Dragon Raja: Oh no! Lu Mingfei has been diagnosed with depression!

Lu Mingfei opened his eyes, and all the golden light receded rapidly like a wave.

The customers complained that the manager didn't open the restaurant a little longer, but the manager was busy in the kitchen making his new ideas and had no time to pay attention to them.

A hand reached out from the opposite side, holding a yellow rubber duck in its pale palm.

"This is a thank-you gift."

The girl explained in her notebook, "Don't tell my brother I'm here. I want to stay outside a little longer."

Lu Mingfei didn't say anything, but the girl stubbornly kept reaching out her hand, wanting to give him the rubber duck.

Perhaps thinking that Lu Mingfei didn't want to agree, the girl's face showed a hint of panic. She then took out other toys from the small pouch hanging from her waist: a small Hello Kitty, a witch figurine, and even a rubber model of Ultraman and a monster.

I can't believe how she managed to pull out so many toys from a tiny purse; the various toys practically filled half the table.

"Eri?"

Lu Mingfei picked up the monster model. There was a sticky note on its foot with the owner's name, "Eri's Monster," written in black marker.

"Eri, Uesugi Erii."

Seeing that Lu Mingfei had finally picked up a toy, Erii was happy. She wrote her full name in her notebook, stuffed all the toys on the table into her pocket, and continued eating her dessert.

"You're really naive," Lu Mingfei sighed. He thought that if the other party accepted the gift, it meant that they had agreed to his request, and he could play outside without worry. That's probably why he was so happy.

He was fiddling with the monster model, while Erii was eating her dessert, glancing up at him every now and then. She tilted her head and thought for a moment, then took out an Ultraman model from her pocket and placed it in front of Lu Mingfei.

"One thank-you gift is enough. I won't tell Genjiro."

Lu Mingfei pushed the Ultraman model back. He could tell that Erii's mind was still very young. In this girl's world, these toys were undoubtedly the most precious things, which was why he showed reluctance when giving away the monster model.

Although he enjoys violence, his personality isn't that bad; he wouldn't go so far as to snatch a child's beloved toy.

Erii pulled out her notebook again:

"Monsters are scary, but Ultraman will kill the little monsters and protect you."

"When you're scared, do you sometimes wish Ultraman would protect you?"

Lu Mingfei smiled.

This harmonious and amicable relationship is really strange. It's as if we've known each other for a very, very long time, so long that even with our hair turned white, we can still find each other in a crowd of thousands of backs.

Mai Shude, on the rooftop, saw this scene through her binoculars and felt a chill run down her spine.

"So he can smile after all?"

"Long Legs, be careful you don't get overheard talking badly about him behind his back!"

Su Enxi's sinister voice came through the earpiece, "If his Kamaitachi Domain happens to encompass you, he might want to kill you after hearing this!"

"His attention is entirely focused on the head of the Uesugi family right now, so he probably won't be idle enough to spread the Kamaitachi's territory to the entire street."

Mai Shude's heart tightened, but she quickly relaxed again:

"I've seen him laugh before, but it was always the kind of laugh that was devoid of any warmth or emotion. It always meant that someone was going to be in trouble, so it seemed strange. Now, I realize that he's actually just a high school senior who didn't graduate."

"I can't understand Korean at all, and I've never seen Lu Mingfei laugh. My boss won't even let me go out now."

Su Enxi's voice was filled with resentment. A few minutes ago, her boss had sent another email directly to her inbox. After reading it, she only managed to summarize it in one sentence:

"Before Lu Mingfei leaves Japan, you are not allowed to step out of the Peninsula Hotel... no, to be on the safe side, it would be better not to step out of the room at all."

"What happened to the boss? Before, it was just a matter of not showing up in front of Lu Mingfei, but now it's evolved to the point where he can't even leave his room. I want to ask, what kind of prisoner am I?"

Su Enxi continued to complain, "Damn it! How could Inoue Hiroshi become the Prime Minister of Japan without me even leaving my room? By willpower?"

"Maybe the boss has discovered something again. You know, there's always a reason behind every order from the boss, but he thinks we don't need to know the reason, we just need to do it."

Mai Shude said, "Isn't this how bosses always are? No matter what the boss asks us to do, the final outcome will always be the same as the boss expects."

"That's why we're resentful. The boss doesn't tell us anything, making us feel like traitors who have to be on guard all the time."

Su Enxi said, "Working people also have human rights!"

"Okay, the boss really is a lunatic."

"If you want to know how Lu Mingfei laughs, I can take a picture for you," said Mai Shude helplessly.

"Then forget it, I don't want to have nightmares tonight."

Su Enxi resolutely refused, "The psychological trauma he caused me could probably build a three-bedroom apartment in my heart."

"Ultraman won't protect me."

Erii shook her head.

Why?

Lu Mingfei was stunned for a moment, somewhat confused by this logic.

Erii hesitated for a long time this time, looked up and exchanged a glance with Lu Mingfei before continuing to write in her notebook:

"I'm a little monster, Ultraman won't protect me, he'll only kill me."

Her expression was indifferent, and you couldn't tell at all that she was saying "I'm going to be killed." After writing that sentence, she lowered her head again and continued chewing her waffle.

Lu Mingfei tapped the table expressionlessly. Erii had already made it very clear that she was probably treated as a monster by her family. So when watching Ultraman, everyone else would put themselves in Ultraman's perspective, but she could only put herself in the monster's perspective.

When children watch it, they always fantasize that one day they will become Ultraman and defeat monsters.

But in Erii's eyes, this tokusatsu show became like a horror movie, because she was a monster who would one day be killed by the righteous Ultraman.

For no reason, Lu Mingfei thought of his past. Back then, many people thought he was a loser. Everyone told him that he was nothing, and that once he left his aunt's house and school, he would become a rock in a latrine.

Do you know why it's a stone from a latrine?

Because nobody wants to get close, and nobody wants a stone from the latrine to come out and bask in the sun; the stone will be shoveled back down as soon as it emerges.

The only reason Erii could be so convinced that she is a monster is because the people around her who believe in her have been telling her this for a long time.

The hand that was tapping the table stopped. Lu Mingfei took out his phone, found Inuyama He's number, and sent a text message:

"I want to continue studying the Kagami Shinji no Naka de ryū tomorrow."