Late spring, dusk.
The cherry blossom trees lining both sides of the school road were in full bloom.
The light of sunset is soft and gentle, the wind is gentle, and the pink cherry blossoms fall softly, creating a mesmerizing sense of romance.
Kamiya walked along the cobblestone path strewn with cherry blossom petals, stopping and starting, occasionally checking her phone and looking around.
He looks like a Pokemon Go player.
"It seems to be around here."
In fact, Kamiya is currently playing a mobile game with AR effects, but it's not Pokemon Go.
The game he was playing was called "Tales of Ghosts".
It's a very strange game.
It appeared on Kamiyagawa's phone out of nowhere, and there was no information about it online, nor could it be uninstalled.
After opening the game, a flat street view map will appear, prompting the player to go to a certain location in reality before the game can officially begin.
The location marked in "Tales of Ghosts" is located in the National Karin High School, where Kamiyagawa currently attends.
Driven by the thought that "this might be a perk for time travelers," Kamiya started the game with a certain degree of wishful thinking.
According to the annotations in "Tales of Ghosts", Kamiya made a final minor adjustment to his position, moving five meters to the right, so that he was facing the trunk of a large cherry blossom tree.
Buzzing.
My phone started vibrating.
[Start Game]
A start button appeared on the page of "Tales of the Strange".
"It's finally here."
Nervous, excited, and with a touch of indescribable anticipation, Kamiya swiped his finger and pressed the start button.
The next moment, the phone screen went black.
Kamiya swiped the screen a few times and pressed the power button, but there was no response.
My perfectly good phone seems to have turned into a brick in that instant.
Are you kidding me?
Kamiya Kawakawa inwardly cried out that he'd been tricked. Only after he painfully shifted his gaze from his phone did he realize that his surroundings seemed to have changed—
The setting sun, which had originally hung in the west like a salted egg yolk, had somehow completely disappeared below the horizon.
Without the warmth of the setting sun, the light suddenly became dim and eerie, as if the surrounding scenery had been filtered through a ghostly lens. Even the once vibrant cherry blossom grove seemed to have lost its beauty.
Something's not right.
Kamiya looked down and saw something new under the cherry blossom tree trunk that he had been facing.
It was a small wooden shrine, and it was impossible to see what was enshrined inside. There were tiny yellowish-green fluorescent lights flickering around it.
"This thing wasn't there just now; it appeared suddenly."
Everything that changed happened suddenly after Kamiyagawa pressed the start button for the game.
After confirming this, Kamiyagawa felt a strange sense of relief.
Sure enough, for time travelers, anything strange is acceptable.
Then, he held the phone up in front of him again.
A new text appeared on the dark phone screen—
[The world of ghost stories has finished loading.]
[This is a chaotic world overrun by ghosts and monsters. From the moment you stepped into this world as a living being, you have only one goal: to defeat all evil spirits and become the supreme ruler of all ghosts and gods!]
[So, future ruler of all spirits, before you officially begin writing your story, please choose one of the following three byproducts—]
[Item Name: Kappa's Half-Cucumber]
[Quality: Excellent]
[Effect: Greatly improves swimming ability after use, and has a certain probability of learning the Kappa's underwater breathing technique.]
[Note: This is a cucumber that the kappa loves most. It has been treasured for a long time, is about 50% new, and has half of it left. It can be used internally or externally.]
"Cucumber for external use... Even kappa (a mythical creature) likes to apply face masks, right?"
Kamiyagawa dismissed the first item with a look of disgust.
[Item Name: Great Tengu's High Clogs]
[Quality: Excellent]
[Effect: Increases movement speed when equipped, allowing you to move with the wind.]
[Note: These wooden clogs, with their patina, have become tainted with demonic energy from being worn and trodden by the powerful tengu over the years, making them no longer ordinary.]
It's all worn smooth and patina-covered, is that alright?
Okay, I don't really want to choose the second item either.
[Item Name: Five Thunder Orthodox Method (Fragment)]
[Quality: Excellent]
[Effect: After learning, you will acquire the Five Thunder Technique - Fragment]
[Note: This is a special option generated based on your soul's affiliation. It's an ancient Taoist spell from the Chinese magical system, capable of summoning devastating heavenly lightning to aid in battle. However, due to severe omissions, the incomplete spell has lost all its power. Perhaps you can find a way to complete the spell?]
Kamiya didn't hesitate among the three companion items and firmly chose the incomplete Five Thunder Orthodox Method scroll.
As a transmigrator whose soul originates from China, and who was also a collector in his previous life while playing games, even a second's hesitation would be disrespectful to the terms "special options" and "Chinese Taoist magic" in the item descriptions.
Furthermore, even if we take a rational approach and set aside personal feelings, from a purely game-related perspective, Kamiyagawa also had reasons for choosing the incomplete Five Thunder Orthodox Method scroll.
The description of the Kappa's cucumber suggests it's a specialized item designed to enhance underwater combat capabilities, making it highly effective. However, it's essentially useless if you don't use it in the water.
Tengu's wooden clogs are more versatile. They provide a certain amount of movement speed, making them a jack-of-all-trades that can be useful in many situations, but they also seem to be unreliable in most areas.
The Five Thunder Method is different.
Although it is a fragmented and low-quality version, the text description clearly implies that the spell may be completed.
In other words, this thing has room for growth, and its potential is extremely high!
If I can learn the complete Five Thunder Technique in the future, it will be thousands of times better than the trash I get from Kappa and Tengu.
Just gamble!
[Obtained a fragment of the Five Thunder Orthodox Method, and learned the Five Thunder Method (Fragment)]
After selecting the incomplete Five Thunder Orthodox Method scroll, the following text popped up on the phone screen.
Then, a tattered ancient book appeared out of nowhere in Kamiyagawa's hand.
At the same time, a strange, tingling sensation arose within his body, stirring restlessly, before finally subsiding after several minutes.
Kamiya tried to activate the strange, tingling sensation that had just entered her body.
As this thought arose, his hands naturally formed a hand seal.
That's a Taoist hand seal called the Five Thunder Finger, a type of thunder seal.
Kamiyagawa naturally didn't know anything about hand seals before, nor was he familiar with Taoist methods. These Taoist concepts inexplicably appeared in his mind after the game prompted him to master the Youth Version of the Five Thunder Technique.
crackling and popping—
As the Five Thunder Fingers were formed, a series of small but dense explosions erupted from Kamiyagawa's body, with arcs of electricity flashing continuously.
The effect is comparable to the static electricity generated when you take off a sweater on a dry winter night.
After finishing a set of thunder spells, he reached up and rubbed his forehead, feeling slightly mentally disoriented: "So, the incomplete version of the Five Thunder Spells is just a more powerful version of static electricity, right?"
However, the original intention of choosing the Five Thunder Technique Fragment was to bet on its growth potential, so it's not unacceptable that this spell is somewhat lackluster in the early stages.
"Speaking of which... now that we've chosen the byproducts, is the game officially starting? Shouldn't there be a tutorial? At least let me understand the game mechanics."
Kamiya Kawa squatted down and gently touched the shrine on the ground.
In an instant, those yellow-green specks of light scattered like fireflies on a summer night.
At the same time, the phone vibrated again.
[Map unlocked, Flower Bell's Ghost School.]
[Area Mission 1: Explore over 80% of the area around Hualing Ghost School. (0/100)]
[Area Quest 2: Exterminate the D-Rank Ghost Story, the Demon Doll Hanako.]
"Hanako? You can run into something like this here?" Kamiya swallowed hard.
In Japan, Hanako-san from the toilet is a very famous school ghost story.
Okay, I'm starting to understand everything.
What I need to do now is use the crackling static electricity on my body to defeat Hanako, this well-known ghost story.
What a simple task... simple my foot!
What's the difference between this and asking me to give it away for free?
A slightly chilly evening breeze suddenly blew by, causing cherry blossom petals to flutter down, forming a cherry blossom rain.
Meanwhile, some sounds were also carried on the wind.
"Waaaaahh ...
You can hear someone crying.
It was the sound of a girl sobbing.
"It might be an NPC that guides new players through the tutorial."
Kamiya temporarily put aside the regional mission and followed the sound of crying into the dimly lit cherry blossom grove. After walking about ten meters in, he spotted a figure.
It looked like a girl; her chest and above were obscured by the shade of the cherry blossom trees, so it wasn't clear.
But you can see her sailor uniform, pleated skirt, black stockings, flat leather shoes, and her bare arms and thighs are fair and smooth.
A standard, cute high school girl outfit.
"Hello?" Kamiya asked.
"Giggle giggle—"
At that moment, JK in the woods suddenly stopped crying and instead let out a melodious, bell-like laugh, while taking quick steps and rushing towards Kamiya River.
The sudden turn of events left no time for people to react.
What Kamiya saw next made his heart skip a beat.
The high school girl in the cherry blossom grove emerged from the shade of the trees, her body, previously hidden by shadows, now fully revealed—
A blue ribbon bow was tied neatly and beautifully at the back of her chest. But above that, where her head should have been, the neckline was completely bare—nothing at all!
This thing isn't an NPC at all, it's a monster!
"No. This thing doesn't even have a head, so which part of its body is it crying with?"
Faced with this situation, Kamiya's reaction was commendable. He was neither terrified nor weak-kneed. He muttered a random thought to himself and quickly turned to run away.
NOTE: "Joshi Kōsei" (女子高生) — which means female high school student.