What good was unlocking a Guardian Spirit slot? Why not just give me a Saber right off the bat?!
"Guardian Spirits..." Amamiya Natsuki carefully read the description and couldn't help complaining inwardly. Isn't this just a Stand from JoJo?
King Crimson, The World, Golden Requiem... Even a fool could tell Guardian Spirits couldn't possibly be that powerful.
After mulling it over for a few seconds, Amamiya Natsuki had already settled on the perfect Guardian Spirit.
He quietly turned his head. Fujiwara Chika was happily chatting with her friends. As a naturally airheaded girl with a huge heart, she had already put everything in the game behind her.
"What a shame."
Amamiya Natsuki let out a helpless sigh.
The perfect Guardian Spirit was clearly the bow-wearing girl right in front of him. Unfortunately, humans didn't meet the requirements.
Once the Anti-Pornography and Black Market Crackdown Unit split up, it would be nothing.
"Hmm?"
Noticing Amamiya Natsuki's gaze, Fujiwara Chika tilted her head toward him.
The next moment.
Amamiya Natsuki suddenly felt his pinky twitch.
Clearly, the Red string worked in the real world too.
He looked up. Fujiwara Chika had quietly raised her right hand beside her face and made a scissors sign.
"Ehehe~"
What are you ehehe-ing about?! Had Barbatos's curse spread across the multiverse?!
The day passed in a hurry.
Save Miojiu Lingjiu, the Spirit-Rescuing Tyrant
In the blink of an eye, it was time to leave school.
At some point, the sky had turned from clear to overcast, and it looked like rain was about to fall.
Shinomiya Kaguya left the school and walked up to a black luxury car.
"It looks like it's going to rain."
The Blonde Girl, who had been sucking on a lollipop, opened the car door. Once Shinomiya Kaguya got in, she went around to the other side, climbed in, and sat beside Kaguya.
The driver was a gray-haired middle-aged man with decades of experience behind the wheel and not a single accident to his name—a genuine Veteran Driver.
"Don't go back to the villa yet." Shinomiya Kaguya suddenly spoke, her voice cool and composed. "I want to go somewhere."
The driver paused and turned to glance at the Blonde Girl.
With a soft pop, the Blonde Girl pulled the lollipop from her mouth. Her cherry-blossom-pink lips glistened, and she tilted her head curiously.
"Where would you like to go, Young Lady? The Shopping mall to buy clothes?"
"I know a really good lingerie shop. I highly recommend one particular pair of Winning Underwear."
"What do you mean, sexy lingerie?" Shinomiya Kaguya couldn't help retorting. "Why would I buy something like that?"
The Blonde Girl replied as if it were obvious:
"I completely understand how the Young Lady feels after reading The Manual for Raising a Loyal Dog Boyfriend. You want to put what you've learned into practice and turn the boy you like into a loyal dog."
"I've only read half that book! I haven't finished it!"
"And as for a boy I like..." Shinomiya Kaguya paused for half a second, then said expressionlessly, "There isn't one."
"Tsk~"
The Blonde Girl put the lollipop back in her mouth. "Young Lady, Tsundere is out of fashion."
Shinomiya Kaguya turned away. A misty rain had begun falling outside the window.
"Anyway... I want to go take a look."
At the same time.
Amamiya Natsuki was on his way home when he ran into Miko and her Bestie, Yurikawa Hana.
"Good afternoon, Natsuki-classmate."
Yurikawa Hana greeted him with a blush. The Button Incident from a few afternoons ago was still affecting her. The more she thought about it afterward, the more embarrassed she got. Now, whenever she saw Amamiya Natsuki, she blushed.
She hadn't thought about it at the time... But she'd searched under the bed for a button in such an embarrassing pose. He must have gotten a good look at her panties!
"Good afternoon." Amamiya Natsuki greeted her and walked over to the two girls. "Why do you only have one umbrella?"
Miko still had dark circles under her eyes. Her listless expression made her look like a lazy fish as she answered weakly:
"Hana forgot to bring an umbrella when she left this morning."
"I was busy checking my horoscope, so I accidentally forgot when I went out." Yurikawa Hana patted her chest. "Don't worry, Miko. I definitely won't forget my umbrella next time."
Amamiya Natsuki commented from the side:
"People who say that usually forget again next time."
Yurikawa Hana puffed out her cheeks. "You're so mean, Natsuki-classmate."
"..."
They chatted as they walked, and soon arrived at Miko's house. Yurikawa Hana waved goodbye and didn't come in to read together. She borrowed Miko's umbrella and went straight home.
Amamiya Natsuki held the umbrella over Miko's head and looked at his alluring Childhood Sweetheart with a serious expression.
"Miko, I need you to help me train."
Yotsuya Miko: "???"
"Dummy Natsuki, what did you just say?"
Yotsuya Miko tilted her head in confusion.
Amamiya Natsuki sighed.
"Actually, that game chose me again this morning..."
"Huh?" Yotsuya Miko froze. A hint of worry appeared on her pretty face as she reached out to check him for injuries. "You're not hurt, are you?"
"No."
Amamiya Natsuki shook his head and briefly explained what had happened in the game.
"So much happened..." Yotsuya Miko bit her lower lip. Since she wasn't a player, she couldn't help even if she wanted to. "What did you mean by training?"
"The mall refreshed with an interesting ability today," Amamiya Natsuki said. "I Don't Want to Work Hard Anymore."
Yotsuya Miko gave him a skeptical look. "...That sounds pretty shady."
[Skill: I Don't Want to Work Hard Anymore] [Price: 50 game coins] [Item properties: This skill is specially designed for players who don't want to work hard. Get stronger just by lying down. You only need to lie flat on the ground and let other people step on you. You can absorb the energy from being trampled and convert it into a special energy that improves your physical fitness.] [Note: Rich Loli, I don't want to work hard anymore!]
When Amamiya Natsuki woke up that morning, he'd checked the Game Mall out of habit. The high-grade items had refreshed.
He hadn't expected to find anything besides permanent stat boosts. He hadn't realized there were skills, too.
He hadn't paid much attention when he first saw it. He'd spent almost all his game coins over the past few days and was too broke to buy it.
Who knew he'd be pulled into the game again that morning and get rich overnight after clearing it?
So he'd been tempted.
Who wouldn't be tempted by a skill that let them get stronger just by lying down, all the way to the limits of human potential?
Amamiya Natsuki was an only child. He didn't have a little sister and didn't know any Rich Lolis, but that didn't matter. He had a Childhood Sweetheart.
"Getting stronger just by lying there and letting someone step on you..." Yotsuya Miko hugged her chest and couldn't help complaining. "That's way too weird."
Amamiya Natsuki held the umbrella. "There's nothing wrong with thinking of it as a back massage."
"Even so..." Yotsuya Miko hesitated. "It still feels weird."
Amamiya Natsuki sighed helplessly. "You stepped on my back back in middle school, didn't you?"
"That was just because I was curious." Yotsuya Miko's pretty face reddened slightly. She let out a soft breath and agreed. "All right... Let's talk about it after we get home."
During the summer vacation in their second year of middle school, the two of them had been watching TV at home when they happened to see someone getting a back massage. They'd tried it once out of curiosity, but it hadn't felt comfortable, so they'd never done it again.
It wasn't their first time, so doing it again wouldn't be a big deal.
They were Childhood Sweethearts, after all. Of course she wanted Amamiya Natsuki to be safe and sound. She couldn't help him in the game, but she couldn't just stand by and do nothing in real life.
"I'm home."
Yotsuya Miko unlocked the door and stepped into the entryway.
"Welcome home."
A faint, indistinct voice came from the living room. Miko's Dad was sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper. Hearing them, he looked up.
Amamiya Natsuki and Yotsuya Miko both pretended not to see him.
"Your shoulders are soaked." Yotsuya Miko lifted the hair hanging beside her ear with her right hand and tucked it back, then bent down to change her shoes. "My socks are damp too. It feels awful."
"It's normal for your shoulders to get wet when two people share an umbrella," Amamiya Natsuki said. "Go take a bath first, so you don't catch a cold."
"Mm." Yotsuya Miko answered and walked over to the fridge. "Go wait for me in my room..."
She opened the fridge, and a rotting Head Spirit appeared on the top shelf, its dead-fish eyes fixed on Yotsuya Miko.
Yotsuya Miko bit her lower lip. "Natsuki, come pick out a drink."
Amamiya Natsuki walked over and took a look. Well, well—it was an old acquaintance.
For some reason, this Vengeful Spirit liked hanging out inside the fridge. Amamiya Natsuki saw it every morning when he got up.
"I'll have black tea."
Amamiya Natsuki calmly reached toward the Head Evil Spirit and silently activated his Evil Spirit Repellent Aura.
The Evil Spirit's head in the fridge immediately began screaming, then quickly turned into black smoke and disappeared.
He took out a can of green tea and headed upstairs. "Go take a bath."
Yotsuya Miko secretly let out a sigh of relief, turned around, and grabbed the bathroom doorknob, ready to go take a bath.
The next moment.
The black-haired girl's golden eyes suddenly widened, and her body began trembling against her will.
Inside the bathroom.
A terrifying Evil Spirit, nearly large enough to fill the entire room, waited just behind the door. Its face was covered in scarlet compound eyes like an insect's, and it was staring directly at Yotsuya Miko.
"You... can see me?"
The chilling, hollow voice fell into her ears.
Yotsuya Miko trembled slightly. A misty haze quickly welled up in her eyes, and she nearly burst into tears.
This was too much.
Far too much!
She'd only just dealt with the Head Evil Spirit in the fridge, and now, just when she'd started to relax, an Evil Spirit had sprung a door-opening scare on her. Yotsuya Miko had nearly screamed.
"You can see me?"
The compound-eyed Evil Spirit slowly pressed closer. Dozens of eyes stared fixedly at Yotsuya Miko, and its wicked, sinister aura made the mist in her eyes grow thicker.
"Natsuki—"
Before you continue