A comic book, but a librarian

Hikigaya discovered something suspicious. They had just bypassed the lobby and went straight into the corridor to check the rooms. When they came to their senses, they felt something strange. The lobby on the second floor looked like it should have been an open space, but for some reason there were many desks and dismantled chairs placed in a haphazard manner.

"I remember those chairs were placed inside the room, weren't they?"

"Yeah, why... maybe this is the clue to the truth. What is lurking here..."

Uesugi Cheng did not explain immediately. He put his bag on a relatively intact desk, took out the spray paint and started spraying the largest wall in the hall.

"No, this isn't the place for street art, and if you don't reveal any information like this, it will really make people want to hit someone..."

Hikigaya felt as if veins were popping out on his forehead. Uesugi Sumika's tone made it hard not to want to hit him.

"It's okay. I'll explain it to you while I finish these things. You probably know the background of this building, right..."

"Isn't this the information I found that I sent to you? This building was originally completed more than 20 years ago, but four or five years ago, a new company moved in and reportedly brought some bad things with it. Then, accidents started happening for no apparent reason. In the end, this company was the only one that survived the entire building until it went bankrupt last year...Did this company really bring some bad things in?"

Hikigaya recalled the information he had looked up last night. This building was originally a comprehensive commercial building. Although its geographical location could not be said to be a prime location, it was still considered excellent. However, it would eventually become an abandoned building. These rumors contributed a lot of help.

"No, they didn't bring it here...it was just a coincidence, an unfortunate coincidence. They happened to move in, happened to do a renovation, and happened to move some things." It was unclear whether Uesugi Sumiya's tone was filled with regret or helplessness, which made Hikigaya feel a little creepy.

"What do you mean by coincidence? Is there something wrong with this building or with that company?"

"There was nothing wrong with it...Have you heard of Feng Shui?"

When Uesugi Sumiko said the word Feng Shui, he specifically used Chinese.

"Feng...Shui..., do you mean those metaphysical theories? I don't really believe in them if I hadn't met Jianzi and you... But since ghosts may exist in this world, I think it's no big deal to believe in them."

Hikigaya sighed. Ever since he stepped into the building, that cold and uncomfortable feeling has been haunting him. Now that Uesugi Sumika mentioned Feng Shui, what reason did he have to say he didn't believe it?

"No, it's actually not that mysterious. Feng Shui is often closely related to architecture, psychology, and the environment. It can even be said that it is a combination of knowledge from these subjects with a little bit of sorcery wrapped in a cloak."

Uesugi Cheng changed the spray paint can in his hand, and a golden pattern formed its own style on the wall. Hikigaya couldn't quite understand it, but he swallowed subconsciously and felt a little nervous.

"So...what does this have to do with the situation we're in now."

"The company slightly changed the layout and structure of the second floor... and by coincidence, the original situation of no success or failure was broken... According to those people, it should be called the accumulation of dead air, and after someone used his own life to fill the last loophole... this place became a perfect place for supernatural events to occur."

Uesugi Cheng stopped, and the black spray paint and the golden pattern intersected, just like a talisman. However, at this moment, in Hikigaya's eyes, the talisman exuded a faint golden light and appeared extremely sacred. He widened his eyes and felt personally that supernatural events were happening around him.

"Okay, don't read it. It's just some clever tricks in ritual studies to take advantage of the situation. I can't achieve the effect I want myself, so I can only make up for it with this method."

Uesugi Cheng picked up his bag and walked out with Hikigaya.

"This... is this the end? Will the evil spirit that's staring at Miko-san calm down after putting this thing up?" Hikigaya was a little dazed.

"No, this is just the beginning. That thing is not to suppress or appease the guy in the building... Let me explain it to you this way. My soul essence or ability is too broad. I can only amplify certain effects through certain methods."

Uesugi Cheng took off his glasses, and they walked around the sleeping security guard in front of them, walked out of the building from the small back door and returned to the street. Hikigaya saw someone waving at him from afar.

“It’s like using the name of some gods… to amplify the meaning of expulsion and provocation.”

Hikigaya only felt a cold wind blowing from behind, as if something was snarling sharply and looking at him with eyes that seemed to want to skin him alive, causing him to shiver uncontrollably.

He saw Yotsuya Miko waving at him from a distance. Although he couldn't see her expression, he could feel her anxiety from her body language.

"Okay, I'll take care of the next thing, but the most important thing now is to run away quickly. That thing should have already set its sights on me."

Uesugi Sumiko started running, and Hikigaya followed him immediately. He didn't dare to look back at the building behind him, as if it had turned into a monster that would eat anyone it could.

"What about security?"

"It won't target the security guards. What I do makes people hate me more than the security guards."

Hikigaya saw Uesugi Sumire look back, and then he sped up and ran away as if he had confirmed something.

Chapter 13: Analysis of the main body

"Well..." After the two of them ran away from the building quickly, Hikigaya even felt the temperature around them rising rapidly, returning to the level it should be in summer. After a while, he felt beads of sweat begin to appear on his forehead. While wiping the sweat, Uesugi Sumika, who was not flushed or out of breath, suddenly spoke.

"Actually, you don't have to run. Even though you went in with me, you can't see it so it has no way of affecting you unless it affects you through some entity."

"What did you say?!"

Hikigaya gasped and coughed twice, obviously not expecting this to happen.

"Great, are you all okay?!! That building is simply..."

Yotsuya Miko was filled with relief. In her vision, the building was like a living hell, with the unwilling echoes of the dead and vicious curses floating everywhere. Even spirits dared not to appear around for fear of being devoured.

"It's just like hell, isn't it? The resentment of the dead keeps piling up..."

Uesugi Cheng looked back, he could feel that the thing in the building was now extremely angry. Since its birth, it had only played with its prey, but it did not expect that it would be viciously tricked in its own nest. The evil spirit was now furious.

"Oh yeah... I found out the name of the first person who died. It seems that he jumped from the top of the building and died at the door of the building because of the unbridled exploitation in the company and the constant pressure from his boss."

Yotsuya Miko looked a little remorseful. She didn't expect that during the time when she was dragged to the dessert shop by her best friend, Uesugi Sumire was in danger.

"No, it's a good thing you didn't come. That guy is not that simple... As for the name and identity of the first deceased... it should be useful." Uesugi Cheng was a little distressed. When he heard that the deceased died at the door of the building, he confirmed his inference. Although he himself did not understand much about Feng Shui, there was relevant knowledge in the great technique he learned.

[Doors and Walls LV1]: "Locks seek keys, walls seek doors, and those who wish to pass through will eventually learn that they are not our servants." - William Harris (2 Revelation 1 Cast)

This skill comes from "Walter DeWolfe's Journal". The heir of the DeWolfe family wrote a lot of esoteric information he got from communicating with architect Gregory Wheelock in his journal.

This great art is not only about doors and walls, locks and keys, but also tells a lot about architectural knowledge. As they described, the building had tried its best to avoid all negative impacts when it was selected and designed, but it is obvious that this caution was completely broken more than ten years later, leading to the tragedy.

"Hey, what...what's going on? Could it be that the evil spirit inside is not the person who died first?"

"......I don't know either, that's why we have to lure it out, Jianzi, what's going to happen next is going to be very, very dangerous. You are different from Hikigaya, he can't see anything, even if he encounters something like this, he will be unlucky for a while at most, but you and I are both in danger of your life in this matter. However, I have helped you divert its attention, and now you are no longer within its hunting range... At least for now..."

"No, I understand what you want to say, Uesugi Cheng, but I refuse. I saw it, and I can't run away just because someone blocked the danger for me. What's more, you also said that this is the case now, which means that if I consider the worst case scenario, then there is no reason for me to run away alone."

Yotsuya Miko interrupted Uesugi Sumire. This was the first time she did this. She looked at Uesugi Sumire with firm eyes. She understood what Uesugi Sumire meant, but she didn't want to and couldn't escape this time. No matter what, she wanted to do her best. After all, if Uesugi Sumire failed, she would be targeted sooner or later.

"It's the same for me. Since you said I'm relatively safe, then there are some things you can let me do, right? I have no reason to just leave the sponsor here. And I think you understand better than me that if the evil spirit is not eliminated, more people will be harmed, right?"

Hikigaya sighed. The day before, he was still worried about the Service Club and the sharp-tongued beautiful girl Yukinoshita Yukino. Today, he had to fight for his classmates and his own life. The world was really unpredictable.

"Now that everything has been decided, let me explain to you what happened."

"In fact, the information provided by Miss Jianzi is very effective. After all, the names and identities of evil spirits are also a kind of self-restraint for them. But the problem is that the monster in that building is not just an evil spirit. It should be called... a polymer."

"Polymer...? Something like Stitched Monster?" Hikigaya had played some games and put forward the concept based on his knowledge.

"Let me think... Let me explain it this way. The building shouldn't have been like this in the first place. The problem is that the company renovated it without permission and the original architectural layout was subtly modified, causing the entire atmosphere to become wrong. You should have felt this deeply, Hikigaya."

Seeing Hikigaya Hachiman nod, Uesugi Sumire continued to explain.

"In this situation, if someone committed suicide by jumping off a building with resentment and hatred, an evil spirit would indeed form. But the special thing is that the place would not only accumulate the resentment and death of the dead... it would absorb the malice of the people in the entire building, including those who died later. So the building is not only filled with evil spirits, but also a polymer of malice and death, but the main body is attached to the guy who died first."

Yotsuya Miko and Hikigaya Hachiman couldn't help but swallow their saliva after hearing this. They could already imagine how terrifying that monster would be after growing stronger for half a year.

"The good news is that it's still not that strong, but that's limited to its main body. If you want to deal with it inside a building, I personally suggest that it would be more convenient to just blow up the building..."

"That's why you have to draw it out..."

"Yes, fortunately its attention was on the next target, that is, you, Jianzi, so I could give it a big one without any hesitation."

Uesugi Cheng was somewhat relieved. Although the monster was tricky, based on Shuguang's observations, it was not an evil spirit that could not be fought against. It just required some small tricks.

"Then it will probably come to trouble me tonight. I hope you can help me a little." Uesugi Cheng said with a serious face.

Chapter 14: Tug's Purification

In fact, this was also the first time that Uesugi Sumira himself faced an evil spirit. Although there were many spirits in the Silent Bookstore, they were not so aggressive. Most of them needed someone to use rituals to appease or admonish them. However, Uesugi Sumira could never have imagined that the first time he encountered such a violent and dangerous evil spirit, it would come from the real world rather than the waking world.

"I hope the things in "The Awakening of the Sun" didn't lie to me... But since I can recall the teachings of Jingguan from it, it's probably true."

Almost all the books in the bookstore contain teachings of great arts. The only difference for Uesugi Cheng is whether his own level of knowledge is sufficient to read the knowledge hidden in those books.

After a brief separation from Yotsuya Miko and Hikigaya, Uesugi Sumire found his way back to his home and began to prepare the venue for tonight's battle against the evil spirits. The most important thing was to clean up the fragile items and debris in the house to avoid causing additional losses.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, the sun's rays were still mercilessly scorching the earth, but soon it would sink into the distant hills. At this moment when dusk was approaching, Uesugi Cheng opened the mottled diary he carried with him, the diary inlaid with amber that recorded the original beginning, and entered his own spiritual world.

Nine long paths extend outward from the point where the diary was placed, just like nine branches on a big tree. It is said that this thing in his mind is called the Night Watchman's Tree, or more commonly known as the Tree of Wisdom. But no matter what it is called, its function is very clear.

This tree of wisdom will bear abundant fruits under the cultivation of the bookstore manager, as for how to cultivate it.

Uesugi Cheng closed his eyes and mobilized one of his great techniques.

[Glass and Forged Light LV1]: "Break a window. What do you make? A road? A ray of new light? A weapon?" - Natalia Brulov (2 lights, 1 dome)

This is the knowledge contained in the mottled diary. In addition to allowing him to upgrade his Dawn Contemplation to the third level, it also contains a completely different great technique.

He placed this knowledge just above the Night Watchman's Art, on a path named [Illumination].

【Illumination】: Illuminate and purify oneself and one's surroundings. In the end, people often cannot see any difference between the two.

【Glass and Satin】

The paradox of white flowers:

There is a paradox of illumination: light reveals, light blinds. This is the lesson the white flowers of the Night Watcher's Tree teach us: even the most dangerous knowledge is not dangerous when forgotten. (Gain Fortitude)

He presented the great skills he had learned to the Tree of Wisdom, and while he gained some subtle knowledge, the Tree of Wisdom also rewarded him with new soul essence to strengthen him.

There is a fresh fruit on the path of illumination. If you want to take the next step, you need a higher level, that is, a deeper understanding of the great art. However, this is not important to Uesugi Cheng now. What is important is his newly acquired soul quality.

[Fortitude]: Willpower; self-discipline; the part of us that we use to make the right choices. (2 casts 1 lamp) [One of the nine soul qualities of human beings.]

With the help of Dawn's meditation which had reached level 4, Uesugi Sumiya finally had the confidence to completely kill the evil spirit that was about to rush into his house in anger.

[Toug's Purification Technique] After gathering 5 points of Blade Aspect, the knowledge of how to perform this technique automatically emerged in Uesugi Cheng's mind. The Contemplation of the Dawn itself carries the methods of how to make and use this purification technique, and "The Awakening of the Sunrise", an atypical meditation written by Toug of Merion County, describes the details of this purification technique in detail.

"Tuwag and Tug... They don't sound like aliases at all, or are they just nicknames? Forget it, it's more important to create the purification spell first."

Although Toug's purification technique is powerful and not difficult to make, the effect it brings to people when using it is definitely not a pleasant one. At least when Hikigaya and Yotsuya Miko arrived at the house rented by Uesugi Sumire one after another, they saw him leaning against the wall in pain, with a hideous face and tears in his eyes.

"Are you okay?!" Yotsuya Miko put down the plastic bag in her hand and stepped forward to help Uesugi Sumiko up, but was stopped by him.

"Ahem, it's okay. I just didn't expect the production process of this kind of thing to be so...uncomfortable."

If there was no better way next time, Uesugi Cheng felt that he would never have the chance to perform this purification technique again.

"I've bought the salt and the talismans...are these things really useful?"

Hikigaya took out the talisman he had obtained from the temple. After giving him money, the abbot was surprisingly easy to talk to, but he seemed to be hesitant to speak.

"It has no effect on the evil spirit, but sometimes having no effect is also an effect. After all, as long as it has intelligence, there is a possibility that it can be deceived."

Uesugi Sumire began to arrange the scene, with a pile of salt in the corner, temporarily tied with red string and pasted talismans on the door. It looked like some kind of defensive measure, but Hikigaya and Yotsuya Miko knew very well that it was completely meaningless.

"In general, these measures are part of the plan. You will know when the night comes... But I don't recommend staying here overnight. It's too dangerous."

Uesugi Sumire looked at Yotsuya Miko and Hikigaya and seemed to want to say something, but shook his head.

"I know what you want to say, but I'm the only one who can actually harm it here, so I hope you can protect yourselves and don't stay here."

As night fell, the entire neighborhood fell into silence. An uncomfortable silence enveloped the area. Countless ferocious eyes filled with murderous intent turned and then looked at the apartment where Uesugi Cheng lived at the same time.

"Stupid, stupid...as stupid as that monk..."

“Die die die die die die die”

The deformed evil spirit with countless eyeballs and mouths looked at the meaningless talismans and salt piles and smiled, as if it was about to enjoy a feast.

"Prey prey... kill... pain..."

The fragmented words contained malicious desires, which passed through the door. Uesugi Cheng was leaning on the sofa with his eyes closed at the moment, as if he had not expected it to come so soon.

“Very good…”

The mindless monster took a step into the living room, and then a bright light appeared.

Chapter 15: First Battle Victory

Sharp and painful roars resounded through the night sky, but it was obvious that no one could hear them.

It was as if the evil spirit, which was made up of countless twisted debris, was rolling in pain. With its remaining sanity, it could no longer understand what a trap or an ambush was. The long-term hunting of weak humans who had no ability to resist had made it lose its caution and it stepped into the trap.

The effect of the purification technique was worthy of the suffering that Uesugi Cheng had endured when making it. He carefully held the knife in his hand, blessed it with the power of soul, and stabbed one of the faces on the stitched evil spirit.

"Die... die... die..." The several faces on its body spoke, but with different emotions. There was fear, anger, terror, and even faint joy, as if it realized that it had no chance of defeating Uesugi Cheng now. It used all its twisted limbs to stand up and tried to escape from the room.

"Is this all right? Not being able to see anything might be a good thing sometimes..." Hikigaya stood leisurely at the door of Uesugi Sumiya's house and pasted a piece of talisman on the door.

【Threshold Pardon】, the talisman whose power and effect had just been tested at Yotsuya Miko's house this morning, the evil spirit that was about to rush out of the door suddenly lost its way, let out a terrified roar, turned around and rushed towards Uesugi Cheng, as if trying to fight to the death.

"It should be fine. Although I can't see what's going on inside, from the sound... it sounds like the evil spirit has reached the end of its rope."

Yotsuya Miko closed her eyes and listened carefully. Like Hikigaya, she had no intention of leaving, so Uesugi Sumire designed this little drama to block the evil spirit's way.