The Demon King, reborn in Japan as a monk

Thinking this, Ishihara Akira once again reached into the ball of light that appeared next to his friend A. While receiving the impact of the emotional information contained in the ball of light, he concentrated his energy and tried to control his ability in some indescribable way.

Believe it or not, it actually works.

After an initial adjustment period of about half an hour, at the fiftieth minute, Ishihara Akira finally managed to block out the impact of emotional information on him and activate his ability to absorb emotions.

That's right, it's the ability to absorb the power of the seven emotions and six desires!

Moreover, the effect seems to have a wider range than when it's in a dream, starting at five meters, which shows how great the potential of this ability is!

Ishihara even believed that when his cultivation level was high enough in the future, it wouldn't be impossible for him to directly absorb the power of the seven emotions and six desires of the people in an entire city!

So, to celebrate, Ishihara Akira decisively woke his friend A from his sleep and began a new round of work...

Later, Ishihara discovered that when Friend A's emotions became particularly intense, the emotional power emanating from her would be especially strong. He didn't know if this was a special case for Friend A or if it was effective for everyone.

"Why are you so excited today? Did you win the lottery?" Friend A, feeling somewhat exasperated by his antics, asked him irritably.

"It's almost like winning the lottery," Ishihara Akira laughed.

"Couldn't you have come at another time? Why did you have to wait until I fell asleep?"

"I just suddenly got interested."

"Then be more careful next time. If it happens again, no matter how much money you offer, I won't serve you anymore."

"I see."

After all that commotion, Ishihara Akira lay down next to his friend A again, calming his body from the intense exercise while trying to think about other things in a state of sage-like tranquility.

"Judging from the current situation, my mental power should have reached the level of external projection, and the range seems to be quite large? I wonder if it can spread outwards like the legendary spiritual sense and scan the surrounding environment and people. If that works, maybe I won't have to limit myself to drawing power from my friend A anymore."

With that in mind, Ishihara Akira didn't hesitate any longer. While his friend A got up to clean, he concentrated and released his thoughts...

Just like his previous attempts to control his abilities, at first, Ishihara Yuu couldn't scan anything, or release his mental energy. But after gradually trying, at a certain point, it was as if he had broken through a thin layer of paper; the environment of his friend A's bedroom instantly appeared in his mind—

"The reason for the impression?"

Just like someone who has been in a new place for a long time and is familiar with the environment, they can picture the current environment even with their eyes closed.

Therefore, Ishihara was not sure if he had really expanded his mental power. So, he immediately adjusted his focus and rammed his mental power into the wall next to him.

Immediately, the image of cement walls, ash, and bricks flashed into his mind.

Unmoved, Ishihara Takayuki continued to reach forward...

Finally, after a few more seconds, Ishihara Akira felt the pressure on his mental energy suddenly ease, and the image of another room appeared in his mind, along with the figure of another man lying on the bed.

Ishihara Shou's mental energy swept over the man, then aimed at the area above his head, corresponding to the location of the dream bubble, and slammed it hard into him—

Chapter 13 Curiosity Killed the Cat

The scene shifts, and Ishihara Akira is transported from his bedroom to a large ship sailing at sea!

The man I scanned with my mental energy earlier was the captain of this ship. He was sitting comfortably on a high-backed chair that resembled an emperor's throne, with two beautiful women in his arms. A woman was kneeling in front of him, helping to milk the cows...

Although Ishihara Akane couldn't see the woman who was working, she could see the two women the man was holding!

They are none other than Robin and Boa Hancock, two famous female characters from One Piece, an anime that Ishihara Sho would occasionally watch in his past life or look up for information when writing a book.

Given this, coupled with the third woman's hair color, Ishihara Shou has every reason to suspect that it is Nami, the navigator on the protagonist's ship in the original work.

As for the others?

Sorry, he doesn't know much either, so he can't imagine anyone else with orange hair like Nami.

"Well, it's like going straight from a realistic society to a two-dimensional world. Looks like the owner of this dream I've entered is a hardcore otaku," Ishihara Akira remarked.

"And judging from the level of his lewdness, could the remaining crew members also be female characters from anime?"

Thinking this, Ishihara Akira took a step, bypassed the man who was enjoying himself with his eyes closed, and entered the cabin—

As he expected, he soon found the ship's chef—Nami's sister, Nojiko—in a room that resembled a restaurant.

Holding a pointed cleaver, a favorite among foreigners, he skillfully processed the ingredients.

The doctor is Kaya, a beautiful blonde girl.

The artilleryman is baby5.

With Princess Vivi fast asleep in her room and Rebecca wiping the ship's deck like a maid, the ship exuded an air of competence from top to bottom.

Unfortunately, they encountered such a captain, so the future of these women was predictable.

Anyway, Ishihara Sho felt very uncomfortable looking at it.

Unfortunately, this was someone else's dream, and there was nothing he could do. Apart from using his dream abilities to barely become invisible and avoid being discovered, there was nothing else he could do.

Then Ishihara Akira turned around and began to explore the ship again, wanting to see if there were any other characters on board besides the women in front of him that he hadn't encountered or didn't know about...

However, instead of finding the character, they found a white, blank ring deep inside the ship's cabin, resembling a game portal. A hazy light emanated from it, drawing all of Ishihara Yuuki's attention.

"What is this?" Ishihara Akira asked in surprise.

However, I didn't hesitate much.

After all, this was a dream, and even if something really happened, it wouldn't affect or threaten him. So, out of sheer curiosity, Ishihara Akira stepped forward and touched the center of the white ring...

His palm seemed to be pressed into thin air, disappearing directly from Ishihara Sho's sight.

However, Ishihara Sho did not feel any pain, or even any unusual sensations. He could still feel his missing hands and arms, and even control them with his mind.

"Could it really be some kind of spatial portal?"

With that thought in mind, Ishihara Akira walked bolder toward the door.

In a flash, Ishihara Sho appeared directly on the boundless sea and, under the influence of gravity, fell directly into the seawater.

"Pfft, splash splash splash..."

Fortunately, Ishihara Yu could swim, so he wasn't particularly panicked. He struggled to the surface and looked around.

"Where's the boat?"

"Could it really be a teleportation portal?"

Looking at the boundless, empty sea around him, Ishihara Sho, worried about his future survival, fell silent.

"Well, I didn't expect that guy's dream would contain something that doesn't belong to the pirate world."

Without further ado, he closed his eyes and, in the same way he always did when escaping his lucid dreams and his friend A's dreams, began to escape the dream of that perverted otaku...

However, the result was far beyond Ishihara Takashi's expectations.

He was unable to leave his surroundings and remained floating in the sea, just as he had initially appeared.

"Am I... trapped? How is this possible?" Ishihara Akira thought, an uncontrollable panic rising within him.

Keep in mind, this is the ocean, and it's highly likely to be the ocean of the One Piece world. Putting aside the climate and other factors, the Sea Kings lurking beneath the surface are definitely not the kind of creatures that Ishihara Sho wants to encounter right now.

Not to mention other marine predators like sharks; if they were to discover this, what good would it do?

Especially now that he clearly shows signs of being trapped in a dream world, who knows if he can remain completely unaffected when these animals attack him while he's trapped, just like when he's having a nightmare?

Anyway, he has no interest in trying any nightmare recovery methods right now—

In other words, he was swallowed by sharks and sea kings, thus escaping the dream through death...

Then, without wasting any more time, Ishihara Yuki chose a general direction and swam out decisively.

Regardless of whether the direction is right or wrong, it's still better than staying in one place and waiting to die.

What if I'm lucky and encounter a ship while swimming?

Maybe I'll be saved.

Although this is a rather far-fetched idea.

……

However, dreams are beautiful, but reality is often harsh.

After swimming for half a day, Ishihara Yu was almost exhausted. Although he was not targeted by sea monsters or great white sharks, he also did not encounter any ships sailing in the area. So in the end, he could only drift in the sea and wait to die, still in a state of exhaustion, hunger and cold.

Unconsciously, Ishihara Akira began to miss his friend A.

"If I had known that guy's dreams were so terrible, I wouldn't have entered them..."

Gradually, Ishihara Yu's body temperature was stripped away by the seawater, his body began to grow cold and stiff, and his consciousness became blurred.

It seems that it could lose its support at any moment and sink completely to the seabed, becoming new food for countless marine creatures.

Then, at that moment, a ring, just like the white circular portal that had previously caused him to fall into the sea, suddenly appeared in front of him, floating in the air as if it had no mass. It gave Ishihara Sho, who was on the verge of despair, a strong sense of hope and motivation.

He decisively mustered his last bit of strength, swam swiftly towards the circular portal, touched the ring, and entered the portal.

Then the light and shadow changed again, and the world in Ishihara Akira's eyes became different once more.

Chapter 14 Speculation

As soon as he passed through the circular teleportation portal, before he could even get a good look at his surroundings, Ishihara Akira lost consciousness and fainted.

He didn't wake up until the morning when Fujiwara Hanako called to ask why he wasn't at the temple. The phone was ringing loudly.

"Ugh... It feels like I've been drinking fake alcohol." Feeling a sharp headache, Ishihara Akira grabbed his phone with a pained expression, glanced at the notification, and answered the call.

"Hanako-nee?"

"Ah Zhang, why aren't you at the temple? Did you go out?" Fujiwara Hanako asked in confusion over the phone.

"Yeah, I met a classmate last night and we had a few drinks together, so I didn't go home," Ishihara Akira explained.

"When are you coming back? Do you need me to prepare some hangover soup for you?" Fujiwara Hanako asked.

"I'll be back in a bit. Thank you, Hanako-nee."

"Then be careful on the road."

After hanging up the phone, Ishihara Akira got up, went into his friend A's not-so-large bathroom, and started washing himself under the showerhead.

After a while.