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Don't be fooled by the superhero movies—those "cool" hero landings would shred most clothes and shoes in real life. Rosen had only jumped from five meters, and his sneakers' air cushions were blown.
Hard to imagine how movie heroes manage to look stylish after that.
Luckily no one saw him. He slipped back home, swapped into a fresh pair, and headed out again.
With his new power, the next step was obvious: find something—or someone—worth testing it on.
After nearly getting his head chomped earlier, he had a score to settle.
If not for this belated cheat, the chat group and its beautiful anime girls wouldn't even be an option anymore.
Even without powers, as long as there were no evil spirits, he could still charm the ladies into a love triangle drama or two.
…
He'd been walking for a while now.
The pure white sky had bled into the fiery glow of sunset.
But still—not a single evil spirit in sight.
If he didn't still feel the divine power in his veins, and if the group's girls weren't still chatting about girly stuff, he might've thought the whole thing earlier was a dream.
Grumble.
Right on cue, his stomach growled.
Rosen rarely cooked; buying discounted bentos from the convenience store was cheaper than making food himself.
That was the first lesson Japan's supermarkets had taught him. Meat was pricey—vegetables, absurdly so. Seeing a cabbage cut into eighths or a watermelon sliced into a paper-thin wedge for sale had shocked his Chinese sensibilities.
With even rice prices going up lately, he'd lost all motivation to shop for ingredients.
Most convenience stores discounted bentos right before closing, but with luck you could score temporary specials.
And sure enough—just as he walked in, a clerk slapped a 70%-off sticker on a fried chicken skewer bento.
He was about to grab it when he caught sight of several staff members at the entrance, party poppers in hand.
Pop! Multicolored streamers exploded into the air, some landing on his clothes.
"Congratulations! You're our 100,000th customer! You get 2,000 yen worth of free shopping and a whole watermelon as a prize!"
The clerks and manager clapped enthusiastically.
Rosen took a quick look around. So… this was real?
Two thousand yen wasn't huge, but hey—free is free.
He grabbed two bentos, some snacks, and a drink. The manager even tossed in a pack of gum.
And when they brought out the watermelon… it wasn't just a slice. A clerk handed him a seedless melon bigger than Kurumi's head.
So he left the store with bentos and drinks in one hand, a giant watermelon in the other.
"Is my luck really this good today?"
Five points from the group's daily check-in—could that really mean it was his lucky day?
The sun had almost set now. No evil spirits found, but plenty of food acquired. He figured he'd head home, then go out hunting after dark.
But before he could get far, a bus pulled up at the stop nearby.
The doors hissed open, passengers filed out… and among them—
A girl with long black hair.
Ink-black strands framing pale, delicate skin. Her half-lidded eyes seemed utterly indifferent to the world.
She wore a white sailor-style school uniform. Pretty, but with no makeup and a listless air that dulled her beauty.
Something about her felt familiar.
She didn't notice him, absorbed in whatever was on her phone.
Rosen was just about to move on when something else stepped off the bus.
It wasn't human—its whole body wrapped in choking miasma. A ragged, oversized coat hung open to reveal a stomach of rotting flesh and exposed ribs, the organs inside shriveled black.
Because Rosen had stopped walking, he was only a short distance from the rear door.
The creature shuffled forward, muttering "See me, don't see me…" under its breath—
Then its gaze locked with his.
What!?
"..."
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