The story we started

[——Yoshiki-nii, yesterday we took the Shinkansen to the villa of the Xiao family on the beach in Niigata City for a joint training camp. We will do our best, and you should do your best tooφ(゜▽゜*)?～”]

【——Leave a message at Maibara Station Tokaido Main Line (～￣(OO)￣)ブ. 】

[“It turned out to be the delayed information set yesterday. They went to Niigata City for a training camp? Haha~ Thank you for your concern. You should also do your best.”]

[Attached to these two messages were photos of the group of them. Zaimokuza smiled at the photos, and his depressed mood improved a lot. ]

[“Hmm? Aren’t these the girls you saved in the incident number 23?”]

[Kousaka Kyousuke's voice came from the side. He came to Zaimokuza's side and looked at the photo on the phone screen with some curiosity.]

[“Yeah, and I saved them once afterwards. Those little guys are really interesting. I feel that the atmosphere between them is very similar to that of the Minister and the Service Club we established in high school. And we met a few times and it seemed like a coincidence, so I gave them my contact information.”]

[“Huh? That’s all? I thought you finally got the hang of it and wanted to find a girlfriend. After all, they’re pretty, aren’t they?”]

[“But I must warn you first, Zaimokuza. You should know that Miss Ebina has always been in love with you. Don’t be a scumbag who gets bored easily.”]

[“Cough, cough, cough!”]

[Kousaka Kyosuke rubbed his chin with interest, and teased with a slightly mischievous expression, and these few words almost made Zaimokuza spit out saliva from his mouth, and he coughed violently a few times and choked back. ]

[“Hey, hey, hey! Mr. Kosaka, am I that kind of person in your eyes? No matter what, I can’t possibly do anything to Xiao Wei and the others. There’s such a big age gap between us, and I always treat them as my sisters!”]

[“And I’ve said it many times! Hime and I are actually… Anyway, I know myself very well. I know that I’m not the type that many girls like, so stop joking about this!”]

【Zaimokuza argued anxiously, his face flushed, and he got stuck a few times when he mentioned Ebina, but he continued to speak stubbornly.】

[“…Is your self-awareness that you never look in the mirror when you say something like this?”]

[Looking at Zaimokuza's flushed face, and thinking about the other women besides Ebina Himena who were obviously interested in him, Kousaka Kyousuke's expression was slightly speechless. ]

【Di-】

[“Hmm? Five o’clock?”]

[At this moment, the phone in Kousaka Kyosuke's pocket also rang. He took out his phone and looked at the caller on the screen, and his brows furrowed instantly.]

[“Hello, it’s me, Gogen, what’s up!!!”]

[Before he finished speaking, Kousaka Kyousuke's expression suddenly changed and he shouted, startling Zaimokuza who was standing opposite him and also attracting the attention of Yukinoshita who was typing on the keyboard, and she looked towards them.]

[“Have you found out what the victims have in common? I see…”]

[“Understood. I’ll be there right away. Notify the nearby police station immediately to provide support and evacuate the people. The rest will be decided after I arrive!”]

[Kousaka Kyousuke hung up the phone after he finished speaking. Before Zaimokuza could ask, he said with a serious look on his face.]

【“Number 26 is about to take action.”】

[“So fast!? Are you sure it’s this?”]

【Zaimokuza was greatly surprised and asked hurriedly.】

[“Confirmed. Its method is exactly the same as last time. All the bodies of the victims found were hacked to death by it with a sickle. The wounds are almost the same. And now it has been confirmed that the deceased had taken the Shinkansen before. So it must be number 26.”]

[Kousaka Kyosuke nodded and said in a deep voice.]

[“Then quickly check who has taken the Sobu Line today, send people to gather them together for protection, and we will ambush them immediately—”]

[“No, the Sobu Line was already banned yesterday, and it hasn’t been unblocked even today, so the target of the 26th’s hunt is not someone from the Sobu Line.”]

[Before Zaimokuza could finish his words, Kousaka Kyousuke interrupted him and told him information that made him confused.]

[“If it’s not the Sobu Line, then the people it killed this time all took that line?”]

“That’s the problem.”

【Kousaka Kyosuke glanced at Zaimokuza deeply, his voice filled with unprecedented solemnity.】

[“This time, its targets are all passengers who have taken the Tokaido Main Line, and the hunting range... covers the entire country!”]

[This sentence made Zaimokuza's face turn pale. What does it mean to hunt all over the country? ]

[“I know it’s hard for you to believe, but it’s true.”]

【Kousaka Kyosuke rubbed his brows when he saw him like this, and then continued.】

[“An hour ago, it killed 21 victims in Echizen City, Fukui Prefecture, and half an hour later, it appeared in Tateyama Town, Toyama Prefecture and killed 32 victims. Then, half an hour ago, on the 26th, it appeared in Otsuki City, Yamanashi Prefecture and killed 12 people. The total straight-line distance of the crimes almost spans the east and west ends of Japan!”]

[“If the figures captured in the surveillance video had not had so many similarities, no one would have dared to believe that it was possible for it to commit the crime across a distance of hundreds of kilometers in just over an hour. It is precisely because the scope of the crime was so wide that the intelligence summary was not sent to the headquarters until just now to confirm the identity of the perpetrator.”]

[“This Frontal 26 has extremely strong mobility, and after investigation, it was found that the passengers killed by it had all taken the Tokaido Main Line from the Kyoto area yesterday. I will tell you the details on the way, but now we need to set off immediately.”]

[“Okay, no problem! Minister, let’s just wait a moment!”]

[Zaimokuza nodded, and just as he turned around to say goodbye to Yukinoshita Yukino who stood up and looked at him worriedly, his expression suddenly became dull. ]

[His neck was like a rusty machine. He slowly turned his head to look at Kousaka Kyosuke, whose eyebrows were furrowed. His voice was unusually hoarse.]

[“Mr. Kosaka… can you confirm that the victims killed by No. 26 this time were all passengers who took the Tokaido Main Line yesterday?”]

[“Yes, what’s wrong?”]

【Kousaka Kyousuke saw that Zaimokuza's expression suddenly became very ugly, and he felt something was wrong, so he answered affirmatively.】

[“——Oops!”]

[Zaimokuza's expression changed drastically after receiving the reply. He immediately took out his phone and clicked on the delayed message he had just received, staring intently at the last line of text and the date of sending below.]

【——Leave a message at Maibara Station Tokaido Main Line (～￣(OO)￣)ブ. 】

[And the sending time displayed is exactly yesterday! ]

……

【Shiga Prefecture, Maibara Station, Tokaido Main Line. 】

【yesterday.】

[“Hey, it seems our seats are all in the last few carriages.”]

[After Hirasawa Yui came in, Akiyama Mio, who was the last to enter the carriage, took out the ticket she had kept for everyone and looked at the seat number, then raised her head, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and spoke to the people in front of her. ]

[“It’s so uncomfortable~ We have to squeeze into the carriage. Can’t we just ask the butler to drive us there directly like last time?”]

[Taizhong Ritsu turned her head to look at the crowded people walking in the carriage. She was so tired after being exposed to the sun for a while that she almost wanted to lie down on the ground. She spoke weakly.]

[“Lü, you can’t be so willful! It’s good enough that you helped us solve the accommodation problem, you can’t make so many more demands!”]

[After hearing her friend's words, Akiyama Mio raised her long and thin eyebrows, stretched out her hands to pull her soft cheeks, and said unhappily.]

[“I am Kai Wangxiao’s, please stop teasing me, Mio’s mother!”]

[Taizhong Ritsu's cheeks were stretched so long that they turned red, and she shook her hands, saying with tears in her eyes.]

[“You can’t even joke around. It’s just that people are too nice to you, which is why you’ve become this lazy and greedy person. I need to teach you a lesson. Who dared to collect the photos of me making a fool of myself in the academy? (whispering)”]

[“It’s in the dishes of Zui Hou’s game, right? Woo woo woo~”]

[“Okay, okay~”]

[Kotobuki smiled and freed Tainaka Ritsu from the punishment of rubbing her face by Akiyama Mio, and stroked her hair with a smile.]

[“I’m sorry, Xiaolu, please let me be willful for once. I have wanted to try riding the Shinkansen for a long time, but I never had the chance. So can you accept my little selfish desire?”]

【““Wipe, wipe Bushi!”】

[“This child is an angel!”]

[Hirazawa Yui, Nakano Azusa, and Yamanaka Sawako couldn't help but put their hands in front of their faces and screamed. They felt that at this moment, a radiance like that of the Virgin Mary was emanating from Kotobuki, who was stroking Tianzhong Ritsu's hair, stinging their eyes that had been tempered by the dirty school.]

[“Well, just pamper her, ?——Ah!”]

[“Mio! Are you okay?”]

[Akiyama Mio looked at her friend who was hugging Kotobuki's slender waist and hiding behind her, staring at her with tears in her eyes. Just when she was about to sigh helplessly, a force from behind pushed her a few steps. Fortunately, Kotobuki, who was standing in front of her, quickly reached out and held her, otherwise she would have hit the wall of the car.]

[A fashionable figure walked into the carriage behind her, pushed Akiyama Mio who was standing in front of the entrance aside, and walked into the carriage without looking back, holding a ticket in his hand.]

【"sorry!"】

[It was Mio Akiyama who was hit, but she hurriedly bowed and apologized to the person who was walking away, but the person continued to walk forward without even turning his head. This behavior of completely ignoring her made Tianzhong Ritsu couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, and shouted at the back of the person who was walking away with a somewhat angry voice. ]

[“Hey! Why are you like this? It was you who bumped into Mio first! Why should Mio apologize to you?”]

[Although she usually teases Akiyama Mio, no one in the light music club cares about her childhood sweetheart more than the tomboy. Seeing that she is being bullied, she can't help but stand up for her. ]

[After hearing her words, the figure stopped and turned to look at Tian Jingzhong Ritsu, his eyes full of indifference.]

[“I said, you—Mmmmm!”]

[“Lu! You can’t talk to people like that. I was the one who blocked their way first. I’m the one who made the mistake.”]

【Seeing that Tianzhong Ritsu was about to say something, Akiyama Mio quickly reached out and blocked her mouth, then turned around and said to her with an apologetic smile.】

【“…”】

[In response to Akiyama Mio's apology, the other party still said nothing and turned around and walked back into the car. ]

[“——Puha! Mio, why didn’t you let me tell her? Even though you were blocking the way, that person didn’t have the right to knock you out of the way like that! What if he got hurt?”]

[After the figure walked away, Tian Zhongli, with a red face, pulled away his friend's hand that was blocking his mouth, and said with a little dissatisfaction. ]

[“But I’m fine now, right? There’s no need to argue with others over such a small matter. Come! Let’s go to the carriage where our seats are.”]

[Akiyama Mio shook her head slightly, smiled and raised the ticket in her hand, then took the lead and picked up her luggage and walked to the other carriage in the opposite direction.]

[“Tsk~ You’re just too nice. Sooner or later you’ll suffer because of this character.”]

[“Well, don’t say that. Xiao Mio is such a kind girl. I believe she will have good luck in the future~”]

[Taizhong Ritsu pouted, and the teacher, Yamanaka Sawako, smiled and patted her shoulder, then put her arm around her and followed along with the other girls.]

……

[“Humph! That Lin Duo is so noisy.”]

[“Lucky for you, if the game hadn’t started yet…”]

[Listening to the footsteps of the light music club gradually fading away, Garima found his ticketed seat and sat down, snorted coldly, then looked up and glanced around. ]

[Its brown eyes turned blue in an instant, and the scene it saw became dim. In this field of vision, everyone in the car was shining with orange light.]

[“There are quite a lot of them. There are many here.”]

[Garima looked at the orange light that extended from the head to the entire Shinkansen like a lamp post in the dark night, and a hideous smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. ]

[“One thousand people, three days… Humph, just wait, I will be the first ‘GO’ to enter the ‘Game of White and Darkness’, and then…”]

[“——Even if it is ‘Him’, I will slash him with my blade. The only one who can bring about the ultimate darkness is me, GO-Garima-Ba!”]

【Om—】

[The blue pupils flashed a ray of destructive light in an instant. This light was so fleeting that the person who looked up in confusion in the seat next to him thought he was hallucinating.]

[In Garima's vision, the orange light of all the passengers on this Shinkansen was mixed with a strange purple light, just like a drop of ink falling into clear water.]

[From this moment on, all passengers on this Shinkansen train become Garima's prey, and they cannot escape its pursuit even if they flee to the ends of the earth.]

[——Among them, the light music club members were included.]

if not?

Author's message:

PS: No, I really need to take two days off. Writing books non-stop is too tiring. I need to take it slow.

Chapter position: 185 / Chapter price: 27 / Word count: 5779 / Update time: 2023-07-17 23:44:17

5. The beginning of the war (5K)

【Now. 】

[“Echizen City in Fukui Prefecture, Tateyama Town in Toyama Prefecture, Otsuki City in Yamanashi Prefecture… As expected!”]

【Zaimokuza rubbed his fingers on the map of Japan on the wall of the laboratory. Every time he mentioned a place, his fingers would pass over the corresponding area name written on the map. The names he mentioned were all the trajectory lines of the crimes committed by the unidentified life form No. 26.】