Super God: If I punch you, you will die

“Jiayin, you have to believe me, it’s none of my business, but whether I believe it or not is always my decision. I’m sorry, but unless I see it with my own eyes, I can’t believe in something as fake as Beaterich.”

Lin Yan resolutely dropped those words, and as a result, Maria started laughing strangely again.

"Well, that's not so bad. Sooner or later, even someone like you with a completely different wavelength will be able to see Beatrice, because she's about to be resurrected. Beatrice is about to be resurrected. We made a promise that when she's resurrected, she'll spend a lot of time chatting with me and playing with me. There's no need to doubt it or force yourself to believe it. She will appear. It's coming soon."

corridor.

After a meal, some people need to use the restroom, while others want a smoke. Just like I might come to the kitchen for a drink of water, there are quite a few people who leave the living room to find something to do.

Princess Natsumi's aunt had originally requested that everyone crowd into the living room, but in the end she reluctantly withdrew the order, only asking everyone to abide by the conditions of not acting alone and not straying far from the living room.

After all, with as many as eleven people crammed into the same space since early morning, even the air would feel stuffy. And after a while, everyone would gradually recover from the shock of the morning, and the sense of crisis would fade. But right outside this large house, six people had been murdered, which was the only undeniable fact, so no one could truly relax completely.

So at most, people might misbehave a little, like going out for a breath of fresh air in the hallway, but then they'd find it scary to be alone there and would eventually go back to the living room. It's like the story of the North Wind and the Sun. Forcing everyone inside only breeds resistance; allowing them free movement makes them obediently return. Humans are truly a capricious creature.

After washing the dishes, the servants obediently returned to the living room as instructed by Aunt Natsumi Udai-no-kami and sat on the sofa near the entrance to wait for orders.

Maria seemed to have had enough of playing the witch game and turned back into the Maria I knew, whimpering incessantly.

What exactly happened to her just now? Lin Yan couldn't sense an invisible person named Beatrice standing behind him, but he felt he saw a slight indication of that in Maria.

Just as Lin Yan was thinking about this, Zhi spoke up.

“Indeed, Maria changes completely when she talks about witches. Lin Yan, you saw that at the beach yesterday, right?”

"You mean when she took out that scorpion keychain? No, I'm not talking about the feeling of displeasure, I'm talking about the kind of split personality that's like that."

“Sometimes that does happen. Maria occasionally has situations like when she first started talking about magic circles, which is really uncomfortable.”

According to Zhu Zhixiang, Maria originally would occasionally let out that strange "coo coo coo" laugh.

The timing of her attack was so coincidental, and since it was the first time Lin Yan had ever seen her like this, he was a little startled. However,

"So what exactly happened? Does Maria have a split personality? Or is she just more susceptible to supernatural phenomena and easily possessed by these things?"

"Hmm, I don't think so. Lin Yan, have you ever had this experience? For example, when you were a child, did you want to become someone other than yourself?"

Everyone is the same; when we are born, we have no individuality.

But when they reach adolescence, they finally begin to develop a sense of self and become unable to tolerate not having individuality, and want to have things that are different from others.

But even if you want something, being forced to learn the same knowledge and skills at school and live the same life means you can't get anything that's different from your classmates.

So the first thing they do is break the rules, which is what's known as the rebellious phase. Since everyone else follows the rules, they want to express their individuality by breaking them. From this perspective, it seems that those who like to cause trouble, even if they think others are immature or look down on them, are actually just pursuing their own childish ways.

"Deep within the growth period lies an urge to shed the identity of a child, somewhat like a fledgling bird's urge to break out of its eggshell. Do you know the difference between a child and an adult?"

"Age? Or physique?"

"No, it's experience. The reason adults look down on children is because children lack life experience. No matter what children say, adults will scoff because they think children don't understand anything."

"I understand. When I was little, I did try to act like I'd seen through everything and pretend to be mature. No matter what I said, the adults would scoff and say that things weren't that simple and that I'd understand once I entered the workforce. Although that's true in reality, from a child's perspective, it felt really infuriating to be looked down upon like that."

"I see. The difference lies in whether one has knowledge and experience. That's right, you can't simply gain respect by getting older."

"If that's the case, then if you're in a period where you feel the urge to break free from your childhood identity and want to have a personality that's different from others, and breaking free from childhood requires knowledge and experience, then what should you do?"

"I see. Having knowledge that others don't have can become a form of self-identity."

"Like when we were in elementary school, as long as we knew something that none of our classmates knew, or owned or wore something that no one else had, we could become the hero of our class. Lin Yan, you must have had that experience too, right?"

"I did have a period where I wanted to be better than others in some way. I see, that's what it means to shed the childlike identity, or what's called the growth period."

Episode 082: Dual Personality [Please Subscribe]

"The most healthy growth period is to break free from the stage of lacking individuality and to learn knowledge or skills that others do not have. This is also very interesting from a sociological perspective. Because people hate that they lack individuality, they want to learn skills that others do not have. This desire can enable the whole society to acquire a variety of skills. The arrangement of God is really ingenious and amazing."

"However, personality can also go in a bad direction. For example, when I see my classmates studying hard, I want to skip class and steal the spotlight." This actually describes Lin Yan himself. But recently, Lin Yan has also begun to appreciate the middle school teacher who slapped him after school.

"But then again, I also thought about jumping over vaulting boxes that no one else could jump over, or sprinting at full speed in a marathon, trying to be a whole lap ahead of those guys with good results. Because I wasn't good at studying, I thought I should at least make up for it in sports. At least I still have some backbone. So that's how it is. My growth period wasn't wasted."

"Boys tend to focus more on physical matters, while girls at this age tend to focus more on emotional matters. There must be some girls in Lin Yan's class who like to talk about things like divination or intuition, right?"

"They'll come up to people and ask about their zodiac sign or blood type, and then say things like, 'I knew it!' and laugh nonstop. It's infuriating to watch. It's the same in every class; there will always be girls like that. They just love to do divination and talk about how strong their intuition is, how sensitive they are, and whether they can see things that others can't."

"After all, divination and intuition are things that schools don't teach. Girls are different from boys; they tend to focus on their inner world, so this kind of topic is very suitable for them to gain self-affirmation, and it also makes them feel very interested."

"Just like boys suddenly become mischievous and rebellious towards adults when they reach puberty, girls also become interested in these kinds of topics when they reach puberty, but I'm not like that myself."

"So, it's not too surprising that Maria is interested in the occult for a girl her age?"

Even though Lin Yan could accept this, could it explain her unsettling signs of dual personality? No, actually, it did make some sense.

"Like I just said, becoming an adult means gaining knowledge and experience. So in order to gain these, children have to learn all sorts of things to shed their childish identity. But whether in the past or present, the world of children is filled with a very useful delusion. Do you know what that delusion is?"

"It's something that's very common in comics and anime. Like the awakening of memories from a past life, or the possession of a great soul."

"There are also theories like gene awakening, the restoration of sealed abilities or memories, and many others. But for some reason, this kind of theme was particularly popular during that period. Why was that?"

"Because the keywords I just mentioned are all fantasies that allow children to immediately apply knowledge and experience to themselves. Even a nine-year-old girl can become a thousand-year-old just by saying that a thousand-year-old witch has possessed her."

"In other words, since these guys are too lazy to learn anything themselves, but want to have skills that others don't have to show off and have everyone flatter them, this kind of delusion is very useful." They can easily show off without having to learn anything themselves.

So that's how it is; it really is a child's wish.

"Furthermore, the desire to shed the image of a child inevitably leads to the projection of one's ideals onto oneself, and the projected image gradually forms another personality. There are quite a few examples of this. For instance, Lin Yan, your image at home and at school must be quite different, right? I think you must also feel a little embarrassed if your classmates saw what you were like at home. After all, the self you are at school is a projection of the image you want to become, but the self you are at home is your true self."

"Does this mean that people play different roles in different situations, and that it's perfectly natural for people to have multiple personalities?"

"Girls who like mysticism like to call this kind of situation possession or awakening. To be honest, some girls' image is so different that it makes me feel nauseous. I think guys are like that too, right? Some people like to say things like 'I'm so angry,' and then they turn into very violent guys. I think they probably think that's cool, but to others it just looks very childish."

"So to sum it up, you're saying that it's not surprising for a girl Maria's age to show those uncomfortable signs of a split personality."

"Simply put, that's how it is. Self-identity is an important element in forming a self. If this is looked down upon, it will cause children to hide in their shells and not come out. So adults need to know how to cooperate with them appropriately. In short, being a parent means having the tolerance to fully accept this kind of thing."

"You know so much, it's hard for me to believe you're still single. It feels like you already have a child in middle school. Does Aunt Lou know about Maria's split personality?"

"She knows, and I'll let you in on a secret, that Aunt Louza really hates her like this. She says it's disgusting and will only make her more isolated in class. So whenever Maria starts talking about mysticism or laughs in a witch-like voice, Aunt Louza always slaps her. As a result, Maria seems to have learned her lesson and won't talk about these things when Aunt Louza is around."

What just happened is just a little game that happens to girls who are going through puberty.

The girl wanted to learn things that were different from others and to develop her own unique personality, so she became interested in the mysticism and witches.

Maria wanted to have a self that was different from her younger self, so she created her ideal witch personality and chose to play that personality depending on the situation.

Lin Yan initially found her behavior very uncomfortable, but after listening to Rang Zhi's words of comfort, he realized that this was actually a process that everyone goes through.

Maria was completely unfazed, still shouting and laughing like a girl her age, engrossed in watching TV.

But deep within her heart slumbered another personality, one that idealized herself as a witch, a figure she blindly admired and believed in. However, this wasn't unusual at all; it was perfectly normal for a girl her age to act this way. Lin Yan calmed down somewhat, and the shock of his strange experience in the kitchen subsided.

083 Default "Present" [Please Subscribe]

If he hadn't spoken to them, Lin Yan might still be terrified by the delusion that there was an invisible witch behind him.

But can we really gloss over what just happened with just this kind of explanation?

If only Maria were like this, it could indeed be described as a fleeting delusion of a young girl in her formative years.

However, Genji, Kaon, and Kumazawa were also present. None of them denied Maria's statement. On the contrary, they implicitly acknowledged that Beatrice was "present."

Feeling increasingly uneasy, Ushiromiya Eiwa asserted that the nineteenth person did not exist at all, concluding that an insider had committed the crime because of a disagreement between relatives.

Conversely, Ushiro-no-miya Natsuhime's aunt argued that the murderer was hiding outside the main house. This essentially negates the possibility of an inside job, confirming the existence of a nineteenth person.

Then, just now in the kitchen, not only Maria, but also the three servants, were certain that there was a nineteenth person, but they themselves were clearly not the nineteenth person.

They say that an invisible witch did these inexplicable things.

Does a nineteenth person actually exist? Is the killer a human or a witch?

Regardless of the situation, Lin Yan simply couldn't laugh it off, not even the most ridiculous topic of witches.

"Zhu Zhixiang, in my understanding, Beaterich is just a story that adults made up to scare us when we were afraid that children would run into the forest and get lost. But it seems that's not the case in this big house."

"Yes, I agree with you. I think this is just a third-rate ghost story that my parents made up to make the kids obedient. But I can't deny that there's an atmosphere in this house that doesn't allow us to say such things."

“After all, Grandpa has publicly stated that Beatrice exists. The servants can't question that from their standpoint, and Uncle Ushiromiya Kurausu and the others don't want to argue with Grandpa, so they don't say anything outright. That's why I think doubting Beatrice's existence becomes taboo in this house. After all, they're not like us, who only come here once a year, are they?”

Zhu Zhixiang sighed deeply in admiration; it seemed her assessment was correct.

“Brother Zhi is right. Nobody truly believes in her, but on the surface they all acknowledge her existence. It's like acknowledging the existence of a god. Even if they actually know she doesn't exist, saying it out loud would seem too impolite.”

"What was the situation among the servants? Was it because their grandfather, who hired them, said she was 'present,' that they complied with saying the same thing?"

"Who knows? I don't know the details either, but the servants treat Beatetrich's story as a ghost story. Didn't Shana mention it at the beach yesterday? She said she saw some strange things when she was patrolling at night."

She did say that, and at the time I thought she was just trying to appease Maria who was upset, so I didn't pay much attention. But I remember that her expression was very serious when she said those words.

The content was similar to what Yuancibo and the others had just said in the kitchen. I remember she said something like this: "In addition, some servants said they saw will-o'-the-wisps and glowing butterflies dancing. Jiayin said she had seen similar phenomena when she patrolled at night before. Also, recently, we often hear strange footsteps in the house late at night, which is also a topic of conversation among the servants. We all say that it must be Miss Beatrice from the first portrait book who made herself invisible and walked around the house. A long, long time ago, one night when I was patrolling the house, I also heard very similar footsteps."

She did say those words, exactly the same as what I just heard.

Lin Yan continued to recall the conversation between Sha Yin and Rang Zhi.

"But there's nothing to be afraid of. Miss Beatrice is the other owner of this house besides the master, so there's no need to be afraid. As long as we treat her with respect, I believe she would never do us any harm."

"But it would be terrible if respect were lost."

"Yes. I heard that before I started working here, a maid fell down the stairs and suffered a serious back injury. It's said that he was the one who spoke ill of Miss Beatrice. So the maids are all saying that he must have offended Miss Beatrice."

"Disrespecting her will anger her and cause injury. In other words, the existence of Beatrice is almost as believable to the servants as the saying that angering Inari will attract the fox spirit."

Indeed, even in modern times when everyone agrees that ghosts and spirits do not exist, people still prefer to believe in their existence and leave a minimum amount of respect.

When building houses in residential areas, it is common to see that a shrine is consulted to perform a ceremony to worship the local earth god. Some people may say that this is a waste of time and money, but the craftsmen all say that if they do not perform the ceremony, a serious accident will definitely occur, so they will never take it lightly.

It is also often said that moving an Inari shrine for urban rezoning will attract fox spirits.

Lin Yan remembered reading in the newspaper that the US military wanted to expand the airport, so they wanted to move the Inari Shrine that was in the way. As a result, workers started to faint from fever for unknown reasons.

Even in more modern high-rise districts, many buildings are constructed away from the historic Inari Shrine, instead surrounding it. This kind of scene is not uncommon even in Tokyo.

And it's not the only time this has happened.

It's believed that Europeans and Americans also have similar practices when they baptize their babies.

In Christian doctrine, not being baptized, though the least serious sin, is still grounds for going to hell. But sprinkling water on a baby's forehead will only make the baby cry.

However, if such a small effort could save a child from going to hell, adults would likely be happy to perform such a ritual. In other words, despite living in a modern society that values ​​rationality, they haven't completely abandoned this belief and reverence.

Even simply not rejecting something negatively can still be seen as affirming the existence of the supernatural.

This means that things are actually quite simple; it's just that this supernatural being, upon arriving on the island, is worshipped under the name Beatrice.

"So that means that on this island, anything that seems impossible for a human to do will be attributed to Beatrice? I remember Shana saying that doors and windows that were supposed to be closed would be open again when she came to patrol, and lights that should have been off would be on, and lights that should have been on would be off. And I remember Zhu Zhixiang jokingly saying that she couldn't find her schoolbag when she went out in the morning, and that was Beatrice's doing too, right?"

084 Flip the Chessboard [Please Subscribe]

"It's amazing that you remember it so clearly. What would normally be called a fairy taking it is now attributed to Beatrice on this island. It's that simple, and frankly, it's quite boring."

"After all, this house has been built for about thirty years. With such a long history, there are bound to be some ghost stories or supernatural tales, just like how schools always have their own 'Seven Mysteries'."

"This is the time for us to 'flip the chessboard'."

"what?"

"In other words, there's a rule on this island that anything that humans can't do can be attributed to Beaterich. How many things can't humans do? Eighteen. So, the murderer is following the island's rule and trying to emphasize that the murder was committed by a witch. In other words, the murderer is only thinking that this is the nineteenth person who did it, which makes me unhappy, very unhappy."

"You're unhappy? What's making you unhappy?"

"Assuming there really is this invisible nineteenth person, and this person wants to emphasize their existence, if it were me, I would definitely make my move at a more perfect time."

"What exactly do you mean by 'perfect timing'?"

“Think about it, didn’t the murder happen between midnight and dawn? Some people were in meetings until late at night, some were on night shift, and some went back to their rooms to sleep. Everyone’s alibi is not very reliable. At this stage, it is entirely possible to suspect that an insider was responsible. You must have heard Aunt Huiyu say that it was very likely that an insider was responsible, right?”

"That's right."

"In other words, if this invisible nineteenth person really exists, then this person failed to assert their existence when committing the crime, and the timing of the crime itself was wrong. To assert the existence of this invisible nineteenth person, it must be done only after the twelve people other than the deceased are confirmed to be unrelated to the murder. If the number of suspicious persons does not drop to zero, it is impossible to assert the existence of this person. So since everyone's alibi is least clear at night, this means that for the nineteenth person, their existence is least clear, yet this person still chose this time to commit the crime."

"You mean to say that among the eighteen of us, someone wants to create the illusion that there is a nineteenth person named Beaterich? Your thinking is jumping around too fast. Mom's statement that there is a suspicious person hiding outside the house is more believable. Does Lin Yan suspect that the murderer is in the living room?"

“Someone wants us to acknowledge the existence of Beatrice. Yes, the whole thing started when that letter arrived last night. Although I don’t have any evidence, from the perspective of flipping the chessboard, that’s my opinion.”

"There should be a limit to leaps in thinking. I think you've been reading too many weird mystery novels."

"However, there are some points that cannot be ignored. Regardless of whether there is a nineteenth person or not, the murderer was indeed planning according to the rules of this island. When I heard what Lin Yan just said, I remembered something that made me a little uncomfortable."

"Something that makes people uncomfortable."

"Yes, do you guys remember that letter from Beatrice? It said Beatrice wanted to charge interest, right? And that the interest was everything the Ushiromiya family owned."