Qi Zhimu's hypothesis was basically identical to hers.
He really only had poor eyesight; his brain was sharp as a tack.
A short while later, the seven of them, including Black Tower, reconvened.
With Black Tower leading the team to complete their first mission, Brooks and the others were quite invigorated.
Not coming back empty-handed proved the rigor of the mission descriptions; they didn't play word games.
Before long, a new mission was released.
No one expected that the information for the remaining three individuals predicted to die would be released simultaneously.
The times were too close together; the original two teams now had to split into three, or they wouldn't even have enough time to travel.
Everyone looked at each other in silence until Black Tower took the lead in making a suggestion.
"Darlene is a safety officer at the girls' school swimming pool. I'll go alone; there's no need for the police officer to prepare an identity for me."
"Mission completion progress is shared by everyone. Whether there are many people or few... it doesn't make much difference."
Although the other six wanted to go with Black Tower, they knew she was telling the truth and that it was the most appropriate grouping.
"Additionally, please do not forget one thing—"
Black Tower's tone suddenly became strange.
"The final moment of death is 21:08. Do you remember the words that echoed in our minds yesterday?"
"Once everyone on the death list has died, the Grim Reaper will begin hunting us."
"The mission chose to release the intel for the last three predicted deaths all at once, likely to split us up, otherwise it would be easy to take us all out in one go."
"From this, we can guess that there might be more than one incarnation of the Grim Reaper... In any case, I wish you all survival."
After speaking, Black Tower didn't wait for a reply and left the cafe on her own.
Brooks and the others collectively felt a shiver run down their spines.
More than one incarnation of the Grim Reaper?
If interpreted according to the degree of mission completion, it couldn't be that for every fate changed, one incarnation of the Grim Reaper disappears, could it?
If that were the case, the scene was despairing just to think about.
...
Black Tower didn't expect to have such an affinity for campuses.
First a university, then a middle school.
The students at Fog City's middle schools were between 11 and 16 years old. If Black Tower changed into the corresponding uniform, absolutely no one would suspect her identity.
"You actually dare to order me to go steal another brat's clothes?!"
Qi Zhimu's eyes widened, and he looked down at Black Tower in disbelief.
"Do I not have any dignity?"
Black Tower remained unmoved. "I didn't ask you to find used ones. I have an impression of this private girls' middle school; just go to the clothing warehouse and find brand new ones."
"...That's more like it." Qi Zhimu's expression softened slightly.
Feeling a bit annoyed at being bossed around again, he had to vigorously rub Black Tower's small face for a good while before stopping.
It definitely wasn't because it felt good to the touch.
Right, it definitely wasn't.
For Qi Zhimu, who knew invisibility magic, swiping a few sets of uniforms wasn't difficult, and he returned quickly.
Black Tower found a place to quickly change, and a beautiful young girl appeared before Qi Zhimu's eyes.
A crisply tailored white long-sleeved shirt with stiff, breathable fabric perfectly outlined the girl's slender shoulder line.
A deep purple sailor collar was tied at the neckline, with two thin white stripes running along the edges, and a small golden star-shaped ornament embedded at the knot.
It shimmered slightly under the sunlight, giving the somewhat plain uniform a touch of refined quality.
On her lower body was a deep purple pleated skirt, perfectly revealing the girl's rounded and fair legs.
A few strands of hair fell across her chest; the whole look was brimming with a youthful, girlish feel.
It was just that her face was too flat, lacking expression.
If she were to show a sweet smile, who knows how many hearts of those in their first bloom of love would race.
Qi Zhimu couldn't help but steal a few more glances.
"Compared to the university uniform, this set really does suit you better, but why... I feel like the style is vastly different from the Fog City student uniforms."
Black Tower: "Because this private middle school has many foreign students. Following a student vote, the uniform adopted the most popular style."
Which was the set she was wearing.
"Take me in, Mr. Creditor."
"No need to 'take' you; just walk in openly. The guard will open the gate for you."
"It turns out hypnosis can be so useful."
"Who told you I was using hypnosis?"
"Then what did you use?"
"Why so many questions? Don't you want to do the mission?"
"Then I won't ask."
Girls' school, swimming pool, safety officer.
The combination of these three factors always brought to mind certain stereotypical horror elements.
For example, a drowned female student turning into a vengeful spirit, constantly dragging people underwater to drown them.
Black Tower was no exception; the direction she asked Qi Zhimu to investigate specifically included whether anyone had died at this private school.
She hadn't held much hope, but she never expected that he would actually find something.
After Qi Zhimu hypnotized the principal, he learned a secret: twelve years ago, two students went on an adventure in the swimming pool at midnight looking for a thrill, and both ended up drowning.
That in itself wasn't strange, but the odd look on Qi Zhimu's face couldn't be hidden.
"Is there something else you can't say?" Black Tower asked.
"I can, but it's not appropriate... you're still young." Qi Zhimu had an expression that was hard to describe.
"..."
Black Tower thought for a moment and spoke bluntly.
"Were they copulating in the pool?"
"???"
Qi Zhimu's eyelid twitched.
"Brat, what 'copulating' between two young girls? Watch your language!"
"Then... Grinding Tofu?"
"..." Qi Zhimu felt his vision go dark.
Why does she know so much?
Black Tower saw his incredulous expression and didn't explain.
This was a trouble belonging only to Original Humans; Virtual Substance Lifeforms weren't sensitive to it.
Simply because there were too many works of that nature, which in turn gave birth to many related worlds and lifeforms.
Given that the research direction was simple and these types of Virtual Substance Lifeforms were willing to be close to Original Humans, so...
There was actually quite a lot of such research material.
As the youngest scientist in the United Government, Black Tower had naturally seen plenty of data; it wasn't strange for her to know these terms.
"This could be a bit troublesome... If it's related to this, based on horror movie settings, a drowned ghost's resentment would be even higher."
"It might even involve a crime of passion or something..."
"No, don't you Fog City humans consider whether the subject matter can pass censorship before creating it?"
"Fog City's censorship for this kind of subject isn't that strict. Your setting is that of an Eastern Xia person, so it's normal not to know," Black Tower explained seriously.
Qi Zhimu rolled his eyes hard.
He felt like he was being mocked again.
"You're wrong about that. In Xia, as long as you're over 14, there's no problem if the scale and plot are reasonable. The real problem is that those under 18 aren't allowed to play video games."
"...Xia children are so pitiful."
"That sounds really sarcastic. Promise me, use that tone less."
"I'm not being sarcastic."
"..." Qi Zhimu suppressed the urge to swat Black Tower's bottom.