, if you survive till tomorrow, you win

"This damn place, people become abnormal after staying there for a long time."

Ito Jun put on his camera bag and hurried away along the path he came from.

Tomie Kawakami's body lay quietly in the dense grass, like a blooming flower, blending into the grassland.

After walking out of the elevator, Ito Jun fell into a brief confusion.

"What should I do with these things in the bag?"

Ito Jun scratched his hair and muttered to himself irritably.

"According to Chu Xuan's personality plan, before finding a safe parallel world, the starting point of the inner world can be used as a safe house. However, we first need to verify whether the weird has the ability to jump through space and whether it can jump directly from the outside world to the exact location of the inner world... It's so annoying!"

Ito Jun slapped the wall next to him hard, looked up, and an unfamiliar street appeared before him.

What is this place?

Ito Jun felt troubled and looked back. The street behind him also seemed a little unfamiliar.

After walking out of the building, he walked straight along the roadside. When he came to his senses, he was already in an unfamiliar place.

Ito Jun walked back along the roadside. After more than ten minutes, Ito Jun stopped with a very stiff expression because the surrounding environment became even more unfamiliar.

"How did I get here?"

Ito Jun rubbed his temple and leaned against the telephone pole next to him.

He suddenly realized something.

"Could it be that I am a directionally challenged person?"

Ito Jun thought about the day he went to school on Monday two days ago.

He had a slight fever and a cold that day, and he wandered around the stairwell for 10 minutes before he found the infirmary with the help of Tomie Kawakami.

I thought it was a paranormal phenomenon, but in broad daylight on the street with people coming and going, the possibility of a paranormal phenomenon wouldn't be very high, right?

"Are you kidding..."

Ito Jun's pupils shrank, and a memory emerged from his mind.

Before coming to Tokyo, the small town where I lived had a complex terrain and its name was - Dao.

"I just remembered that city on the map now..."

Carefully recalling the memories of this body, the seemingly ordinary daily life is surrounded by various maps and extremely complex terrain. Even if you have lived here for many years, you still need to look at the map several times to get to the right location.

If I remember correctly, there is a chapter in Junji Ito's manga called "City of Maps", which describes just such a city.

"Chu Xuan's personality reminded me to go back home. Could it be because he remembered that comic? He thinks that the map city can make monsters get lost? Or is the map city also a weird phenomenon? Why not just say it directly... I don't think it's necessary..."

Ito Jun was in a terrible state. He was already miserable enough, but now this body also had a problem of being directionally challenged.

Forget it, let’s find a place to rest first.

Ito Jun felt that his head was getting bigger and bigger. All the bad news and shocking information made his already tired brain even more uncomfortable. He should have taken a nap after his personality was restored, but he held on until now.

Jun Ito held on to the wall and walked forward, looking around for places where people could live, such as hotels and Internet cafes.

However, his luck did not seem to be very good today, or rather, all his luck was used in returning safely from the other world. After walking for four or five minutes, he did not see any hotels or Internet cafes nearby.

Ito Jun shook his head vigorously and felt that he was about to fall asleep.

"Ito? What are you doing?"

A black car stopped next to Ito Jun, the window rolled down, and a beautiful figure appeared in front of Ito Jun.

That person had shiny black hair and a face even more beautiful than Tomie, deep blue eyes sparkling behind thick-framed glasses, and an intellectual and calm temperament, just like a teacher... Not like a classroom, but she was a teacher.

There are pictures here, which can be viewed after the updated version

"Teacher Saeki, I feel a little dizzy and want to sleep."

Ito Jun gave Runma Saetsuki a forced smile.

"Shall I take you back?"

Runma Saeki opened the car door and asked Ito Jun.

"I can't go back, if possible..."

Ito Jun sat in the passenger seat. As soon as his butt touched the seat, sleepiness flooded into his brain. He fell down without finishing his words.

Chapter 35 Mirror Stone

When Ito Jun woke up, it was already night.

Ito Jun opened his eyes and was stunned for a while, then found that he was sleeping on his side.

Twisting his body, Ito Jun looked up. His delicate face, covered with a layer of moonlight, was full of a dreamy and unreal feeling.

Knee pillow?

It took only two seconds for Ito Jun to realize his situation.

Ito Jun raised his right hand and gently pinched the area under his head. It felt like Runma Saeki's thigh.

Runjian Saetsuki lowered her head: "Ito?"

Ito Jun immediately retracted his arm, climbed up and looked out the window.

"where is this place?"

There is a wide path outside, with neatly arranged street lamps emitting light every 10 meters. Occasionally, pedestrians pass by in a hurry.

It seemed to be very late, and the cold path made Ito Jun feel chilly.

"The one in front is where I live," Runjian Saetsuki pointed to the two-story building not far from the window and looked at Ito Jun with gentle eyes, "Because you were sleeping the whole time, I didn't disturb you."

Ito Jun turned around and looked straight at Runma Saeki, his heart pounding. Runma Saeki's face was extremely attractive. Although not as attractive as Kawakami Tomie, this kind of attraction was more sincere.

"Teacher Saeki, are you so nice to everyone?"

Slowly, a helpless smile appeared on Ito Jun's face.

Runjian Saetsuki laughed in silence. She didn't answer, but it seemed like she had already answered.

Ito Jun opened the car door, walked out and stretched.

After a good night's sleep, I feel much better.

"Staying up late is bad for your health."

Runma Saeki walked out from the other door. Her upright posture was elegant and graceful, making people unable to help but keep their eyes on her.

"…It's not staying up late, it's just too much mental stress… Saeki-sensei, have you ever heard of the urban legend that leads to another world?"

Ito Jun hesitated for a moment and asked Runma Saetsuki.

Runma Saetsuki must know, because he learned the method of entering the other world from Runma Saetsuki.

"Have you ever been inside? The inner side?"

Runma Saeki and Ito Jun looked at each other, with a hint of surprise in their eyes.

"Saiyue teacher also knows that place... Actually, I didn't want to tell you, but I didn't expect that teacher also knew it."

In order to avoid Runma Saeki from noticing that he was lying, Ito Jun lowered his head and spoke awkwardly.

"I discovered that place by accident, and have been studying it as a research topic since two years ago... That place is very dangerous. I understand the boys' desire for adventure, but it's best not to go there a second time."

Runma Saetsuki advised worriedly.

"It's such a dangerous place, I don't want to go in, the problem is that there are greater dangers outside."

Ito Jun turned his back to Runma Saetsuki and scratched his hair in annoyance.

"I live in a haunted house. Although it is no longer a problem, it seems like I have been cursed. I always run into the one-legged woman with a red umbrella. Even if I escape by chance, it is not a solution. I am very afraid of running into that one-legged woman again."

Ito Jun explained the reason somewhat vaguely.

"So, you want to hide in another world?"

Runma Saeki wanted to laugh but couldn't. What a creative way of survival.

"It can't possibly chase you to the other world, right? Besides, it was raining when it appeared, so we just need to hide in it on rainy days."

This is the reason why another personality convinced Jun Ito. Although he was more willing to explore the unknown of another world, Jun Ito believed that this method was very feasible.

After that, Ito Jun took out the silver hexahedron from his camera bag and asked Runjian Saetsuki, "Saetsuki, do you recognize this thing?"

Runjian Saetsuki said in surprise: "Is this a mirror stone?"

Ito Jun asked expectantly, "Is that the name? This is what appeared from where Twistle disappeared after I defeated it. Have you heard of Twistle? It's a very famous Internet legend, a monster that drives witnesses crazy."

"I've also encountered twisters on the inside. Twisters are the most common creatures on the inside."

Runma Saeki sighed and said that she had also encountered the experience of twisting and turning. Although she had never eliminated the twisting and turning herself, she had seen people who accidentally entered the inside dealing with the twisting and turning.

"I once encountered a person who was confronting a Twister, and I took the opportunity to repel the Twister. However, the second time I encountered the Twister, my attack did not work. Through experiments, I guess that the Twister must be materialized when being observed, so that the attack can be effective."

"me too."

Ito Jun nodded and said calmly.

"I entered the other world under the guidance of my classmates. When I encountered Twisting, I looked away immediately because I felt dizzy. But my classmates kept staring at Twisting and said some weird things about it. I was anxious and panicked, so I attacked Twisting with a stone."

"Your classmates..."

"She's dead."

Ito Jun showed a sad expression just right.

"Condolences."

Runma Saetsuki said regretfully.

"At least you survived."

Ito Jun and Runma Saeki came to the house where they lived, opened the door, and the light illuminated the dim room. Ito Jun looked inside the house curiously.

Excluding the experience in the simulator, this was his first time entering a girl's room.

However, it doesn't look like anything special.

"According to my observation, the other world has a tendency to be closely connected with human cognition. It is called a twisting weirdness, and its existence itself is dependent on the subjectivity of the contact. In fact, I once suspected that the other world might be some kind of virtual space, but the items brought back from the other world are strong evidence to the contrary. In addition, the items collected from the other world so far - although this description is not appropriate, they are all things that cannot be explained by existing science."

Ito Jun and Runma Saeki sat facing each other on either side of a coffee table, with a mirror stone placed on the coffee table in the middle.

In the dim room, one can see the mirror stone emitting a faint silver glow.

The surface of the glowing cube, which seemed to have been polished, clearly reflected the light in the room, but the reflection did not include Ito Jun and Runma Saeki.

Ito Jun asked: "The existence that depends on subjectivity means that the twisting and turning only exists when we see it twisting and turning, is that right?"

Runjian Saetsuki nodded in appreciation: "Not bad, at least the twisting and turning, which is a kind of weirdness that interferes with the outside world through witnessing, relies on human subjectivity. Just like that strange story, Mr. A who didn't see the twisting and turning was not affected by the twisting and turning, but the brother who saw the twisting and turning lost his normal rationality."

Chapter 36 Mirror Stone = Eyes

"What about the mirror stone? What is the use of this stone and what is its principle?"

Ito Jun pointed at the silver hexahedron on the coffee table and asked Runma Saetsuki.

"Let's assume that the twisting is a creature that enters the human body through vision. To put it bluntly, it's best not to know it. In other words, once you recognize and understand it, you can't get rid of it."

Runjian Saeki's statement is similar to the top secret message. Although the top secret message judges all strange phenomena as existences that can only be interfered with through cognition and understanding, it is easier to reflect this law through the twisting and turning of visual parasitism.

"Since we can attack it after recognizing it, this becomes its weakness, right?"

"This may be partly related to the degree of understanding. Those victims who over-understand become unable to move or lose their minds, and thus cannot attack. I believe that one person must be responsible for cognition first, and the other must pull the companion back before the companion over-understands."

“Have you ever tried it?”

"It's very difficult to find someone trustworthy. If my companions hadn't stopped me in time..."

Runma Saetsuki smiled bitterly and shook her head, then picked up the mirror stone with her ungloved right hand.

"When the Twistle enters the cognition, an interface is created where humans and the Twistle can contact each other. When the Twistle exists in the human interface, the companion can break this interface. It can also be called solidification or crystallization. In other words, this may be regarded as the product of the materialization of the human cognitive interface."