Chapter 32: The Truth People Believe (7/9)

The library at Yomiyama North Middle School is small, sitting in the furthest corner of the campus like an abandoned child. Sunlight rarely reaches this spot, as if it were a place forgotten by time.

Descending from the classroom building and crossing the muddy playground brings one to the library. Liu Mengchao, holding an umbrella, stood with Liu Ling and studied the structure before them.

The library is only two stories tall, with windows of a style that belongs to decades past. The windows on the second floor have been boarded up; looking up from below, one sees only mottled walls overgrown with creeping ivy.

"It looks exactly like a haunted house from a horror movie," Liu Mengchao said with a faint smile, gazing at the building.

"Aren't you going in?" Liu Ling tilted her head. Her body remained still, and it was the doll in her arms that spoke first.

"We are. Why wouldn't we?" Liu Mengchao chuckled. He stepped forward, his feet splashing in the rainwater, and pushed open the library door.

With a sharp creak, a sliver of light from the outside cut through the gap in the entrance, casting Liu Mengchao’s shadow onto the library’s floor tiles.

"Liu Mengchao?"

A figure stood up in the darkness, calling out in surprise. It was Akazawa Izumi.

"Yes." Liu Mengchao nodded and walked toward her in the gloom. "We saw you heading this way from the upper floor and got a little curious."

*Just curious, is it?*

Akazawa Izumi turned her head slightly, not daring to meet Liu Mengchao’s gaze. She couldn't explain why, but she suddenly found herself wanting him to speak to her more. Her mood inexplicably sank. She glanced sideways, stealing a cautious look at Liu Mengchao as he sat beside her, and let out a quiet sigh.

*This is fine, too,* she thought. *At least he is sitting next to me.*

"What are you here for?" Akazawa Izumi looked past Liu Mengchao to the new friend she had met only yesterday—Liu Ling, who was clutching her doll.

"Looking at this..." Liu Mengchao seemed unaware of the tension, reaching out to tap the student record book on the table.

"Yes," Liu Ling added. "I assume you heard the broadcast today, so we thought we’d come here to find some information and see if we could uncover the identity of the 'extra' person."

"Oh...?"

The moment Liu Ling spoke, a low murmur emanated from the depths of the library. It was filled with curiosity and a hint of imperceptible playfulness.

"Teacher Chibiki," Akazawa Izumi said, calling out the name of the person hiding in the shadows.

*Teacher Chibiki?* Liu Mengchao frowned, watching the man emerge from the depths of the library.

"Nice to meet you. I am Tatsuji Chibiki."

Liu Mengchao raised his eyes to observe the silver-haired, middle-aged man. Yes, middle-aged. While his hair was completely white like an old man's, the skin on his face remained tight and full of vitality, like that of a youth.

"You are here to look into the curse as well."

"Yes." Liu Mengchao nodded. Because the light in the library was dim, he found he couldn't quite read Chibiki's expression. His voice, however, sounded somewhat unsettled.

"Teacher Chibiki has been a great help to me," Akazawa Izumi said before Liu Mengchao could speak. "This graduation photo album was given to me by him."

Hearing this, Liu Mengchao shifted his focus back to the open album on the table.

The album was thick. Leafing through it, he counted twenty-six photos, each one a group picture of that year's graduates. As Liu Mengchao flipped through the pages, the entire library fell into a sudden silence. Not only Akazawa Izumi, but even Teacher Chibiki stopped talking, merely watching as Liu Mengchao turned the pages one by one.

"This one..." Finally, Liu Mengchao reached the most recent page. He stopped, his finger pointing at a person in the photo.

"That’s my brother," Akazawa Izumi whispered with a sigh. "Every year at the start of the term, Class 3-3 takes a picture, because no one can guarantee that everyone will survive until graduation."

Once Akazawa Izumi spoke, the atmosphere in the library grew heavy and silent again. It was a second or two before someone broke the eerie stillness.

"Your brother was a good person," Liu Ling’s voice suddenly rang out.

"Yes," Akazawa Izumi couldn't help but nod. "My brother had many friends..."

"Liu Mengchao told me that."

*Liu Mengchao!*

Akazawa Izumi, who had been looking down, suddenly lifted her head, staring blankly at the person sitting beside her.

"If he wasn't a good person, how could he be missed so dearly by his younger sister?" Liu Mengchao explained calmly, a smile appearing on his face as if to comfort the girl before him. "Even if only for your brother's sake, you must go on living."

"I will. I definitely will," Akazawa Izumi replied slowly, with great sincerity.

While some lived with hope, others lived with the expectation of someone else's death. That was exactly how Zhen Qianting felt right now. Looking at the bearded man, Long Xiang, before her, she felt an urge to vomit.

"We have found the extra person," Zhen Qianting said, staring straight into Long Xiang's eyes, enunciating every word.

"Who is it!" Long Xiang stood up excitedly, looking at Zhen Qianting.

Zhen Qianting shook her head and said nothing.

"Who is it? You saw it yourself—Zhao Weijie is dead. If we don't kill the extra person soon, we might be next."

She continued to shake her head. Her long, brown-dyed wavy hair swayed in front of Long Xiang, as if she were rejecting the brute. Just as Long Xiang was about to lose his temper, Zhen Qianting finally spoke.

"Zhang Laohua told me about this," she said with absolute seriousness. "But we cannot be certain yet."

"What did he find?"

"There is an order to the deaths," Zhen Qianting said, her brow furrowed. "Teacher Zhang said that when we entered the class, the last person we saw was Reiko Mikami."

"I know her, but didn't she die at the very beginning?"

"Yes, but there were two people who entered before her. The person before her was the class representative, Yukari Sakuragi."

"She’s dead too."

"Exactly. Do you remember who entered the class before Yukari Sakuragi?"

"Who?"

"Akazawa Izumi!"

"But she hasn't died. This order is wrong." Long Xiang, not being a fool, voiced his thoughts directly.

"Is it?"

Suddenly, Old Snake’s voice echoed from behind Long Xiang.

"Then how do you explain the next two people who died? Ikuo Takabayashi and the recently deceased Takeru Mizuno. They entered the class exactly before Akazawa Izumi."

"In other words," Zhen Qianting continued after Old Snake, "their deaths perfectly fit the sequence."

"There is only one exception," Old Snake added firmly. "That is Akazawa Izumi. She not only hasn't died, she is still alive."

"This..."

Long Xiang's eyes were clouded with confusion. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind. "Are you..."

"There is only one reason she has been able to evade death."

"The 'Lord God' doesn't want her to die, or perhaps this is a hint provided by the Lord God."

At this, Zhen Qianting and Old Snake stopped, staring fixedly at Long Xiang’s face, and spoke in unison:

"She is the extra person!"

*Clang!*

Long Xiang stood up abruptly, knocking over his chair. He stood there as if he had lost his soul, looking hesitantly from Zhen Qianting to Old Snake, before letting out a cry and rushing out in a panic.

"Do you think he’s going to kill Akazawa Izumi now?"

"No," Old Snake laughed happily. "He’s likely going to look for allies."

"Because he doesn't think we're reliable?"

"Not unreliable—unbelieving," Old Snake said, pulling a list from his pocket and tossing it onto the table with contempt. "People only believe in facts they discover themselves."

In his career as a con artist, this had never once been wrong.

A breeze, as if responding to Old Snake’s words, blew softly beside the list, causing the name on it to flutter gently.

*Nobunaga Akazawa.*

A large red cross was marked over the name.