As a traitor, I should raise the banner of rebellion

This was the only comfort that Nozomi Morikami could find at this moment.

After the girl finished washing and did some simple tidying in front of the mirror, the angle between the hour hand and the minute hand finally reached 180 degrees.

Back in the bedroom, Nozomi Morikami, sitting on the edge of the bed, took a deep breath and then picked up his cell phone.

Her fingers trembled slightly, like reeds swaying in the breeze.

This trembling was not due to shame.

But out of fear.

Morikami Nozomi is very scared now. If Yuanhui didn't hang up her phone, wouldn't that mean...

But neither shame nor fear could stop Morikami Nozomi at this moment.

Now that we have made an agreement, we must do it no matter what unexpected happens.

This is how Nozomi Morikami behaves.

The number was dialed.

"beep--"

This is the first sound.

Nozomi Morikami was counting silently in his mind.

At this moment, she was not surprised that Yuanhui's ringtone was so simple. She just counted while looking at the clock on the wall.

Generally speaking, if the call is not answered within 50 seconds, it will prompt that no one is answering.

If this really happened, Morikami Nozomi would wait a minute and call again.

If you don't get through three times in a row...

She would dial [Lika]'s number.

This seemed a bit stupid. What if Yuanhui just overslept, or if he put his phone far away and didn't hear her ringtone, wouldn't she be putting herself in danger?

Or to think more darkly, Yuanhui himself deliberately did not answer her calls, waiting for her to foolishly call [Lika] so that he could obtain information based on her experience, or verify whether something existed.

This is actually not impossible.

Even according to common sense, the probability of the latter may be higher.

Morikami Nozomi naturally considered similar situations, but in the end he still decided to do as agreed.

Although they had not been in contact for a long time and were not at all familiar with each other, Morikami Xi had an inexplicable confidence that Yuanhui would not do that.

Besides, if he really did that, Morikami wouldn't blame him.

His own mother almost killed him. Even if she was resentful about it and wanted to use her to prove something, Morikami Nozomi would be a little disappointed, but he would not refuse.

Oh no, oh no. If he knew what she was thinking now, he would probably say that there was something wrong with her mentality.

Thinking of this, Morikami Nozomi stuck out her tongue a little embarrassedly, secretly thanking that her current mental activities would not be noticed by Yuanhui.

At this moment, the beeping sound in my ear disappeared, and what replaced it was not the sound of the phone being hung up, but the sound of electricity when the phone was connected.

"!!!"

Morikami Nozomi was startled, then became flustered, and his mind went blank.

Didn't we agree to hang up directly? Why did Yuanhui answer the phone?

What are you going to say later?

Should we start with the weather as is customary? Or would it be better to come up with a more original greeting?

Or maybe it's 'Ahaha, Yuanjun, you got up so early'?

Just as the girl was daydreaming, a sweet, childish, yet mechanical voice rang in her ears, causing her blood to freeze.

"Hello, I'm Lika."

Lika?!

She was clearly calling Yuanjun, so why was the voice coming from the phone Lika's?

Could it be that Yuanjun has been taken by Lika???

The girl's mind froze for a moment, but somewhere deep in her soul, she inexplicably felt relieved.

If the boy's death was caused by her, then if he was killed like this...

That's what she deserves.

Just as Morikami Nozomi was quietly waiting for the murder declaration from the other end of the phone, the little girl's voice suddenly became unclear, as if someone had covered her mouth.

"Sorry, something unexpected happened just now." This time it was a male voice.

Although his voice was slightly distorted after being filtered through the telephone, Morikami Nozomi recognized it immediately. This was Yuanhui's voice!

He is not dead!

"Ms. Morikami, are you free now?" Yuanhui asked softly on the other end of the phone.

Morikami Nozomi, who was overwhelmed by the huge surprise, responded subconsciously.

"That's good." Yuanhui chuckled.

Then, the boy's cold and pleasant voice rang in the girl's ears——

"Hello, hello, I'm Yuanhui."

"I'll be with you now."

11. The so-called "weird"

"This is... Lika?"

Looking at the exquisite doll in front of him, Morikami Nozomi showed a somewhat incredible expression.

Just now, she felt as if she had encountered the most bizarre thing in the world, and her worldview was almost shattered.

With just three phone calls, Yuan Hui came to her bedroom from her apartment, which was dozens of kilometers away, in less than a minute...

The reason why Yuanhui can move at such a fast speed is because of this doll that makes Morikami Xi feel both familiar and unfamiliar.

The reason why it feels familiar is that whether it is hair color, eyes, facial features or body shape, this doll is very similar to the one she once had.

The strange thing is that——

This doll was much more exquisite than the one she had owned before.

Compared to the doll in front of her, the doll she once had was like a shoddy phantom seen through frosted glass.

The two are simply not on the same level.

Generally speaking, when seeing such an exquisite and beautiful doll, normal people, especially girls like Nozomi Morikami, should feel cute and happy.

But at this moment, she only felt an inexplicable horror.

Especially when those beautiful lavender eyes were looking at her, a fear that came from nowhere oppressed her heart, causing it to beat rapidly.

Nozomi Morika stretched out a hand towards Rika, as if she wanted to dispel this fear by touching her, but -

"Snapped."

The hand she stretched out towards Lika was ruthlessly knocked down by the doll.

She didn't have much strength, just the kind that was not excessive for a little girl.

"Does she have the ability to think?" Morikami Nozomi raised his head and looked at Yuanhui with some surprise.

She didn’t know if it was her illusion, but the boy in front of her seemed very sleepy.

Didn’t Yuanjun sleep well last night?

Yuan Hui nodded slightly, "Just some simple likes and dislikes, about the level of a one or two year old child."

"She seems to not like me very much?" Morikami Xi plucked up the courage and looked at Rika doll again, and found that she was still looking at him coldly.

"It's normal for [Weirds] to hate humans. They are just like that." Yuan Hui said in a normal tone, "Even if she looks so cute, don't you feel physically uncomfortable when facing her?"

"Weird?" Morikami Xi keenly grasped this word, "Is this the name of this kind of existence? How exactly are they formed..."

The girl's excited voice suddenly fell silent because she felt like she was talking too much.

In Nozomi Morikami's opinion, the boy in front of her was obviously from "that side". Based on what she had "learned" from anime, comics, and light novels, people from "that side" all had secret clauses such as "to be kept secret from ordinary people".

If I continue to ask like this, Yuanhui might feel embarrassed...

Yuan Hui was naturally aware of the girl's thoughts, but he had no intention of hiding them from the girl. "Yes, [Weird] is their name."

"The word 'weird' means 'very'."

“And the meaning of [异] is [different].”

"An existence that is completely different from any other living being is called a [weird]."

"As for the reason why [weirdness] appeared..." Having said this, Yuanhui paused for a moment, and then asked Morikami Nozomi, "Ms. Morikami, do you know the word [soul]?"

Morikami Nozomi opened his eyes wide, then nodded quickly.

She had a premonition that a world completely opposite to her daily life was unveiling its mysterious veil to her...

"The soul does exist." Yuanhui said with great certainty.

That’s right, this is the biggest difference between this world and his original world.

At the same time, this is also the root cause of all disasters.

"Moreover, the soul is not exclusive to humans. All living things, even microorganisms, have souls."

“In short, everything has a soul.”

"Then the question is," Yuanhui stroked Lika's soft long hair, his eyes seemed deep at this moment, as if he was looking into the unknown, "When a living thing loses its life and becomes dead, where will the [soul] go?"

"Hmm..." Morikami blinked and asked tentatively, "Reincarnation?"

Since the soul exists, then it is possible that places like the underworld exist, right?

"It would be nice if we could do that." Yuan Hui shook his head. "The reality is that when life dies, the soul that resides in the body will disintegrate."

"But it will not completely dissipate between heaven and earth. Instead, some [residues] will be left behind."

The boy's tone was still calm, but Morikami Nozomi could hear an extremely strong sadness in it.

"Survival is an instinct rooted in the genes of all living things. Even the bravest and most conscious creatures have an indescribable fear of death."

“And when death actually comes, this fear will turn into despair, permeating the soul that is about to collapse.”

"The energy of despair it left behind is called [Death Qi]."

"Death Qi is a stubborn energy that is extremely difficult to remove, because it contains the deceased's wish of 'not wanting to disappear'."

"Over time, they will gradually accumulate on the planet like dirt that is difficult to remove."

“And when the concentration of [Death Qi] reaches a certain threshold, a being completely different from living things will be born from this sea of ​​despair.”

“That’s [weird].”

Hearing this, Morikami Nozomi reflexively looked down at the Rika doll.

An existence completely different from all living things...?

Oh, that's not right. Wait a minute. According to what we learned in biology and geography classes...

"Gen-kun, you just said that every living being has a soul, right?" Morikami asked cautiously, "What about those extinct creatures, such as dinosaurs..."

"Of course they have souls too." Yuan Hui was actually somewhat relieved that Morikami Xi could think of this, "I know what you want to say."

"This planet has been around for billions of years and has experienced multiple mass extinction events."

"Lives as numerous as the sands of the Ganges have died on this planet. The resulting death energy should have enveloped the entire planet."

"Under such extremely harsh conditions, let alone modern society, even species like humans would never be able to be born in this sea of ​​despair. This place should have long been reduced to a paradise for all kinds of [weirdness]."

"Is that what you mean?"

Morikami nodded.

But the reality is clearly not the case.

Humanity not only thrived, but also took over the power of "planetary overlord". On the contrary, the "weirdness" hid in the dark side and became an existence that was difficult to find...