115. Do you believe in other worlds?

"Is this the guy who claimed to have visited another world?" After examining the hanging corpse for a long time, Chiyo shared her assessment: "The body has completely decomposed; it is impossible to tell if there were any other injuries. However, based on the traces in the bedroom, it appears to be a suicide."

Chiyo had specifically reviewed the file sent by Sakura Honbu earlier, so she generally understood the purpose of Chen Shang's visit.

"We are too late. What a pity," Chen Shang mused to himself, his gaze falling on the desk and cabinets in the room. Although he hadn't expected the man to be alive, he hadn't anticipated that he had been dead for so long.

True to the typical tropes of Lovecraftian games, this individual had likely committed suicide amidst extreme, delirious hallucinations and indescribable memories. After all, Chen Shang’s own sanity had been significantly affected after experiencing those hallucinations; he had only managed to survive by relying on sedative hormones.

Since the man was already dead, Chen Shang had no choice but to rummage through his personal belongings to see if he could find any other clues. The "Goddess of the Abyss and Other Dimensions" was far too cryptic—he didn't know who she learned that from. She wanted him to find her, yet refused to leave an address, forcing him to explore step by step.

As Chen Shang approached the desk, several vermin gnawing on the pages scattered and fled. The desk was indeed cluttered with messy papers and books. Some were filled with dense text, while others bore bizarre, hand-drawn patterns. However, most of these pages had been gnawed away, leaving Chen Shang with no useful leads.

He began to check the drawers beneath the desk. Since the drawers were locked and sealed, they had been relatively shielded from insects and small animals, leaving the items inside fairly intact. When he pried open the third drawer, a large pile of draft paper spilled out. At that moment, Chen Shang felt his heart skip a beat.

What horrified him was that on the hundreds of sheets of draft paper in the drawer, nearly identical words were scrawled in red ink: "They are watching me, but He has abandoned me! I am doomed!"

Chen Shang quickly gathered the papers, folded them neatly, and stuffed them back into the drawer. By accident, a map fell out from the pile. It was a tattered, old-fashioned map marking nearly fifty districts of Night City. In a corner on the east side, an area was circled in red, accompanied by a set of coordinates and four small words: "He is waiting for you."

The moment he saw those four words, Chen Shang felt his vision dim and warp strangely, while eerie whispers began to murmur in his ears. The hallucination dissipated quickly, however, and Chen Shang bit his tongue, struggling to regain his sanity.

Chen Shang frowned, quietly slipping the map into his pocket while pushing the draft papers back into the drawer. He subconsciously glanced at Chiyo, only to find her still observing the corpse, completely oblivious to his actions. Relieved, he continued to search the drawers.

After a quick search, he found no other useful clues. The drawers contained only a pile of drafts scribbled in a state of extreme madness, filled with illogical text or childish doodles. Out of caution, he shook the items in each drawer to ensure no hidden objects, like small maps or notes, were tucked away.

"Investigation complete. Let's go," Chen Shang said, standing up and dusting off his hands. He looked at Chiyo, who was still staring at the body. "Why do you keep looking at the corpse? Aren't you afraid?"

"There is nothing to be afraid of. I was just checking for any other clues on the body," Chiyo replied, withdrawing her gaze. "How about you?"

"Didn't find anything," Chen Shang sighed, feigning helplessness. "Let's leave. This place is eerie; it’s not very comfortable."

"Is that so? Let's go then," Chiyo said, turning around with a hint of skepticism, and followed Chen Shang out of the room.

After leaving the building, they took a sports car back to the Tokugawa Society. Chen Shang accompanied Chiyo until eight in the evening before returning home.

As soon as Chen Shang entered, he saw Nayuta sitting on the living room sofa, watching television, her legs in cotton socks swinging back and forth. The scent of cleaning agent lingered in the air; she must have just mopped the floor.

"Brother, you're back?" Nayuta smiled brightly, greeting him.

Although Nayuta had won the championship in the University League and generated quite a buzz, the hype was destined to fade. This was a good thing for her. She no longer had to frequently attend interviews or promotional events and could finally return to being an ordinary high school student, focusing on her studies and chores like cooking and cleaning.

In contrast, Chen Shang had become increasingly busy. He couldn't remember how many days in the past few months he had returned home after nine o'clock. Over time, even though Nayuta’s favorability remained in the 30 to 40 range, their sibling relationship had grown somewhat distant.

"Yeah, I'm heading to my room," Chen Shang nodded and turned toward his bedroom.

"Brother..."

"What is it?" Chen Shang paused and turned back with a smile.

Nayuta seemed to want to say something, but after a moment of hesitation, she only gave a slight nod and whispered, "Get some rest early."

"Oh, you too," Chen Shang nodded and stepped into his room.

Although Chen Shang always used excuses like "going to a classmate's house" to brush her off, Nayuta had more than once seen her brother leaving school with an upperclassman after hours. She knew the girl’s name was Chiyo Asaugi, but she never dared to ask Chen Shang about their relationship.

Perhaps they were just ordinary friends? Who knew? Nayuta couldn't summon the courage to make her trash-talking brother tell her the truth. She could only sigh inwardly, keeping the frustration to herself.

...

After returning to his room, Chen Shang noticed that Nayuta's favorability had dropped by 1 point, but he didn't pay it much mind. His attention was drawn to a delivery box on his desk, which his sister must have signed for.

He opened the box to find a high-tech exoskeleton glove... not a pair, just one. The simple black glove was attached to five metal skeletal supports capable of controlling the wearer's fingers, with several magnets stuck to the palm. Along with the glove, he found a voice recorder.

Chen Shang clicked the recorder, and a strange "hissing" sound came through. Before long, a faltering male voice spoke:

"Hello, thank you for purchasing equipment produced by the Velvet Alchemy Workshop. I am the third apprentice of the most beautiful alchemist in the All-Alchemy Workshop... *cough, cough, cough*, damn it, why do we have to say such long-winded nonsense before every product introduction..."

For some reason, the man sounded breathless, as if he might drop dead at any moment: "My time is running out, and they have never intended to let me go... whatever you do, do not be afraid after hearing what I am about to say..."

"Do you believe in other worlds?"