Dimensional Codex System I m really not a cultist

Chapter 113: Chapter 112: An Unexpected Guest at Night
 

“Huh?”

Standing in front of Fang Zheng was a girl who appeared to be about the same age as Rika and the others, but her attire was different. She was dressed in a red and white shrine maiden outfit, her small face featuring eyes wide open, staring intently at Fang Zheng as if she hadn’t expected to be discovered at all. However, the most eye-catching feature was the pair of curved, horn-like protrusions on her head—no, those were actually horns.

Fang Zheng, of course, knew who this girl was. In fact, the seemingly cute and fragile girl in front of him was none other than Master Oyashiro-sama, legendary in the tales of Hinamizawa—as the alleged culprit behind the mysterious disappearances of several innocent civilians… which was of course nonsense.

It was strange to say, even though the entire World of Cicada’s Song was nearly ruined by infinite loops, it remained oddly scientific. From beginning to end, the main characters almost never used any supernatural powers when facing challenges. They literally just relied on their own strength to face and overcome the problems.

Of course, the fact that they could defeat special forces members was either a testament to those guys being incompetent or these protagonists being ridiculously overpowered.

However, Fang Zheng couldn’t understand why she would appear before him. Logically, Master Oyashiro should share senses with Furutega Rika, and only those who progressed beyond stage L3 of the Hinamizawa Syndrome would be able to… Hold on, I’ve only been here one day and I’m already at stage 3? Are you kidding me?

Internally cursing, Fang Zheng was baffled, and so was Haneiru, her face clearly confused, apparently not expecting that this man could actually see her.

“Are you also a student here? Well, come in first.”

At this moment, Fang Zheng also grew curious, feeling very good about himself, convinced he couldn’t possibly show any symptoms of Hinamizawa Syndrome, yet he clearly saw Haneiru. Whatever the case, this was an interesting development. Pretending to know nothing, he opened the door and invited her in.

“Ah, thank you, sorry to disturb you…”

At this moment, Haneiru, perhaps still not fully comprehending that someone could see her so clearly, instinctively bowed to Fang Zheng and then slowly walked into the room, taking a seat on a chair nearby.

“Would you like something to drink? Tea? Or coffee?”

“Ah, no need!!”

Upon hearing this, Haneiru quickly began to vigorously shake her hands. Seeing her action, Fang Zheng didn’t ask any further. He knew that the current Haneiru was probably just an apparition, guessing that even if he gave her something, she wouldn’t be able to drink it. But now was the time for performance… and of course, I couldn’t just ignore what you were expecting.

“I see… By the way, I don’t think I know your name yet?”

“I… I am called…”

Facing Fang Zheng’s question, Haneiru was clearly anxious. She hesitated for a moment before speaking in a lowered voice.

“My name is Haneiru, Furutega Haneiru.”

“Oh? You are Rika’s…”

“We’re relatives…”

Japan has been using this trick for years, isn’t it? A girl from the heavens can introduce herself as a relative, a girl from another world can still say she’s a relative, and now even a ghost… sorry, Oyashiro-sama could be considered a relative.

Oh, wait, they are actually relatives, just separated by a few generations.

“Nice to meet you, Haneiru.”

While internally pondering, Fang Zheng nodded at Haneiru.

“You might have heard from Rika, I am Fang Zheng, a teacher who just arrived to teach here these past few days. I look forward to your guidance.”

“It’s me who should say that, please guide me well.”

Haneiru appeared exceedingly formal in front of Fang Zheng. Hearing this, she quickly stood up, bowing respectfully to him.

“So, it’s quite late, why are you looking for me?”

“This… um…”

Haneiru obviously wasn’t very good at lying. In fact, she was still not quite recovered from the shock, thinking, I’m just a ghost, how did a human manage to see me? And not only see me but also treat me like a regular person…

“I… I heard from Rika about the new teacher, so I wanted to come and see… ah, umm…”

Haneiru clearly wasn’t very good at lying; nearing the end of her explanation, she almost had to bow her head, her face flushing red, unable to look up directly.

Anyone with clear eyes could see there was something off with your reaction, girl.

“This late, isn’t it dangerous for you to be here alone? If you wanted to see, why not come to school for lessons? I haven’t seen you at school, either.”

“Well, because of some reasons…”

By now Haneiru could no longer hold back tears. She knew that she was only able to leave Rika’s side and appear next to others when those people were experiencing an outbreak. Thus, Haneiru was initially curious; although Hinamizawa Syndrome indeed has an incubation period, it made no sense that Fang Zheng would fall ill just one day after arriving. But what surprised Haneiru even more was that not only did Fang Zheng appear completely well, but he could also fully perceive her presence!

After all, even patients deeply afflicted with stage L5 could only just vaguely hear her voice!

Speaking of which, by continually apologizing to those deep in the throes of the disease, aren’t you making them even more paranoid, girl?

“Um, I’m very sorry to have disturbed you, I have to go now, very sorry, please don’t tell anyone I was here!”

Having said that, Haneiru finally couldn’t sit still any longer and hurriedly got up to leave. Watching her departure, Fang Zheng raised an eyebrow but ultimately did nothing.

Frankly, Haneiru’s appearance was unexpected for Fang Zheng, yet it was a good beginning. He had always hoped to find an opportunity to discuss things with Rika. But if he were to approach her directly, Rika clearly would not trust him. She might have been suspicious of his appearance, but she would likely be cautious and test the waters rather than confronting him outright.

Perhaps for Rika, this failure was tolerable, but not for Fang Zheng. He was well aware that although Rika’s abilities appeared similar to Tom Cruise in Edge of Tomorrow on the surface, fundamentally they were vastly different. Tom Cruise would retrospect the entire world upon his death, but it would be more apt to say Rika was jumping across parallel worlds rather than engaging in time retrospection. Upon failing in this world, Rika would find another world’s timeline to start over.

However, Rika’s ability to traverse worlds did not mean Fang Zheng could do the same. His power was time; it did not involve parallel worlds. Moreover, Rika’s powers, deriving from Haneiru, were “single-user exclusive,” so Fang Zheng was not keen to try it out. He wondered if the Rika in this world didn’t achieve her goal, whether he would end up starting over in the next world with her.

Now, with Haneiru acting as a go-between, perhaps Rika would take some other actions.

Thinking this, Fang Zheng reached out to pick up the mug beside him and took a sip of coffee. Then, he turned his head and looked out at the pitch-black night sky.

Resonating beneath the night sky was the low sound of cicadas.

“Rika! Rika! Rika!!”

“What’s wrong, Haneiru?”

Watching the frantic Haneiru appear before her, Rika also frowned. She glanced at the already dormant Satoko not far away and then turned to face the other side, glaring at Haneiru discontentedly.

“Where exactly have you been? Why didn’t you respond when I called you?”

“It’s bad, really bad, this time it’s really serious! Ah woo ah woo!”

“What exactly happened?”

Seeing the panicked appearance of Haneiru, Rika became curious.

“I, I was seen by someone!!”

“What?!”

Hearing Haneiru’s response, a look of immense surprise also appeared on Rika’s face.

“What do you mean you were seen? Can someone actually see you?”

“Yes, that’s right, the new teacher who arrived today; I went over tonight to check on him. But I didn’t expect to be discovered by him, and he even invited me to sit for a while!”

“Was there anything unusual about his behavior?”

At this moment, Rika’s expression also grew serious, as she well knew the conditions under which Haneiru would appear before someone else.

“Could his condition have progressed to Stage L3?”

“No no no, he was very normal, that’s what’s strange. His reactions are different from everyone else’s! When he looked at me, he seemed to be able to see my existence very clearly, and he treated me like an ordinary student, asking me a bunch of questions…”

Saying this, Haneiru bit her lower lip and then looked at Rika.

“Rika… I think, this Mr. Fang Zheng might be our hope for breaking free from this fate.”

“………”

But this time, Rika did not speak. Instead, she lowered her head to think for a moment, then slowly leaned against the wall and sat down, looking up towards the window. Seeing her strange reaction, Haneiru cocked her head, curiously watching her.

“…Rika?”

“I don’t know…”

As she spoke, Rika curled up her trembling body. This was not due to fear, but rather from excitement. A person who had never appeared in her previous cycles, someone who, like herself, could communicate with Haneiru. As Haneiru said, perhaps this man was the hope that could rescue her from the abyss of suffering.

But would he really help her? Hope bred greater disappointment, and the girl who had experienced nearly a hundred cycles knew this all too well.

What if he did not wish to help her, or even if he did, turned out to be like Akasaka…

Thinking this, Rika lowered her head and closed her eyes.

This time, would it truly be worth trying?