Persona: Devil Summoner

Why look for him and not someone else? Of course, it's because he has a pair of eyes that can see ghosts... Although Jiang Tianwei is not a beautiful girl with long black hair, and doesn't know a fortune-teller who can make rosary beads, it doesn't matter as long as he can see ghosts.

The missing subject in Shinjima Mana's timid question above is the ghost commonly known as "Ghost".

"Don't worry... Let's not talk about the fact that there are no ghosts here. Even if there really are, they will be scared to death by you..."

Jiang Tianwei looked at the fully-armed Shinjima with a frown and comforted him helplessly.

What does fully armed mean?

Shinjima Makoto was seen holding a Tai Chi plate in her left hand and a cross in her right hand, with a rosary around her neck. From the sleeves of her clothes, one could see that talismans of various colors were stuck on her forearms, and around her waist was a charm from a shrine... It was truly a religious hodgepodge, with so many things for exorcising evil spirits that even people would be scared away, let alone ghosts.

Moreover, the place where the two of them are now is not a place where demons and monsters would go...

These two people are now in a church.

It can be said that this is the place that has least to do with demons and evil spirits.

Look at the subordinate industries of Christianity, and then look at Shinjima's body... Rather than worrying about ghosts, you should worry about whether you will be beaten to death by the priest... This is just like sitting in a KFC store and ordering takeout from McDonald's, Dicos, or Wallace...

In this modern society where the pace of life is getting faster and faster, atheism has become the mainstream thought of people. No one is interested in gods and Buddhas that cannot help them make money.

Naturally, in this era of lack of faith, coupled with the fact that Japan has its own religious beliefs (Shintoism), this small church located in the Kanhara area naturally has few visitors.

However, unexpectedly, this feeling of purity just fits the church's traditional impression of integrity and holiness. The cleanly swept stained glass dyes the warm light that passes through it with colorful colors, draped over the cross symbolizing Christianity, and underneath is a ritual table with church scriptures and candlesticks.

There were only a few people on the rows of benches, some praying sincerely, some reading scriptures silently, a peaceful scene. The pastor was sitting under the cross, bathing in the glory of the Lord, and studying the doctrine devoutly.

On days like these when there are no special events, the church is a bit like a park. Anyone can come and do whatever they want, except that there is an extra priest who can answer your questions and listen to your confession of sins.

For Jiang Tianwei and Niijima Makoto, two people who neither believe in religion nor are prepared to believe in it, this somewhat cold atmosphere is just right.

I don't know if it's a psychological effect, but Shinjima really felt that she had just stepped into the church, and her whole body became holy, as if the air had become fresher. She opened her arms wide and took a deep breath, as if she wanted to absorb all the glory of the Lord into her body.

Jiang Tianwei found it funny, turned his head back deliberately, and whispered, "Classmate Fangze, you are here too?"

When Shinichi Niijima heard the word "Yoshizawa", he immediately thought of the damn eldest lady in the Phantom Thieves. She immediately became alert, like a cat that found a cucumber behind its butt.

She held her breath, looked around in panic, but she neither saw the living Fang Ze Jin nor heard the dead Fang Ze Xia. She then breathed a sigh of relief and hit him hard on the shoulder.

"Are you trying to scare me?!"

She tried to lower her voice while trying to convey her anger, which made Jiang Tianwei want to laugh even more.

I don't know if it's because of the bad fate between the two of them, but now when Jiang Tianwei sees Shinjima Makoto, he always has some rebellious thoughts in his heart. He always wants to torment her and have some fun.

Of course, we cannot rule out the possibility that Jiang Tianwei is born with this sadistic mentality and likes to bully people who are particularly serious.

"Okay, President, we are here to train our courage. If we don't scare people, then there is no point."

Jiang Tianwei smiled happily, his face full of joy.

"Then you can't just scare me casually..."

Shinjima pouted, and looked a little cute in his weak look.

"Oh, I've already told you, there are no ghosts in this world. Aren't you an atheist?"

"We have to be afraid of atheism... And, you say there are no ghosts, but you've seen them with your own eyes, haven't you?"

"makes sense."

"Aren't you afraid of ghosts?".

Shinjima looked at this side with tears in his eyes. Jiang Tianwei smiled and said, "Don't be afraid, because I am a firm proletarian fighter. I don't believe in any monsters or demons."

Xindao was about to say something, but suddenly, she noticed that everyone in the church was focusing their eyes on her. Then she realized that she and Jiang Tianwei were chatting too loudly and disturbed others.

As soon as the two stopped talking, the whole church immediately became silent, causing Niijima to lower his head in embarrassment...

Snapped!

Suddenly, in the silence, there was a crisp sound of wood colliding. Looking for the sound, I saw a girl with straight black hair in the front row of the church. Her slender fingers were holding an exquisite shogi piece and pressing it hard on the chessboard...

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 217 As if there is no one around

In various works, there is occasionally such a type of person. Perhaps because of their strong will, concentration, or perhaps because they like doing something too much, they reach a state where they are oblivious to the surroundings and cannot hear you no matter how you call them.

Originally, Jiang Tianwei thought that such people only existed in animations and games - they wouldn't even appear in TV dramas - but unexpectedly, he actually saw real examples in reality, and more than one.

For example, Yusuke Kitagawa, who is a fanatic about painting.

For example... the girl in front of me who is thinking hard in front of the chessboard.

Jiang Tianwei had only met one woman who loved shogi so much, and that was Togo Ichirō, a well-known shogi idol. Jiang Tianwei had met her once on TV before, and later met her again in church, and they had a big fight over her mother.

The two people actually met again in real life. This is really fate.

I remember that her mother had said before that she would never let her come to such a place again... Jiang Tianwei had originally prepared himself to never see her again, but he didn't expect to meet an acquaintance today, and he felt a little surprised.

However, just like when they first met, Togo Ichiraku was still concentrating on the chessboard in front of him and didn't pay any attention to his surroundings.

The move just now seemed to be the key to breaking the game. I saw her slender fingers moving the chess pieces skillfully, and I heard a series of snapping sounds. She made more than ten steps in a row, operating both sides at the same time. After a while, she breathed a sigh of relief and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. Although there was no sweat, this was also a special psychological hint, right?

It was only then that she noticed Jiang Tianwei and Shinjima Makoto, and also noticed that everyone around her was looking at her. But who was Togo Ichiraku? He was an idol after all, and he was used to other people's gazes.

"You are……"

Dongxiang Yiersan narrowed her eyes and looked at Niijima Makoto. This girl was a complete stranger to her. She glanced to the side and saw Jiang Tianwei. She whispered, "Is she your friend?"

Jiang Tianwei hummed and nodded. Dongxiang Yiersan also responded softly. The two of them seemed to be a tacit partner, and everything was said without words.

This made Shinjima, who was caught in the middle, very embarrassed. When people feel embarrassed or guilty, they often want to find a random topic or someone to talk to in order to divert their attention. Shinjima was no exception. She was already embarrassed by the gazes of the crowd. When she saw that the beautiful shogi girl was talking to her, she quickly sat down and asked in a low voice, "Do you like shogi?"

This was no longer an irrelevant answer, but a complete leap of thought. Fortunately, Togo Ichiraku was not a person who paid much attention to logic on weekdays. When she heard someone asking her about shogi, she nodded quickly and said, "Why, do you know shogi?"

Shinjima looked embarrassed. If you really want to get to the bottom of it, just ask her whether she can do it or not. She definitely can. But... she can only play but can't win.

Jiang Tianwei saw that Shinjima, who had asked him to come over to help with the special training, had sat down, so of course he had to sit down with him. He looked at the shogi board again, but felt that he couldn't understand anything. He sighed helplessly and said, "It's okay if I play Chinese chess, but I really don't know anything about shogi."

Generally speaking, in the case of Jiang Tianwei and Dongxiang Yiersan, the young man must have separated from his shogi idol and practiced shogi skills diligently. Generally speaking, he would join a shogi club that was about to be disbanded, find like-minded chess friends, visit a reclusive genius who had mastered mysterious shogi skills, and then enter some competition, and finally meet the beautiful idol again on the field. Oh, of course, under normal circumstances, this kind of beautiful idol will definitely not advance to the finals. The finals must be a person who looks incompetent and is not mentioned much in the first half of the story. Then in the finals, the male protagonist will be abused by this nameless person in the first half, and then in the second half, he will either remember something or hear the goddess' encouragement, anyway, he will suddenly start cheating. It's probably something like this.

But it is obvious that for Jiang Tianwei, the difficulty of learning shogi far exceeds the joy of gaining a confidante. Without sufficient stimulation, he has no interest in "studying shogi well, becoming a shogi master, winning the Grand Prix, marrying a beautiful and rich woman, and reaching the peak of life."

"Chess?"

Dongxiang Yiersan thought about it, smiled and said, "You can give it a try."

There is a term called "learning by analogy". This is especially true in board games. After all, there are only so many rules for board games. The movement rules of the knight in your hand are exactly the same for an eight-year shogi master and a beginner who has just started learning shogi.

Therefore, the difference between chess players is mainly reflected in their brain power, or thinking ability. That is why there is a saying that chess and card games can improve IQ.

Although there are considerable differences in the moves of chess and shogi, the mental challenges such as tactical layout and logical thinking are much the same.

To be honest, Togo Ichimi has made great achievements in shogi and is known as a talented and beautiful shogi player. She also wants to try whether her chess skills can control other types of chess.

He was the one who started the conversation, and the beautiful girl accepted the challenge. Jiang Tianwei had to play even if he didn't want to. His chess skills were still at the level of playing chess with his grandfather, and occasionally playing two games with Master Liu. He was not a chess fanatic, and he didn't have a four-dimensional backpack, so he naturally didn't carry a chess board with him.

Fortunately, the electronic game industry is very competitive now, and basically anything can be made into a game. Jiang Tianwei searched casually and found at least ten chess games.

They just downloaded a normal chess game with an ordinary chessboard instead of a beautiful girl on the cover, and then they started to... explain it on the phone screen.

Yes, you have to let Miss Dongxiang understand the rules of the game first.

Shinya Niijima listened to the rules of the game with great interest. Although she had little interest in shogi and chess, it was better than talking about ghosts, right?

Although it was Shinjima who asked Jiang Tianwei to accompany her to adapt to the goblins, now she just hopes that Jiang Tianwei will not think about this matter again.

There are many similarities between the rules of Chinese chess and shogi. There is even a saying that shogi was born after Chinese chess was introduced to Japan and was repeatedly modified by Japan. Naturally, Togo Ichi-san mastered the Chinese chess without much effort.

Speaking of chess skills, I believe that every chess player, when they first come into contact with chess, the master who guides them into the game (usually a grandfather or father) will teach them a classic formula: "When the cannon is in the front, the horse jumps."

Jiang Tianwei's current impression of chess, apart from this classic mnemonic, is only the fact that the Sage Wangyou in a certain martial arts video game would require you to memorize the chess moves.

As for what to do after vaulting... I don’t know.

(Don’t be ridiculous… After all, I have been playing this game for a long time, how could I lose to someone who has just started playing this game?).

Jiang Tianwei thought so and started to make plans.

The nimble attacking horses, the fast-moving chariots, the powerful cannons, the soldiers who value basic skills, and the soldiers who protect their commander. At this moment, he seemed like a general in charge of a large army, commanding the troops in his hands with high spirits to launch an attack on Togo Ichirakuji's army.

Jiang Tianwei was not very good at chess games, nor did he have any particularly strong tactical thinking, but he had commanded many demons in the Impression Space and the Palace of Desire before. It was no exaggeration to say that many soldiers in peacetime had not fought as many battles as he had.

Properly matching demons, allocating combat power, and combining them is supposed to be a very happy thing, but being able to only have three demons (four including Kasumi Yoshizawa) is like dancing in shackles.

Jiang Tianwei himself didn't know that his tactical thinking was gradually improving with each battle...

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 218 The core of reading comprehension is to guess the author's thoughts

According to common theory, when the narrator starts praising a person, showing off how great, powerful, and invincible he is, that's basically the time when he's about to lose - he may even be cut in half.

Jiang Tianwei is a practitioner of this rule.

I just mentioned the topic of analogy, and Dongxiang Yiersan gave a perfect interpretation. Although it was her first day to learn chess, she grasped the essence of it in one go.

After the first game, Jiang Tianwei only lost three pieces, but at the end of the second game, he was completely defeated by Dongxiang Yiersan.

Although Niijima had never seen a real battlefield, he could not help but come up with many battlefield-related idioms, such as: flee at the sight of the enemy, and be defeated like a mountain collapsing...

Even without waiting for the ending, Niijima Makoto had already seen it very clearly. Jiang Tianwei's side had lost a cannon, a chariot, and two horses... and Togo Ichiraku had only lost one horse. This loss ratio was basically impossible to reverse.

"I see. I understand now."

Just as Jiang Tianwei was trying hard to think about how to lose without being so embarrassed—he no longer had the sweet dream of winning—at this moment, he suddenly heard Dongxiang mumbling, holding his delicate chin with his slender hands, and the corners of his lips, which were lightly painted with lipstick, slightly raised...

"It seems that the soldiers of my Dongxiang army can adapt perfectly even when fighting away from home. Well, I can already see the light of the goddess of victory shining - the light that rises straight into the sky, and wins the battle!"

Immediately afterwards, Dongxiang Ichirakuji uttered these difficult to understand words, which made Jiang Tianwei dumbfounded. He secretly went to see Niijima Makoto, who was also shocked. No one could have imagined that such a good girl could go crazy so suddenly.

(Could this be the legendary... Chuunibyou?)

Now, both of them were thinking this at the same time.

As mentioned before, the defeat was like a landslide. Jiang Tianwei was not good at chess to begin with, so the opponent took over most of his territory. If it were a chess master, he might be able to turn the tables, but for a chess idiot like Jiang Tianwei, it would be impossible.

Just as Dongxiang Yiersan announced, Jiang Tianwei was defeated badly and the opponent won unilaterally, or even won completely...

"call……"

After the fight was over, as if he was still immersed in the fierce battle, Togo Ichi-san calmly breathed a sigh of relief, closed his eyes, and murmured, "I really benefited a lot... Although this is not shogi, it can broaden my thinking... If I absorb the tactics of the rook in chess, will I be able to develop a stronger tactic?"

Seeing the girl speaking frankly like a madman, Jiang Tianwei quietly poked Shinjima Makoto with his elbow, suggesting that she should leave quickly and not get involved with the girl.

Shinjima had the same idea, and the two of them hit it off. They stood up in a snap, and they were about to walk away...

"Hmm? Are you guys leaving?"

Dongxiang Yiersan woke up from his memories just in time and asked with a faint smile. Jiang Tianwei quickly nodded politely: "Yes, that, just, there is something else."

"That's such a pity."

Dongxiang Yiersan said this and sighed: "I wanted to share my experience with you. Thank you so much, playing chess is also very interesting."

"Ahahaha, as long as you like it..."

"Well, if you don't mind, please come and talk to me next time. Occasionally getting in touch with other types of chess will not only bring freshness, but also broaden your tactical thinking."

Jiang Tianwei wanted to refuse, but for some reason, he heard Fang Zexia's voice in his ears: "It's not okay to embarrass a girl! A man is disqualified!"

He looked around in surprise, but could not see Fang Zexia at all. The voice he just heard was undoubtedly an illusion. He could only smile bitterly: It seems that he has been with her for too long, and has become accustomed to having a female ghost complaining around him. Even when she is not around, he is secretly looking forward to her complaints.

There is a kind of pain called phantom limb pain, so we might as well call Jiang Tianwei's situation phantom complaining... Oh, no, it's the phantom of being complained about.

"I am glad to."

Jiang Tianwei nodded in agreement.

Seeing that he agreed, Dongxiang Ichirsan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

In this situation, girls always have to bear more pressure. You see, the girl took the initiative to invite, how embarrassing it would be if she was rejected? Fortunately, Jiang Tianwei finally agreed. As she breathed a sigh of relief, her defenses also loosened, and she couldn't help but say what was in her heart: "You are obviously a poor chess player, but unexpectedly, the soldiers you command give me a very vivid feeling. It's as if you really commanded a battle."

(Is this girl a shogi player or a fortune teller? Why does she seem more accurate than that fortune teller on the streets of Shinjuku?)

Jiang Tianwei complained in his heart and smiled awkwardly: "Where do I start? At most, I have played video games before. If you want to talk about surprise, I think you are more surprised..."

Togo Ichiraku blushed, obviously knowing that the surprise he was talking about was the second-year personality she had when playing chess. She coughed lightly and said, "That, that was taught to me by my father when I was a child learning shogi. He said that I should use my imagination and think of the chess pieces as soldiers and the chessboard as the country. As a result, I felt like the king of the shogi world without realizing it... and then, without realizing it..."

She coughed lightly to cover up her shyness and said, "You, you have something else to do, so I won't bother you any more. Let's add each other as friends, and we can play chess together when we have time."

Jiang Tianwei nodded, took out his cell phone, added her as a friend, and quickly left the embarrassing church with Shinjima as if escaping.