Girls Waiting for the Latest Gossip Online / A Chaotic World

"The connection between Meiko and the Ley Line will take some time to recover, and the Shrine Headquarters has already sent people to check the situation here. If they find a reason, Meiko will definitely be taken away under the pretext of investigation," the Omiya Shrine Maiden said calmly. "If Meiko is taken away by them, she will definitely not come back. Our Chichibu Shrine will probably have to wait another ten years to see a new god."

"Therefore, we cannot give the Shrine Headquarters a reason to take Meiko away now. We must at least wait until Meiko reconnects with the Ley Line."

As she explained, the Omiya Shrine Maiden looked at the Miyauchi Hiyage, her expression softening slightly, and she explained in more detail, "I am not restricting Meiko's freedom, but rather this is for Meiko's future freedom."

"Although the Shrine Headquarters is the core of Shinto, the rules are even stricter. I trained there for several years and know the situation there. It is not suitable for Meiko's current physical condition. As Meiko's teacher, I will not harm her. I have already told Meiko these things."

"Moreover, if you don't explain it this way, you'll definitely run into a lot of trouble."

Well, here comes another top-ranking shrine maiden from a national shrine who's hinting at the corruption within her faction's upper echelons.

He was already sensing the trouble ahead.

Miyauchi Hiyage really misses the days when she was just an unknown nobody.

But since it had already happened, Miyauchi Hiyage was naturally prepared to hear what the Omiya Shrine Maiden had to say.

"I understand. If anyone asks, I will explain as you wish."

He paused for a moment, then continued to ask, "But if someone goes to investigate that spatial rift, they should be able to discover what's on the other side of the rift very quickly, right? Is our explanation really helpful?"

The Omiya Shrine Maiden nodded, a relieved smile on her face, "I knew I hadn't misjudged you."

"You don't need to worry about the spatial rift. After you came back from there, I felt that the space in that unstable area was rapidly recovering. Perhaps the spatial rift had already automatically recovered before the people from the Shrine Headquarters arrived."

"Most importantly, those high-ranking officials value their lives far more than you think. They won't take the risk unless they're absolutely certain."

"After we clean all these marks and traces off you and Meiko, you can go back and rest. I will let you know in advance if anything happens."

Chapter 210: The Girls Waiting Online for Gossip

Among the girls who have Diary, many of them read the unremarkable diary entry posted by the You Know Who tonight. After noting down the names of the bands and groups, they glanced at the group chat and went back to dealing with their own affairs.

After all, they're not in a band and they're not in Tokyo, so getting involved in these topics would make them seem out of place.

But for those girls who love chatting in group chats, tonight they were truly on the front lines of gossip.

Everyone initially thought this was just a You Know Who had died and was writing a random diary entry. Then, the group's acknowledged "sickly girl," Honma Meiko, explained her current situation in the group.

The woman, Miyauchi Himekage, who was having Miyauchi Hiyage with multiple girls in the group, had a supernatural awakening while filming a horror video. She also made contact with a Shinto shrine maiden. Now they are following a top-ranking shrine maiden from Chichibu Shrine to the place where she drowned years ago to resolve her physical problems.

This breaking news is much more exciting and exciting than discussing in a group chat about which band's hit song it is.

Suddenly, no one talked to Bocchi-chan about the band anymore; everyone started paying attention to Honma Meiko and that Miyauchi Hiyage.

After a certain Umaru, who loves to watch the drama unfold, repeatedly tagged Shiina Mashiro to ask if she knew about this, Shiina Mashiro, who usually doesn't speak much in the group, posted a message based on the text that Miyauchi Hiyage had sent her beforehand. "Miyauchi Hiyage told me that night, but I didn't ask any more questions."

Then she went back underwater and stopped talking.

Seeing Shiina Mashiro's matter-of-fact attitude, Umaru muttered to herself that it was boring.

She had originally thought that Miyauchi Hiyage would keep this a secret, and might even create a chaotic scene for her to enjoy.

Who knew that Miyauchi Hiyage would be so "sincere," telling Shiina Mashiro, who was far away in Tokyo, about it as soon as he woke up.

Although it's still unclear what abilities Miyauchi Hiyage has awakened, the mere fact that she's able to awaken extraordinary abilities is enough to make the girls in the group envious.

Kasumigaoka Utaha was also somewhat envious of Shiina Mashiro's calm and composed remarks.

Although she has indeed consulted Miyauchi Hiyage frequently these days about various matters, he has consistently provided good solutions.

However, since she hasn't yet revealed to Miyauchi Hiyage that she is also a "Breathing Technique successor" like Honma Meiko and Shiina Mashiro, their relationship is naturally not as close as theirs.

Thinking that Miyauchi Hiyage first helped Shiina Mashiro adjust the rhythm of her Breathing Technique, and now that she has just awakened her supernatural power and made contact with the Shinto, she took the initiative to use her personal connections for Honma Meiko's body.

Miyauchi Hiyage is indeed a good man with affection and loyalty.

Thinking that the other person might transfer to a specialized school like Yotsuya Miko and Shinomiya Kaguya after returning to Tokyo, Kasumigaoka Utaha felt that she still had to seize the last opportunity and further consolidate the relationship by relying on her status as her senior and the "successor of the Breathing Technique".

Even if Miyauchi Hiyage leaves, she will still have a reason to continue using Miyauchi Hiyage to complete her daily tasks.

As she pondered how to make Miyauchi Hiyage "coincidentally" witness her practicing her Breathing Technique after the Golden Week holiday, Kasumigaoka Utaha fell into deep thought.

As a result of Honma Meiko's explanation, the group chat was soon filled with discussions among the girls about transcendent awakening and Honma Meiko's physical condition.

Because Honma Meiko, the group gradually dispersed after chatting for more than twenty minutes without waiting for anything further.

Then news of a 5.8 magnitude earthquake suddenly came from Chichibu City.

Although earthquakes are not exactly news, a magnitude 5.8 earthquake is still considered a moderate to strong earthquake and has a certain degree of destructive power.

After everyone Honma Meiko to ask if she had encountered any danger, and she still didn't reply, everyone started to get anxious.

Later, when Shinomiya Kaguya used her own abilities to discover that the epicenter of the earthquake seemed to be the mountain and surrounding area mentioned by Honma Meiko, everyone in the group became even more worried.

Although I know the other party has top-level protection, their lack of response in the group chat is still somewhat worrying.

Furthermore, Shinomiya Kaguya even made a phone call to inquire, only to be told that the user was not in the service area.

At this point, Gokō Ruri, the former chuunibyou girl who has now evolved into a skilled female streamer with some online fame, once again shared her speculation in the group.

"Or perhaps, this is an aftershock of the battle between that special-grade priestess and the mysterious Vengeful Spirit that cursed Menma?"

Having studied at the Jujutsu High for a few days and read many books, Yotsuya Miko quickly explained that there were regulations in the Reverse Side World requiring the setting up of a barrier called a "tent" before exorcising the cursed spirits, in order to prevent the battle with those cursed spirits from affecting the outside world.

"After all, that's a top-tier one. If the Vengeful Spirit clinging to Menma is also top-tier, it wouldn't be too strange if exorcising a top-tier Vengeful Spirit caused some disturbance, right?" Gokō Ruri boldly speculated.

"And it's precisely because it's inside the barrier that it's not so easy for us to get through when we call."

This guess has gained considerable acceptance.

So, in order to get firsthand information from Honma Meiko, these girls who had nothing to do at night continued to stay by the Chat Group, waiting for Honma Meiko's reply.

During this process, Kasumigaoka Utaha secretly dialed Miyauchi Hiyage's number as a test.

After all, an earthquake occurred in Chichibu, so it's normal for her, as an upperclassman, to care about her junior Asahigaoka, who lives not far from Chichibu.

Even though it still shows that the call was outside the service area, if Miyauchi Hiyage sees the missed call later, she will surely come over and explain the situation to her.

Kasumigaoka Utaha wore a knowing look on her face.

Just waiting like that, the girls in the group unknowingly waited for a full two hours, until it was time for Honma Meiko and Miyauchi Hiyage to return.

However, as soon Honma Meiko returned, she was pulled away by the Omiya Shrine Maiden to perform a ceremony, so she really didn't have time to check her phone. Naturally, she didn't notice the bunch of girls on her phone who were eagerly waiting to see what was going on.

Meanwhile, Miyauchi Hiyage, after having his hands cleaned of debris by Kano Shrine Maiden's magic, left the mountain barrier accompanied by her.

No sooner had they left the barrier than Miyauchi Hiyage's phone started buzzing with message notifications.

The Kano Shrine Maiden naturally knew the truth about Miyauchi Hiyage's disappearance for two hours, and having already decided to keep it a secret, she nodded to Miyauchi Hiyage and gave a "barely plausible" reason.

"During the ceremony, the cell phones were turned off to ensure its sanctity?"

The person on the other end of the phone made dozens of calls in those two hours, and even almost risked the aftershocks to run to Chichibu Shrine to find Miyauchi Hiyage. Fortunately, Kaede Kagayama, who was finally stopped by Fujimiya Miki, visibly breathed a sigh of relief after hearing Miyauchi Hiyage's voice again.

But then, she couldn't help but feel a little confused.

Can the rituals at Chichibu Shrine be this rigorous?

Even an earthquake couldn't stop the ceremony?

"Yes, that's what the shrine maiden said. She said it was a test from the gods, and if the ritual was interrupted because of it, Menma would completely lose the chance to recover," Miyauchi Hiyage added many details to the Kano Shrine Maiden's description.

Kaede Kagayama felt that something was wrong, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. In the end, she could only tell Miyauchi Hiyage it was dangerous outside and he should come back quickly.

"I'm all set here and will be back soon," Miyauchi Hiyage said, then briefly inquired about everyone's condition.

After dealing with his relatives and friends in Asahigaoka, Miyauchi Hiyage briefly explained the situation to those who had sent messages of concern.

The most outrageous thing about all of this was probably the film set in Asahigaoka.

When he first learned that an earthquake had occurred in Chichibu, he was worried that if filming at the Asahigaoka set was suspended, Tohru wouldn't be able to find the location of the set if she went there.

When these guys realized there was an earthquake, since they were in an open area, they simply filmed a scene of the ground shaking, so they could use it in a future useful situation.

Don't ask why the main characters weren't in this scene before; the answer is simply the unavoidable scene-changing tactic in tokusatsu works.

In short, when Miyauchi Hiyage, after hanging up the phone, learned that the film set in Asahigaoka had actually saved a considerable amount of money on props thanks to the previous earthquake and was still working hard to film, she couldn't help but wonder if the motivational talk she had given them earlier had been too effective.

Let's raise everyone's wages again when we get back, otherwise this money is a bit too much for him to handle now that he can find money on the street.

Miyauchi Hiyage thought to himself, "Because of the earthquake, I've already found three wallets in the city."

Because the Kano Shrine Maiden was with him, when he called Shiina Mashiro, he only briefly mentioned that he was fine and would be returning to Tokyo the day after tomorrow.

Kasumigaoka Utaha finally received a thank-you email from Miyauchi Hiyage.

"I was attending a special prayer ceremony at Chichibu Shrine and couldn't use my phone. Thank you for your concern, senior. I'm fine here. I'll bring you some local specialties from Asahigaoka and Chichibu when I go back to Tokyo in a few days."

Looking at the short email, Kasumigaoka Utaha nodded in satisfaction, then took the email to the group chat to let everyone know she was safe.

"Miyauchi Hiyage is able to reply to messages now. It seems that Menma's curse has been resolved. Menma, Menma probably needs to rest after dealing with her physical problems, which is why she hasn't replied to messages in the group yet. She should reply to us tomorrow when she sees the messages in her hand."

The girls, who had been waiting for so long, were told that they might not get any melons tonight and couldn't help but complain.

However, some of them closed the group chat and prepared to rest.

As time slowly approached midnight, Honma Meiko's words brought the previously quiet Chat Group back to life.

"So the Chat Group can be used even when there is no signal. I wish I had noticed that when I was in the other world... Anyway, thank you all for your concern. I'm fine here, and the problem with my body has been resolved. Once the Ley Line in Chichibu are properly connected, I won't have to worry about any more health issues."

Honma Meiko was resting on the sidelines after her situation stabilized and the Omiya Shrine Maiden and the others seemed to relax a lot. Unable to sleep due to the infusion of Spiritual Power, she remembered that she needed to explain her situation to her family.

As a result, she found that her phone still couldn't receive a signal inside the barrier.

On her entire phone, the 999+ messages in the Chat Group were probably the only way she could connect with the outside world.

Then she looked at it and found that most of these chat logs were actually related to her and Miyauchi Hiyage.

She then quickly sent a message thanking everyone in the group for their concern.

And with the message she sent.

In the early hours of the morning, the few nocturnal creatures in the group suddenly started to show up.

UMR: "?"

Kashiko Kasumi: "?"

Black Cat: "?"

When Umaru saw the message she was particularly concerned about in the group while staying up late playing games, she thought it was a reward for staying up all night.

But after taking a closer look, she immediately showed a puzzled expression.

Another world?

Ley Line?

It's only been a few hours, but it feels like a lot has happened to the other person.

However, after taking a look, it seemed that only these three or four night owls were still staying up late in the group, so Umaru took the initiative to ask them about the details of tonight.

Honma Meiko felt quite at ease with everyone in the Chat Group. After all, with the Diary protecting them, they couldn't harm each other, not only directly but also indirectly, as it would generate danger warnings to stop them.

After that, Honma Meiko began by talking about her physical condition, how she accidentally made a contract with the local Ley Line when she was a child, and how she was affected by the spatial fluctuations nearby, which led to a brief trip to another world.

Then, with the help of Miyauchi Hiyage, they helped a dying dragon and finally brought the dragon, who had lost its home in the other world, back to the present world.

"Ah, regarding the ability that Himakage-kun awakened, although I do know about it now, I feel it's not good to reveal his privacy, so I'll leave it at that for now. All I can say is that without Himakage-kun's help, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to return from that world, nor would I have been able to save Miss Tohru."

"Also, please continue to keep the matter of the other world and Miss Tohru a secret. I feel that Miss Tohru has a pretty good personality. She promised when she came here that she would not have any impact on our world. If there is an opportunity in the future, I will take everyone to meet Miss Tohru!"

Chapter 211: A Chaotic World

Before Honma Meiko appeared, everyone thought they were going to hear about what cursed Honma Meiko's body.

Then, at the request of Chichibu Shrine Miyauchi Hiyage, the special-grade shrine maiden of Chichibu Shrine descended from the mountains and fought a three-hundred-round battle against a special-grade curse that was hiding in the mountains and cursing the lives of others. In the end, she successfully broke the curse that was harming the world and allowed Honma Meiko's body to return to normal.

But now, seeing what Honma Meiko is saying in the group chat, the few people in the group who are still awake are even less sleepy.

They carefully read the message sent by Honma Meiko.

It turns out there was never a curse. It was simply that Honma Meiko's fate was to die five years ago and then become the local Mountain God through a contract with the Ley Line.

It was only because Miyauchi Hiyage changed her fate that a series of events followed.

Now that Honma Meiko has been accepted as a disciple by the top-ranking shrine maiden of Chichibu Shrine, her future can be described as bright.

"So, a deity might soon appear in our Chat Group?"

Umaru held her phone, looking at Honma Meiko's description in disbelief.

No, everyone in the group is still diligently practicing the Ripple Breathing given by the You Know Who. Although Yotsuya Miko recently enrolled in the Jujutsu High and obtained many introductory training methods for everyone.