This Japanese Monogatari Isn't Lame
Chapter 459 - 305. Pervasive Stench (4000 words)_2

Chapter 459: Chapter 305. Pervasive Stench (4000 words)_2

"The Japanese characters hidden amidst these chaotic scratches had gone unnoticed by Yamakou Hideyasu and the others, but Beichuan Si, whose night vision was far superior to that of ordinary people, had keenly detected them.

The information contained therein was somewhat concerning to Beichuan Si.

First, ’No, I can’t go on like this.’

Who could this ’I’ possibly refer to?

And what did the word ’devil’ mean?

If this ’I’ was the person in charge of the haunted house who had hanged themselves... now the clown, then what did ’devil’ mean? ...

Could it be that the person had been plagued by vengeful spirits or grudges year-round?

Beichuan Si proposed a hypothesis but quickly dismissed it.

If a person was beset by vengeful spirits or haunted, they would likely be bedridden or as mentally deranged as Tsukishima Risa had been when entangled with the spirits of the puppet factory, not even venturing outside, let alone managing the entire Jishi Park.

It could also be symptoms of schizophrenia, after all, just one glance told that the entire scene was that of a hospital.

However, the current clues were somewhat scant...

Beichuan Si muttered to himself, shook his head silently, and continued forward.

As they ventured further, the scratches gradually lessened, seemingly symbolizing a transition from initial madness to a calmer state of mind.

Something was off.

Beichuan Si frowned but said nothing, pressing on.

After about three minutes, they reached the end of the corridor.

Someone had written these words at the very bottom of the corridor—

"I am normal now."

These bright red words, like eyeballs, seemed to be making eye contact with some unknowable entity, sending shivers down one’s spine.

On the right-hand side of the corridor was a door, its depth unknowable.

"’I am normal now?’ What does that mean?" Hobu Tian asked curiously.

He clearly intended to question Beichuan Si, but before Beichuan Si could respond, on the other side Gongben Naoki spoke first: "Hobu-kun, you might have missed it because you were just focusing on moving forward."

She turned her flashlight back towards herself.

In the not-too-distant wall, some clear scratches lingered.

"In these hidden spots among the scratches on the wall, there are actually some characters."

Gongben Naoki slowly said.

This somewhat surprised Beichuan Si.

He hadn’t expected Gongben Naoki, who rarely spoke, to notice these details.

Feeling Beichuan Si’s gaze, Gongben Naoki shyly shrank her neck, her raspy metallic voice carrying: "Because...I also write horror stories, it may be due to my profession that I have a keen sense for words."

"Go on," Beichuan Si didn’t plan to interrupt her, beckoning her to continue.

Upon hearing Beichuan Si’s words, Gongben Naoki took a deep breath and then said, "I just wrote down all those characters... Connected together they read: ’No... I can’t go on like this... the devil... it’s about to...’ This line is not very clear."

"The characters earlier were frantic, irregular, and incomplete, symbolizing a manic mental state, while this line now looks neat and clear, so I assume that the supervisor, due to some reason, had been suffering from a mental illness such as schizophrenia. After a series of treatments in the hospital, he finally improved... That’s roughly my speculation."

Gongben Naoki delivered her reasoning convincingly, largely aligning with Beichuan Si’s hypotheses.

However, there was still one distinction.

As Beichuan Si glanced once more at the writing at the end of the corridor, just about to speak—

A cruel, menacing laugh erupted once more: "Welcome to this scene. This is also a formal setting that I’ve prepared for you—The Madhouse of the Clown."

The gender-ambiguous, eerie voice continued through the speaker above the corridor: "I wonder how much fun you all had in the last scene? I’d like to think so, but, but...but...but...but...but!!!!"

The speaker seemed furious, the stream of hysterical tones causing Beichuan Si and the others to huddle together.

Then...with a terrifyingly calm tone, the speaker said:

"You dared to insult my elegant park with cheating... By cheating to pass the test! I declare—

"You, must be punished."

As the words dropped, a blood-red, rusted javelin shot rapidly from the pitch-black corridor above toward Beichuan Si’s neck.

Then...

Beichuan Si immediately grabbed the javelin aimed at his neck, then expressionlessly looked up at the loudspeaker.

Silence—

Quietness returned all around.

After a long while, the loudspeaker finally emitted a sound, "The room you are about to enter is on your right hand side, hehe, I am looking forward to your performance."

Accompanied by a sputtering electrical noise, the person hurriedly hung up the speaker, no longer speaking.

"Let’s go," Beichuan Si said as he tossed the javelin aside and dusted his hands.

Tanaka Takashi glanced at Hobu Tian, Hobu Tian glanced at Yamakou Hideyasu, Yamakou Hideyasu turned his head to look at Gongben Naoki.

After a long moment, they reluctantly nodded while twitching their lips, "...Okay."

The speed of the javelin was so fast that they couldn’t see it clearly, but Beichuan Si caught it effortlessly, his facial expression unchanged.

This was simply...

And why had the ghost hung up so quickly? Shouldn’t there have been a torrent of harsh words to be hurled?

No wonder Beichuan Si despised them as burdens.

Indeed, if it weren’t for relying on them to enter the haunted house, Beichuan Si would probably have resolved everything by himself by now.

They looked at each other, and eventually still followed behind Beichuan Si, entering the room on the right.

As soon as the door was pushed open a putrid smell assaulted them, as if the room had not been ventilated for a long time.

Everyone endured the discomfort, taking out their flashlights and shining them inside.

In the bright beams of light, the room was gradually revealed to their eyes.

It was a messily arranged doctor’s office.

Facing them was a sturdy desk; thick medical records were placed on the edge of the desk, and a tall storage cabinet was erected to the right of the desk—from which the offensive odor emanated.

Files were scattered all around the floor, seemingly mixed with some newspapers.

"Look around everywhere. Don’t miss the documents on the floor; there might be some important clues."

After saying this, Beichuan Si casually picked up a newspaper from the floor and scrutinized it under the flashlight.

Black bold headlines jumped into view.

"Jishi Park Witnesses Another Safety Accident! General Manager in Hot Water?!"

Seeing this line, Beichuan Si was intrigued, he spread out the entire newspaper and read it word by word.

On the other side, Gongben Naoki and the others slowly started their search.

The room wasn’t very large, but wasn’t too small either; it didn’t take long for the four of them to inspect.

Following Beichuan Si’s instructions, they examined the documents one by one, hoping to find some clues.

Yamakou Hideyasu and Tanaka Takashi were responsible for investigating the desk, Hobu Tian took charge of the left bookcase, and Gongben Naoki was responsible for investigating the storage cabinet on the right that emanated the strange odor.

The closer she got, the more intense the smell became.

"What on earth is inside here, why does it smell so awful?" Gongben Naoki murmured to herself, opening the storage cabinet.

Clang—

Something fell into Gongben Naoki’s arms, its weight instantly overwhelming her.

The slimy touch made Gongben Naoki reflexively push the thing in her arms away, then she focused her gaze.

A shriveled human face.

The head wearing a baseball cap had a large gash—

The sticky face vacantly stared at Gongben Naoki.

Vacantly stared at Gongben Naoki—

The stench gradually spread...