Not a detective

But the problem is...

"Where is that staircase?" Asakawa Riku stopped in his tracks.

"I do not know."

"You do not know?"

“Yes.” Chizuko stopped too, and said matter-of-factly, “The ghost story doesn’t say where the thirteen-step staircase is, how would I know?”

The power of ghost stories all comes from the rule-based yokai [Aoandon]. Its power originates from the rules and must also abide by them.

So those few lines specified the time, place, and manner in which the ghost story would appear, but this time it was a little different.

Unlike before, when the mirrors were fixed in places like "the women's restroom on the third floor," "the biology classroom," or "the music classroom," and even if the appearance of the "three-sided mirror" was specified, they were still easy to find.

The school building has five floors, with staircases on the east and west sides, plus the rooftop... a total of ten staircases.

Each staircase is divided into two sections by a corner, which is the ordinary "twelve-step staircase". After studying here for a long time, you will get used to the number of steps and be able to count them silently to go downstairs.

If an extra step suddenly appears on the stairs, you're bound to twist your ankle.

"In other words... we have to search one by one to find out which staircase is malfunctioning?"

Asakawa Riku was taken aback. He counted, and there were a total of twenty staircases to find.

"There's nothing I can do. I used a monster to scout around beforehand, trying to get a feel for the place, but I found that the number of stairs in each building was just normal."

Chizuko said helplessly, "It seems that the abnormality will only occur when a person steps on it under certain circumstances. We can only try it slowly."

Asakawa Riku frowned, remembering that this was not the only building on campus:

"Could it appear in other places...like the cafeteria, gymnasium, or activity building?"

These places all have steps.

"probably not."

Chizuko shook her head and said, "Didn't you notice? Almost all the previous ghost stories took place in this school building. Even the human model that was wandering around the campus came from the biology classroom here. This means that Aoandon's dwelling place is most likely here, not in the staircase of another building... To put it another way, if we don't find it, we can go and take another look."

“I understand,” Asakawa Riku said.

I thought the last unbelievable thing would be easy to solve, but I didn't expect it to take so much effort. But there's no point in complaining, so I might as well start as soon as possible.

They came right after dinner, so there's still plenty of time before midnight.

“To save time, let’s split up.” Chizuko pointed to the school building in front of her: “You’re in charge of the east side, and I’ll be in charge of the west side. There’s no need to try the stairs from the fifth floor to the rooftop. If there were a problem there, we should have triggered the ghost story yesterday, so I don’t think it’s those two sections.”

"and many more."

Just as Chizuko was about to leave, Asakawa Riku stopped her: "Do we really have to split up again like the minor characters in a horror movie?"

It was called a thorough search, but frankly, it was just a five-story staircase, which wouldn't take more than ten minutes even for two people.

In other words, how much time could be saved even if we split up? Besides, today's ghost story is not like yesterday's; there is no limit to the number of people, so there is no need to split up.

"And today's ghost story is dangerous, right? It says that 'if you step onto the added 13th step, you will be taken into the underworld and disappear without a trace.' Although I'm not sure what 'taken into the underworld' means, it sounds much more dangerous than Hanako or the mannequin. It might have a lethal mechanism like that piano, so we can't be careless."

He suggested that in this situation, it would be better for the two of them to stay together and look after each other.

Asakawa Riku said, "If you accidentally fall into the underworld, I can still lend you a hand."

"Hmm...that makes sense, let's do it that way then!"

Chizuko suddenly said that she had pulled a thin red thread from some pocket, which was shimmering in the dark.

"Take out your hand, left hand." Although he didn't understand why, Asakawa Riku did as instructed.

"Like a big puppy, so cute."

"Hey!"

He thought it was a tasteless joke, but Chizuko came closer and wrapped the red string around his wrist twice.

She was left-handed, and her slender fingers were incredibly dexterous. She held the end of the rope with her thumb and tied a knot with one hand, feeling the warm touch of her skin.

"Hmm?" Asakawa Riku was quite curious, watching the girl in front of him busy at work, although from his perspective he could only see the top of her head moving.

"That's good."

Chizuko tied the other end to her right hand, thus connecting the two ends.

She waved her hand, and the thin thread swayed as if it were being transmitted to Asakawa Riku.

"This is a type of [spiritual object]. If you encounter danger, I will send you a signal. Whoever accidentally falls into the air can be pulled up by holding this line."

Chizuko smiled and spun around. She thought the line was going to be pulled tight, but to her surprise, it stretched out on its own, and half of it even disappeared into the air and vanished from sight.

The girl who had walked away faced him and retreated step by step:

"Asakawa-kun, we are now connected by a red thread, and neither the underworld nor anything else can separate us."

Aoandon's Autumn: Chapter Twenty-Eight - Nowhere to Be Found

As Asakawa Riku walked, he looked curiously at the red thread on his wrist.

It drooped to one side, and its material looked like ordinary wool, inconspicuous, broken in the middle, leaving about ten centimeters of length.

But he could vaguely feel the "pulling" on the other side of the thread.

It wasn't an illusion caused by the wind; Asakawa Riku could clearly see that Chizuko was indeed moving at the other end of the line, and he could even imagine her climbing the stairs.

"I didn't even know such a thing existed. It's so convenient..."

He recalled that a few days ago, Chizuko-senpai had taken out a long umbrella, seemingly using it as a weapon. He wondered what its function was, as she hadn't explained it to him yet.

And so we walked up to the fifth floor of the school building.

You're overcomplicating things. It's just a few floors, how much effort could it take? If allowed, Asakawa Riku could even perform a light-speed demonstration of going up and down the stairs.

Looking up along the dimly lit stairwell towards the sealed-off rooftop, there were still shards of glass left. It must have been left uncleaned over the weekend, and no one had noticed it yet.

The content of this ghost story is very simple and vague. It does not specify the location, nor does it say whether it is "going upstairs" or "going downstairs".

The phrase "stepping onto the thirteenth step" is ambiguous. It sounds like you're stepping onto it when going upstairs, but it could also mean you're stepping onto it when going downstairs.

"No matter what, just try it once."

Asakawa Riku had just gone upstairs, but hadn't triggered the ghost story mechanism, and there was no signal coming from Chizuko-senpai, so he started going downstairs.

“1、2、3、4……12。”

Counting aloud, I stepped onto the ground.

“1、2、3、4……12。”

Counting aloud, I stepped onto the ground.

“1、2、3、4……12。”

Counting aloud, I stepped onto the ground.

They went down several floors in a row, and Asakawa Riku even thought, "The next one should be next," but unfortunately, nothing unusual happened.

His feet always landed firmly on solid ground. Each step had only twelve steps. Perhaps because he could see in the dark, he couldn't imagine how things would change.

Could an extra step suddenly appear?

With a slightly nervous feeling, Asakawa Riku simply closed his eyes. He didn't look at the steps in front of him, but relied entirely on counting to determine the direction.

"1, 2, 3, 4..."

This time he walked very slowly, his vision blurred, and all he could hear was the sound of his own counting in his mind.

Many of us probably went down the stairs blindfolded when we were kids. If you remembered the number of steps on your own staircase, you could just go down in one go.

But doing this in a completely unfamiliar environment still requires immense courage, as no one knows whether the next level will lead to unknown fears.

"12."

Asakawa Riku opened his eyes and saw an ordinary hallway.

He sighed.

In fact, his five senses are so sharp that he can know his location even with his eyes closed. He can tell exactly which step he has taken just by listening to the echoes in his ears and feeling the ground under his feet.

Thinking that you can see by closing your eyes is like burying your head in the sand. This is the most basic ability to locate sounds; if you can't even do this, don't even think about calling yourself a martial artist.

So, shutting down one's five senses? He felt that wasn't the problem; thinking about it any further would just lead him astray.

As I was thinking, I ended up on the first floor.

"The timing is perfect..."

Riku Asakawa saw Chizuko-senpai on the other side of the stairs. Although she had a prosthetic leg, it did not affect her speed of going downstairs at all with the help of the yokai.

Shouting loudly so late at night would easily alert him, so he waved his hand, and Chizuko-senpai waved back in response.

With no other option, and in accordance with the policy of caring for disabled people, Asakawa Riku had to compromise and move to his senior's side.

The red threads converged again, and when the two people were within five meters of each other, they miraculously connected...

"How about it?"

“Nothing was found.” Chizuko glanced at his expression. “Neither were you, right?”

"Yes, all the staircases here have twelve floors; there are no extra floors."

Asakawa Riku shrugged.

"That's strange... Could it be that it's really not in this school building, or is there some triggering condition that I'm unaware of?"

Chizuko rested her hand on her chin, deep in thought.

Rikuya Asakawa thought for a moment, then said, "Isn't there still one place we haven't tried yet? How about we try it again?"

Chizuko instantly understood; he was referring to the staircase connecting the fifth floor to the rooftop, the very place where the two mirrors had originally been installed.

Although we tried it yesterday, we're now at our wits' end, so we might as well rule out this possibility altogether:

"Yes, you're right. Let's go up and take another look."

So they separated again, went up different staircases to the locked door on the rooftop, and then came down again.

"..."

"……ha."

They looked at each other again downstairs.

It wasn't just the top-floor staircase that didn't work; all the staircases were ineffective. They shook their heads, at a loss for what to do.

"how could be?"

Chizuko looked somewhat anxious. The previous few problems had all gone smoothly, but the last one was the one that caused the trouble.

This immediately created a tense atmosphere.

Asakawa Riku suggested, "Why don't we go back tonight and try again tomorrow? Maybe there are some triggering conditions we haven't met. I'll look up some information and try it when we get back. I remember the student council gave us seven days, and today is only the fifth day. Even if we have to leave one day to write the report, we can still make it tomorrow."

"No." To everyone's surprise, Chizuko shook her head: "It has to be finished today..."

"why?"

"Because tomorrow is Monday, and the students will be going back to school."

Chizuko's expression was grave, her brows furrowed: "In the past few days, we've solved five ghost stories in a row: Hanako in the toilet, the anatomical model in the biology classroom, the piano in the music classroom at night, the bleeding Beethoven portrait, and the mirror reflecting our future selves. Perhaps someone has already noticed the pattern of this 'serial crime' and deduced that someone is targeting the ghost stories. Once the rumors spread, it will cause a commotion, and the students' unease will evolve into new ghost stories... that is, the substitutes for the 'Seven Mysteries'."

The seven wonders... will regenerate in a cycle.

As long as rumors and fear serve as a medium, new ghost stories will emerge to fill the vacant seats.

"This is not a good situation..."

Riku Asakawa realized the seriousness of the situation, so this weekend was the best opportunity, and possibly the last.

If we don't resolve this issue in one go, all the previous work may be wasted.

"Asakawa-kun, we have to work overtime. We absolutely must find the 'Thirteen Steps tonight' no matter what."

Chizuko raised her head, seemingly gazing at the night sky: "Before dawn breaks..."

Aoandon's Autumn: Chapter Twenty-Nine - The Final Answer

Together with Chizuko, Asakawa Riku conducted a meticulous, door-to-door search throughout the entire campus.