Under the Moon

Question: Consume three "Split Points" to immediately create the next Game Character? (Please use this function only when you have confirmed that neither the Main Body nor the character is tied up with anything. After selecting "Confirm," your consciousness will enter the "Character Creation Space.")

Prompt 1: Every Game Character has uniquely designed missions. Creating and cultivating characters in advance can effectively improve your overall strength.

Prompt 2: However, the more extensive and comprehensive your understanding of Superhuman Species is, the stronger the Game Character generated during the "Create Game Character" phase may be. Whether to generate a character immediately is entirely your choice.

Staring at the series of words on the panel, Ji Minghuan raised an eyebrow. That settles the short-term goal. As long as I create the next Game Character, I'll have some room for error. I won't be left helpless if one character dies. Next, I can send one of them to the Welfare Home to scout around and see if I can find any leads on that research institute.

If it had been the old Ji Minghuan, he probably never would have imagined that returning to that Welfare Home would be something requiring so much effort and caution...

But so far, the only clue he had related to that research institute was the fact that he and Kong Youling had been abducted from the Welfare Home.

Still, there was no way Ji Minghuan could create a Game Character at this point. That would be far too hasty.

To be safe, he closed the Prompt Panel.

"I still don't know enough about the other two Superhuman Species. Generating a character now would be like opening a blind box... Hmm, I'll pry some information out of Instructor first."

Based on Ji Minghuan's understanding of his own ability, creating Game Characters was naturally an extremely important step. It could even be said to directly determine whether he could escape that research institute alive in the future, so he had to consider it carefully.

At present, his understanding of the two Superhuman Species, Anecdote Envoys and Exorcists, remained nothing more than superficial labels.

And Instructor had promised him that he would come tomorrow to introduce the other two Superhuman Species.

So before creating his second Game Character, there was no harm in hearing what Instructor had to say first.

Once he had gained a certain understanding of this, during the character creation phase, Ji Minghuan would be able to easily determine which of the Superhuman Species categories belonging to the two Character Files had greater potential, allowing him to make a reasonable choice.

Like an old man taking a post-meal stroll to aid digestion, he crawled along at a turtle's pace until he finally reached Guyimai Park.

This was where Su Zimai's Footsteps had stopped.

Stopping at the entrance to the small park, Ji Minghuan slipped both hands into his school uniform pockets. At first glance, he saw Su Zimai sitting alone on a swing with her backpack on, a shaft of moonlight falling over her head and illuminating her expressionless face.

Ji Minghuan walked into the empty park and silently sat on the swing beside hers. Like an elementary school student, he rocked his body, and the swing carried him gently up and down.

Su Zimai had clearly seen him, yet she said nothing.

The two of them stayed silent for a while, quietly swinging beneath the moonlight, just like they had when they were children.

After a long time, she spoke. "Didn't I tell you not to come bother me?"

"I thought by 'you guys,' you meant Big Bro and Old Man. I didn't think that included me."

Ji Minghuan shrugged as he swung, sounding unconcerned.

Su Zimai still did not turn her head.

"Oh, then I'm sorry to disappoint you." She paused. "Is your hand... okay?"

Ji Minghuan lowered his eyes to look at his wrist, which was covered with a bandage, and teased, "You're pretty funny. What could happen from Old Man grabbing me once? Am I really that delicate for a high school boy? In Japan, high schoolers our age are supposed to be saving the world."

That was what he said, but it was not what he thought. If Old Man had used even a little more force then, it would not have just been his wrist getting hurt. Half his body might have been torn off.

"Then go home. I don't want to go home."

"I don't want to go home either. I'm not here to persuade you to go back."

After a brief pause, Ji Minghuan suddenly lowered his voice. "Actually, sometimes... having a home to return to is pretty nice. You know, some people don't even have a home to return to. She tried really hard, just wanting someone waiting for her to come home."

As he spoke, the image of Kong Youling hugging her knees as she sat on the roof flashed through his mind. The moonlight that day had been just as clear and bright.

"What did you say?"

His voice had been too soft, and Su Zimai had not heard the latter half.

He shook his head.

"Nothing."

Su Zimai looked down at the soft sand beneath her feet and said quietly, "You've changed a lot."

"In what way?"

"You never used to care about people this much."

"You misunderstand. I was just more reserved before. I do care about my family... Of course, there's also the possibility that I just finished watching The Godfather 1 and was moved by Marlon Brando's line: 'A man who doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man.'"

"A reserved good guy? You think you're the Godfather? In a gangster movie, you'd be the first one to get your head blown off."

"Is someone coming to pick you up?"

"Yeah. I called a friend."

Ji Minghuan caught that word and pressed, "Didn't you say it was a classmate just now?"

"No. I don't have any classmates I'm that close to. I just said it casually. You'll keep it secret for me, right?" Su Zimai said, glancing sideways to meet his gaze.

"Sure. When we get back, I'll tell them I took you to a classmate's house."

"Thanks."

"We're bros."

"You're the bro."

"We're sisters."

"Fine, big sister." The moment the words left her mouth, Su Zimai held back for a second. Then her cheeks puffed slightly, and she could not help laughing.

The next moment, she suddenly turned her head and saw a figure entering through the park entrance.

Following her gaze, Ji Minghuan looked over and sized up the person walking into the park.

What came into view was a girl of about eighteen or nineteen, dressed in a khaki trench coat over a white shirt.

She wore fitted pale green straight-leg trousers and a camel beret. A monocle hung over her left eye, its frame attached to a chain that looped around her ear, with the end pinned to her trench coat collar.

She had medium-length black hair that fell to her shoulders, a high nose bridge, and cold eyes that tilted slightly upward at the corners, making her look like a mixed-race model.

"Little Sister, don't tell me she's your girlfriend?" Ji Minghuan tilted his head and said to Su Zimai, "Don't lesbians all like older sisters who look highly educated and dress all sophisticated? I get it... This is what people online call an 'intellectual vibe.'"

"Get lost. My sexual orientation is completely normal, even though girls have confessed to me before." Su Zimai spoke with a faint hint of pride at the end.

"Then who is she?"

"You could say she's my teacher."

A teacher in the Exorcist field? Ji Minghuan raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself.

As they spoke, the mixed-race girl approached the swings slowly, both hands tucked into her trench coat pockets, and glanced at them.

She tilted her head and asked Su Zimai, "...Who is he?"

"My brother," Su Zimai said bluntly. "You don't need to treat him like a person."

Hearing that, the beret-wearing girl silently pulled one hand from her pocket and extended it toward Ji Minghuan, politely introducing herself.

"Hello, my name is Ke Qirui. I'm Su Zimai's friend. I often hear about you from her."

"My name is Gu Wenyu. Do we have to be this serious? I've never shaken hands with anyone before."

As Ji Minghuan spoke, he extended a hand from the swing and clasped her slender, well-defined right hand.

At that moment, a black Restraint Band emerged from his palm. Like a dragonfly skimming the water, it lightly touched Ke Qirui's hand before swiftly retracting back beneath his skin.

Condition met: Touched the target's body. Passive skill activated—"Restraint Belt Detection."