"It is!"
"And this task is really interesting!" Chika exclaimed, her face lighting up as she displayed the mission details.
[Limited Time Fun Mission: An Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a Tooth]
- '[If you endure, you'll only grow more frustrated. If you retreat, you'll feel increasingly defeated. You've come to realize that the best way to conquer fear is to face it head-on.]'
- '[Task Objective: Scare any three ghosts before midnight]'
- '[Task Reward: A randomly selected active skill]'
- '[Failure Penalty: None]'
- '[Note: Cheating is prohibited]'
- '[Helpful Tip: Moderate gaming is beneficial to the mind, but addiction can harm your body. Make sure to arrange your time wisely to enjoy a healthy life.]'
After reading the task details, Amamiya turned his gaze silently toward Kaguya.
As expected, bumbles full of her thoughts appear above her head.
"Unfair, unfair, unfair!"
"Why do Fujiwara-san's fun missions never have penalties, but I always get punished? It's so unfair!"
"..."
"Wait, missions in blind boxes?" Umi raised an eyebrow in surprise. "This is the first time I've seen something like this!"
Amamiya glanced at the pink-haired girl and asked, "Do you really want to do this mission?"
"Of course!" Chika clenched her fists with determination. "You can never have too many active skills, especially something like your 'evil spirit repelling aura'. I really want that one!"
"Keep working hard, and the bicycle might just turn into a motorcycle!"
With that, Chika grinned smugly and made a scissors gesture with her fingers. "Besides, there's no penalty for failing. Hehe~"
'What are you laughing at?' Amamiya thought, 'If you say anything more, Kaguya will get sulky again!'
"Alright then, let's do it," Umi said while resting her chin on her hand. "But... how exactly are we going to scare a ghost?"
Chika paused, thinking for a moment. "Well... if we're talking about ghosts, it should be an evil spirit, right?"
As she spoke, an evil spirit covered in water plants and dripping wet suddenly drifted through the wall, moving silently into the room.
All four of them turned to look at it.
Sensing their stares, the evil spirit approached silently, its cold, hollow voice echoing through the air.
"You... can you see me?"
Umi's pretty face went pale instantly. She lowered her head quickly, focusing intensely on her manicure. 'I can't see it, I can't see it, I can't see it…'
"Amamiya-kun, should we use this one as practice?" Chika asked in a hushed tone, glancing over at him.
"Sure."
Amamiya nodded slightly in agreement.
"…Can you see me?" the spirit asked again, its decayed, mud-covered face inching closer to Kaguya, bringing with it a strong, earthy stench.
"The sun's shining today," Amamiya said casually, his eyes on the spirit. "It's the perfect time to stand by the window and enjoy the view."
"Yes, and the breeze is quite gentle," Chika added quickly, wrapping her arm around Kaguya's and leading her toward the window. "Come on, Kaguya-chan, let's go take in the scenery."
The four of them dispersed smoothly.
The evil spirit hovered in front of them for a few more moments before finally turning away in disappointment. "They... can't see me..."
"Amamiya-kun," Chika whispered, secretly hooking her pinky finger toward him. She winked mischievously before taking a deep breath, stepping boldly in front of the evil spirit, and making a silly face.
"Ulla——!"
The air fell into a sudden, eerie silence.
Umi clutched her chest, eyes wide, her expression tense. 'Chika-chan is so brave! She actually tried to scare away the evil spirit herself!'
The spirit stared, stunned for a moment. Then, dark mist began to rise from its body. With a low growl, it reached out with its pale, swollen hand, trying to grab Chika.
"You can see me!" it howled.
"Amamiya!" Chika quickly backed away, calling for help. "Help!"
Amamiya was already on high alert. Without hesitation, he activated his 'evil spirit repelling aura'.
An invisible force surged through the room, and the moment it touched the spirit, black flames erupted across its body. The evil spirit writhed and screamed in agony before disintegrating completely.
"Wow, that was amazing!" Umi gasped, her eyes wide with amazement as she looked at Amamiya. "I've heard Chika-chan talk about skills that can affect real-world evil spirits, but this is the first time I've seen one in action!"
"Wait a minute," Umi said curiously, her eyes sparkling. "Amamiya-kun, you have such an OP ability, why don't you use that ability in the game?"
"It's impossible," Amamiya sighed. "This skill can only be used in the real world. Once I enter the game, it's sealed."
"Oh… But that makes sense," Umi nodded. "Otherwise, it would break the game's balance." She then reached out, grabbing Amamiya's arm excitedly. "But even so, it's still amazing!"
Kaguya raised an eyebrow, suddenly changing the subject. "Fujiwara-san, how's the mission going?"
"I didn't scare the evil spirit at all," Chika responded, shaking her head and crossing her arms, deep in thought. "Could it be that I wasn't scary enough earlier?"
Amamiya couldn't help but comment, "I don't think you were trying to scare anything. You were just being cute."
"I was not!" Chika retorted, puffing her cheeks. "I use that move all the time to scare people! I've scared plenty of people, even Pes is afraid of it."
'Wait... isn't Pes your dog?' Amamiya thought in disbelief. 'You even scare your own dog? How chaotic must your life be?'
Kaguya pondered for a moment and said analytically, "These evil spirits lack any rational thought. Ordinary scare tactics probably won't work on them."
"That makes sense," Amamiya agreed, nodding. "An evil spirit without rationality..."
He shifted his gaze toward Shimizu.
"Huh?" Shimizu, who was quietly reading on the sofa, looked up, tilting her head in confusion. "Amamiya-kun, that's too much. I'm a guardian spirit, not an evil spirit."
Chika, thinking for a moment, added, "If I try to scare Big Sis, it feels like I'd be cheating. What about those little old spirits?"
"They're the tiny evil spirits, right? The ones about the size of dolls?" Umi nodded in agreement. "They really do look like little old men. I think that could work."
In the real world, evil spirits come in all forms, and many don't even resemble humans. Among them, the 'little old men' are the most common. They appear frequently in dark corners, no taller than a person's knees, and they aren't even afraid of children. They're considered the lowest tier in the evil spirit hierarchy.
"We'll only know if it works by trying," Amamiya remarked. "Though I have a feeling it probably won't."
"Wait a second," Chika interjected, holding up her hand. "Let's open the blind box first. Maybe there'll be more surprise mission."
As it turned out, there were no surprises at all.
Amamiya stared blankly at the box of tissues he had drawn, then packed it away. Together with the three girls, he left the activity room.
The four of them soon located one of the 'little old evil spirits' hiding in the corner.
Upon spotting Amamiya and the others, the tiny spirit quickly tried to hide behind a vending machine.
"Boo!" Chika raised her hands to her face and made silly expressions, attempting to frighten the spirit.
"You... can see me?" a shrill, hollow voice echoed, as if from a baby.
Chika nodded eagerly. "Yup, I can see you."
"You can see me!" the spirit shrieked, its eyes suddenly turning a sinister red. Without warning, it lunged at Chika. Despite its small size, its movements were lightning fast and agile.
"Help, help!" Chika yelped, darting behind Amamiya for cover.
With a sigh, Amamiya calmly activated his 'evil spirit repelling aura'. The old evil spirit was instantly engulfed in dark flames before vanishing entirely.
"Looks like it didn't work," Amamiya said matter-of-factly.
Kaguya crossed her arms, groaning in frustration. "From what we've observed so far, evil spirits in reality have no self-awareness and no capacity for fear."
"What should I do?" Chika asked, her voice filled with disappointment. "I finally got an interesting mission, and I don't want to give up."
Umi raised her hand suddenly. "I've got an idea! The ghosts played by staff in amusement park haunted houses are technically ghosts too, right?"