那个女人面对着我.她的眼睛——或者更确切地说,她眼睛的虹膜——呈现出令人不安的鲜红色.就在这时,客厅的灯关了,窗帘也被拉上了.在这个有些昏暗的空间里,这双鲜红的眼睛散发着淡淡的光芒,就像夜晚的猫科动物一样,散发着诱人的魅力.
我认出了这个女人的脸.她出现在我之前拿到的全家福里.如果不出意外的话,她应该是这世上宁海的妈妈.
Aoba Suzukaze 提供的游戏视角对我理解情况有很大帮助.
那个女人默默地看着我,突然向我走来.我注意到她的右手拿着一把旧菜刀.
"你想要什么?"我故意用尖锐的语气问道.
那个女人仍然保持沉默,稳稳地进入了离我不到三米的地方.
我的直觉告诉我,她正打算攻击我.然而,我的超能力带来的回旋余地让我没有立即采取行动.我不明白.既然这个女人是这个世界上宁海的母亲,那她为什么要攻击我呢?她的状态显然很不正常.她拒绝交谈的态度和隐约咄咄逼人的动作都让我感到极度不正常.
女人向我举起刀.
"停下来."我几乎忍耐到了尽头.
那个女人一言不发地向我挥舞着刀.在这一击中,她用尽了整只手臂的力量,甚至连身体都微微前倾.毫无疑问,她试图杀死我.
我得赶紧抬起右手,才让利刃够到我,手掌对准她的胸口,想象着高压水枪喷水的场景.
想象力是我超能力的一个特别关键.
按照我的想象,那无形的念力就像一把真正的高压水枪一样爆发出来.紧接着,那个即将成功的女子被念力击中.她的双脚离开地面,就像一个被玩具水枪冲走的塑料雕像,被猛烈地撞回去,然后重重地摔在了五米外的地板上.
坠落过程中,女子的左手放在左侧的茶几上,不小心碰到了一个黑色的遥控器.
嘟嘟响.
客厅的电视打开了.
正在播出的正是新闻频道.一位身穿深蓝色职业装的美女正在做早间新闻报道,引起了我的注意.
「最近,一种叫做红眼病的神秘疾病正在海狸城蔓延...」
"...The characteristics of those who are sick are red eyes, strong aggressiveness, and a silent attitude of refusing to communicate..."
"...Citizens are advised not to approach people with red eyes and not to go out without reason at night..."
"...After discovering a patient, please call the police immediately and do not approach rashly..."
"...Actively take preventive measures and confirm the safety of food and..."
Creak.
The woman stepped on the wooden floor and struggled to stand up. She looked at me indifferently, and her bright red eyes were devoid of any emotional color.
"So it is." I said to her, "You are sick, right?"
The woman silently picked up the kitchen knife that had fallen aside and ignored my question.
I carefully observed her.
Red eyes, strong aggressiveness, and a silent attitude of refusing to communicate... So it is. All of these are present. The reason why this woman inexplicably attacked me is because she has contracted the Red-Eye Disease mentioned in the news?
I have never heard of this strange disease.
I do know a disease with the same name, but that is just the common name for acute conjunctivitis and will not make patients attack others.
After arriving in this strange world, I immediately encountered a patient with this unknown disease. Could it be that this Red-Eye Disease is related to the survival script mentioned in the text message?
The woman suddenly charged at me.
I faced her and raised my right hand again, imagining my telekinetic force as a strong and powerful hand.
The telekinetic hand grabbed the woman's ankle.
She, who was rushing towards me, immediately lost her balance while running and fell forward heavily. Her face collided strongly with the floor, making a sound that sounded very painful.
Then, she immediately propped herself up with her arms and tried to stand up.
I made a downward-pressing gesture with my palm. This time, I imagined a heavy object pressing on the woman's back.
Unable to bear the weight, the woman was pressed down again.
During my confrontation with this woman, the news was still being broadcast.
"...We have invited a senior medical professor from Beaver University. Hello, professor."
"Hello."
At some point, a white-haired middle-aged or elderly person appeared on the TV screen. He sat to the left of the female host, adjusted his black-rimmed glasses, and had a somber expression.
"Can Red-Eye Disease be cured?" The host asked the professor.
"Not yet." The professor said slowly. "This is a very strange disease. We not only cannot find a cure, but we don't even know its true nature."
"What's going on?" The host asked in confusion.
"We have conducted a very comprehensive examination of the patients to find pathogenic bacteria or viruses, or other causes of the disease." The professor said gravely. "However, the progress is not optimistic. We cannot find the cause of the disease. After our examination, the patient's physical signs are very stable. Although sometimes some abnormalities are found, those are all sub-health problems caused by the patient's inattention in daily life and have nothing to do with Red-Eye Disease."
"But I heard that the city government has recently announced that significant breakthroughs have been made in the research and development of a specific drug." The host said.
"The city government has hired an American medical team and used the most advanced experimental equipment and technology. Their progress is not comparable to that of our local medical team." The professor showed a helpless expression. "With their technical strength, successfully developing a specific drug is only a matter of time."
"So it is. Then it seems that the Red-Eye Disease crisis in Beaver City will soon be resolved, right?" The host asked optimistically.
"Exactly." The professor also had full confidence in the American medical team hired by the city government.
Beep.
I picked up the remote control from the floor and turned off the television. Then, I picked up a newspaper from the coffee table and saw an article related to Red-Eye Disease.
"This disease..." I flipped through the article. "Seems to be spreading only in Beaver City?"
The newspaper article pointed out that Red-Eye Disease is an unknown disease that only spreads in Beaver City and there is no sign of it spreading to other places.
Bang, bang, bang...
The woman who was firmly pressed down by the telekinetic force still struggled relentlessly.
I withdrew my telekinetic force and released her.
She immediately got up and charged at me with a knife.
I freed my right hand and, at a short distance, made a choking gesture towards her neck.
The woman was immediately stopped in place by the telekinetic force. A red handprint appeared on her neck, and the skin indented inward.
The invisible telekinetic hand pressed on her carotid artery.
After only a moment, she fainted due to a lack of blood supply to the brain and completely stopped struggling. I withdrew the telekinetic hand and she directly collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
I put the newspaper aside.
Red-Eye Disease, survival script...
If everything is as Aoba Suzukaze said and this is a game, then the term "survival script" might point to a survival game.
Since it is a survival game, there must be obstacles that hinder survival.
Is this obstacle Red-Eye Disease?
It must be admitted that at present when there is a lack of clues, any reasoning I make is just an unreliable hypothesis and an unfounded conjecture. I have seen many fictional stories, novels, animations, games, movies... The term "survival game" is not new to me, so it is difficult for me to control myself from thinking in this direction.
I even imagined a scene where all the people with Red-Eye Disease in Beaver City would attack me one after another under mysterious guidance.
In any case, it is the right thing to do to go to Beaver High School and meet up with Aoba Suzukaze first. I put aside these unfounded delusions, put on a pair of sports shoes, and left this strange home.
...
Beaver High School is not far from this home and can be reached by walking for a while.
I had planned to look up its address on the internet, but after all, it is a strange city and street. When actually traveling, I inevitably had to ask for directions. The passerby I asked saw that I was wearing the uniform of Beaver High School but didn't know the address of Beaver High School. Although they showed a clearly strange expression, they still pointed out the direction for me.
After a little twists and turns, I finally entered the school building.
The student handbook records the enrollment time. By simply calculating, I can figure out that Ning Hai in this world is a third-year student. Since the teaching buildings here are divided by grade and floor, I came to the corresponding floor.
When I arrived, school hadn't started yet, and there were scattered students in the corridor.
I took out the black mobile phone and dialed Aoba Suzukaze's number.
"Is it Suzukaze?" I spoke first.
"Eh? Um... Yes, it's me." Suzukaze's reaction was very strange.
I realized a step later that in Japan, it seems that one cannot casually address a woman one has just met by her first name. But I decided to skip this problem. The Japanese pronunciation of Suzukaze's name is shorter and more mellifluous than that of Aoba. More importantly, it would be embarrassing to change it now. Let's just pretend that I don't know the local culture because I am not Japanese.
"Have you arrived at school?" I asked.
"I have arrived." Suzukaze answered.
Suddenly, I felt something was wrong. Suzukaze's voice seemed to be coming from two directions at the same time.
I put down my phone and looked around.
Three seconds later, I found that at a position about ten meters away from me, there was a girl with purple twin tails standing in front of the corridor window. She was wearing a beige school uniform for girls and was holding a purple mobile phone and was on a call.
If I remember correctly, Suzukaze seemed to have said that her mobile phone is purple?
I walked over.
The girl with twin tails had her back to me and was talking on the phone.
"Ning Hai, Ning Hai? Can you hear me? Eh, why did you suddenly stop replying... " The girl was very confused. "Could it be that this phone also has a problem with poor signal?"
I walked up behind her.
Perhaps noticing my approach through the reflection of the window glass, the girl turned around and looked at me questioningly.
I looked at her.
"Um... Is there anything I can do for you?" The girl asked cautiously.
Because it is in a strange place, she must feel uneasy about people approaching her? Her state of mind is written on her face.
I raised my phone and showed her the screen.
The screen showed that I was on a call with Aoba Suzukaze.
"... Eh?" Suzukaze was stunned for a long time, and then showed a slightly surprised expression. "Is it Ning Hai?"
Although we don't know each other, the same situation has established a weak trust relationship between us. I think she is actually not at ease with me, but at least she will have a certain degree of empathy with me. We are all victims of the black curtain, and we have a natural stance to work together.
No, now, it is too inappropriate to call it the "black mobile phone." Although my mobile phone is black, Suzukaze's is purple.
From now on, let's call the mastermind behind dragging us into this world the "black curtain."
"It's me." I hung up the call, put away my phone, "Have you seen a third person?"
"The third person?" Suzukaze asked. "Do you mean Alphonse Elric in the contacts?"
"That's him."
In fact, I had dialed the number of the third person on my way to school, but for some reason, this person didn't answer.
I don't know why he didn't answer the phone. Is it because the phone is not with him? Or is there some other difficulty that he can't tell? I think the two names displayed in the contacts are both victims who have been dragged into this world by the black curtain and know nothing about the current situation. In this situation, if the mysterious mobile phone beside oneself suddenly receives a call, one will definitely answer it impatiently, just like Aoba Suzukaze before.
But this third person, Alphonse Elric, didn't answer.
This vaguely revealed attitude of refusing to communicate added a layer of mystery to his image in my mind.
"I haven't seen him." Suzukaze answered me. "I dialed his number, but he didn't answer."
"Is it the same for you?"
Where there is one, there is two. I am not surprised by this.
"Why didn't he answer..." Suzukaze was very puzzled.
"Perhaps there is some difficulty that he can't tell." I said. "Rather than this, Suzukaze, do you know which class you are in?"
The student handbook doesn't write the student's class, and I don't know which class I am in either.
"Well, I know." Suzukaze once again surprised me. "After I entered the school, a girl soon came up to talk to me. She should be an acquaintance of mine in this world... After I talked with her for a few words, I knew which class I was in."
When she said this to me, she looked very relaxed.
Everyone has their own strengths, and even this seemingly soft girl is no exception. In contrast, after excluding the element of superpowers, I myself am completely just an incompetent mediocrity.
I couldn't help but carefully examine this girl.
Cute face, petite figure, fair and moist skin, bright and vivid purple hair, plus this beige Japanese high school uniform, showing abundant youthful vitality.
Because she is so small, she looks more like a junior high school student than a high school student.
To correct myself, since it is Japan, it should be said that she is a junior high school student? Actually, I am not familiar with this aspect. That's roughly what it means.
"What, what's wrong?" Suzukaze noticed my scrutiny.
"Nothing." I brushed it off.
Speaking of which, being a high school student is just Suzukaze's identity in this world. Maybe her identity in the original world is a junior high school student?
"By the way." Suzukaze remembered something. "Ning Hai, you are also in the same class as me, so we can just enter a classroom together."
This is good news. I don't have to find my own classroom.
"Also, there is a student's name pasted on the desk. As long as you look at this, you can find your own seat." Suzukaze continued. "It's because I saw the desk with the name Ning Hai written on it that I knew we were in the same class."
"That's great." I said.
A short while later, it was time for class. Suzukaze and I entered the classroom.
Our seats are very close, just in the front and back positions. I am in the front and Suzukaze is in the back.
After the first class ended.
I emerged from my absent-minded state.
As I said before, I am a mediocre person without any strengths except for my superpower. This is also true when it comes to studying. Perhaps it is because Ning Hai in this world is also a poor student. The teacher didn't interfere with my daydreaming behavior and seemed very accustomed to it.
However, compared to me, Suzukaze should be even more taxing, right? She looks just like a junior high school student no matter what. Can she handle high school classes without any problems?
During the break, I mentioned this question to Suzukaze.
"It's, it's not like that at all!" Suzukaze blushed. "I am not a junior high school student at all!"
"Isn't it? Then could it be..." I looked at her in surprise.
Are elementary school students these days developing so well?
Suzukaze seemed to see through my thoughts and became even more excited.
"I am not an elementary school student either!"
"Well, could it be that you are really a high school student originally? Then I am sorry. I misunderstood you." I said.
"I am not a high school student either!" Suzukaze argued hard. "I have graduated from high school and am a working adult!"
What? I vaguely heard the sound of thunder, even though it was sunny outside.
"How old are you?" I couldn't hide my disbelief.
"Eighteen years old." Suzukaze answered.
"Actually older than me..." I couldn't continue.
This girl who I had mistaken for a junior high school student before is actually an older working adult than me?
"By the way." Suzukaze asked. "How old are you, Ning Hai?"
She chose this timing to ask a question. I don't know if she did it on purpose or by chance.
Just as I was hesitating whether to answer honestly, there was a noise of a table falling over in a corner of the classroom.
The attention of Suzukaze and me was both drawn to that place.
We saw a girl suddenly stand up, looking at the surrounding classmates expressionlessly. Her eyes showed a eerie bright red.