Work to Death and Moon Sand-chan

What met his eyes was a dirt road where mud was slowly flowing, and a large area of Gassho-style houses with steep roofs dripping with rain.

The air was filled with a hazy mist, and the low houses on both sides looked quite in the architectural style of the early Edo period.

Was Edo Castle really built during the Edo period...?

Gassho-style houses, to put it simply, are crude wooden houses with a large pile of thatch covering the roof.

They were called that simply to distinguish ordinary people's residences from "machiya" shops and "nagaya" dwellings for artisans.

However, one thing was strange.

Why were the houses built upside down?

Beside the Laughing Brahma, whose head had been separated from its body at some unknown time, a hawk-eyed warrior with a crimson-dyed face casually withdrew his gaze.

Uesugi Tetsu's consciousness plunged into darkness, and in his final moments, all he could do was curse in his heart:

"You told me this was supposed to increase the probability of triggering hidden events..."

Immense water pressure struck.

Uesugi Tetsu, lying in bed, suddenly opened his eyes, sat up drenched in sweat, and gasped for air while trembling and touching his neck, his lungs greedily drawing in the dry air.

Looking around again, he saw not upside-down Gassho-style houses and muddy streets, but the familiar layout of his room.

There was no ronin with a crimson-dyed face beside him, but rather the dakimakura with anime characters printed on it that the original owner had bought long ago to sleep with.

Uesugi Tetsu breathed a sigh of relief, his racing heart gradually slowing down.

He had only just learned that when a person's head is severed, they can retain consciousness and the ability to think for a few seconds. The facts proved that Lavoisier, hundreds of years ago, had not lied to everyone.

By calling up the [Enter Tokoyo] option, one could see a (Revival Count: 1/2) glowing yellow behind it, followed by a notification that the revival count would recover once every 12 hours.

In other words, if he wanted to, he could have his head cut off by that Oni Warrior again.

After hesitating for a moment, Uesugi Tetsu decided not to click [Enter Tokoyo] for now.

He wasn't afraid of death; he simply had no fetish for being decapitated.

Taking out his phone to check the time, Uesugi Tetsu found that only a few minutes had passed in real time.

Even if the time flow in reality and Tokoyo were not the same, they were at least similar... So, it would be better to sleep now and explore after waking up.

That Oni Warrior who could kill him in one blow wouldn't possibly have nothing to do and would be guarding the respawn point every day, right?

Before going to sleep, there was one more thing he needed to test.

With a thought, Uesugi Tetsu took the Walker token from his inventory into his hand without any obstruction.

--Items from Tokoyo could be brought to reality. He wondered if items from the real world could be brought to Tokoyo, and if he could play American Iai.

Just as he was about to put away the token, his phone on the bed vibrated, and the screen lit up.

A message popped up.

Uesugi Tetsu froze for a moment, gazed at the token in his hand for a while, and wasn't sure if it was a coincidence.

However, he decided not to put the token away just yet.

[Work to Death]: To be honest, being called out by a phone call at midnight to stand on the roadside and feel the cold wind is really not a life for humans. I want to die, I really want to die.

Looking at this slightly unfamiliar Line friend name, Uesugi Tetsu closed his eyes to recall, and finally remembered who it was.

The original owner often went to various haunted locations to test his courage. Besides accompanying his two good brothers, he himself was naturally quite interested in supernatural events.

And this [Work to Death] was an office worker uncle he met on a supernatural forum who had been working for many years.

The two had a very good relationship. The other party often complained to him about his unreasonable boss and absurd working hours, while he would ask the other party questions related to the supernatural.

The two had even reached the point of meeting up before-- however, the original owner was socially anxious and would only brag online, but dared not meet netizens offline.

Just flipping through the chat history, one could see a long string of very obscure knowledge related to the supernatural and ghosts.

But Uesugi Tetsu didn't quite believe this content.

Could a mere office worker netizen know so much? Then why would he still be an office worker? He might as well become an Onmyoji and get a stable job.

[Work to Death]: Since it's come to this, let's eat first. (Bento.jpg)

Uesugi Tetsu recognized at a glance that the picture was the cheapest near-expiry chicken cutlet bento from a 7-Eleven convenience store.

Eating classic pre-packaged food during last-minute overtime, he wondered if the old office worker's liver could handle it.

Thinking about it, Uesugi Tetsu decided to first test the depth of his netizen friend.

[Moon Sand-chan]: I have a friend who wants to play Kukuri at midnight. Is it dangerous?

[Work to Death]: If you really want to court death, I suggest you play in a place with a lot of people, little ghost.

[Moon Sand-chan]: ?

[Work to Death]: Because it takes longer to die when there are more people. Heh heh, just kidding. It's safer to report to the police station before playing.

Police station?

Uesugi Tetsu's eyes narrowed.

Most ordinary people encountering supernatural events wouldn't think to go to the police, right? They'd usually go to a shrine for protective charms or find a master at a temple to solve their problems.

Unless, of course, the other party knew about the Special Affairs Division.

Uesugi Tetsu gasped, realizing these netizens might actually be something else.

He remembered the red-faced samurai in Tokoyo who had decapitated him with a single strike. He typed out a string of descriptive words, about to send a query, when he saw the other party's avatar go offline.

[Work to Death]: Damn, the boss is here. I'll talk to you later, okay?

Helplessly, Uesugi Tetsu sent the message first.

After waiting two seconds and seeing it still marked as "unread," Uesugi Tetsu put down his phone and fiddled with the Walker token in his hand, recalling its effects:

[Walker: Since ancient times, Walkers have measured the history and lands of Tokoyo with their own two feet, and you are no different. Effect: Increases the probability of triggering hidden events.]

He was killed by an elite monster with one strike just by opening a door, and when he got a phone, he found out the salaryman uncle he'd been chatting with online for over a year actually knew his stuff.

If he called this a coincidence, he wouldn't believe it even if he were beaten to death.

As for why he called Work to Death a "salaryman uncle"?

Someone who smoked every day, drank heavily every few days, had a completely reversed sleep schedule, and occasionally complained to him that his boss was inhuman—he was definitely a single, overweight otaku salaryman with over ten years of service, right?

Uesugi Tetsu stopped thinking about it and simply closed his eyes, activating his sleep.

He had to go to school in just a few hours, and before that, he still had to explore Edo Castle one more time.

"They're using the same LINE account for online and in real life."

In the conference room, Nanjō Emi expressionlessly put down the two phones in her hands. Looking at the same friend, "Moon Sand-chan," on both, she felt a strange sense of unease.

Usually, names ending in "chan" or "hime" were used by girls, weren't they?

She hadn't expected Uesugi Tetsu, who seemed so proper, to be that kind of person.

Flipping her phone face down, Nanjō Emi saw the middle-aged man with a sword at his waist walking in from the doorway. He swept his gaze over everyone present.

"Is everyone here?"

The man nodded. After subtly pressing down the Onmyo Junior Officials who were about to stand to bow to him, he spoke decisively, "Let's cut the pleasantries."

Nanjō Emi, who remained still in her seat, glanced at the other three Onmyo Junior Officials and thought how they truly lacked foresight.

Respecting seniors in the workplace was good, but one also had to consider the seniors' personalities.

For example, their direct superior, the Onmyo Grand Official in charge of the Arakawa district, Kondō Yūya, hated such superficial formalities.

"First, the general location of the Friendship Club is roughly known. Who will handle it..."

"I'll take full responsibility."

Before any of her colleagues could speak, Nanjō Emi raised her hand.

As soon as she finished speaking, she seemed to feel the murderous glares of her colleagues.

It was as if they were saying: "Damn try-hards!"

Kondō Yūya frowned indifferently, "Nanjō, are you planning to use ordinary people as bait?"

"No," Nanjō Emi pointed at Hasegawa, who was standing behind her. "He will. His reward will be a promotion to [Tokugyōsei] after this mission."

"Please take care of me."

Hasegawa stepped forward, grinned, and offered a cheerful smile to everyone in the conference room.

The conference room was silent for a few seconds.

Kondō Yūya said no more, merely nodding. "Next, we'll discuss the First Wave."

Everyone present showed confused expressions.

A plan for how to deal with the arrival of the First Wave should have been arranged months ago.

As if sensing their thoughts, Kondō Yūya tapped his knuckles on the table and said sternly, "Just ten minutes ago, urgent news came from the Astronomical Division."

"--Tokoyo is experiencing abnormal turbulence, and the First Wave is imminent."

Seeking readership during the new book period, readership is everything! Please, everyone, try not to hoard the book, I beg you!