Chapter 218: Spreading
Chapter 218: Spreading
——Hunterghost.
What a strange email?
“So, can we find out where this email came from?”
Fang Jing handed the phone to Higashi Yuantai and asked again.
“Already figured it out.”
Higashi Yuantai was always efficient. He probably shared Fang Jing’s concern about this message.
With his skills, manpower, and resources, the investigation was naturally straightforward.
“This is a chain email. The sender was one of the unconscious elementary school students, and she was also in Shiori’s class.”
“Hmm…”
Fang Jing pressed his hand to his chin, frowning in thought. Then, his eyes widened slightly, and he asked in a low voice, “Have you looked into that little girl’s family?”
“Her parents are just ordinary office workers. So far, I haven’t found any connections between Shiori and the Black Devourer Syndicate or any other external forces.”
“That makes things a bit tricky.”
Both of them had initially thought the same thing—they believed someone was behind Shiori’s incident. But now, it seemed the situation wasn’t that simple.
“By the way, that little girl from Shiori’s class is also in this hospital.”
“Do you know which room she’s in?”
Fang Jing had some ideas. He hadn’t noticed anything unusual about Shiori’s condition.
During her check-up, there were no abnormalities on her body. He had even personally examined her but found nothing.
Moreover, several elementary school students had fallen unconscious at the same time.
This wasn’t normal.
Fang Jing decided to investigate the truth himself.
…
He arrived at the door of the other hospitalized little girl’s room.
Unexpectedly, he ran into acquaintances at the hospital again.
Karasawa, and an old woman.
They were standing in front of the room, talking to a weary-looking middle-aged man.
Even from a distance, Fang Jing could hear what Karasawa and the others were discussing with the middle-aged man…
The distance posed no obstacle to Fang Jing’s hearing.
He hid in a corner, carefully listening to the conversation among the three. Gradually, he began to understand the situation.
So that’s it! It seemed this matter was connected to the “Strange Phenomenon.”
Hunterghost… This strange existence might not be an illusion but a genuine Strange Phenomenon.
————————
She couldn’t remember how she got home.
Nishizuka Satsuki was found by a patrolling police officer on a bicycle, who noticed her sleeping on a bench by the road.
He reminded her not to catch a cold and then rode away on his bicycle.
Now, she woke up in her own bed.
Half-awake and groggy, her blurry consciousness couldn’t even tell if what she experienced was a dream.
She sat up, her body cold under the covers, likely because she remembered that dream.
No, was that vivid feeling really just a dream?
Standing in front of the bathroom, she struggled as usual to smooth down her unruly hair.
Then, as always, she prepared breakfast.
“Brother still isn’t back?”
The door to her brother’s room remained tightly shut.
He had been away for several days and hadn’t returned.
Satsuki felt a flicker of worry in her heart.
…
Around nine o’clock, after studying, Satsuki stretched her shoulders.
She went to the kitchen to prepare lunch.
Around eleven, she had to deliver the meal to her mother.
In this weather, fresh food spoiled easily, so she decided it was better to deliver it personally.
Soon, the food was ready.
Due to the season, when she opened the door, the outside temperature was unbearably hot, like a hellish inferno.
She put on her shoes.
Opened the front door.
“So hot…”
Even though it was sweltering, she stepped outside.
Shielding her eyes from the glaring sunlight, she quickly adjusted to the unusually hot, daytime hell.
The 24-hour convenience store where her mother worked wasn’t far, but she had to pass through the park area.
She decided to go early and return quickly, not wanting to waste time.
The central park was quite large, with well-maintained lawns, a few play structures, and barbecue equipment like you’d find at a campsite.
Unfortunately, the place was usually deserted, making it feel a bit lonely.
Just then, she caught a strange smell—like paint that hadn’t dried yet. No, that wasn’t quite right… It was more like the smell of raw, metallic rust.
In the scorching summer heat, the odor was particularly sharp.
Wait, maybe it wasn’t rust either.
Suppressing her unease, Satsuki slowly approached a cluster of bushes. The closer she got, the stronger and more intense the smell became.
She kept walking and saw something disgusting under the shade of the trees.
A wave of nausea, like something scratching at her throat, surged up.
She almost vomited.
It was a limp, small dog lying on the ground, its belly torn open like a gruesome flower. A small hand held a utility knife.
It was a little girl in a short dress.
She calmly held down the small dog, no bigger than her palm, and stabbed the utility knife into its soft belly. Entrails and flesh spilled out.
The girl expressionlessly stirred the small dog’s intestines, making wet, squelching sounds.
At that very moment, the little girl heard a noise behind her and visibly flinched.
She leaped up like a startled rabbit and, in the blink of an eye, fled from sight.
“What… what is going on?!”
She was completely at a loss and couldn’t understand what was happening.
However, she did see that little girl torturing and killing the small dog.
…
Finally, Satsuki had to report the situation to the park manager.
“So, did you see the person?”
The manager was a middle-aged man, and his expression showed a little impatience.
“Yes.”
Satsuki nodded a bit nervously.
“A child.”
“She probably wasn’t very old, maybe about ten years old.”
“What did she look like?”
“Her skin was very pale, and she had fluffy short hair. Also, her left eye might have had some kind of eye problem—she wore a white eye patch.”
… She was small and seemed to have a gentle personality, with short black bobbed hair. Who would have thought she would treat the puppy like that.
The middle-aged manager frowned.
“I haven’t noticed anyone like that. Don’t worry, I’ll inform the patrolling police about this… Probably a child from around here. Well, if anything comes up, I’ll contact you.”
His words carried a tone of wanting her to leave.
Satsuki had always been gentle by nature. She bowed to the man, then turned and left the place.
“Karasawa-senpai.”
“What is it? Calling me again…”
Karasawa’s tone sounded lazy and somewhat impatient. Fang Jing knew him fairly well—from his tone, he could guess what Karasawa was thinking. Whenever this guy contacted him, it usually meant trouble…
But considering the current situation, that was probably true.
“There’s something I’d like to ask you about?”
“Hey, hey! Your tone doesn’t sound like that at all. All I feel is a kind of arrogant, condescending attitude coming from you.”
“How could that be? I’ve always held a respectful attitude toward you, Senpai. After all, just by existing in this world, you uselessly consume large amounts of oxygen while continuously emitting carbon dioxide, making your own ‘contribution’ to our world.”
“Alright! Wait, no… That’s something pretty much anyone can do.”
“Well then, I should express my gratitude to most people in the world.”
“I get the feeling you don’t respect me at all, you glasses-wearing jerk!”
Karasawa’s tone was clearly annoyed.
“Never mind that. What exactly did you want to ask?”
“It’s about that rumor that’s been going around recently… the thing about Hunterghost.”
“Wait, how do you know about that? That rumor…”
Karasawa seemed to hesitate. After a long pause, he slowly said, “Alright! I guess something must have happened on your end too?”
“A relative’s child encountered it. They got a strange email on their phone.”
Fang Jing lied. He pretended to sigh and continued, “I heard that students from other schools have been falling into comas too.”
Hearing this, Karasawa seemed to hold his breath. He took a deep breath and admitted, “Yeah… It’s definitely related to a Strange Phenomenon. However, Uno and I suspect… there might be human involvement behind this?”
“What do you mean?”
Fang Jing remained calm and continued to ask.
“That message called ‘Hunterghost’ was probably spread by someone.”
Karasawa said in a low voice, “It’s a very dangerous ‘piece of information.’ Just meeting certain conditions can summon something. It’s something you absolutely want to avoid.”