Chapter Summaries

Su Yang learned that Murasame Reion wanted to use time travel to save her friend Hyakka, then used the Scarecrow Puppet to take control of Miyamizu Mitsuha. He woke in Mitsuha’s body at her family home, where her younger sister Yotsuba called her to breakfast.

• Su Yang asked Murasame Reion why she had agreed to work for him, and she said she wanted to see her friend again and prevent her suicide.
• Reion described her friend as beautiful and gloomy, and said her name was Hyakka.
• Su Yang considered whether Reion might be connected to Tokisaki Kurumi’s disappearance but found no confirmation.
• Su Yang used the Scarecrow Puppet to choose Miyamizu Mitsuha as his target.
• Su Yang woke in Mitsuha’s body and was summoned downstairs by Miyamizu Yotsuba.

Su Yang discovered that his body as Mitsuha was a simulacrum controlled through a clay figure, then joined Mitsuha's family for breakfast at Miyamizu Shrine. The chapter left him considering the family's strained history and his place in it.

• Su Yang located Mitsuha lying beside a lifelike clay model and realized his body was its projection.
• Su Yang reshaped the model's hair and body, confirming that changes to it altered his own form.
• Yotsuba called for Mitsuha, and Su Yang went downstairs and changed into a school uniform.
• Yotsuba teased Su Yang for playing with Mitsuha's body in her room.
• Grandma told Mitsuha to sit across from her rather than beside Yotsuba, and Su Yang recalled how Mitsuha's father had been cast out of the family.
• Su Yang sat down to breakfast with Grandma and Yotsuba.

Su Yang adjusted to life in Mitsuha’s body and set out to experience ordinary days in Itomori Town while hoping to learn whether gods existed. On the way to school with Yotsuba, he learned Mitsuha had been distant from her family and let his little sister’s hair down.

• Su Yang ate breakfast with Grandma and Yotsuba, hinting that his memories and behavior had changed.
• Su Yang left for school with Yotsuba and admired the scenery of Itomori Town.
• Yotsuba said Mitsuha usually kept to herself and suggested persuading Grandma to reconcile with their father.
• Su Yang agreed with Yotsuba and asked her to let down her twin tails, then offered to tie them back up.

Su Yang adjusted Yotsuba’s hair before she left for elementary school, then continued toward school with Mitsuha’s friends Kawahara and Sayaka. Along the way, he noticed how outdated Itomori Town seemed and saw Miyamizu campaigning for town mayor.

• Su Yang tied Yotsuba’s hair into twin ponytails and watched her leave for school.
• Kawahara and Sayaka arrived, and Yotsuba rushed off after asking them to look after her sister.
• Su Yang told Kawahara and Sayaka that she was groggy, then changed her hairstyle after Kawahara complimented it.
• Su Yang walked with Kawahara and Sayaka and noticed that the students they passed did not have cell phones.
• The group passed Miyamizu’s shabby campaign van, and nearby people remarked that he was running for town mayor again.

Su Yang used Mitsuha’s family connection to silence classmates mocking him during Miyamizu’s campaign, then told Sayaka and Kawahara that he had switched bodies with a Tokyo boy. Sayaka and Kawahara rejected his claim, but he asked them to help him navigate school.

• Su Yang took the loudspeaker and praised Miyamizu’s dedication while urging villagers to vote for him.
• Su Yang intimidated the classmates who had mocked him, then returned to Sayaka and Kawahara.
• Sayaka and Kawahara praised Su Yang for his confident campaign speech.
• Su Yang told Sayaka and Kawahara that Mitsuha’s body had switched with his and asked them to help him with school.
• Sayaka and Kawahara denied that the body switch was possible.

Su Yang entered school with Sayaka and learned about her curiosity regarding Tokyo and the absent teacher Koyuki. The chapter left Sayaka reconsidering whether she wanted to leave the countryside, while Koyuki remained away from school without explanation.

• Su Yang entered school with Sayaka and Mitsuha, while Kawahara went to the neighboring class.
• Sayaka asked Mitsuha about the Tokyo man inside her, and Su Yang described Tokyo as expensive and exhausting until Sayaka reconsidered moving there.
• Sayaka told Su Yang that Koyuki, the beautiful ancient Chinese teacher in Kawahara's class, had been absent for two weeks.
• Sayaka said Koyuki had reportedly clashed with third-year girls and that the school had offered no explanation for her leave.

Su Yang discovered that Mitsuha’s body had brought him to 2016, four years before his own world, and he tried to arrange a phone call to investigate. After learning that Mitsuha’s father had hired an artist to teach the class, Su Yang reconsidered leaving because he wanted to protect Yotsuba.

• Sayaka invited Su Yang to go to the restroom with her, but he declined because his body was a puppet.
• Su Yang noticed that a fashion magazine was dated 2016 and confirmed the year with Sayaka.
• Su Yang realized that Mitsuha’s textbook lacked his codename, suggesting the setting was four years earlier than his world.
• Su Yang asked Teacher Ito to borrow a telephone, but the school phone was broken.
• Teacher Ito told Su Yang that Mitsuha’s father had hired the artist Sojiro to teach, prompting Su Yang to reconsider taking leave.

Mitsuha used the prospect of selling paintings to spark her classmates’ interest in art, while Su Yang judged their teacher’s work and the students’ talent harshly. The chapter ended with Sojiro and Ito discussing how few of the town’s children showed promise in their fields.

• Su Yang reflected on the Miyamizu family’s troubles and hoped Yotsuba and Mitsuha could have ordinary, warm lives.
• Teacher Sojiro introduced an oil-painting lesson, but most students showed little interest in painting.
• Su Yang asked how much Sojiro’s paintings sold for, and the students grew eager to learn after hearing the prices.
• Sojiro graded the students’ work and told Ito that a score of 68 meant they had no artistic talent.
• Sojiro and Ito compared their difficulty finding promising students in art and sports.

Sojiro selected Miyamizu Mitsuha for individual art instruction, and Su Yang used the sketching assignment as a chance to head toward the mayor’s office and confirm whether he was in a parallel world. Rain drove him into a park before he could reach his destination.

• Sojiro and Teacher Ito discussed Teacher Yukino’s extended leave and the rumors about her dispute with a student.
• Sojiro found Miyamizu Mitsuha’s drawing and decided to give her individual guidance.
• Su Yang heard the announcement calling Mitsuha to the office, where Sojiro lent her painting materials and told her to return before school ended.
• Su Yang took the sketching materials and set off alone toward the mayor’s office to use the phone and confirm when he was.
• Rain began as Su Yang walked, and he ran into a pavilion in the park for shelter.

Su Yang took shelter from the rain in a park pavilion and met a beautiful, mysterious woman who offered him her phone. He left the pavilion able to make the urgent call he had planned to place at the mayor's office.

• Su Yang considered Mitsuha's father's efforts to develop Itomori Town and arrived at the park pavilion in the rain.
• Su Yang found a woman sheltering in the pavilion and accepted the tissue she offered.
• Su Yang noticed the woman had been drinking beer and reading poetry, and they agreed not to question each other about their circumstances.
• The woman asked why Su Yang was in a hurry, and he said he had planned to call from the mayor's office.
• The woman handed Su Yang her flip phone so he could make his urgent call.

Su Yang discovered that Murasame Reion was a Spirit and suspected she had captured Tokisaki Kurumi to bring back her old friend, Hyakka. He decided to help Hyakka and use her as leverage against Reion, while the system prompted him to sign in by holding Hyakka’s hands.

• Su Yang recognized the phone number labeled Mio as Murasame Reion’s and learned that the woman beside him was Hyakka.
• Su Yang concluded that Spirits existed, Reion was the first Spirit, and she had likely captured Tokisaki Kurumi to revive Hyakka.
• Su Yang decided to counsel Hyakka and use her as a way to restrain Reion.
• The system prompted Su Yang to sign in at Yukino Hyakka’s hands for ten minutes within a fifteen-minute limit.

Su Yang tried to draw Yukino into a conversation so he could build a connection with her and complete his sign-in requirement. As Yukino watched his painting take shape, she sensed something unusual about him.

• Su Yang decided to use painting as a way to get Yukino's attention and create an opportunity to spend time with her.
• Su Yang rolled a bottle of paint toward Yukino, and she handed it back to him.
• Su Yang began painting a black-and-green base, telling Yukino that he hoped the picture would cheer her up and repay her for lending him a tissue.
• Yukino crouched beside Su Yang and watched him paint, noticing a strange impression of a stubborn boy despite seeing a lively young girl.
• Yukino noticed paint on Su Yang's hand and turned her attention back to the board as his rough marks formed half a picture.

Su Yang taught Yukino to paint and used his skill to impress her, while completing a Silver Sign-in and gaining Kusuo Saiki's Soul Outing ability. Yukino treasured the painting they made together, and Su Yang left her pleased with his gift.

• Su Yang painted a forest scene to show Yukino how the image could emerge on the canvas.
• Su Yang guided Yukino's hand as they painted, and he completed the Silver Sign-in, gaining Kusuo Saiki's Soul Outing ability.
• Yukino praised Su Yang's use of light and shadow and said the painting was beautiful.
• Su Yang offered the painting to Yukino, who thanked him and held the wet picture in her hands.

Su Yang finished a deliberately weaker painting for his teacher while discussing strangeness with Yukino, then went to the town mayor’s office instead of returning to school early. There, he overheard the mayor seeking money for an election.

• Su Yang explained to Yukino that he was making a weaker painting so his teacher would not give him more demanding work.
• Su Yang and Yukino talked about how everyone had something strange or different about them, and he arranged to return the next day to paint.
• Su Yang took his earlier painting from Yukino to have it treated before giving it to her, then left the park.
• Su Yang went to the town mayor’s office and learned from Mr. Teshima that the mayor was in the reception room.
• Before Su Yang could knock, he overheard the mayor on the phone gathering money for the election.

Su Yang returned home and questioned his grandmother about gods and the Miyamizu Family’s history of body-swapping. He learned that the family regarded the exchanges as the will of the gods, while he suspected a phenomenon like Adolescent Syndrome.

• The mayor ended his call, then told Mr. Teshima he had not seen Mitsuha, leaving them puzzled about the Mitsuha Mr. Teshima had spotted.
• Su Yang went home to question his grandmother and heard her reject Mitsuha’s father after Futaba’s death.
• Su Yang asked whether gods existed, and his grandmother explained that adolescent girls in the Miyamizu Family often switched bodies with someone who might become their future husband.
• Su Yang considered whether the body-swapping resembled Adolescent Syndrome and told his grandmother he had been given the day off to sketch outdoors.

Su Yang tested his Soul Outing ability by leaving his body and discovering he could fly and pass through solid objects. He explored the shrine and Lake Itomori, then encountered a water snake underwater.

• Su Yang returned to his room, lay down, and used Soul Outing.
• Su Yang floated through the floor and saw Grandma weaving knot-tying cords below.
• Su Yang flew above the roof and plunged into Lake Itomori without disturbing the water.
• Su Yang spotted a water snake and swam deeper through the lake in his soul form.

Su Yang returned from exploring Itomori Town and impressed Mr. Sojiro with a painting he had casually drawn. He planned to use his apparent artistic talent to help Mitsuha and her family, and the next morning he headed to school with his drawing board.

• Su Yang returned to school before five and gave Mr. Sojiro his sketch, prompting Mr. Sojiro to call him a natural-born artist.
• At home, Su Yang asked Yotsuba how she would feel about him having painting talent and whether she wanted their father to return.
• Su Yang showed Yotsuba and Grandma his paintings and decided to make more so Mitsuha would have an easier time when she returned.
• The next morning, Yotsuba found Su Yang awake and behaving unusually modestly.
• On the way to school, Sayaka told Kawahara that Mr. Sojiro wanted to train Mitsuha in art, and Kawahara joked that he was making a move on her.

Su Yang challenged his classmates’ gossip by displaying a beautiful painting, then learned why Teacher Yukino was being shunned by third-year students. He saw Yukino hesitating at the school gate and began investigating the allegations against her.

• Su Yang painted a starry night landscape and told his classmates to improve themselves before criticizing others.
• The students noticed Yukino standing outside the school, unable to bring herself to enter.
• Su Yang recognized Yukino as the woman he had met the day before and asked Sayaka about her situation.
• Sayaka explained that third-year girls and their parents had boycotted Yukino over claims that she had seduced a student’s boyfriend.
• Sayaka said she doubted the allegations because Yukino was kind and popular with second-year students.

Su Yang saw Yukino Hyakka hesitating outside the school gate and decided to approach her, despite Sayaka and the other students only sympathizing from afar. After interrupting Teacher Ito’s attempt to speak with Yukino, Su Yang took her into the school, claiming she had come to find him.

• Sayaka told Su Yang that the school had failed to support Teacher Koyuki, who had taken leave.
• Su Yang spotted Yukino Hyakka hesitating near the school gate and left class to approach her.
• Teacher Ito reached Yukino first and greeted her, revealing his affection for her.
• Su Yang interrupted Ito, took Yukino by the wrist, and led her into the school.
• Su Yang told Ito that Yukino had come to find him and urged Ito to get to class.

Su Yang warned Yukino Hyakka to stay away from Teacher Ito and other men at school, then helped her open up about the pain caused by her beauty. Hyakka began recounting how she used makeup to look more ordinary and eventually became a teacher.

• Teacher Ito hesitated to approach Hyakka because of rumors about her and jealousy over her beauty, then decided it might be better that Mitsuha had taken her away.
• Su Yang took Hyakka by the hand and warned her not to trust men at the school.
• Su Yang explained that Hyakka’s beauty made others envy and criticize her, and that she used makeup to make herself look less beautiful.
• Hyakka admitted that she was a classical Chinese teacher and had suffered greatly at the school.
• After the bell rang and the watching students returned to class, Hyakka told Su Yang how she had learned to use makeup to avoid jealousy and later became a teacher.