Chapter 220: Kisaragi Station Belonging To One Person Only! Black Phone Booth Disaster! Ghost God Great Demon Thrown From The Train
Manga Artist.
A profession that weaves dreams for others, turning all sorts of bizarre and fantastical imaginings into black-and-white panels and collected volumes.
Some people have loved manga since childhood, loved being chuunibyou, loved fantasy, so they worked hard after growing up to become manga artists.
Though without any major achievements, they won a Newcomer Award once, gaining a bit of fame, and survived in the industry by staking their life on tormenting deadlines.
——Yet even if they keep saying it’s all for the readers’ sake.
In the end, manga and creation are deeply personal matters.
Even if a thousand or ten thousand people say they want to see ending A, if the author themselves wants to see ending B, the manga’s direction will change.
And thus, the logic breaks down.
“Deus ex machina.”
That’s what readers call such illogical behavior.
Such manga will be trashed by a thousand or ten thousand people as trash, with no chance of recovery.
Right now, a third-rate manga artist is doing just that.
“This is a trial.”
“Geniuses from all over the world have gathered, and based on the floors they’ve cleared in the trial secret realm, they’ll be ranked on a black stone tablet.”
“Among them is a 【hero】 who once saved an ordinary high school girl.”
“Since it’s a hero, there should be a 【weapon】 fitting for them in hand.”
“So, what weapon should the hero hold?”
“A: An indestructible sword of the brave that cuts through anything endlessly.
B: An ancient magic staff capable of instant spellcasting and amplifying power.”
“And I choose C—a super giant cleaver over forty meters long that only the hero can easily lift and swing, destroying everything in its blade’s path.”
“So the next time the hero enters the trial, this cleaver will appear in his hand.”
The story’s logic breaks down here.
But the manga artist sets down the pen in satisfaction.
This is the ending she wanted.
——A so-called hero should effortlessly crush those stepping stones underfoot, whether they intend to or not.
Then receive the worship and reverence of countless people.
……
【You obtained an unknown powerful BUFF!】
【This buff will take effect the next time you enter the “projection secret realm”!】
What the hell?
Shangshan Che, sitting on the toilet, froze.
He was just sitting here doing nothing—how did he trigger such a weird prompt?
Damn, could it be a problem with where he’s sitting?
In some video Shangshan Che had seen before, a burly guy sat on a golden toilet and gained great power, but then couldn’t stand up again.
Thinking of this, he quickly stood up from the toilet that hadn’t even been opened, flipping up the porcelain white lid.
Shangshan Che looked down.
Good, nothing inside.
After sighing in relief, Shangshan Che started wondering again—how could he get such a random buff?
And a “powerful buff” targeted at secret realm strategies!
“So many weird things today…”
Shangshan Che muttered.
He continued looking at the Special Affairs Office forum on his mobile phone, where it was buzzing with activity, and found a bunch of people @ing Anonymous 666, asking him to step in and save the day.
Otherwise, the Top 100 Ranking’s top three spots were all taken by scions of great families—which was a huge loss of face for most of the forum bros from ordinary backgrounds!
Shangshan Che scrolled and chuckled, in no rush at all.
Because now Minamoto Shizuka and that Kyuuketsuin Kin—who looked like a woman no matter how you saw it but was male—were both blocked by the 41st Floor’s strong projection.
And both killed once.
More crucially, the two of them had cleared from the first floor through the 40th Floor without taking much time.
From this situation, Shangshan Che had every reason to suspect—
Starting from the 39th Floor, each subsequent floor’s projection strength was a geometric multiple of the previous one’s.
This was evident from the Ootama Hoshi directly transitioning to his own projection.
Back then, after activating “Anger,” he had casually waved and blasted Ootama Hoshi to bits.
Since Minamoto Shizuka and the other had been stopped on their first strategy run by the 41st Floor, clearing the 42nd Floor—in other words, nearly the entire secret realm—in short order was basically impossible.
So his slot for “first to clear the secret realm” was very secure.
Rock solid.
Plus, he hadn’t fully exploited the remaining value of his projection on the 40th Floor yet…
He still hadn’t exchanged insights on skills like Natural Reason School, Corona Breathing Technique, Spirit Control Technique, and more—how could he just draw his cleaver and chop his own projection?
“Let them sweat it out.”
Shangshan Che pocketed his mobile phone, unlocked the door, and opened the restroom door.
Outside, Tamamo—who was rubbing her sleepy eyes and just about to put her hand on the handle—jumped in fright, yelped in panic, slipped, and fell backward.
“Wah, we’re gonna die!”
Kaga Kiyomitsu whooshed behind her, easily catching the petite Tamamo.
After steadily catching her, Kaga Kiyomitsu even poked out a little from the scabbard, casually greeting Tamamo.
“Buzz~”
Tamamo, steadied by Little Jia, stood in place panting for several breaths before recovering from her startled state.
Her face pale, she hunched over with hands dangling, swaying left and right like a young zombie,
“Elder Brother Shangshan, if you’re inside, say something ahead of time—suddenly opening the door like that is really scary…”
Shangshan Che found it odd that an experienced agent like Tamamo would be spooked by something so minor, but he just casually remarked,
“Weren’t you just sleeping?”
“Uh… we have nothing to say.”
Tamamo shrank back, nodding helplessly.
Shangshan Che no longer blocked the door, stepped out, listened to the outside noises for a bit longer, then suggested to Tamamo, who was simply washing up,
“How about we leave once Yagyu Jun finishes the secret realm? More and more people are coming; it’ll definitely get chaotic later.”
——Anyway, he could directly pull up the panel and enter the secret realm remotely.
“We have no objections.”
Tamamo, who was rubbing her face with baby wipes, looked up and responded.
After wiping her face, Tamamo took out her mobile phone and tapped Yagyu Oshi, but got no reply.
That meant the other was in the midst of a secret realm challenge.
“Probably need to wait a bit longer.” Tamamo smiled apologetically. “Elder Brother Shangshan, if you’re in a hurry, you can go ahead alone.”
“I’ll wait; I’m fine.”
Shangshan Che shook his head, sat on the floating Kaga Kiyomitsu, and used Qi Barrier to support it from below, trying to attempt sword flight.
But clearly, Little Jia couldn’t adapt to a person’s weight all at once, repeatedly dumping Shangshan Che several times.
Midway, Tamamo took a call.
Shangshan Che heard words like “Supernatural Phenomenon” and “Grounded” from the other end.
But seeing Tamamo’s calm, unflappable expression, he didn’t pay it much mind.
Tamamo spoke at a moderate pace, clearly and deliberately: “You two take them, don’t panic, don’t speak loudly, don’t run around everywhere—hide as best you can. I’ll call for support right away…”
“Ah—!”
With a piercing scream that even Shangshan Che heard clearly, Tamamo jolted in shock.
Then the busy tone echoed out.
The call was hung up.
Tamamo immediately brought the mobile phone to her face and redialed.
But this time, no one picked up.
For the first time, Shangshan Che saw panic on the face of this girl under 1.5 meters tall.
It was an expression she hadn’t shown even when preparing to self-destruct against hundreds or thousands of demons in the tunnel.
Tamamo took two deep breaths, quickly composed her expression, and dialed another number.
This time she turned on speaker, so Shangshan Che could see the phone screen clearly.
The contact was a familiar string of digits—likely some Special Affairs Office agent’s number.
Less than two seconds later, the call connected.
Tamamo’s face lit up.
She was just about to speak when a very childish girl’s voice came through: “Sis… sis?”
“Chisa-chan!?”
Tamamo instinctively shouted.
She quickly covered her mouth, confirmed the number several times, clenched her fists, and whispered, “Chisa-chan, how did you get this phone? What about the uncle who had it?”
“Uncle… Uncle looks bad, passed out.”
The childlike voice stuttered a bit: “We saw sis’s name lit up on it, so we picked up.”
Tamamo’s face turned ashen, unable to speak.
Until Chisa-chan’s childish voice came again,
“Sis?”
Tamamo snapped out of it, slapped herself twice hard, lowered her voice, and rapidly rattled off a bunch of things to do and precautions in a jumble.
On the other end, after two clear deep breaths, Chisa-chan’s voice was calm and steady,
“Sis, I got it. I’ll do my best.”
Tamamo’s finger, about to hang up, trembled slightly.
But in the end, she chose to end the call herself.
——Because the Supernatural Phenomenon massively appearing in Shizuoka Prefecture was the 【Black Phone Booth】. Keeping the line open now to stay connected would greatly increase the risk of being targeted by the Supernatural Phenomenon.
The moment she hung up, Tamamo pulled up Yagyu Oshi’s number again.
But Yagyu Oshi was in the secret realm now, unreachable.
Instinctively, Tamamo turned to Shangshan Che, mouth opening as if to say something.
But then she looked back down at the contacts on her screen.
——She really couldn’t bring herself to ask, couldn’t drag Shangshan Che—who had nothing to do with this—into such a life-and-death crisis.
Though from these past few days, Tamamo knew that if she asked, Elder Brother Shangshan would definitely help.
But she couldn’t get past her own conscience.
Tamamo’s fingers anxiously scrolled through her contacts, but the seemingly impressive list was useless.
——Even the nearest support she could call was at least an hour away from Shizuoka City.
And after an hour, everything would be over!
Shangshan Che silently watched Tamamo, whose face was pale without a trace of blood color, for a long moment, finally unable to hold back and spoke,
“Tamamo, what happened?”
“My family went to Shizuoka Prefecture and ran right into a massive outbreak of the Black Phone Booth Supernatural Phenomenon…”
Before she finished her instinctive reply, Tamamo covered her mouth.
She gave a dry laugh: “This has nothing to do with you, Elder Brother Shangshan…”
Seeing her smile, uglier than crying, Shangshan Che said flatly: “Keep going. I have a grudge against that Black Phone Booth.”
He emphasized: “The you-die-I-live kind.”
Kaga Kiyomitsu buzzed in agreement, proving Shangshan Che wasn’t bluffing.
Seeing Shangshan Che say this, Tamamo finally forcibly moved her hand from her mouth.
One deep breath with all her might.
All prior hesitation and reluctance cast aside, Tamamo clenched her fists tight and spoke at top speed,
“The Black Phone Booth’s main body has appeared in Shizuoka Prefecture. The local Special Affairs Office sent agents to handle it, but most have gone missing.”
The Black Phone Booth’s main body?
Shangshan Che frowned. Didn’t he remember Nanjo Emi saying someone was handling this Supernatural Phenomenon?
Moreover, Shizuoka City, as Shizuoka Prefecture’s “capital,” how could its defenses be so weak as to let a Supernatural Phenomenon not even Ghost God level invade on this scale?
He asked: “What about the local Ghost God level?”
“Left late the night before last, returning tonight.” Tamamo’s voice shook as she read the info. “That’s probably why the Black Phone Booth chose this timing.”
Shangshan Che’s expression grew subtle.
Such precise timing… either someone behind the Black Phone Booth—in other words, a Great Demon skilled in Divination from the Demon Guide Association—acted,
Or there was an issue inside the Special Affairs Office.
Shangshan Che didn’t dwell on it.
Better to settle scores after the matter was done.
Tamamo continued explaining the situation to him,
“No strong support near Shizuoka City. Agents with enough strength will take at least an hour to arrive.”
“—If it’s strong support, aren’t there two right here.”
Shangshan Che pointed toward the Sengoku Secret Realm.
Clearly referring to Minamoto Shizuka and Kyuuketsuin Kin.
“But…”
Tamamo mustered her breath, but it deflated instantly: “Those two just entered the secret realm again.”
This timing.
Shangshan Che tsked.
Tamamo forced herself to calm down: “Even if those two graciously agreed to help, it’d take over an hour to get from here to Shizuoka City—no use either way.”
Exactly.
From the edge of Hamamatsu City to Shizuoka City, even hopping on the Shinkansen right now would take a full hour to arrive.
Thinking this, Tamamo even felt it didn’t matter if she told Shangshan Che or not.
Anyway, they couldn’t make it.
Shangshan Che also realized the spatial distance issue.
But beyond normal transport, there was one extremely special method to get there.
Four somewhat dated words surfaced in his mind.
——Kisaragi Station.
If it was Kisaragi Station, maybe they could arrive in under ten minutes.
Hamamatsu City was precisely the origin point of the Kisaragi Station Supernatural Phenomenon, and Nanjo Emi had mentioned recently that Kisaragi Station was acting up again.
Shangshan Che fell briefly silent.
Now there was just one issue.
The current manager of Kisaragi Station—
Was it “her”?
Shangshan Che wasn’t sure.
But for now, he had to give it a shot.
Shangshan Che spoke up at once, cutting through Tamamo’s chaotic, near-exploding thoughts: “Tamamo, where’s the nearest station?”
The nearly despairing girl didn’t grasp it right away: “Uh, what station?”
“Any station—bus, train, Shinkansen, whatever.”
Shangshan Che vibrated his Qi, his voice booming in Tamamo’s ear,
“Give the nearest coordinates.”
Tamamo instinctively reported a location.
The next instant, Shangshan Che—who had disguised himself using a Four-tailed Fox projection—grabbed her by the nape, wrapping her layer by layer in Qi.
He burst out the window like an arrow from a bow, shaking the entire guesthouse.
Layered white rings trailed behind Shangshan Che, shockwaves spreading, drawing gazes from countless people in Hamamatsu City’s suburbs.
The forum exploded again.
But Shangshan Che had no mind for it.
Fifteen seconds later, he arrived at the nearest, rundown and desolate bus stop.
Then, dazed Tamamo saw Shangshan Che’s lips move, seemingly naming something.
After the second hand ticked once, the old stop suddenly shook, clanging wheel-and-rail friction sounds coming from afar.
Tamamo blinked, suddenly noticing the rundown bus stop, distant pedestrians, and streets had all vanished.
All gone!
In their place: inexplicable concrete ground and two shiny yet ancient railroad tracks.
Shangshan Che quietly gazed at this utterly familiar scene.
He had only called out that name at the bus stop, and Kisaragi Station and the train arrived before him.
This meant that what happened twenty years ago was…
Clang clang.
The old train, clearly meticulously cleaned, slowed to a buzz and stopped before Shangshan Che and Tamamo.
The train’s arrival interrupted Shangshan Che’s thoughts.
He looked up, peering through the semi-transparent frosted glass to see rows of variously colored label prompts inside the train.
At this moment, the “passengers” riding the train were undoubtedly demons and Supernatural Phenomena from various places, with varying strengths.
“I’ll wear a mask from a friend; don’t be scared.”
After telling Tamamo, Shangshan Che donned the Hannya Mask, exuding a dignified, cold Ghost God aura.
“Let’s board.”
Releasing her nape, Shangshan Che gripped Tamamo’s wrist, passing through the wide-open train door and leading her inside.
“Huh?”
Even now, Tamamo still didn’t understand what was happening.
She dazedly turned her head and jolted, immediately standing straight.
——Because these surrounding “passengers” were all the Great Demons from her memory that could cause deaths in the dozens or hundreds just by appearing!
Strangely, these Great Demons were now squeezing together like ordinary people, sitting in their respective seats.
Of course, quite a few demons looked toward her… more precisely, toward Elder Brother Shangshan.
Tamamo could barely make out the whispers, but the openly speaking Great Demon’s voice shook her ears painfully.
“Hey, the train detoured just for you two, even adding two stops in the Mortal Realm.”
The muscle-bound, hulking dog-headed Great Demon, sitting human-like in the middle of a row of seats, bared pale fangs, displeased: “Don’t you have something to say?”
The train doors slowly closed.
Shangshan Che indifferently turned his gaze toward it.
——【Great Dog God（Four-Star）】.
A Ghost God level Inugami Great Demon, and among the several Ghost God levels around, it ranked highly in his senses.
Outside, Shangshan Che would have no chance against it and would have to run.
But where was this?
Inside a train belonging to Kisaragi Station.
And Kisaragi Station belonged to whom?
Great Dog God narrowed his eyes, about to stand and show this Hannya kid the gap, when suddenly he found the kid getting farther away.
No, it wasn’t the kid moving away!
Great Dog God’s face twitched as he roared his question.
——He had inexplicably been flung out of the train!
The train gradually started moving.
Great Dog God’s figure and furious roar vanished in an instant, landing who-knows-where in the Eternal World.
The silent Shangshan Che stood unscathed in place.
He couldn’t even be bothered to reply.
Now, every Demons and Monsters in the carriage looked at him differently.
Whether ordinary demons at Two-Star or Three-Star, or the Ghost God Great Demons scattered around.
Because actively ejecting a passenger from the train was unprecedented since the train began running!
Never before!
And… for this White Hannya not even at Ghost God level?
What was his background, his backing?
The demons fell silent, all withdrawing their gazes.
After all, better no trouble than some.
No demon wanted to be flung out—delaying their business was minor, but getting blacklisted by the train would force them to try their luck on that other old Eternal World train.
That train had uncertain timing and stops, nowhere near as convenient as the 【Kisaragi Train】.
As for Tamamo, forced to shrink behind him, she was too shocked to speak—she had just seen Great Dog God tossed out like trash?!
Shangshan Che breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.
The long-lost feeling of having a big shot back you up—nice.
He first glanced up at the station board, confirming the next stop was 【Shizuoka City】, then wanted to find a seat.
But before Shangshan Che could move, a red-and-black wide boss chair appeared beside him.
It looked prestigious and soft just from the outside, starkly contrasting the rows of cold, hard passenger iron seats around.
Shangshan Che’s eye twitched under the mask.
This was way too high-profile.
But since it was the other’s kind gesture, he couldn’t very well leave it empty.
Sighing helplessly, Shangshan Che sat down successfully under the subtle gazes of the few remaining Ghost God level Great Demons still daring to observe him.
Shangshan Che turned his head, finding Tamamo standing awkwardly alone nearby.
Before he could speak, an ordinary but standalone passenger seat appeared under Tamamo.
Tamamo sat without thinking much, then gazed anxiously at 【Shizuoka City】 on the station board.
She asked softly in a slightly trembling voice: “Elder Brother Shangshan… how long until we reach Shizuoka City?”
How long?
He really didn’t know the speed of Kisaragi Station’s train.
But no matter what, the other side was a race against time—faster the better.
Shangshan Che thought and said: “Five minutes. Should be there in five.”
And so, the instant his words fell, the entire train began shaking violently.
Directly across from him, the Ghost God level Ox Demon—who had ridden the train hundreds of times but never felt it shake like this—widened its eyes.
Again?!
