Strange Game - Anime Mashup

[Name: Snake Eye Orb]

[Category: Strange Thing]

[Quality: Blue]

[Ability: After use, it induces fear in the target, causing them to fall into a fear-induced hallucination. The duration of the fear, the intensity of the effect, and the number of targets are determined by the user's mental strength]

[Usage Conditions: The user's mental strength must be at least 18]

[Note 1: It can be used if the mental strength requirement is not met, but it will significantly drain mental power and expose the user to higher levels of strange pollution]

[Note 2: When worn on the forehead, the mental power consumption is reduced, the mental strength requirement is lowered, and the fear effect is amplified]

[Special Reminder: This item is a strange object. Each use brings with it the risk of pollution and erosion by the strange object. Please use with caution]

"Blue rarity, strange object."

Lin Ye had suspected that this bead was unusual, so taking it was the right decision.

"That person must be a 'player'," Lin Ye mused. "I'll wear it on my forehead because my mental strength doesn't meet the required level to use it when needed."

He looked at the strange object in his hand and decided to test it tomorrow. With that, he placed the bead in his storage.

For a 'player', the storage bar was the safest place for storing items.

After tidying up his desk, Lin Ye stretched to relax his muscles, then removed his clothes, turned off the lights, and went to bed.

It was a dark night, the room quiet, and only the soft sound of his breathing could be heard.

Time passed.

Lin Ye was awoken by the alarm clock.

It was six o'clock.

He resisted the urge to sleep longer, got up, and changed into his sportswear.

"Time for some exercise," he muttered.

After jogging for half an hour, he returned to his room, freshened up, and ate breakfast, which he had bought from a convenience store.

Once ready, he left the apartment and went downstairs.

Today, he was headed to the fire department and police station to gather information about the Chiba train fire.

"If I can get someone higher up, I should be able to obtain the information relatively easily."

If time had not stopped, obtaining the relevant intelligence would have been difficult without drawing attention.

However, given that the information might be classified, Lin Ye was prepared for the possibility of coming up empty-handed.

More than half an hour later, Lin Ye arrived near the fire station. He found a place to change, put on a hat and mask, and used his time stop ability to sneak into the fire station.

After locating the fire department's regional map, he proceeded to the archives room.

The door was locked.

"Key."

Lin Ye made his way to the person in charge's office, and after some effort, managed to obtain the key.

Entering the archives room, Lin Ye scanned the rows of bookshelves and eventually found the file on the 'Chiba Station Fire Accident on April 8.'

Click...

Click...

Lin Ye took photos directly, but he was in the fire station's bathroom. Since the camera function of his phone didn't work during time stop, he had to leave the archive room and go to the bathroom to take the pictures, ensuring no one would see him.

It was a bit troublesome, but it was safer.

"Who took the key to our office? The director is looking for it everywhere."

"No, the key is usually in the director's office."

"Well, if you were in the office, why come here to ask? Just ask around later."

"By the way, did you see anyone suspicious?"

"No."

A few firefighters were chatting in the bathroom.

Lin Ye knew that staying in the archives room for too long would raise suspicion. Although it wasn't a huge risk, he preferred to do things as quietly as possible. Enter quietly, leave quietly—without anyone noticing.

A few minutes later, he returned the file to the archive room and put the key in the trash bin where he had found it.

When time resumed, Lin Ye's figure had already appeared in an alley 200 meters away from the fire station.

"The next step is the police station."

Unlike the fire station, the police station's archives used electronic locks.

Lin Ye just needed to wait for the right moment. When someone entered the archives room, he could get the files he needed.

After working diligently for most of the morning, Lin Ye finally obtained the information.

He found a nearby restaurant, ordered a fried pork chop set, and ate lunch while reviewing the materials.

The Chiba Station fire accident had started in a ramen restaurant inside the station. The cause of the fire was improper handling, which led to a kitchen fire and a gas explosion. One person died and three others were injured. Later, one of the injured died from severe burns during the rescue attempt.

"Hase Takayuki, the manager of the ramen shop, was in poor condition and had symptoms like fever and coughing," Lin Ye read aloud. "The person who suffered the most serious burns was Koichi Honda, the chef at the ramen restaurant, who has since died."

That must be the burning monster from earlier.

The remaining two injuries were guests at the restaurant who couldn't escape the blast.

However, Lin Ye also found the interrogation records from people who were at the scene.

Before the explosion, there had been quarrels and unusual strange noises.

This detail piqued Lin Ye's interest. It was abnormal and warranted further investigation.

"Excuse me, would you like some more water?"

The waitress approached Lin Ye with a pot of lemonade.

"Thank you, sorry for the trouble."

The waitress poured the lemonade and quickly filled the glass.

"You can call me if you need anything," she said with a smile.

"Um."

Lin Ye sat for a few more minutes, then paid his bill and left the restaurant.

While the accident report itself wasn't overly complicated, the strange noises before the fire still caught Lin Ye's attention.

It was unusual and needed further confirmation.

As he walked down the street, Lin Ye suddenly heard a dog barking ahead of him.

A large, fat dog seemed to be barking at a little girl, who had fallen to the ground, trembling.

"That's a Tosa Inu!" Lin Ye recognized.

The dog owner seemed indifferent. Tosa Inus were aggressive fighting dogs known for their high combativeness. Once provoked, they would fight relentlessly.

Lin Ye hurried over.

"Hey!"

He shouted at the dog.

"Ahhh, woof woof woof..."

The dog growled, ready to attack.

But the next second, it whimpered in fear, its ferocious expression softened, and its large body collapsed to the ground, trembling.

The 'Snake Eye Orb' had worked perfectly, and Lin Ye was relieved to find a suitable subject for his experiment. This Tosa Inu was just right.

"Hey, what are you doing to my dog?" a woman's voice suddenly called out.

As Lin Ye watched, he saw a fat middle-aged woman running over as fast as she could. With a worried look on her face, she picked up the shivering Tosa Inu lying on the ground.

"Baby? This dog?"

"Hey, what did you do to my baby? If anything happens to my baby, I will never let you go!" the middle-aged woman shouted loudly.

"Your dog almost bit someone."

"Impossible, my baby is very well-behaved and would never bite anyone. If it did, it was because you provoked it. It would never attack anyone on its own initiative."

This "straight talk" debate continued, fully displaying her true nature of being unreasonable and stubborn person.

"Apologize."

"What?"

"Apologize to her immediately."

Lin Ye helped the little girl up. Only then did he notice that the little girl had a delicate face, fair skin, long black hair, and was as beautiful as a doll.

If a few years pass, she will probably grow into a beautiful young woman who will attract the hearts of countless men!

"What apology? You should be the ones apologizing to my baby!"

"Ahhh…"

The dog let out a terrible howl, and its fat body hid behind the middle-aged woman. Its eyes were filled with fear as it looked at Lin Ye.

"Baby, baby…"

"Apologize," Lin Ye insisted.

The middle-aged woman held the dog in her arms, stroking and comforting the dog with one hand, while glaring at Lin Ye with the other. But at this moment, she met Lin Ye's cold gaze, which made her tremble. However, she didn't back down; instead, she became even more aggressive.

Until… She let out a scream, and her whole body collapsed to the ground, holding the Tosa Inu and howling like a ghost.

Lin Ye had already controlled his strength, and it was much weaker than when he dealt with the Tosa Inu, but this woman's reaction was even stronger than that of the dog.

People are worse than dogs, he thought, shaking his head in his mind.

"Little boy, I'll take you home."

The little girl with long black hair looked up at Lin Ye and lowered her head expressionlessly.

She didn't agree, but she didn't refuse either.

"If you have your parents' phone numbers, you can use my phone to contact them."

Lin Ye offered his phone, but the little girl did not accept it.

After a few seconds, she stood up and walked forward. Lin Ye, seeing this, walked a few meters behind her, following at a leisurely pace.

About ten minutes later, she stopped in front of a house.

"Little friend, I'm leaving now. If you encounter a large dog in the future, just stay away from it. Golden retrievers and huskies are not a big problem."

Just as Lin Ye was about to leave, the little girl finally spoke.

"It was the dog that rushed over."

She explained, "Well, Tosa Inus are very aggressive. Anyway, you should be careful next time."

Lin Ye squatted down so his eyes were level with the little girl, making her feel less afraid.

"The dog is afraid of you, and so is that woman."

"Maybe it's because I look fierce!" she said, staring, but there was no trace of ferocity on her face.

"Tsurumi Rumi."

"Um?"

"My name is Tsurumi Rumi, a sixth-grade student at Chiba Elementary School."

"Oh!"

It turns out she's this elementary school student from Oregairu! I never expected to meet her today.

"Your name?"

"Lin Ye, a high school student at Sobu High School."

"How can I be like you?"

"When you grow up a little bit, you will be like me. Girls your age didn't cry when facing a Tosa Inu. You'll be very brave. Really, I'm not just comforting you—you're really very brave."

At least, when he was in elementary school, he had been afraid of the roars of large dogs.

"It's almost time. I'll leave first. Goodbye."

"Thanks," the little girl called out.

After taking a few steps, Lin Ye heard Tsurumi Rumi's voice of thanks, and he smiled and waved goodbye.

Tsurumi Rumi returned home and took off her shoes.

"There will be a new teacher in the class next week."

"I don't know how long this teacher will stay."

In the past half month, two teachers had resigned from Chiba Elementary School, where Tsurumi was studying. Both had suffered mental problems due to the huge shock and terrible things they encountered.

There were rumors circulating among classmates, but no one knew whether they were true or not.

~~~

Because the storage function had been unlocked, Lin Ye had another idea.

"Before, there was no place to store weapons and ammunition, and carrying them would risk exposure, so we put it aside for now. But now that the storage has been unlocked, these two problems have been solved."

It not only solved the storage problem but also solved the carrying problem. He could use it anytime when needed.

"Then... let's do it!"

Lin Ye looked at the military base in the distance.

"I am just borrowing. I will pay you back with interest in the future."

Having made the decision, Lin Ye took action.

In the face of a time stop, maximum latency was not a problem at all.

The hardest things were the closed doors.

He didn't have the superpower to pass through walls, so he had to rely on a few tricks to successfully enter.

Oh!

The air smelled of metal and oil.

"The mysterious disappearance of guns and ammunition will be discovered sooner or later," Lin Ye thought.

So, he left a card with the words "Kaito Kidd was here" written on it.

Perfect. Everything ended successfully.

Lin Ye returned to the apartment, looked at the shiny pistol in his hand, and touched it gently with his right hand.

"You can go to a special shooting range to learn, or you can find an unmanned outdoor place and learn by yourself through online video tutorials."

It's best to have someone teach you.

After all, gun shooting is not something that can be learned overnight. Having professionals teach him would help him master it faster.

However, guns should not play a particularly big role in weird copies.

The main purpose of their existence is to deter people.

"It's always good to master one more skill."

He looked at the time.

Lin Ye turned on his computer and looked through relevant instructional videos and precautions to ensure that he could use it correctly.

Sunday, April 14, 10:45,

Lin Ye arrived at the agreed location.

Today, he was wearing a grey casual outfit. The shopping mall was busier on weekends than on weekdays, with pedestrians coming and going. From time to time, people handing out flyers would walk by and offer them to Lin Ye.

Lin Ye smiled and refused.

Five or six minutes later,

A sound of footsteps came from far away, and a girl in a cute pink dress walked toward him. At a distance of only twenty meters, she attracted the attention of many men on both sides of the road.

Beautiful girls always attract attention.

"Sorry, I'm late, Lin-kun."

Nanase Ren walked quickly to Lin Ye, her breathing slightly disordered.

Lin Ye looked at her and realized that Nanase Ren had dressed up carefully before going out today.

She took this 'date' very seriously.