What does it mean that the group members have given me back the light?

[Old Eight's Big Stomach: Uh, what about me?]

[Aspiring to become a champion of justice: ...]

[Want to drink Mei's ○ juice: ? You want it all? Do you think I'm a wishing machine?]

Noah is still chasing me: sent 'Dragon Charm' x1 and 'Snake Charm' x1 to @想喝芽衣的○汁

[Noah is still chasing me: Thank you, Kiana, I've received all four talismans.]

[Want to drink Mei's ○ juice: Is it effective?]

[Noah is still chasing me: I tried it, and it works great. It really does contain magical power.]

[Want to drink Mei's ○ juice: That's good. I thought you got a fake one since you hadn't said anything for so long.]

[Want to drink Mei's ○ juice: Should we keep drawing? I just said we still have half of the points left.]

Noah is still chasing me: Please, just smoke it.

Gu Nuo replied that although the remaining talismans were not as useful to him as the rat, tiger, horse, and dog talismans he already had, he was actually very curious whether a complete set of these talismans would produce some magical effects.

[Want to drink Mei's ○ juice: Hey, we're buddies, why be so polite?]

[Want some Mei's juice? Here I come!]

Kiana clicked the card draw screen again, full of confidence.

But just a few seconds later, her eyes suddenly widened.

[Want to drink Mei's ○ juice: Holy crap!!! ?]

[Want to drink Mei's ○ juice: What's going on?! I was just about to continue smoking, but this chat group is showing that my account is suspicious and is going to check it? Does it suspect I've cheated?]

[Old Eight's Big Stomach: Huh?]

[The first idol of the Reunion Movement: Huh?]

[Hermit Purple is the strongest Stand: Huh?]

[Aspiring to become a champion of justice: ...How long will the testing take? Can you still draw cards now?]

[Want to drink Mei's ○ juice: Damn it, I can't draw cards during the testing period, and the testing time wasn't clearly stated to me. What's wrong with me drawing cards based on my own ability?! Why does it suspect I opened a gacha?!]

[The first idol of the Reunion Movement: ...Is this the predicament of a lucky person?]

[Old Eight's Big Stomach: So there really are gamers like this in the world, suspected of cheating because they're too lucky.]

[Hermit Purple is the strongest substitute: Damn it! Six 10-pulls with six gold items is considered abnormal, so why isn't it considered abnormal for me to have nine 10-pulls without a gold item? I protest!]

[Want to drink Mei's ○ juice: ...Sigh, that's how it is, Nono, I'll give you back the rest of the points.]

[Noah is still chasing me: No rush. If your account is checked and everything is fine before the gacha event, I'll have to ask you for help again.]

[Want to drink Mei's ○ juice: Let's go. (puffing up).jpg]

Kiana was furious, but she had no choice but to accept reality.

This feeling is like the helicopter's propeller suddenly stopping, causing the captain and passengers to break out in a sweat – the helplessness of a sudden crash.

This chat group is terrible!

……

……

The world of spells.

In the dark and damp sewer, the dim light cast flickering shadows on the walls.

A man with stitches all over his face lay leisurely in a hammock, holding a yellowed copy of "Encyclopedia of Ghost Stories" in his hands. His voice was slow and clear, like dripping water:

"Special-grade imaginary vengeful spirit...that's what some cursed spirits are called."

He casually turned the pages, the paper rustling softly.

“Cursed spirits are aggregates of cursed power flowing from humans. Even if they are not real, their shared, terrifying imagery can easily manifest as powerful curses.”

The boy leaning against the mottled wall raised his head slightly, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes hidden by his long bangs: "A shared image of terror... does it refer to those famous monsters or urban legends?"

With a "thud," the man casually tossed the book onto the damp ground, then relaxed his hands behind his head and said with a smile:

"That's right, just like Hanako in the toilet, or the legendary nine-tailed fox. Even if it's an unidentified cursed spirit, as long as it fits this characteristic, it will be classified as a hypothetical vengeful spirit by those sorcerers."

His figure suddenly disappeared from above, leaving only the gently swaying hammock.

Yoshino Junpei paused, looking around. In the darkness, only the sound of dripping water echoed.

"But ah..."

A real voice rang in my ears, “What people are truly afraid of has never been these fictional stories… What do you think it is?”

Instead of being frightened, Yoshino Junpei tilted his head and thought for a moment: "...A natural disaster?"

"Talking to you is really easy... You're right, it's a natural disaster."

A real person suddenly appeared before him, a smile appearing on that face covered in stitches:

"People fear the earth, the forests, the ocean... The magical power flowing towards them is too great, so they gained intelligence before they took shape and have remained dormant ever since... You are all my proud partners."

"Then... Mr. Zhenren, what kind of curse is it?"

Yoshino Junpei didn't dodge; instead, he moved closer.

He was filled with curiosity about the strange man who had helped him take down the bullies in the movie theater.

"It's human," the real person replied with a smile.

“I’m drawn from hatred and fear between people… no.”

The man paused suddenly, tilting his head like a scholar pondering a problem: "No, isn't using only these two words a bit too limiting?"

"To be more accurate, it should be called 'negative energy'."

“I am a curse born from ‘negative energy’.”

-----------------

-----------------

-----------------

Chapter Nineteen: Hello, Ultraman

The sunlight falls gently, neither scorching nor stingy, like a perfectly draped golden veil over the shoulders. The breeze carries the lingering chill of early spring and the approaching warmth of early summer, stirring only a few new leaves as it passes through the treetops, the rustling sound so soft as if afraid to wake the slumbering clouds.

Because it was the weekend and there was no school, and the Evolution Trusters didn't make any unusual moves, the chat group was peaceful.

So Gu Nuo finally had some free time to go out and decided to take a walk and relax.

"Potato chips are half price! I have no choice but to buy them..."

"And potato chips, soda..."

Gu Nuo bought some merchandise related to anime voiced by her favorite female voice actresses. Carrying a large bag of things, she walked home contentedly, but just as she passed a park...

"Ouch! Stop! I told you to stop, didn't you hear me?"

The familiar voice made Gu Nuo pause slightly.

Although he could sense that the distance was far, thanks to his increasingly conscious training since becoming a suitable candidate, he was certain that he hadn't misheard.

The angry and reproachful voice clearly did not come from playful banter between close friends or lovers.

Without thinking too much, Gu Nuo followed the direction of the sound and quickly walked a hundred meters away. Soon he saw his classmate, Yanami Anana, in a corner of a park, shielding a thin little girl of about five or six years old who was wearing glasses.

"Big sister, you're in my way!"

"His father is a monster! So she's a monster too!"

"Fight the monster! Fight the monster!"

Several well-dressed teenagers kept shouting something and throwing pebbles they had picked up from the roadside at the two people without stopping. The pebbles landed on the white coat that Hanami Anna had draped over her shoulders, leaving streaks of dust as if they had stained the first snow.

The youngest child looked like he was in a daze. He was panting heavily as he struggled to pick up a fist-sized pebble from the ground, his face flushed red.

But just as he was about to throw it with all his might, he suddenly let out a scream—a foot kicked him hard in the buttocks, with such force that it almost sent him flying.

The pebble fell to the ground with a thud. The naughty child staggered a few steps, clutching his bottom, tears welling up in his eyes.

Perhaps because the noise was so loud, the mischievous children suddenly fell silent, and they looked back in alarm.

Gu Nuo tilted his head expressionlessly.

Silent anger is the most intimidating, especially after seeing that the older brother in front of them seemed much easier to bully than the older sister. The brats swallowed hard in fear and scattered like birds and beasts without uttering a sound.

“Oh…oh…yes…Gu Nuo classmate…”

When Banai turned around, he saw Anzu staring blankly. The girl with glasses also widened her eyes, looking at him curiously through her dirty lenses.

……

……

"How could they do something like this? These kids are really going too far."

Beside the bench, Anna Hanami squatted down in front of the little girl with glasses who was sitting there, angrily wiping the bloodstains from her face and the dust from her glasses with a handkerchief:

"Why are they treating you like this? Tell your sister, and I'll get them arrested and sent to a juvenile detention center!"

Hana was furious. She really didn't expect that in 202, there would still be bad kids like those Showa-era troublemakers, just like those characters in Ultraman.

If she hadn't happened to be out today, and if her classmate, who was suspected to be a member of the group, hadn't happened to be passing by, she couldn't imagine what bad things those reckless kids would have done to this girl.

The little girl with glasses lowered her head, her fingers tightly twisting the hem of her clothes: "Daddy...Daddy isn't a monster..."

Her voice was barely audible, yet it carried a stubbornness: "Last week, when the monster was coming, Daddy saved so many people... but... but nobody remembers..."

"...A monster?"

Completely unexpected to hear this word, Banai saw Anja pause for a moment, then subconsciously looked at Gu Nuo beside her.

"Monster?"

Gu Nuo was also taken aback, but he didn't react to the unusual expression on Banami Anzu's face. He squatted down as well: "What kind of monster is it? Can you tell me?"

But the little girl with glasses pouted sadly and stopped talking.

Ah this...

Gu Nuo and Banai looked at Xingcai in bewilderment.

When it comes to monsters, Gu Nuo's first thought is naturally the alien beasts that are unique to this world and have become rampant.

But is this reasonable?

If the monster the little girl is talking about is an Alien Beast, then it means that an unofficial person other than herself has preserved the memory of the Alien Beast's existence under the strict investigation of the TLT organization's Memory Police Department.

With a slight furrow in his brow, Gu Nuo fell into deep thought.

But just then, a voice suddenly rang in his mind.

"Hello... Ultraman."

？ ！！

His battle-hardened body tensed instantly, and Gu Nuo's alertness reached its peak.

He glanced around and noticed that neither Hanami nor the little girl seemed to have heard the voice; the former was still patiently cleaning the latter's clothes. It was as if only he himself could hear this voice that spoke directly to his own heart.

"Don't be nervous, I have no ill intentions towards you. On the contrary, I am very grateful that you helped my daughter."

The voice continued, its tone slow and deliberate: "Can we talk? I'll be waiting for you under the banyan tree on the east side of the park."

……

……

After handing the bags of snacks to the two women and telling them not to be shy and not to wander off, Gu Nuo went to the banyan tree.

In the dappled shadows of the trees, a bespectacled man in a wheelchair stood still like a sculpture. The afternoon sun filtered through the branches and leaves, casting dappled light on his thin profile. When Gu Nuo approached, he nodded slightly, the dappled light reflected from his glasses obscuring his eyes.

"You know who I am?" Gu Nuo stopped in his tracks, maintaining a just-right distance between them.

"Yes, my name is Kirino Makio, and I am a superpowered person."

The man in the wheelchair took off his glasses and gently wiped the lenses with the corner of his clothes, speaking as if he were talking about something trivial.