Now, you must be wondering why I used a .5 instead of just going to Part 13. Simply put, after translating an alternate choice that's not relevant to the story, I realized it was long and interesting enough to make a single part, and so, I chose to make just a small post and keep the last ending to its own post. For this reason, I decided to make this a .5 part to show it isn't really story-relevant.
This will make it an easier read for both parts, or so I believe. Anyway, let's begin, shall we?
And that is---
>"Did you really see the culprit?"
>"How old are you?"
>"Why didn't you call the police?"
>"How old are you?"
Yes. Her age. That's the most important thing. I asked her without hesitation.
"Hey, girlfriend, what's your age?" [He used 'kanojo' here, meaning either 'she' or 'girlfriend', so this makes Junya look like a massive prick no matter what.]
...Huh? That's weird. I didn't get an answer.
"...Are you making fun of me?" Damn it. I pissed her off.
Um, what do I do?
>Apologize honestly.
>Return the anger.
>Return the anger.
No, wait. Why shouldn't I be angry?
Aren't you the one who's bothering me with strange e-mails?!
"It's your fault for sending this stupid chain mail! I'll arrest you if you don't put an end to this!"
As a police officer, I gave her a stern warning. "You, a policeman...?"
It seems that she didn't think I was a police officer. Fufun. [Smug chuckle] How about it, you scared?
"I see... I get it. Well then, bye..."
When I told her yes, she one-sidedly hung up the phone. Was it my imagination, or did she laugh, albeit slightly?
Well, it's fine. It's best to forget about this silly prank call.
"Junya~ How long are you going to skip work? You underlings need to work hard as underlings should."
"...By the way, I have to go out on an important mission. While I'm away, could you please take care of whatever happens?"
Without hearing my reply, the Inspector hastily left. For, most likely, a horse or bicycle race.
"Yessir! Inspector, thank you for your hard work!" When Mr. Kogure says that, it seems like he's in a different profession.
Having lost our boss, we have no choice but to do our paperwork.
There is a rotten amount of documents needing to be sorted out. It's unlikely that we'll ever be without a job to do.
For the next few hours... Mr. Kogure and I silently worked hard at our desks.
"Sir..."
"W-what's the problem, Mr. Kogure?"
"Well, sir... I'm feeling kind of sick... Even though my only virtue is my health, something's wrong with me..."
Mr. Kogure's forehead is dripping with sweat. His complexion isn't good either.
"Excuse me, but would it be alright if I left early...?"
"Yes, it's alright. Don't overdo it, please take care of yourself."
"Yes, sir... Thank you very much..." Mr. Kogure thanked me without hesitation and then went home without saying goodbye.
"A developmental fever, maybe...?" There was no one to reply to my rude monologue.
This may be the first time I've worked alone.
Mr. Kogure who comes to work early in the morning and works overtime until late. The Inspector who had come to live here as if it were her own home.
Thanks to those two, I've seldom been alone.
Even so, there's no way a fine adult could say, "I can't work because I'm lonely", so I went back to working again.
The screen starts shaking, and all the while black bars go up and down on the extremes of the screen.
After a few tremors, the screen goes black.
Ngh...? What...? What's that sound...?
That's right. My mobile phone. It's my phone's ringtone.
...Oh. It seems I fell asleep at some point.
"Hello?" I answered the phone in a clearer tone than necessary so that they wouldn't find out I had just woken up.
"Hello, it's me. Why didn't you help me?" ...It's that woman! I knew it intuitively.
"Huh? Hello?" It got cut off...
Is she going to harass me? What extreme resentment.
It's 5 minutes later. The cell phone in my inside pocket began to make noise again.
"Hello, it's me. I'm about to go and meet you."
...Going to meet me? This is the 5th basement floor of the MPD. How could she get here?
It's like when she sent that chain mail. In any case, it's going to be some boring harassment.
But, yet another 5 minutes later---
"Hello, it's me. I'm in front of the MPD right now. I'll see you soon."
Whoa, is she crazy? There's no way an ordinary person could enter here at such a time.
There's no doubt. She's just harassing me.
5 minutes later---
"Hello, it's me. Right now, I'm on the 1st basement floor."
Ridiculous...! That's impossible!
However, even after that, I received regular calls, spaced by exactly 5 minutes---
"Hello, right now, I'm on the 2nd basement floor."
Stop that!
"Hello, right now, I'm on the 3rd basement floor."
Stop it!!
I slammed my phone on the floor.
I could have turned it off, that would have been fine, but I had lost both my calm judgment and my peace of mind.
But, I'm relieved now. With this, I can't receive any more prank calls from that woman...
"Hello, right now, I'm on the 4th basement floor.", the woman's voice came over from the loudspeakers for building-wide announcements.
That's... a lie!
I hastily locked the door.
No matter who comes, I won't open until dawn. I swore so.
"Hello, right now, I'm in front of the room. Open the door. There's no point in hiding." No matter if I locked the door, there was no way to stop the voice flowing from the speakers.
"Open the door. I know you're in there." A low female voice grabs my heart.
My instinct warns of the danger. A strong warning like needles piercing my whole body--- Regardless of my own will, I moved.
UWAAAAAAAAAAHHH!
All reason flew away once I shouted. Like a madman, I slammed a nearby chair into the speaker.
Forgive me already...
I'm begging you...
This time, I'll help properly...
I'm begging you...
So, please...
I prayed to all gods and buddhas I knew---
[Ringing sound]
My watch's alarm sounded at midnight. It was the bell of salvation for the zealous me.
Just now, five minutes have passed since I last heard that woman's voice. As I expected, she couldn't pry open the door.
No, wait... That woman couldn't have come to the MPD from the beginning.
The voice from the speakers could have been remotely sent from the outside. That's it. It must be so.
When I succeeded in convincing myself, I took a slow, deep breath. To experience the joy of liberation...
[A distorted voice is heard.]
"Why didn't you open it?"
No way... I broke my phone and the speaker. I shouldn't be able to hear her voice!
"But, this is enough. This is how I'll meet you..."
"Understand? I am, right now, behind you..."
[Child's laughter]
WE FINALLY MEET
[The unlocked file is of "Mary-san", or "Ms. Mary". If you know Japanese urban legends, you've probably realized how similar these events are to that story.]
"...Hello? Hello, can you hear me?"
Huh? What was I doing...?
"Hello, can you hear me alright?" A woman's voice is heard on the other side of the phone.
Oh yeah. I got a phone call from the chain mail woman, and then...
Strange... I can't remember anything after that. Did I fall asleep in the middle of the call?
"I'm sorry. It seems like I was a little absent-minded..."
"Did you have a good dream?" The voice stroked my ears with a strange laugh.
"Eh...?"
"I saw the serial killer..."
"The culprit is... {Erisa Hattori}..."
[Everything continues as normal from here.]
That's the end of this post. It's pretty small, but also a fun read, at least for me. The next post will be the actual Part 13 and will be interesting in its own right.
Anyway, see you next time!
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