I, Den-O, the Contract Urban Legend

With that, Sadako ran out of his room, leaving Inoue Ueya no chance to ask any questions.

"...That's a confusing reaction. Could it be that Mr. Inoue has accidentally done something strange again?"

After thinking for a while, although Inoue Ue didn't remember what happened just now, he recalled what happened yesterday, and his face gradually became solemn.

The people who went out with me yesterday seemed to have had some of their memories affected by something unknown. For some unknown reason, Hanako and the others, except me, had all lost their memories of their time with Naya...

When Inoue Ueya first walked out of the convenience store, he heard Hanako Natsukawa asking about Naya, and he thought Hanako was joking.

Unexpectedly, when they returned home, they received calls from Kato Megumi and Yukinoshita Yukino, which finally made Inoue Ueya realize that something was wrong.

They also seemed to vaguely feel that there was an inexplicable sense of incongruity in their memories. They clearly remembered that in addition to Inoue Ueya and Hanako, they had also let "High Speed ​​Granny" walk on the Zero-Liner, but no matter how hard they tried, they could not recall the name and appearance described by Inoue Ueya.

Instead, what came to their minds was a monster that looked like an old woman.

In this light, the answer is obvious: Naya, or the "High-Speed ​​Granny", is in a bit of an abnormal situation.

Inoue Ueya sighed, completely confused about the current situation. It seemed that Naya had some unknown secret.

"So can I take this as the reason why her true identity has never been discovered?"

The legend of the "High-Speed ​​Granny" has not appeared in recent years. Perhaps she deliberately uses this ability to conceal her true identity?

No, Inoue Ueya recalled that when he mentioned Naya's name yesterday, he did see her with a wry smile on her face, so this statement was not true.

"But why am I not affected..."

Although his singularity identity can make him unaffected by the distortion of time and space to a certain extent, anything that directly affects his memory or drugs will still be effective on him.

What is certain is that this is not an event related to time and space, and Inoue Ue should also be affected.

Well, putting aside his singularity identity, if Inoue Ueya possesses other items that can block this type of ability, then it should only be the Book of Shadows attached to his body, right?

Anyway, now that I have the answer that "High Speed ​​Granny" is not an evil monster, the club's activities will probably come to an end. If there is a chance to meet Naya again, I will go and ask about her situation.

Anyway, the contents of their affected memories are not anything particularly important, right?

"...You must be joking. How could something like memory be unimportant?"

Inoue Ueya scratched his head, a hint of helplessness flashed in his eyes, then he got up from the bed and prepared to wash up.

……

To be honest, Inoue Ueya also has a lot to do today.

"First, there's the handle of the 'Devil's Hammer' I got. I've already made an appointment with Hanakaiin Yuura. She'll take some time off today to come over and see if there's any way to completely destroy that damn thing. And then there's..."

Inoue Ue, who had just come out of the bathroom, happened to run into Iwanaga Kotoko who was about to go out.

"Good morning, Ueya-kun."

Inoue Ueya nodded and immediately responded, "Good morning, Kotoko, are you going out on another commission?"

Although I've said this several times before, it seems that Iwanaga Kotoko's workload hasn't improved much...

"Well, because the Skeleton Demon said he wanted to go to Kyoto, I had to leave early."

The Skeleton Monster is a giant bone monster. Inoue Ueya is no stranger to it. It is the monster that helps Iwanaga Kotoko quickly reach various areas to carry out commissions. However, I heard that it has recently suffered from osteoporosis, so I haven't seen it much recently.

"What? You can just tell me about this kind of thing. Let Mr. Inoue take you there by train."

But that old bone actually went to Kyoto at this time, could it be that it was going to look for Yuyuko...

Ding Dong!

Hearing the doorbell, Inoue Ue couldn't help but frown. He looked at the clock in the living room, wondering why Hanakaiin Yuura shouldn't have arrived so early.

Anyway, facing the constant ringing of the doorbell, Inoue Ueya asked Iwanaga Kotoko to wait in the living room for a while, and he walked to the entrance alone to open the door.

Chapter 174 What do you want to say?

When I opened the door, I was greeted by two familiar faces.

Didn’t Hikaru Gyobu Tanuki and his son Tamashiro, these two raccoon cat monsters from Shikoku, go back after their duel with the Nura clan?

These are not the main points. The question is why the jade seal appears in the appearance of the beautiful girl idol in the previous video?

Could it be that the guy has been an idol for so long that he has gradually become addicted to cross-dressing?

"hiss……"

Inoue Ueya took a deep breath and subconsciously took two steps back.

"Yuzi...ah, I recognize you. You are the agent, right?" When Yu Zhang saw Inoue Ueya opening the door, a look of surprise flashed across his face.

"My men and I are in a somewhat—er, dire situation. We need the assistance of the Goddess of Wisdom. Do you know where she is?"

Seeing this, Inoue Ue couldn't help but sigh. Why did he keep encountering such uninvited troubles recently?

"Anyway, let's go inside first."

……

Inoue Ueya brought the two men to the living room and asked Iwanaga Kotoko to deal with them.

But when Iwanaga Kotoko saw Yuzhang, she completely lost her temper and shouted, "That's outrageous! You already have me, why did you bring other girls home with Ueya-kun?"

The two raccoon cat monsters who had just walked in fell silent for a moment. For some reason, they seemed to have heard something extraordinary. Could it be that they were going to be silenced by Yu Kami afterwards?

"No, I'm Yuzhang, the leader of the Shikoku Eighty-Eight Demons Night Parade who duelled with Nura Rikuo before. Could it be that God-sama, you have already forgotten!"

After all, "Yuzi" is the leader of the Shikoku Eighty-Eight Demons Night Parade, so "she" decided to change the subject to prevent them from reacting.

"Yuzhang? Weren't you taken back to Shikoku?"

Iwanaga Kotoko asked the question while looking up and down Yuzi's figure with a strange look.

Wow, this figure is really great...

Not only did that raccoon monster turn Nura into a girl in the previous duel, but now he's even turning himself into a girl?

As she thought about it, a trace of resentment flashed in Iwanaga Kotoko's eyes, "I'm already a high school student, why is my figure still like this?"

No, this is not her problem. It must be the influence of becoming the God of Wisdom when she was a child. That’s absolutely the case!

If you think about it carefully, that group of monsters actually chose a little girl like her to be their god. Is there something wrong with their brains?

Besides, these two raccoon cats really came at the wrong time. I had a rare chance to spend some time alone with Ueya-kun today, but why did they suddenly ruin it?

After a long silence, a mysterious resentment gradually emanated from Iwanaga Kotoko's body.

"Um... God, what's wrong with you?"

"Yu Zhang" noticed Iwanaga Kotoko's strange gaze and suddenly felt a chill in his heart.

"If you have something to say, tell me quickly. What happened this time?" Iwanaga Kotoko said expressionlessly.

Yu Zhang just smiled bitterly and began to explain the reason for their visit.

"To be honest, not long ago, I formed a beautiful girl idol group with the leaders of the Shikoku Eighty-Eight Demons Night Parade."

Just as Inoue Ueya guessed, the video he had seen on the mobile phone before was indeed the masterpiece of Yu Zhang and others, although they were beautiful girls disguised using their abilities.

After being taken back by the Hidden God Xingbu Rinco, Yu Zhang continued to use this method to enhance his own strength. Although the cadres who tasted the sweetness were still a little resistant to wearing women's clothes, they finally gave in due to the huge profits.

"So, the idol group 'Shikoku Eighty-Eight Demons Night Parade' became increasingly popular..."

Until one day, Yu Zhang and the cadres discovered that their bodies had undergone terrible changes without their knowledge.

"Even though the transformation technique has been lifted, the body hasn't changed back and still maintains a female posture, as if this is our original appearance..."

"Hiss, this spell is too scary, isn't it?"

Inoue Ue also took a breath of cold air. He never expected that a mere transformation spell would have such terrible side effects.

"So? We don't have anyone who can help you solve your spell problem?" Iwanaga Kotoko sighed.

Yu Zhang shook his head and replied, "Actually, my father and I once privately discussed the reason for this situation. We concluded that these physical changes are not caused by magic, but rather by the idol group, or rather, the absorption of the 'fear' given to us by the fans..."

Although most of the monsters and ghosts have physical bodies, their strength is enhanced by "fear".

"The so-called 'fear' is generally defined as awe or fear of a certain being. The more 'fear' a monster or monster can gain from other creatures, the stronger they will become, because the powerful image they create in others' minds will increase their strength."

Of course, "fear" is not the only way for monsters and ghosts to improve their strength. If they continue to practice various kinds of training and break through their own limits, their strength can still be increased, but it is not as simple and direct as gaining "fear".

"To put it bluntly, the essence of 'fear' is still inseparable from other people's 'impressions' of monsters and yokai themselves. Famous monsters are naturally powerful, a gap that nameless yokai cannot reach, unless they find a way to transcend the limitations of 'fear'..."

Hearing the familiar words, Inoue Ueya frowned and subconsciously asked, "What do you mean? What do you want to say?"

Yu Zhang sighed, then smiled wryly and shook his head. "The 'fear' from the idol group is ultimately derived from our transformation rituals. It seems to be somewhat different from the 'fear' we normally derive from our own images, as if it's deteriorated. Furthermore, the purity of that 'fear' doesn't seem as high as usual, mixed with all sorts of strange emotions. I guess this is the real reason why our original images have also been affected..."

Although the strength of the four countries has improved by leaps and bounds recently, the price they paid was too heavy. However, the two female members of the idol group, Ye Que and Crochet Girl, said that this matter did not matter and the impact seemed to have no effect on them.

"Damn it, which bastard suggested that we all disguise ourselves as pretty girls and become idols!" Yu Zhang said angrily.

Wait, that guy seems to be me?

Uh……

That's fine.

"In short, this is why I came back to Chiba specifically to seek help. I hope that God will think of a way to restore us to our original state!"

Chapter 175: Say it again! I am Yu Zhang, not Yu Zi!

Listening to Yu Zhang's explanation, Inoue Ue also fell into deep thought.

I didn't expect the monster to be so fragile. Because it absorbed an alternative "fear", even its own image was changed?

Inoue Ueya sighed and then said, "Don't you think this situation is a bit like an urban legend? A widely known figure absorbs the fear of rumors from all sides."

Yu Zhang was stunned when he heard this, then nodded and responded, "Right, if that's the explanation, then our bodies should be changing in a similar way to the urban legend, right?"

"Similar" is still similar after all. Although the situation is similar, the changes in Yu Zhang and others are still very different from the urban legends.

First, the existence of idol groups is open, while urban legends are legends whose authenticity cannot be verified, so there is a huge difference in the amount of "fear" they receive.

The "fear" gained from urban legends alone, without mentioning the various adaptations, should still be able to maintain a certain degree of purity, right?

Moreover, people like Sadako and Hanako are urban legends in the first place, so they naturally won't be affected by the "fear" they absorbed. It's hard to say about Yashayuki and Mari, but looking at their daily behavior, the influence of "fear" should not be as great as one imagines.

Is it true that the real reason for the changes in Yu Zhang and the others' bodies is that they are being eroded by the "fear" that is different from their original identity?

Even a relatively powerful monster like Yu Zhang can be contaminated by "fear", so what if the "fear" that belongs to urban legends is absorbed by an unknown monster?

For some reason, Naya's image suddenly appeared in Inoue Ueya's mind. Could her actual condition be more serious than he imagined?

Maybe I can find a way to help Naya by solving Yu Zhang's problem?

Inoue Ueya scratched his head and tried to express his thoughts, trying to let the two raccoon cat monsters in front of him analyze them.

"If the problem is the 'fear' that was absorbed into the body, then if we release all the problematic 'fear' from the body, it might be possible to restore the monster's body to its original state, right?"

This raccoon father and son are not as simple as imagined. Yu Zhang's magical attainments are comparable to some old monsters who have lived for a hundred years. Moreover, the old man Yinshen Xingbu Tanuki is also a big monster like Nurarihyon. His knowledge and understanding of monsters and strange things far exceeds that of everyone present. Maybe we can hear something useful from them.

After hearing what Inoue Ueya said, Hidden God Geubu Tanuki pondered for a moment and finally shook his head.

"This method won't work. Not to mention that 'fear' is not something that can be easily removed from the body, especially since Yu Zi has absorbed quite a lot of 'fear'. It's impossible to do something like this so easily..."

Upon hearing this, Yu Zhang slammed his hand on the table and said with discontent, "Say it again! I'm Yu Zhang, not Yu Zi!"

"Oh, I clearly named you Yuzi, but you just heard it as Yuzhang..."

Seeing Yu Zhang getting angry, Yin Shen Xingbu Li couldn't help but show a helpless expression.

"There's nothing wrong with being a girl anyway. I think it's nice to have another daughter in the family. Why don't we just keep it this way?"

"What? I am your biological son after all! What the hell are you talking about, you disrespectful old man?" Yu Zhang was so angry that his teeth were itching. He suppressed the urge in his heart to beat up his old father, and his body trembled unconsciously.

Yinshen Xingbu Tanuki also realized his own gaffe at this time, and subconsciously turned his head to the other side, not daring to look directly at Yu Zhang, and muttered softly: "Well, after all, a lovely daughter is much better than a son who likes to make trouble..."

"Really? I thought it was a big problem, but it turns out it's just something of this magnitude..." Iwanaga Kotoko sighed.

While the raccoon cat father and son were still arguing, the god of wisdom seemed to have found a solution.

"Have you ever heard of fighting fire with fire?"

"Fighting poison with poison?"

"That's right. Since the changes in you were caused by the influence of the idol group, then changing back in the same way shouldn't be a problem, right?"