Chapter 23

It was a vision of an apocalyptic hell.

The once-clear blue sky had been stained blood red. All that remained on the once-bustling streets were spattered bloodstains and signs of destruction.

People were weeping. People were wailing.

But above all, they were afraid.

Every face had turned pale and lifeless, their eyes hollow with the despair of those barely clinging to life.

It began to rain, as though the sky itself were crying.

He ran through it, because there was someone he had to find, no matter what.

At last, he spotted that person and raced toward him, unable to wait another second.

Then he stopped.

A bloodstained blade suddenly protruded from that person's chest, and his body collapsed to the ground.

No, please, no. Don't leave me...

Ranpo's eyes snapped open. Instantly awake, he gave Ms. Sanae, who was watching him with a smile, a placating grin.

The gentle Sanae Aoko shook her head and mercifully let him off the hook.

Ranpo breathed a sigh of relief and scratched his head. Staying up late gaming was to blame again. He had actually dreamed about the game's plot and even dragged An'an into it. Honestly... next time, he needed to keep the two separate.

Ranpo tapped his own head.

"That definitely wasn't just a dream!" Those who had seen through it spoke at the same time. They exchanged glances, each confirming the others' suspicions.

"This cycle is complicated," Osamu Dazai said, resting his chin on his hand as his dark reddish-brown eyes narrowed slightly.

"Truth within lies, lies within truth. Who can really tell them apart?" Fyodor lowered his eyes and shook his head slightly.

"Big liar." Ayatsuji Yukito offered only those two words.

"...How nice. An'an really is wonderful." Ranpo was far beyond a little envious now, but he also felt sad.

Mori Ougai and the others had their own suspicions, though they still couldn't see things as clearly as those four masterminds.

Meanwhile, the Jujutsu Kaisen group had looked utterly bewildered the entire time. H-had something happened?

Class was pretty boring. Ranpo was so bored that he drew patterns in his textbook while reviewing yesterday's game in his head.

I only figured it out at the very end. The great Ranpo still needs to work harder. Of course, I'll definitely become the top-ranked player.

Even if he called himself a child and couldn't measure up to adults, Ranpo was still supremely confident in his abilities in "Weird Invasion." After all, adults wouldn't play children's games, and none of the other children were as clever as the great Ranpo!

The great Ranpo was the smartest child of all. When he grew up, he would become the smartest adult, too!

The thought of growing into a clever, dependable adult and being the one to take care of An'an made Ranpo laugh aloud, but the teacher paid him no attention whatsoever.

In truth, the entire classroom was a mess. No one was listening seriously. Ranpo's deskmate, Makoto Sato, was tearing out sheets of homework paper to fold into paper airplanes, and Ranpo didn't find that strange, either.

Couldn't you learn a lesson this easy just by half-listening? Even a child should have no trouble.

When class ended, Makoto Sato leaned over again. He was one of Ranpo's few friends at school. After all, Ranpo was blunt to the point of rudeness, and even when others understood him, they didn't have Makoto Sato's generosity of spirit to shrug it off completely.

"Ranpo, what grade of Investigator are you now? I'm only Grade 3, and Kobayashi's just Grade 2."

Hearing a topic that interested him, Kobayashi Eiji, who sat behind Makoto Sato, straightened up and leaned forward. "Wow, you're already Grade 3? That game is way too hard."

Although Kobayashi sounded frustrated, it was clear that he still really liked the game. "To rank up as an Investigator, you don't just have to survive incidents. You have to resolve them, too, and even lead teams into paranormal incidents. Your teammates' survival also affects your score, never mind that none of those incidents are easy to handle."

"If you die, your grade and title drop, too. I used to be a Grade 3 Investigator, but I got cocky and took on a Grade A Haunted Lake mission. I even led a team. We ended up getting wiped out, and I dropped to Grade 2."

"Honestly, I felt awful for ages after failing." Kobayashi pressed his lips together. "In 'Weird Invasion,' apart from playable characters, none of the NPCs respawn. Even the random passersby don't... I don't care if I die, but they... it still hurts a little."

"I've already resolved the Haunted Lake Incident." Ranpo glanced at him, something flickering in his emerald eyes.

"Huh-that was a Grade A incident! And hadn't the Haunted Lake already gone out of control? I heard it could turn into Grade S at any moment." Makoto Sato's eyes widened. "That's Ranpo for you."

"Wait, are you actually Blank, the top player on the whole server?"

With no name attached at all, "", who had resolved countless incidents, was the legendary player who had always held first place in "Weird Invasion." Since they couldn't exactly call him a box, everyone simply called him Blank.

"Of course!" Ranpo declared smugly. "The great Ranpo never loses at games! I'm the best player in the world! But what's this Blank nonsense? That's not blank!"

"That's amazing..." No wonder he's number one on the entire server. Kobayashi had mixed feelings.

"So it's been solved," Kobayashi murmured, then seemed relieved. "That's for the best."

"Weird Invasion" was a very unusual game. Although it was usually indistinguishable from a single-player game, with all the Investigators scattered across different cities resolving incidents, Investigators could actually meet and form teams. It was just extremely difficult. Furthermore, every NPC was unique and would not respawn after death, so beyond resolving incidents, keeping the NPCs in one's team alive also affected the final score. And although paranormal incidents kept occurring, once one was resolved, no other Investigator would ever receive that mission again-unless that paranormal entity broke free of its restrictions.

Under the classification system for paranormal incidents, Grade C would only affect a street or a residential complex, Grade B could spread across a city, and Grade A could endanger several cities. Grade S was even more terrifying: left unchecked, it could destroy a country or even the world.

"The great Ranpo is the very, very, very smartest... child!" Ranpo Edogawa proclaimed confidently.

"No, we are children, sure, but you don't need to keep emphasizing it." Makoto Sato pressed a hand to his forehead.

"Because I'll grow up soon and become an adult." Ranpo beamed. "Then I'll be able to help An'an."

As long as I'm not a child anymore, that'll be enough, right?

"...Not a child? What's that supposed to mean?" Chūya Nakahara repeated. "Seriously, are these people's minds all mazes? I can't understand them at all."

"That's because Chūya is a single-celled slug with no brain whatsoever." Only Osamu Dazai would mock Chūya Nakahara like that, but before Chūya could hit him, he continued, "What that Ranpo probably means is that once he's no longer a child, he can be as clever as an adult and shoulder responsibility like one, too."

"Right, Ranpo?"

"Mm-hmm, that's right. Not bad, Dazai." Ranpo offered a rare word of praise. "But that would be exhausting... I can't imagine the great Ranpo actually doing that." This was Ranpo Edogawa, after all, for whom everything was fine as long as it suited him.

"Even I would find it frightening."

After all, the road ahead was hell.

"Sin is breathing. Sin is thinking." Fyodor's eyelids drooped slightly. "It would be much easier if you let go, Ranpo."

Ranpo Edogawa looked irritated. "No way. I'm the same as that other me on this point. Neither of us will give up on An'an."

"Easy for you to say, but could you do it yourself, Demon?" The curve of Osamu Dazai's lips was cold.

Fyodor paused, then suddenly sighed. "And so I, too, am merely human." Even if he punished humanity from a god's perspective, he still couldn't remain impartial.

"Boring." Ayatsuji Yukito spared them a cold glance and took no part in their conversation.

After school.

It was raining. Ranpo didn't like the steady patter of rain. It was as though the sky were crying.

More importantly, he never had a habit of carrying an umbrella. Every time An'an put one in his backpack, he would take it out because it was too heavy.

Ranpo could only hold his backpack overhead to shield himself from the rain, though he probably wouldn't get very far that way. Things turned out just as he expected.

A tall young man with delicate features stood at the school gates holding an umbrella, apparently waiting for someone. Another person beside him was talking to him.

It's An'an! The great Ranpo knew An'an would come to pick him up.

But the moment Ranpo got a clear look, his breath caught.

The scene from his dream resurfaced before his eyes: the rain, An'an, and the dagger piercing his chest. The killer seemed to have a face now, too. Yes, it was that person...

"An'an!" Ranpo cried instinctively, a note of panic in his voice.

"What's wrong?" Noticing his alarm, An Xinyi patted Ranpo's head. "Don't worry. I'm right here."

Ranpo blinked. Beside them, Ms. Sanae Aoko asked with concern, "Did you have a nightmare, Ranpo? Make sure you get some rest when you go home."

I really can't hide anything from adults. Feeling guilty about falling asleep in Ms. Sanae's class earlier, Ranpo hurriedly shook his head.

"No, no!" Ranpo squeezed under the umbrella, placing himself between An Xinyi and Sanae Aoko. "An'an, let's go. I'm getting soaked."

"Thank you, Ms. Sanae. See you tomorrow."

Honestly, how could I have mistaken Ms. Sanae for the killer? Ranpo let out a breath.

I really have been gaming too much... but there's no way I'm giving up games!

It didn't take him long to finish his homework, and Ranpo sat down at the computer again.

Mm-hmm, Grade B incident Ghost Neighbor, here I come!

Objective: clear it with everyone alive and unharmed!