"Hey, old man, send me the address of your part-time workplace. I'm free now, so I'll go take care of it."
After listening to HaruhiKage, Rikuo retrieved the 2 of Hearts from Anon and chose to escape the situation.
"Ugh, a bunch of beautiful girls getting along, team building, it'd be too weird for me, a guy, to join. Since Anon won't be harmed and Sakiko's matter is resolved, it's time for my own segment."
Although Rikuo considered his relationship with Tomori, Sakiko, and Anon to be good, weren't there also the multi-headed anomaly Mutsumi, the powerful Taki, and the astonishingly intelligent Soyo? (The male lead had only met Soyo four times and considered their relationship not good.)
Returning to the topic, Rikuo had received news of an Anomaly from his godson, Togawa Kiyotsugu, last night. To prevent further expansion of the disaster, he decided to act directly today.
After contacting Togawa Kiyotsugu and learning the exact address, he saw that it was already past 5 PM, and the Ouma ga Toki had begun. So, he rushed to his destination... an off-plan luxury apartment complex in the Ueno business district of Tokyo.
"This place is really nice. Surrounded by mountains and next to a lake. According to the notice, this area is being demolished and rebuilt into luxury apartments."
Rikuo arrived at the destination and first observed the surrounding environment.
"Speaking of which, the incidents related to this Anomaly are mostly confined within the building complex. So, is it an Earthbound Spirit? From what I've learned before, Earthbound Spirits cannot leave their specific area. But precisely because of that, does that mean this entire complex is its territory?"
Rikuo paced back and forth, starting to weigh his options.
"The last Earthbound Spirit was a Corporate Slave Ghost. While the collective corresponding to corporate slaves is vast, their resentment is mostly non-harmful. Although some strange mechanisms appeared, overall, even without any Undead Card, I could eliminate it, though the rider system's awakening bonus played a part."
"But this time, it corresponds to a high-rise, a residential building. So, there could be a Jumping Ghost, a Falling Ghost, or an elevator ghoul, all of which are well-known and widespread Anomalies. Especially the Jumping Ghost; if it is that, then the corresponding range might be the entire building complex."
Rikuo slapped his face, as if making up his mind.
"If there's absolutely no other way, I can drag it out until the Ouma ga Toki on the second morning. This type of territorial Anomaly will most likely dissipate. Perhaps I can also use this as an experiment. Moreover, currently, only I can deal with Anomalies, and there are no other options. After all, the means of enhancement are very limited now, unless I get the Queen of Spades. But if I really wait until then, who knows what stage this Anomaly will have developed into, and how many people will be in danger."
Rikuo strengthened his conviction and stepped towards the main gate.
The locked gate was, of course, no obstacle to him. He used the 5 of Spades for a big jump and got in.
"As expected, there's an Anomaly. The atmosphere here is clearly off, just like when I encountered the Corporate Slave Ghost."
Space gradually twisted, and consciousness fell into chaos.
When Rikuo could see again, he was already in front of a school gate. A watch appeared on his wrist, showing the time 7:15 PM.
The school gate was rusty, and the teaching building was dilapidated, as if no one had been there for a long time. An abnormal light flickered on the top floor of the teaching building. Rikuo knew that the source was probably there.
"The mental domain is actually a school? Looking at the source of the Anomaly, it's probably the top floor, so it might really be the worst possible guess."
Rikuo knew that he was probably facing a Jumping Ghost this time.
"But this Anomaly most likely has individual consciousness, not a pure collection of resentment. If it were a collection, the mental domain would most likely be a general house, not a school with distinct features, and the watch on my hand is also a peculiarity. So, this is very special. Anyway, I'll just go in and try normally first."
He pushed open the rusty iron gate, walked into the school building, and headed towards the rooftop. The decaying handrails spoke of their age, the surrounding classroom doors were all closed, and as he stepped onto the last stair, he noticed that the dust on the handrail formed a strange spiral pattern, as if repeatedly wiped by some force.
Opening the rooftop door, the sight on the rooftop instantly tensed Rikuo's nerves. A teenager wearing a 1990s school uniform stood with his back to him by the railing. The second button on his uniform was dangling precariously, and his left cuff was stained with oxidized, blackened ink marks. Most chillingly, the teenager's shadow in the sunset showed two different angles: one was a standing posture, while the other was a falling posture.
Rikuo saw the teenager, realized he was the master of the space, and took out his fountain pen, preparing for battle.
"Don't come over!" The teenager's voice sounded as if from underwater, with a muffled echo, "It's always like this... it's useless..."
Rikuo noticed that the teenager's right pinky finger was unnaturally bent, a sign of an old fracture. Just as he was about to transform, a strong dizzy spell hit him. The world before his eyes twisted and deformed like an old videotape rewinding, and a piercing "sizzling" sound rang in his ears. When he came to, he found himself back in the stairwell, his watch showing 7:15 PM, even his breathing rate had returned to its initial state.
"It seems the ability is related to time. Is it giving me a Laplace's demon? Or an endless August? Will I forget the previous experience? From the current situation, the other party has no obvious hostility, so were the people who died before swallowed by the space attached to the Anomaly? So, even though the other party seems to have no hostility, it will still bring corresponding dangers."
Rikuo carefully recalled the details he saw last time:
1. "3rd Year B Class Sato Kenichi" was written inside the collar of the teenager's uniform in blue ballpoint pen.
2. The photo on his student ID card was scribbled over with a black marker.
3. His pant legs were heavily worn, and the heel of his left leather shoe had repair marks.
4. Translucent chains were wrapped around his wrist, and each link was engraved with "1999.05.07."
"If time loops, then recording is meaningless; I can only rely on memory. First, I need to analyze the information points above."
Rikuo began to organize the clues. He knew that to break this time loop, unless he had the ability to resist, he could only find the breaking point.
"First, the most obvious crucial information is that something must have happened on 1999.05.07. The heavily worn pant legs and repaired leather shoes indicate that he was a relatively poor student. The student ID photo was scribbled over... Ugh, please don't tell me it's another case of school bullying."
Rikuo pushed open the rusty school gate again and walked towards the rooftop.
"Since it loops, I'll try it first. Also, I can verify whether memory loss is an issue, but having said that, I'm prepared this time."
While going upstairs, Rikuo took out his fountain pen, transformed it into the Blay Buckle, and inserted the Ace of Spades.
The one who opened the rooftop door and walked onto the rooftop was already Kamen Rider Blade.
"Sato-kun," Rikuo tentatively began, "On May 7, 1999, were you..."
"Shut up!" The teenager suddenly raged, the chains emitting a grating sound. "You hypocrites!" Another fall, another reset.
Looking at the familiar school gate before him.
"Sigh, it's not that simple after all? This time, I can truly say I can recover, it's just that I don't need to."
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