Chapter 875

Aragaki Yui is an Inner World existence.

In principle, Inner World existence means immortality and endless conflict, a typical "dark forest" where everyone is cautiously wary of others.

But this situation does not apply to everyone.

Ultimately, the dark forest hypothesis is merely an extreme assumption from Liu Cixin's *Three-Body*, meaningless before humanity can fly out of the solar system's Oort Cloud, and in reality, humanity almost cannot fly out of the solar system—reaching the neighboring Orion constellation would require burning nearly all of Earth's current mass, and even if we could reach Orion, what would be the point?

This is why, in the last century, everyone dreamed of interstellar colonization, while in this century, everyone dreams of global apocalypse.

In reality, the most likely counter to extreme power imbalance is not anything else but the Light Nation Guard.

"Our Light Nation has only day, no night, only light, no darkness."

Cosmic Security Corps Battalion Commander Jian

"Send the final celestial weapon Jeton one by one, using a trillion-degree fireball to launch everything within one light-year into the sky!"

Cosmic Security Corps Captain Safurin

Aragaki Yui's existence is like this—just like Mai Xuejie, she herself is an Inner World existence, but by coming out as a national female star, she has gained extremely high fame among the public, thus making it harder for those hidden in darkness to act against her.

"No matter how high our martial arts, we cannot beat foreign guns."

The staff member called over was a young man in his twenties, expression somewhat helpless, but tone still polite.

He said that in recent years, guests occasionally reported hearing strange footsteps, and some had seen blurry shadows, but the hotel checked the surveillance and found nothing.

Management thought it might be guests being too tired and hallucinating, or sounds from other rooms traveling through pipes, and had not taken it seriously.

"But last night, Aragaki-san's situation," he paused, feeling that using the word "haunted" was inappropriate, and changed his wording: "Indeed, it's rather special."

"Rather special?" Uesugi Muneyuki raised his eyebrows: "How exactly is it special?"

"Um..." the hotel staff looked toward Aragaki Yui, indicating she was the one involved.

"I'll say it." Hoshino Gen stepped forward proactively, looking somewhat better than Aragaki Yui, but not much better. There were dark circles under his eyes, his lips were slightly dry, and his whole being exuded "I kept watch all night and barely slept" fatigue.

There were footsteps, dragging sounds, and even something trying to open the door!

He personally saw the door handle move, but in the peephole, there was nothing.

"Yes, this kind of thing is indeed rare." The hotel staff said: "Before, we only had rumors of hearing sounds and seeing blurry black shadows, but encountering something trying to open the door like Aragaki-san and Hoshino-san did—this is the first time we've seen it."

"I also feel it's strange, Uesugi-san, you are world-renowned as a forensic pathologist—what do you think?" He glanced at Uesugi Muneyuki, that gaze unlike the vigilance at Tokyo Station before, more like saying, "This matter—you handle it or not?"

"You suddenly say this and I..." Uesugi Muneyuki had had enough of Hoshino Gen's baseless hostility.

Your wife smells fragrant.

Uesugi Muneyuki could smell the Inner World aura emanating from Aragaki Yui.

But I already have Mai-sama!

Probably it's the scent your wife emits that attracted some Inner World existence?

Since it happened before me, I naturally want to take charge, but not because of you, rather because I am also an Inner World person.

Thinking this, Uesugi Muneyuki felt somewhat pessimistic about this pair before him.

Inner World people find it hard to understand each other; Hoshino Gen has just made contact, and once they spend more time together, it's inevitable they'll discover her strangeness...

Forget it, none of my business!

"Alright, alright, what's there to fear? With me here, no accidents." Mai Xuejie clapped her hands, drawing the attention of several people present. "Like this." Her tone was light, as if saying a trivial matter: "I'll perform a simple exorcism ritual. Whether it works or not, at least it'll put everyone at ease."

After speaking, she turned her head to look at Uesugi Muneyuki, that gaze hiding another layer of meaning—exorcism is fake, investigation is real.

Uesugi Muneyuki understood her gaze, and nodded slightly.

"Then we'll tackle this from both angles." He spoke softly, his voice audible only to the two of them.

"Mm. I'll first investigate the history of this hotel and ranch, you look for clues on the scientific side." Mai Xuejie's voice was also lowered, as if not wanting a third person to hear: "Daytime filming continues, we do what we need to do, and at night we'll act together." "Okay."

She turned and walked toward the hotel entrance, her steps calm, spine straight, tone already shifted into the mode of "Head of the Kanto Shrine Alliance Chief Priestess": "May I ask, does your hotel have a relatively quiet room? I need to prepare some things, preferably without disturbance." The bellboy, startled by her sudden aura shift, hurriedly nodded and said yes, yes, yes.

Sakura followed behind her, legs still soft, walking slowly, but her expression had adjusted to "I'm from the Special Mission Division, I can't lose face," chin slightly raised, a "I'm fine, I'm great" look.

Paratrooper No. 2, Uesugi Ehliang, prepare for battle!

At this moment, Asuka also clenched her fists, aura fierce.

Paratrooper No. 3, Uesugi Asuka, prepare for takeoff!

"Muneyuki, I can sense Hoshino Gen and GAKKI-san are not deceiving us." Asuka whispered beside Uesugi Muneyuki's ear: "They are serious about wanting to drag us in." Uesugi Muneyuki smiled.

"Muneyuki-chan, you should originally do something—after all, that's GAKKI!" Asuka coquettishly said: "I feel we should help~" Uesugi Muneyuki nodded, thinking, indeed, another victim of GAKKISMILE.

Hoshino Gen, your wife smells fragrant.

The afternoon filming went relatively smoothly. Aragaki Yui and Shirakawa Mai's scene was filmed in the hotel lobby, the director called for three takes and it was over—this is considered extremely fast progress for a monthly nine production.

Aragaki Yui's condition was much better than in the morning, her makeup covering the dark circles under her eyes, and when she smiled, it was still that heartwarming "GAKKISMILE." Hoshino Gen stood beside her, holding coffee in his hand, saying little, but his gaze remained on her; he also had a few scenes, but not many, mainly a cameo.

Uesugi Muneyuki's scenes wrapped up around two o'clock in the afternoon.

What he filmed today was a simple indoor scene—inside the hotel's temporarily arranged "crime scene," wearing rubber gloves, crouching on the ground, using tweezers to pick up a strand of hair and place it into an evidence bag. No dialogue, just a few close-up shots.

The director was very satisfied with his performance, saying, "Uesugi-sensei is more professional than professional actors."

"I damn well am a professional forensic pathologist!" Uesugi Muneyuki said with a dark face, the whole crew laughed, and this scene was also filmed as a blooper. "Let's go." He took off his gloves and said to Asuka, who was scrolling on her phone beside him on the chair.

Asuka raised her head, slipped her phone into her coat pocket, and stood up. She was wearing a dark gray pleated skirt, black fleece-lined silk stockings, brown snow boots on her feet, and a cream-colored turtleneck sweater on top, with her coat draped over the chair back. Her hair was tied into two small braids, hanging in front of her chest, making her look several years younger than her actual age.

Little baby bird, so cute and lovable.

She walked with Uesugi Muneyuki to the elevator entrance, pressed the up button, the elevator doors opened, and inside was empty.

The two entered, Asuka pressed the third floor. The elevator doors closed, and in the narrow space, only the hum of the elevator running could be heard.

She extended her left hand, her little finger hooked onto Uesugi Muneyuki's right little finger, hooked very lightly, as if afraid of being shaken off.

Uesugi Muneyuki did not shake her off, nor did he respond, just letting her hold on.

"Muneyuki, I also want~" Asuka whispered.

"Ah?"

"I also want to clean up, and then..." Asuka said, full of fighting spirit.

"You... just forget it." Uesugi laughed and shook his head.

"I want it, I want it! No Regrets in Life No Regrets in Life No Regrets in Life!" Dark Bird mode activated!

"Let's talk about it when we get back. Mikoto is like that because she's pregnant, and Sakura is because..." Uesugi Muneyuki laughed: "She wants to deliberately cut off all her retreats, so that I'll believe she's wholeheartedly devoted, but Ashura Rei you..."

"I've always been Uesugi Asuka's tooth sound!" Dark Bird was satisfied.

Dark Bird is actually quite sweet.

The door opened, Asuka let go of her hand and walked out first. Uesugi Muneyuki followed behind, watching her back, those two little braids swaying as she walked, like the tail of some small animal.

The third-floor hallway was exactly as Aragaki Yui described last night: long, with a deep gray carpet laid out, the walls light beige, a wall lamp every few meters emitting a dim yellow light. The hallway in daytime looked perfectly normal, even a bit cozy— that particular kind of business hotel cozy, unremarkable, inoffensive, leaving no impression on anyone.

But Uesugi Muneyuki stood in the center of the hallway, closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the world had changed color.

Spirit Vision.

"How is it?" Asuka stood behind him, asking softly.

She could feel that something was off about this place, from the moment she stepped into the hallway, like something was pressing on her chest, heavy and dull, making her want to take a deep breath but feeling unable to draw air in.

Uesugi Muneyuki stopped at the door of Room 308.

Aragaki Yui's room from last night.

He crouched down, looking at the door handle— in Spirit Vision, a clump of black, like burnt cotton fluff, was wrapped around the handle, strands hanging down, trailing to the floor, spreading along the door gap into the room. He reached out, didn't touch it, just got close to that black mist, and a bone-chilling cold came from his fingertips, the kind that seeps out from the gaps in the bones, making one's skin crawl.

"The snow of Aomori, my tears"

"Something has been here." He stood up, looking at Asuka: "It's been here many times, last night was the most recent, but not the first, but trying to open the door was still the first time."

Asuka's face had turned somewhat pale, not from fear, but because she felt something more.

She closed her eyes, as if trying to discern some mixed scent, after a while, slowly opened them.

"Grudge." Her voice was much lower than usual, so low it seemed she didn't want the hallway lights to hear: "Grudge toward the living, grudge toward the wholesome. And also... yearning. Yearning for life, and fear of death. These emotions are tangled together, indistinguishable which is which. Many, many, not one person, but many."

Uesugi Muneyuki looked at her, saying nothing.

Asuka continued, her voice slightly trembling: "They aren't evil ghosts. Evil ghosts want to harm people, they aren't. They're just... unwilling. Unwilling to die like this, unwilling to have no one know how they died, unwilling to have the one who killed them still living well." "Cursed Grudge?"

Uesugi Muneyuki walked back to the center of the hallway, reopened Spirit Vision, from east to west and then west to east, this time he looked more carefully. Those gray-black traces weren't scattered randomly, they had direction.

They flowed from both ends of the hallway toward the center, piling up thickest at the door of Room 308, then spreading out along the hallway toward the other end.

Uesugi Muneyuki closed his eyes, the Spirit Vision image froze in his mind's eye.

Exactly, it was drawn here by GAKKI's attraction, she habitually uses GAKKISMILE to influence her surroundings. "Hoshino Gen, your wife smells nice."