That same night, inside an izakaya.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it, bloody hell!"
The man who'd been groping women on the train was now clutching a bottle of soju, drinking straight from it without using a glass.
The messy table covered in empty bottles and his flushed face clearly showed he was drinking alone to drown his sorrows.
"That damned brat..."
The man slammed the bottle onto the table, wiped his mouth, and recalled the incident on the train. His eyes burned with intense hatred as he ground his teeth.
The intermittent throbbing pain in his wrist constantly reminded him of the humiliation he'd suffered in that train carriage.
To be publicly humiliated by an ordinary high school boy, even forced to kneel and beg for mercy with snot and tears running down his face - it was utterly disgraceful!
The physical pain was secondary.
What truly mattered was how Ye Xing's actions had violently ripped him from his fantasy of dominating the weak to satisfy his control fetish.
Once again making him realise he couldn't control anything.
The man didn't think he'd done anything wrong.
That woman he'd groped clearly hadn't dared resist.
If she didn't resist, didn't that mean she wanted to be touched?
Where did that little bastard come from, sticking his nose where it didn't belong!?
"Sobu High School..."
Since both Ye Xing and Miko Yotsuya had been wearing uniforms, the man had simply searched online for Kyoto high school uniform styles and identified them as Sobu High students.
His jaw clenched so tightly his breathing became laboured.
He would never let this matter rest.
He'd make those two high schoolers understand what a terrible mistake they'd made by crossing him.
The man was already fantasising about Ye Xing and Miko Yotsuya kneeling to beg for his mercy.
Just the thought made him shiver with pleasure.
At that moment.
"Ugh!"
The man suddenly grimaced in pain, clutching at his chest as he gasped for breath.
"What's... happening..."
He felt as if an invisible hand were squeezing his heart, his blood flow slowing down.
Oxygen deprivation made his vision gradually blur.
"Huff..."
A chilling, genderless voice whispered in the man's ear.
"You... are a sinner."
"Thud!"
The man's eyes instantly flooded with crimson.
The last sound he heard before losing consciousness...
Was the muffled pop of his own heart being crushed.
...
Outside the izakaya.
"It's done."
Ye Xing, now dressed in a black tracksuit, watched as the pale giant hand floated back behind him and spoke in a calm tone.
He was a coward by nature.
That's why it was better to nip potential conflicts in the bud before they came knocking.
The elongated fingers of the pale hand twitched, its sharp black nails scraping restlessly against the wall, radiating restless energy.
Having taken a human life, the hand's form had undergone a change.
Originally, it was just a simple hand shape, but it had now grown slightly from the wrist area.
"That growth pattern is ridiculous."
Ye Xing casually remarked as he observed the transformed pale hand behind him.
Truth be told.
He'd been pondering one question.
What the hell was this thing?
If it were an evil spirit, no evil spirit looked like this.
If it were a guardian spirit...
It looked far too sinister.
Ye Xing vaguely sensed this was probably his own Soul Manifestation - essentially an anti-evil spirit weapon.
The problem was... this was what his soul looked like when materialised?
In the past, there was Gaara's Sand Shield: Susanoo.
Now there was his Hand-noo?
He wasn't Yoshikage Kira - this wasn't his fetish.
From current observations, the pale hand had three growth methods.
First: The slowest method - devouring hundreds, even thousands of evil spirits to barely form one hand.
Second: Removing Kyoto's Gates - slightly faster than devouring spirits.
Third: Using the pale hand to take human lives - currently the fastest growth method.
Was this the golden finger of a transmigrator?
It was certainly convenient for killing without leaving traces.
But he had no desire to become the god of a new world - what was the point?
"Whatever, better to have it than not."
Ye Xing wasn't particularly picky.
He did have one burning question, though.
If this pale hand kept growing...
Could it eventually take human form?
Any normal person would be terrified by the hand's horrific appearance and stop all spirit-devouring or Gate-removing activities that accelerated its growth.
But Ye Xing wasn't normal.
His driving force was pure curiosity.
Not only would he keep devouring - he'd do it aggressively.
The true form of this monstrous hand?
LetMeSee.jpg
...
Three days later, Friday lunch break at Sobu High School.
Miko Yotsuya sat at her desk, nibbling a cream bun, chatting and laughing with Yui Yuigahama beside her.
After these few days together, they'd become close friends.
Cheerful, lively and naive with a touch of silliness, Yui Yuigahama could be considered friends with most of her classmates.
Only three exceptions existed.
In the corner of the classroom, occupying the king's throne position that made everyone pale at the mention, was the abstract powerhouse Ye Xing.
Sitting beside him, the sleeping arhat who dozed from morning until the school bell rang, Kazusa Touma.
And the most heavyweight presence of all.
Though seated at the classroom's centre, the ice queen who always had her nose buried in a book and never spoke to anyone - Yukino Yukinoshita.
These three could be called the heavyweight titans of Class 1-A.
And also the three mountains Yuigahama Yui wished to conquer.
"Hey, Miko, what method should I use to befriend these people?"
Hearing Yuigahama's question, Miko Yotsuya picked up a tissue to wipe cream from her lips before replying unhurriedly.
"Why must you befriend them?"
"Of course I should befriend them."
Yuigahama looked at her as if stating the obvious.
"Being alone in class without friends must feel awful, right?"
Miko sighed helplessly, placing a hand on Yuigahama's shoulder and meeting her gaze as she spoke slowly.
"Alright then, I'll answer using something Ye Xing would say."
"Eh? What's that?"
"You seem mentally ill. Get yourself checked at a hospital before it's too late."