I Became a Spirit in Date A Live and Refused to Date

"Oh my, what am I supposed to do without any money?"

Lingmeng stroked her chin and thought.

She was a spirit now. Without an ID or household registration, there was no way she could get a job.

Begging on the street would be too humiliating. How could a spirit like her stoop to that?

"Ah, this is so hard! Why does a spirit like me have to worry about money? I can't earn it the normal way, and it's not like I can sell my body!"

Lingmeng scratched her head in frustration and recalled a saying from her previous life—

"Money can't solve everything, but you can't do anything without it!"

She had no idea who had said it, but right now it rang painfully true.

"Damn it! I'm done worrying! I could always make a pile of counterfeit bills and fool people, or just take money by force. I'm a spirit now. It's not like the police can do anything to me!"

With a fierce look on her face, Lingmeng gave up thinking.

Of course, she was only talking. She had spent more than twenty years of her previous life under the five-star red flag. She would never do anything so deranged.

"Sigh... I guess I'll have to forget about shopping. Getting to wander around the streets at all is already pretty good."

Lingmeng let out a defeated sigh and resigned herself to it.

"Wait! There might be another way to make money!"

An idea seemed to strike her. Her lips curved upward, and her eyes gleamed.

Shido Was a Real Man!

"Damn it! I've searched more than a dozen alleys. How have I not run into a single thug?"

Lingmeng stood at the entrance to another alley, still grumbling.

Why was she looking for thugs in a place like this? Because in the anime and novels she'd seen in her previous life, whenever a protagonist was broke, all they had to do was enter a dark alley and a gang of thugs would show up looking for trouble. Once the protagonist dealt with them, they could take the cash off them with a clear conscience.

Lingmeng had wanted to try earning a little extra money that way. But after searching more than a dozen streets, she hadn't seen a thug—or even a dog. It was disheartening.

"Boohoo... Anime really is full of lies. Am I, Qian Lingmeng, just that unattractive?"

Despite her complaints, Lingmeng decided to try her luck in one more alley. If she still found nothing, she would give up for good.

Just then, she spotted an alley she hadn't checked beside a shop across the street. As though she'd found a lifeline, she hurried over.

"Buddha, please! Take pity on me and let me run into a thug!"

Lingmeng entered the alley, praying as she walked.

She made it all the way to the end, only to find that this alley was empty too.

"..."

"I'm going to lose it! Why is my luck so awful? The protagonists in those novels run into thugs so easily! We're all protagonists, so why is it so different for me?"

Lingmeng cried out to the sky in despair. She was nearly at her breaking point.

"Well, hello there, pretty girl. What are you doing here all alone?"

A sleazy voice suddenly interrupted her rant.

When Lingmeng came to her senses, she found three men behind her, looking her up and down with lecherous eyes.

Their faces, clothes, and general air all matched the throwaway thugs she'd seen in anime.

Have some thugs finally set their sights on me? Ohoho, I've been waiting forever! You're finally here!

Lingmeng beamed at the three thugs.

"Hey, let me ask you something. You're lusting after me and planning to assault me, right?"

"Whoa, little lady, you sure don't mince words!" One of the thugs pointed at himself and said confidently, "That's exactly what I want. You'd better cooperate when the time comes, or don't blame us for getting rough!"

"Now that's a textbook villain line." Lingmeng sighed and gave them a casual wave. "Come on, then, if you think you can."

That clearly struck a nerve. The three of them were grown men, and they weren't about to swallow being looked down on by a woman.

"You said it. Don't blame us for not going easy on a pretty girl!"

With that, the three thugs stepped forward to assault Lingmeng.

Lingmeng regarded them with disdain. If a few ordinary people could subdue a spirit like her, she might as well find a block of tofu and bash her head against it.

But just as their hands were about to touch her and she was about to strike, a voice rang out—

"Stop it, all of you! Aren't you ashamed of yourselves, three men picking on one girl?"

The sudden interruption left Lingmeng dumbfounded. What was with that protagonist-worthy speech?

She turned toward the voice and saw a slim boy of about sixteen, roughly 170 centimeters tall. He had androgynous features, short blue hair, brown eyes, and casual clothes.

—Shido Itsuka.

That was the boy's name.

Shido had gone out that day to buy Chupa Chups lollipops for his adorable little sister, Kotori Itsuka. On his way back, he had stumbled upon thugs harassing a beautiful girl. Being the kindhearted person he was, he couldn't ignore it.

"What do you think you're doing, kid? You want to play hero? Look at those scrawny arms of yours. Get lost while I'm still in a good mood!"

The thug spoke rudely to Shido, who had appeared out of nowhere.

"Uh... I appreciate you coming to save me, but you really should leave. You can't do much on your own. I can handle these guys."

Lingmeng spoke up awkwardly from the side.

Shido ignored both her warning and the thug's threat. He stood his ground and said firmly, "Even if I can't beat you, I'm not leaving her here! If I walk away now, I'll regret it for the rest of my life!"

Wow... That was kind of cool. Put this guy in an anime and he'd be a harem protagonist for sure!

Lingmeng stared at Shido, impressed by what he'd said.

"You know what? I hate guys who do nothing but talk big!"

One thug marched up to Shido and punched him hard in the face.

The unexpected blow knocked Shido to the ground and left a bruise on his face.

Come on, man. What you said was cool, but your performance is the complete opposite!

Lingmeng looked at Shido on the ground, at a loss for words.

To her surprise, though, Shido staggered back to his feet.

"Until... you let her go... I'm not going down!"

Wow... He might be a little weak, but he's got guts!

Shido's actions made him stand a little taller in Lingmeng's eyes.

"You can still stand? Let's see if you're so lively after another punch!"

The thug swung his fist at Shido again.

As the punch came toward him, Shido instinctively shut his eyes. Strangely, though, the blow never landed.

"Hey, now. Aren't you taking this a little too far?"

Hearing Lingmeng's voice, Shido slowly opened his eyes. Somehow, she had crossed the several meters between them and was standing at his side. Her small hand held the thug's fist, and she looked completely at ease.

"How is that possible? How did she get over there? She was right beside us!"

The other two thugs stared in shock. Lingmeng had reached the boy's side as if she'd teleported.

At Last, Some Money!

"Damn it... Why is this woman so strong?"

The thug tried to pull his arm free of Lingmeng's grip, but no matter how hard he strained, he couldn't break loose.

"I couldn't tell you. If I had to guess, I'd call it a natural gift of my species." Lingmeng narrowed her eyes and smiled.

"Hey, Yamanaka! What's wrong?"

The other two thugs saw how much their companion was struggling and called out nervously.

"I... I don't know! She's way stronger than me! Get over here and help!"

At their companion's cry for help, the two thugs rushed toward Lingmeng.

"Don't worry! She might be strong, but there are three of us! There's no way we can't beat her with numbers on our side!"

One of the thugs sounded as though having a couple more people gave them some overwhelming advantage.

"Be careful!" Shido called to Lingmeng with a worried look.

"Relax, buddy!" Lingmeng said lightly. "The last guy who tried to overwhelm me with numbers might still be in the hospital!"

She yanked the thug in front of her toward her and hit him with a flying kick.

Whoosh! Yamanaka flew into the opposite wall, a trickle of blood appearing at the corner of his mouth.

"That kick was for him!" Lingmeng declared coolly, looking at the thug slumped against the wall and barely conscious.

She called it revenge, but she had deliberately held back. With the strength of a spirit, she could have killed him on the spot.

"As for you two..." Lingmeng glanced at the thugs charging at her like wolves. Without another word, she bent her knees and sprang forward. The moment she reached them, she gave each of them a fistful of friendship to the face.

With cries of "Aah!" the two thugs flew into the wall as well.

The whole fight had lasted only a few seconds, leaving Shido thoroughly shaken.

So I was just dead weight the whole time.

Shido smiled bitterly to himself.

"Uh... you're... really strong, aren't you?" Shido said, his mouth twitching as he broke into a sweat.

"Uh... I've learned a little self-defense." Lingmeng scratched her cheek awkwardly, sounding less than convincing.

Did I overdo it?

"Uh... Haha... So that's it?"

Shido didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He knew she was lying—a girl who had learned a little self-defense couldn't take down three men that quickly. But if Lingmeng didn't want to talk about it, he didn't feel right pressing her.

"Ahem. Glad you understand." Lingmeng composed herself and walked over to the three thugs.

"D-don't come any closer!"

The thugs looked terrified as Lingmeng approached.

"You're still conscious?" Lingmeng looked down at them with a kindly smile. "Don't look so scared. I'm not some kind of monster. Hand over all the cash you have, and I'll consider going easy on you when I hit you. Of course, if you refuse..."

She cracked her knuckles.

"Yes! Here's all our cash! Please go easy on us!"

Before Lingmeng had even finished speaking, all three thugs pulled out their wallets and handed them over.

Lingmeng took out the bills and gave the cash a rough count.

Together, the three wallets held about one hundred thousand yen—roughly six thousand yuan. That was more than enough to buy what she wanted.

Counting the bills in her hands, Lingmeng felt immensely satisfied.

"Wow! You guys are pretty loaded. But I bet you stole most of this money, didn't you?"

"..."

The thugs said nothing. It seemed she had guessed right.

"All right. As promised, I'll go easy on you. Ready?"

"Gulp."

The thugs swallowed and nodded. Better to get it over with.

"Then here I go!" Lingmeng began dishing out their punishment. "Ora ora ora ora! Take my Dragon Claw Grab! Bloodline-Ending Kick! Thousand Years of Death!"