The story we started

[Tsurumi Rumi thought of the tall figure she saw when she entered the door just now, which took her several seconds to recognize. She lowered her head in a daze and looked at the coffee in her hand. Through the ripples on the surface of the coffee in the coffee cup, she seemed to see a boy with chubby cheeks and glasses smiling happily and reaching out his hand to her.]

「Compared to that time——Ah!」

[Just as Tsurumi Rumi was mumbling to herself, a cold finger touched her chin, causing her to scream like a kitten. The finger lifted her head up, and Kawasaki Saki's mischievous smile came into view.]

[“Hmm~ Could it be that our little Rumi is attracted to Zaimokuza? That’s right, after all, Zaimokuza is indeed good-looking now, and you are also at that age.”]

[“…Saki-san, don’t make fun of me. Yoshiki and I are just friends.”]

[Tsurumi Rumi blushed and slapped away the finger that was touching her pretty chin, and said unhappily.]

[“Well, since you said so, then that’s it. But by the way, where did Zaimokuza go? He ran out with a pale face after receiving that phone call, and he didn’t even finish nailing the bookshelf. He’s been missing all day recently as well. I’ll have to give him a good beating when he comes back!”]

[Speaking of a rabbit that has been missing since morning, the capitalist lady's eyes suddenly became sinister, thinking about how to increase the intensity of squeezing the rabbit's flesh and blood. ]

[“Is Yihui busy recently?”]

[“Who knows? He’s been hanging out with a police officer named Kosaka all day. I don’t know where these two grown men are going and what they’re doing. Anyway, they always come back exhausted. Could it be that when I wasn’t paying attention, that guy finally degenerated into being a gigolo, and that false appearance is because he’s been receiving too many customers?”]

[Kawasaki Saki said this with all malicious intent, and this statement immediately caused Tsurumi Rumi to blush. ]

[“Don’t say that, Saki-san! Yoshiteru doesn’t seem like that kind of person…”]

[“Nono~Rumi-chan, you have to know that men are transformed from eels, especially men like Zaimokuza who used to be inconspicuous because of their fat but became handsome after losing weight. This kind of men are often very good at deceiving girls. They are born to be gigolos! No matter what vows they make to girls, in the end they will——”]

【"etc!"】

【Tsurumi Rumi suddenly interrupted Kawasaki Saki's speech with her hand, staring at her closely.】

[“Sister Shaxi, what did you just say?”]

[“Uh… I am a man and an eel—”]

[Kawasaki Saki was confused by Tsurumi Rumi's sudden correct attitude and said something with a confused look on her face, but was immediately interrupted by her.]

[“No! Next sentence!”]

[“Well… no matter what promises men make to girls, they will eventually—what’s wrong, Liumei?”]

[Kawasaki Saki saw Tsurumi Rumi's thoughtful expression and asked curiously.]

【“A pledge of love… A pledge of love… The sea?”】

[Tsurumi Rumi kept thinking about this sentence, and her big black eyes gradually became brighter.]

[“I remember now! I know where Shika will go!”]

……

[Zaimokuza was driving the Triangle Pursuer 2000 on the road. The only eye behind the helmet that was not bandaged made it difficult for him to see the movements around him, so he drove very carefully and at a low speed.]

[“Natsume Mika…”]

[He kept repeating the name he had heard from Kousaka Kyosuke, recalling the helpless crying of the girl that night and her tears sparkling like pearls under the light, his eyes gradually became firm.]

“Will you be there?”

[Enduring the dull pain from his left eye beneath the bandage, Zaimokuza gradually drove away from the city.]

35. Shatter the darkness of sadness and penetrate the other side of the sky

【Chiba Prefecture, Futtsu Coast. 151txt.com】

[Swish——]

[Waves washed up from the sea, leaving white foam on the beach before retreating. The seawater mixed with white foam soaked through the girl's white shoes, then rolled back, over and over again.]

[Natsume Mika holds her backpack and stares at the sea under the sunlight with a dazed look.]

【"Hahaha--"】

[It seemed as if a familiar voice sounded in her ears. She turned around and saw a girl in a white down jacket running past her with a smile, running towards the middle-aged man in work clothes in the distance. The man smiled and handed her a necklace made of shells and touched the girl's head.]

[“Shijia.”]

【"dad……"】

[Whispering the man's name, Natsume Mika couldn't help but take a step forward, her shoes sinking into the soft sand after being soaked in sea water.]

[But as she took this step, the girl and the man turned into a white phantom and disappeared, but the laughter still vaguely remained in her ears.]

【“…”】

[Natsume Mika stopped her steps stiffly, and couldn't help but hold the backpack tightly in one hand, and the shell necklace around her neck tightly with the other hand, sobbing softly.]

[Even though more than a month had passed, she still couldn't accept the fact that her father had left her forever.]

[From the day I received the phone call on the day Jiulang Yue got into trouble, it was as if the whole world was trapped in a cold filter. All the warmth gradually disappeared from my world, leaving only the only real coldness and cruelty. ]

[The girl was unwilling to admit why that gentle father had left her like this? And she would never see him again in this life. ]

[In class, the teacher has always taught us that we should not make mistakes, and those who make mistakes will be punished by the world... But what did Dad do wrong? He is such a good person, always caring for his students and friends, and is very kind, but why was he killed by the unconfirmed life form No. 0? ]

[Why? Did Dad do something wrong? Or did I do something wrong to make Dad leave me? ]

[Natsume Mika couldn't accept such a result. What made her even more unbearable was why everyone seemed indifferent to her father's death? Dad was dead! He would never come back! Why did everyone seem to not care at all? Is human life so worthless? ]

[“…You are here, Shika.”]

【“!?”】

[A familiar voice came from behind. Natsume Mika, who was awakened, hurriedly wiped the tears from her eyes with her sleeves, but she couldn't wipe away her red eyes. She turned around and looked at Tsurumi Rumi, who was standing behind her with a complicated expression. Her long black hair and red scarf kept swaying in the sea breeze, flowing like a wave.]

[“Sister Liumei, why…”]

[“Why do I know you’re here? It’s simple. Your uncle used to bring you here to pick up shells. So I thought you would come here, so I came to take a look.”]

[“…Come back with me, Shijia, don’t let your aunt worry anymore—”]

[“I don’t want it!”]

[Before Tsurumi Rumi could finish her words, Natsume Mika shouted out excitedly, and the tears she had been holding back could no longer be held back and flowed out from her eyes, dripping down her face and blending with the seawater that was already covering her feet.]

[“I don’t want to go back! Why does everyone seem to not care about Dad’s death? My mom and I came here hoping to provide clues about the Zero, but everyone we meet doesn’t care! Dad is dead! He will never come back! But everyone is just busy doing their own things. Is Dad’s death so meaningless? Can’t they even stop and take a look?”]

【“…”】

[Tsurumi Rumi remained silent about this. It was not that she did not know how to explain to Natsume Mika that everyone did not care about her uncle's death. In fact, the search for the whereabouts of No. 0 has always been one of the key projects of the search headquarters. The reason why everyone acted indifferent was just because they wanted to save more people from the newly appeared No. 14 who was slaughtering people, and stop the other party's atrocities, etc....]

[But she knew that saying these things was meaningless. For a girl of Natsume Mika's age, especially one who was emotionally agitated, no matter what reasoning she had, it was useless because in essence she was just venting, venting the pain of losing her father. Everyone's attitude was just the fuse that ignited the pain hidden deep in her heart.]

[In fact, the number of people who have died because of unconfirmed life forms has reached at least three digits, and the beginning of this number is not "1". Her uncle, Natsume Mika's father, Professor Natsume Kokichi is just one of this number. There are hundreds of families who are in the same pain as Natsume Mika. ]

[But human life can never be summed up by cold numbers. Each of those numbers represents the passing of a living life. This pain belongs to all those who have lost their family members due to unconfirmed life forms. But when a small piece of this pain is broken down, it is also unbearable for an individual.]

[Swish——]

[The waves are still sweeping across the beach, and the sea breeze blows through the two girls' hair, bringing up their different thoughts and revealing their eyes that contain different emotions.]

[“That’s not the case, Shika.”]

[Another voice came from behind Natsume Mika. She turned around again, but before she could say anything, Tsurumi Rumi's surprised voice came from behind her.]

【“Yihui!?”】

[The sea breeze suddenly blew up his short white hair, revealing his left eye which was bandaged underneath. The only intact right eye reflected Natsume Mika's red eyes from crying. Zaimokuza smiled, his expression as gentle as the sunshine in midsummer.]

[“It’s not like you said that everyone doesn’t care about your father’s death, but they are so busy trying to prevent more tragedies like your father’s from happening, Shijia.”]

[The sea in the distance was connected to the sky, as if the whole world was integrated into one, and the young man smiled and told them about it.]

Chiba Prefecture, Sobu High School, Service Club.

"this place……"

Looking at the beach and sea as the background in the video, Hikigaya Hachiman suddenly covered his head with his hands, his eyes filled with confusion and bewilderment.

"That's it, Hikigaya-san."

Hayato Hayama, who had been paying attention to him, naturally noticed his abnormality and asked. The others also looked over when they heard Hayato Hayama's voice.

"I seem to have an impression of this beach. It seems like I've been there before."

Hikigaya Hachiman covered his forehead with his hands, his brows slightly wrinkled, and a vague image appeared in his mind.

There were four figures standing on the beach facing the sea, two adults and two children. The voices of the two adults were very familiar; they were his parents.

There is also a little girl in the picture. She is sitting on the sand in a white princess dress, holding a drawing board in both hands and drawing with the crayons she carries with her. In the drawing, there is a ship passing by on the blue sea.

The girl seemed to notice "his" gaze, turned to look at "him", waved happily and called himself, her smile flickering in the vague memory.

"elder brother!"

“…Komachi?”

A junior high school in Chiba Prefecture.

"Huh? Brother?"

Hikigaya Komachi, who was watching a video intently with her classmates, suddenly heard a familiar voice coming from behind her. She turned around subconsciously and spoke the voice, only to see a boy with a bewildered expression. The boy saw that the girl he had been secretly peeping at suddenly looked at him, and his face was panicked and he didn't know what to do.

"?"

She tilted her head in confusion, and the ahoge on top of her head slid to one side with the movement, which was so adorable that it made people's nose bleed.

【A museum in Tokyo. 】

【A few hours ago.】

【Snapped! 】

[With a crisp sound, Gooma was slapped by the frosty-faced Baruba again and fell into the trash can, struggling with both hands.]

[“It’s more likely to cause trouble than to help!”]

[Baruba coldly looked at Gooma who was struggling in the trash can, then turned to Badjisu who was standing behind him with a gloomy face and said.]

[“Unfortunately, since your counting bracelet is lost, you can only start over.”]

[After saying that, she took out a black bracelet and handed it to him. Badjisu did not refute her decision. He took it indifferently and walked out the door. But he stopped halfway, turned around, raised the bracelet on his wrist and said.]

[“Killing ordinary Lindo counts as this.”]

[It moved a magatama on the bracelet and continued.]

["If I kill Kuuga, I'll count it as this... okay?"]

[Badjisu moved the bracelet to the next row again, this time directly moving three magatama, looking at baruba with some anticipation and said.]

[This is the reason why it didn't kill Zaimokuza in the amusement park before. It's not that it can't kill him, but it has to use him to negotiate conditions. This is also a helpless move. After all, the number of people killed before is completely invalid after the bracelet is lost, but the time cannot be reset. Once the energy injected by Badji reaches the scheduled time, if it completes the game, it will strengthen itself and push itself to another level, but if it fails to complete it, what awaits it is self-destruction. ]

[Since the previous number of people was invalid, badjisu could only think of this method. 】

[The Gurongi tribe's counting system is not the "decimal system" used by modern people. They use one of the more primitive counting systems, the "multiplication cumulative system", and it is a base-9 system. For the Gurongi tribe, 9 is an integer, so the goals they set when playing killing games are usually multiples of , but they are not completely fixed. For example, the goal of the badjisu game is people. ]

[The bracelet it wears has a number of one on each magatama on the top row and nine on each magatama on the bottom row. If badjisu moves three magatama, it means that if Zaimokuza is killed, it will be equal to 27 players in one go.]

【“Okay, I’ll do as you say.”】

[Baruba looked at the number of magatama it was moving and nodded in agreement, and Badjisu, who received the reply, smiled, but the smile was extremely cold.]

[“Just hearing your words is enough. I guarantee that Kuuga will not live until the sun sets today!”]

[After saying that, it immediately began to change its form on the spot. Not only that, as its body twisted, an emerald light began to shine from its waist. Badjisu actually turned into an enhanced form! ]

【"drink!"】

[After the transformation, it spread its six wings behind it, and flew up into the sky with a loud roar, directly crashing through the glass on the top of the museum and flying out. The broken glass fell sparsely at the feet of the remaining Gurongi inside, breaking into smaller pieces.]

[…Kuuga’s power seems to have caused a huge change in this “Kikiru”. From now on, the rules of the game of “GO” will probably change drastically.]

[Baruba lowered his head and raised it, walking forward with an indifferent expression. Gooma in front of him had just taken the trash can off his head and stood up with a head full of vegetable leaves and leftovers. Baruba frowned in disgust when he saw it and slapped him again.]

[“Ah!”]

[After the slap and scream, Gooma was thrown onto the broken glass again, and the sharp glass fragments cut many cracks on the clothes he was wearing.]

[“Disgusting guy, find your place well.”]

[After leaving these words, Baruba walked towards the gate without looking back. The Gurongi who followed him showed a gloating sneer on their faces when they saw this scene. Some of them even kicked Gooma who was trying to stand up, then put their hands behind their backs and whistled to catch up with the end of the team.]

【“——!!!”】

[Gooma, who was kicked down again, lowered his head, his disheveled hair covering his eyes, and his eyes fixed on the group of Gurongi walking away. His black-gloved hand tightly grasped a piece of glass, which pierced through the leather glove and into his flesh. As his hand continued to exert force, blood, so bright red that it was almost pitch black, flowed down his palm along the glass fragments.]

[“ba——ru——ba!”]