Uesugi Tetsu casually found a shop and bought an XXL hooded coat and a fox mask, then stored them in his inventory backpack.
Since tonight's area-unlocking mission required his true body to board the train, he decided to transform into Laughing Brahma the moment anything abnormal happened, just in case.
The coat and mask were props for disguising himself in front of any ordinary people he might encounter.
After sitting down on a rocking chair in a secluded park, Uesugi Tetsu began using his phone to look up information related to Kisaragi Station.
He naturally knew of this famous supernatural phenomenon throughout Japan, but he had forgotten most of the finer details.
This concerned unlocking the next area, so he couldn't afford to be careless.
--The story of Kisaragi Station, simply put, was that a girl boarded a train bound for Everworld late at night. After getting off, she arrived at Kisaragi Station, whose name sounded like "ghost" in Japanese.
She then encountered all kinds of monsters and spirits, became lost in Everworld, and was never able to return to the mortal world.
That was the whole story.
But Uesugi Tetsu read through it exceptionally carefully. Not only did he study the original version, he also read through all kinds of later derivative works in detail.
With the example of Two-Shaku-Sama before him, Uesugi Tetsu knew that no matter which version it was, and no matter how absurdly far a supernatural phenomenon had diverged from the original, it could still become part of the real supernatural phenomenon.
He focused his research on the "passengers on the train" and the "tunnels and stations along the route."
Since his goal this time was merely to reach Kisaragi Station, the only dangers could come from the train itself and its passengers.
"Five sleeping passengers... They could also be five different demons."
But since most of the Kisaragi Station supernatural phenomenon focused on what happened after the girl left the train, Uesugi Tetsu couldn't learn much more.
He only knew that he had to be wary of the passengers on the train.
"But simply being wary won't be enough without sufficient strength."
Putting down his phone, Uesugi Tetsu took out the White Brahma's Mask, which seemed to be crying yet not crying, from his inventory backpack.
There was nothing to hesitate about. Use it—effect two!
The instant his thoughts made the decision, the White Brahma's Mask shattered, transforming into a cry filled with deep fury that lingered beside Uesugi Tetsu's ears.
[You used "White Brahma's Mask"!] [Your Demon Incarnation Brahma has met the potential requirements!] [The quality of your Demon Incarnation Brahma has risen from "Superb" to "Rare"!]
As the notifications appeared, Uesugi Tetsu immediately felt his body grow slightly stronger.
He raised his eyebrows faintly. It seemed that improving quality also increased the attributes of a Demon Incarnation.
However, the main event was still to come.
[Your Demon Incarnation Brahma has been detected to have reached "Rare" quality. Reward distribution in progress...] [The quality of your Demon Incarnation Brahma has risen from "Rare" to "Epic"!] [The quality of your Demon Incarnation Brahma has reached its upper limit!] [Notice: When your Demon Incarnation Brahma reaches one and a half stars, it will evolve into Demon Incarnation Brahma!]
This promotion was especially quiet, and the strength in his body did not increase again. The main changes were to the upper limit and potential?
Uesugi Tetsu gently rocked in the chair and opened the brand-new Laughing Brahma panel—
[Laughing Brahma (Adolescent Form)] [Quality: Epic] [Rank: One Star] [Rank Limit: Three and a Half Stars] [Talents: Ghost God (Weak), Greed, Anger, Ignorance (Weak), Berserk] [--Laughing Brahma, White Brahma, and Red Brahma are all Brahma. Brahma are ghost gods.]
The first thing that caught his eye was, naturally, the conspicuous word "Epic" after the word "Quality."
Before today, Uesugi Tetsu would never have imagined that he would raise his first Demon Incarnation's quality to the unimaginable Epic level despite not even possessing several Rare-quality pieces of equipment.
The notification had mentioned that the Demon Incarnation's potential had met the requirements. That seemed to explain why purple light had floated out when he drew Laughing Brahma back then.
If he had drawn another Brahma, perhaps he wouldn't have been able to use it even with the White Brahma's Mask in hand.
He could only have hung it up as an accessory while suffering a severe reduction to his Charm.
Next, although its rank had not changed, its limit had truly risen from "One and a Half Stars" to "Three and a Half Stars."
It seemed that the upper limit of the Brahma race was a three-and-a-half-star evil ghost. There was still a small but insurmountable chasm between it and the legendary four-star [Ghost God].
Next came the two talents that had undergone slight changes apart from "Berserk"—
[Ghost God (Weak): The power of a ghost god, the might of a ghost god, and the form of a ghost god.]
The description of this talent was rather unclear, but it should be an upgraded version of the original "Ghost God Power." As for its specific effects, he would have to test them when he transformed.
[Greed, Anger, Ignorance (Weak): Deals additional damage to all targets experiencing negative emotions. The more negative emotions accumulated, the greater the damage dealt.]
Had the original control skill become a passive?
"Or is this the youthful version of the complete talent, requiring another upgrade before it can gradually be completed into a powerful, fully-fledged talent?"
Uesugi Tetsu felt that his idea made sense. In that case, his plan to raise Laughing Brahma to one and a half stars also had to be put on the agenda.
He now had a little over 400 soul ash. After unlocking the Kisaragi Station area tonight, he would probably be able to do another ten-pull soon and begin Laughing Brahma's second upgrade.
[Because your Demon Incarnation Brahma has reached "Epic" quality, it can now be materialized as special equipment and worn.]
The final notification appeared, making Uesugi Tetsu raise his eyebrows slightly.
What did that mean?
He used his thoughts to click [Convert to Equipment] beside Laughing Brahma's name. Then Uesugi Tetsu discovered that an exquisitely crafted, lifelike Laughing Brahma Mask had appeared in his hand.
[Brahma Mask] [Quality: Epic] [Effect: Stores one talent of "Demon Incarnation Brahma," retaining 50% of its effects. Wearing it does not consume an equipment slot.] [--A flawlessly perfect evil ghost mask. Even the finest craftsman could not find the slightest flaw in it.]
Uesugi Tetsu was slightly stunned. He seemed to understand the true significance of a Demon Incarnation reaching Epic quality.
In an instant, he even imagined his future self wearing dozens of similar pieces of equipment and possessing dozens or hundreds of talents.
"But I should still keep my feet on the ground for now."
Uesugi Tetsu rubbed his empty stomach. His last meal had been the breakfast bento he ate at home, and it was already evening. Not to mention that he had gone through a high-intensity battle—he was starving.
It was time. He should eat first.
Uesugi Tetsu casually picked a Yoshinoya by the roadside and planned to order an extra-large beef bowl to fill his stomach.
But the moment he walked into the restaurant, he saw two familiar figures.
Uesugi Tetsu froze for a moment and looked at the woman who had tossed her black tie aside, her cheeks flushed as she gulped beer down her throat.
"Sister Nanjō?!"
Before you continue