In a crossover anime, do you believe that a machine spirit can defeat a fake human?

"So it wasn't lust at first sight after all."

"..." Chen Yi choked up after speaking for a while, hesitating to speak.

How did Kruka become like this? When did this happen?

"I am heartbroken that you doubt my character."

"I'm sorry, Commander."

Kroos's apology was very perfunctory.

"Commander, that target named Sakurajima Mai is following us," Kroos suddenly warned.

"?" Chen Yi turned around and saw a female high school student following behind him in the distance. When she saw him turn around, she stopped in her tracks.

Chen Yi waved, and the other person hesitated for a moment before jogging over.

"Um... I suddenly realized something, it seems like I can't get into my apartment anymore," Mai Sakurajima explained.

"The security gate to my apartment building needs to be opened manually by the security guard, but he can't see me..."

"Is today your first day out?" Chen Yi raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, we ran out of food at home, and no one accepted our takeout orders, so we came out."

so serious?

Chen Yi pondered, this seems somewhat different from the nature of evil spirits.

So she chose to come back to me for help?

"I understand. Then you can come with me for now." Chen Yi understood that the other party was indeed unavailable at the moment.

Perhaps those remarks had frightened her, Chen Yi reflected.

Let's help people to the end.

......

Unbelievable, she had actually gone home with a complete stranger she'd only met once. Was she a drowning person grasping at a last straw? Sakurajima Mai didn't think so. What, then, had made her trust him so easily?

"We're here." Chen Yi pushed open the door and changed his shoes in the entryway. "There are plenty of disposable slippers at home; if they get wet, I can just change into a new pair."

"Thump." Chen Yi placed the guitar case on the ground, trying his best to control the force, but it still made a dull sound.

"Armor steel is still too inconvenient..." Chen Yi sighed.

"Furthermore, the gourd shape of the guitar case is a bit inconvenient. A rectangular tactical case would allow for the sewing of two large silicon carbide ceramic bulletproof plates on both sides..."

“Commander, I believe training can solve this problem,” Kluge commented after a moment’s thought.

"Training is necessary, but I'm a human being. Trying to fight a highly mobile dummy while carrying such a huge chunk of iron is a bit too much."

"Are you... talking to me?" Mai Sakurajima was completely confused.

"Would you believe me if I told you there's a ghost living in my house?" Chen Yi placed the fruits and vegetables he had bought on the table, then washed them one by one and put them into the refrigerator.

"What would you like to eat?"

“...Anything is fine.” Mai Sakurajima carefully looked over Chen Yi’s house. It wasn’t messy overall, except that there were some mechanical parts piled up on the coffee table.

He sat down somewhat awkwardly, glanced at the security camera in the corner of the living room, then at Chen Yi busily working in the kitchen, and gradually relaxed.

"that......"

"Oh, I forgot to pour the tea. I'm sorry, Miss Sakurajima." Chen Yi looked at Mai Sakurajima, who had walked to the kitchen, and handed her the kettle as if he had just realized something.

"..." What was she trying to say?

......

Dinner wasn't particularly lavish; it consisted of creamed cabbage and butter-fried beef cubes with garlic. They looked quite elaborate, but in reality, they were simple dishes that could be prepared easily.

Tonight was a long-awaited dinner. Chen Yi hadn't eaten for a while, as he'd been making noodles for convenience lately. After a quick bite, he'd get back to fixing the code.

During this time, Chen Yi also took care of the brownies, cutting them into small, attractive black cubes with a hot knife and serving them on a small plate to the guests.

"You can sleep in my bedroom tonight. There's also a tatami mat in my study where I can sleep. If you really don't trust my character, you can lock the door. There are also disposable sleeping bags and sheets under the wardrobe; you can decide for yourself." After quickly finishing dinner, Chen Yi opened his laptop and said casually.

"that......"

"Do you believe what I'm saying?" she asked.

Adolescent Syndrome: Chapter Seventy - Night Talk

"You believe what I'm saying?" Most people would think this is a fantasy, so why would they believe it?

“Ms. Sakurajima, first of all, I need to make it clear that our relationship is not that of a typical helper and recipient. I also have needs from you.” Chen Yi dragged the mouse and clicked a few times to open a file, then turned the screen towards Mai Sakurajima.

“Your traits are not unfamiliar to me. Several days ago, I encountered an evil spirit and have a preliminary understanding of it.”

The dense text on the screen left Mai Sakurajima completely bewildered.

"What is... an evil spirit?" she asked directly.

"Simply put, an evil spirit is a variant of a fake human. The main characteristics of this variant are the same unobservable abilities you possess, as well as the privilege of daytime activities that are different from other fake humans."

"Huh?"

"To put it bluntly, it means that you may come into close contact with evil spirits while you are going to school, sleeping, eating, going out, and so on, without knowing it at all."

Chen Yi wasn't exaggerating; he was simply stating the facts.

"..." Well, the other person seemed quite frightened; Chen Yi could already see her body trembling slightly.

"You mean... you think my invisibility is a power similar to that of an evil spirit?" After calming herself down, Mai Sakurajima finally managed to ask.

"That's one way to understand it, but there are slight differences in the details." Chen Yi turned the screen back to operate the computer, and then turned it back again after a while. At this moment, several lines of highlighted important information appeared in the document.

"The evil spirit's abilities have been confirmed as a symbiotic system of mutualism. The specific means by which the evil spirit's unobservable abilities are realized is the spores emitted by the microbial community covering its skin. The underlying mechanism is not yet clear."

“You weren’t surrounded by that thick fog, so the claim about bacteria isn’t entirely valid.”

“Oh…” Sakurajima Mai listened in a daze, seemingly understanding but not quite.

"You don't understand? That's fine, let's skip the explanation... What I mean is, I'll provide you with whatever help I can, and you'll assist us in our research in return. Is that acceptable?"

"..."

"I don't think I have any other choice. Okay, I can accept this condition." Mai Sakurajima weighed the pros and cons and finally agreed readily.

"It's a wise choice. Let's get to know each other again. My name is Chen Yi, and I'm an international student. To make our cooperation more solid, you can choose to ask me a few questions, or you can go and rest for now."

"My name is Sakurajima Mai. 'Sakurajima' is too long, so you can just call me Miss Mai. Can I call you Yi-kun?"

"Whatever you want." Chen Yi nodded, turned the screen back to his own position, and planned to study the swarm drone system again before taking a shower.

"Um... what kind of girl do you like?"

"?" Chen Yi was stunned and slowly turned his head around.

Is this question a bit offensive?

"No, what I mean is... you don't seem interested in me. I'm Mai Sakurajima, you know." She had a subtle feeling in her heart; the other person's indifferent attitude made her feel a little uncomfortable.

"First of all, I didn't grow up in Japan, and I only knew Mai Sakurajima by her nickname 'national idol'; secondly, I don't follow celebrities."

"As for the remaining reasons..." Chen Yi rolled up his sleeves, showing the other person the bandages and newly healed scars on his arms.

"These injuries were all caused by fake people. Ensuring my own safety is my top priority."

"Can I touch it?" Mai Sakurajima couldn't help but reach out her hand.

"It's best not to, it will still hurt a bit if you press it." Chen Yi twitched his lips and said speechlessly.

So she withdrew her hand.

"What do you usually do at home?" Mai Sakurajima tactfully changed the subject.

"As you can see, examine some small toys. 'Messenger-1,' power on," Chen Yi called out. The mechanical dog beside the coffee table stood up and slowly strode over.

"The original intention was to imitate the pseudo-human cleanup model of Tokyo University. It's a product of highly automated processes, a kind of youth version," Chen Yi explained, taking a pistol from the drawer and placing it on the weapon station of 'Messenger-1'.

"This way, we can balance reconnaissance and some firepower output, and maximize our safety when dealing with the dummies. I'll have to figure out how to put medium-caliber weapons on them later."

Of course, when dealing with humans, it's always a win-win situation to fight without anyone else.

“Oh…” Sakurajima Mai couldn’t resist touching it. 'Messenger-1' took a few steps back and then slowly moved forward, letting Sakurajima Mai tap and pat it.

"Automatic obstacle avoidance? ...No, I don't know how to write that...So it's a machine spirit?" Chen Yi noticed this small detail, stood up abruptly, and squatted down next to "Messenger-1" to study it carefully.

Messenger-1 remained motionless, offering no further response.

"Um, why don't you go take a shower first? It might be a technical malfunction. I'll try to fix it..." Chen Yi understood that it was probably close to the awakening threshold. The last time he awakened his machine soul, it wasn't obvious, but a 'vow'-like incantation should be essential. So he dismissed Sakurajima Mai, after all, it was a bit embarrassing.

"What is a machine spirit? Your behavior just now didn't seem like you encountered a technical malfunction." Sakurajima Mai snorted coldly, seemingly displeased.

"You want to know?"

"I'm sorry, this might be a bit offensive." Mai Sakurajima realized something was wrong and quickly denied it.

"It's no big deal for you to know. I just think some mechanical creations have souls, that's all." Chen Yi didn't expect the other party to believe him; he was just explaining casually from the perspective of a collaborator.

"I believe that Mr. Chen wouldn't lie to me for no reason, right?" Mai Sakurajima nodded, waiting for Chen Yi to give a more detailed explanation.

"...Isn't it possible that it's fake?"

"Just like how Yi Jun believed in the strange changes in me from the very beginning."

"That's because I have experience, so I have a basis for it." Chen Yi was speechless.

"I'll return that to you. The fact that I underwent a transformation unseen by others is the reason I trust you," Mai Sakurajima smiled.

"Okay, to put it simply, it's a superpower." A red hand axe suddenly appeared in Chen Yi's hand and then disappeared just as suddenly.

"I don't fully understand the mechanism of the creation of machine souls yet. The only thing I know is that one of the major conditions for awakening a machine soul is that the item being awakened must be related to me."

"This is the first ability that comes with the machine spirit: a hand axe, but of course, it's much more than that." Chen Yi threw the hand axe towards the glass window of the study. It disappeared into thin air before hitting the window and reappeared in Chen Yi's hand.

"The first machine spirit is a girl, who looks like a ghost, similar to you, and invisible to others. But the difference is that she cannot touch real objects."

"O-suppression?"

"..."

"Klukka, control 'Messenger-1' and introduce yourself." Chen Yi had no choice but to demonstrate it on the spot.

"Nice to meet you, I am Kroos." The 'Messenger-1's' loudspeaker emitted a synthesized female voice, heavily distorted, but the words were still relatively clear.

"Chinese?" Sakurajima Mai didn't understand and glanced at Chen Yi.

"...Forget that others can't understand, Kruka, let's switch to Japanese."

"Nice to meet you, I am Kroos, the Machine Spirit." She then repeated it in Japanese.

"This is amazing..." Sakurajima Mai stepped forward to take a closer look, but Kroos nimbly dodged her.

PS: I tried out Xenoverse today, and all I can say is that the optimization is absolutely terrible. My crappy computer is only good for typing.

Alright, it'll be available tomorrow, meow. Please vote and tip meow, love you all, goodnight meow.

Adolescent Syndrome: Author's Note on Release

Well, the author's initial motivation for writing this book was simply because I was bored (I had just finished the spring recruitment exams and people were urging me to find a job), and I hadn't found a part-time job that I really liked, so I thought I'd write a novel with a friend.

However, my friend is incredibly lazy. He only updates once every two days and often takes time off. So far, he hasn't even reached 60,000 words =P.

Oh, I just went to check it out, and it seems he's a eunuch.

My motivation for writing books is mainly interest and passion. I used to enjoy writing short stories, and I even wrote a few flops on a certain platform and with a certain author that no one read.

Curry people mainly disapproved of my lazy, game-playing lifestyle, so they urged me to find something serious to do. In their eyes, writing novels was a sign that I wasn't just wasting my time.

(Actually, at first, Curry asked me if I was writing something shady, but I wouldn't dare to write that QwQ)

Actually, I didn't expect this book to achieve much. I'll be content if people read it and like it.

Then I can earn some pocket money on the side, but not too much. I'm a hardcore anime/manga enthusiast, I don't go out much or shop much, and the college I got into was a public one, so I didn't have much tuition pressure.

Actually, I'm quite insecure. I feel like my past life was pretty dark, and it was like some kind of super-powerful landmine system that turned into a flower knife.

However, on the other hand, winning Yu Yu's game is one of the few things I can be proud of. The rest are just my various hobbies that I have many of but not many of.

I enjoy reading the comments section, but I'm afraid I can't handle the emotional stress, so please try to use a more tactful approach when offering suggestions. Thank you!