Within the Zoo domain.
A terrifying feast was unfolding.
After being savagely torn apart by rabbits and goats, the Tomies were inevitably subjected to the Zoo's mental corruption.
However, Tomie herself was a manifestation of desire, an almost rule-level existence.
Her characteristic of endless proliferation and rebirth allowed her to resist the Zoo's erosion while also inversely charming the domain... Simultaneously, her clones constantly fought each other.
Ultimately, amidst the chaos interwoven both internally and externally.
Under the continuous mental corruption of the Zoo.
Tomie and this rule-based domain reached a bizarre balance—
Within the zoo, a new area was forcefully carved out by Tomie's power: a mountain of flesh and blood, piled high with countless Tomie corpses and the remains of rabbits and goats.
Atop the mountain, a Tomie, dressed in a white gauze dress with a cold, world-weary expression, sat with closed eyes on a chair woven from flesh and blood... silently, as if a sleeping princess, forming a bizarre fairy tale scene.
'This is... a conflict between rules, resulting in a frozen state?'
Hayashi quietly appeared before the sleeping Tomie, observing this beautiful yet eerie existence.
He wasn't surprised that Tomie hadn't been transformed into rabbit blood or goat meat—
After all, she had resisted Yukino's [Ice and Snow Judgment] and the cursed tool [Black Hair].
Her rule-level status was at least on par with that of a cursed tool.
Although the complete Zoo rule domain that Hayashi controlled seemed to be a tier higher than Yukino's two abilities.
It was still insufficient to completely devour Tomie.
Leading to the current stalemate.
What does this mean? His zoo, after the Ape and Goat Zone, Elephant Zone, and Rabbit Zone... now has a new… Tomie Zone?
As thoughts raced through his mind, Hayashi looked up and sensed the entire domain, realizing that the Zoo had indeed strengthened considerably.
It even gained a few rules related to Tomie.
"There is no girl named 'Tomie' in this park. If you encounter one, please stay away immediately and do not look at her."
"This park does not have a Sleeping Beauty theme area. If you find a sleeping princess, please do not attempt to kiss her awake..."
...Although these new rules seemed a bit abrupt, Hayashi was still satisfied, considering that the zoo had absorbed some of Tomie's characteristics.
In any case, under the current circumstances, Tomie could be considered successfully contained by him.
And after containment~~
Hayashi closed his eyes, and the system prompt sounded in his mind:
[Congratulations on successfully containing "Junji Ito Series Horror Story - Tomie." ]
[Extracting Tomie-related abilities...]
[Optimizing ability adaptation...]
[Congratulations on acquiring optimized ability: Perfect-grade Cell Manipulation.]
[Ability Description: You will possess Tomie-level cell manipulation ability. ]
Cell manipulation?
Staring at this ability, Hayashi frowned. Tomie's core abilities were naturally her terrifying immortality, infinitely proliferating cells, charming curse, and mutual killing among clones... "Cell Manipulation" should stem from her infinite proliferation characteristic.
It must be said that Tomie's immortality was extremely troublesome—even if she was burned to ashes, she could still proliferate and regenerate.
Although the system indicated that the ability had been optimized, for Hayashi, mere immortality was not only useless but also a constraint.
Just as this thought emerged, more information about this ability flooded into his mind.
After receiving it, Hayashi no longer hesitated and immediately absorbed this ability—
Because perfect-grade cell manipulation meant that his consciousness would transcend instinct, governing every cell in his body, and there would be no situation like Tomie's, where consciousness split due to proliferation.
He could even directly command cells to undergo apoptosis!
This was true, perfect cell control! Transcending the instinctual fear of death.
After absorbing the ability, Hayashi looked at Tomie before him and gently raised his right hand—the next instant, a crimson blood vessel pierced into Tomie's glabella like a steel needle!
"!"
The sleeping Tomie did not await the prince's kiss but suddenly awoke, a genuine fear appearing in her eyes for the first time.
She felt a great terror, a war at the cellular level. This man and this eerie zoo were completely different... Under a concept that was both homologous and even more terrifying.
Her cells were like a disorganized mob encountering imperial cavalry, being rapidly crushed, devoured, and digested!
For the first time, Tomie truly felt the threat of death!
"Please... don't kill me!
I'll do anything... please let me go!"
At this moment, Tomie's face was no longer cold and world-weary; only the deepest fear remained.
Her eyes, like a wolf that had been repeatedly slapped, became unusually clear.
"Give up resistance and actively integrate into the Zoo."
Hayashi coldly withdrew the blood vessel and calmly ordered.
In reality, Tomie didn't know that although the fear she felt was real—and Hayashi could theoretically devour her with homologous power—
The truth was... while Hayashi's cells completely obeyed his will and could crush her cells, they also couldn't truly kill Tomie because of that absolute obedience to his will.
Simply because of Tomie's charming curse... although his cells were not affected, Hayashi's will would waver.
Plus, he himself wasn't a great sage.
He simply couldn't continue to devour Tomie while resisting her charm.
Even now, it was only because the white lion in the zoo was helping him resist Tomie's charm; if he continued... he would have to reset his status again.
However, dominated by the fear of death, Tomie was completely unaware of this.
At this moment, her heart was filled only with dread for Hayashi; before he showed any obsession with her, she dared not disobey him.
Very obediently, Tomie submissively gave up resistance and began to truly integrate with the Zoo... After dealing with Tomie, Hayashi was about to go to sleep.
His phone suddenly chimed with a notification.
He picked it up and saw it was a message from Yukino.
[Yukino: Are you home?]
Hayashi quickly replied with a message.
[Hayashi: I'm home (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶).
After the exchange, the chat interface fell into a long silence.
Clearly, Yukino was not good at online small talk.
Hayashi wondered what expression Yukino on the other side of the screen had, and a hint of mischief suddenly arose in his heart.
To prevent the conversation from becoming 'awkward.'
He sent another message:
[Hayashi: I'm about to sleep; why don't you send me a photo to accompany me to sleep?
[Yukino: …?]
But before Hayashi could send any more messages.
A moment later, the chat box flickered again—Yukino actually sent a photo.
The background suggested it was taken in a classroom:
In the empty classroom, Yukino sat sideways on a chair, her dark hair flowing over her shoulders, sunlight gently caressing her body, as if even if the world ended, the girl would still quietly read here.
Cold, tranquil, with an indescribable beauty.
[Hayashi: This photo... looks like a candid shot?]
[Yukino: Hiratsuka-sensei took it. I asked her to delete it, but she sent it to me instead.
[Hayashi: Shizuka-chan has good photography skills, but this isn't the one I wanted.]
[Yukino: ?]
[Yukino: All the others are family photos, my sister, mother...]
[Hayashi: Of course I don't want family photos, but you can take a selfie now.]
[Yukino: ...]
[Yukino: Then... I just finished showering; wait for me to change clothes.]
[Hayashi: No need...]