I, the lord of ghost stories

It means that as long as you are imprisoned in that world like an urban legend, if you can't break the law, you can't even die.

He will become a character who can't even commit suicide and must complete the entire urban legend.

"So, a "Lore" like me who belongs to the "killer" type will basically kill him."

"Basically they kill people."

"Of course, it's clean and neat. After all, this is my "Lore"."

"Is that so……"

Rena Kamikawa suffocated, she really felt that it was a miracle that she could still live like this.

Although she doesn't think the result is more important than the process...

"Besides, if you fail to kill the other party, it may become another kind of rumor."

"Huh? For example?"

"'I turned my head and saw the other party, it turned out to be a cute girl. It's so cute. And I'm not dead at all'——if such rumors spread, at the moment when the rumors become "conclusive", I will become a "cute and cute Lore who can only chase people"."

Ichinoe Mizue sat in a well-behaved manner.

At this time, she is really a cute and cute girl.

Honestly...

Rena Uekawa felt that such an urban legend seemed good, but it was definitely unbearable for the person involved.

Let’s put aside the ethical and moral inappropriate words such as “kill” and “don’t kill”.

Because the two in front of him are objects that deviate from common sense.

One is simply the essence of the story, and the other is simply the Onmyoji who can stop all this.

All of this goes far against common sense.

"Does this mean that an existence like 'Lore' is affected by rumors?"

"Exactly. That's why "Lore" like me usually has to hide his existence, and occasionally come out to make some victims to show his existence."

"Showing your own existence... Oh, is it like 'the female student of Aoqing Academy was attacked, but escaped unharmed'?"

Rena Kamikawa was talking about segregated cities.

Cangqing Academy in Yexia City.

Yexia City, Yueyin City, Asakawa City...the distance between them is very close, almost an equilateral triangle.

There are only a few rivers and a few hills in the middle.

"That's what I asked "Sanzhi classmate" in each school to help spread it."

"...Does every school have "Sanzhi classmate"?"

Rena Kamikawa recalled the girl with glasses who was the class monitor in her class, although she was not conspicuous, she was always serious and well-behaved.

"Yes. Because they all belong to the characters who assist our "Lore"."

Rena Uekawa was taken aback when she heard the word "they".

It meant that the Saneda she knew was a member of the team that spread urban legends in schools.

It's amazing how long she's been thought of as a quiet, bespectacled girl monitor.

"The scale seems to have suddenly increased."

"Not only in Japan, from ancient times to the present, many inheritances were born, adapted, and finally disappeared.

In the case of Japan, old stories, yokai saga, or ghost stories are good examples.

It means that "Lore" has existed since a long time ago, but it's just living in the shadows of society. "

"I see, like youkai or demons, could all of these be 'Lore'?"

"Whether there were those non-human existences that became "Lore" later, or "Lore" was created because of other people's rumors; although I don't know which came first, but in short, there are indeed reasons in this world. Born from rumors, an existence that lives on rumors."

"Hmm... I probably understand."

Rena Uekawa felt that although it was still vague, she already roughly understood the nature of things like "LoreJl."

First there is a rumor like an urban legend, and then there is a rule that is limited to the world of rumors.

As long as they are within the scope of this rule, they can exert abilities beyond human knowledge, which should be the case.

"'Lore' really worked hard."

"How do you act like you have nothing to do with yourself, the protagonist of "Hundred Stories"?"

"……what?"

"You have already been chosen as the protagonist of "Hyakumonogatari".

So you are now a protagonist... an approaching being. "

"Why, why did a handsome name suddenly appear...Uh, what does that mean?"

"It means that you have already entered the state of becoming half of "Lore".

Sooner or later it will become "Half-Lore". "

"Half-Lore?"

"It means changing from human to 'Lore'."

Ichinoe pointed to himself.

Since she was always expressionless, Rena Uekawa had no way of guessing what she was thinking.However, that means...

"Will humans also become "Lore"..."

Yuu Sifengyuan suddenly asked.

"Yes, this kind of thing can happen whenever someone is at the center of a rumor and plays a significant role."

"For example...have you ever heard of the urban legend of 'The Girl with the Slit Mouth'?"

"Oh, I know. The one who hates maltose and pomade?"

"yes.

A woman with a big mask on her face asked a child on the road, "Am I pretty?" ’ If the other party replied, ‘Very beautiful’, she would take off the mask and say, ‘Isn’t that beautiful! 』

It turned out that under her mask, there was a big mouth that was split to the root of her ears—this was the story. "

"Yeah. I remember it was on the news. Later, because the government dealt with it, no one mentioned this urban legend anymore.

That's it, right? "

When Rena Uekawa felt in her heart that some "Lore" would disappear like this, Ichinoe's expression sank, and she continued to speak quietly:

"Yes. But that's where the horror of our "Half-Lore" lies. We were born from a false perception of the "World"."

"...I don't understand what you mean..."

"There is a beautiful woman, let's name it Miss A first."

"Ah."

"Suppose Miss A happened to be walking on the road wearing a big mask one day.

Then, the innocent child saw her and yelled at her, "Ah, it's the Slit Mouth!" 』”

"Although it's very rude, if it's a child...it's possible to say something like that."

After all, children are the existence of reckless behavior, even if they are rude to others, it is not wrong to say so.

"Yes. It wouldn't be a big problem if the rumors were just circulating among children. But... if the students or adults who heard the rumors started thinking 'there are real slit-mouthed girls in this city', and spread it..."

Ichinoe's tone sounded the same, she just spoke flatly and without any emotion.

But it stimulated people's fear even more, and made Kamikawa Rena feel a chill on her back.

"... more and more people call Ms. A 'Small Mouth' when they see her.

Because for many people, Ms. A has been regarded as the embodiment of "split mouth girl".The final result...Miss A will become "Lore of the Slit Mouth Girl". "

"Hey, wait, wait a minute!"

"Just wait for you."

After hearing those words just now, how should I put it, Yuu Sifeng felt that there was a thrilling sense of terror in it.

Miss A was originally an ordinary beautiful woman.But just because he met a dead brat, he called her "Little Mouth Girl".

At that time, Ms. A must have just thought "what a rude child".

But the kid spread the word, spreading the rumors among students and adults alike.

Afterwards, when they saw Ms. A, they began to think, "Ah, she is the girl with a slit mouth"—let alone whether they had any malicious intentions or not.

——When this matter becomes a collective consensus, Ms. A will become "Lore of the Slit Mouth Girl", that is, become a "Half ILore" like Ichinoe, instead of a human being.

It's hard to believe...

"Rumours will turn a human into "Lore"...?"

"In this world, there are many "wrong perceptions".

As long as people's hearts are not stable, these mistakes will never be corrected...

These mistakes will make the world more unstable, which will lead to the situation of "being misperceived by the world". "

"It means... because the "world" recognizes Ms. A and Ichinoe as "existences like urban legends"...?"

"Yes. It will become a being called "Half-Lore" that is neither human nor "Lore".

Ichinoe spoke with great certainty, but she couldn't see what she was thinking from her expression.

Even if Miss A mentioned just now is just a fictional character, Ichinoe is actually here.

No, maybe in the past there really was a Miss A who became a "split-mouth girl".

This is really a terrible thing.

"Because of the unique rules of "Lore", in a sense, we are not as easy to die as humans.

However, when the "rumor" itself dies, we die too, so some event must be triggered periodically.

Only in this way can it be feared or discussed, and it can be widely recognized by human beings. "

"...What will happen if the incident is not triggered?"

"The moment we disappear from human memory or the written record, we will perish."

In order to allow myself to continue to survive, I must do something that can become a rumor.

This is "Lore".

And Ichinoe is a "Half-Lore" who must kill people regularly, otherwise he will disappear.

That's really... too hard a way to survive.

then……

"You mean I'm going to be like that too?"

"Yes. Especially for characters who stand in the position of "protagonist", they should be subject to more restrictions.

For example, if you accidentally looked back yesterday when I called and said 'I'm at school'..."

"Ah."

Rena Kamikawa recalled that it was indeed dangerous when she first left school, and nodded in agreement with Ichinoe's words.

"...The story will become: 'This time the main character of Hyakumonogatari was defeated by "Lore" in the first episode, it's over. 』”

"...'End.' Then what happens?"

"You'll probably disappear."

"Hey - is it true or not?"

"The moment you formed a bond with me, you accepted your destiny to become 'Lore'."

"Then, I will turn into rumors like 'the powerful Lore who knocked down the main character of Hyakumonogatari in an instant', even if I don't do anything for a while, I can still maintain my fame and live... What a miscalculation."

"I see, as long as you succeed, your legend will become more shocking, right?"