"Strange evil spirit..." Amamiya thought as he registered Miko's warning. He turned his gaze toward the entrance of the tram, where an ominous figure had just boarded. Cloaked in black and wielding a massive scythe, the entity resembled the Western depiction of the Grim Reaper.
The edges of the figure's tattered robe seemed to flicker with an eerie, flame-like glow, the fabric dissolving into trails of smoke that floated into the air. Faces of other malevolent spirits appeared intermittently on the robe, their twisted expressions disappearing just as quickly.
It was immediately clear—this was no ordinary spirit.
Without a sound, the Grim Reaper-like apparition made its way toward the tram driver. The driver, an ordinary man, was entirely unaware of the specter hovering nearby, his focus fixed solely on the road ahead.
However, to Amamiya, Miko, and Umi, the danger was palpable. The three watched in tense silence as the Reaper slowly lifted its enormous scythe.
"What is that evil spirit planning to do?" Umi's voice trembled, her eyes widening with nervous anticipation.
Miko sat frozen, her body tense as she silently watched the unfolding scene.
Before anyone could react further, the Reaper's scythe swung down with startling speed, aimed directly at the tram driver's head.
"Ah...!" Umi gasped softly, unable to suppress her fear.
"Stay calm. Don't panic," Amamiya whispered. "The driver's fine."
He knew the rules: as long as the living couldn't see the spirits, they couldn't be harmed. The Reaper, no matter how terrifying, had to follow these rules.
As expected, the blade passed through the driver's head without causing any harm. The driver didn't even flinch, continuing to steer the tram as if nothing had happened.
Umi let out a sigh of relief, her hand pressed to her chest. "That was terrifying," she muttered, trying to steady herself.
But Amamiya's expression remained grim. "It's even worse now."
"Huh?" Umi turned her head, alarmed by his words.
The Reaper had moved on. After slicing through the driver, it drifted toward the next passenger—a man absorbed in his phone, blissfully unaware of the deathly figure looming over him. Once again, the scythe was raised and came down swiftly, cutting through the man's head.
Nothing happened.
The Reaper continued, moving silently to the third passenger. The pattern repeated: the scythe lifted, then slashed downward.
"No way..." Umi's voice was shaky. "Is it going to... chop everyone on the train?"
Miko tensed even more, her voice barely a whisper. "It seems that way."
Umi's panic grew. "We may not be able to see it, but if we can see the spirit, could we be in danger?"
Amamiya's voice was steady but cautious. "There's no precedent. We can't be sure."
No one had ever documented what would happen if an evil spirit's scythe touched someone who could see it. Not wanting to take any chances, Amamiya quickly activated his "Evil Spirit Repel" aura.
Meanwhile, the Reaper continued its grim work, moving from passenger to passenger, its scythe slicing through each one. Most remained unaffected, completely oblivious to the spirit's presence. But then, something horrifying happened—when the scythe cut through a woman near the front of the tram, her spirit was wrenched from her body. The ghostly form let out a silent scream, struggling helplessly as it was dragged toward the Reaper.
The Reaper absorbed her spirit into its own body, her face warping grotesquely before melding into the shifting mass of faces on the black robe.
"What... what was that?" Umi's eyes were wide with shock.
"I don't know," Amamiya replied, his tone serious.
But one thing was certain: this Reaper wasn't like any ordinary spirit. It was far more dangerous than anything they had encountered before.
A moment later.
The evil spirit of death came near Amamiya and the other two.
"Amamiya-kun." Umi nervously grabbed Amamiya's sleeve, "Halo, halo."
Amamiya whispered:
"It has already been activated."
As the Death Spirit stepped into the halo, transparent flames suddenly burned on his body.
"Your evil deeds end here."
Umi breathed a sigh of relief, made a scissors gesture with her eyes, and secretly made a face.
Who knew that the evil spirit of death would then take a step back, quickly leave the range of the halo, then wave the sickle in his hand, cut off the corner of the burning black robe with one knife, threw the corner of the robe on the ground, and then looked at Amamiya and the other two.
The smile on Umi's face suddenly froze.
"It seemed to see me..."
Umi turned her head and saw Amamiya silently looking at the scenery outside the window, as if nothing had happened.
At some point Miko took out her cell phone and played with it as if nothing had happened.
Umi puffed up her cheeks.
You guys reacted too quickly!
A corner of the black robe quickly burned up in the flames. The Grim Reaper stopped moving and looked at Amamiya and the other two in silence.
There was only darkness under the robe and the face could not be seen at all, but Amamiya could clearly feel that he was being watched.
Amamiya secretly became more alert.
In the real world, evil spirits are divided into strong and weak ones, and the criterion for division is how long one can persist under his aura before the evil spirits retreat.
The longer you persist, the stronger the proof.
There is no doubt that the evil spirit of death in front of him is quite powerful.
Fortunately, at this time, the tram began to slow down and arrived at the next stop.
"Should we get off first? Der Mountain is famous for its wine."
Miko asked in a low voice, a little scared.
"No need." Amamiya secretly observed the evil spirit of death, "The evil spirit is about to get off the car."
Miko looked over carefully and saw the evil spirit of death turn around silently and get off the tram with other passengers.
"Fuuh…"
The two girls breathed a sigh of relief.
"It's too dangerous outside." Umi complained, "I want to go home."
"It's not safe to go home either." Amamiya said sadly, "The setting of being invincible in bed is no longer useful."
"Amamiya-kun is really too much. Even if you know, don't say it out loud."
"…"
After seeing the evil spirit of death, the rest of the journey was peaceful and nothing happened. The group arrived at the zoo safely.
"Zoo, here I come!"
Hana raised her hands and shouted happily.
"It's a rare opportunity to come to the zoo, so of course we have to take pictures as a souvenir." Umi took out her phone and started taking pictures, forgetting what happened just now. "Let's take a photo together."
"Okay..."
After they finish taking photos,
Amamiya and a few others started queuing up and bought tickets to enter the zoo.
When checking tickets, there was a uniformed evil spirit staff member standing on the right side of the door. He looked at all tourists with his empty dark eyes and made ticket checking gestures with his hands from time to time.
Japan is indeed a country of office workers. In "Call Me A Hero", even if he turned into a zombie, he did not forget his job. Now that he has become a ghost, he still continues his work before he died. He is simply a model of office workers!
Amamiya didn't even bother to turn on his halo, and simply chose to ignore it and pass through the ticket gate.
It was May.
The sun is shining.
The zoo is bustling with tourists.
"Kyousuke, did you read the manual?"
Amamiya lowered his head and asked.
Kyousuke nodded: "It's all right, Panda will be left for last."
Miko frowned slightly and whispered:
"I always feel that the zoo is... a little strange."
Amamiya was about to speak when he suddenly received a game prompt.
[Congratulations, you have discovered the large-scale dungeon 'Zoo Tales']
[This copy will be tested soon, please stay tuned]