Amamiya Rin forced himself upright and leaned against the headboard. His mind, which had been idling through the night, finally began to turn over.
"Starting today, I can't stay in the hospital anymore. So what's next?"
He murmured to himself. There was simply too much to do — so much that he couldn't even arrange it all into a clean, logical order.
Just for today... should he first check in with Kazumi Junya, Fujino Terumi, and Dr. Kuroda? Let them know he was still alive?
Then take control of the Tomie host and deal with the "Flesh-Colored Monster"?
After that... gather the parts and materials, find a workshop and a chemistry lab, and start manufacturing high-lethality weapons?
And he still needed to sharpen his Hypnosis skills — track down that master who could apparently hypnotize even ghosts.
Right — he'd have to pay a visit to the pressure gym as well.
His physical condition was far too poor. Unlike Tomie, he couldn't control his body through Division. And with curses drawn to one another by nature, he needed to improve his physical capabilities as quickly as possible.
Aizawa Tomie and the other Tomies also needed attention. He could use Fujino Terumi's connections in the entertainment industry to track down those two female comedy duo members...
"There's just too much to deal with!"
Just thinking about it all left Amamiya Rin feeling drained — body and soul. This was not something one person could handle alone.
Especially when it came to the strange curses.
The heavy ones — the Police History Compilation Office was useless there. Official organizations prioritized stability; to avoid making things worse, they never dared to act rashly.
The weak ones — he could handle those himself, like a stress-relieving pastime.
(This can't keep going on. We have to pick up the pace!)
(???)
(???)
(???)
The moment the thought crossed his mind, the [Tomie Network] erupted with a flood of question marks.
(The bomb configurations and weapons manufacturing — I'm too slow on my own, and there are too many places to run to. Who's at a university? Use the school's equipment to handle that portion of the work for me. Any Tomie willing to take this on — within one month, I won't force a body sync on you.)
After a brief silence, a Tomie immediately accepted the request.
(I'll do it. The school I'm enrolled in has an outstanding science and engineering department — we're not lacking for equipment.)
(Second item: boxing, judo, Eight Extremities Fist — or marksmanship and swordsmanship if you prefer. Go learn them. I don't think I even need to force this one. If you truly want to kill the Apology Demon, you already know what you need to do.)
Amamiya Rin's meaning was simple: killing the Apology Demon was not his goal alone.
Then the effort of growing stronger for that purpose shouldn't fall on him alone, either.
Combat skills should fall under the second condition negotiated from the start — the Tomies would acquire a surface-level understanding through practice, and then Amamiya Rin would enter the Dream World to refine them to mastery.
(Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho! Don't you dare underestimate me. Martial arts training? Let me show you just what I'm made of.)
Kawakami Tomie let out her trademark arrogant three-beat queen's laugh. Surprisingly, not a single one of them showed the slightest resistance or reluctance toward learning combat techniques.
That was because, in the Dream World, Amamiya Rin had already talked it through with them.
The pinnacle of technique capable of slaying a demon — that was not a feat Amamiya Rin could achieve through his own efforts alone.
As long as the Apology Demon could be ground to dust and scattered to the wind, the Tomies didn't mind spending some time learning to fight.
(What do you mean 'what you're made of'? Are you some kind of 'Grit Bro'?)
Amamiya Rin was momentarily speechless. Kawakami Tomie had always been a little unhinged, but under the influence of his own thought patterns, she somehow seemed even more unhinged than before.
(Forget it. The point is — as long as none of you have forgotten the plan we laid out in the dream, everything proceeds as originally planned.)
Cell biology, molecular biology, developmental biology, neurobiology, bioengineering... To fully unlock their own potential, the Tomies would need to pursue advanced study across all of these disciplines.
These were things agreed upon long ago in the Dream World. Since the Tomies hadn't forgotten them despite the time that had passed, naturally they showed no sign of questioning any of it now.
With everyone's tasks mapped out, Amamiya Rin reached for his phone on the nightstand.
The screen read just past nine in the morning. Missed call and message notifications were popping up one after another.
Kazumi Junya, Dr. Kuroda, Fujino Terumi... Strangely, there was nothing from the woman who had tipped him off about the serial murder case.
They had clearly arranged to meet yesterday afternoon. He hadn't shown up — and yet she hadn't called to ask why.
Amamiya Rin felt curious, and faintly uneasy. Surely that woman hadn't already been killed by the murderer?
Worry was worry, but there was no way to reach her. He had no choice but to call Dr. Kuroda first and check in.
After ending the call with Dr. Kuroda, Amamiya Rin dialed Fujino Terumi's number as well, giving her a brief reassurance that he was fine.
"There's one more thing..."
Just as Amamiya Rin was about to hang up and contact Kazumi Junya, Fujino Terumi's voice came through — hesitant, unsettled.
"These past two days, something just hasn't felt right. Like there's something watching me from the shadows. Not like a paparazzi — something... something far more... more hair-raising than that. Do you think it could be the Vampire we ran into last time? Or am I just being oversensitive? Imagining things?"
"Whether it's your imagination or not, treat it as real and stay on guard. Safety first," Amamiya Rin said.
His fingers tightened around the phone, his expression going still.
If nothing unexpected had happened, Fujino Terumi's feeling was almost certainly not her imagination.
He still remembered: the last unknown call he'd received — the woman on the other end had told him the Vampire was about to strike again.
"As for the Vampire situation... I already have a lead. It'll be resolved by today at the latest."
If he didn't receive another unknown call by noon today, he'd have no choice but to report it to Kazumi Junya.
Though without any concrete evidence, reporting that a top idol singer was the perpetrator behind a serial murder case — even Kazumi Junya and his colleagues wouldn't be able to act on that.
Based on their previous calls, he had at least some understanding of the Police History Compilation Office by now.
That department seemed to be little more than an archive room in practice — nothing like the special divisions in anime or novels with their exclusive privileges and sweeping authority.
After reminding Fujino Terumi to stay safe, Amamiya Rin ended the call and dialed Kazumi Junya's number.
"Amamiya-kun?"
The line connected, and a slightly rushed voice came through — Kazumi Junya was clearly eager to confirm who was calling.
"It's me," Amamiya Rin answered.
"Phew... How are you? What happened yesterday afternoon?"
Hearing Amamiya Rin's voice, Kazumi Junya let out a breath of relief, and his tone lightened.
"I'm alright for now. As for what happened... I think I might just have a paranormal constitution — a magnet for strange incidents. The police should have already investigated what went down at the hospital, right?"
Amamiya Rin kept it brief and to the point — a few short sentences to sum up the situation.
"A paranormal constitution... you know, that might actually be true. The Tomie Incident, the Grudge Incident, the Dissolution Incident — all within one month. Running into that many major events is simply unheard of."
On the other end of the line, Kazumi Junya reflected on it and couldn't help but marvel.
For an ordinary person, encountering even one such incident in a lifetime was extraordinarily rare — and even then, it typically meant either death or madness. Yet Amamiya Rin had survived three incidents back to back. Someone that indestructible — Kazumi Junya had never met a second person like him.
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