From Earthbound Spirit to Tokyo Evil

"What happened next? What happened?" Inaba finally couldn't help but ask.

"There are many rumors, but the results of each investigation are always unsatisfactory. Although Mr. Ohkawada has always been very supportive of us, we are a magazine after all, and we cannot survive without profit. The police do not support our actions, and even gave us severe warnings because we often come uninvited. So although we do not agree with the previous practices of Editor-in-Chief Gobato, in the end, we still had to take the path of making up stories, and the number of on-site interviews also decreased. Yes, I'm sorry, but the practices that have disappointed you all the time have started since that time. No, rather than saying it started from that time, it would be better to say that it started shortly after the publication of this magazine, right?"

"Mr. Wada?" Inaba finally began to get impatient.

"Most people gave up and accepted this practice. Only Aki persisted. Whenever she received relevant information, she would go to the scene to verify it. She insisted on doing so even when I objected and she paid for it herself.

Finally one day, she called me excitedly and said that she had found a piece of news that she confirmed was very likely to be true. She would wait there until midnight and then take pictures of what appeared in person. "

"In the end you didn't go?" Inaba realized something from his voice.

"No, on the contrary, I went, and I wasn't the only one who went. This was the first time we got a real and valuable clue after we came to the Strange Stories Investigation Bureau. How could we ignore it? I remember it very clearly. There were five people in total, including me, deputy editor-in-chief Yasui, photographer Mibu, his assistant Takeda, and Aki."

The air seemed to have suddenly grown cold without anyone noticing. Inaba Rika didn't know any of these people, nor had she heard anyone mention them.

"They are all dead." Wada suddenly and directly said the ending. "There are real spirits in that place, but they are completely different from what we imagined. It trapped us in that place and killed us one by one. If Akasaka's people hadn't arrived, I would probably have died."

He suddenly pulled his clothes open, and Rika Inaba saw a long scar on his chest, which looked extremely scary.

"It's a bit scary, isn't it?" He Tian smiled sadly. "In fact, I had fainted from the pain at that time, and it was several days later when I woke up. Except for me, everyone else was dead."

Rika Inaba felt a little uncomfortable in her throat, as if something was blocking it, making it difficult to breathe.

"I should have stopped them. The documents left by the Five Hundred Flags actually contained relevant content and warnings, but at that time I treated them as unpublished manuscripts, or even as clumsy jokes. If I was less selfish and kept one or two old employees who knew the inside story, or even just seriously asked them why they left, the result would have been completely different.

But I didn't. Even when I was forced to give up the on-site investigation, I was still full of ambition and unwillingness to make a splash, so when I saw Aki's persistence, I took advantage of her in a despicable way, treating her as a tool to realize my personal ambitions, constantly putting pressure on her, and quietly spurring her on in various ways, making her try her best to find clues at all costs.

In the end, I, who should have died the most, didn't die, and Aki, who should not have died the most, died in front of my eyes. "He nodded slowly, his eyes had turned red without knowing when. "She died in front of me, and I couldn't do anything. "

"Editor-in-Chief Wada..." Inaba Rika didn't know what she should say to comfort him, but what she couldn't understand even more was why Wada had never told her the truth in more than two years since he joined the company.

Since such a thing has happened before and is so terrible, why not expose it so that people can stay away from danger?

"You must be blaming me, right? You must be wondering why I kept this secret. Why did I do the same thing to you, encouraging you to seek the truth? Why didn't I make it public when I knew about the real dangers?"

"Yes, Editor Wada, why?" Inaba asked. "Why did you do this?"

"Because this world is much darker and more terrifying than you can imagine." Hetian smiled bitterly. "And this is the only thing I, a sinner, can do. I cannot shirk my responsibility."

"Bang, bang, bang" Suddenly someone was knocking on the door. The two realized at this time that a "Temporarily Closed" sign had been hung outside the door at some point.

"Wulang, what's going on?" a regular customer asked loudly outside. "Aren't you here? Why don't you open the door?"

"It's not that simple. I'm just in a bad mood today, isn't it?" Matsujugoro suddenly threw the vegetables he was washing into the sink and said loudly. "Anyway, we're closed now!"

"Sorry." Hetian stood up and bowed deeply to him, but he just grabbed the newspaper on the counter, stood it up, and started reading it indifferently.

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Please collect, spread, and recommend the monthly ticket of Blade! !

Chapter 45 Please Forget

It turns out this guy has such a dark history... Without going around it specifically, Natsukawa knew that Matsushige Goro was probably crying again.

He looks like a cold-faced and sarcastic weirdo, but is he actually a sister-con?

"Editor Wada, what do you mean by that?" Inaba Rika asked at this time. "What are you talking about?"

"The people in Akasaka didn't tell me much, but one thing is clear: when people are afraid of a specific monster, a certain power will be continuously transmitted to it, making it stronger and more dangerous. And if people flock to shrines, temples, and churches to pray out of fear, the power generated is likely to be used by something and become a help for them to return to this world again."

"Some...thing?"

"Evil spirits and monsters do exist, Inaba, I'm sure you've already accepted that. Gods and Buddhas do exist, but they may not be the same as you imagined before. I don't know the details, but one thing is certain, their mission is not to save all living things, and they don't always have good intentions. At times, the destruction and killing they cause to us humans is no less than that of the so-called monsters."

"big flood?"

"Maybe there was, maybe not, because even now I don't know whether the Bible's record is true or has been carefully revised later. The only thing I know and am sure of is that our mission is to help Akasaka cut off the way those beings gain power from humans. Not only us, but also the clergy of those big shrines, temples and churches are doing the same thing."

"Editor-in-Chief Wada, you are..." Too much unbelievable information came at him all at once, making Inaba feel like he was drowning in it and unable to breathe.

"What's the best way to hide a tree? Not to build a high wall around it, but to plant a thousand trees of the same kind around it! It's impossible for us to stop people from imagining and yearning for the existence of those things. No, it's not impossible. Rather, the more we stop people from doing so, the more they will want to know and the more they will believe in it.

Therefore, we have to make up a lot of seemingly plausible stories that seem reasonable at first glance, but in fact cannot withstand scrutiny at all, to drown out those real cases and build a high wall of "those things don't exist in this world" in people's hearts. In this way, unless they really see the incident happen in front of them, even if someone tells them their own experience, they will only half believe it. "

“So, our magazine…”

"We are not trying to find and reveal the truth, but to find and cover up the truth, to help people avoid those things and prevent them from gaining power as easily as they did in ancient times, so that Akasaka can destroy them with modern means!"

"Then why did you lie to me? Why did you ask me to do the on-site investigation?"

"After all, Akasaka is an organization established by humans. Although they work hard, they still cannot guarantee that they will never make mistakes or miss any clues. So our other task is to pay attention to and verify the clues they have ignored, and confirm whether those things are true or false. I'm sorry, Inaba, I'm very sorry for not telling you the truth and keeping you in danger, but if you don't have a passion for the truth, or if you are afraid of knowing the truth, you won't be able to do this job at all. So..."

He suddenly stood up, moved to the aisle next to the table, and knelt in front of Inaba Rika: "Please forgive me for what I did before! I am really sorry!"

This action frightened Inaba Rika so much that she quickly stood up and immediately knelt down in a hurry: "Editor-in-Chief Wada, please don't do this."

"I'm so sorry! Please forgive me." Hetian still solemnly put his head on the ground, and raised it up after a few seconds. "I am a despicable person who always uses people like you for my own purposes. Miss Inaba is like this, and so was Miss Aki back then. I am ashamed of your trust, I'm sorry!"

"Editor-in-Chief Hetian..."

Inaba Rika didn't know what to do in this situation. Fortunately, the boss finally spoke again at this time: "Wada, stop playing tricks in front of me. Do you really think I won't beat you again?"

"If you really want to beat me up, I'll feel better." Having said that, Wada finally stood up slowly. "I'm sorry, Inaba, the only thing I can do is to make sure you don't go to those places at night, and don't let you go to any place where there are confirmed victims, and that machine."

"Ah? This machine?" Inaba reached into his bag in surprise, and Xiachuan hurried out of Tsuruso. "This was not sent to me by an enthusiastic reader? But by you, Editor-in-Chief Wada?"

"This is all I can do." Wada sighed. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. Please don't apologize anymore." This was the first time Inaba Rika said this. Although she still felt uncomfortable, what else could she do when the editor-in-chief did this? Should she really beat him up?

"Akasaka went to check that place last night." Wada continued. "They have officially taken over this matter. Next, they will set up a special case to properly investigate it. So, this matter has been declared over here. No, actually we still have a job to do, but as a supernatural phenomenon, it has ended here. Inaba, whether you regard it as a request or an order from me, I hope you will not continue to follow up on this matter, and do not record or spread what you know in any form. Forget it and start over, okay?"

Inaba knew that the "job" he was talking about must be a clever way to cover up the truth of the matter, and she became more depressed.

Even if I force myself to accept everything Editor-in-Chief Hetian said, now that I already know about this kind of thing, is it so easy to forget it and pretend it never happened?

Even Editor-in-Chief Wada himself has not been able to forget what happened, right?

"This is the labor and compensation given to you by Akasaka, please accept it." Wada took out a thick envelope from his bag, put it on the table and pushed it in front of Inaba. "They are doing this work with a great sense of mission and fanatical belief. Anyone who hinders them from protecting this world, even if it is a human, will be ruthlessly eliminated by them. So, Miss Inaba, even if it is just for your own safety, please accept this and completely forget about it!"

Chapter 46 Simple Happiness

"I see. Thank you, then."

Inaba Rika looked at Wada, finally nodded, and took the envelope.

It was thick and heavy, filled with ten thousand dollar bills, the total amount should be over two million.

She knew very well that the meaning of this money was not labor and compensation as Hetian said, but exchange. If you accept the money, you have made a promise, and if you break it, you will definitely be severely punished.

She actually didn't want the money, but she also knew that only by accepting the money could she prove that she had fully understood and accepted what Hetian said and had chosen the position that the other party wanted to see.

"Well, why don't you take this opportunity to have a good rest for a few days?" Hetian said. "Don't worry, this is a paid vacation given to you as a reward. You can go abroad to relax and change your mood. When you come back and have sorted out your thoughts, we can discuss your future position again."

"Overseas? Are there such things abroad? Are there organizations like Akasaka?"

"That..." He Tian's expression was a little embarrassed. "As far as I know, there are both. However, the more economically developed and socially developed a country is, the less such things happen. So, if you want to relax, it's best not to go to a remote and backward country."

The information he revealed aroused Rika Inaba's curiosity again, but she finally stopped asking.

"Well, let's go. I'm sorry that I can't let you taste the delicious food here." Wada stood up, quietly placed a ten-thousand-dollar bill on the table, then bowed to the boss who was reading a newspaper, and walked out of the izakaya with Inaba.

"You still have to rush back to the magazine? Don't worry about me, I'll go back by myself."

"Okay." He Tian nodded. "Be careful on the road."

Inaba Rika watched him leave, then strolled around the nearby commercial street. About an hour later, she came back, and this time, Tsuruso had reopened.

"Welcome..." The boss put down the newspaper and stopped talking when he saw it was her.

"Sorry, there doesn't seem to be a better restaurant nearby. Can I sit down?"

Several regular customers were looking at this side curiously. Matsushigegoro hesitated for a while and finally nodded.

"Thank you."

Rika Inaba sat directly at the bar at the door. From that position, she could easily see the table where Wada had taken her to sit before.

The furnishings around here look a bit older, but certainly less than ten years old.

After such a long time, He Tian's memory is probably blurred. She can't help but start to imagine what it was like when the "Oddity Investigation Bureau" used this place as a secret base? And what would the girl who made He Tian feel guilty look like?

"what did you eat?"

"Ah? Oh, sorry." She quickly turned her eyes to the wall where the menu was hung, and then quickly said, "One pork chop rice, thank you."

The sound of sizzling soon rang out, and the regular customers began to talk to the boss again, but he was obviously in a bad mood and didn't want to reply. The strange thing was that the regular customers didn't care about it and continued to chat enthusiastically.

Some of them looked quite old, and Rika Inaba couldn't help but wonder if they had started patronizing this store ten years ago and whether she could find out what happened back then from them.

It was not that she wanted to confirm what Hetian said. She believed that Editor-in-Chief Hetian had no need to make up such a lie, nor would he joke about such a huge sum of money. But after he left, she suddenly felt that the truth was pressing down on her like a mountain. There was nowhere to escape and no way to hide. The feeling was suffocating.

She really wanted to find a place to vent these things and pass on this pressure, but she didn't know who to tell.

Hetian walked with a much lighter step. Saying those things must have made him feel particularly relaxed, but what about her?

She had to find something to distract herself, otherwise, she would keep thinking about these things and eventually drive herself crazy.

She looked at the guests who suddenly burst into laughter because of some unknown joke and suddenly felt a little envious of them.

Sure enough, sometimes ignorance can be bliss?

A large bowl was suddenly placed heavily on the bar in front of her.

"The miso soup is over there, you can serve it yourself. The drinks, oolong and lemonade, are also over there." Matsujugoro said coldly. "I don't have enough staff here, so you have to serve it yourself."

"Oh, yes. I see." Inaba said hurriedly.

"Wulang, how can you be so cold towards beautiful women?" said a regular customer who was also sitting at the bar.

Matsujugoro's answer was to take away the plate in front of him and say, "Get lost after you finish eating. If you have nothing to do, go get a part-time job or lie down in the park. Do you think this is a shelter?"

"Hey, I haven't finished eating yet! I still have those side dishes to eat!" said the regular customer helplessly. "Then I'll have another serving of chicken skewers, make it more tender, and remember to use less salt, the doctor said I can't eat too much salt."

"He told you to eat less fried food, why didn't you listen?" Matsushige Goro said unhappily. "Just eat some cucumbers."

Rika Inaba looked at their quarrel in surprise and felt a little envious for some reason. She bowed to the regular customer, served herself a bowl of soup, and returned to her seat.

"I'm gonna start now."

The delicious taste exploded along her taste buds and instantly occupied her entire brain, as if sweeping away all her worries and stress.

When she came to her senses, Inaba Rika was surprised to find that she had already finished the big bowl of pork chop rice that seemed impossible to finish, and she also burped loudly.

The elderly regular customer opposite had been looking at her with a smile. After realizing this, even though Inaba had developed a thick skin as a reporter on the scene, her face turned red.

"Excuse me……"

"It's okay, it's like this the first time you eat it, but it will be like this after you eat it a lot."

Naturally, Inaba Rika would not take these words, which were obviously a provocation to the boss, seriously. She looked at the drinkers in the pub and finally understood where the smiles on their faces came from.

Sure enough, delicious food can always make people feel happy.

Why don't I just switch to a food magazine and be a field reporter?

Look for delicious little shops like this izakaya hidden in ancient commercial streets every day, share them with everyone, and let more people feel this happiness. No matter how you think about it, it should be much more meaningful than making up illusions to deceive the world every day, right?

"One thousand two hundred yuan." The boss said suddenly.

"what?"

"This bowl of pork chop rice is 1,200 yuan! Go home after you finish eating! Didn't that person already give you a day off?"

"Oh~ sorry." After all, Rika Inaba didn't have the nerve to stay like that regular customer. The boss didn't treat her the same way he treated Editor Wada, and he even made her a delicious pork chop rice without any discount. She should be grateful.

She reached for her wallet, but unexpectedly saw that the needle of the detector in her bag was shaking and pointing to the far right, beyond the maximum scale.

Chapter 47: Being Involved in a Big Event

Inaba Rika's body couldn't help but tremble slightly.

It wasn't like the first time I really encountered this situation, when the excitement outweighed the fear, but I was simply surrounded by fear.