November 17.
Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture.
Pedestrians walked along the street in twos and threes.
Wangchuan walked down the sidewalk, his hands tucked into his jacket pockets, his pace unhurried. His gaze swept over the signs along the roadside before returning to the path ahead.
He had just finished a small-scale exorcism mission that had not been particularly complicated.
But all the while he walked, one thought kept turning over in his head.
He sat straight down on a chair in a shop.
"Hey, system."
"Tell me, why do I always feel like I actually am the Moon Demon whenever I switch to my demon body?"
He paused, as though waiting for a response, then continued.
"It doesn't really feel like... I'm controlling that body."
"It's more like that body is leading me."
"The way I speak, the speed of my thoughts, even my attitude toward handling certain things-all of it changes."
He frowned slightly.
"Even though I know those are my own choices, sometimes there's a moment."
"A very brief moment when I wonder who the person speaking actually is."
"Fuck!"
"Am I seriously being possessed?!"
The system responded almost instantly.
A message appeared directly in his field of vision, laid out in its usual concise, precise format.
[Host inquiry received. Retrieving character compatibility data... Analysis complete.] [Answer follows:] [The "personality overlay effect" you are currently experiencing is a normal phenomenon during the loading of a higher-order template. It is neither a system malfunction nor a remnant of Tso Lan's own will.]
Wangchuan's brow twitched.
He did not interrupt and continued walking, his gaze resting on the road ahead, like a student listening attentively to a lecture.
The system continued its output.
``` [The reasons are as follows:]
[As the Moon Demon, Tso Lan exists on a