"Natsuki, have you ever been to Yokohama?"
Chika walked with light steps, happily treading along the white line at the edge of the street like a fawn in the morning sunlight through the forest.
"Never." Natsuki shook his head.
"I have." Chika lifted her chin, revealing a stretch of snow-white, slender neck, her voice carrying a hint of pride. "Yokohama has a Chinatown food street with tons of delicious Chinese cuisine. Let's go eat there together when we're done, okay?"
The matter isn't even settled yet and you're already thinking about food—you really are a glutton!
Natsuki said helplessly:
"I remember you mentioned before that your family has a curfew. Won't there be problems if you get home late?"
"It's fine. Mom says I need to be home by nine o'clock." Chika's voice was cheerful. "We can eat until eight o'clock..."
Before she finished speaking, the pink-haired girl with the bow suddenly hid behind Natsuki, nervously clutching his sleeve.
"Evil spirit—such a huge evil spirit!"
Natsuki looked in the direction she indicated, toward a nearby alley.
To ordinary people, the alley appeared empty and desolate.
But in the eyes of Natsuki Amamiya and Chika Fujiwara, the alley was filled with evil spirits of all sizes—more than a dozen of them.
The largest evil spirit stood three or four meters tall, with a mouth full of fangs and horns on its head. It was actually grabbing smaller evil spirits and stuffing them into its mouth.
The evil spirit across from them seemed to sense something, its pair of crimson eyes suddenly looking their way.
Natsuki silently averted his gaze, took Chika's right hand, and pulled her forward:
"Hurry up."
The two quickly passed by the alley entrance. After confirming the evil spirit hadn't followed them, Chika finally breathed a sigh of relief, patting her chest as she said softly:
"That scared me to death just now."
"The real world has so many evil spirits, all kinds of bizarre varieties. Yesterday I even saw one that was only knee-high, looking like a little old man. It would hide when it saw people."
"And, and—dogs seem to be able to see strange things too. The other day when I was walking my dog, Pesu kept barking at an evil spirit in the park. It was so scary."
You're talking so much—I don't see where you're scared at all!
Chatting along the way, they soon arrived at the subway station.
At the ticket gates, two evil spirits wearing subway employee uniforms stood on either side, their hollow, dark eyes watching the passersby.
Truly model Japanese corporate slaves.
Even after becoming evil spirits, they still don't forget to come to work—the corporate slave attribute is ingrained in their very bones!
Chika lowered her head, nervously moving closer to Natsuki, whispering in his ear:
"Natsuki."
"Mm?"
"Quickly use your invincible evil spirit repelling. The evil spirits at the subway ticket gates are too dangerous. If a player happens to be an office worker and accidentally reveals they can see them on their way home from work, they'd definitely be in despair, right?"
The corner of Natsuki's mouth twitched slightly as he silently activated his evil spirit repelling aura.
Flames immediately ignited on the two evil spirit employees' bodies, and they vanished amid hollow, empty wails.
To actually consider players you've never even met—no wonder you're humanity's light.
The subway wasn't crowded in the afternoon.
Natsuki selected an empty seat and sat down with Chika.
After boarding the subway, Chika immediately quieted down, clearly following the unspoken rule of "no talking on the subway."
The pink-haired girl played on her phone for a while, then soon began yawning, her small head starting to bob up and down.
"If you're sleepy, you can nap for a bit." Natsuki said quietly. "I'll wake you when we reach Yokohama."
All players who could see evil spirits, including Miko, had dark circles under their eyes to varying degrees.
Chika was no exception, clearly not getting enough rest.
The pink-haired girl blinked, seeming to want to stay awake, but ultimately couldn't hold out. She dozed off in a daze, her body swaying until it finally rested against Natsuki's shoulder.
Natsuki glanced at the pink-haired girl's sweet sleeping face, then withdrew his gaze and continued playing on his phone.
The journey passed without incident.
The subway soon arrived in Yokohama.
"Fujiwara, wake up." Natsuki roused the pink-haired girl. "Time to get off."
Chika opened her eyes groggily, her azure blue eyes—like the sky itself—gazing at him blankly, still clearly confused from just waking up.
"Wipe your drool." Natsuki reminded her. "Time to get off."
"Oh..."
Chika raised her hand to wipe the corner of her mouth, quickly snapping awake: "Liar! I wasn't drooling at all!"
"If you'd kept sleeping, you really would have drooled."
"..."
The two exited the subway, opened their phone's navigation app, and made their way to the entrance of Yokohama High School.
Natsuki looked ahead to see a ponytailed girl standing at the school gate, looking around expectantly. It was the clingy girl they'd met in yesterday's game, Asuka Kujo.
"Chika-chan!"
Seeing Natsuki and Chika approach, Asuka Kujo happily rushed over. She and Chika called each other by their first names, but when it came to Natsuki, she respectfully said:
"Senpai, good afternoon."
"Don't call me senpai." Natsuki said exasperatedly. "You're a second-year student, aren't you?"
Calling a first-year student "senpai"—don't you feel embarrassed at all?
"Asuka doesn't need to be so nervous. We're comrades who've entrusted our backs to each other." Chika said from the side. "Just like me—you can call him Natsuki."
"Ahem."
Asuka Kujo cleared her throat lightly, not daring to be so casual.
There was no entrusting of backs whatsoever—rather, she'd clung to his coattails the entire time, barely helping at all. In the end, her eyes went dark and the game was cleared by this expert player.
Natsuki changed the subject:
"Kujo, where's your friend?"
"She's training in the gym." Asuka quickly replied. "We can see her once we head over."
"Let's go then."
Following behind the ponytailed girl, Natsuki arrived at the gymnasium where several girls were practicing volleyball, drenched in sweat.
Natsuki's gaze sharpened as he quickly located Kujo's friend. After all, she was the only girl in the crowd with evil spirits clinging to her.
"There are actually several evil spirits." Chika's eyes widened as she whispered, "How scary."
There were indeed several evil spirits attached to the girl, all appearing to be middle-aged men. One spirit was embracing the girl's waist while another was wrapped around her neck—the sight made one's eye twitch.
"It really is quite frightening." Asuka Kujo bit her lower lip. "I don't even dare participate in club activities anymore. I can only say I'm not feeling well."
Looking up to see her friend covered in evil spirits, there was no way to train with peace of mind.
"Why would your friend have evil spirits clinging to her?" Chika asked, puzzled.
Asuka bit her lower lip without speaking.
"Don't ask." Natsuki said in a low voice. "It's none of our business."
After a week of observation, evil spirits in reality either wandered around aimlessly or clung to certain people.
The older male evil spirits attached to the girl clearly had deep obsessions with her.
Like "papa katsu" arrangements, for instance.
Or perhaps she was a "kami-machi" girl who'd drifted all the way from Hokkaido to Tokyo.
In any case, it was someone else's privacy—Natsuki had absolutely no desire or interest in prying.
He activated his evil spirit repelling aura. The evil spirits wrapped around the girl all vanished unwillingly amid wails.
Asuka Kujo breathed a sigh of relief, looking at Natsuki with even greater reverence.
Someone who could eliminate evil spirits in reality—Natsuki was the first!
Although she hadn't encountered other players in the real world... In any case, an expert was an expert, and she would definitely continue clinging to his coattails!
With the matter resolved, Asuka Kujo enthusiastically invited them both to eat in Chinatown.
Natsuki didn't refuse. It was still early, so he followed the two girls, eating and drinking along the way.
Seven-thirty in the evening.
The two said goodbye to the ponytailed girl and took the subway back to Tokyo.
"Chinese cuisine is the best in the world." Chika clutched her stomach, completely satisfied. "Super delicious!"
Natsuki nodded in agreement: "It really was quite good."
"If only things could stay like this forever—never entering the game again, never seeing evil spirits. Then life would be perfect." Chika sighed wistfully.
Your life is perfect that easily? You're way too easy to satisfy!
So many people are waiting for you to become the first female prime minister!
The next moment, Natsuki suddenly felt his vision blur for an instant. The packed subway car abruptly became cold and empty, and the lighting turned gloomy and pale white.
Then a familiar cold voice echoed in his mind:
"Special dungeon 'Midnight Subway' has been triggered. We wish all players an enjoyable game."
Natsuki looked silently at the pink-haired girl: "...Jinx!"