Tokyo: I can enlighten all obsessions

"Ha ha……"

Ren Saionji covered his mouth tightly, and even though his lungs were burning with pain from lack of oxygen, he dared not let his breathing be louder than his heartbeat.

The high-end suit that was custom-made in Ginza was now a tattered rag covered in dust and blood, hanging pathetically on his still trembling body.

On his left thigh and right arm, several deep, bone-revealing lacerations were gushing blood, staining the Persian carpet beneath him crimson.

Ren Saionji was huddled behind a collapsed desk, her pampered hands now tightly gripping a whistle that looked as if it were made from some kind of dried bone.

That was a Class D standard magical artifact issued by the Special Disaster Countermeasures Office.

[The throat bone of a death row inmate].

[By simply holding it in your mouth and blowing forcefully, you can create a "silent" force field within a three-meter radius around you, isolating all sound leakage.]

But now, the once pale and smooth bone whistle is covered with fine black cracks like a spider web, and has even begun to ooze a foul-smelling black liquid, corroding a charred mark in his palm.

This is a sign that the cursed artifact is about to "collapse".

These mass-produced, low-level magical artifacts were simply no match for the oppressive feeling of the monster outside.

"I...heard...it..."

A faint, hoarse female voice echoed in the deathly silent space.

Ren Saionji's body stiffened abruptly, a chilling cold and fear instantly seeping into her spine.

He didn't dare to look up, but he could feel it.

That thing is right across the table.

She was a long-haired woman wearing a tattered office uniform.

But she has no facial features on her head.

The space that should have been a face was occupied by a giant human ear.

That ear almost took up the entire head, and its auricle was covered with dense black hairs. With each tremor, it could capture the sound of even a tiny speck of dust falling to the ground.

"Your heartbeat...it's so loud..."

puff!

There were no signs whatsoever.

The death row inmate's throat bone, which symbolized the last hope in Saionji Ren's hand, made a crisp sound and instantly exploded into countless black bone fragments.

The field of rules has shattered.

At the same time, an invisible sonic blade appeared out of thin air, instantly slicing through the thick solid wood panel of the desk, leaving a smooth, mirror-like cut in the hard oak.

"Ugh!!"

Ren Saionji gritted his teeth and swallowed back the scream that was about to burst from his throat.

Even with the force field providing the final cushion, the aftershock still managed to leave a bloody gash on his cheek.

Fresh blood dripped down his chin. *Plop*.

The sound of blood droplets hitting the floor was so faint as to be almost negligible.

But to that monster with enormous ears, the sound was like a thunderclap.

"Found it."

The enormous ears suddenly turned in this direction, and the black-haired earlobes contracted violently, like a fully drawn bowstring.

Ren Saionji stared in despair at the pile of bone powder in his hands that had lost its spirit. In that instant, his pride and dignity as an elite of the port area completely collapsed, leaving only the fear of death.

Is it going to be... cut open again?

"Help...help me..."

He could only manage a muffled whimper, his cries for help stuck in his throat.

At that critical moment.

"Bang!!!"

A loud bang echoed from the other end of the corridor.

"grumble!!!"

The enormous ear, which had been poised to strike like a taut bowstring, suddenly twitched violently the instant the loud noise rang out.

It let out a scream, its black, fuzzy ears curling and contracting wildly like a startled mimosa, as if trying to shut out the violent noise.

The invisible wind blade, which was originally meant to kill, completely dissipated in that instant due to the intense pain of the body, turning into a harmless breeze that merely ruffled the stray hairs on Saionji Ren's forehead.

"...Huh?"

Saionji Renna's pupils, already somewhat unfocused with fear, stared blankly in the direction from which the sound came.

Followed by.

A man's roar, filled with a street-smart, even strangely excited tone, accompanied by a series of loud crashes against the wall, swaggered out from the depths of the corridor.

"Feed—feed—feed—!!"

"Where are those ears that love to eavesdrop on others' private matters and those gossipy mouths hiding?!"

"Don't let me find you!!"

Accompanied by a piercing noise like metal pipes slamming against a wall, the man's voice grew closer, his tone devoid of any fear, but instead filled with mania:

"Come out! Come out! Come out!!"

"It's fun to hide in the corner and eavesdrop on other people's secrets, isn't it?! Huh?!!"

"You're having fun gossiping, aren't you?! Huh?!"

Amidst the roar, Ren Saionji was completely stunned.

He remained huddled awkwardly behind the desk, clutching the pile of ruined artifacts in his hand, his mouth slightly agape, his mind seemingly turned to mush by an invisible hand.

What... is going on?

The vengeful spirit, whose very existence was enough to suffocate this elite, was now like a wildcat whose tail had been stepped on, desperately trying to shrink its enormous ears into the shadows of the corner.

It is afraid.

This strange being, who resides in the Lv.4 [Calamity] realm and possesses its own rules for killing, is actually afraid of the man outside who is frantically making noise?

"A sound I've never heard before..."

Ren Saionji frantically searched his mind for the list of high-risk spiritual patients at the top of the pyramid in the "Countermeasures Room".

Is it the captain of the "Countermeasures Division 1" codenamed "Executioner"?

No, it's impossible.

Although the man's condition was classified as S-level, he had long since transformed himself into a cold-blooded killing machine. When carrying out a mission, he would remain silent and would never make such meaningless noise.

Are they those "human weapons" being held in the Special Operations Department's basement?

Nor is it possible.

Those monsters that have been thoroughly brainwashed, without the restraints of "restraints," would only exude a rotten smell and would never have the human touch of a street thug.

This voice lacked both the suffocating spiritual pressure of a high-level patient and the tactical sophistication of someone who had undergone systematic training.

That kind of uncultured cursing, that violent aura as if they were about to smash a bottle over someone's head at any moment...

It's like a "wild patient" who has just been diagnosed, hasn't learned how to control the illness, and only knows how to vent his strength everywhere.

"Could it be... a newly awakened madman?"

Ren Saionji felt a chill of absurdity.

We are all mentally challenged individuals struggling in this desperate world. To maintain their precarious sanity, elites like him have to swallow large amounts of suppressive drugs every day and undergo regular "psychological evaluations" that feel like they're going to rip their brains out.

They lived cautiously, as if walking on thin ice.

But what is this guy outside?

"Hey! Did you hear me?! I know you're in there!!"

Listen to this vulgar and offensive language.

This is just like a loan shark coming to your door to collect a debt!

In this deadly place where the slightest sound would result in being cut to pieces, how dare this guy provoke us so brazenly?

Isn't he afraid of dying?

Or……

As Ren Saionji looked at the wall that was beginning to crack from the violent bombardment, a sense of absurd fear welled up inside him.

The lesion inside this guy's body called "Madness"...

Is it even more hopeless than this fourth-level vengeful spirit in front of us?

Boom!!!

It was in that very second that his worldview crumbled.

The wall finally gave way under the strain.

Amidst billowing dust and rubble, a foot in a cheap sneaker roughly kicked open the last piece of plasterboard.

"Cough cough...tsk, there's so much dust, I should have worn a mask."

The smoke and dust cleared.

A young man in a black suit swaggered across the ruins and walked in.

That's not a high-end custom item at all.

It was a cheap suit that was obviously made of rough fabric and poorly tailored. The cuffs were even pilling, and it hung loosely on his slightly thin body.

In addition, there was that face, though covered in dust, still showed signs of youth.

This is clearly a minor student who is still in high school.

Behind him followed a petite shrine maiden, holding a gohei (a type of shrine maiden's hat), wearing red and white hakama (traditional Chinese kimono) covered in dust, and nervously peeking out.

This bizarre combination—

One is a high school student who looks like he was dragged into doing illegal work right after school, and the other is a shrine maiden who looks like she wandered onto the wrong movie set.

Kamiki Tetsu casually waved the dust off his face and glanced around the room.

He first glanced at the giant-eared monster huddled in the corner, trembling from the noise attack, and then gave a satisfied, cold smile.

then.

His gaze fell on Ren Saionji, who was slumped on the ground, covered in blood and looking dazed.

Looking at the other person's suit, which, though tattered, still revealed its expensive quality, and the pile of obviously official artifact remnants in their hand.

Kamiki Toru raised an eyebrow, his tone tinged with surprise:

"Yo."

He showed no respect for his seniors whatsoever, instead looking at them as if they were some rare animal:

"Isn't this the elite commander who orders us cannon fodder to our deaths?"

Ren Saionji did not respond to his taunts.

His gaze was fixed intently on the boy's chest.

On the lapel of that cheap suit was a silver badge that looked rather worn, with even a few scratches along the edges.

There were two broken swords crossed, with a dilapidated torii gate in the background.

Special Disaster Countermeasures Office - Shinjuku Branch

Ren Saionji's chapped lips twitched, her mind completely blank.

Shinjuku branch...that legendary garbage recycling station?

They... actually took in minors?

That poorest, most chaotic branch in all of Tokyo, which these Minato Ward elites jokingly referred to as a "garbage dump"...

They actually possess a spiritual being that even the Fourth-Rank Calamity Realm fears?!

"...It's from the Shinjuku branch's countermeasures office?!"

Ren Saionji let out an incredulous murmur.

Kamiki Tetsu ignored the elite man at his feet who was questioning his existence.

He stood in the center of the room, his left hand slowly opening. The "voyeur's eyeball," which he had been holding in his palm, was now emitting a faint red glow, the light like an invisible chain pointing straight at a shadowy spot in the corner of the room.

The enormous ear that had been so arrogant just moments before was now pressed tightly against the corner of the wall, its tufts of black fur trembling as if it wished it could bury itself in a crack in the wall.

It has been discovered.

In the eyes of the "voyeur," its little tricks of hiding are completely exposed.

"Oh……"

Kamiki Tetsu looked at the strange creature curled up in a ball, and his expression instantly turned cold.

He simply threw away the steel pipe he had used to make noise, and slowly reached into his pocket with his right hand, pulling out the utility knife.

Click.

"turn out to be……"

The boy tilted his head, and in his eyes, which reflected a red light, lay a chilling aura more dangerous than that of a vengeful spirit.

"The guy who likes to eavesdrop on other people's secrets is hiding here."