The next morning, Miss Lin opened her eyes hazily and found that the small stone had somehow moved to her bedside.
She had a rare good night's sleep—so good, in fact, that it was too good.
"It's 11 o'clock?!" Startled by the time displayed on her phone, the alarm clock must have been turned off at some point.
Thinking about the perfect attendance record she had maintained for half a year being broken, along with the 30,000 yen perfect attendance scholarship... "Ahaha..." she could only force out a desperate, dry laugh.
Her phone kept popping up with message notifications.
On WeChat, classmates were asking with concern; on Line, there was an unread message from her supervising teacher—after all, any time a model student who was never late suddenly skipped class, anyone would worry.
After replying with the universal excuse, "Poor Health (feeling unwell)", she noticed a new friend named "Miko" in her Line contacts. The profile picture was a timid little cat, and the two messages sent had accompanying cute kaomoji:
(Miko's name is truly interesting. In Japanese, it's みこ, which translates to Miko, corresponding to the manga's title. But there are many kanji that can be read as 'Miko,' such as Son (Child of God), Shrine maiden (Shrine Maiden), portable shrine (Portable Shrine, used to carry a deity), and Miko. This name is packed with meaning; I even suspect Miko might be the vessel for some god, no wonder she can see things. As for the surname 'Yotsuya,' it probably doesn't have any special meaning, other than the fact that Yotsuya has many temples and shrines, and Tezuka Osamu created the story 'Tōkaidō Yotsuya Kaidan' based on it.)
[Last night 21:03] "Um... Thank you so much for your help yesterday! I am Yotsuya Miko. I am very sorry for suddenly messaging you! If it's okay... please just call me Miko (＞_＜) I look forward to working with you in the future!"
At that time, Miss Lin was undergoing a collapse and reconstruction of her worldview, so she didn't notice at all.
The second message was:
[Today 07:15] "Good morning! I am extremely sorry to bother you so early! Um... if it's convenient for you, may I visit you at the convenience store today? I really want to express my gratitude in person regarding yesterday's incident...!"
It was typical Japanese reserved phrasing, but thankfully the kaomoji softened the distance a bit.
She secretly felt relieved that Miko hadn't used a more formal email style—otherwise, she might have chosen to mark it as read and ignore it due to the hassle.
"Okay, you're welcome, welcome~" Being a foreigner is a privilege—even if you don't use those cumbersome honorifics, you'll be forgiven!
Of course, when she goes to university or looks for a job in the future, she will still have to adhere to those social etiquette rules...
Putting down her phone, Miss Lin suddenly realized she had nothing to do for the first time in a while.
She still had two hours before her part-time job. She turned to look at her bedside—the small stone was no longer pretending; it was currently enveloped in a pink mist, slowly rising and falling with a rhythmic, breath-like cadence.
"Tamamo?" She tentatively poked the stone emitting the pink mist, but only received a regular, faint glimmer—as if it were in a deep sleep.
There was no response. Miss Lin pursed her lips and gave up.
After all, frankly speaking, she had no way to deal with this Tamamo-no-Mae. Even if she threw the stone away, it would probably return inexplicably like in a horror movie, and doing so might break the currently friendly atmosphere.
As a typical hedonist and deadline warrior, Miss Lin only took action when she genuinely felt, "If I don't act now, it will truly be too late."
This was true for her homework during winter and summer breaks, and it was the same for how she looked for part-time jobs before.
Miss Lin was such a contradictory person—procrastination and super-high execution power achieved a bizarre harmony within her.
The proof was in Touhou Eiyashou: one pen and one all-nighter—resulting in a miracle.
Since Tamamo-no-Mae wasn't showing an attitude like, "Hee hee, what a delicious child, nom nom!" Miss Lin naturally felt somewhat indifferent.
In a few quick movements, she stripped off her pajamas, hastily finished washing up, and put on the hoodie and jeans she had tossed by the bathroom door last night.
She pulled up the sleeve and sniffed—thankfully, it only smelled fresh from laundry detergent and bleach.
'Beautiful girls really don't smell bad,' she thought, letting various strange ideas pop up when she was alone.
Breakfast today was the king of cost-effectiveness—cereal soaked in milk. Thankfully, the cereal was her favorite cocoa flavor.
After completing all her morning routines, the time was only 11:20.
Sitting in front of the computer, she thought that since she had encountered something like this, she should at least try to understand some of it.
She typed in terms like "Tamamo-no-Mae," "killing stone," and "Wailing Spirit," words she once naively thought were purely literary creations. The search results, apart from the relatively comprehensive introduction on Wikipedia, were mostly about tourist spots or film and literature adaptations.
Realizing that searching like this wouldn't yield effective information, Miss Lin began spinning in her gaming chair, sinking into memories of her Q&A session with Tamamo-no-Mae yesterday...
What could be confirmed was that the established gods had vanished. Perhaps a few survived, but she didn't need to consider that for now.
If what Tamamo-no-Mae said was true and the orthodox gods were gone, what about the objects of cult worship? Especially those cults with truly mystical elements—could the obsession of the fanatical believers nurture a twisted "Evil God"?
She counted the known entities on her fingers: [Human], [Wailing Spirit], [God]... and then [Yōkai] like Tamamo-no-Mae.
Thinking about the myriad types of yōkai in Japanese legends, as a former Onmyōji player who had quit, she couldn't help but press her forehead and sigh.
But at least she needed to clarify the information on the other two members of the [Three Great Yōkai] alongside Tamamo-no-Mae—Shuten-dōji and Great Tengu.
Thinking this, Miss Lin started typing in the keywords.
The search results were unsettling.
Although legend states Shuten-dōji was indeed slain by Minamoto no Yorimitsu, considering the precedent of Tamamo-no-Mae popping out of a stone after death, coupled with the story circulating in Ōeyama, Kyoto, that Shuten-dōji's severed head transformed into Shuzuka Daimyōjin...
A being possessing the dual characteristics of [Oni] and [God].
Miss Lin truly felt that the possibility of this guy being dead was slim.
Compared to Tamamo-no-Mae, who could only turn into a stone displayed as a tourist attraction after being killed and still manage to live on miserably.
Shuten-dōji, who could achieve godhood based solely on his severed head after death, sounded clearly more powerful.
And the Great Tengu was even worse. The search results indicated that [Great Tengu] was merely a concept, just like how there wasn't only one [Nine-Tailed Fox] like Tamamo-no-Mae.
According to the 'Tengu Sutra,' as many as forty-eight Great Tengu existed.
"Tamamo-no-Mae is so weak..." Miss Lin pressed her forehead.
Yesterday she was fooled by the opponent's resume of being 'Daji' and 'Lady Huayang,' but today, comparing them, she realized they didn't seem that formidable?
Although, on second thought, most yōkai could still easily kill her... Thinking this, Miss Lin quietly closed the search page.
Based on the current intelligence, supernatural beings like [Wailing Spirits], [Evil Gods], and [Yōkai] were very likely still active in the world.
And this was just the situation in Japan.
Looking globally, things like [Monsters], [Spooks], [Ghosts], [Undead], [Goblins]... It was a miracle that humanity could develop civilization while surrounded by so many demons and monsters.
"I feel like it would be better to live in the Fate worldline..." Miss Lin couldn't help but complain.
At least in the Type-Moon world, ordinary people were generally safe unless they were unlucky enough to encounter the Holy Grail War or a ruthless Magus.
Even things like the incineration of human history or Amakusa obtaining the Holy Grail to achieve the Third Magic had little to do with ordinary people; after all, if you don't know about it, you won't have the psychological burden.
But now, Miss Lin, with one foot stepping into the mysterious realm, viewed everything with suspicion.
Every shadowy corner of the room made her anxious—she felt she could calmly accept it even if a Hound of Tindalos suddenly leaped out. After all, things had reached this point; let Cthulhu come if he wanted to.
However, one thing gave Miss Lin some comfort—human civilization remained the dominant force in this world.
Even if those demons and monsters truly existed, they seemed only able to peer from the shadows and dared not appear openly.
Miss Lin, having calmed down slightly, continued to think: Besides the supernatural beings recorded in ancient texts, were there other threats?
"Emmmm..." In Miss Lin's imagination, a lightbulb seemed to pop up above her head, "I've got it!"
"[Urban Legends] and [Unidentified Mysterious Animals]!"
She wasn't too worried about [Unidentified Mysterious Animals]. After all, creatures like the Loch Ness Monster or the Frogmen of Laun were mostly confined to fixed activity areas, hiding either deep in the mountains or at the bottom of lakes and seas.
And Miss Lin was certain she wouldn't have the leisure in this lifetime to go to those places to court death.
But [Urban Legends] were terrifying.
Miss Lin was in Japan now... [Hanako in the Toilet], [Hachishaku-sama], [Slit-Mouthed Woman], [Kisaragi Station]... Even the Setagaya Ward where she lived had four or five urban legends circulating.
When she had insomnia before, she had specifically looked these up seeking a thrill.
"I don't want to play anymore."
Miss Lin, feeling like something ferocious could burst in and kill her at any moment, spoke with extreme resignation.
It shouldn't... come to that, right?" Miss Lin muttered to comfort herself, "Yōkai are at least another type of creature, but urban legends are purely made-up stories, right?" She poked the stone faintly glowing pink in her pocket. "I'll ask this fox when she wakes up..."
She glanced at her phone—11:50, time to leave for the convenience store.
Just as Miss Lin was about to close the door, she inexplicably called out to the empty room, "I'm heading out!"
Then she fiercely added, "If you dare mess up my things, I'll soak you in bleach tonight!"
On the way to the convenience store, Miss Lin kept wondering why she uncontrollably shouted those words to an empty room.
Since childhood, she had often encountered inexplicable strange occurrences—not obvious paranormal phenomena, but rather more subtle, elusive anomalies:
A shadow fleetingly passing outside the frosted glass while bathing; a dull thud of an object falling on the balcony after closing the curtains late at night; a faint call heard while wearing headphones, only to be met with dead silence upon removing them...
In the past, she might have dismissed them all as illusions. After all, having grown up watching 'Approaching Science,' and learning that the 'bouncing sound from upstairs' was just a plumbing issue, she had long become a firm materialist.
But recalling them now, the unreasonable details in her memory became increasingly vivid—perhaps her sensitivity was naturally high?
The questions kept piling up.
She slightly pulled open her coat pocket and looked at the killing stone inside, which was still emitting a faint glow, showing no other reaction.
"This pig-headed fox... sleeps so much..." she pouted and grumbled.
"Forget it, I'll focus on work first." Miss Lin shook her head, deciding to properly 'interrogate' this lazy fox tonight.
Upon arriving at the convenience store, she greeted the colleague on duty as usual and headed straight for the changing room.
Manager Morikawa wasn't working today; it was a Vietnamese international student.
She always had the illusion that nowadays, foreigners outnumbered locals among convenience store staff in Japan.
Was it really an illusion? Miss Lin wasn't interested in digging into that thought.
When she came out after changing into her uniform, the Vietnamese colleague rushed into the changing room as if granted amnesty.
Beyond the formal "Good work," there was no further exchange between the two.
The afternoon at the convenience store was unusually quiet.
Until the welcome bell rang—Miss Lin saw a girl carrying a guitar case (?) stumbling in.
Her dark pink side braids swayed with the clatter of her wooden clogs, and the drunken flush on her face spread down to her chest.
A loose green dress covered her thin body, and a black and white baseball jacket was draped over her shoulders. Staggering, she lunged towards the liquor shelf, grabbed a few boxes of the cheapest 'Onikoroshi' (Demon Slayer), and when checking out, suddenly shouted in a gruff, manly tone:
"Hey, clerk, I'm counting on you!"
Through her breath reeking of alcohol, a pair of playful canine teeth flashed faintly.
If she hadn't found the girl exceptionally cute when she squinted and smiled, coupled with those rare serrated canine teeth, Miss Lin would have long given up on managing her expression and just gone through the motions.
But now, she asked one more question: "Customer, you look like you've had quite a bit. Do you need liver protection pills or a hangover remedy?"—this was already beyond the scope of a convenience store clerk's duties.
When the drunken girl heard the concern from the unfamiliar clerk, she struggled to open her heavy eyelids—
Those violet eyes shone with a hazy luster under the influence of alcohol. Her pupils dilated due to intoxication, truly spreading concentric ripples like circle eyes in a manga.
"No need~ No need~ Hic!"
She suddenly let out a loud burp. "Alcohol is... a wonderful thing that lets you escape reality!"
Saying that, she suddenly leaned closer, and the stench of alcohol washed over her. "Hey hey~ Looking closely, Clerk is super cute! Want to come work part-time at my live house? The pay should be higher than here~"
Miss Lin, stepping back a few paces, replied perfunctorily, paying no mind to the Drunkard's compliment or invitation.
Watching her stagger out, Miss Lin suddenly recalled a GIF she had once seen of a Russian Drunkard, whose body resembled a rubber man from 'Humanity: Utter Failure,' buying alcohol.
The association hadn't ended when she heard a dull 'thud.'
The Drunkard slid down softly against the glass wall, as if her bones had been removed.
She fumbled vaguely in her plastic bag for the sake of the newly purchased sake, skillfully inserted a straw, and started chugging loudly ('ton ton ton').
After finishing, she decisively tilted her head and passed out drunk right at the convenience store entrance.
"Hey!" Miss Lin instinctively moved to rush out, but stopped when she saw the steady, rhythmic rising and falling of the person's shoulder.
She helplessly pressed her forehead and sighed. She had almost called an ambulance for this Drunkard just now.
The rest of her shift was monotonously sleepy.
Miss Lin boredly counted the number of times the Drunkard outside 'resurrected'—waking up, drinking, collapsing, repeating the cycle.
When she counted to the fourth time internally, Miko walked in.
Miko was still wearing her school uniform, but her condition was clearly much worse.
Her usually bright golden eyes seemed covered in a layer of dust, and faint dark circles appeared beneath them.
She unconsciously fiddled with the strap of her shoulder bag, looking around, her movements so light as if afraid of startling something.