Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  As echoes were unavoidable if they were in the corridor, Lin Sanjiu and Reno entered the apartment unit opposite from the one where "Rena" was, to avoid her overhearing them. Reno closed the door shut, but he continued to whisper.

  Lin Sanjiu was puzzled and quickly spelled: "But she used her ability". After she recovered all her higher consciousness, not only had her form become larger, but she could also spell a lot more proficiently. Reno hesitated for some time; he seemed unable to explain that point.

  "Erm… Yes, I fell a few times," he somewhat admitted. "But we can't exactly infer that it was my sister's ability. I did fall to the ground, but the other party could have used some other ability or special item… Don't forget, if posthumans from other worlds die here. They will still retain their evolved abilities."

  "That's true." Lin Sanjiu couldn't help remembering that one of the girls she met in Garden of Eden had the ability to force someone to fall. If a posthuman with a similar ability died and became a duoluozhong in Kisaragi Station World and used that ability to pose as Rena, it would be hard to distinguish.

  Luckily, Reno's ability was rare. Once he drew out that almanac page, it basically confirmed his identity.

  "Why do you suspect her?" Lin Sanjiu processed her thoughts and simplified her question.

  "I don't know if I should call it intuition… We grew up together so we know each other very well. After she was hit by that almanac page, I chatted with her. That was when it became more and more obvious to me that I was speaking to someone else who was trying its best to imitate my sister's personality and behavior."

  Lin Sanjiu tried her best to remember the details but she didn't find Rena's behavior any different from usual. Then again, she had only known Rena for a short time.

  "I didn't have that feeling when we were play-fighting. But thinking back, I have to say that it was right to use my ability." Reno exhaled. "I wanted to say this earlier but I have no idea what is happening on the other side so I wanted to wait for a few hours first. Not only can we lower that person's guard, I also noticed that you have been changing and was busy with something… So, I waited until now.

  Lin Sanjiu had witnessed too many weird things happening that night and was a little confused by everything. However, she was certain about one thing. The person that could use [Did you check your almanac before leaving your house today?] was the real Reno. With that in mind, she quickly spelled, "Make a mark on yourself."

  Even though Reno usually showed a carefree attitude, he picked things up quickly and understood almost immediately, "You're afraid that someone might pretend to be me?"

  His face turned pale thinking of that possibility. He took a ceramic bowl from the kitchen and quickly broke it into two silently by using his hands. He took the sharp edge of the broken ceramic bowl and carved a small "X" on his inner wrist.

  "That should be enough…" Reno looked at the mark he made on his hand and put aside the broken bowl. Just then, a voice came from the door, "What are you two doing?"

  The girl's voice startled them so much, it was as if their whole surrounding shook. Rena slowly looked in from the front door. She was standing in the shadow by the entrance so the expression of her face couldn't be seen clearly.

  Both Lin Sanjiu and Reno were shocked. There was a wall in front of the entrance which blocked the view from the entrance, but also prevented them from seeing what was at the entrance. Lin Sanjiu and Reno exchanged glances. None of them expected that the "Rena" without any accessories could move around so silently.

  "Oh, nothing. We are telling each other ghost stories," Reno instantly laughed, pretending that nothing happened. "You really get that feeling when you're telling ghost stories in the dark in Kisaragi Station World.

  "Rena" slowly walked in. She scanned Lin Sanjiu suspiciously, "How can she tell you any stories in that form?"

  Lin Sanjiu observed Rena from head to toe without replying. The girl was wearing a sparkling, pink wig. Her Tulle dress was in a mess. She also had that slightly proud tilted chin… She seemed exactly the same, be it in appearance or attitude.

  "It is hard to believe that she isn't the real thing." Lin Sanjiu thought to herself.

  "I am the one who mainly does the telling. She listens." Reno didn't want to continue with this excuse that was full of loopholes. He also seemed to be unsure of the identity of the person in front. He quickly changed the subject, "Is the effect from the Almanac over? Maybe, you should continue lying down for a while. Just to be sure."

  "It's not necessary," Rena played it down by waving her hands, almost as if she didn't care, "I think the effect ended. This place is really boring. Bro, could you play cards with me?"

  Reno pressed the mark on his inner wrist subconsciously, he hemmed and hawed for a little while but couldn't come up with an excuse. When he saw Rena's expression turning more and more doubtful, he finally acceded, "Ah, okay."

  "This could be an opportunity to turn things around." Lin Sanjiu thought. She sneaked behind Rena, and stayed where the girl couldn't see her and spelled: "Can you manage this alone?"

  Reno looked at the words, trying to guess her intentions. Then, he nodded his head subtly.

  "Great!" Lin Sanjiu turned and sped out of the door before the siblings in the living room noticed.

  "If the Rena here was an imposter, the real Rena must be somewhere in this building." Besides, Lin Sanjiu was still brooding over the 'siblings' she saw when she first reached the 15th floor. Now that Reno had a mark on his hand, she could investigate and look for the real Rena at the same time.

  However, Lin Sanjiu never guessed that she would find another Rena so quickly.

  The floor below the current 15th floor was still the 14th floor (that she saw with Rena). Lin Sanjiu almost wondered if she was imagining things. But, she quickly realized that something was wrong. After she flew down another two floors, it should be the 12th floor, but she saw the siblings playing cards in the corridor under the "15" which was painted on the wall.

  Another 15th floor and another pair of siblings.

  Chapter 208 - That's Not My Sister!!

  "Wait. Let me make sense of things…" Mrs. Manas' slightly frantic voice buzzed. Following which, a few lines appeared on the blackboard of Lin Sanjiu's [School of Higher Consciousness] with a scratching sound. That was the first time the blackboard had been used in this manner since it was created.

  The few lines showed a simplified drawing of a building. The crude drawing was basically of two horizontal lines with multiple vertical lines in between. Each cell was labeled with a number indicating the floors. However, when Lin Sanjiu and Mrs. Manas were trying to place the numbers representing each floor, they found themselves in quite a conundrum.

  "There are a total of 30 floors according to the buttons in the elevator. Logically, that would be 1 to 30. But…" The white words on the board stopped appearing for a moment, "When did the numbers get jumbled up?"

  Lin Sanjiu gave a wry smile inwardly.

  When she saw a second pair of 'siblings on the 15th floor', she immediately stopped herself from flying forward. Before the siblings saw her, she left in the opposite direction. Which pair of siblings was the real deal? Where was the real 15th floor? She was completed baffled.

  At the start, Lin Sanjiu remembered an experiment she had heard about before the apocalypse. Using a unique slope for the stairway, the person climbing up the stairs would have an illusion they were climbing up an unending staircase. If someone designed the stairway in that manner from 15th floor onward, it was possible that when Lin Sanjiu walked downward, she was actually flying upward. Thus, returning to the same 15th floor. However, she quickly dismissed that illogical explanation.

  She turned back and flew back to the original 15th floor—where Rena was hit by Reno's almanac page. Though the siblings on this floor were also playing cards, they were in the apartment unit and not in the corridor. This scene showed that there was clearly a problem but Lin Sanjiu didn't want to accept this. Afraid
that this was one of Reno's prank, she purposely broke the glass of the fire hydrant cabinet in the corridor of that floor to mark that location before flying out.

  She flew out of the window so that she was outside the building. She flew two floors down and rushed in again. Lin Sanjiu found herself speechless.

  After using three ways to distinguish her previous location, she saw the same '15' on the wall. There was also a similar pair of siblings playing cards. However, the glass of the fire hydrant cabinet was not broken here. That indicated that there were really two 15th floors and two pairs of siblings.

  Lin Sanjiu also tried to fly up from the ground floor, counting 15 floors. This was supposed to be a surefire way of reaching the real 15th floor. Unfortunately, she discovered after trying twice that the 15th floor was a little different each time she entered the building.

  Furthermore, these two 15th floors were accompanied by a segment of corresponding 16, 17th floors or 13, 14th floors. Lin Sanjiu couldn't even identify the real 15th floor, much less distinguish between the set of siblings who looked exactly the same.

  "In any case, the Reno here isn't the real thing, right? He doesn't have a mark." Mrs. Manas was so absorbed in this situation that she had forgotten. Lin Sanjiu was worried but Mrs. Manas seemed to be just a popcorn audience, "You're lucky that you are in your higher consciousness form. No matter what sort of ghost haunting this is, they can't hurt you."

  Apparently, Mrs. Manas had already set up her mind that her role as a nurturer only applied to Lin Sanjiu alone.

  "You're right," Lin Sanjiu didn't want to respond to the second-half of what the teacher said, "I saw with my own eyes that the Reno with the mark used his almanac ability. He shouldn't be an imposter." Even though Lin Sanjiu could not confirm Rena's identity, she was glad that at least she knew who the real Reno was. Considering that this thing in front of her had seen her dead body and was nearly in the position to misuse it, Lin Sanjiu couldn't help feeling some lingering fear. However, she couldn't exactly attack immediately even though she already recognized that it was an imposter.

  If the Rena beside him was real, she would still think the imposter was her brother. Thus, she wouldn't allow Lin Sanjiu to attack her brother for no reason. If that Rena was an imposter, it would protect its companion. That is to say, Lin Sanjiu had to attack the Reno (with no mark on his wrist) while Rena was not around. Otherwise, she had to confirm the identity of this Rena before she made any plans.

  "Regardless, I have to act normal…" Lin Sanjiu floated into the corridor, acting nonchalant.

  Rena, who was frowning as she held a card, immediately lit up when she saw Lin Sanjiu. "This Lin Sanjiu is back!" she chuckled. When the 'Reno' turned to look at Lin Sanjiu, the girl secretly swapped the card in her hand.

  "If she does that, she should be the real deal?" Lin Sanjiu thought to herself with some uncertainty.

  "Why did you disappear all of a sudden?" After this 'Reno' looked at her with the same cheerful, composed attitude, he even yawned a few times, lazily. He grumbled, "Isn't it just fine that the 'curse' is over? Why did you force me to play cards with you…"

  Lin Sanjiu hesitated, thinking, "Did the events play out differently on this floor?"

  Before Lin Sanjiu, who was now beside the siblings, could think further, Rena asked, "Where did you go just now?"

  Giving it some thought, Lin Sanjiu replied with a simple: "Took a walk".

  No matter what those imposters were, they probably couldn't affect or harm her. Lin Sanjiu decided to use this advantage.

  "You're bored too?" Rena threw a sidelong glance at 'Reno', "I don't know what that coward is afraid of. He probably felt a cold breeze and started being paranoid… Look, we've stayed here for almost a night, yet nothing happened. I am so bored."

  "Well, something did happen but you're unaware," Mrs. Manas mumbled from Lin Sanjiu's mind. Oddly, Reno did not retaliate after hearing what Rena said. Instead, he gave Lin Sanjiu an odd look. Before this whole shenanigans, the siblings would have argued there and then… The more Reno was able to hold back his temper, the more suspicious he seemed.

  Seeing that he did not respond, Rena seemed a little embarrassed by her actions. She mumbled something before the teenage boy asked, "Did you drop an ear stud?"

  "If he could point that out, is he the real Reno?"

  "The shiny one made of rhinestones that looks a little like a pink starfish… Didn't you like that pair of earrings very much?" Reno crooked his head and looked at the girl's left ear. Actually, there were already many other crystal earrings on Rena's left ear, and it was hard to differentiate between them. If the girl did lose an earring, Lin Sanjiu wouldn't even notice.

  "Oh, yes!" Rena touched her ear and jumped up, "I must have dropped it that time when removing or wearing my accessories back again!"

  "It might be under the bed," Reno said casually while he looked at his cards with a seemingly disinterested expression. "You don't mind losing it?"

  "Pui! How dare you say that when it's all your fault," Rena stood up and complained. She turned around and opened the door of the renovated apartment unit before entering to look for her earrings. When she walked past Lin Sanjiu, Lin Sanjiu noticed that the white socks that the girl was wearing were clean, through the image created by her higher consciousness. There wasn't a streak of dirt.

  She intuitively sensed that something was wrong. If she thought carefully, the events that happened in between must be different. The Rena with the dirtied sock was upstairs. Whereas, this Rena had never searched for anyone climbing through the stairways.

  " It doesn't help if I know this…" Lin Sanjiu thought. Just as Rena stepped into the other apartment, Reno rushed forward.

  "Is he going to attack now?" Lin Sanjiu was alarmed and quickly backed away. It was only at that moment that she realized that he wasn't going to attack her. Instead, he was showing her a strip of paper on his hand.

  "That's not my sister!!" were the words that the teenager scribbled on the piece of paper. The exclamation marks were bolded and emphasized. It was quite shocking.

  Chapter 209 - We Can Clear the Confusion With a Fight

  "To make things clearer, let's call the Reno with a mark on his wrist, Reno 1. We'll call the Reno by your side, Reno 2. The Rena upstairs—with the dirtied sock—would be Rena 1, and the one with the clean socks would be Rena 2."

  Chalk drawings of four small human figures appeared on the blackboard within the building. Two of the figures were upstairs and two were downstairs. They each were labeled with their names and number.

  "You saw Reno 2 and Rena 2 when the elevator first opened after you went to the ground floor to look for them. Reno 2 also saw your dead body in the bathtub. You heard a flushing sound, so you rushed upstairs. You met Reno 1 and Rena 1. They both used their abilities."

  "You have some suspicion about Rena 1's ability, so we can't confirm she is the real Rena. But, right now, we are sure that Reno 1 is definitely the real Reno since his [Did you check your almanac before leaving your house today?] is a very rare ability. Is this right?" Mrs. Manas asked after organization the information they had.

  "Yes," Lin Sanjiu replied immediately.

  Mrs. Manas kept quiet as if she was deep in thought. Seeing that, Lin Sanjiu pulled herself out of her [School of Higher Consciousness]. Looking around, she noticed that Reno was still scribbling on his piece of paper, with his head down. While he wrote, he bit his nails. His brows were tightly knitted, and he would pause now and then.

  That 'why?' from Lin Sanjiu set him thinking, as he tried his best to formulate an answer. Rena did not close the door of the apartment unit properly when she went in to search for her accessories. Lin Sanjiu and Reno could hear Rena's pittering footsteps as she moved around the room. Reno felt pressured every time he heard her footsteps. Finally, he finished what he was writing and checked the door before he showed his message to Lin Sanjiu.

  His handwriting was as messy as before. He had crossed out a few word
s so there were black smudges everywhere. In spite of that, Lin Sanjiu managed to read the two sentences he wrote.

  The first sentence: "She called me a 'coward'. What is that? We don't have that word in Red Nautilus."

  The second sentence: "My sister doesn't have any starfish ear studs. I made that up! I think my sister is possessed by something!"

  "What is going on?" Lin Sanjiu felt like she was going to explode. She wanted to ask more question but she suddenly heard footsteps drawing closer. Rena opened the door the very next second and peered out. Meanwhile, Reno had already crumpled up the piece of paper and stuffed it in his pocket.

  "I searched but I can't find it anywhere," Rena didn't show any unusual signs at all. She pouted, "Since you brought that up, I think I didn't have that pair of ear stud when we arrived at Kisaragi Station… Maybe, I forgot it at Red Nautilus."

  Reno did not reply, he shot a glance at Lin Sanjiu secretly.

  "It's weird. Why would a guy like you notice a small ear stud?!" Rena suddenly glared at him, sounding a little suspicious at Reno, "Besides, I wear so many accessories… Even if someone were to point it out, shouldn't it be Lin Sanjiu?"

  "She's right!" Mrs. Manas shouted abruptly from Lin Sanjiu's mind. Due to her excitement, the teacher had forgotten that she was not supposed to speak. Lin Sanjiu quickly scanned the faces of the two people around her with her higher consciousness. She wanted to see if any of their expressions changed, but none of them moved. Since they planned not to move, their expression did not change. Lin Sanjiu couldn't figure out which of them was trying to conceal their reactio n.

  "Can you keep your opinions to yourself? We will speak when I enter the school again!" Lin Sanjiu shouted back in her head at Mrs. Manas.

  Whenever Lin Sanjiu entered her [School of Higher Consciousness], she used her ability actively. As Mrs. Manas is part of her ability, others are unable to hear her during this process. On the other hand, when [School of Higher Consciousness] is not activated and Mrs. Manas speaks directly to Lin Sanjiu, the spirits would hear the teacher.