Chapter 105

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Chapter 105: Confession With Balloons

Yano Hino examined his appearance in the mirror once again.

The young man in the mirror looked well-proportioned and handsome, filled with youth and energy, but his face seemed a little nervous.

"Great, very spirited!"

He pumped himself up in front of the mirror, splashed some water on his face, fixed his hair, grabbed his backpack, and headed out.

"Mom, I’m going out!"

"It’s Saturday today, where are you going, Yano!"

Yano Hino quickened his pace, ignoring his mother’s words, and soon arrived at the busiest street in the small town.

The floating objects in the sky had almost disappeared by now.

These peculiar creatures had a remarkably short lifespan, only lasting a little over a week from birth to death. If left unchecked, they might soon become a thing of the past.

Fortunately, the research institute intervened in time, intervened artificially, selectively bred, allowing them to continue shining in various roles.

Although Yano Hino didn’t plan to deliver materials to the power plant, he was still very grateful for this action.

"The next song is: ‘Please Take Off My Sailor Suit!’, hope you all like it!"

The crisp and pleasant voice of a girl calling made him stop in his tracks and look in the direction of the sound.

On the newly built stage on the commercial street, several energetic and beautiful girls sang and danced, surrounded by excited men waving glow sticks rhythmically in the air.

"BKB, BKB, BKB…"

Like other towns, there were also small idol groups active here. However, in the first wave of the floating object craze, they either exploded scandals on their own or vented their malice towards their fans.

Everyone was adults and had a certain psychological expectation of this. It was just a matter of deceiving themselves, but now that there was not even deception to be had, all they could say was goodbye.

The newly emerged group BKB eventually rose to fame, becoming everyone’s new spiritual support.

After the performance, the sweaty girls stood on the stage, looking expectantly at the audience, while the staff from the management company took the opportunity to sell handshake coupons below.

"Now there’s a new activity! For every ten handshake coupons you buy, you can also randomly receive a heartfelt message from one member of the BKB group!"

"Oh? Oh! Oh!!!"

The agent’s promotional words instantly set off the crowd, fans rushing to the sales booth as if they were injected with chicken blood.

Yano Hino had heard about this new operating model from internet friends in Tokyo before.

The so-called heartfelt messages are actually "floaters".

To ensure output, idols consume seeds with their meals every day. The company then selects the suitable ones to publish and categorizes them by quality.

Saying "I’m so tired today~~" or "I’m feeling a bit unwell." would be considered R-rated heartfelt messages.

Expressions like "I want to take a shower…" or "Ugh, my chest got bigger again!" would be categorized as SR.

However, statements like "I really love my fans!" or "I want to kiss my fans!" would be the elusive SSR.

Yano Hino also heard that some companies hire people with similar voices to dub for idols, and some even invite hypnotists to help idols to get SR and SSR grades.

He sighed and was about to leave when he suddenly heard a familiar greeting behind him.

"Hi, Yano, what a coincidence, you’re here too!"

Speaking was Yano Hino’s classmate and close friend, Ryoichi Yanagida.

He is an honest man, who wouldn’t produce impurities even if he ate seeds as food.

Standing beside Ryoichi Yanagida is a bright-eyed, long-haired girl, who is his girlfriend, Anzu Fujimoto.

"Ah, Ryo, Ryoichi, Anzu!" Yano Hino swallowed nervously and stuttered, "It’s not really a coincidence… Shall we go sit in the café?"

Walking into the booth, his heart beat faster, and despite trying several times to speak, he couldn’t.

It was really hard to bring up!

"Yano, we are best friends. Please tell me anything!" Ryoichi Yanagida said with a smile.

"I’m sorry!"

Yano Hino bent his knees, knelt down, and opened his backpack.

Inside was a balloon, with dark floating particles inside.

He took out a needle from his pocket, pierced the balloon filled with soundproof nitrogen, and then pointed at the floating particles.

Yano Hino’s voice immediately echoed in the room.

[I’m really sorry, Liangyi, but I really like Kyoko a lot, I like her so, so much!]

Speaking these words in person was something Yano Hino thought was impossible, but with the help of the confession balloon, he could express his feelings!

Ryoichi Yanagida, as the one being put in a tough spot, didn’t get angry. He remained silent for a while, then turned to his girlfriend, "So, what do you think, Kyoko?"

"You guessed right before, bright one…"

Anzu Fujimoto bit her lip, then opened her shoulder bag where a balloon was also kept.

"No need to open it!" Ryoichi Yanagida rubbed his forehead, stumbled out of the compartment, and before closing the door, he forced a smile, "Forcing feelings isn’t possible, I don’t blame you, it’s just, it’s just a bit sad…"

……………

Things that are hard to say, still need to be said.

Compared to people in other places, the people in Japan are too reserved, good at suppressing their thoughts, which leads to unnecessary misunderstandings and avoidance, not only affecting their personal lives but also hindering the society’s development.

Now with the floating objects, things have become much easier to handle.

Want to resign, give floating objects, want to end a relationship, give floating objects, want to confess, give floating objects, want a divorce, still give floating objects.

Uesugi Kiyoshi has been dedicated to changing this bad habit among the Japanese people, but with little success, the appearance of floating objects has greatly advanced this work.

He even thought about writing a thank-you letter to Ode, but if nothing unexpected happened recently, he probably wouldn’t be able to see her.

Uesugi Kiyoshi, feeling proud of himself, heard the phone ringing again.

Seeing Hoshimi Rie’s number, he felt a twinge of pain in his teeth.

Running the company as usual didn’t require much of Uesugi Kiyoshi’s attention, so Hoshimi Rie’s call must signal another unusual occurrence.

"Tell me, what’s strange this time, and where?"

"You’ll have to identify the specific type of strangeness yourself, as for where…"

Hoshimi Rie seemed to swallow nervously before continuing, "She’s currently in the reception hall of the Tokyo Research Institute headquarters."

"She’s come knocking on our door?"

Uesugi Kiyoshi couldn’t help but feel anxious.

With such confidence, it’s clear that the other person is very strong, most likely a tough opponent.

Hoshimi Rie seemed to be talking to someone else, and only responded after a moment.

"Not just knocking on the door, but showing up uninvited. From what she said, it seems like she’s here for a job interview…"

The Room of the Sleep Demon at the Special Event Research Institute (Part 1)

[Reporter]

Igarashi Mari, 21 years old, female, fourth-year university student, with both parents alive.

[Phone Address]

12-6-205, Nagoya City, Nagoya Prefecture, Aichi Prefecture.

[Call Records]

Operator: Hello, this is Special…

Igarashi Mari: Please come quickly, I am Igarashi Mari. Please help us, we can’t hold on much longer! (yawning)

Operator: Alright, miss, we will be there soon! Please provide your address and strange information in as much detail as possible!

Igarashi Mari: 11-9-205 Nagaike-cho, not strange, Yuji Hirano! (yawning)

Yuji, there’s a monster in his stomach, hurry, you must hurry, oh, Yuji, Yuji! (sound of water pouring, phone hangs up)

Operator: Miss? Miss?

…

[Relevant Information]

Hirano Yuji: Igarashi Mari’s boyfriend (not publicly known), 28 years old, a novelist. Met Igarashi Mari at the Kameda Cafe in Nagoya five days ago, looking unwell, then returned home. Shortly after, Igarashi Mari moved in with Hirano Yuji under the guise of traveling with a same-sex friend, and since then, neither of them has shown signs of going out.

Family background: Both parents passed away, no close relatives within three generations.

Published works, "The World in Dreams," "Another Self," and others.

Medical records: None.

Physical examination records: None.

[Risk Level Assessment]

Personal level~~Town level

……………

Despite the thin stack of documents, Saito Shuichi kept reading them over and over.

"Mr. Saito, could you share your thoughts?" asked Sanhao Youwu kindly.

"Oh, okay, Sanhao Youwu."

After much thought, Saito Shuichi finally spoke his opinion.

"According to the records, there seems to be something strange hidden inside Mr. Pingye. Both Mr. Pingye and Miss Igarashi Mari are aware of this and are trying to confront it."

"How do we confront it?" Sanhao Youwu asked.

"We should try to keep Mr. Pingye awake by any means necessary. Perhaps the strange thing will come out once he falls asleep, which is why he sought Miss Igarashi Mari’s help. That’s why she keeps yawning non-stop, to ensure her boyfriend stays awake. The sound of water at the end of the record might be her way of waking up the sleeping Mr. Pingye."

After some thought, Saito Shuichi added, "This is just my personal guess, but we can check Mr. Pingye’s spending records to see if he has recently purchased any stimulants like coffee or tea."

"Indeed," Sanhao Youwu clapped his hands, showing approval. "Not only that, Hirano Yuji also visited the pharmacy. But drugs like Amorda, which are stimulants, require a prescription, so he had to give up… To think of all this, it’s really amazing, Mr. Saito!"

"…You flatter me."

Saito Shuichi was aware of his own limitations. He knew his reasoning had no technical difficulty or brilliance, yet he received praise from the Deputy Director of the Aichi County Special Event Research Institute, mainly out of courtesy to Uesugi Kiyoshi.

As a person arranged by Uesugi Kiyoshi himself, his salary was even higher than Sanhao Youwu’s.

It has been a month since the vortex incident, all related traces have been completely erased by Uesugi Kiyoshi, nobody knows what role Saito Shuichi played in it, only that he has been following Uesugi Kiyoshi all along.

[Lucky at the right time!]

[Just a guy who climbed up the ranks through connections!]

Saito Shuichi didn’t mind such opinions, when Sanhao Youwu wanted to take him for a mission, he didn’t object. Whatever the motive was, as long as he could help, it couldn’t be bad.

"Ah, we’ve arrived!"

The speeding convoy stopped at the target apartment building.

Following the established process, security personnel dispersed around, clearing unrelated individuals, and setting up firepower points. Once everything was arranged, Saito Shuichi and Sanhao Youwu climbed up to the second floor.

Standing at the door of Room 205, he felt an evil aura emanating from inside, growing stronger and stronger.

"Quick, open the door!"

With a command from Sanhao Youwu, the members of the combat team behind him approached the door, pulled the trigger of their guns, and the high-temperature barrier-breaking bullets instantly melted the door lock.

The door opened, the smoke cleared, and upon seeing the scene inside, everyone was momentarily speechless and moved.

In the middle of the room, there was an unknown creature lying there.

It had four legs, two of which were in shorts, looking sturdy, and the other two were in a white skirt, looking more slender and smooth. Each pair of legs had a torso on top, sharing a man’s head.

Two hands were coming out of the mouth of the head, covered in blood, reaching out desperately.

What a strange monster!

How can we communicate with such a strange creature? How can we make use of it? If we can’t communicate and make use of this bizarre creature, then we have no choice but to eliminate it!

Sanhao Youwu swallowed, raising his right hand, "Listen to my command, prepare…"

"Wait!"

Before he could give the order to fire, Saito Shuichi strode forward, reached the side of the monster, then lifted his foot and stomped on its fingers, crushing them. As the hand recoiled due to the intense pain, he seized the hands, trying to push them back in.

However, Saito Shuichi’s strength was no match for the creature’s; not only did he fail, but his own hand also got cut with bloody marks.

"Quick, help me, Sanhao Youwu!"

Sanhao Youwu and the team members snapped back to attention, rushing forward to assist in pushing the hand back in.

With each hand pushed in, the man’s shoulders bulged a little, and after all the hands were pushed in, two extra hands emerged on his torso, revealing another head that had been buried in his body the whole time.

This is not a monster, but a man and a woman, namely Hirano Yuji and Igarashi Mari.

Like a reversible coat, Hirano Yuji’s hands withdrew into his body, flipped over, and then extended out of his mouth again.

Due to their right hands being tightly bound together with tape, Igarashi Mari was also pulled along and sucked in during this process.

If the people from the research institute were one minute later, Hirano Yuji should have already turned over, and Igarashi Mari would have fallen into his belly.

But right now, they are just unconscious.

The team doctor examined them on the spot, and the results showed that Igarashi Mari’s body indicators were in the danger zone because she was too tired to wake up.

As for Hirano Yuji, they couldn’t make a judgment.

Because this man’s body is empty inside, so during the turning process, the internal organs will not fall out—there are no internal organs at all!

…………………

During the doctor’s examination, Hirano Yuji’s body still tried to turn over, but with over a dozen burly men in the room, no one was afraid of him.

Whenever a hand reached out from the mouth again, they used a gun barrel and a stick to push it back in, back and forth, until the other person became obedient.

However, Hirano Yuji still didn’t wake up, probably due to being too tired, so they had to focus on his girlfriend instead.

After being injected with a stimulant, Igarashi Mari quickly woke up.

She looked around, her eyes puzzled, "Is this… Is this a world in my dream?"

"Probably not, Miss Igarashi Mari." Saito Shuichi took out his identification and a recorder, "Now please explain the situation to us."

"Alright."

When Hirano Yuji approached Igarashi Mari, she also didn’t believe his words.

"In my dream, I want to run into the real world!"

"Every time I fall asleep, he wakes up and brings me into the dream, becoming the real me!"

This is the kind of story that Hirano Yuji is good at, writers have a habit of mixing up imagination and reality.

But when Mari Igarashi heard her boyfriend say, "I hope you watch over me and don’t let me fall asleep", she seemed to understand and feel a bit happy inside.

Just an excuse, wanting to live together with me, right?

Oh, there’s nothing to be done!

After making up a reason to fool her parents, she carried a package into Hirano Yuji’s house, but he asked her to tie up her hands and feet with tape, then fell asleep leaning against the wall.

Even though she didn’t understand what was happening, how could Mari Igarashi bear to see her boyfriend go through such torment?

She carefully cut the tape, covered the man with a blanket, and then fell asleep leaning against the bookshelf across from him.

The sound of panting and swallowing woke her up, Mari Igarashi opened her eyes and was shocked to see a hole where Hirano Yuji’s right hand used to be, with a hand coming out of his mouth.

This hand groped around, then grabbed the girl’s ankle.

The loud scream woke up Hirano Yuji. Hirano Yuji grabbed the hand and desperately smashed it on the ground, using his body to press it down, finally swallowing it down.

Now Igarashi Mari had no choice but to believe Hirano Yuji’s words.

She didn’t leave, but fought desperately with her boyfriend against the dream version of Hirano Yuji.

Tying up hands and feet with tape was useless. Even sealing the mouth tightly would be pried open. The final conclusion was simply, "Don’t sleep."

But how can one not sleep?

In extreme fatigue, Igarashi Mari had no choice but to tie her own hands with her boyfriend’s. Even if she couldn’t save him, at least they could go together…

An alternative ending (caution).jpg

After telling everything, the girl let out a gentle sigh.

"Do you think I’m silly? To live and die with the one I love?"

"Of course not!" responded Saito Shuichi firmly.

Sanhao Youwu also assured, patting his chest, "Now you can rest assured and leave the rest to us!"

Watching Igarashi Mari smile peacefully, then fall into a deep sleep, Sanhao Youwu looked troubled.

"What should we do? There are people on one side and strange things on the other side. Unless we keep watching all the time, it’s hard to prevent."

"Why don’t we just let this fellow out first and hear his opinion? What do you think?" suggested Saito Shuichi.

……………

A feeling he had never experienced before washed over him as Hirano Yuji opened his eyes, only to realize it was the sunlight coming through the window.

He squinted, gazing at the sunlight until his eyes were swollen, then reluctantly closed them.

Such a feeling, such pain, didn’t exist in his dreams.

Great, finally came out!

…Wait!

How did I get out?!

"Hello, another Hirano Yuji!"

As voices spoke, Hirano Yuji realized there were others in the room holding long stick-like objects, which seemed to be the legendary guns, and the symbol on their bodies was the famous Special Event Research Institute.

Hirano Yuji took a step back, then stopped, his expression becoming proud again.

He had no need to be afraid!

The real Hirano Yuji was still asleep inside him, these people were cautious, how dare they make any moves? After all, the body still belonged to him!

However, how did he come out?

As if hearing his thoughts, a bespectacled boy said. Try feeling your back first!

Hirano Yuji did as told and discovered a cold, metallic line running down his spine.

"What’s this?"

"This is a zipper," the boy with glasses explained with a smile, "We used the latest Alchemy potion from headquarters to strengthen your body and added a double-sided zipper."

Another young person on the side nodded and chimed in, "Turning yourself inside out from the mouth would be too much trouble. Now, just unzip, shake a bit, and you can change sides easily and quickly! Need our help?"

Of course not, if we turn him back, wouldn’t the real Hirano Yuji wake up again?

Facing a dozen burly men surrounding him, cracking their knuckles and advancing, Hirano Yuji made a quick decision and knelt down directly.

"I was wrong, I surrender!"

The negotiations went very successfully.

After waking up, Hirano Yuji agreed to unzip himself during his rest and release his dream self for around 8 hours a day.

Out of these, seven hours are dedicated to various fixed or temporary tasks arranged by the research institute, with the earnings being split in half. The remaining hour is free time but must ensure to return to the starting point when it ends.

To prevent any cases of mistaken identity, the word "Eccentric" must be engraved on the dream version of Hirano Yuji’s face.

The real Hirano Yuji expressed satisfaction with this arrangement.

The dream Hirano Yuji had to accept these conditions, as if he didn’t, he would be confined to the institute without even one hour of freedom.

Only Igarashi Mari was slightly displeased, as this meant she would never be able to greet the morning sun with her boyfriend again.

Saito Shuichi felt some pity about this.

"Vice President, can we let the dream Hirano Yuji appear every other day? Just give him more free time, the so-called work isn’t really necessary, right?"

"You are mistaken, Mr. Saito." Sanhao Youwu’s expression turned serious, "The earnings may not matter much, but what’s important is for people to know that the institute has once again defeated an eccentricity, and this eccentricity must serve the institute, do you understand?"

"…to eliminate the people’s fear?"

"Exactly! Fear cannot solve problems, but trust and faith can. Everyone needs to believe in the institute’s capability, so that the institute can truly have the ability to solve problems. This is the director’s instruction!"

Sanhao Youwu, hands behind his back, recited and then returned to his usual enthusiasm, "How about doubling the free time for activities, but not allowing outings on weekends and holidays? Would that work?"

"Thank you, Deputy Director!"