"Um, Master Minamiya, I did exactly what you told me before and went back to that street... and then I felt that cold, eerie presence again. It was like an invisible hand was pressing down on my shoulder and arm."
In a somewhat old-fashioned courtyard, a beautiful blue-haired girl in a bright, youthful JK uniform stood outside the window, speaking in a soft voice tinged with fear.
It was clear that the things she was describing genuinely terrified her.
"Hold out your hand first. Let me take a look."
The moment he heard the unease in her voice, an oddly aged voice came from inside the room.
"O-Okay."
The blue-haired girl obediently extended her hand, slipping her pale, delicate fingers through the gap in the window.
Not long after, a faint blush rose on her cheeks.
Her hand had been taken.
Could Master Minamiya actually be young? His voice sounds mature and old-fashioned, but his hand feels so smooth and gentle... just like a young person's.
As she felt the person on the other side lightly touching her palm and wrist, the blue-haired girl could not help but think so to herself.
While she was still making guesses in her heart, the lazy figure crouching inside the room began admiring the hand stretched out before him yet again.
Fair and soft, with glossy nails and slender fingers, carrying the faint, sweet scent of a youthful girl...
Ahem.
After appreciating it for a few brief seconds, the young master promptly tightened his grip around her hand and focused, sensing carefully.
About two seconds later, his expression darkened.
Once again, he detected a distinct demonic and ghostly aura lingering on the girl's hand. It had faded compared to before, but he still caught it. It was the same presence as last time.
Did something go wrong with the world I transmigrated into? How is it that a girl from an adult anime setting can keep running into demons and ghosts?
This world is not some bizarre fusion of dimensions, is it?
The little bit of cultivation I got from my cheat is enough to deal with ordinary monsters and spirits, sure. But if I run into something truly nasty later on, I'm probably going to get sucked dry on the spot.
Damn it. Wasn't transmigration supposed to come with an absurdly overpowered cheat and a proper system? So why did I get nothing but a bare-bones interface that lets me cultivate Daoist true qi? And it's practically the stripped-down version from that game I used to play... Mother Earth, you really are biased.
Holding the girl's wrist, Minamiya Chiya's handsome young face showed hesitation, worry, and finally a trace of grievance.
Yes.
He was a transmigrator.
One year ago, for reasons he still did not understand, he had suddenly crossed over into a world completely different from the one he knew.
At first, he thought he had terrible luck.
After all, he had arrived in this world in his original body, which made both his identity and daily life difficult. Fortunately, the Dao cultivation system panel he gained through transmigration had allowed him to cultivate true qi.
For a person, survival was what mattered most.
Besides, in his previous world, he no longer had any family anyway.
As for friends... after being beaten down by society often enough, most relationships had long since faded. There was no point dwelling on it.
So being able to start over in this world was not entirely a bad thing.
Then, one week ago, he met a girl named Hoshizuki Kaede.
That was when he realized this world had quite the "surprise" in store for him.
An anime-style island nation filled with demons and ghosts.
And not just that.
She was one of those girls.
A girl he actually recognized.
As a youth of the modern era, Minamiya Chiya was naturally familiar with such "wholesome and enriching" material. After all, if you watched enough adult anime, you inevitably picked up a bit of the language. On top of that, after arriving in this world, he had studied seriously for several months.
Since the island nation's language shared roots and cultural influence with Chinese civilization, it had not been too hard to learn once he put in the effort.
As for his Daoist arts...
At best, he had learned a pitiful amount from the system panel, barely the size of a fly.
After all, his cheat came from an obscure xianxia mobile game he used to play.
In fact, Chiya sometimes suspected that the system had turned out this crude because he had been playing on an alt account before transmigrating. Even the rewards were stingy beyond belief.
All kinds of thoughts ran through his mind, and Chiya let out a quiet sigh.
But soon, he shook his head and forced himself to focus.
It was time to get serious.
After confirming the demonic taint lingering on Hoshizuki Kaede's arm, Chiya bit the tip of his right index finger. Several drops of vivid blood welled up. He smeared them across his brow and began murmuring an incantation under his breath.
Yes, the system might be trash and painfully simplistic, but he had still learned some basic Daoist arts from it.
The problem was that, unlike in the original mobile game, he could not simply tap a skill icon and cast.
In this world, he had to do everything himself, from the ritual to the hand seals.
"Heaven and Earth without limit, the Dao follows nature. Heavenly Eye, open!"
A faint yellow glow appeared.
At the center of Minamiya Chiya's forehead, a blurry, shallow, rudimentary golden Daoist eye opened.
Lowering his gaze, he looked at Hoshizuki Kaede's pale arm.
And then he saw what ordinary sight could not.
On her fair wrist and forearm were two strange handprints, one above the other, dark and faintly tinged with sickly green.
So these are traces left behind by a ghostly spirit-type monster.
At once, Chiya understood.
The world and country might be different now, but some fundamental rules remained the same.
In other words, this cute blue-haired girl had likely already been marked by the ghost haunting that street. And as time passed, the handprints would only become clearer.
With that mark acting as a beacon, if Hoshizuki Kaede encountered that ghost again, there was a very good chance it would possess her or even try to seize her body outright.
Using his Daoist eye to judge the strength of the ghostly taint, Chiya found that it was not much stronger than the other filthy things he had dealt with before.
So he pushed open the closed window without hesitation.
This was something he could handle.
Which meant today, he could solve this little blue-haired beauty's problem once and for all.
With a sudden clack, the window swung open.
Hoshizuki Kaede jumped in fright.
Only then did she realize the window in front of her had been opened, and standing there was a very strangely dressed but undeniably handsome young man.
More importantly, he was still holding her wrist, his expression serious.
"Y-You're... Master Minamiya?!"
Hoshizuki Kaede's mouth fell open. Her rosy little lips looked soft and glossy, and between them one could glimpse white teeth and a pink tongue that carried an almost dangerously enticing charm.
Unfortunately, her face was currently filled with shock.
Because the famous spiritual master who had recently become well known around the city was actually a young man in a T-shirt and shorts with long black hair.
"Yes, that's me."
Minamiya Chiya answered calmly.
The truth was, he really was far too young. He was not even seventeen yet.
He had deliberately disguised his voice as older before because it made it easier to take on clients.
There were not many malicious spirits and evil things actively causing trouble in this island city, but the traces they left behind, along with the harm they caused to people, were not rare at all.
Otherwise, where would he have gotten the money and status needed to buy this two-thousand-square-meter courtyard right in the city?
Over the past year, he had helped several officials and wealthy elites deal with lingering supernatural contamination. That was how he earned it all.
Hearing Chiya confirm it, Hoshizuki Kaede nodded at once.
So that was why his hand had felt like that before...
Ah.
Even now, her hand was still being held by this handsome young exorcist master.
A blush spread across her face, and she lowered her eyes shyly toward her wrist, which remained enclosed in the warm grip of the young master's hand.
"For your safety, this humble Daoist will thoroughly eliminate that fiend for you today. Compassion is the way of the Buddha, after all. Since that creature intends to harm your life, its sins are grave indeed. I can only send it on to the Western Paradise."
Naturally, Chiya noticed Hoshizuki Kaede's shyness.
But he still did not let go.
As the saying went, only a fool passed up a free advantage.
Besides, the girl was not struggling, was she?
"Ah? Is that thing really that dangerous?"
Seeing how serious the handsome master looked, most of Hoshizuki Kaede's earlier embarrassment faded.
After all, compared to losing her life to some evil ghost, what did it matter if the master held her hand a little?
Not to mention, he was really handsome.
Still, this Master Minamiya was a bit strange.
Why was he calling himself "this humble Daoist" one second and talking about Buddhist compassion the next?
"If I do not intervene soon, then in a few more days, that fiend will likely possess you."
Chiya was telling the truth.
As the tainted aura on Hoshizuki Kaede's body grew heavier, the filthy thing would eventually be able to leave the place where it was anchored.
And once something of that level possessed a human, the best-case scenario was a severe illness and lifelong complications.
A worse outcome would be for it to coexist with Hoshizuki Kaede in the same body, effectively sharing her flesh.
And the worst outcome of all would be for it to take over completely, burn through her life force, and go on a frenzied killing spree nearby to satisfy its twisted impulses before both of them died together.
Things that turned into such abominations were rarely good people when they were alive.
Especially those that died with malicious intent.
These were all conclusions Minamiya Chiya had reached after arriving in this island nation. Among the officials and tycoons he had helped, some had indeed once been possessed.
"Then please come with me, Master. That street is quite far from here. We'll need to take a taxi."
Hoshizuki Kaede was badly startled by the grave certainty in Chiya's tone.
She was still so young.
She still had her younger sister to take care of.
She had not even fallen in love yet, let alone gotten married.
There was no way she wanted to die for no reason at all.
Chiya nodded.
Just as he was about to head out, he heard the mechanical voice of the system for the first time.
[Bzzzt... System rebooting... loading... temporary commission activated... weekly missions... delayed... current instance (secret realm)... Hyakki Yagyō outbreak...]
[I am the Unrestrained Immortal Cultivation System. Reboot successful!]
[Ding! Host has received Hoshizuki Kaede's exorcism request!]
[Due to the employer's special identity as one of this world's chosen daughters of heaven, the reward value for completing this task is tripled!]
[Reward for this exorcism mission: one year of bitter cultivation worth of true qi, one bottle of basic Healing Spirit Pills, one protective talisman!]
[The system's weekly exorcism missions will begin tomorrow. Host, please prepare to accept assignments.]
Minamiya Chiya: ???
Holy hell.
The system had come back to life.
It was actually moving again.
And that reward...
Wasn't that exactly the reward from the first mission after leaving the beginner village in that cultivation mobile game he used to play?
Before transmigrating, his alt account had been doing that very mission.
Caught between shock and delight, a sharp gleam flashed in Chiya's eyes as he turned to look at Hoshizuki Kaede beside him.
At once, he understood.
So that was how it worked.
He had to come into contact with special characters.
Otherwise, he could not even trigger missions.
Those Osaka officials and wealthy tycoons meant nothing.
How could they possibly compare to Hoshizuki Kaede, one of this world's favored daughters and a heroine of the hidden side of this world?
...