I Can't Believe I Had a Dream Like That

That night was peaceful and serene, and no Weird Tale lingered in the streets.

While Baihe Hua was sleeping, Feng Xue secretly used a public phone booth to call Chen Xiyao. When she returned to Hoshino's house, she saw Hoshino Rinka being held in Lily's arms as if she might be strangled at any moment. She grinned and popped a seed into her body.

"That's really strange. After we got to the Hoshino residence, none of the Weird Tale followed us. Are these Weird Tale all idiots? Don't they suspect Baihe Hua at all?"

Feng Xue scratched her head in confusion, but finally returned to Baihe Hua, intending to continue observing her.

Meanwhile, in Yan, an hour earlier than Dongguo, a phone call startled Fu Tianli, who had already fallen asleep. He fumbled for his phone and brought it close to his face, glancing at it groggily. After realizing it was a public account, he almost instinctively grabbed something that looked like a lipstick from his bedside table, untied the cap, and sniffed it.

In an instant, a chill ran through him, jolting Fu Tianli awake from his daze. He grabbed his phone, got out of bed, and went to his study before answering the call.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Team leader, Xiao Chen has received another call."

Over the phone, the team member on night shift got straight to the point. Fu Tianli paused for a moment, then realized what was going on and frowned, saying:

"'Mo Ju'?"

"Uncertain, but the person claims to be the one. The phone IP originated from a public phone booth in Chiba Prefecture, in the eastern part of the country. It is suspected to be related to the recent unusual behavior of the Eastern Country Hundred Tales, but it is uncertain whether it is the person in question."

The duty officer gave a meticulous report, Fu Tianli thought for a moment before saying:

Has the Exchange Group notified us?

"We've already notified them; the recordings have been sent to the Archive Group for analysis."

After hearing the staff member's reply, Fu Tianli made himself a cup of tea before sitting down and saying:

"Send a message to the agents in the East, telling them to keep an eye on things in Chiba Prefecture, but don't let the First Experimental Group take action. They're being closely monitored right now, and it could backfire."

"Clear!"

"Ah, what a good night's sleep!" In the early morning, to the sound of the alarm clock, Baihe Hua crawled out of Rinka's bed. After several days, she was finally able to fall asleep without any worries, free from the Weird Tale. The refreshing feeling made her feel that her dark circles had faded quite a bit.

Rinka was also awakened by the noise in her head. She rubbed her still-sleepy head and said somewhat speechlessly:

"I think I had a really scary dream..."

"Huh? What kind of dream? Being pinned down in the bathtub by a naked man?" Still half-asleep, Baihe Hua asked instinctively upon hearing this. Rinka, however, gave a strange look and said:

"That wasn't a nightmare, it was Chun Linxi, wasn't it? I just dreamt that I was being entangled by a tentacle monster!"

"You're not much better off, are you?" Baihe Hua finally realized what she had said and blushed as she spoke. Rinka, however, shook her head seriously.

"That's different. This tentacle monster didn't do anything strange to me at all. It just wrapped around my neck, making it hard for me to breathe..."

"That 'naked man' I mentioned didn't do it either... Ah, no, I don't know anything about 'naked men'!" Baihe Hua felt like she was under some strange curse that made her speak her mind, and the inorganic voice of her Stand echoed in her mind—

"No, it's just that I was too sleepy and there weren't enough threads. But speaking of which, is now the time for you to be thinking about this problem?"

"Then what should I consider?" Baihe Hua sensed the hidden meaning in her Stand's words, ignored Rinka's strange look, and asked herself.

Feng Xue didn't keep them in suspense any longer and said directly:

No Weird Tale last night.

"Isn't this a good thing?" Baihe Hua, somewhat puzzled, but then heard the substitute say:

"But they had appeared in the previous few days."

"You mean... they're specifically targeting me?" Baihe Hua finally understood the implication. If Weird Tale were everywhere, that would be one thing, but if so many Weird Tale only happened in her neighborhood, or even just in her home, that was a different story altogether.

This isn't just a problem for myself; I also have to worry about whether it might bring danger to the Rinka family!

"Yuri-chan, are you alright?" Seeing her best friend's tense expression, Rinka couldn't help but worry. Upon hearing this, Baihe Hua tried to remain calm and said:

"It's nothing, I just suddenly remembered I haven't done my homework! I also forgot to bring my School Bag, I have to hurry back!"

"Waaah~ Why bring up such a terrible topic all of a sudden?!" Rinka immediately showed a pained expression upon hearing this, Baihe Hua, seeing this, laughed instead:

"So do your homework, and apologize to your aunt and uncle for me. I'm going home now!"

"Okay, be careful on the road!" Rinka nodded with a complicated expression, but her expression changed only after her best friend finished washing up and left the house.

"Even if you didn't do your homework, you should have eaten breakfast before going home! Baihe Hua is definitely hiding something from me! Could it be that she's being threatened?"

Rinka suddenly recalled scenes from certain doujinshi, such as delinquents threatening high school girls with strange leverage.

Thinking of this, Rinka immediately picked up her phone and cautiously chased after them.

"The streets are so quiet. It's strange, even on the weekend." After walking for a few minutes on the familiar streets, Rinka's expression suddenly became a little strange. The roads that were so familiar now felt so unfamiliar. The extreme quiet made her feel uneasy. Just as this unease was about to reach its peak, a piercing screech suddenly rang in her ears.

Instinctively turning her head, Rinka's eyes widened suddenly as a huge spider rushed out from a street corner about twenty meters away.

The eight grotesque spider legs, as sharp as blades, pierce the earth with each step, while the bizarre mouthparts, like countless interlocking gears, open wide, seemingly capable of swallowing a person's head whole.

At this moment, Rinka seemed completely paralyzed with fear. Despite frantically signaling herself to run, her feet wouldn't budge, and she could only watch helplessly as the giant spider charged towards her...

Everything went black...

"Hoshino Rinka!"

"Who is it? Who is calling my name?" Rinka was momentarily confused as she listened to the voices that seemed to be coming from several different voices simultaneously, yet not quite in sync.

However, as she regained consciousness, the voice seemed to be slowly becoming clearer.

"Hoshino Rinka! Hoshino Rinka! Open your eyes! I am Evil Rider! I am Kamen Rider from another world, and I..."

"Kamen Rider saying Ultraman's lines, how could I have such a dream?"