Even if I turned on the light in my hideout, nobody would see it because of the piles of abandoned cars in the way.

...While I'm aware of that, I decided not to turn it on, just in case.

It's a bit scary to hide in this quiet place, alone in the dark, holding my breath.

I'd have to keep myself busy with something.

...But my brain won't work properly, and I don't even have the energy to think about what to do from now on.

However, I don't have the courage to lie down to sleep and regain my strength, either.

...Every time I heard or thought I heard a suspicious sound, I'd gasp and stare into the dark.

That's all I did all night.

Ooishi believes that the Sonozaki family was behind the conspiracy.

...But he can't do much without solid evidence.

For that, he has to locate the facility where they're doing research on the parasite.

...But we have no idea where it is.

I think the Irie Clinic is still the most likely site, but I have no credible evidence.

Really, I don't think they'd do their research in a place so obvious even I could guess it.

They might be using one of the bomb shelters that was built during the war as some kind of secret underground research center.

Now that I come to think about it... I remember a secret building nobody is allowed into on the premises of the Furude Shrine.

I think it's called the ritual storehouse.

According to Miyo-san's research, the Furude Shrine is the center of the local worship of Oyashiro-sama.

The priest keeps the tools for ceremonies in the ritual storehouse. One of the ceremonies is the bizarre festival, Watanagashi, and so the shrine storage must be something very sacred.

If I remember right, Watanagashi was also a medical ritual designed to vaccinate and immunize people against the all-too-strong parasites.

That means the tools they used for Watanagashi were medical ones.

If my guess is right, the ritual storehouse is the most sacred place in the village, as well as the most appropriate building to use for medical purposes.

...It's suspicious.

There might be a secret research center in the ritual storehouse.

...Ah, damn it.

The police should be performing a raid on the ritual storehouse, not the Irie Clinic.

Why didn't I think of that when I was talking with Ooishi on the phone earlier?

I hope Ooishi realizes this, too...

Should I go back to the phone booth and tell him about the ritual storehouse?

But when I thought that, I heard a car coming closer. I held my breath.

It's not normal for a car to come here this late at night.

I thought about many possible scary scenarios, which made me nervous...

After a while, I saw the headlights of the car near the former dam construction office.

The car must have passed by me and gone to the office.

...But it's a deserted empty office building. There's nothing there.

It's not a place where people would visit this late at night.

While I was staring into the dark, the engine of the car stopped, and its headlights were turned off. I could see two flashlights flickering in the darkness.

The lights moved into the office building.

...They must think I'm hiding there.

I held my breath and kept watch on their movements.

I can't tell who they are.

But I bet... they're pawns of the Sonozaki family.

They know that I ran away from home. They must be looking for me everywhere in the village...

...Though I needed to conceal my breath, my face started feeling itchy, and I had an urge to stretch my legs. My own body infuriated me.

The humidity made me sweat all over, so the back of my knees and my neck had been itchy for quite a while.

Scratching would make an unbelievably loud noise, so I decided not to scratch anymore.

...It usually doesn't make any noise when I just scratch some mosquito bites!

I'm probably just being nervous and overreacting.

...There's quite the distance between me and them, and I'm in the dark, holding my breath.

They wouldn't notice it even if I sneezed, let alone scratched myself.

...But I didn't want to make any noise at all. So, I tried to forget the itchiness. ...But after all that, I ended up scratching everywhere like mad.

I have to live in hiding like this for a while. I don't know how long I can go on when I'm so nervous on just the first night.

I need to toughen up more so I can remain placid, even in a situation like this.

I forced myself to relax, scratched my neck without hesitation, and tried to cope with the sticky sweat all over my body.

...I started getting hungry.

My stomach growled.

...That's a good sign, though, since it means I'm starting to relax.

I can't eat yet, though. It'd make a lot of noise...

I decided to wait until they finished looking for me and went away.

Go away. Go away.

I can eat if you go away.

...It seemed like the intentions I was sending out bore fruit. They had stopped looking around the building.

...However, I must have concentrated my thoughts too strongly.

They were pointing their flashlights in my direction.

...Did they notice me?!

No.

Not only that, they're walking towards me!

I made my body as small as possible, hid under the blanket, and listened for their footsteps as carefully as I could.

...All the while... I heard their footsteps coming closer and closer.

Since the footsteps are coming straight towards me, they must already know where I am, I think. It's scary.

But there's no way they already know where I am...

If they did, they wouldn't have wasted their time looking for me around the office building,

and they wouldn't walk as slowly as they did.

...It's just a coincidence that they're walking in this direction...

Since I'm hiding under the blanket, I can't see who they are.

I don't know where they're shining their flashlights, so I can't stick my head out from the window to see who they are, either.

I'd just have to stay motionless like a rock until I sense they're gone.

They stopped when they came near my hideout.

...I could hear their conversation.

"...I don't think she's here."

"Let's look somewhere else.

You look over there."

I could tell by the sound of their footsteps that they went separate ways and that each of them is walking around the piles of trash separately.

...I made this hideout out of an abandoned car. I just redecorated it.

So on the outside, it still looks like nothing other than an abandoned car.

...But once you look inside, you can instantly tell it's more than that.

So, if they look inside, I'm done for...

It's obvious that they're looking for me.

...Are they a Sonozaki Corps attack unit?!

If they find me... I'll be killed for sure!

I know all too well that this place is perfect for murdering people.

I killed two people here myself.

If I can do it, it'll be no problem for them, because they're real professional killers!

Even so, there's nothing I can do right now.

I just have to pray that they'll leave here soon.

At that time, I heard a slight beeping sound.

"...This is Atsushi. I can hear you loud and clear.

.........Yes.

............Gogura?!

Yes, understood."

"What's wrong?"

"It seems like Rena Ryuugu is in Gogura.

Somebody saw her there."

"Oh man... That's it. We'll never find her now.

What are we gonna do now?"

"It's an order. We have to find her no matter what. We have to bring her to him.

It doesn't matter if she's in Sapporo or in Hakata. We have to find her."

"It'll be impossible to find her, though.

...Do we still have to look?"

"...Rena Ryuugu has Miyo Takano's scrapbooks, and he wants them.

He was pretty upset about it, so I'm sure they're worth a lot."

"So, what are we going to do?"

"It seems like he recalled the others, except the ones who're watching her house.

So, we should go back to the office, too. Let's have some barley tea or something."

I heard their footsteps going further, and then I didn't hear them anymore. After a while, I heard the engine of their car starting.

I finally got out from under the blanket and looked outside the window.

The car made a U-turn and drove away.

The sound of the engine faded away into the darkness...

I heaved a sigh of relief.

I scratched at all of my itchy mosquito bites, wiped the sticky sweat off my face and neck, and finally allowed myself to cough.

I'd heard their conversation clearly.

They're the pawns of the Sonozaki Corps, without a doubt.

...It matches with what Ooishi told me.

And they said something very important.

They clearly said that they're after "the scrapbooks".

Up until now, I'd only assumed that they were chasing after me because I had Miyo-san's scrapbooks.

...I could've forced myself to believe that it was just my assumption.

But they said it loud and clear!

"We need to find Rena Ryuugu.

She has Miyo Takano's scrapbooks." That's what they said!

They also said that they're keeping watch on my house.

...I'm not surprised.

That's exactly what I would do if I were them.

I can't go back to my house anymore. It's out of the question.

...But... in fact, they said something way more important than any of that.

They said

......

"Rena Ryuugu was seen in Gogura."

If I was in a normal situation, I'd probably think that somebody saw a lookalike, and I'd laugh out loud.

...But the situation is different now.

Miyo-san was dead, but she was at the festival.

I'm here, but I was in Gogura.

...Miyo-san wrote about it in her scrapbooks... and I didn't want to believe it.

They're... coming closer to me... and I don't mean the Sonozaki family...

...Something beyond common sense is about to happen.

...Should I fight or should I run? I don't even know what I should do. I feel like I'm rooted to the spot with fear. Am I about to be eaten...?

...No, no, no...!

I don't want to be eaten alive.

I want to run away if I can't win.

If I can't run, I want to fight.

...I'm going to be happy. I know I am!

I'm not going to sit pretty and let them get me...!

But... the enemy Miyo-san foretold of in the scrapbooks is coming closer to me, and it's starting to eat me up.

I'm in the garbage dump, alone. If I disappeared right now without anybody knowing it...

The person who was in Gogura would replace me and start living my life.

...Nobody would notice the change.

My father wouldn't notice it. My friends wouldn't notice it. It would replace me without having anyone noticed it...

Wait.

Many people close to me might've been replaced already...

That's right.

...The Sonozaki family is plotting bioterrorism. But that's only a part of what they are planning.

Mice possessed by them don't get scared of cats.

As a result, they don't run away.

...They'll be eaten by the cats, and they can move into the cats' bodies.

...Mice are only used by them for that purpose. It's not that they lose their fear of cats in order to help them achieve their purpose.

The same thing goes with the Sonozaki family.

...They think they're doing things by their own will... but they're just helping them without realizing it.

That's exactly how they've lived since long ago, being the "parasite".

We're nothing but a bunch of mice to them.

Most mice are stupid. They don't even notice their existence. They help them to achieve their purpose, thinking they're living their lives by their own will.

...But very rarely, a mouse with wits is born.

This mouse notices that he's being used, and he also notices their existence.

...But nobody believes him, so it's not a big deal.

He starts thinking that it was his mistake, and he gets swallowed by them. Eventually, he disappears.

But even more rarely... a mouse appears from nowhere, notices their existence, and objectively proves it.

That mouse was Miyo-san.

To them... this mouse was a rare and very dangerous existence.

...That's why they resorted to unbelievably bold and violent methods to try and eliminate that mouse when it appeared.

But surprisingly, we knew... about those measures.

...But the stupid mice don't believe it.

...They don't notice that they are forcing them to not believe it, and that they're helping them in the end.

...They killed Miyo-san.

And... they tried to replace her.

But they made a mistake. We found the real corpse of Miyo-san.

That's why they failed to replace her.

...They'll try to kill me and replace me, too.

Or they'll replace my friends... in order to get close to me.

They'll look just like the real people... but they're totally different inside. They're an abnormal existence that's beyond our imagination.

I know... they'll appear.

No... They're already

here.

It appeared the day after Miyo-san died.

And it appeared in Gogura tonight.

...They'll keep coming.

They're openly after me now.

They'll keep coming... They'll keep coming...

Right then, I heard somebody coming down the slope.

I concealed my presence again, and I looked at the direction where the footsteps were coming from.

...I could see one flashlight.

...It looked like there was only one person now.

...Who is it?

...This late at night...

Its shadow is very small... I can tell it \nisn't an adult.

I felt a chill running through my body...!

It shined the flashlight towards my hideout, and its footsteps were coming straight towards me.

...It's different from the other guys earlier. I can tell by the sound of the footsteps that it knows I'm hiding here for sure.

...No... it must be just a coincidence.

...I should just conceal myself again.

I can make it through this again.

I made it through last time.

...I need to hide. I need to hide...!!

I pulled the blanket over myself, made myself as small as possible, and kept telling myself that I was a stone...

But the footsteps kept coming closer and closer...

And...

it

knocked

on the door

of my hideout...

I opened my eyes wide. I broke out in a nervous sweat.

...Not wanting to believe that the sound I heard was a knock, my mind went completely blank.

But it knocked on the door again.

...I could feel a light shining on the blanket.

...It... might be shining the flashlight on me...!

But I still held back my fear.

...As long as I don't move, it can't put a finger on me... I kept telling myself that as if I was casting a spell. I tried not to shake in fear.

"...Hee hee hee."

It laughed.

...It has laughed at me because I thought I was still hiding perfectly.

But... I still tried.

...Because if I got out of the blanket...!!

"...What are you scared of?

...Hee hee hee."

"W...Woooooooooooohhhhhhhh!!!"

I threw off the blanket, and saw the owner of the voice.

...It is... Rika-chan.

...Now... Why is she here? Why did she come here to see me?

I don't understand why she came all the way here alone this late at night...

...I realized all of a sudden.

She looks just like Rika-chan... on the outside...

but she's not her. It

is just copying her appearance.

It came to Miyo-san, to me... and to Rika-chan...

I decided to talk aggressively on purpose in order to work up courage before my fear crushed me down.

"...Is that you... Rika-chan...?"

"...Meep.

...Who else do I look like?"

It answers just like the Rika-chan I know.

...But I know it's not Rika-chan.

Rika-chan wouldn't come to a place like this so late at night...!!

"...I know who you are.

...I know you're not Rika-chan."

"..............."

"...I'm afraid you can't deceive me like you can the others.

Even though you look just like her... I know you're not Rika-chan.

You're not my friend, Rika Furude.

...Who are you...?!"

"..............."

Rika looked stunned for a while.

...She looked as if she didn't understand what I was talking about.

But... she pretended like that

for too long.

If she really didn't know what I was talking about, she wouldn't be able to stand the silence for this long. But she kept quiet.

And... she finally showed

her true character.

"...Hee

...

hee

hee

hee

hee

hee."

It laughed.

...It laughed at me because I figured out something that was almost impossible to figure out; that it was not Rika.

"...Who

are you...?!!"

It didn't answer my question. ...It kept laughing for a while.

And then, it looked straight into my eyes in a way Rika-chan never did before, and it said this.

"I've lived for quite a long time.

...But you're the first one who penetrated my disguise.

I always thought you had good intuition, but... you're pretty good.

Hee hee hee..."

"...............!!!"

...She clearly spoke to me the things that I was most afraid of... I was completely shocked.

It's like she told me everything that could possibly scare me.

I didn't want to hear any of this. It's something I can't possibly twist in a way I can comprehend.

"Let's just say I'm Rika for now.

...It's been a while since I started to call myself that."

"...Oh, really...

It's been a while, huh?

Like how long...?"

"Not that long.

It's only been about 100 years."

"......Wh-

What...?!

What are you talking about?!!!"

I'm contradicting myself.

I know the person who's standing in front of me isn't Rika, but at the same time, I deny its existence.

...As long as humans hold this kind of emotion... they can never accept unknown existences.

...In other words, we can never accept "them".

"You don't have to be scared.

You're in the car.

I'm outside of it.

...It's not easy for either of us to do something to the other.

I think this is a perfect distance between us.

No matter how long I've lived, Rika Furude is still just a little kid.

You're still stronger than me.

...I should be more careful than you, because you could snap and jump on me anytime."

...I realized that this creepy thing that looks just like Rika was only here to talk to me. I felt my tension fade away a little bit.

But still... I don't know what she wants to talk to me about at a place like this, so late at night.

I'm like a fish on a cutting board.

...There's nothing I can do other than to wait and see what's going to happen.

I waited for it to make a move for a while... And then, it opened its mouth again.

"...You're afraid of something.

...Am I right?"

It uses sarcasm.

...Rika-chan's cute face looked uglier than ever when it smiled.

I held back my fear, and tried to reply firmly.

"Yes.

Thanks to you."

"So............

what are you afraid of?"

"...You should know that better than anybody else!!"

".........Hee hee hee."

It told me earlier that we were safe from each other because one was in the car and the other was standing outside.

But it's obvious that I'm the one who is being driven into a corner.

...While I'm talking to it, I could be being surrounded by its minions.

...I got scared, and tried to listen to the sounds of my surroundings carefully...

"Don't be scared.

I came here to help you.

...Hee hee hee."

"You came here to help me...?

Oh, really? I wonder how you're going to do that..."

"You're just sick at the moment.

You need medicine. That's all.

...Would you be interested if I told you I brought it along?"

"...M-Medicine...?"

It put its hand in its pocket... and took out a small case.

It opened the case and showed me what was inside.

...What was in there made me gasp in surprise.

"...A s-

syringe............?!"

It's not normal for a person to carry around a syringe.

I have no idea what's going on.

...But what Rika-chan is holding in her hand is a syringe.

There's no way I can twist that fact around...!

"That's right.

The contents of this syringe are going to help you get better."

"It'll help me get better?!

Huh!!

I know what it is!

It's the drug that killed Tomitake-san!!

It's the parasite at its full strength!!

It'll give me the maggot disease!!"

"This is a different drug

from the one that was used on Tomitake.

I promise."

It giggled.

It isn't the giggling that scares me.

...I'm scared that it admitted the cause of Tomitake-san's death so easily!

And it also admitted the direct "cause" of the maggot disease that Tomitake-san died from!!

"...I know you're going to kill me in the same way he died!

And... that the Rena in Gogura is going to replace me.

Problem solved, right?

I'm not going to let you give me the shot!!"

"...Well, I knew you would say that.

This syringe looks very suspicious, of course."

"You're smarter than I thought...

So what now?!

...Are you going to gang up on me and give me the shot like you did to Tomitake-san?!"

Tomitake-san's autopsy report said that he had bruises on his body that proved he was fighting against several people right before he died.

...That means they must've ganged up on him to give him the shot against his own will.

"...I'd like to give you the injection by force, but... it never really works.

So I gave up on doing that.

...I decided to let you choose to take it yourself."

"Are you kidding me?!!

I don't want to take that creepy shot!!"

"...I thought about it many times.

I thought about how I could make you take the injection.

I can't force you to take it. I can't make you agree to take it, either.

...Then, it leaves me only one choice. I have to let you choose to take it."

"You should know my answer already!!

I'm not going to walk into such an obvious trap!!"

"......Well, that's what I thought you'd say.

I didn't expect you to choose to take it anyway."

It heaved a sigh, made a gesture as if it is mocking me, and smiled bitterly.

...It looked as if it was saying that I'm a lower animal that can't understand it's being given a chance for salvation...!

I kind of want to say I'll take the shot on a dare, but I know that's exactly what it is intending to do.

"Go back to your home and tell your friends that you failed to give me the shot!!

I'm not going to let you beat me!

I'm going to fight 'til the end!!

And... I'm going to seize the 1% chance of winning, and I'm going to destroy all of you!!"

"...I see.

...Then, you should try to do that.

This world is going to end soon anyway.

...Hee hee hee hee..."

"...End soon...?"

"It has nothing to do with you.

A frog sitting in a well doesn't need to have any interest in the world outside, does it?

Hee hee hee."

At this stage of the game, it said something very dubious...

I tried hard to understand what this horrifying creature was trying to say.

"...What... What are you going to do to me?!!"

"Nothing.

Do whatever you want."

"......What?"

...It's almost too easy.

...As far as I know, "do whatever you want" means ignorance or release when your enemy says it to you. At the very least, it isn't a bad thing.

Or... does it have another meaning...?

In that way, I overinterpreted the meaning of the sentence. But then, it said it again.

"Do whatever you want.

...I'm not interested in 'this' Rena Ryuugu anymore.

I'm going to try to get along with the 'next' Rena Ryuugu.

...I have to pray that the 'next' Rena Ryuugu doesn't have such good intuition.

...Hee hee hee."

I was scared of it, like I'd be scared of a judge handing down a death sentence.

"I used to try really hard to fix things every time a little problem occurred.

...But I got tired of it.

......I'm not interested in 'this' Hinamizawa anymore.

I'm going to find the 'next' Hinamizawa.

...But you only have 'this' one.

So, I hope you live as best you can."

It was telling me scary things one after the other.

This was obviously a warning of Hinamizawa's destruction. It means the climax is coming soon...

They have already prepared another Rena.

When I lose to this fate... they are going to replace me with that Rena as if nothing happened. They're very well organized.

What humans are most afraid of is for their lives to lose all value.

...Your life becomes worthless when you're told that you have a replacement.

It's like an indirect death sentence!

It closed the syringe case, and put it back into its pocket.

It turned around and started climbing up the slope...

At the top, it looked back... and spoke without as much as an evil smile.

"Well.

...Goodbye, 'this' Rena Ryuugu.

...I hope I can get along with the 'next' Rena Ryuugu.

...I shouldn't worry, because I do usually get along with 'them'.

...Hee hee hee!"

"I... I'm not going to let you replace me with the 'next' Rena Ryuugu!!

I'm the only Rena Ryuugu!!

I'm not going to let you do it!

Never

ever!!"

I wondered if my scream was reaching it.

...It looked at me coldly.

...It looked at me as if I was just an image of the past on a TV screen.

"It's fun to have a conversation like this once in a while,

huh?

Hee hee hee...\n

Ha

ha

ha

...!

Ha

ha

ha

ha

ha

...Aha

ha

ha

ha

ha

ha

ha

ha

......"

That laughter gradually disappeared into the darkness.

...It disappeared into the darkness as well.

I... was the only one left there.

I'm forsaken, and they don't care if I disappear.

They told me I should struggle as much as I want because it doesn't matter anyway.

They already have a replacement. They don't need me in "their" Hinamizawa anymore, because my intuition is too sharp.

...When I realized that...

I noticed that this garbage dump is a perfect grave for me.

Then I realized that this place wouldn't work as a hideout anymore.

I'd better start packing and move somewhere else.

It told me to struggle as much as I want.

...I'm going to do just that, damn it... damn it!!

I have to get ready to move out from here.

I'm going to put everything back into my backpack. I have to leave here as soon as possible.

The light of the flashlight wasn't enough to see by, so I turned the table lamp on.

The light made things show up very clearly.

When I reached my backpack... I realized something and gasped in surprise.

The palm of my hand was covered with an eerie liquid.

I thought I'd wiped off my sticky sweat earlier.

...But it wasn't my sweat...

Then where did this blood come from...?

I realized it right away.

I was scratching the mosquito bites on my neck earlier... and I scratched them until it bled.

When I noticed that, I remembered the sensation, the mixture of pain and itchiness.

...I felt something moving near the wound on my neck, so I scratched it again to get rid of whatever it was.

My hand got sticky and wet with blood again.

...I can't see what the things are because I don't have a mirror... But I know.

They're already spreading throughout my entire body, causing the itchiness on my arms and the back of my knees.

...If I'd never experienced this before, I'd think I got bitten by a bad bug or something.

...But unfortunately... I already know what's causing this itchiness.

".........Why?

...Why.........?"

I said it with hatred.

...Why now? Why here...?!

It's... the maggot disease, without a doubt.

If I cut the veins on my arms, the dusky-red gross things would flow out.

But it's impossible. I didn't get any suspicious shots...!

But it doesn't have to be a shot.

...They might've put the drug in my food, and I might've eaten it without noticing...!!

I don't think they put it in the food at my house. But I used to share lunch with my friends at school.

...They might've put it in the lunches...!

That Rika who visited me just earlier was shining the flashlight on me.

So, she knew that I was scratching my neck so hard it bled.

...Nevertheless, she acted like there was nothing wrong... and she told me that I wouldn't last long.

...Now I know why she was laughing at me in a sarcastic way... She... She knew that I wouldn't have much time left...!!

It itches very badly, but I can't scratch. The more I scratch, the itchier it gets... And I'm not going to do the same thing Tomitake-san did!

Damn it, damn it, damn it...!!

The itchiness might not be temporary.

It might actually get worse.

I don't know if it's going to stop soon or if it's going to last until I die from it... I don't know anything anymore. I just have to endure the itchiness.

I wiped the blood on my neck with a towel, clenched my teeth, and tried to erase the desire to scratch my neck.

The wound was throbbing.

...I wanted to scratch it so badly, but I couldn't do that. I fought back the desire, biting the end of the towel.

I scratched other parts of my body really hard in order to forget about the itchiness on my neck, but it didn't really work.

I just prayed for the itchiness to go away, closed my eyes, and fought back the desire. That seemed to be the best way.

I let my mind go blank, breathing hard for a while... I felt like the itchiness got a little bit better.

I took a deep breath, and I immediately started panicking.

Staying here is more dangerous than the itchiness.

I have to leave here as soon as possible!

I felt it while packing my stuff.

I felt the end coming closer. The end that Rika told me about earlier.

...I assumed I could live until the end... but I might have been wrong.

I might follow the same path Tomitake-san took...

way before the end comes.

I was sweating like crazy, and it felt so nasty.

...I know.

I know it's not sweat.

...But I'm going to think that it's sweat for now...!

I wiped my neck with the towel, and hurried to leave.