When Wu Yan, Mikoto, and Hinagiku had just entered the cave, it had been pitch-black inside. They could only see each other, but as the three of them ventured deeper, it gradually grew brighter. By now, while it was not quite as bright as day, at least the three of them could see things without any effort. Wu Yan looked around, but he could not spot anything that could possibly be emitting light. In a world without anything mysterious, such an eerie situation could only be blamed on "ghosts." Here... it could only be blamed on demons and monsters as well.
The two girls, who were usually fearless to the extreme, now followed behind Wu Yan somewhat timidly. Even Railgun, who was as high as Level 68, looked frightened. Only whenever Wu Yan turned around would she hurriedly compose herself, unaware that every bit of her behavior had already been seen by him.
So even if they were powerful, young girls were still young girls...
The three of them walked through the silent passage without speaking. There were plenty of demons in this cave. Even if it did not make much difference, it was better not to do anything that might alert the enemy.
The moment he entered the cave, Wu Yan had taken out the Kusanagi Sword. He had no confidence that he would have time to draw his sword during an attack by those demons. At that moment, Wu Yan activated the system's detection function. As long as something appeared before him, even if it was invisible, the detection function would find it.
"Hey, Yan, do you think the monsters here might have all died already? After all, so much time has passed." Perhaps unable to bear the atmosphere any longer, Hinagiku was the first to speak.
"That's impossible!" Wu Yan said firmly. "I don't know whether these demons and monsters are immortal like the legends say, but their lifespans must be much longer than ours. Even if we died, they might not have died yet. Besides, Luzhinomiya said there were many supernatural creatures here. If that's the case, there must be females among them, so they can keep reproducing!"
"If that's the case, why haven't we seen even one so-called... demon or monster yet?" Mikoto had been summoned less than a day ago, but the system had already passed on some necessary knowledge to her. Compared to the incomprehensible system, demons and monsters were not impossible to accept. Still, as a fourteen-year-old girl, accepting ghosts and monsters did not mean she was not afraid of them...
Well, although Railgun always acted like she was not scared around Wu Yan, a tsundere who was not tsundere was not a tsundere Railgun...
"I was thinking the same thing, until just now..." As he said that, Wu Yan came to a stop.
Mikoto and Hinagiku were both startled, then immediately watched their surroundings warily, traces of fear still lingering in their eyes.
"W-What is it, Yan...?" Hinagiku swallowed nervously.
Wu Yan turned around, a hint of confusion on his face.
"Wait a moment..." Wu Yan waved his hand, looked around, then frowned and lowered his head.
"Whoosh..." Just as Wu Yan lowered his head, a light breeze blew in from nowhere. It gently brushed past the three of them, lifting Wu Yan's hair, as well as Hinagiku and Mikoto's... skirts...
Since Wu Yan was facing Hinagiku and Mikoto, and he had lowered his head, when the wind lifted their skirts, his gaze landed directly there without the slightest deviation. Thus, two pairs of safety shorts—one white and one black—instantly entered his vision.
"..." Maintaining his lowered-head posture, Wu Yan's pupils doubled in size. Looking at the strangely matched pair of safety shorts before him, a huge look of astonishment appeared on his face.
"Ah!!!" Even though they were usually rather boyish, they were still girls. No girl would fail to feel embarrassed when her skirt was blown up. The two cried out at the same time, pressed down their skirts, and stared at Wu Yan with flushed faces.
"You didn't see anything, did you, Yan...?" A crystal longsword appeared in Hinagiku's hand. She looked at Wu Yan with hostility. As long as he dared shamelessly say he had seen them, Hinagiku would dare slash him in two. After all, she had witnessed his shamelessness more than once, such as the last time he had seen her completely naked.
Feeling Hinagiku's gaze, Wu Yan shook his head desperately like a rattle drum.
"BiliBili..." The sound of crackling sparks rang out, and blue light flashed, freezing Wu Yan's head-shaking motion. He mechanically turned toward the other side.
"You didn't stop on purpose... for something like this, did you?!" Mikoto lowered her head, electricity flickering continuously across her forehead. Her voice was so cold it nearly froze Wu Yan solid.
It was no wonder Mikoto thought that. The angle and timing of Wu Yan lowering his head had been far too "perfect."
Wu Yan did not know whether to laugh or cry. "Th-This was just an accident, really, it was an accident..."
Heaven knew, Wu Yan had truly been telling the truth this time.
Looking at the two girls, who seemed ready to explode like powder kegs, Wu Yan wept inwardly.
Mikoto was one thing. She wore safety shorts, but at least she did not go around showing them off. But what was with Hinagiku? In the original story, hadn't she voluntarily lifted her skirt for Ayasaki Hayate when they first met to prove she wore safety shorts? Why was it that when it was me, I could not even look at the safety shorts? This isn't scientific!
Never try to guess a girl's thoughts...
Seeing Mikoto and Hinagiku's expressions becoming increasingly unfriendly, Wu Yan hurriedly raised his hands to stop them from blowing up and said in utter grief, "Wait, please listen to my last words!"
"What else do you have to say?" the two girls said in unison.
"If I said I didn't do it on purpose, would you believe me?" Wu Yan gave Hinagiku and Mikoto a miserable smile as he made his final defense.
"Then tell us, why did you stop..." Hinagiku held back Mikoto, who was preparing to electrocute Wu Yan to death, and spoke to him irritably.
Wu Yan gave Hinagiku a grateful look, only to receive a cold snort in return. He coughed, then hurriedly turned serious. "The reason I stopped was because I realized we've already passed through this place before!"
The two girls were stunned. Even Hinagiku, who had not held much hope that Wu Yan could offer an explanation, was the same. She had thought Wu Yan had deliberately put on that mysterious act just to look under their skirts, but she had not expected him to say something like that.
It was obvious just how favorable Wu Yan's image was in the Student Council President's mind...
"This place?" Hinagiku turned her head and looked around.
"We've been here before?" Mikoto also stopped using her ability, glanced around, then exchanged looks with Hinagiku. Both of them had identical confusion in their eyes.
Wu Yan shook his head. It was no wonder they could not notice. There was nothing here besides rock walls and stones. There were already very few things that could serve as landmarks, and even fewer that could catch someone's attention. If Wu Yan had not possessed Perfect Memory, perhaps even he would not have noticed.
"Have we really been here before? I didn't notice." Mikoto pinched her own cheek and turned her gaze toward Wu Yan.
However, Wu Yan did not answer Mikoto. Instead, he asked Hinagiku, "Hinagiku, have you forgotten about my memory? There's no way I could be mistaken!"
Seeing Mikoto's puzzled expression, Hinagiku nodded. "That's right. Yan won't remember wrong. His memory is exceptionally good. He can completely remember things after seeing them once. Since he says we've been here before, then we definitely have."...
"You can remember something after seeing it once?" Mikoto stared at Wu Yan in surprise. "That's already within the realm of an ability, isn't it?..."
As expected of Railgun. Level 5 was not just a title for show. She had instantly seen through Wu Yan's Perfect Memory ability.
"So that means we're lost?" Hinagiku said uncertainly.
"You can't exactly say we're lost." Wu Yan raised a hand in objection. "It would be more accurate to say we've fallen into something similar to a labyrinth."
"A labyrinth?" The two girls looked at Wu Yan in surprise.
"Yes!" Wu Yan walked over to the rock wall and patted the stone. "Have you forgotten? Ever since we entered this cave, we've only been following one path. There haven't been any forks or side passages at all. How could we possibly be lost?"
"In other words..." Hinagiku said gravely.
"We've been going in circles!" Mikoto immediately saw through their situation.
"That's right!" Wu Yan casually opened his system menu. "I think this is probably a passage with a very slight curve, forming a circle. Ever since we came in, we've been circling around it! Because the curve is so slight and the passage is so wide, we didn't notice at all."
"Is that so?" Hinagiku lowered her head in thought.
"Of course it is!" Did you think I really stopped just to look at two pairs of uninteresting safety shorts?
Naturally, Wu Yan swallowed those last words with all his might. Otherwise, he would not even have the chance to fight for his life—he might as well just die on the spot...
"What do we do now? Should we turn back?" Mikoto asked. Although she was quite smart, this was the time for the man to make the decision.
"No!" Wu Yan shook his head. "Even if we turn around and walk back, we probably won't be able to get out!"
Hinagiku and Mikoto both looked up at Wu Yan. "Why?"
Wu Yan smiled bitterly. "Isn't it obvious? After entering the cave, we circled this place once. But when we came back around, did either of you see the cave entrance we came through?"
Mikoto and Hinagiku froze. That was right. After making a full circle, they should have been able to see the exit...
"Could it be..." Hinagiku shrank back. "This is the legendary ghost wall?"
"No way..." Mikoto had been frowning in thought, but Hinagiku's words immediately left her at a loss. She gave an awkward laugh.
"..." Wu Yan rolled his eyes at the two girls, who were still frightening themselves at a time like this. He deeply felt that if he intended to rely on the two of them, they might truly end up trapped in this ghost wall forever.
Seeing Wu Yan constantly moving his hands around, Hinagiku asked, "Yan, what are you doing? Have you thought of a way?"
Unlike Hinagiku, Mikoto curiously craned her neck and leaned closer to Wu Yan.
"Oh... is that the system?"
Wu Yan paused, staring at Mikoto in surprise as he pointed at the system menu. "You can see the system menu, Mikoto?"
Mikoto nodded. "I can. It's right in front of you!"
"The system? The system Yan mentioned? Why can't I see anything?" Hinagiku kept reaching around in every direction, but she could not see anything at all.
Wu Yan rubbed his chin. "It seems summoned characters can see the system too. Mikoto, can you use the system?"
"No!" Mikoto answered without hesitation. "It feels impressive and interesting, but I have no way to use this system. I can only see it!"
"Why can both of you see it while I can't see anything?" Hinagiku was dissatisfied. The way Wu Yan and Mikoto were acting gave her the feeling of "a secret between two people," and she was not one of them. That made her very unhappy.
"Well? Did you find a way?" Seeing Wu Yan constantly fiddling with the system, Mikoto asked.
Wu Yan smiled. With a flip of his hand, a compass appeared in it...
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