A comic book, but a librarian

Before leaving, Uesugi Sumiko greeted Obara Shun, who nodded seriously, immediately put out his cigarette, went into the reception room and started packing.

……

"There is definitely something wrong with this website..."

Saizeriya, an Italian family restaurant. Three people were sitting in their seats waiting for lunch to be served. Hikigaya Hachiman was the first to take out the information he had found.

It was a website cover that presented an overall horror atmosphere, with a huge full-body portrait in the center that depicted the image of Steel Man Nanase.

"Mini skirt dress and I-beam. To be honest, if a ghost revived from resentment and wanted to take revenge on this society, would it really look like this?"

Hikigaya Hachiman didn't encounter many evil spirits, but most of them had extremely distorted bodies. However, Steel Man Nanase was completely different. Even though her face was a complete black hole and looked very creepy, her beautiful figure and seductive dress were almost unforgettable, as if her characteristics were specially highlighted to make people remember her.

"It seems that the three of us can reach a consensus on this point... Steel Man Nanase was artificially created, and Nanase Karin's death was clean and neat. Even if it was murder, there is no soil that can breed undead spirits."

Uesugi Sumire looked at the other two people, Yukinoshita Yukino nodded in agreement, then paused and spoke.

"It's very simple on my side. My sister said that this incident was an unexpected disaster for them. After all, the construction site has not been able to start work for the time being. The rumors about Steel Man Nanase have scared the workers away in the past few months, and there are simply not enough people to gather."

Yukinoshita Yukino sighed. This incident was completely an accident for contractors like them, but they had to bear the cost.

"Then the next step is to see the real thing first. Although it is not uncommon for evil spirits to kill humans in a physical form, it is rare to see such a creature that is so brazen as to haunt Tokyo and has not been dealt with yet."

Uesugi Sumire stretched his body. They had to wait for the night to come and then find the Steel Man Nanase. Of course, Hikigaya would still be used as the compass.

340

Chapter 340: Monster in the eyes of monsters.

"I have to say, Hikigaya, your night wandering skills are indeed very...amazing."

It was difficult for Yukinoshita Yukino to evaluate what she had seen, but the experience of passing through layers of doors and walls and shortening the path needed to move forward using all kinds of wonderful techniques was indeed very unforgettable for her.

"It's about this area. She has wandered from the construction site to the bus stop. Although she seems to disappear during the day, who knows when she will break through this limitation and appear during the day. Then everyone will be able to see the very rare and terrifying scene of randomly selecting passers-by with I-beams and shooting them in the head."

Hikigaya Hachiman told a cold joke that even he couldn't laugh at. The aggressiveness of Steel Man Nanase was indeed much more terrifying than that of ordinary evil spirits. After all, evil spirits would choose their victims, but Steel Man Nanase would just unconditionally hit everyone who passed by with an I-beam.

"Okay, we're almost there... aren't we? What's going on? Why is someone head-on fighting Steelman Nanase?"

Hikigaya Hachiman opened his mobile phone and checked the map. The road they chose often had no signal on the phone, even in Tokyo, so Hikigaya Hachiman could only rely on the compass to guide the way. He only took out his mobile phone when he was about to reach his destination to see if he had taken the wrong road.

Of course, he still performed his duties as a navigator perfectly this time, but what he saw was too wrong for him.

"You're holding the I-beam in your hand like a toy?"

Rather than the man who was confronting Steel Man Nanase, Yukinoshita Yukino paid more attention to the weapon in Steel Man Nanase's hand. The huge I-beam, which was much taller than Steel Man Nanase's body, was like a piece of paper in her hand, and she waved it vigorously.

"It's a bit difficult to deal with her..."

Yukinoshita Yukino assessed her own fighting ability and found that if she was fighting against Steel Man Nanase, it would not be difficult to avoid attacks, but it would seem a bit troublesome to hit her unless she could gain the advantage of the field.

"Have you started thinking about how to defeat that guy?"

Hikigaya Hachiman sighed and now he was observing the battlefield.

Although the man in the distance looked like an ordinary person, when he showed no fear when confronting Steel Man Nanase, my nervous heart was relieved.

"Hey! What are you doing?!"

Suddenly, a lovely voice came from the overpass next to them, and several people saw a girl wearing a small white soft hat and leaning on a cane hurriedly walking down the overpass.

"what?"

The trio who were rushing to the scene were stunned for a moment. The man who was fighting with Steel Man Nanase was accidentally knocked over and hit the wall next to him.

"Senior Jiulang?!"

The girl on crutches screamed out, and three people just arrived at the scene at this moment.

"I'm going to rescue her. Can you hold her back, Yukinoshita? If not, how about you go over, Uesugi?"

Hikigaya Hachiman decided on the plan of action in an instant, but it was obvious that the development of things far exceeded his expectations.

"Cough cough cough..."

The man stood up and resumed his posture as if nothing had happened.

"No need for that. Go ask that short girl what's going on. I'll take care of this steel man Nanase."

Uesugi Cheng took a deep breath, and the shadow began to move.

Yukinoshita Yukino and Hikigaya Hachiman did not object when they heard this and started running towards the girl.

"Sakura, stop her, and stop that man at the same time... Even with super strong physical recovery ability, doing this will be meaningless in dealing with Steel Man Nanase."

In an instant, the gray mist dissipated, and in the man's shocked eyes, a doll as gorgeous as a real person, wearing a gorgeous and even complicated twelve-piece kimono, appeared between him and Steel Man Nanase. With a light flick of the fan in his hand, Steel Man Nanase, who was just waving the I-beam, flew out instantly, and was then wrapped in countless mists and pressed to the ground.

"That is……"

The girl named Iwanaga Kotoko stood there in a daze. The power of this puppet girl was beyond her imagination. What was even more unimaginable was that she was actually following the orders of a high school student.

"It is true. There is no point in eliminating the carrier. The only way is to eliminate the basis of its existence from the root."

Uesugi Cheng scratched his hair. As a traditional immortal of the lamp, he was most familiar with the composition and behavior of spirits such as the ghosts of the dead, so he could draw conclusions instantly.

"What kind of monster are you?"

Uesugi Cheng was stunned when he heard this. He looked at the man in front of him. How could he be a monster? Wasn’t he just a person who could occasionally play the game of splitting souls and having an out-of-body experience?

However, in the eyes of Kuro Sakuragawa, he felt that he might have seen the most terrifying monster in the world, although in the eyes of most mysterious creatures, he was probably no different from a monster.

It was like a head made up of thousands of mirrors, each mirror reflecting his face. Joy, sadness, fear, despair, these emotions that he perhaps had not felt for a long time, instantly exploded in his brain when he saw that high school student... or the 'monster' who looked like a high school student.

"Cough...cough...cough..."

Sakuragawa Kuro's seven orifices began to bleed, and he spat out organ fragments from his mouth and fell to the ground.

Then the ability of the "item" began to take effect. He made a prophecy before his death, but it was meaningless. He could not see anything related to the future of the monster in front of him.

"Alas, how come you have this strange ability again? Can't you undead be more honest?"

Uesugi Sumire simply dispelled the prophecy that Sakuragawa Kuro tried to make to him out of instinct. After all, prophecies are such things that can only be harmful rather than helpful to immortals.

Then Sakuragawa Kuro's head simply exploded, and all the contents flew out, dyeing the entire street with an unpleasant color.

"Kuro!!!"

The person riding a bicycle coming from behind was Yumihara Saki, Kuro Sakuragawa's ex-girlfriend, who had met Uesugi Sumire once in the morning.

This scene was indeed very intimidating. After all, no one present had ever seen a head explode instantly except Uesugi Sumire. Yukinoshita Yukino subconsciously covered her mouth to suppress her nausea. She was sure that Uesugi Sumire was not the kind of person who would kill people at will, so she said nothing.

"So, can we have a chat about why you called me a monster?"

341

Chapter 341 The Monster of Imagination.

Under Kotoko Iwanaga's gaze, Kuro's exploded head was recovering rapidly. The flesh and brain matter returned to where they were supposed to be and reassembled together to form Kuro's head, making him look as if he had just closed his eyes and taken a nap.

"I'm sorry... I said it subconsciously, but from my perspective... you don't really look like a human."

Kuro Sakuragawa decided to tell the truth. After all, he had a feeling that even if he was immortal, it would be meaningless when facing the person in front of him.

"Not like a human? This is the first time I've heard such an evaluation. Uesugi Cheng... a high school student who also works as a bookstore manager."

Uesugi Cheng extended his hand.

Sakuragawa Kuro hesitated for a moment, then took the extended hand, stood up, closed his eyes and did not look at Uesugi Cheng, and spoke.

"Sakuragawa Kuro, an ordinary person who will never die."

Uesugi Cheng nodded. Immortality is not actually that rare. Most of them are just illusions caused by super strong recovery ability. This is the answer he got in the process of interacting with the Immortals of Cups and Immortals of Hearts. Of course, all of this has long been blurred in the past, and only the conclusion remains in his heart.

"Roar!!"

Himegami Sakura was always paying attention to the situation on Uesugi Sumire's side, and was ready to pin the man named Sakuragawa Kuro to the ground at any time to prevent him from attacking Uesugi Sumire. Unexpectedly, nothing happened on that side, but something went wrong on the other side.

Steel Man Nanase twisted his limbs hard, then broke free from the control of the mist, lying on the ground. He regained his ability to move with almost the same recovery ability as Sakuragawa Kuro, then turned into a black mist and disappeared in front of everyone.

"Ah, he ran away. Although we can't get rid of him here..."

Uesugi Cheng looked at Himegami Sakura, who seemed a little guilty, and spoke expressionlessly. He touched Himegami Sakura's little head and smiled.

"It's okay. It's impossible to defeat this guy here. But now that we have determined his actual combat power, our next actions will be much easier to handle."

Yukinoshita Yukino sighed. As expected, there were many strange people in Tokyo. First, there was her high school classmate who mastered all kinds of strange knowledge. Now there was this strange man who could act like nothing happened even if his head exploded, and could even grow back. She didn't know what strange things she would see tomorrow.

"From the perspective of my spiritual vision... after all, that guy over there looks more like a monster."

Hikigaya Hachiman gave a very pertinent evaluation. Although he didn't know what Uesugi Sumire looked like in the eyes of Sakuragawa Kuro, he clearly saw the existence of a mermaid and a monster with a human face and a bull body in the state of spiritual vision. The man named Sakuragawa Kuro appeared to be such an existence under the spiritual vision.

"This is incredible...Are you really high school students?"

Of course, the girl Iwanaga Kotoko was the one who felt the biggest shock. How come she didn't know that there were such powerful people in Tokyo before? She had visited those who possessed spiritual powers more or less, but this was the first time that she could display such powerful strength like Uesugi Sumire.

"Wait...what's this vibe?"

Yukinoshita Yukino and Hikigaya Hachiman suddenly became like spectators, sensing keenly that there seemed to be some mysterious past between Yumihara Saki and Sakuragawa Kuro who arrived last. They instantly stepped back and walked to the side, seemingly studying the appearance of Steel Man Nanase. In fact, they were closely watching what the two would do next.

"Long time no see, Kuro-kun." Yumihara Saki bought Kuro's favorite drink from the vending machine without even asking.

"How are you, Miss Saki?"

Sakuragawa Kuro naturally took the drink.

It was a very dry beginning, but neither side seemed to feel any awkwardness. It was as if... they were getting along very naturally, without any sense of strangeness or courtesy.

"This gives people the feeling of... a familiar feeling of being together for a long time? Could it be?"

As an apprentice of Night Wandering, Hikigaya Hachiman naturally has the same desire for exploration and curiosity as all Night Wandering scholars, so he is paying special attention to what is happening now.

"Oh, I'm jealous... The relationship is getting more and more complicated."

The six people were divided into two groups. Yukinoshita Yukino did not speak. She actually felt that such a discussion was not very good, but she could not help but continue listening.

"Let's go somewhere else! We're not big moths, what's the point of circling around the lights in front of the vending machine?"

As expected, Iwanaga Kotoko directly hugged Sakuragawa Kuro's arm and tried to pull him aside.

"Those people over there...want to come over and discuss with us? About the matter of Steel Man Nanase."

Naturally, Kotoko Iwanaga would not forget the three people who actually defeated Steel Man Nanase. In fact, she was much more interested in these three people than Steel Man Nanase herself, because she knew that Steel Man Nanase was artificially created, but she had never seen these three people before.

……

"In other words, you have only recently started practicing?"

Six people were sitting in a private room of a high-end restaurant. Iwanaga Kotoko took the time to ask about the backgrounds of several people there, but her main attention was still on her boyfriend and his ex-girlfriend.

"Yes, to be honest, I was really shocked when I saw you all. I had only heard of immortality in legends before."

The person who was speaking was Yukinoshita Yukino, communicating in a more social manner. Hikigaya Hachiman was repeatedly watching the video he had recorded. Of course, he couldn't just persuade Iwanaga Kotoko to stay where she was and not move forward. Yukinoshita Yukino could have done this by herself. He was more focused on recording the behavior of Steel Man Nanase.

"I have to say... Steel Man Nanase's behavior is so rigid that it's like a program. She swings the I-beam randomly, wears this idol-like dress, and has that black hole-like face. The real thing is exactly the same as the picture on the website."

Uesugi Cheng pinched the bridge of his nose. It could be seen that everyone present was rather reserved or cautious. Before they were completely familiar with each other, everyone spoke tentatively.

"That's true. The Steel Man Nanase incident is full of doubts. If this [Monster of Imagination] is really man-made..."

Kotoko Iwanaga nodded, and she tried to describe the dangers of this situation.

"The mastermind behind this can even create a non-existent monster out of thin air and do all kinds of incredible things. If the other party has an antisocial personality..."

Uesugi Cheng stopped at the right moment, waiting for others to think.

342

Chapter 342: What Kuro Sakuragawa concealed.

"Actually, this isn't the first time this has happened. I'm sure you've all heard of the legendary Slit-Mouthed Woman or the Human-Faced Dog."

Kotoko Iwanaga's hand unconsciously touched the hand of her boyfriend who was sitting next to her and seemed to be thinking about something, and then was pushed away. However, due to the explanation she was giving, she could only look at Kuro angrily and continue speaking.

“No matter how these stories are spread and exaggerated from person to person, they are still just stories. The key is to give them a name… When a story has its own name, it is like it has its own soul.”

"Take the example of [Slit-Mouthed Woman]. This name roughly defines the appearance of the subject of the ghost story. At this moment, all rumors and gossip will gradually be guided in this direction. Then, under the influence of each other, this strange final appearance will be fixed into a unique impression."

It has to be said that what Iwanaga Kotoko said was a very novel theory for everyone. Even Uesugi Sumire had never heard of this theory. After all, whether in the noon world or the real world, the existence created by this kind of ghost story was mostly very weak, and coupled with the suppression of various forces, it would not have any effect at all. But unexpectedly, it seemed to be living very freely in Japan.

"Normally, it would take quite some time for such a strange story to come to fruition, and even if it did, it wouldn't have a very strong attack power, so I think that Steel Man Nanase was artificially created... [Monster of Imagination]"

Kotoko Iwanaga came to her own conclusion, and Uesugi Sumire noticed the thoughtful looks on the faces of several people. Of course, the most interesting reaction was of course Sakuragawa Kuro. He looked as if he knew some inside story, and moved his eyes uneasily. Uesugi Sumire thought for a while and thought that perhaps the way to break the deadlock this time would be with his companions in his own camp.