"I hope he's okay."
Seeing the monster that was following Yurikawa Hana leave with Lin, Yotsuya Miko offered a small prayer in her heart.
There was nothing else she could do.
If Lin could see the spirits, then judging by his demeanor, he was clearly better at handling them than she was.
And if Lin couldn't see them...
...then that was undoubtedly even better.
After all, if you couldn't see them, the spirits couldn't hurt you.
Although she didn't know if this rule was entirely true, it had held up so far.
Now that the spirit had left with Lin...
Yotsuya Miko breathed a sigh of relief, temporarily free from fear and anxiety.
"Miko..."
Yurikawa Hana noticed Yotsuya Miko staring somewhat dazedly in the direction Lin had gone, and her eyes instantly lit up.
Could it be!
She waved her right hand in front of Yotsuya Miko's face.
"Hey, hey, snap out of it! He's long gone."
"Hana, what is it?"
Yotsuya Miko returned to her senses, pushing down the various thoughts in her mind and turning to look at Yurikawa Hana beside her.
"What do you mean, 'what is it'?"
Yurikawa Hana shot her a glance.
Then, with a knowing grin, she said, "Miko, don't tell me you've fallen for Lin-san, have you?"
"Could it be love at first sight?!"
"Huh? No way."
Yotsuya Miko's eyes widened slightly.
"That's not it at all. Don't overthink it."
Yurikawa Hana looked skeptical. "Really? Then why were you just staring at him for so long?"
"Why would I lie to you?"
Looking at Yurikawa Hana, Yotsuya Miko gave a helpless smile.
Although Lin was indeed incredibly handsome...
...and with his tall, slender build, he clearly had a great figure...
...she was in no state of mind to think about things like romance right now.
After all, as long as the problem with the spirits wasn't solved and her safety wasn't guaranteed, how could she possibly date anyone?
But now that the topic had come up...
A thought suddenly popped into Yotsuya Miko's head.
'What if one day the spirits see through my act? Wouldn't it be a huge regret to die without ever having been in a relationship?'
There was a reason she thought this way.
She had been terrified by spirits countless times.
A few times were so scary that she couldn't even hold back, you know... that.
If she had to keep living in such constant fear, she didn't know how much longer she could last.
"Alright, fine, I believe you."
Seeing Yotsuya Miko's response, Yurikawa Hana decided to drop the gossip.
Then she added with another grin:
"But Lin-san really is handsome. I think he's the most handsome guy I've ever seen. I'm so jealous of his girlfriend."
"It would be great if I could have a boyfriend like Lin-san someday. What do you think?"
"He's alright, I guess..."
Yotsuya Miko glanced at her, her eyes flickering slightly.
Lin's face seemed to appear before her.
'Judging purely by his looks and aura, he really does seem like the type most girls would like.'
And she felt that she was part of that majority.
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
When he parted ways with Yotsuya Miko and her friend, Lin had released an infinitesimally small amount of his life energy.
Though it was merely a drop in the ocean for him...
...its allure to the evil spirit was no less than, and perhaps even greater than, the life energy radiating from Yurikawa Hana.
Thus, the evil spirit that had targeted Yurikawa Hana switched its target.
It followed behind Lin, wanting to absorb his life energy.
About ten minutes later.
Lin arrived in a deserted alley, followed by six evil spirits, including the one he had deliberately lured away.
All of them had been drawn by his enticing life energy.
Stopping, Lin put his hands in his pockets and turned to face the evil spirits.
A flicker of pure crimson light flashed through his blue eyes.
Several clusters of flame materialized from thin air, forming six arrows that shot toward the evil spirits, striking their targets in an instant.
They exploded on impact.
The six evil spirits were engulfed in crimson flames, and in the blink of an eye, they vanished as the fire dissipated.
Everything returned to calm.
It was as if nothing had ever happened.
As he left the alley, Lin summoned the Codex of All Things.
There were seven new illuminated entries.
One of them belonged to Yurikawa Hana.
To be honest, he was a little surprised her entry had been illuminated so easily.
Yurikawa Hana already considered him a friend.
Nickname: Yurikawa Hana
Level: Green
Introduction: An energetic foodie
Reward: Invisibility
…
Nickname: Spirit-Sucking Evil Spirit
Level: Green
Introduction: A variant intermediate evil spirit
Reward: Ninety-nine portions of medium energy
…
"Hmm, Invisibility?!"
Lin skipped right over the evil spirits' rewards and focused on the one from Yurikawa Hana.
Invisibility! It's invisibility!
Along with X-ray vision, it was hailed as one of the two most desired superpowers for the common person.
With a thought, he claimed the reward.
"Wait, it's this kind of invisibility... (⊙o⊙)"
After obtaining the ability, Lin was a tad disappointed.
This invisibility could be considered a flawed ability.
Its effect was to disappear from a single target's field of vision.
However, other people could still see him, and electronic devices like phones and security cameras could still record him.
Any noise he made while invisible could also be perceived.
After learning the ability's effects, Lin was instantly reminded of a certain wife of his who possessed the same kind of invisibility.
The difference was that his ability wouldn't disappear.
"Oh well, it's better than nothing."
It was a Green-level reward, after all, and not of particularly high value, so its power was limited.
Lin then claimed the energy rewards.
After merging them with the Primal Force in his body, the upper limit of his strength and energy output increased by about one one-hundred-thousandth.
Primal Force was the name he had given to the special energy within him.
The energy he now wielded was a product of the fusion between the seven elemental Auras and magical power, making it extremely versatile.
Thus, he chose that name.
It signified the power of the origin.
After absorbing the energy, Lin looked at the entry for the Spirit-Sucking Evil Spirit.
A variant intermediate evil spirit.
Its name even had 'Spirit-Sucking' in it; no wonder it could directly drain Yurikawa Hana's life energy.
Other evil spirits lacked that ability.
Because of this special trait, the reward was 99 portions of medium energy.
Leaving the alley, Lin headed toward the station.
He didn't expand his mental perception, nor did he try to fish for more encounters.
From here on, he would leave it to fate.
Half an hour later, Lin returned to his residence.
He didn't encounter any more evil spirits or anything worthy of a Codex entry along the way. It seemed fate wasn't ready yet.
Entering the first-floor living room, Lin flopped onto the sofa like a salted fish and pulled out his phone.
He opened the messaging app, LINE.
Akashiya Moka had sent him a message.
"Lin, are you free this afternoon?"
Lin typed his reply: "I am."
Meanwhile, on the other end.
"Great!"
Akashiya Moka, who had been waiting for a reply, lit up with joy upon seeing Lin's message and quickly typed on her phone.
"I'm planning to go out for a bit. Do you want to come with me?"
After sending the message, she bit her lower lip, a look of nervousness in her eyes.
She was worried Lin would decline her invitation.
However, her worries were clearly unfounded.
Lin: "Sure. When and where should we meet?"
Seeing that Lin had accepted her invitation, Akashiya Moka beamed, unable to hide her delight.
She quickly typed her reply.
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