Chapter 44

"Is that so! I thought you were communicating feelings with your boyfriend, Hinata!"

"Hm?"

Soon, she understood Hiratsuka Shizuka's subtext and explained with a flushed face.

"Teacher Hiratsuka, I'm single; I don't have a boyfriend."

"Hahaha, find one as soon as possible! My personal advice is to find one as soon as possible, otherwise... it's hard."

Hiratsuka Shizuka had deep experience with this.

The two exchanged a few more pleasantries and ended the call.

Because Lin Ye was by her side, Tachibana Hinata chatted very cautiously, fearing she would talk about some sensitive or shameful topic.

"Teacher, why don't you sleep here tonight?"

Lin Ye suggested directly.

"This..."

"It's no problem for me to send you back to your apartment, but it's almost ten o'clock now; it will probably take quite a while to get to your place, right?"

The main thing was that Tachibana Hinata's current condition wasn't suitable for walking, unless he carried her.

Tachibana Hinata also understood her current situation and began to consider the problem of staying overnight.

She couldn't stay here overnight, could she?

At the thought of staying overnight in the same room with a high school boy, she couldn't stop the feeling of shyness from welling up in her heart.

"That's okay, I guess!"

"Mm, Teacher, you rest well here. I'll go to a nearby hotel for the night."

"Ah!"

The astonishment made Lin Ye ask,

"Teacher, you don't think I'm staying here overnight too, do you?"

Could it be... that he isn't?

"That won't do. For the sake of my reputation, I can't stay overnight in the same room as a teacher. If Mai hears about it in the future, she will be angry and unhappy."

Tachibana Hinata: ???

The way you say that makes it sound like Sakurajima Mai is your girlfriend.

"Good luck, work hard. Teacher is waiting to hear the news of you and Sakurajima Mai dating."

An interesting boy, but a bit glib and fickle.

Tachibana Hinata didn't hate it; instead, she found it quite interesting.

Finally,

Tachibana Hinata stayed at Lin Ye's apartment, and Lin Ye, at Tachibana Hinata's request, slept on a floor mat in the apartment.

The reason was 'to wait until Lin Ye and Sakurajima Mai date in the future, and then deliberately tell her about tonight's incident to make them break up'.

After the lights went out,

the room was dim, and the faint light brought a trace of tranquility.

And three streets away from the apartment,

the Chiba police had set up a cordon, and the red and blue flashing lights were particularly glaring.

This was exactly the street where the charcoal-possessed strange entity had appeared.

At this time,

several men in black suits were busy, and several pieces of equipment were running, making 'beep-beep-beep' sounds.

Externally, they claimed to be personnel from the Chiba Police Headquarters; in reality, they belonged to the 6th Division of the Public Safety Commission's Special Action Department Against Demons.

... ===== CHAPTER 106 =====

'Click, click' camera sounds rang out from time to time, and several pieces of equipment finally emitted a long 'beep' of completion; the data collection and analysis were finished.

"Report to the Division Chief, the results are out. Based on the magnetic field changes, the degree of dissipation of the strange energy, and some traces left on the street, it is judged that the danger level of the strange entity that appeared here is between D and C."

"This street was briefly dragged into an alternate dimension."

The middle-aged man nodded as if he understood. He thought for a while and continued,

"Has any useful information been collected from the surrounding area?"

"It was very late, there was no one on the street, and because the location is remote, no surveillance was installed. Therefore, we haven't found any personnel suspected of being players for the time being."

"Installing more surveillance is imperative."

Everyone knew this should be done to cope with the changes currently appearing, but installing more surveillance cameras in major cities across the country would be an astronomical budget.

Even if the Cabinet was willing, the Diet might not be.

"How about the person who reported the crime? Has any information been found?"

The young staff member shook his head.

"The report was made from a public phone booth, and the voice was processed. They have a very high awareness of counter-surveillance."

It was precisely this point that led them to judge that the other party was highly likely to be an official player participating in the 'Strange Game'.

But the difficulty of finding this player and determining their identity was really not small.

"If we increase manpower and expand the scope of the investigation, we might be able to find him."

The middle-aged man thought for a moment and gave up.

"No, it's time-consuming and laborious, and it won't yield good results. Let's just leave it at that! File it and process it. Keep a close watch on the person who was possessed in the hospital ward."

"People who survive after being possessed by a strange entity have a high probability of being selected for the 'Strange Game'."

This was a rule they had derived so far.

"Understood."

The few of them did the final cleanup work. Ten minutes later, the cordon was also removed, and everything returned to normal, as if it had never appeared.

The next day,

Lin Ye and Tachibana Hinata got up early to go to school.

"I'll get off here."

Tachibana Hinata had to go back to her apartment to change into new shoes and clothes before heading to school.

"Okay."

Tachibana Hinata waved her hand, turned, and got off the train, leaving the station.

Walking on the street toward Sobu High again, today Lin Ye had changed into Sobu High's black Western-style high school uniform.

The green shade on both sides of the wide street rustled, pink cherry blossoms drifted, drawing beautiful arcs, and the air was filled with a faint scent of cherry blossoms.

High school students walked in twos and threes, high school girls in pleated skirts revealed white thighs, full of youthful vitality, and joyful, happy conversations came from time to time.

Lin Ye, who had already graduated from university and worked in the workplace for several years, looked at this scene, and a faint, subtle feeling always filled his heart.

There was nostalgia, and also a bit of unfamiliar discomfort.

High school in Japan is completely different from high school in his previous life; if you choose to slack off here, you can actually live very easily.

Shaking his head, Lin Ye officially stepped across the gate of Sobu High and entered the high school.

Last night,

after taking the initiative to attract the Japanese police by reporting the crime, he went out halfway again and came to the scene of the strange incident.

Just as he guessed, the authorities had already noticed the 'Strange Game' and the existence of players, and for this reason, they had even established a special agency—the Public Safety Commission's Special Action Department Against Demons.

The official personnel at the scene would never have imagined that the one they were trying to find had already come to the scene and had even had close contact with them.

"You're finally willing to come."

An adult female voice came. Lin Ye didn't react until a female teacher in a white coat appeared in front of him.

White coat, long straight black hair, a curvaceous figure; even if he hadn't seen the photo of Hiratsuka Shizuka that Tachibana Hinata gave him yesterday, he could recognize Hiratsuka Shizuka just by these features.

"Teacher... Hiratsuka?"

"Oh, recognizing me at a glance, it seems your memory loss was a lie, kid."

Hiratsuka Shizuka, radiating cold air, came to Lin Ye, but because of the height difference between the two, her momentum weakened slightly.

"Teacher Hinata showed me your photo."

"Hinata? It seems your relationship has become very good." ===== CHAPTER 107 =====