"What exactly did I overlook?"
In the [Hospital Ward], [Amamiya Rin] leaned on his crutch, pacing around the empty space beside his bed while lost in thought.
He must have overlooked something.
Having spent twenty-one years in a [Nightmare], he had forgotten too many details. The current abnormal phenomena must be the content of a certain manga, but he couldn't recall it at the moment. The stream of thoughts constantly flowing into his brain was also affecting his train of thought.
Were those women really so easily carried away? Just becoming a little prettier, and they go around showing off, seeking a sense of superiority everywhere?
An inexplicable, anxious sense of urgency urged [Amamiya Rin] to act quickly.
Although he didn't know what he should do, that nameless anxiety made it impossible for [Amamiya Rin] to stay in the [Hospital Ward] any longer.
He leaned on his crutch and pushed open the door. Just as he stepped out, he bumped into a familiar figure.
It was one of the women he had seen yesterday, a part of the [Khala].
[Amamiya Rin]'s gaze swept across the woman's face, a trace of astonishment flashing in his eyes. This woman was indeed much prettier than yesterday... Wait! That is!
[Amamiya Rin]'s gaze abruptly froze on her face.
On that smooth, fair cheek, right below the corner of her left eye, a small beauty mark barged into [Amamiya Rin]'s line of sight, and even more violently into [Amamiya Rin]'s brain.
"[Tomie]...?!"
A chill instantly shot from the soles of his feet to the top of [Amamiya Rin]'s head, making his scalp tingle.
[Amamiya Rin] froze in place, the fragmented information missing from his mind frantically piecing itself together.
The day he first woke up, seeing the big-bellied [Mitsuo Yukiko] in the corridor; the kidney transplant surgery mentioned by the [Nurse]; the bizarre rumors heard after the surgery.
Add to that [Tomie] appearing in the hospital, [Mitsuo Yukiko] and the others becoming increasingly beautiful now, and that iconic beauty mark of [Tomie] appearing on their faces!
This wasn't some co-evolution at all! It was the plot of the Hospital arc from the [Tomie] series combined with [Group Sickroom]!
[Amamiya Rin] vaguely remembered that in the Hospital arc, a woman had transplanted [Tomie]'s organ and was subsequently assimilated by [Tomie]'s cells. Although he didn't remember that person's name, it was now glaringly obvious—it was [Mitsuo Yukiko]!
And the [Tomie] cells within [Mitsuo Yukiko]'s body were infecting others through the connection of the [Khala Network]!
"Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!"
[Amamiya Rin]'s hair stood on end. He couldn't help but growl in a low voice, his fist slamming hard against the wall beside him.
This was fatal! This was absolutely fucking fatal!
One [Tomie] was already too much to handle, and now twenty-five [Tomie]s were popping up—twenty-five [Tomie]s connected to his brain!
The good news: [Tomie]s would kill each other. Even if the individuals increased tenfold, they couldn't overpower him through collective willpower.
The bad news: Twenty-five sources of mental pollution would cause uninterrupted influence 24 hours a day. He didn't need to worry about being assimilated now; he had to worry about being turned into a lunatic by the mental pollution of twenty-five [Tomie]s.
The worse news: [Tomie] cannot be killed. He might have had a chance to kill those original women if he tried hard, or maybe he wouldn't even need to try—once [The Hanging Balloons] arrived, everyone would die anyway.
(Tomie? Who are you calling Tomie?)
(Don't compare us to that slut.)
(What cell assimilation? Baffling.)
(There's something wrong with your eyes and your brain!)
...
The thoughts of twenty-five people were rapidly transmitted through the [Khala Network], carrying obvious dissatisfaction and confusion.
"Farewell, everyone."
[Amamiya Rin] shook his head, turned around on his crutch, and left. No matter how [Mitsuo Yukiko] and the others shouted in the [Khala Network], he didn't give a single response.
[Amamiya Rin]'s abrupt "Farewell" was like a cold steel needle, piercing the vanity that [Mitsuo Yukiko] and the others had just inflated.
An indescribable sense of unease spread through the shared consciousness network.
They were no longer in the mood to display themselves in the corridor and returned to their respective [Hospital Ward]s almost as if fleeing.
[Mitsuo Yukiko] slammed the door shut with a bang, leaning back against the door panel to take a deep breath. She walked quickly to the restroom, stood before that bright mirror again, and carefully observed her appearance in the reflection.
"This face..."
[Mitsuo Yukiko] stroked her own cheek, her expression gradually becoming very ugly.
She discovered that her face shape had undergone subtle changes compared to two hours ago.
The line of her jaw had become sharper, and her originally slightly round cheeks now appeared more slender. She turned sideways, sizing up her figure; her waist seemed slimmer, and the curves of her chest and hips were more distinct.
This appearance, this figure—it was becoming more and more like [Tomie]!
"[Tomie]... This is [Tomie]'s face!"
Panic filled the [Khala Network]. No matter how unwilling they were to admit it, what was presented before their eyes was reality.
They were turning into [Tomie]!
BANG! A loud noise rang out as the [Hospital Ward] door was violently bashed open!
A middle-aged man wearing a patient gown rushed in. He was tightly clutching a fruit knife in his hand, his eyes frantic. Sporting a pair of eerie dark circles, he stared dead at [Mitsuo Yukiko].
"It's you, isn't it? You used witchcraft to steal Miss [Tomie]'s beauty? I'm going to kill you!"
The man roared deliriously, his voice twisted by fanaticism. His eyeballs were covered in bloodshot veins as he stared straight at [Mitsuo Yukiko], waving the fruit knife as he lunged at her.
[Mitsuo Yukiko] screamed and backed away, her spine hitting the cold tiled wall. Seeing the knife tip about to stab her face, she instinctively opened her mouth.
Dozens of transparent tentacles erupted forth, shooting toward the man's forehead like arrows, the needle-tips at their ends accurately piercing into his skin.
The man's movements froze instantly. His arm, raised with the fruit knife, stalled in mid-air, and his eyes rapidly lost focus.
When [Mitsuo Yukiko] sucked the tentacles back, the male fell forward like a wooden stake, hitting the ground with a thud, no longer breathing.
[Mitsuo Yukiko] was not the only one under attack. Men broke into the [Hospital Ward]s of the [Tomie]-fied women one after another.
In [Hatano Yua]'s [Hospital Ward], a young male caregiver walked in quickly. He took two bottles of medical alcohol from his chest pocket and smashed them on the floor.
The glass bottles shattered, alcohol splashing everywhere. The flying shards of glass cut the caregiver's face, yet he didn't seem to feel any pain at all. Instead, with a face full of ferocious, infatuated madness, he took out a lighter, lit his own hat, and threw it on the ground.
In an instant, flames rose, rapidly igniting the surrounding medical partition curtains and bedsheets.
The fire blazed fiercely, aided by the alcohol, greedily devouring everything in the [Hospital Ward].
"Heehahahahaha!"
The caregiver laughed maniacally, turned his head, and ran out of the [Hospital Ward], closing the door and jamming the door handle.
Hearing the commotion, the women who had run out of the bathroom were choked by the thick smoke, coughing repeatedly. They rushed to the door, wanting to open it, but the door wouldn't budge.
Behind them, the fire grew. The scorching air and pungent smoke pounced on them like man-eating beasts, the thick smoke making their tears flow uncontrollably.
Through the [Khala Network], the others also felt the same pain. In a moment, panic spread among them like a virus.
____
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