"That's all for today's lesson. Class dismissed," Hiratsuka Shizuka announced as she gathered her books. Her gaze swept over the students in the classroom before finally resting on Akagi.
"Some students have been daydreaming all day today. It'd be best if I didn't catch you doing that a second time."
The class burst into laughter, everyone well aware of whom she was referring to—it was none other than Akagi, who had spent the entire day pondering what kind of request to send to the Service Club.
The reason why all the students knew about Akagi's inattentiveness was simple: during math class, he was called upon to answer a question. When asked to solve a multiple-choice problem, he gave a shocking answer:
"The Mediterranean."
The math teacher, who already had a bald spot reminiscent of the Mediterranean Sea, turned red with anger. This incident would probably leave Akagi the butt of jokes until the end of the semester.
Shin had no idea what was going on in Akagi's head or what kind of request he was planning to make to the Service Club that would lead him to blurt out "Mediterranean."
If Akagi kept having more slip-ups like today, he might end up classified as a problem child by Hiratsuka Shizuka, and who knows—maybe he'd be sent off to the Service Club one day.
Of course, Akagi seemed completely unaware that being labeled a problem child had such perks.
"Kato, I'm heading out. See you tomorrow," Shin said, as he packed his bag and waved to Kato Megumi, who was seated in the row ahead. Now, thanks to his ability to sense "ki," Kato's presence felt no different from that of an ordinary person.
"Alright, Shin. See you tomorrow."
Kato turned around in surprise, not expecting Shin to actually notice her and greet her.
She had thought it was just a coincidence when Shin noticed her earlier that morning. Occasionally, people would accidentally notice her for various reasons, but they would soon overlook her again.
But now it seemed that Shin really could notice her consistently, which made her feel both a bit surprised and happy.
Although she had long been accustomed to being overlooked, it didn't mean she completely disliked being noticed. Shin's attention gave her a rare feeling of being seen.
"Shin! Let's go!"
However, it seemed Shin was the only one who noticed her. Akagi, standing beside him, paid no attention to Shin bidding farewell to Kato, eagerly urging Shin to head to the Service Club together.
...
Standing at the entrance of the Service Club, Shin and Akagi did not knock on the door right away.
The reason was simple: as they reached the door, they overheard voices inside, indicating there were other visitors.
Out of courtesy, Shin stopped at the entrance to wait, pulling back Akagi, who was about to barge in.
If Akagi made a fool of himself, it would reflect poorly on Shin, who was accompanying him. So, Shin felt compelled to intervene.
However, Akagi, having been pulled back, noticed something else.
"Huh? Shin, how did your strength suddenly increase?"
He curiously looked at Shin's right hand, which had grabbed him by the collar and yanked him back so forcefully that he nearly stumbled.
While Akagi wasn't the most reliable person, he was confident in his own strength, so Shin's effortless pull came as a surprise.
"I've just been working out," Shin replied casually, using exercise as an excuse rather than revealing, "I synced this combat strength from another world."
With a combat power of 20, his strength was indeed formidable. But a simple act like pulling Akagi back wouldn't make Akagi suspect that Shin had become a bullet-catching powerhouse.
As they conversed, the door to the Service Club opened, and a black-haired girl emerged with a worried expression on her face.
Upon seeing the two standing at the entrance, the girl seemed startled. She flinched, bowed to them, and then quickly ran off.
"Oh? That was Yotsuya Miko from Class D," Akagi remarked.
Unlike Shin, Akagi, who was more outgoing, had acquaintances in many classes and happened to know some of the students, including the panicked girl who had just run off.
"Yotsuya Miko?"
Hearing her name made Shin's expression turn odd.
The reason was simple—Yotsuya Miko was also a character from a manga he had read in his previous life.
But the premise of that manga was unusual—it depicted a world where evil spirits that were invisible to most people existed everywhere.
These spirits typically wouldn't harm people, but if they discovered someone could see them, they would attack.
Yotsuya Miko was that unfortunate individual who had suddenly gained the ability to see these spirits but hadn't acquired any means to deal with them.
As a result, she had to pretend not to see them, enduring a life surrounded by malevolent entities while trying to appear normal.
Judging by her fearful and flustered appearance just now, she must already be able to see the spirits. She was probably visiting the Service Club to see if there was a solution.
"Evil spirits..."
Shin frowned slightly as he glanced around, but he saw nothing.
The limitation of the "Dragon Ball" world lay here. While its warriors possessed immense physical strength and could unleash energy blasts using "ki," they lacked capabilities in spiritual or soul-related matters.
A typical example was the likes of Frieza, who, despite being a galactic overlord, had his soul easily bound in Hell after death, indicating weaknesses in the realm of the soul.
This situation began to change only in Dragon Ball Super, where Goku and Vegeta started transforming from mortals to gods, beginning with the Super Saiyan God form.
It wasn't until then that their souls began to grow stronger—but that was far beyond Shin's current abilities, as he couldn't even transform into a regular Super Saiyan yet, let alone a Super Saiyan God.
Though the Super Saiyan God transformation wasn't directly related to the Super Saiyan form, it required an elaborate ritual involving six righteous-hearted Saiyans pooling their energy into one individual.
Finding six righteous-hearted Saiyans in the current era of Dragon Ball would be nearly impossible—even Bardock probably wouldn't qualify.
"Focusing 'ki' on my eyes can enhance my dynamic vision, but it doesn't allow me to see spirits... It seems I need to strengthen my mind and soul."
After trying to use "ki" to enhance his vision without any success, Shin realized his current limitations.
Knowing that there might be evil spirits lurking everywhere in this world, he couldn't remain indifferent. The thought of those disgusting entities potentially being nearby made him uneasy.
"I wonder when I'll unlock a second world; perhaps it could help me address this issue..."
To be continued…