Tokyo: Magical Girl Shatters My Dream of Going Public

Tap tap tap~

In the absolute silence, footsteps echoed continuously in the stairwell.

When the sound was reflected to my ear, it felt like someone was quietly following behind me.

Chika turned around in fright and saw that the roller shutter door that had been pried open was only six or seven steps away from her.

She breathed a sigh of relief and looked back. Kurokawa had already walked four or five meters away. She quickly tightened her backpack straps and hurriedly followed Kurokawa with the heavy backpack on her back.

She lowered her voice: "President... are the magical vengeful spirits you mentioned real ghosts?"

Kurokawa turned around and looked at Chinatsu, who was shrinking her head, with a puzzled expression.

Puzzled, she asked, "Why are you deliberately lowering your voice? There's no one else here."

"Huh?" Chika was taken aback and blinked.

Oh right, why did I deliberately lower my voice?

"Um... won't our loud voices attract the vengeful spirits you mentioned?" Chinatsu also resumed her normal speaking volume.

Walking in alone might be frightening.

But if the two of them could talk normally, she wasn't so scared.

"It will happen under certain circumstances."

"Then we..." Chinatsu was startled, and lowered her voice again, "Let's keep it down..."

Kurokawa pointed to his head and explained.

"Each magical vengeful spirit has unique characteristics. Some vengeful spirits are extremely sensitive to sound, and speaking loudly is suicidal. But when you don't feel a pricking sensation in your head, it means you haven't entered the vengeful spirit's attack range, and you can be a little more at ease at this time."

"Does it feel like being pricked by needles?"

Chika lowered her head and carefully felt it.

My mind is clear, but I feel a bit tired after running a few kilometers during the day.

"What's the underlying principle?"

"That's because vengeful spirits continuously release magical energy into the outside world. Ordinary people will feel uncomfortable when they come into contact with this energy."

Fearing that Chika, who was new to encountering vengeful spirits, might not understand, Kurokawa gave a simple analogy.

"To put it simply, imagine the magical vengeful spirit as a swamp that keeps expanding. When you suddenly find the soil beneath your feet starting to get wet, it means you've entered its range."

"I see... President, you know so much."

Chinatsu quickly walked up to Kurokawa and walked alongside him.

She asked with even greater curiosity, "President, have you dealt with many magical vengeful spirits before? What did they look like?"

"Each type of vengeful spirit takes a different form. But based on the reason for their birth, they can be roughly divided into four categories: [Resentment Type], [Physical Spirit Type], [Legendary Type], and [Otherworld Type]. The level of danger can also be roughly divided into seven levels from S to F. Level C is the dividing line between vengeful spirits, so be careful when you encounter them in the future."

"Resentment, resentment-related?" The sudden influx of new terms left Chika somewhat bewildered.

"The so-called 'resentment type,' simply put, refers to vengeful spirits born from the magical influence of the resentment of humans gathered in a certain area... while the 'spirit type'..."

He was halfway through his sentence when he noticed that Chika seemed a little confused.

Kurokawa didn't press the issue, simply saying, "I'll explain the remaining categories to you when we encounter them in the future..."

"Oh, okay." Chika breathed a sigh of relief.

Unlike her sister, she wasn't very good at handling things that required thinking.

She suddenly remembered tonight's goal and asked, "So, boss, what's our goal tonight...?"

"I don't know the specific category. But I know it's an F-class vengeful spirit..." Afraid that Chinatsu wouldn't understand, Kurokawa gave a simple analogy, "The danger level of an F-class vengeful spirit is equivalent to a runaway motorcycle gang that's completely bulletproof."

"Hmm... a runaway motorcycle gang? That sounds dangerous..."

In just a short time, the two arrived at the station hall on the basement level.

The turnstiles that were still functioning normally a year ago are now covered in dust.

There was a faint, yet distinct, musty smell in the air, characteristic of old houses.

After climbing over the ticket window, Kurokawa noticed a yellowed notice posted on the window by the light of his headlamp.

Yellowed notice.

The edges of the paper were curled and torn, and several corners were barely held in place by tape.

The bold, black-printed title read: "Iwabuchi Station Emergency Closure Notice".

Below are a few lines of smaller text:

Due to the risk of sudden abnormal displacement of rock strata, Akabane Iwabuchi Station and its connected tunnel area have been permanently closed since February 10, 2021.

The stamp was signed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation and dated last year; the bright red ink on the official seal had smudged slightly.

Kurokawa's gaze lingered on "February 10, 2021" for a moment.

This date is glaring.

"Didn't the news say it was only closed due to an accident in 22...? How come it was already closed in 21?"

He turned his gaze away and toward the staircase leading to the dark tracks.

"Let's go to the underground subway tunnel."

The sound was flat.

Chika responded, tightened her backpack strap, and quickly followed.

The musty smell seemed stronger.

The underground platform is a typical island platform, and to prevent people from committing suicide by lying on the tracks, there are protective glass doors on both sides of the platform.

The rusty red directional sign for "Akabane Iwabuchi" reflected light briefly as my headlamp swept across it before quickly disappearing back into darkness.

"Give me the hydraulic pliers."

Chika quickly handed the pliers to Kurokawa.

Gripping the hydraulic pliers handle, I used my waist and abdomen to slam the pliers head hard against the glass.

After a few attempts, a gap was finally created, just large enough for one person to pass through.

Use hydraulic shears to smash the sharp glass remaining on both sides of the door frame, and kick away the remaining glass shards at your feet.

Without hesitation, Kurokawa leaped off the platform, his boots landing on the tracks, and he almost lost his balance.

The headlamp swept across.

A lone child's sneaker lay beside the tracks, covered in dust and turned gray.

Not far away, a newspaper that had been soaked and dried by a leak was stuck to the rails, its headline now just a blurry ink blot.

After Chika jumped down, Kurokawa looked at the dark tunnel ahead.

As the tunnel stretched forward, the light from our headlamps seemed to be swallowed by the darkness, illuminating less than ten meters away.

Kurokawa felt that even his breathing was frighteningly loud.

"Let's go."

Just as he was about to take a step, his sleeve suddenly tightened.

He turned around and saw that Qianxia's face, which had been rosy just moments before, had turned deathly pale, and her lips were trembling.

"President... my head..." her voice trembled, "...it feels like I'm being pricked with a needle..."

Kurokawa's pupils contracted slightly.

He immediately held his breath and focused his mind, but in his perception, there was only a deathly stillness.

This means that either Chika is lying, or she possesses magical talent far exceeding that of ordinary people...

Judging from her pale face, she didn't seem to be lying at all.

It seemed they were already within the enemy's attack range. He lowered his voice and said to Chinatsu, "Give me the remote-controlled car, the Bluetooth speaker, and the tape."

Despite her discomfort, Chika quickly handed the items from her backpack to Kurokawa.

Kurokawa remained silent, and crouched down beside the tracks by the light of Chinatsu's headlamp.

Stuff the Bluetooth speaker into the truck bed, connect it to your phone, and wrap it tightly with tape.

He then took off his headlamp and stuck it on the roof of the remote-controlled car.

Throughout the entire process, apart from the ripping sound of tape being torn, all that could be heard was the suppressed breathing of the two people.

Seeing this, Chinatsu couldn't help but ask curiously, "President, what are you doing?"

Her voice was so soft, she was practically speaking in a breath.

"Class F magical vengeful spirits generally possess a rule targeting the five senses and a weakness. Unlike magical girls, we can't directly blast them away with powerful firepower. So we can only try to figure out their rules and weaknesses to reduce the difficulty of containment."

The simplified test setup was successfully completed in just about two minutes.

He controlled the remote-controlled car to clear a path 100 meters ahead of the two of them, giving himself ample time to react.

Then, he turned off Chika's headlamp, leaving only the single beam of light from the remote-controlled car, which was penetrating deep into the darkness.

In the suddenly deepening darkness, his voice was extremely low, each word like a blow to Chika's heart.

"Remember: Don't run, don't turn on the lights, and definitely don't talk. Now, we're already on its plate."