Bizarre Honkai, a Wife-Chasing Crematorium

Li Mo woke with a gasp, a heavy weight pressing on his chest, constricting his breath. The basement was dark, the only indicator of time the ticking clock on the wall. He hadn't brought his phone down, wary of hidden surveillance.

He pushed the weight aside, then froze. It was Mei.

"What the—?!" He sat up, staring at the small girl beside him. "How did she get out?" He looked at the cage. The lock was rusted, covered in cobwebs and moss, as if decades had passed.

Or perhaps… it had always been this way, only now reverting to its "true" form, like the corrupted classroom.

He remembered the lock being brand new last night. Even if his perception had been altered, how could he explain Mei's escape?

A wave of fear washed over him. He shouldn't have fallen asleep. Something had happened.

"I need the Notebook. This… time bomb beside me could go off any minute." He unwrapped Mei's bandages. The wounds were gone, not even a scar.

"Did she become a Bizarre? Or was she always one?"

"If she transformed, what triggered it?" He leaned towards the first possibility. Mei had acted like a normal human.

"Did I do something in my sleep? Or was it my inaction, my failure to torture her, that caused the transformation?"

"Wait… my hand…" His left hand was covered in blood and gore.

"The bed too… what happened last night?" He pulled back the covers, the stench of blood filling the air. Shreds of her white dress lay scattered across the stained sheets. He looked at the bloodstains on Mei's chest, the pieces clicking into place.

"I tried to kill her?" He stared at his hand in disbelief.

"Did I trigger her transformation? No. The rusted lock… she must have transformed first."

He pulled out the Notebook, sighing. He didn't expect any straight answers. But even a cryptic message could provide a clue.

"What happened last night?"

[...]

"The blood on the bed… on my hand… what happened?"

[...]

"You won't tell me anything?"

[...]

"Useless." He'd expected this, but it was still frustrating. The Notebook's silence meant last night's events were closely tied to the Bizarre's origin, a truth it wanted to keep hidden.

As he was about to close the Notebook, it flipped to the first page.

"The second page is silent, but the first page wants to talk? Interesting."

The first page, now split down the middle as if cut by scissors, seemed to have two distinct personalities.

One half posed a question:

[My name is Li Mo. When you read this, I am about to kill myself.]

[I ask myself: what is real? Memory? Or fact? If memory defines me, who am I? If fact defines me, who am I? I am a fabrication, both in the new world and the old. Only in death am I real.]

The other half offered a solution:

[Tonight, at midnight, I went to the tallest clock tower in East River. Under the moonlight, I killed myself again.]

[My name is Li Mo. When you read this, there will be no more Bizarre in this world.]

The left side, a philosophical dilemma. The right side, a path to ending the Bizarre infestation.

But Li Mo wasn't fooled. The right side was clearly suggesting he summon the Bizzare Kiana, a suicidal move. It didn't even mention his own fate.

The left side was more intriguing, hinting at something crucial: the new world, the old world, memory versus fact.

"I can't jump to conclusions. Perhaps, objectively, facts define reality. But memory is still a part of who we are."

"It's like asking: who is a person with amnesia? The person before the memory loss, or the person after? One has the memories, the other the lived experiences."

"The last sentence… 'Only in death am I real.' Too little information to analyze."

He flipped to the second page, testing the waters. "Maybe I should just follow the first page's suggestion. Summon the Bizzare Kiana. Problem solved…" He was joking, of course. Even if he could summon her, how would he control her? This world had no black coffin. Her love would consume him, leaving him no chance to reset.

The mere mention of the Bizzare Kiana seemed to jolt the second page into action.

[My name is Li Mo. Tonight, at 8:00 PM, I went to East River Cemetery.]

[Every night at 8:00 PM, a portal to the old world opens in the cemetery. It remains open for thirty seconds. The truth I seek is there.]

Two short sentences, hinting at a deeper mystery.

"Dongjiang Cemetery… I can find it. But what clues could a cemetery hold?"

"Cemeteries are for the dead. Going there would expose me. Bizarre entities don't die. They don't need cemeteries."

The second page was offering him a chance to uncover the truth, but it was a trap. A cemetery, in a world where humans and Bizarre entities had switched places, was a death sentence.

He closed the Notebook. Three options:

Do nothing.

Summon the Bizzare Kiana, resulting in his own death.

Go to the cemetery.

The first option was the safest. He just had to survive until eighteen.

But the eighteen-year plan was the second page's suggestion. The third option was likely a counter-offer from the first page, trying to prevent him from learning the truth.

The two pages had different agendas.

In the Bizzare Kiana's world, the first page had tried to kill him, offering tempting but deadly solutions. The second page had been helpful, providing crucial information about the world, his "quirk," and even a safe path to victory: survive until eighteen.

"Like a ritual? The second page gave me all the survival tips, but glossed over the ending. 'Resolved'… what does that even mean? Contained? Sealed? Dormant? I need the truth."

"This is getting complicated."

1. Don't be discovered.

2. Keep an eye on Mei.

3. Decipher the Notebook's conflicting messages.

4. Investigate the "old world" and the cemetery.

He felt overwhelmed. There was a connection between these clues, a hidden thread he couldn't quite grasp.

He was exhausted, his mind racing. This was the difference between humans and Bizarre entities. If he died and reset, he could maintain perfect clarity. But as a human, he was susceptible to fatigue, to emotions clouding his judgment.

Play it safe and wait until eighteen? Or confront the unknown?

"I haven't died yet. I have at least two resets, maybe three. I was going to follow the second page's plan, but now… I suspect 'resolved' doesn't mean what I think it means. The Bizarre is likely still active, just… different."

"'The truth I seek'… that's the key. I only seek one truth: how to eradicate the Bizarre."

"Tonight, 8:00 PM, East River Cemetery. With Mei." He made his decision. Mei was his insurance, his emergency "quirk" trigger.

He carried her upstairs, ignoring the cameras, and headed for the bathroom. They were covered in blood. A perfect alibi.

He had until 8:00 PM to prepare.