Give children a little self-destruction shock to their worldview.

Page 159

After losing Shiratori Nozomi, her life lost its light. Her life was utterly destroyed, leaving her a walking corpse stuck in the same place.

Only things related to her child could awaken her senses and bring her back to her senses. The pages of the book were already filled with her longing for her departed child.

She had become so terrifying that her once-fitting dress now hung loosely, but the summoned Shiratori Nozomi would still be as affectionate as ever, snuggling in her arms and calling her "Mommy."

If a woman like this were to lose this precious little life again, she might just fall apart and turn into a skeleton on the spot.

But the next second, a warm little hand firmly grasped her hand.

Mrs. Shiratori looked down and saw Nozomi's pleading gaze: "Mom? I want to sleep with Yukari tonight. Can we stay at her house?"

"No...!" Mrs. Shiratori immediately wanted to refuse. In fact, she shouldn't have brought Shiratori Nozomi here in the first place.

But Mayumi Haga had already approached, very close to Mrs. Shiratori, so close that Mayumi could hear the mother's frantic heartbeat.

"If you don't mind, please stay at Yukari's house tonight," the fantasy entity calmly invited. "It's Yukari's wish; she's been looking forward to it all night."

Mrs. Shiratori then realized that the girl in front of her was not the fantasy of the female college student, but rather Yukari Hachiya.

Furthermore, due to the summoner Yukari Hachiya's personal preferences, she showed kindness to herself and her daughter.

Text: 250. Please keep this a secret.

Logically speaking, all the contestants should be able to distinguish the illusionary form.

Therefore, it's impossible for Yukari Hachiya not to know that Nozomi Shiratori is a fantasy entity.

After all, although Mayumi Haga is a rather special fantasy entity, and Yukari Hachiya is just a relatively young contestant, apart from their age, they are not much different from the other contestants.

"Perhaps Yukari was just too happy to see her best friend and overlooked this fact?" Rie Nagai whispered to Mayumi Haga, who was washing vegetables. "Besides, that child doesn't seem to know that she is a fantasy..."

After a brief encounter, Rie Nagai finally understood the situation of the Shiratori mother and daughter.

Mrs. Shiratori's daughter, who was also Yukari Hachiya's good friend, actually died in a car accident a year ago.

The child standing there now is merely an illusion summoned by Mrs. Shiratori, not Shiratori Nozomi herself.

"Isn't it the real person?" Mayumi Haga was a little surprised.

Rie Nagai explained, "Fantasy entities are projections summoned from another world through various works of art as a medium. I suspect Mrs. Shiratori used something like a diary as her medium, but..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but Mayumi Haga knew what she meant.

Even a mother who takes meticulous care of her child cannot fully record a vibrant life with its own thoughts.

What took shape the moment Mrs. Shiratori put pen to paper was not her child, Shiratori Nozomi, but Mrs. Shiratori's longing for her dead child.

No matter how similar they are, they are no longer the same person.

Mayumi Haga's mood suddenly turned sour.

"In that case, their situation is dangerous in this competition. If they hadn't encountered us, they might have been hunted down directly," Rie Nagai sighed.

The fantasy form of Shiratori Nozomi, summoned by Mrs. Shiratori, is just an ordinary child. She has a cheerful and generous personality, high emotional intelligence, and can express her love directly and passionately, like a clingy and enthusiastic puppy.

Mayumi Haga felt that Nozomi Shiratori's personality was somewhat similar to Hitomi Tono's; both were straightforward and, when happy, could even see a propeller-like tail behind them in their hallucinations.

Although the child possesses many admirable qualities, and his importance to his mother goes without saying, it cannot change the fact that Shiratori Nozomi is the easiest target in this game of desire and fantasy.

She was just an ordinary, unarmed child, summoned by her nearly insane mother. For an ordinary fantasy entity, strangling her would be as easy as crushing an ant.

However, for reasons she couldn't refuse, Mrs. Shiratori embarked on a dream-fulfilling journey with her fantasy form, Shiratori Nozomi, instead of finding a place to hide.

In that case, they will definitely be targeted by other contestants.

Mayumi Haga doesn't expect everyone to have the most basic moral bottom line, but there are indeed very few people who can maintain their arrogance under the condition of possessing and using fantasy entities.

“At worst, I’ll just let them stay in my ‘Mystery of the Haunted House’,” Rie Nagai was clearly a soft-hearted person. She didn’t want to see Shiratori Nozomi, who had been summoned with great difficulty, killed by other illusions. She muttered to herself, “As long as they don’t go out, they won’t be discovered.”

Her haunted house was indeed a good place to shield herself from external perception; as long as she didn't actively provoke others, she wouldn't be detected.

But the Shiratori mother and daughter clearly wouldn't agree.

Their sole purpose in coming here, and for the next week, and their only remaining wish, was to fulfill all of Shiratori Nozomi's requests.

Therefore, it is absolutely impossible to agree to be locked in a gloomy room.

Upon hearing this, Mayumi Haga turned off the tap.

Rie Nagai's gaze fell on Mayumi Haga, who seemed to be deep in thought.

"What do you want to do, you nosy magical girl?" Rie Nagai asked.

In fact, she was just as nosy as the seemingly aloof fake magical girl in front of her.

Although she enjoys watching horror movies, Rie Nagai is not to the point of losing her compassion.

Seeing such a heartbreaking scene, seeing a child unaware of his own death and a emaciated mother, Rie Nagai, who felt she had some ability, thought she might be able to help in some way.

After all, her goal wasn't to win this match.

She just wanted to recreate horror movie scenes through her fantasy form to scare people away, and that's good enough.

Her true hobby is dressing up as a ghost to scare people.

As for why she didn't scare the white bird mother and daughter... please, she didn't want to bully children.

Just as the two were whispering to each other, the door to Yukari's room on the second floor opened, and Shiratori Nozomi's voice came from inside: "I'll go get the drinks."

Light footsteps slid down the stairs, and then a head popped out: "Hello!"

Rie Nagai was startled, but Mayumi Haga remained calm.

Shiratori Nozomi said with a smile, "Mom is upstairs, and Yukari is showing her the rooms, so I came down to get a drink."

Mayumi Haga, who is also a fantasy entity, asked, "What would you like to drink?"

"I want a Coke! With three ice cubes." Shiratori Nozomi answered without hesitation, then quickly added, "Thanks, Yukari wants the same."

Mayumi Haga's hands were still wet, so Rie Nagai, who was standing next to her, took over the task.

Just as she turned around to open the refrigerator to get ice, Rie Nagai heard Mayumi Haga suddenly ask Nozomi Shiratori, "You know."

What do you know?

These nonsensical words caught Rie Nagai off guard, but Nozomi Shiratori's next reply sent a shiver down her spine.

"What do you mean by 'magical girl'? Do you mean I'm like you?" Shiratori Nozomi's answer was overly frank. "Yes, I know that."

Mayumi Haga looked at the child in front of her and blinked.

“After all, when I first woke up, the house was a mess and felt very unfamiliar,” said the fantasy version of Shiratori Nozomi.

Because of the death of the real Shiratori Nozomi, Mrs. Shiratori had no interest in housework or taking care of herself, so she was actually quite startled when she was first summoned.

However, because of her affection for Mrs. Shiratori, she kept her doubts to herself.

Later, when I went to my room to pack my things and looked through the chat history, I realized something was wrong.

Although she initially thought she had just taken a nap, upon careful consideration, it was not a problem for her to realize her true identity as a fantasy entity.

The real Shiratori Nozomi is dead, and as her imaginary self, there is actually very little she can do.

But there is no doubt that her love for Mrs. Shiratori was genuine.

Even though she was just an imposter, and even though that wasn't her mother.

"Shh, you have to keep this a secret... Otherwise, Mom will never come out of that door."

The child-like fantasy figure earnestly made a shushing gesture, a hint of shyness in its smile. "I'll try to find a way when we're in danger. Can you help me protect my mom then?"

Text: 251. I don't know

"Ashi, you're back." Yukari Hachiya had already taken Mrs. Shiratori to the guest room. Back in her own room, she found the videotape of "Magical Girl Red".

Just then, Shiratori Nozomi returned from downstairs with drinks.

Shiratori Nozomi put down her drink, turned around, and closed the door behind her.

The two children sat together on the stall, watching Yukari Hachiya play a videotape of "Magical Girl Red" on the small TV in her room.

Yukari Hachiya comes from a fairly well-off family, and she even has a small TV in her room for watching cartoons. However, she usually watches the cartoons on the big TV in the living room downstairs.

Of course, in this kind of atmosphere, it's more fun to squeeze together with your best friends.

Once the door is closed, this small room becomes their "secret base," a space that belongs only to children.

Yukari Hachiya looked somewhat uneasy.

To be honest, this is simply unbelievable for a die-hard magical girl fan like her. In most cases, as soon as Yukari Hachiya starts watching an anime series, she immediately becomes engrossed in it.

But now, she looked preoccupied, her gaze frequently drifting to Shiratori Nozomi's face, always seeming to want to say something but holding back.

It's obvious to anyone that Yukari Hachiya's mind is no longer on anime.

No, it wasn't in the animation from the beginning.

In fact, Yukari Hachiya looked like this after she returned from the guest room with Mrs. Shiratori.

So Shiratori Nozomi pressed the pause button: "Yukari, you seem to want to say something to me."

"...Ashi, is Aunt Shiratori sick?" Yukari Hachiya asked softly. "She looks so thin, like a patient in a hospital."

When Yukari was five years old, her grandfather was seriously ill and hospitalized, so during that time her parents frequently took her between the hospital and home.

In her memory, the patient was thin and had a yellowish complexion.

Aunt Shiratori looks too thin, in an unnatural way. Normal weight loss wouldn't result in this; it's as if she's been completely ravaged, inside and out.

Yukari Hachiya is very worried about Aunt Shiratori because she is the mother of her best friend, Nozomi Shiratori, and is very kind to her.

In her memory, Mrs. Shiratori was a gentle and emotionally stable adult who loved cooking and baking, and whose homemade snacks were all very delicious.

Despite being from a single-parent family, Aunt Shiratori always seemed to be working very hard, but she never showed any signs of distress.

Aunt Shiratori is usually elegant and emotionally stable.

What happened to make her lose so much weight in such a short time?

Yukari Hachiya always felt that there was something she hadn't noticed.

Oh, right, and Ah-Xi's height.

It's been a year since I last met Axi, and Axi hasn't grown a single centimeter. She looks no different from when we last met.

I've grown quite a bit taller.

Yukari Hachiya suddenly realized that her friend, who was originally about the same height as her, was now several centimeters shorter than her.

Children of this age are in their growth period, and it is indeed unreasonable for them not to change for a long time.

Moreover, a year ago she contacted Shiratori Nozomi, who excitedly told her that she had grown a lot taller.

[Maybe next time we meet, Yukari, you'll have to look up at me!]

This is what Shiratori Nozomi said in the text message.

Yukari Hachiya was nervous about this for a while, feeling that it would be embarrassing if she were much shorter than Nozomi Shiratori.

She drank milk for a long time before she finally grew a few centimeters taller.

Surprisingly, Shiratori Nozomi didn't grow any taller.

Shiratori Nozomi obviously didn't grow taller, after all, it's not her.

The height of the fantasy form, Shiratori Nozomi, was fixed one year ago, when the original Shiratori Nozomi died.

They hadn't been in contact or met for a year, and now, standing next to Yukari Hachiya, you can definitely see the difference if you look closely.

But she only gave a vague answer: "Mom quit her job recently. There must be some problem at work. She can't even eat..."

Is it really?

Yukari Hachiya felt something was even stranger.

Her friend's favorite and most cherished person was her mother.

After her parents' divorce, Shiratori Nozomi and Mrs. Shiratori lived together, relying on each other. Although Shiratori Nozomi seemed carefree, any emotional problems Mrs. Shiratori had would inevitably show on Shiratori Nozomi's face.

They are a mother and daughter whose hearts are connected.

Once, when Mrs. Shiratori had a cold and was lying at home, Shiratori Nozomi's worry was almost tangible on her face, it couldn't be clearer.

If Mrs. Shiratori has been sick for so long, long enough for a woman of normal weight to become so thin that she is just skin and bones, then why does Shiratori Nozomi seem to know nothing about it?

Yukari Hachiya always felt something was off.

Oh, right, speaking of Ashi's feelings for Aunt Shiratori...