In just a single day, Takahashi Chihiro had sought him out no less than seven times…
Almost after every class, she would find Kitahara, and even during meals, she would suddenly become dejected and ask Kitahara to comfort her.
Perhaps Miss Takahashi Chihiro herself had a personality prone to introversion…
The gentleness and strength she had displayed to others before might not have been her true self…
Although Kitahara felt that Takahashi Chihiro was seeking him out a bit too frequently, as a dutiful boyfriend, he never complained a single word.
In fact, each time he patiently guided her.
And this…
Caused Miss Takahashi's gaze towards him to become increasingly inexplicable.
And during this day, Kitahara also acquired some useful ghost stories.
The supernatural incident at the abandoned Aoyama Psychiatric Hospital…
It is said that at night, strange scratching sounds can be heard from within the abandoned psychiatric hospital…
Kitahara knew about Aoyama Psychiatric Hospital.
It wasn't far from where Kitahara and his friends were located…
And it was said that its abandonment was due to all the psychiatric patients inside suddenly going mad one night, while all the caregivers were asleep. When people arrived the next day and opened the hospital gates, they were almost scared to death by the scene inside.
The once clean and tidy psychiatric hospital was now nothing but a sea of blood-red.
Large amounts of fresh blood and minced flesh covered the entire floor, a sight that could make one's mind collapse…
It was said that everyone inside, both patients and medical staff, had been devoured into minced flesh under unknown circumstances.
Some people said that a dangerous patient in the psychiatric hospital suddenly went mad, killed everyone, then used a found surgical knife to scrape human bodies into pieces, one cut at a time, and finally jumped into the morgue to hide.
The incident at Aoyama Psychiatric Hospital caused a huge sensation in Neon society at the time.
However, when the police investigated the specific cause, they found no clues at all; everything at the crime scene was contaminated with blood, making it impossible to find any evidence. Ultimately, the incident had to be temporarily attributed to the madness of a psychiatric patient.
After all, this was the only plausible reason.
And along with it, the ghost story of Aoyama Psychiatric Hospital emerged…
Scratching sounds at night?
Kitahara mentally noted this ghost story; he planned to investigate the situation tonight.
...
Time slowly passed, and between comforting Chihiro and attending classes, a day went by like this…
After school, Kitahara first greeted Miss sakura, telling her that he might not be back tonight…
After getting her consent, Kitahara simply packed his things, went home first to put down his schoolbag, and then took a kitchen knife from the kitchen.
He put it into his backpack, also prepared a flashlight and batteries essential for the night, and Kitahara glanced at the sky.
"Hmm, there's still time. I'll go eat first…"
...
As night fell, the world gradually grew quiet, and pedestrians on the road decreased, especially near Aoyama Psychiatric Hospital.
Since it was located in the suburbs of Tokyo, the surrounding area wasn't brightly lit roads, but rather a large circle of isolation barbed wire…
It seemed like a very dangerous place, prohibiting anyone from approaching.
But isolation often incites people's desire for exploration, so Kitahara quickly found a gap in the isolation fence.
He entered through the gap…
Beyond it was the long-abandoned psychiatric hospital…
Moonlight spilled down, and Kitahara looked at the incredibly quiet psychiatric hospital under the moon. A cold wind suddenly blew, making him unconsciously tighten his clothes.
To explore a place like this alone, he really had a lot of guts…
However, he still had to go…
He glanced at the time.
Eleven-thirty.
Although he arrived a bit early, before the crucial time, it was good to come early and scout the area.
If he encountered any special events, he could also quickly escape.
So…
Let's go.
...
Aoyama Psychiatric Hospital had been abandoned for five or six years. Although the incident caused a huge sensation at the time, it eventually faded into oblivion with the erosion of time.
Perhaps, in another ten or so years, this place might become a place of divine concealment.
The gates of Aoyama Psychiatric Hospital were made of iron, but by this time they were completely rusted and rotten. Kitahara didn't spend much effort to get inside.
Pushing open the wooden door, which also emitted a decaying smell, Kitahara entered the hospital's main hall…
And then…
A strong smell of decay filled his nostrils, almost making him faint.
This place…
The surroundings were pitch black, and the ground was also pitch black; even under the moonlight, it showed an unsettling blackness.
Kitahara took out his flashlight.
The flashlight's beam quickly illuminated the scene in the hall.
And then…
Kitahara couldn't help but gasp.
That pitch-black ground wasn't actually black originally…
It was just that a layer of substance resembling congealed blood covered it, giving it an inexplicable sense of gore and eeriness.
"Did no one come to clean this place afterward?"
Moreover, so many years had passed, and this bloodstain…
It looked as if it had only congealed a few days ago…
Kitahara took a few steps forward…
Stepping on the dried blood, there was inexplicably a feeling of stepping on something sticky.
A normal person coming here would have probably run away by now...
Kitahara looked ahead...
There, a straight passage lay before him...
Narrow and dim, it seemed as if a flesh-colored figure stood at its very end, but upon closer inspection, it vanished.
Dark blood covered the entire floor of the psychiatric hospital.
That straight passage seemed to lead to the deepest part...
And there were no stairs in the main hall...
In other words, if one wanted to go to other floors, they could only do so through that dark passage.
Kitahara held a flashlight in one hand and a kitchen knife in the other.
He advanced slowly, his gaze constantly observing the surroundings.
Aside from the blood-covered floor, it was no different from an ordinary hospital.
Then he entered the passage...
At the top of the passage were hanging lamps, all of which had lost their ability to shine, perhaps due to their age.
On both sides of the passage were patient rooms with tightly closed doors, and there was a layer of glass on the doors, seemingly allowing one to see what was inside.
Beiyuan slowly approached the first door, his gaze peering through the glass.
He only saw a mess of blood...
Was the glass completely obscured?
Kitahara tried to twist the doorknob...
Click...
The door opened...
Creak...
The old wooden door let out a crisp wail, sounding so abrupt in the quiet psychiatric hospital.
Just as Kitahara was about to enter and observe, a flesh-colored figure suddenly appeared to his right, only two meters away from him...
Whoosh!
The flashlight quickly turned, and the arm holding the kitchen knife tensed.
But in his vision, to his right, there was only darkness... and an empty passage.