Not a detective

Page 57

But once the fight actually started, we realized that wasn't the case.

Although this mannequin has human hands, feet, and torso, it doesn't move like a human at all. Sometimes it crawls on all fours, and sometimes it makes all sorts of incomprehensible movements, such as bending its arms or turning its head 180 degrees. Its foot movements are also completely unpredictable, which even caused Asakawa Riku to miss several times.

His predictions are not based on future vision like that of "detective" Shinonome Suetsuki, but rather on deducing his moves based on the opponent's actions.

If it were a human, then the movement of the feet, changes in muscles, and even signs of micro-expressions could all reflect the body's next move.

The body is the most faithful servant; it does not lie, at least not at "their" level. It is impossible to make the body lie.

Therefore, Riku Asakawa can often anticipate his opponent's movements and even react before the opponent makes a move, demonstrating the divine skill of "striking first after the opponent strikes".

But this human model is a bit tricky.

Its power generation and movements defied all logic and the basic mechanics of human operation; they were simply inexplicable patterns, devoid of any discernible rules. Therefore, Asakawa Rikuichi initially found it somewhat unsettling. It didn't feel like fighting a human, nor like battling a wild beast; it was a far more bizarre and unbelievable style…

Is it possible for me to learn this approach?

He couldn't help but feel excited when the idea popped into his head.

In ancient times, great Chinese martial artists learned new boxing techniques from the postures of the praying mantis, which is the origin of "Mantis Boxing". Even the entire system of imitative boxing that followed was derived from the concept of "imitation". What makes humans more advanced than animals is their ability to learn. By learning, they master techniques and thus continue to evolve.

This system has evolved to the point where almost all the animals that can be learned have been exhausted, including the boxing techniques of tigers and leopards, which are already in Asakawa Riku's database.

If you want to go even further, perhaps you need to find something even more incredible and unimaginable...

Until today, upon seeing this human model, Asakawa Riku has finally found a new "teacher".

He punched and slapped the model's body, observing its reactions and movements, deliberately blocking its way to provoke it into a counterattack.

Their movements became faster and their teamwork improved, as they fought their way from the east side of the campus to the west.

The key to Asakawa Riku's success is his constant humility, his relentless pursuit of excellence, and his exceptional learning and observation skills.

Watching the mannequin's bizarre movements, which resembled an unknowable dance, Asakawa Riku felt a profound sense of beauty and was captivated by it!

Rather than treating the other person like a wooden stake, it's more accurate to say he willingly became a backup dancer...

In the deep and quiet campus, under the cover of night, there was no one around, only the sound of their clashing hands echoing, playing a light and distinct melody.

Asakawa Riku could clearly feel himself slowly adapting to the rhythm and getting used to the twisted and wild movements. To be honest, it was very difficult to do. If you couldn't bend your joints to a certain extent and reach the level of gymnasts and acrobats, you would only injure yourself. But he was still able to do it.

He felt that he was gradually learning this new "boxing style".

"If possible, I would really like to learn from you again."

Once he had confirmed that he could master the next part through his own deduction, Asakawa Riku reluctantly pressed his hand against the chest of the anatomical model.

His eyes seemed to hold gratitude, but he didn't say it aloud. Instead, he transformed his palm into a fist, brewing up immense killing intent.

"...But unfortunately, we can't waste any more time, or the senior will get angry."

...

"All done?" Chizuko noticed the footsteps behind her and turned around.

"Hmm." Asakawa Riku approached and peeked out: "How's the security guard?"

In the guardhouse in the distance, it seemed that the security guard was asleep, his head buried in his hands, and his flashlight had been hung back in its place.

“I had Aju scare him unconscious, and then I moved him back to the guard room. He should be fine. When he wakes up, he'll probably think he had a nightmare.”

Chizuko is indeed trustworthy. If an unrelated person had witnessed the shocking scene just now, it wouldn't be something that could be easily fooled.

"Let's be more careful next time." Asakawa Riku nodded; he still didn't want to involve innocent people.

Chizuko glanced again in the direction of the school gate, making sure no one was passing by, and then asked:

"How's it going on your end? Is it that difficult, that anatomical mannequin?"

"Not really, it's just that it can revive and regenerate, which makes it very difficult to deal with..."

He didn't mention how much fun he had, otherwise he probably would have angered the other person, so he decided to let it go.

He changed the subject, saying, "I disassembled its body into six parts and buried them in six corners of the campus. Although its limbs can still move, I've tested it. If you fill it with more than ten meters of soil, it won't be able to dig it out with its strength. It can't be reassembled. I guess that solves the problem."

"enough."

Chizuko nodded, but still looked at the guy in front of her with suspicion.

—How did he so casually dig six pits, each over ten meters long, and then fill them back in, all by hand?

But in the end, he didn't ask the question: "Can you point me in the right direction? I'll write some talismans and stick them up later."

"Oh? So it's possible to seal that model away from reviving it?"

Asakawa Riku was quite interested in this.

To everyone's surprise, Chizuko simply shook her head: "No, it's to subconsciously keep people away from those places, so that no classmate might accidentally dig up something strange while digging out of curiosity."

So this is what talismans are used for.

So they were busy with the cleanup for quite a while. Chizuko went back to the mystery club's activity room and got some talisman paper and ink (it was the first time Asakawa Riku had known that such things were hidden there). She wrote and drew some things on it. Asakawa Riku tried to decipher the characters, but he couldn't make them out no matter what he did. In any case, he stuck them on the ground where the models were buried.

Then another layer of soil was added on top, and it was done.

“I don’t feel like I need to ‘get away’,” Asakawa Riku said, gazing at the land.

“It’s because you witnessed the whole thing,” Chizuko explained with a smile. “Spells are like magic tricks; they rely on mystery to be effective. Once the principles and techniques are figured out, the effect is greatly diminished. Besides, you have no inspiration. In that respect, spells are like casting pearls before swine to you; they’re completely worthless.”

"Playing the lute to a cow" is not a very pleasant phrase...

"Haha, well then, Asakawa-kun, that concludes today's work. You did a great job."

Chizuko gave him a high five to celebrate: "Let's continue tomorrow."

Aoandon's Autumn: Chapter Sixteen - The Ghostly Tales of the Music Classroom

"The anatomical model from yesterday has gone missing from the biology classroom."

The next day, Chizuko arrived at the activity room and couldn't wait to say it.

She said she used Ajuku to gather information and indeed saw the biology teacher angrily questioning the staff. He was angry that someone would steal such a model, which was originally an important teaching prop, but is now unusable. Apparently, the purchase price of one is quite expensive.

“I thought the model would be restored this morning.” Asakawa Riku was somewhat surprised.

"Of course not, that model is the original of the ghost story, and it's still buried underground."

Chizuko said, "Remember when we checked yesterday, the biology classroom was locked in a secret room, so now the school is investigating the use of the spare key... It's really become a locked-room theft case! Luckily, this school is old and doesn't have any security cameras, otherwise we probably would have been found out."

Asakawa Riku glanced at her: "If there really were surveillance cameras, you should be able to secretly delete the records, right?"

"Hehe, don't wrong me. In any case, we need to hurry up."

Chizuko became serious: "If the principal is really persuaded to install cameras, it will be troublesome. Moreover, with such a theft just happening, they might increase patrols at night, or even have more security personnel to hinder us, which would make it difficult to carry out our work... and it could also easily cause accidental injuries, just like you said."

Cameras may not be able to capture monsters, but they can capture such strange things; they are the closest thing to real danger.

It must all be erased here.

"Yes." Asakawa Riku thought so too, and time was of the essence: "Tonight, let's take care of the third and fourth ones together."

...

The third of the seven incredible things about campus: the piano in the music room at night.

Some people heard that in the empty music classroom at night, the piano began to play Beethoven's famous piece "Für Elise" on its own.

Legend has it that there was once a female student at this school who loved playing the piano and was very confident in her musical talent, but unexpectedly lost a competition.

The next day, the female student's body was found in the music classroom. It turned out that the female student was too focused on practicing the piano and did not notice that there was something wrong with her body. She lost the competition because her illness prevented her from performing smoothly on the day of the competition. She did not know the reason. She just kept playing the piano desperately until the last moment of her life.

After the female student passed away, her soul remained in the music classroom, practicing "Für Elise" over and over again, unable to stop.

If you listen to her "Für Elise" three times, you will die.

The fourth of the seven unbelievable things on campus: A bleeding portrait of Beethoven.

Just like in China, schools here like to hang portraits of famous people in their classrooms, so naturally, the music room would only have portraits of Beethoven.

At night, some people have seen Beethoven's eyes on the wall begin to move, even glow, and eventually bleed...

Although it doesn't mention what will happen after bleeding, this scene, reminiscent of Harry Potter, is scary enough, like a still portrait suddenly turning its eyes and staring at you.

"In other words, one is a rather dangerous ghost story, while the other is relatively safer."

After listening to Chizuko's account in her notes, Asakawa Riku analyzed the situation.

After two days of experiments, they were able to roughly categorize ghost stories into two types: one type, like Hanako, has a "murder" rule; the other type, like the anatomical model, is powerful but "has no motive to kill," only appearing rather frightening. The former is obviously more dangerous, while the latter offers room for maneuver if one cannot defeat it.

"Well, and they just happen to be in the music room, so we can finish two in one night."

Chizuko nodded and put the notebook back into her bag.

If the two ghost stories were located far apart, they would have to split up and wouldn't be able to help each other if something happened, which would increase the danger. Moreover, not both of the ghost stories were dangerous; the bleeding Beethoven portrait seemed safer, so after discussing it, they made this decision.

After school, they would evade the patrolling teachers and security guards as usual, waiting until night had completely fallen before taking action.

The patrol force was indeed significantly increased today, with three or four security personnel carrying flashlights walking back and forth on campus. Fortunately, they dealt with that mannequin early on.

The school building was still quiet. Considering that there might be an ambush at the biology classroom, they deliberately took a longer route to get to the music classroom.

"Safety."

Chizuko sent the ghosts ahead to search the area, and after confirming that no one else was hiding, they went over.

The music classroom is similar in structure to the biology classroom, both being special classrooms set up by the school. They are usually only used for specific classes. However, the music classroom does not have the experimental tables, microscopes, and human models found in the biology classroom. Instead, there is a piano, a choir stand, and many musical instruments placed in the center.

And the Beethoven portrait on the wall... its gaze fixed on this spot, motionless.

In the deep, quiet corridor, there was no sound of the rumored "Für Elise," but the silence was unsettling, as if the air had frozen.

Asakawa Riku recalled that their music teacher was a gentle, long-haired older sister who had recently graduated from studying abroad and joined the school; she was very young. She played the violin exceptionally well, shining at the school festival, and was also a good pianist. She would often lead the students in choral singing, and even if they didn't sing well, she would actively clap and encourage them.

She was quite popular on campus and was the object of many teenage boys' secret crushes.

He just hoped that tonight's investigation wouldn't make a mess of the music classroom. Although he couldn't imagine what the teacher would look like when she was angry, he had a feeling that it would attract a lot of other hatred.

"Don't get distracted," Chizuko reminded him, noticing Asakawa Riku's shifty gaze. She emphasized, "I'm going to open the door, get ready."

"Yes, I'm available anytime."

Asakawa Riku patted his face, quickly getting into character.

He set a 9-minute timer on his watch, then they looked at each other, and Chizuko put her hand on the doorknob of the music room.

—No lock. Yes, to ensure the operation goes smoothly tonight, Chizuko had tampered with the locks beforehand.

With a click, the silence of the corridor was shattered, and in an instant, something ominous and unstable emerged, mingling together and creating a chaotic rhythm.

The moment they rushed into the music room, the piano opened its lid by itself, and the first key suddenly struck:

That's the letter "a" in the lowercase alphabet.

Aoandon's Autumn: Chapter Seventeen - To Alice

Before entering the music classroom, Asakawa Riku and Chizuko discussed their strategy for tonight.

"We must be wary of the piano in the music room at night... I've seen all seven wonders, and that should be the most dangerous one."

Chizuko tirelessly emphasized, "It has a 'death mechanism'... Once you listen to 'Für Elise' three times, you will die."

"Um……"

Asakawa Rikuya's expression was serious. Although he was unsure how such a lethal mechanism would work, he could not afford to be careless.

He remembered being told that he had "weak magic resistance." It wouldn't matter if it were a physical confrontation like Hanako's fight against the mannequin, but if it were a death he didn't even realize...

They can't die so unjustly.

After thinking for a while, he said, "If I shut down my hearing and couldn't hear that song, would I become immune to the effect?"

"Closed off..." Chizuko paused, then asked, "How do you close off the area?"

"Yes, rupture both of your eardrums, and then restore them after it's over."

Asakawa Riku spoke of it casually.

This wasn't an operation he hadn't tried before. The five senses—sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch—are crucial channels for the human body to observe and collect information. The brain then processes this information and transforms it into action. However, these five senses can also be easily deceived. For example, at speeds so fast that afterimages blur, it becomes impossible to see the target clearly. Similarly, smoke with a numbing effect can deceive the senses of smell and taste, causing one to faint or even become confused. Even touch can sometimes provide false feedback, making it impossible to correctly judge the force exerted.

If we compare the human body to a computer, then it's equivalent to being injected with viruses and Trojan software. By the time you realize it, it's too late to remove it; it's better to isolate it from the outside from the beginning.

To take it to an extreme, one could simply block out the five senses, sever all connections with the outside world, and physically isolate intrusion... This is the "firewall" created by Asakawa Riku.

Once you have complete control over yourself, you can manipulate your organs and mechanisms at will, simply doing whatever you please.