A comic book, but a librarian

Hikigaya Hachiman sighed as he watched the evil spirits outside, which looked like black fog, swallowing up the wandering spirits on the street. Ever since he could see spirits like Yotsuya Miko, he saw these scenes almost every day, although most of the time it had no effect on him.

However, this time, the evil spirit raised its head, although it was hard to say that the black fog really had the concept of a "head", and then they looked at each other.

Then the black fog faded away, as if nothing had happened.

"Excuse me, what should I do if I make eye contact with an evil spirit?"

Hikigaya Hachiman moved his lips a few times, and finally asked the question helplessly.

111

Chapter 111: Telephone Booth Strange Stories.

"Let's tell a relaxing story before the show."

"Eh?"

It was obvious that Kita Ikuyo didn't follow Yamada Ryo's train of thought and made a very confused sound.

"Ah...this, this, this..."

Obviously, Goto Doku thought that Yamada Ryo was asking her to tell a little story, so she began to try to extract an interesting story from her more than ten years of dull and boring memories.

"This story is about a roadside telephone booth..."

The corners of Yamada Ryo's eyes curved into a beautiful arc, and he gently covered his mouth with his hands, lowering his voice, as if he was whispering in everyone's ears.

"At the edge of the forest, there is a mysterious telephone booth. Dial the number there and you will meet a ghost bride who can help people find items. She will tell you the location of the lost items."

What Yamada Ryo said caught Uesugi Cheng's attention. The members of the Bond band who were preparing to go on stage in the backstage also looked at their bassist Yamada Ryo with some curiosity. Even the somewhat frightened Goto Doku pricked up her ears and listened carefully. After all, she had never had the experience of telling or listening to ghost stories with her friends.

"It is said that a man once entered that telephone booth. Before he picked up the receiver, the public phone inside the booth rang. He answered the phone, and a 'chewing' sound like chewing came from the inside..."

Yamada Ryo paused for a moment pretending to be mysterious. There was still some time before they went on stage to perform, but it was obvious that Goto Doku and Kita Ikuyo seemed a little too nervous, so she chose to use this method to let them relax a little. After all, they couldn't rely on Uesugi Sumire, a non-staff member, to help them with everything.

"He waited for a while, and a woman's voice came from the other side of the microphone, 'Did you see...?' At this time, the answer should be 'No'."

Uesugi Sumire stretched his body. The version of urban legends told by Yamada Ryo was relatively realistic. Unlike those evil spirits that could only savagely attack and curse humans, some evil spirits would gradually break away from their instincts and possess some basic "rationality" with the help of some mysterious powers or a long period of time. And then there would be some "urban legends" that acted according to the rules and were more like ghost stories. The most famous of this type were fox spirits or Miss Hanako in the toilet.

"Then the woman would ask, 'So... what do you want to see?' It was said that the man went there to look for his cat, so he asked truthfully, wanting to know where the cat was. As a result, he really found the cat at the place the woman said."

Yamada Ryo clapped his hands gently to indicate that the story was over.

"Hey, what about the back?"

"No, the story only ends when the man finds his cat. It's just a short story. Compared to this, if this performance doesn't work out..."

Yamada Ryo's sudden serious expression made Goto feel pressured. She also knew that this performance was of great significance to both her and the Bond Band.

"Really? How can Senior Liang tell such a story without a beginning or an end? It makes me curious."

Kita Ikuyo sighed helplessly. She had thought that the story told by Yamada Ryo would be more horror-oriented or just to scare them at the end, but who knew that it didn't even scare them. It was simply an urban legend circulating on the Internet.

"In fact, there are quite a few ghost stories about phone booths, from murderous phone booths that curse every user to the kind of phone booth that Liang just mentioned. These are all widely circulated on the Internet... If you like to listen to this kind of story, I have quite a few here."

Uesugi Cheng attracted their attention at the right time. It was obvious that after the little story that was more curious than scary, the four members including Yamada Ryo were not as nervous as before. At this time, they heard the call from the store manager.

"Bond Band, get ready to go on stage."

"Then let's get ready to go on stage!"

It was obvious that Ijichi Hongxia was still a little nervous, but she still took the initiative to stand up and speak.

"Um, Uesugi-san, what happened offstage is..."

"I know. If it's really necessary, I will give you some guidance, but I don't think you are in a good condition and I don't need you to do that. I wish you all good luck in martial arts and come back to listen to my story."

Uesugi Sumiya patted Ijichi Kouka's shoulder with a smile. That reassuring smile was obviously like a reassurance to the four girls in the band.

Uesugi Cheng watched them walk from the backstage to the stage, while he returned to his seat in the audience and thought about the story that Yamada Ryo had just told.

The most important point about the ghost story told by Yamada Ryo is that the location is verifiable. Although the online rumors do not mention the specific address of the telephone booth, it is easy to find it by inferring based on the description. The telephone booth mentioned by Yotsuya Miko seems to be more aggressive because of excessive resentment, and may even take the initiative to attack others.

"Hey, are you free tomorrow?"

"I'd like to say no, but unfortunately Komachi will be going out on her own tomorrow and I'll have nothing to do at home, so what big deal are you going to do?"

Hikigaya Hachiman was biting a lollipop and had dark circles around his eyes. He was not attacked by the passing evil spirit, or perhaps the other party's eyes were not on him at all. However, he still had a nightmare last night, so much so that when he woke up in the morning, there was not even any breakfast left for him. What was even more miserable was that he had to go back to school tonight. He had planned to make up for his sleep now, but he received a call from Uesugi Sumire as soon as he lay down.

"It's not a big deal. I just want to give you and Jianzi a small test. After all, you have been learning those things for a while, so we have to see if you can use them."

Uesugi Cheng planned to recruit two laborers for himself. He had a rough idea of ​​the opponent's strength. At worst, if there was a danger that he could not control, he would just let his two assistants run for their lives.

"Okay, where shall we meet tomorrow..."

Although Hikigaya Hachiman looked very reluctant, he knew that he was indeed a little excited. After all, just like Uesugi Sumiya said, he had been learning about that kind of power beyond human common sense for some time, but had never used it. Uesugi Sumiya's suggestion did make him a little itchy. After all, as a high school student, he did have fantasies of super powers.

"I'll send you the address later."

Uesugi Cheng hung up the phone, the lights changed, and the four girls of the Bond Band finally made their first appearance.

112

Chapter 112: The powerful guitarist.

On the stage, under the stars, although the four people have tried very hard to reduce their inner nervousness, it is obvious that performing in front of unfamiliar audiences and performing in front of a familiar store manager are completely different feelings.

Kita Ikuyo felt a bitter taste on her lips. She jumped the beat just as the second verse began. According to Uesugi Sumika and Kogudo, she should have continued singing as if nothing had happened.

But... she couldn't do it. She couldn't help but care about her mistake. This performance was related to the future of the band. She didn't want to see everyone facing a miserable ending because of her mistake. She didn't want to... so she couldn't help but care.

"Think of a solution, Kita...whatever you can think of...you can only rely on yourself on the stage, whatever you can think of."

The more she forced herself to think, the more difficult it felt to recite the lyrics that were supposed to be catchy. Her messy thoughts disrupted and broke up the scenes she had rehearsed in her brain bit by bit, and she even felt like retching.

At this moment, she saw Uesugi Sumiko in the audience. He was clapping gently and looking at the red-haired girl on the stage with encouraging eyes. So Kita, who was the lead singer and rhythm guitarist, subconsciously followed her beat.

"Eh?"

Goto Doku, whose hands were already shaking a little, didn't know whether she was following Kita's rhythm or Nijika and Ryo's rhythm, but suddenly raised her head. Kita Ikuyo, who was trying to catch the beat, suddenly forced the rhythm back as if she had come to her senses. Although it certainly sounded strange, at least they could perform the song more completely.

But even so, they didn't seem to attract many guests. As expected, although the adjustment of the rhythm in the middle did make many people look up and take a closer look at this newly debuted girl band, but that was all. They had just debuted and had neither fame nor any very distinctive performances. The audience's impression of such a band was at most that it was just okay, and they might even forget their names after leaving Fanxing.

"Well... there is another song next, which is also our original song..."

Kita Ikuyo seemed a little uneasy about the cold reaction from the audience. Even her speaking speed started to become fast and slow, and her voice became louder and softer.

"No... This can't happen... It can't end like this..."

Goto Doku is obviously aware of this. The 'Guitar Hero' account she operates on social media also relies on its own characteristics to attract subscribers. If they cannot show their own style and characteristics here, then their newly started band will undoubtedly be a complete failure.

So she began to pluck the strings of the guitar, but when she looked up, she saw Uesugi Sumika's actions.

He just stared at her, at the pink-haired girl named Goto Doku, his hands on his abdomen, as if he was using a pick, playing something.

Goto Du looked at her hands in surprise. For some reason, she suddenly had a strong urge to follow the rhythm of Uesugi Cheng's playing. She found that her curiosity was guiding her to make the most risky move at this time.

Her hands began to move according to her intuition, and she watched Uesugi Sumika's movements without blinking. Even she was surprised that she could perfectly replicate every movement of Uesugi Sumika.

"what?"

Ijichi Kouka was stunned. She was already very surprised that the most introverted guitarist in the team suddenly started to play solo. What surprised her even more was that Goto Doku actually fully displayed her technical strength as a "guitar hero" during the solo. Although Goto Doku had never told anyone, she had already guessed it. The guitar hero was standing before her... and he had become herself, the hero of the Bond Band.

On the contrary, Uesugi Sumiko was a little nervous. There were not many melodies left in his mind. He originally thought that the difficulty of this solo might be too high. But it was obvious that after Goto took that step for the band, the strength he displayed exceeded his imagination.

The most essential guitar solo of the original song "FREE BIRD" starts with a single guitar and then other instruments sound. Uesugi Cheng knew that the remaining three people would definitely not be able to keep up with the song in such a sudden situation, so he only planned to let Goto play that short solo to attract the audience.

"Wow... so cool... what is that?"

The audience didn't feel anything when they saw the pink-haired girl suddenly stomped her feet and raised her guitar, but when the sound of the guitar rang out, they all raised their heads unconsciously, as if they were watching a natural rock star returning to her throne.

Suddenly, the solo came to an abrupt end. Some of the audience who were still shaking their heads suddenly seemed to wake up and looked carefully at the girl band in front of them, especially Goto who had just suddenly started to play solo.

Goto Doku, who was at the center of the incident, now had a blank mind, but fortunately her muscle memory saved her life again at this time. Uesugi Sumika's sudden gesture to stop playing caught her off guard, but naturally, the prelude of their original song "That Band" was played very naturally from the guitar in her hand.

Goto Du looked up at Uesugi Sumire again, but found that he just smiled at him with satisfaction and nodded, then turned around and seemed to be planning to ask the store manager to order something to eat.

Ijichi Kouka and Yamada Ryo reacted instantly when they heard the prelude of the song. Although this sudden solo caught them off guard, since it was able to attract audiences and customers, they should strike while the iron is hot and let the Bond Band take a solid step forward.

And in fact they did it. The audience who were attracted by the solo listened to their song very carefully. Even when they bowed and left the stage, they heard praises from the audience. There is no doubt that their first performance was a great success.

At the celebratory dinner, Goto mustered up all his courage and finally found a suitable opportunity, the opportunity when Uesugi Sumiko walked outside the pub.

"Um... Thank you so much, Uesugi-san. If it weren't for you..."

Goto's words were stuck in his throat. Uesugi Cheng's fingers were gently placed on his lips. She understood the meaning very well.

"I didn't do anything. This is all your own credit. But if you really want to do something... I do have something I hope you can help me with."

"Hey, hey, this...I...I know."

Although he didn't know what Goto Doku was thinking, Uesugi Cheng decided to ignore her possibly unhealthy fantasies.

"I have some melodies in my head, and I want you to help me reproduce them, that's all."

113

Chapter 113: First sight of the telephone booth.

"Hey, drums? That's no problem for me. After all, we're curious about what kind of song Uesugi-san will play for us."

Ijichi Hongxia agreed very readily. She was really curious about what kind of music this mysterious artist and band member would give her.

"By the way, I promised to tell you a little story. Do you still want to listen?"

"Eh? That... urban legend?"

Goto Dokukan, who had returned to the izakaya, seemed to be entering her daily overload mode again. She really could not accept horror stories. After all, it was better for her to listen to fewer such stories when she returned home and stayed in her room alone.

"Then forget it... After all, Ryo-san has explained it very clearly, and the rest is just some speculation based on local newspapers and news."

Uesugi Cheng smiled slightly and didn't intend to really tell horror stories to this group of high school girls. If they really scared them, it would be his fault.

"In that case, have another drink first!!!"

Hiroi Kikuri, who is said to be the unreliable alcoholic older sister whom Goto met when he was performing alone outside, is now holding the cup in her hand and staggering drunkenly, saying common phrases used by alcoholics such as "another drink", as if she is calling the store manager to drink more.

"Drinking like this is very taxing on your body... Can I just say that you are worthy of being a band member?"

"Hey! Please don't have this weird misunderstanding about the band members, okay?!!"

When Ijichi Hinikaka saw Uesugi Sumire's expression of "I see," she immediately looked at the purple-haired alcoholic sister sitting opposite her with a helpless look.

"Hic, compared to this... isn't it more important to celebrate first?"

Hiroi Kikuri didn't care about Uesugi Cheng's opinion. She drank another glass of wine, squinted her eyes and started to pour herself another one.

"That's amazing! Can you perform even when you're this drunk?"

"Actually I won't drink too much before a performance. Being slightly tipsy is best. But now we are celebrating, right?"

Hiroi Kikuri looked surprisingly sober. Although she smelled a little drunk, she spoke surprisingly coherently.

"That's right. If possible, please let me listen to Guangjin-senpai's music next time."

"Hehehe, young man, it's a deal then. Remember to come to our place for the LIVE next time."

Hiroi Kikuri easily got another ticket.

Since the members of the Bond Band are all underage high school girls, the celebration party could not be held too late, so before midnight, Uesugi Sumiya returned to his original studio, which now also serves as a reference room.

Uesugi Cheng stood in the center of the room, reviewing the techniques of the guitar and bass players of the Bond band. [Strings and Songs] not only taught him how to play and sing, but also gave him the ability to learn these instruments at an extremely fast speed. At least he felt that he might be able to do something similar to a certain copy ninja.

"But compared to this... these news are more concerning."

In H City in Tokyo, at the edge of a forest known as a 'suicide sanctuary', a tragedy occurred five years ago. Shortly after the tragedy, the urban legend of the lost phone booth emerged.

"Since it looks harmless at the moment, let's put it aside for now and go check on the evil ghost phone booth that Zi mentioned, which will actively attack people."

As Uesugi Cheng was thinking, he pinned thumbtacks on the map of Tokyo area. The densely packed thumbtacks and the white lines extending outward seemed to tell how many evildoers were hidden in this international metropolitan area.

Many rumors have been proven to be false or have been artificially covered up as ghost stories, but this is only a small part of the clues. They have not had time to verify a lot of information. For example, if Jianzi had not actually seen the telephone booth this time, they probably would not have been so anxious to set off there.

"Speaking of which, this kind of thing should be the job of the Police History Compilation Office, right? Why did they not do anything in the end, and it became us high school students who had to do it instead..."

Uesugi Sumire suddenly thought of the department in the Metropolitan Police Department that had no sense of existence at all, and then he was instantly relieved when he thought about the staff composition of the department. Fumi Jun'ya and that Kogure Soichiro didn't look like people with inspiration, and it would be bad to get himself involved if the matter was not resolved. Then he could very smoothly come to the conclusion that the Japanese police were indeed useless.

The next day, in the morning, although it was already autumn, the sun hanging high in the sky still radiated its selfless and merciless heat. Three high school students hid in a family restaurant, exchanging information before setting off for the telephone booth.

"I did some searching and found out that a hostess died there. It was said that she had exploited customers and then banned them from entering the shop. In the end, she was chased into the phone booth in retaliation... and her death was quite tragic. Rumor has it that she was still being violated right before her death, so the strong resentment attached to the phone booth and turned into a ghost."

Hikigaya Hachiman handed a few sheets of printed paper to the other two people. On them were news reports that he had screenshotted. It was indeed the news that the police found a female corpse there. Although the police did not disclose the identity of the deceased, Hikigaya had actually turned over the store where the deceased worked.