Occultic;Nine

Of the 256 deaths found at Inokashira Park,

we had identifications for 155.

ASUNA KISAKI

Just now, the police have released a new list of 45 more individuals.

With this, 200 of the deceased have been identified.

Moritsuka...

Sorry to make you wait.

So, you are...

Yes. I'm in charge of the case in the Kichijoji area in place of Investigator Moritsuka.

My name is Asuna Kisaki.

ASUNA KISAKI

YUTA GAMON

What's this?

I'm... dead?

No... No, no, no, that's impossible.

Someone else with the same name as me, huh? That surprised me.

No, no, no, no! I have legs, and I'm not translucent!

It's been a while since I last stepped out.

I-I can touch things!

Yep yep yep.

If I'm dead, then who's this person here right now?

U-Um...

Um, someone drop this?

Um, didn't you drop this?

SAEKO KITAYA

Kitaya...

Saeko Kitaya!

Yes?

Oh... Um, this...

I-I'm sorry! I drop things often.

Thank you very much. You're really a lifesaver. I'm so glad!

No worries.

Hey, Manager, listen up!

Gamotan, you're late!

So you're finally here.

Oh, so both of you are here too—

H-Hello.

I'm sorry to barge in so suddenly. This is what I do.

I see.

Monthly Mumu editorial staff. Touko Sumikaze.

Wait! Mumu? Is it that Mumu?

It's probably what you're imagining.

F-Finally here! An interview from a magazine!

W-Well, if it's an interview for Kiri Kiri Basara,

can you show me the proposal-type thing first?

I like to check stuff like that beforehand.

Gamotan is snickering! Snicker, snicker, snicker!

Um... I'm sorry. It's not an interview. It's something personal.

Sumikaze's purpose is to talk about the incident at Inokashira Lake.

What's up with that, jeez...

Come to think about the incident, there was something amusing!

One of the victims of that incident has the same sounding name as I do.

Man, what a surprise, what a surprise!

Just same-sounding, you say?

Right. Just same-sounding names.

Well, Yuta is a commonplace name,

but still, I got scared for a second there!

It's not just you.

My name and Sarai Hashigami's name are on the news broadcast, as well.

Excuse me for not having a commonplace name.

I first felt an irregularity with my mother's reaction.

Even if I speak to her, she shows no reaction.

N-No, but isn't that a coincidence?

She looked pretty tired, Sarai.

Even then, there are limits.

And the TV broadcast on top of that.

I thought it was some kind of mistake when they read my name out.

More like that's the only explanation. Hurry up and confirm—

I've already called them

to see if there were any mistakes with the names that were announced.

A-And?

No mistakes.

They persisted that there were no mistakes.

So, since your name was on the list as well, Gamon—

Hold, hold it, hold on a second!

Did you say you called them? Then you were able to hold a conversation!

Like a ghost would be able to make a phone call? There, logic shoots it down!

Besides, on my way here, I picked up a train pass case of a really cute girl!

I had a normal conversation! So there, I'm alive!

What about the possibility that she's also dead?

She had legs! She didn't float! She wasn't translucent!

Actually, I experimented, too.

I was in a situation similar to Sarai's.

I came here because I found your name on the news, Gamon.

M-Me?

That phone conversation with Miyuu regarding the kotoribako, right?

At first, after the kotoribako case...

I was going to ask what happened to Miyuu.

For starters, I randomly chose passersby to talk to.

Just like you, Gamon, I found several with whom I could converse.

But there were others you couldn't talk to, right?

Right.

Th-That's got to be a coincidence!

They say the people of Kichijoji are pretty cold-hearted lately.

Whether they're cold-hearted or warm-hearted doesn't matter.

There's also no explanation about the facts that are broadcasted.

Th-That's Mumu's specialty!

Of course I don't think I'm dead.

See! In the first place, we're holding a conversation like this right now,

so there's no way we're dead!

I...

I think that the list my father left behind has something to do with this.

The list? Why is the list—

I'm sorry, but what is this list?

Oh, well...

I'll omit details for now,

but there was a list of names we found among the cryptic code my father left us.

For now, the Inokashira Lake incident victims coincide with that list, including us.

I don't think this is a coincidence.

- No, but... - Ascencion!

Perhaps this means we were roped into one hell of a conspiracy?

A conspiracy?

I mean, it's impossible for 256 people to commit mass suicide at once.

It's normal to think there was some mastermind behind it.

So my father knew about that and left the list behind...

and then, you're saying he was caught in the conspiracy and was killed?

I'm taking Professor Hashigami's words verbatim,

but there's a theory that the soul is normally stored inside the brain,

and is ejected as soon as the heart stops beating.

The body is nothing more than a container that receives the soul.

Therefore, the soul is the most valuable organ,

and is tossed out in the most defenseless form when the physical body dies.

Perhaps that's the situation we are in right now?

And someone who's trying to make use of that situation—

Hold on!

Before those conspiracies, we're being treated as ghosts here!

Depending on the definiton of a ghost, we might meet the criteria or not.

Professor Hashigami theorized

that human souls were memories preserved by magnetic force.

Electricity is what protects that memory,

and that is further protected by the physical body.

Like a matryoshka doll.

The memory that was preserved by magnetic force pops outside

and gets charged within the microparticles in the air for some reason.

Those particles record memories from when you lived and your personalities.

And that is what souls are.

Or what we are now.

Man, I don't get it!

In the first place, if we're those particles, how can we talk?

How can ghosts do that?

I don't know that far.

In any case, I'm just adding a hypothesis to the current situation,

saying we might've gotten roped into a conspiracy.

Right? Though, it's true—

It's true that we have no proof that we are dead.

But we have no proof that we are alive, either.

We're breathing right now, you know?

We're talking with our voices, and sitting in these chairs. Do ghosts like this exist?

What if this is something similar to a dream, then?

A dream? Gimme a break!

Ouch!

See, I don't wake up!

What if this is a dream in which you feel pain?

Just like how you can't know if you're dead or alive.

It wouldn't be something you can decide on your own.

You know, if you start mouthing off like that,

we can't tell who's dead and who's alive regardless of the list.

Okay! I'm going to push for Sumikaze's conspiracy theory!

Jumping towards convenient information before you is the same as ceasing to think!

Then, Sarai, you're saying that you're dead?

Of course not!

- Then, what— - Hey, hey, Gamotan...

Wh-What?

Isn't it a good chance now for some frozen yogurt?

Gamotan's blog is a mysterious blog that turns mysterious events into frozen yogurt!

I see.

By compiling all this into an article, we at KiriBasa will ride the wave, too!

This will start my dream affiliate life! Ryo-tas, you're the perfect Basara Girl!

Hurray! I got a compliment!

Officer Ryo-tas did well!

That means, the title should be...

"I suddenly became a ghost. Got any questions?"

or it should be "The Inokashira Lake Conspiracy."

No, I should be careful here! There are many round-up articles about the incident.

Does he lack a sense for danger?

Perhaps he doesn't want to think about it.

I said all sorts of things, but I'm basically the same way.

Then we should to get a correct assessment of this situation and investigate.

That is something I agree with. Nothing starts by staying here.

Besides, as a member of the Mumu editorial staff,

I can't sit quietly and watch such a juicy story.

Is that journalism?

Yes, perhaps.

But since my life is on the line, I can't sit still in any case.

HERO DETECTIVE TIGER

Um... Is that...

Yeah, apparently it's psychometry.

Showing now.

The doujinshi that this card was found inside will become an important evidence

for investigating the case of Professor Hashigami's murder

at Seimei University's School of Science and Engineering.

A DARK WATER'S BOTTOM

And this doujinshi shows the events after his murder in detail.

Oh, by the way, this book first came out during winter Comiket last year.

There's no mistake that this wasn't drawn after the incident. It's the other way.

The other way...

This is just my hunch,

but I think all sorts of things are hidden inside this book.

If I were pressed to say something, I'd say it's like a book of prediction.

I'll be okay this time again, probably,