Chapter 47: Five Choices, Two Picks—a Difficult Decision
Shangshan Che felt it was very strange.
Because clearly, a supernatural phenomenon craze had recently swept Twitter, and the number of people in all of Tokyo who had participated in summoning White Hannya was estimated to be no less than hundreds or thousands.
So, why had it instead targeted Kitano Runa, who had never summoned it?
“Uh, I think…” Kitano Runa stammered, giving an embarrassed awkward smile, “Maybe because I tried more than a dozen summoning rituals in one night? Putting White Hannya last made it unhappy?”
“Ah?”
Shangshan Che was stunned, suspecting his ears had been roared out of order by White Hannya: “Say that again?”
Kitano Runa clearly repeated it once.
In an instant, the hospital room fell into an indescribable silence.
Shangshan Che looked at Kitano Runa, who was scratching her head with her finger while looking left and right, with a complicated expression: “Student Kitano, you’re… not very skilled but incredibly bold. Surviving until now is truly a miracle.”
Kitano Runa lowered her head, her glasses reflecting the light: “So that’s why I went with Manatsu to that, oh right, Special Affairs Office before!”
Sis, you almost wiped out the Special Affairs Office Headquarters in one go.
Shangshan Che broke out in a sweat; dropping more than a dozen high-star demons at once might really be able to take over the Arakawa Ward Special Affairs Office when it had few people.
However, this should be impossible.
Shangshan Che recalled the “sea level theory” that Nanjo Emi had mentioned earlier.
—Meaning that currently, only low-star demons could break through the barriers of the Eternal World and enter the Mortal Realm following the precursors of the first wave.
This was probably also why the kappa and White Hannya projection he encountered were only one-star; otherwise, White Hannya could have descended with its true body instead of taking such a pointless detour.
“But I didn’t summon it just to follow the trend,” Kitano Runa said. “Because I’ve been able to sense unusual disturbances since I was little, but I’ve never witnessed them with my own eyes, so I thought they were all fake.”
Shangshan Che: “Since you were little?”
Seeing Shangshan Che’s puzzled expression, Kitano Runa began counting on her fingers, listing out each “fake supernatural phenomenon” she had encountered like treasures.
Shangshan Che’s ears went numb, not knowing what to say.
He recalled the Kitsune-dog game that the five of them had played before; strictly speaking, that was their first time playing a real supernatural game, and then the tragedy happened.
But the Kitano Runa in front of him… had done all sorts of audaciously bold things.
Some of the minor eerie details made Shangshan Che’s skin crawl just listening to them; even he now might not survive in that kind of environment.
And yet Kitano Runa stood perfectly unharmed in front of him, rattling off the list.
This was practically a tanky king-level existence.
There was no doubt that Kitano Runa had a special constitution unlike ordinary people.
She just wasn’t aware of it yet.
“Student Kitano, let me digest this information.”
Shangshan Che raised his hand, stopping Kitano Runa from listing the fiftieth “dish,” sighed, and then looked at the prompts he hadn’t finished browsing.
Better to check the rewards to calm down.
【You can select two from the following five rewards!】
【1. 800 Soul Ash.】
【2. Obtain a task item related to Walker identity; after completing the task, you can increase the rarity of the “Walker” identity.】
【3. Select one Demon Incarnation to gain a random talent.】
【4. Skill Adaptation: Select one skill to remodel it, reducing the proficiency required for leveling up.】
【5. Laughing Hannya Exclusive: Elevate the quality of Demon Incarnation · Laughing Hannya from “Rare” to “Epic”!】
【Note: Your Demon Incarnation · Laughing Hannya originally required obtaining the special item “Red Hannya Mask” to elevate its quality to “Epic.”】
“Hiss—”
Shangshan Che drew in a sharp breath; the rewards for clearing this dungeon were indeed excessively generous, excelling in both quantity and quality.
The five options laid out made him fall into choice paralysis.
However, the first one could be eliminated right away.
800 Soul Ash seemed like a lot, more than Shangshan Che had earned so far, but in reality it wasn’t much—it couldn’t even cover two ten-pulls.
Moreover, who could guarantee drawing the three-tailed Fox from the gacha pool with two ten-pulls?
So, the Soul Ash reward, which only the shortsighted or gamblers would choose, was eliminated first.
Next was the second: elevating the Walker identity’s rarity.
To be honest, this identity that could trigger special events had indeed brought him many benefits.
Whether it was the blacksmith agreeing to forge a weapon for him, the corporate slave netizen giving him fragments of Great Onmyōdō, or encountering the five-tailed Fox in Edo Castle…
These were all conveniences brought by the Walker identity.
However, in contrast, Shangshan Che also suspected that Ai Bieli targeting him and Lili Zi was partly due to the Walker identity.
Otherwise, how could Ai Bieli ignore all those big shots and fixate on two small fries like them.
But overall—the benefits of Walker far outweighed the drawbacks.
However, since he could only pick two out of five this time, Shangshan Che decided to put it in the candidate options first and decide after seeing the later rewards.
Option three: randomly granting a skill…
Another gambler’s option; Shangshan Che, who knew his luck was abysmal, passed it instantly, and his eyes lit up upon seeing option four.
—Reducing skill proficiency? Applying this to Natural Reason School would yield massive benefits.
So, exactly how much?
The panel gave the answer—【one-third】.
Shangshan Che’s throat bobbed; if he picked this option now, Natural Reason School would immediately reach Proficient Level.
Similarly, the proficiency needed for the next level up would drop from a possible 1000 to 666 points.
This option’s benefits would grow greater the further along!
Shangshan Che was already tempted to pick it, but the word “Epic” in the fifth option mercilessly crashed into his eyes.
Shangshan Che had no choice but to switch his affection.
—First use “White Hannya’s Mask,” then select option five, directly elevating Laughing Hannya’s quality from the commonplace “Super Excellent” to noble “Epic”!
Laughing Hannya was currently his foundation; the stronger Laughing Hannya was, the faster Shangshan Che’s own growth would double in speed!
So this route required no hesitation; the first pick locked in option five!
Then, what to pick for the second reward?
Left hand: a special item that could elevate Walker identity rarity; right hand: reducing upgrade proficiency requirements with incredibly high long-term benefits.
Both had significant effects on long-term development.
Shangshan Che felt deeply conflicted—why couldn’t he pick both?
And at that moment, the hospital room door was heavily pushed open, and in walked a black-haired, black-eyed boy with a slumped face.
“Looks like you two have recovered well.”
The boy curled his lip and spread his hands: “Seems like my presence is superfluous.”
Shangshan Che stared at him and let out a “Huh”: “Arakawa Ward’s Onmyo Junior Officer Kurosaki Akira?”
The boy was stunned for a moment and looked at Shangshan Che.
“Who are you to know me?”
How could Shangshan Che not recognize Sister Nanjo’s colleague—not to mention, he had specifically asked her for a list earlier, memorizing all the Onmyo Junior Officers in Arakawa Ward and their followers.
To Nanjo Emi’s question at the time, Shangshan Che’s answer had been “better safe than sorry.”
And now, it came in handy.
Shangshan Che seriously asked the question he had long wanted to:
“—Junior Officer Kurosaki, do you know Sister Nanjo’s current location?”
