"…Miko, do you remember that videotape we secretly watched together during the summer of our second year of junior high?"
A hazy, familiar voice came from the cold rain mist.
The black-haired girl's footsteps suddenly halted, and then her figure vanished instantly.
A moment later.
A black-haired girl with a cold expression looked at the loudspeaker under the eaves not far away, her eyes widening slightly.
"This voice…it can't be wrong…but Natsuki clearly already…"
On the girl's face, which seemed to have nothing left to stir her emotions, a rare hint of tension and excitement appeared.
"Hoo…"
Taking a deep breath.
The black-haired girl first vigilantly scanned her surroundings, and only after confirming there was no trap did she take a step forward, entering the range of the light.
The girl's appearance finally became clear.
It was Miko.
Walking under the eaves, she reached out and picked up the loudspeaker, listening to the familiar voice coming from it, Miko felt a little dazed.
"Who exactly is it…is it a prank?"
"If it's a prank…"
Miko bit her lower lip, her black hair moved without wind, and the cold rain mist behind her suddenly evaporated, turning into a vast white mist.
"Hmm?"
Miko's gaze shifted downwards, and she quickly discovered a sticky note next to the loudspeaker.
Looking down, she saw written on the sticky note:
Want to know the truth? Go, I've put everything there—in the treasure chest in the bottom right drawer!
"H-how could this be…"
Miko's eyes widened as she looked at the familiar writing on the sticky note, her black hair trembled involuntarily, and her heart rate suddenly accelerated.
Thump, thump, thump.
Her rapid heartbeat suddenly became clear in her ears.
It's not a prank!
It definitely isn't!
Besides her closest and most intimate people, no one else would know about her treasure chest!
Girls are actually like dragons; they always like to collect shiny things, and Miko, being a girl, was naturally no exception.
The Miko in Natsuki's world had loved collecting all kinds of cute trinkets since she was a child: seashells found at the sea, four-leaf clovers discovered on campus, red maple leaves falling in autumn, and so on…As she collected more things, Miko specially repurposed a delivery box into a treasure chest, and then stored all sorts of 'treasures' inside it.
This was the joy of a little girl.
Miko was one hundred percent certain that besides her mother, Kyosuke, and Natsuki, no one else would know!
But everyone clearly already…
A thought quietly formed in her mind, yet Miko dared not believe it.
What people fear most is not despair, but the glimmer of hope that appears after despair; only when you desperately grasp it do you realize that glimmer of hope was merely a mirage.
"Calm down."
"Be calm!"
Miko took a deep breath, clutching the sticky note tightly, forcing herself to calm down.
"Monsters don't use loudspeakers, so it must be human."
"Although I don't know who is behind this, it must be related to me."
"So…find the person behind it!"
"…"
Miko's gaze quickly became firm.
But…how to find them?
Miko didn't leave immediately; instead, she narrowed her eyes slightly and looked around.
Deliberately broadcasting sound with a loudspeaker was clearly intentional, so if they wanted her to find them, they would definitely leave clues…
Miko searched carefully and finally found an arrow-like graffiti in an inconspicuous corner.
"Is it to the right?"
Miko pursed her lips, put the sticky note in her pocket, hesitated for a moment, then carefully hid the loudspeaker, and then her figure flashed, disappearing into the rain mist.
A moment later.
The parallel world's Miko found the second loudspeaker broadcasting.
"…Miko, do you remember that videotape we secretly watched together during the summer of our second year of junior high?"
So, what they were watching was clearly just a horror movie; saying it like that would make people suspicious!
Miko lightly bit her silver teeth, turned off the loudspeaker, and then found the second sticky note.
Her gaze swept over it; the content on the sticky note was still a secret that only the most intimate people would know.
Miko grew even more curious, found the inconspicuous arrow signal, and then continued to the next location.
Following the guidance, Miko finally arrived at the park and saw familiar writing on a tree:
The internet cafe on Shibuya East Street.
"Is it finally ending?"
Miko's figure flashed, heading straight for the internet cafe.
Ten minutes later.
The black-haired girl with a cold expression appeared outside the internet cafe, looking at the police tape artificially set up at the internet cafe entrance, a rare hint of tension appearing on her pretty face.
"What's inside the internet cafe?"
"Why does it know so many of my secrets?"
Miko pondered for a moment, choosing not to enter rashly; instead, she extended her slender finger and lightly tapped, causing the police tape with soda cans tied to it to immediately shake.
Clatter, clatter.
The soda cans seemed to contain marbles, and the crisp clinking sound immediately spread through the rain mist.
Miko took half a step back, her figure quietly disappearing into the rain mist.
A moment later.
The internet cafe's security door opened, and a boy and a girl walked out.
Natsuki looked around and said:
"The alarm went off just now."
"Tch, there's nothing there." Momo crossed her arms over her chest, a lollipop in her mouth, "Maybe it's a stray cat. Although there aren't many people left in this city, there are quite a few cats and dogs, and they won't be attacked by monsters…Eh?!"
Before she finished speaking, Momo felt a black shadow flash before her eyes, and a black-haired girl suddenly appeared in front of her, startling her.
"Miko?"
Momo subconsciously gasped, but quickly reacted:
"No, it's not that Miko!"
She had already met the Miko who had crossed over from the parallel world; she was just an ordinary girl with no superpowers, and she had stayed in the internet cafe and hadn't come out. In terms of temperament, she was completely different from the Miko in front of her.
So…the Miko in front of her was actually that strongest psychic?
The parallel world's Miko didn't pay attention to Momo; she just stared blankly at Natsuki, her lips slightly opening and closing, as if she wanted to speak, but dared not open her mouth easily, fearing that everything in front of her was a dream and speaking would wake it.
Finally, Natsuki spoke first, saying gently:
"Miko-chan, long time no see."
"…"
The parallel world's Miko felt something explode violently in her chest; the same voice, the same appearance, the same scent. Although she knew it was likely not the same person, her brain was unable to think, or rather, unwilling to think.
Miko chose to abandon reason and let her body take control.
And so.
The strongest psychic in the parallel world directly threw herself into Natsuki's arms, extending her arms and tightly wrapping them around Natsuki's neck.
At the same time.
Another black-haired girl cautiously walked out of the internet cafe:
"Natsuki, I just heard you calling me…Eh, eh, eh?!"
Seeing Natsuki hugging a girl, Miko subconsciously puffed out her pink cheeks.
However, after seeing the girl's appearance, Miko's resentment immediately turned into surprise.
The girl that Natsuki was hugging…was actually herself?!
After hugging for a while, the parallel world's Miko took a deep breath and quickly calmed down, gently releasing Natsuki, stepping back two paces, and then looking at herself.
"Let me introduce you." Natsuki came to Miko's side and introduced, "This is the idle, Miko, who only wants to lie flat and be a slacker all day."
Miko: "…"
It's true that I'm a slacker, but I can get angry too, okay!
Natsuki then looked at the parallel world's Miko, curiously asking:
"How about…Miko Number Two?"
The parallel world's Miko gave him a sidelong glance, raised her hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, and finally spoke:
"I am me, not someone else's second self."
Her voice was exactly the same as Miko's, but both her gaze and temperament were completely different from the slacker Miko.
If anything, the parallel world's Miko looked quite cold and resolute; there was no hint of slacker aura about her.
"It's quite cold outside." Natsuki greeted, "Let's go into the internet cafe first…Oh, was that alarm sound just now Miko?"
"It was me." Miko gently nodded, admitting it, "After all, the internet cafe could be a trap, so it's better to be cautious."
"Makes sense." Natsuki nodded, "Let's go in."
"…"
The group re-entered the internet cafe.
The originally very arrogant Momo became exceptionally well-behaved in front of the parallel world's Miko, not saying a word, staying obediently behind, responsible for closing the door.
"Natsuki-kun!"
"Natsuki-sama!"
"Eh, why are there two Miko's?"
"..."
Seeing Natsuki return, the passersby and passengers greeted him one after another.
"There's a staff lounge inside." Natsuki lowered his voice, looking at Parallel World Miko, "Let's talk slowly inside."
"Mm."
Parallel World Miko nodded lightly, agreeing.
"Everyone, don't worry, the noise outside just now was not a monster…"
Natsuki explained clearly in a loud voice, then led the two Miko into the staff lounge.
"Now that no one is here, we can have a good chat."
Natsuki sat down in a chair and casually opened two cans of juice, handing them to the two Miko.
"Thank you."
Parallel World Miko thanked him softly, took the juice, and took a sip.
"That…" Salted Fish Miko blinked, unable to resist asking curiously, "Are you really me from another world?"
Parallel World Miko said nonchalantly:
"Suddenly seeing someone exactly like myself, I should be the one who's surprised."
Natsuki said from the side:
"We actually traveled here from a parallel world…"
There was no need to hide the matter of traveling through worlds. Anyway, this world had already collapsed. Only by explaining it clearly could Parallel World Miko help them return to their original world.
"I see." Parallel World Miko nodded lightly, "No wonder you already…"
Hearing this, Salted Fish Miko couldn't help but become nervous:
"What happened to Natsuki?"
Parallel World Miko tilted her head to look over, and said calmly:
"You want to know?"
Salted Fish Miko immediately hesitated:
"Forget it…"
From the tone, she knew that Natsuki's situation in this world was not good.
Parallel World Miko did not stop there, but said calmly:
"Initially, like you, I was troubled by being able to see evil spirits every day, but over time, I gradually got used to it, until the last day before summer vacation…"
"The sun was very bright that day, and I was sitting in the classroom, secretly playing on my phone."
"Then, the Strange Tale disaster suddenly descended."
"A Strange Tale suddenly appeared on campus and started killing people non-stop. I was completely terrified at the time, and it was Natsuki who took me and fled campus."
"Since elementary school had an early summer vacation, Kyosuke was already at home, but Mom was still working at the supermarket."
"We settled Kyosuke, and went out with Natsuki to find Mom, but Mom had already…"
At this point, Parallel World Miko's eyes dropped slightly, then she exhaled softly and fell silent.
The rest of the words obviously didn't need to be spoken.
"You…"
Miko opened her mouth, but couldn't say anything comforting.
She couldn't possibly say that in my world, Mom has always been safe and sound, right?
Although the two parallel worlds were identical, they were not truly her mother.
"The Strange Tale outbreak suddenly occurred within a day, and countless people died as a result." Parallel World Miko was silent for a moment, then continued softly, "Mom was gone. Natsuki, Kyosuke, and I struggled to survive together."
"The girl outside with the white bone mask on her face, she's from our world, right?"
Natsuki nodded and said:
"Ryuju Momo, someone from your world we met before. She also happened to be an senpai from the same school. It was from her that I learned my lazy couch potato childhood friend actually became the strongest psychic."
Miko: "..."
Those two words, 'couch potato', didn't even need to be said!
Parallel World Miko raised her hand to tuck the dark hair behind her ear, and said calmly:
"In this world, humans can gain a portion of Strange Tale powers by merging with Strange Tale relics… Of course, there are also a very small number of people who are born with spiritual power, which is different from the strange power of Strange Tales. They will not be eroded by the strangeness, like me."
"Understood." Natsuki translated from the side, "Simply put, being able to see evil spirits in reality is not a curse, but an innate spiritual talent, short for 'chosen one'."
Miko: "..."
Being scared to tears by all kinds of evil spirits every day, unable to sleep or eat, how could that be considered a chosen one!
Parallel World Miko continued:
"Not long after the Strange Tale disaster erupted, Natsuki merged with a very powerful Strange Tale eye…"
"Huh? Strange Tale eye?"
Natsuki was slightly startled, and immediately thought of the various prompts only he could see.
There is no love without reason in the world.
Natsuki had always believed that good things don't just fall from the sky for no reason.
So, the prompts that only he could see were actually gifts from his parallel self?
Parallel World Miko continued:
"At the beginning of the apocalypse, I, Natsuki, and Kyosuke could barely live, but one day Kyosuke suddenly fell ill with a persistent high fever. We had no choice but to go to the hospital to find medicine. As a result, we encountered a very terrifying Strange Tale in the hospital… In the end, Natsuki sacrificed himself to finally eliminate that Strange Tale."
"Eh?"
Salted Fish Miko heard this and couldn't help but turn to look.
"I told you, didn't I?" Natsuki said righteously, "I've always, always, always liked Miko."
Miko: "..."