Chapter 118: The Bizarre Disguise

Before Qiao Qiao went to Gray Hat Software, the corridors and offices were plastered with promotional posters and character boards related to the company’s games. He had assumed most game companies looked like that. However, Nintendo was clearly an exception.

At the reception, apart from a statue of Uncle Mario, there was hardly anything reflecting gaming culture. It was quite simple. Qiao Qiao even noticed that the paintings on the walls were not Pikachu but ordinary cats.

After registering with the receptionist, the two of them, accompanied by a yokai, headed to the Second Development Department. Although it was a Saturday, quite a few employees were still around.

In the Second Development Department, Qiao Qiao did see some gaming-related items. The lounge had Nintendo’s own consoles like the Switch and Wii, as well as other manufacturers’ devices including the PS4 and Xbox. He even spotted some arcade machines. It seemed the employees had diverse ways to entertain themselves during breaks, he mused.

On unattended desks, there were character figurines and models of game characters. Nearby, in a semi-open meeting room, a group was apparently discussing something; they smiled and greeted Qiao Qiao and the others as they passed by.

“This place is quite different from what I imagined Nintendo to be,” Suzuka said, looking around. To her, a game company of this scale would probably resemble Gray Hat Software—posters everywhere, everyone playing games while working, a scene of endless joy.

Meanwhile, Nanase Hayami had stopped playing on her phone and was observing the office with a somewhat regretful expression. Perhaps the gap between expectation and reality weighed on her.

“It’s precisely this disciplined work environment that allows them to create such popular games,” Qiao Qiao speculated. “If employees were immersed in games every day, it would be hard to imagine developing large-scale titles.”

Qiao Qiao didn’t care much about that. What unsettled him was the eerie energy—or rather, the lack of it—in this company.

As he entered the building, Qiao Qiao’s spiritual vision began scanning the surroundings. Oddly enough, the entire building showed no trace of any eerie energy. This was strange.

As mentioned before, eerie energy doesn’t solely arise from vengeful spirits. Geography, environment, and various factors all contribute to its formation, which then accumulates and serves as the breeding ground for such spirits. Yet in Nintendo’s headquarters, at least in the areas Qiao Qiao had seen so far, there was no eerie energy at all.

To illustrate, although dirty and cluttered places harbor more bacteria, even a room sprayed with disinfectant retains some residual bacteria—small quantities that don’t cause serious problems. But Nintendo’s headquarters resembled a perfectly sterile laboratory, utterly devoid of any eerie energy.

Puzzled, Qiao Qiao met Daisuke Miyagi.

“I’m from Sendai. After graduating, I joined the company and moved to Kyoto,” Daisuke Miyagi said as he worked. Upon seeing Qiao Qiao and the others, he stood up. Indeed, he carried a lot of eerie energy.

Qiao Qiao glanced at Nanase Hayami and said, “Hayami-san, please confirm this.”

Hayami was about to type a sarcastic comment on her phone but thought better of it. Handling the assignment was the priority.

Activating her spiritual vision, she saw the eerie energy like slippery tentacles spreading from Daisuke Miyagi’s body, reaching out toward others. However, these tendrils quickly dissolved in the air, unable to harm anyone.

“What’s going on?” Hayami tilted her head in confusion, looking to Qiao Qiao for answers.

“Exorcism first requires on-site investigation to find the source of the eerie energy. Hayami-san, why don’t you take a look around?” Qiao Qiao said, withholding the true answer.

Hayami scanned the area and then noticed an oddly shaped figurine on Miyagi’s desk. The upper part resembled a smooth octopus head; the middle was covered with countless tentacles and several sinister eyes, while the lower part was an oddly shaped stone. The entire sculpture exuded a sinister aura, as if merely looking at it would cause one to fall into an abyss.

More importantly, the figurine was enveloped in dense eerie energy, intertwining with the energy emanating from Miyagi himself—clearly the same source.

Even as a novice, Hayami could tell that the eerie energy enveloping Miyagi most likely originated from this sculpture.

The question arose: why was this sculpture on Daisuke Miyagi’s desk? Was he some kind of cultist of an evil god? Were they about to be introduced to his deity, Cthulhu?

“This… this…” Hayami started but suddenly found herself at a loss. It wasn’t a curse, but she was genuinely bad at communicating under such circumstances.

Clacking away, she typed a message on her phone’s notepad and showed the screen to Miyagi.

“Hm? Where did you get this statue?” Miyagi read the note and then looked at the sculpture.

“This fox statue? I found it at a flea market near the Kamo River. I don’t know why, but I just wanted to buy it when I saw it. I remember my family had a similar one when I was a child, but it got lost, and I never saw it again. It really brings back memories,” he said, turning back to them. “Is there a problem?”

“Fox statue?” Suzuka tilted her head, clearly puzzled. That was an indescribable evil god’s statue—how could it be connected to a fox?

Hayami was equally baffled, searching online for information but still not understanding.

Only Qiao Qiao, staring at the figurine, quickly found the answer.

“As expected, the appearance of this statue is completely different to those with spiritual power and those without,” he said.

This was a kind of anomaly with very low-level information control ability, or what might be called a weak memetic anomaly.

To Daisuke Miyagi, it was just a cute fox statue that seemed to bring good luck. But to someone like Qiao Qiao, who possessed spiritual power, it was clearly a statue of an evil god.

“Memetic?” Hayami didn’t fully grasp the term but understood Qiao Qiao’s meaning. Such anomalies had been mentioned in her studies—entities that disguise themselves and communicate with humans under false appearances.

Undoubtedly, this statue was possessed by a vengeful spirit and had gained certain information manipulation abilities. Using this power, it sought a host, disguised itself, and continuously drained the host’s energy.

This explained why Daisuke Miyagi was exhausted at work during the day but lively at home at night.

The solution was simple: just burn the statue completely and sprinkle spiritual water on the ashes, and it would be over.

Qiao Qiao didn’t even need Hayami to waste any bullets.

As for why the eerie energy from the statue and Miyagi hadn’t spread throughout the company, Qiao Qiao guessed it was because this was Nintendo.

A place that brings joy to players worldwide naturally carries the players’ goodwill. In a sense, Nintendo’s headquarters was no different from a shrine housing a deity. Eerie energy simply had no chance to spread.

It could be said that Daisuke Miyagi’s fatigue was closely tied to his work environment.

With this, the case was basically closed.

“Boring,” Suzuka remarked.

“Isn’t there supposed to be some haunted character from Mario Kart causing trouble, where I get to show off my gaming skills to defeat the enemy? Or a ghost stage in Mario Party, where I use my wits to conquer it?” she complained.

“Just burning a statue and some exorcism? That’s hardly worthy of Nintendo’s name!”

“Why is it that when Qiao-san does exorcisms with that shrine maiden, it’s so interesting, but when I do it, it’s so simple and dull?”

“What strange things have you imagined Nintendo to be?” Qiao Qiao retorted, then added, “Such cases are probably rare. At least, I haven’t seen many. Ordinary exorcisms like this are what most requests are about.”

Compared to thrilling, dramatic legendary tales, Qiao Qiao encountered more everyday troubles of ordinary people.

However—

“Information manipulation, huh?” On the way back to the shrine, Hayami kept pondering the memetic anomaly issue.

“That’s normal. Hayami-san, modern warfare is less about weapons and more about information. Only the side that controls information can seize the initiative,” Qiao Qiao explained earnestly. “It’s the same in exorcism.”

“A spiritualist who simply uses spiritual power to eliminate vengeful spirits is no longer enough. Modern anomalies have evolved to manipulate information. In other words, you may think the exorcism succeeded, but in reality, the spirit might have just changed its form and hidden.”

Suddenly, Hayami felt a cold breeze behind her. The subway doors had opened, and the air conditioner’s cold air blew in.

“So, if you’re interested, I have some cases related to this that I can share with you,” Qiao Qiao said. “You see, on modern battlefields, controlling, striking, and disrupting information is essential.”

“Hayami-san seems to have relevant abilities. If properly cultivated, you might be able to play a role in various battlefields.”

“Moreover, if you’re interested in electronics and games, modern warfare includes drone operations. You don’t have to face spirits directly to eliminate them,” Qiao Qiao added, leaving Hayami somewhat conflicted.

“It’s fine,” he said, glancing at his phone. It was six in the evening.

After checking a certain Twitter account, Qiao Qiao looked up and said, “Let’s eat out tonight. I know a really good place where we can eat and think things over.”

“Yay! Suzuka’s in!” Suzuka was delighted—indeed, she hardly ever seemed unhappy.

“A really good place?” Hayami asked, curious.

“Yeah, it’s called…” Qiao Qiao nodded.

“Cat Ramen.”