Tokyo Soft Rice King.

"By the time I catch you, Shiroko, you may have already been assimilated by another world and will never be able to get out again, meow."

"No wonder most of the people who disappeared never came back."

"So being favored by the gods isn't always a good thing, because it might cause the gods to want to keep the humans they like by their side."

Will I die?

"Although they won't die, after a while, they'll probably turn into 'inhuman monsters,' and unlike us gods who can temporarily leave the other world with our abilities, if a person turns into a monster, they'll be completely unable to leave the other world."

"So, you mean monsters or something..."

"Occasionally, there are some special humans who can freely enter and leave other worlds, and those people are called psychics, meow."

"There really are... psionic beings and such."

So not only do gods truly exist, but there are also monsters in this world, only these monsters are all humans who have lost their way in another world.

Ordinary people who encounter a disappearing spirit can only rely on psychic detectives for search and rescue, since not everyone has a god as a protector.

Kuroba Akira decided that it would be best to use his ability to distinguish gods less often in the future. If he were to be thrown into another world by some wicked god and Kuroo wasn't nearby, then he would be doomed.

After all, Kuroo... given her personality, if it's too far, I feel she might find it troublesome and simply give up.

"Tch, Shirako, what kind of god do you take me for, meow... No matter what, I won't abandon my agent, meow. And even if I can't find you for a while, as long as you keep going deeper, you'll see me sooner or later, meow, because the true form of a god is in the deepest part of the other world, meow."

"Original body!"

"That's right, meow. It's difficult to find you in my current form. My legs are too short and my faith is too weak... But if I use my true form to find you, it'll be a piece of cake, meow."

"But by then it will be too late for you to find me, won't it? Won't you all have already been assimilated into monsters by this other world?"

“It’s a cat, so…”

Kuroo turned to look at Kuroba Akira, her amber eyes slightly narrowed, a wicked smile appearing on her cat-like face, her pink tongue peeking out.

"When that time comes, Bai Zi, will you stay by my side forever?"

Chapter 376 Favorable Timing, Geographical Advantage, and Divine Intervention

That smile wasn't the innocent naivety of a typical cat; instead, it revealed a hint of human cunning, sending a chill down Kuroba Akira's spine.

Kuroba Akira did indeed relax, or rather, he was 'deceived' by that cute appearance.

It's just a little cat, always freeloading and cracking jokes, without any airs of a deity...

However, even so, she has existed for thousands of years and is a 'god' who can bring souls from other worlds and resurrect the dead.

It is a supernatural being.

In this strange space, Akira Kuroba finally realized that the black-tailed cat in front of him was not a real cat, but a 'strange creature' possessing the cat.

The worries and doubts that had taken root deep in Akira Kuroba's heart since the discovery of his special ability now surged back like a tidal wave.

In this otherworldly realm that humans cannot escape on their own, it decides where it wants to take them.

In other words, one is in a completely passive position, powerless to resist.

Gods can freely control their chosen agents... Is this what Kuroo meant when he said, "He is mine"?

Kuroba Akira was a little nervous, but he still tried to ask Kuroo in a relaxed tone.

"Kuroo...you're not going to take me to even deeper places, are you?"

"...Guess what it is, meow?"

Black Tail's pupils dilated.

Akira Kuroba had always thought that cats were quite cute when their pupils were round, but when they were upright, they were quite intimidating, perhaps because upright pupils meant that the prey had been locked on.

So, did Kuroo see herself as prey?

"Pfft... Hahahaha! Shirako, you don't really think I need you to come down and keep me company, meow?"

Black Tail's chuckle broke the increasingly eerie atmosphere of the conversation.

"I knew you were just joking! Hahaha..."

Kuroba Akira chuckled awkwardly, but he was still a little flustered inside.

"I don't want you to see my true form either, meow."

"Oh? Are you that ugly?"

Kuroba Akira regretted it as soon as he said it. He always talked trash with Kuroo, which led him to say such a sarcastic remark without thinking.

However, I thought that Kuro would be furious when he heard this, and might even throw himself into the deeper part of the other world in a fit of rage. But to my surprise, Kuro calmly and honestly admitted it this time.

"Although I'm very annoyed, that brat is right. By human standards, I am indeed an ugly woman, meow, or rather, 'terrifying' meow. After all, I've become a legend of 'never looking back' meow. Even if you, Shirako, saw my true face, you would probably be shocked meow."

"If you put it that way, I'm even more curious about your true face... but I'd rather not risk my life just to catch a glimpse of you."

"Speaking of which, it's been a long time since I've seen my true form, meow, since I lost the ability to transform into human form for a while now, meow."

"Hmm? Blacktail, have you never returned to your original body since you possessed the cat? That's been quite a while!"

I remember that Kuro-o possessed the cat after arriving in Tokyo, right? Back then, it was called Edo.

Moreover, it started as a black cat, whose black fur gradually faded to white over time. Based on the speed at which it was known, several hundred years have passed since then.

In other words, Black Tail hasn't returned to its original body for hundreds of years! Is this really okay?!

"The main problem is that my main body and divine essence are deep in another world. There's nothing good to eat or anything fun to do, meow. Although there are a bunch of monsters that look even stranger than deep-sea fish, it's not interesting at all, meow. What should I do back there, meow?"

While the other world is an unknown land yet to be explored by humans, it is just a boring old home for Blacktail.

From an entertainment perspective, the human world wins hands down, so it's the same feeling as people who come to big cities and no longer want to go back to their rural hometowns.

"Uh... for people with a strong sense of morbid curiosity, this should be great material for horror stories."

"Well, if you want to go deeper into the area, I can take you there, meow."

"No, no, no! I'm not curious at all!"

Curiosity killed the cat, but nowadays it's more accurate to say that curiosity can kill a cat.

"If you don't court death, you won't die," a principle that Kuroba Akira understands well.

"I wonder what I look like now, meow...maybe something has changed again, meow."

Can the appearance of gods change?

"Of course, meow. As a god who is the embodiment of nature, what I look like is determined by the 'collective subconscious' of the humans who believe in me, meow."

"Doesn't that mean that as long as the people who believe in you think their god is a cat-eared beauty, you can really become a cat-eared beauty?"

"Probably meow."

"I will pray for you every day from now on!"

I absolutely have to become a cat-eared beauty, Kuroo-chan!

"Bai Zi, you shameless bastard, you're always thinking about catgirls, and even I'm in your sights, meow?"

"I didn't think that way, but once you regain the ability to become human, you'll be happier if you look prettier, right?"

"I don't have that kind of vanity, meow. In the end, the reason why you human women pursue beauty is just to attract men and then reproduce, meow? I don't need offspring, and my divine status is far from decaying, meow."

"You mean..."

Although Akira Kuroba wanted to say that this kind of animal courtship analogy no longer applies to modern humans... or at least not absolutely.

But Kuroba Akira didn't dare to refute Kuroo and could only agree.

"However, I am indeed curious about your human pleasure-seeking behavior, meow. I'll ask you, Shirako, to try it out sometime, meow."

And we probably won't even need to wait until we regain the ability to transform back into human form to experience it...

Kuroo didn't say those words, and Kuroba Akira dared not reply.

Do we really need to invite a deity to possess us?

Ideally, she should be a cute catgirl, not a rotting body covered in maggots, otherwise, she really won't get hard.

"Oh, I see them, meow. Looks like they've already realized you're not here, meow."

Kuroba Akira looked around, but still couldn't see a single person.

"What? They're here? I can't see them."

"Bai Zi, come over here, but don't show your face, you'll scare them, meow."

With Akira carrying Hikari Ame, and following Kuroo's instructions, Akira crouched down and hid in the shrine behind the offering box.

"Hmm, this is about right, meow. They're all looking for you, and they don't seem to be planning to worship, so they probably won't notice this area, meow."

Then Kuroo jumped onto Kuroba Akira's lap, and Kuroba Akira noticed that his vision had turned a little whiter. After the white light disappeared, he found that he could see the people inside the shrine.

"Oh! We can see it now! Are we back in the real world?"

"Not yet, it's probably in the 'middle' right now."

"middle?"

"If the spatial depth of the present world is 0 and the other world is 1, then your current depth is about 0.5. You can see people in the real world, but you still cannot interfere with things in the real world."

"Is that so..."

Kuroba Akira tried to touch the shrine's fence, but his hand still passed right through it. The ability to pass through walls was still there, indicating that he was still in another world.

"Idiot! Take your hand back, meow! Otherwise, someone will see you, meow!"

"what!"

Kuroba Akira quickly withdrew his hand, then asked in bewilderment.

"I can't touch anything... but can I still be seen?"

"Of course, it's all relative, meow. If you can see them, it means they can see you too, meow. However, in their eyes, you are not a complete entity, but a semi-transparent one, meow, and they can't hear our voices, meow."

"Transparent? Could it be... that ghosts are actually people who have fallen into the gap between the mortal world and another world?"

"That's right, meow. Some people's souls remain in the gaps of space after they die for various reasons, meow, and become ghosts, meow. The more powerful ones can even interfere with objects, meow."

"..."

In the end, whether it's a monster or a ghost, they're all just people who turned out to be humans.