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"Please let him be alright."
As the ghost that had been shadowing Hana Yurikawa drifted off after Max, Miko Yotsuya said a silent prayer in her heart.
There wasn't much else she could do.
If Max really could see ghosts, judging from how he handled himself, he was clearly way better at dealing with them than she was.
And if he couldn't see them?
Even better.
After all, if you couldn't see a ghost, it couldn't hurt you.
She wasn't entirely sure if that rule was foolproof, but at least up until now, it seemed to hold true.
Now that the spirit had followed Max away, Miko finally let out a sigh of relief. For the time being, she didn't have to keep her heart lodged in her throat.
"Miko…"
Hana noticed her staring blankly after Max's back as he walked away. Her eyes lit up instantly.
Wait—could it be?!
She waved a hand in front of Miko's face.
"Hey, hey, earth to Miko! He's long gone, you know."
"Huh? Oh—sorry, what is it, Hana?"
Miko snapped out of her thoughts, forcing herself to push away everything swirling in her chest, and turned toward her friend.
"What do you mean, 'what is it.'"
Hana gave her a sly sideways glance.
Then she leaned in, grinning playfully. "Don't tell me… Miko, you've got a thing for Lin, don't you?"
"Was that love at first sight just now?!"
"What? No way."
Miko's eyes widened a little.
"Of course not, don't go making stuff up."
Hana clearly didn't buy it. "Really? Then why were you staring at him for so long?"
"Why would I lie about that?"
Miko let out a weak laugh, looking helpless.
It was true that Max was ridiculously handsome.
Tall, lean, great build—you didn't need to be a genius to see that.
But romance? Right now? That was the last thing on her mind.
As long as these ghost problems weren't solved, she could never feel safe. And without safety, who had the energy to think about dating?
Still, now that Hana had brought it up…
A stray thought popped into her head.
What if one day, a ghost sees through my act, and I end up dying without ever having dated anyone? Wouldn't that be such a waste?
It wasn't like the thought came out of nowhere.
She'd been terrified out of her wits by ghosts countless times already.
There were even moments when it had been so horrifying that… well, she'd lost control a bit.
If she had to keep living like this, constantly on edge, she honestly didn't know how much longer she could last.
"Fine, fine, I'll believe you," Hana finally said, letting the gossip slide for now.
But her grin returned a second later.
"Still, Max really is stupidly good-looking. Honestly, I think he might be the most handsome guy I've ever met. Whoever his girlfriend is, I'm so jealous."
She clasped her hands together dreamily. "If I could end up with a boyfriend like him someday, I'd be over the moon. Don't you think so too?"
"I guess…"
Miko glanced at her, her gaze flickering for a moment.
Max's face floated unbidden into her mind.
Yeah… in terms of looks and aura, he really is exactly the type most girls would fall for.
And she knew she wasn't an exception.
Meanwhile, elsewhere—
After splitting off from the girls, Max released just the tiniest flicker of his life energy.
For him, it was practically nothing.
But to the hungry spirits around him, the allure was greater—far greater—than even Hana's exposed life force.
The malicious spirit that had been preying on Hana immediately changed targets, abandoning her to follow him instead.
Ten minutes later, Max stepped into a deserted alley.
Six spirits trailed behind him, including the one he'd deliberately lured away.
All of them had been drawn in by his tempting energy.
He stopped and slowly turned to face them, hands still casually in his pockets.
In his blue eyes, a thin red glow flared.
Sparks of flame appeared out of nowhere, condensing into six blazing arrows. They shot forward in an instant, striking each spirit dead on.
At the moment of impact, the arrows exploded.
Crimson fire devoured the spirits, and within seconds, they were gone—completely erased.
The alley fell silent, as though nothing had ever happened.
Max walked out, summoning his Codex of All Things as he went.
Seven new entries lit up.
One of them was Hana's.
That surprised him, honestly. He hadn't expected it to be that easy.
Hana already thought of him as a friend.
Name: Hana Yurikawa.
Rank: Green.
Note: A cheerful foodie.
Reward: Invisibility.
…
Name: Spirit Feeder.
Rank: Green.
Note: A mutated mid-tier spirit.
Reward: 99 units of medium energy.
…
"Huh? Invisibility?!"
Max skipped right past the spirit's reward and zeroed in on Hana's.
Invisibility. Actual invisibility.
That, along with x-ray vision, was one of the top two "superpowers normal people wanted most."
He claimed the ability immediately.
"Wait… oh. It's that kind of invisibility (⊙o⊙)…"
The moment the power settled in, his excitement deflated a little.
This version was kind of… flawed.
It only made him vanish from a single person's line of sight.
Everyone else could still see him. Cameras and phones could still capture him. And if he made noise, people would still notice.
Yeah, it was invisibility, but only sort of.
It reminded him of a certain waifu with the same kind of skill. The difference was that his wouldn't wear off.
"Well, better than nothing, I guess."
Green-tier rewards weren't supposed to be that amazing anyway. It wasn't weak, but it wasn't game-breaking either.
After that, he claimed the spirit's energy.
Once it merged with his own inner force, his strength and maximum output increased—though only by the tiniest fraction, maybe one in a hundred thousand.
"Force." That was the name he'd given to the unique energy inside him.
It was the result of fusing seven elemental spiritual energies with magic, and it was absurdly versatile.
So he'd chosen a name that meant "primordial power."
Scanning through the spirit's entry, he realized something.
Ah, no wonder it could directly drain Hana's life force. It wasn't a normal mid-tier ghost.
It was a Spirit Feeder.
That rare trait was why its reward was so high: ninety-nine whole units of medium energy.
Leaving the alley, Max headed toward the station.
This time he didn't extend his spiritual sense or try to bait anything. He decided to just let fate decide what he'd run into.
Half an hour later, he got back to his apartment without crossing paths with a single spirit—or anything else worth unlocking in the Codex. Guess fate wasn't in the mood today.
Dropping onto the couch in the first-floor living room like a lazy fish, he pulled out his phone.
Opening LINE, he saw a new message waiting from Moka Akashiya.
Moka: "Max, are you free this afternoon?"
He typed back: "Yeah, I'm free."
Meanwhile, on the other end—
"Yes!"
Moka's face lit up when his reply came in. She quickly typed back, biting her lip, eyes full of nervous excitement.
Moka: "I was thinking of going out for a bit. Want to come with me?"
The moment she sent it, she hesitated, worry bubbling in her chest. What if he said no?
But her concern was wasted.
Max: "Sure. When and where do you want to meet?"
Her heart soared. Seeing his reply, she couldn't hold back a smile. Her fingers flew over the keyboard as her joy spilled out.
"..."