*Sigh~~*
'Where are the evil spirits?'
It was April, the season when cherry blossoms were in full bloom.
In what seemed like a mixed slice-of-life anime world, in the suburbs of Chiba Prefecture, in front of a bus stop.
At night, a handsome black-haired youth cried out in distress in his heart.
Hayashi Maku, male, a transmigrator, the bearer of the [Golden Finger]: [Anomalous Containment Facility], and a sophomore at Sobu High School.
After obtaining the [Golden Finger], with the help of the novice gift package, he awakened his [Innate Talent]: [Anchor of Time].
Since then, he had been searching for anomalous occurrences.
At this moment, he was stalking a young girl.
A JK girl whose face looked fragile and easily bullied, yet her heart was actually as tough as steel.
—Yotsuya Miko.
In terms of appearance, Miko was indeed a beautiful girl worthy of being a protagonist, and she was currently waiting for a bus at the bus stop.
Three meters away from her, Hayashi discreetly glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.
Hayashi wondered if it was his imagination, but he felt the girl's body tense up for a moment...
'Did she see a ghost?'
Immediately, Hayashi became excited.
This was the moment he was waiting for.
*Drip-drop*
Hayashi looked up at the light rain falling from the sky.
His expression was filled with anticipation.
A bus stop, rain, and Hayashi glanced at Miko out of the corner of his eye.
Miko was currently looking down, typing a message on her phone, seemingly chatting with someone on a messaging app.
Recalling the beginning of the anime, this was when Miko first saw a ghost.
Soon she would awaken the [Spirit Sight], and then Hayashi would be able to find the ghosts he had long yearned for.
Speaking of which, Hayashi had worked hard for a long time trying to find anomalies.
Ever since he inexplicably transmigrated to this world in one step while going out to buy soy sauce and awakened his [Golden Finger] and [Innate Talent].
He had been searching for the strange aspects of this world.
But no matter how hard he tried to frequent the horror cabins from various spiritual stories or go to various gloomy and terrifying places late at night—cemeteries, crematoriums, murder scenes, rivers where people drowned, digging graves in the mountains, dragon veins... It had been a year, and aside from discovering that this world had many slice-of-life anime heroines.
Such as Yukinoshita Yukino, Kasumigaoka Utaha, Eriri Spencer Sawamura, Katou Megumi, Fujiwara Chika, Shinomiya Kaguya, and Yuuki Asuna...
Hayashi hadn't managed to find a single ghost or monster.
Could this world just be an ordinary slice-of-life world?
Impossible, absolutely impossible!
Hayashi absolutely refused to believe it. He had the [Anomalous Containment Facility] and had awakened a talent; how could this world just be an ordinary place?
Wouldn't his [Golden Finger] have been acquired for nothing then?
It was under these circumstances that Yotsuya Miko transferred to Sobu High School.
Seeing her, Hayashi's eyes lit up.
He knew it! How could this world be an ordinary slice-of-life world when Miko had appeared?
This world definitely had ghosts! He just couldn't see them yet.
Hayashi immediately decided to observe Miko closely, wait for her [Spirit Sight] to awaken, and then have her help point out the ghosts he couldn't see.
As for how Hayashi would contain those ghosts.
He had a [Mahogany Sword], [Consecrated Magical Artifacts], and [Prayer Beads]obtained from Granny Mitsue, which were confirmed to possess some spiritual power.
Hayashi wasn't sure about the [God of the Mountain] from the Abandoned Shrine; although he probably couldn't contain it, he wasn't afraid of it thanks to his [Innate Talent].
[Anchor of Time]: Allows one to anchor a moment in the river of time, returning to that moment after death.
After acquiring this talent, Hayashi immediately went back to the kitchen, found a knife, and experimented on his own neck.
The conclusion drawn was that his talent was excellent and very powerful. Perfect rollback, eliminating anomalous effects; furthermore, there was no consumption required.
He could act recklessly in this world.
Moreover, he remembered that in Miko's anime, there were many thumb-sized weaklings that could serve as his first batch of experience. Returning his gaze to the bus stop, just as Hayashi was waiting expectantly for Miko to awaken.
Unexpectedly, Miko suddenly approached and greeted Hayashi:
"Um... you're Hayashi Maku-san, right?"
"...Good evening, Yotsuya-san."
Faced with Miko's sudden conversation, Hayashi was stunned for a moment but still greeted her.
It wasn't surprising that he was stunned, because at school he was always interested in supernatural events, didn't participate in club activities, and visited various haunted old houses after school. Aside from a few friends, Hayashi was seen as an eccentric loner by the other students.
His classmates kept their distance from him, making him one of the campus celebrities. Although Miko had only just transferred, she probably knew about his reputation as a class celebrity; therefore, Miko's sudden approach surprised Hayashi slightly.
Had she awakened the [Spirit Sight], seen a ghost, and was trying to distract herself?
Immediately, the smile on Hayashi's face became even brighter.
"Good evening..."
Faced with Hayashi's warm smile, which was contrary to the rumors of his coldness, a trace of surprise flashed across Miko's cute, easily bullied face, and she replied with a hint of shyness.
She thought to herself.
'Everyone said Hayashi-san was hard to approach and very eccentric.'
'Yet he is so kind and enthusiastic towards me. Does he like me?'
'And this is already the seventh time I've waited for the bus with Hayashi-san.'
'The previous times were at the bus stop near the school, where there were many students, making it hard to approach him.'
'But tonight, I met Hayashi-san here again, and it's just the two of us.'
'Could this be what they call fate?'
Miko, unaware that Hayashi had been secretly stalking and observing her, thought this and then encouraged herself to continue the conversation.
'Also... although classmates say Hayashi-san is a bit strange, believing in the supernatural and such, which is a little scary, I haven't heard of any other problems.'
'Supernatural stuff... it's okay for me; I'm fairly brave. Although I get a bit scared watching horror movies, I'm not overly terrified.'
'At least I don't scream when watching horror movies.'
'And the most important thing is that Hayashi-san is very handsome!'
When the girls in her class talked privately, they all lamented that if Hayashi-san weren't so obsessed with the supernatural, he would definitely be a high-quality romantic partner.
Just as Miko and Hayashi exchanged good evenings, and Miko didn't know how to continue the conversation.
Miko suddenly felt that Hayashi-san's gaze towards her had changed.
It had become... somewhat fervent...
However, Hayashi's gaze did not make Miko feel shy, nor did it make her heart race, nor did it make her feel disgusted.
After all, she had initiated the conversation with Hayashi-san, so she couldn't possibly be averse to him.
She was even hoping for some beautiful twist of fate.
But at this moment... Miko's sharp female sixth sense detected that the look in his eyes was slightly off.
Wait... fervent?
Tinged with excitement, or perhaps 'eagerness' would be more accurate?
But her female intuition also told her... that the eagerness didn't seem to be prompted by her beauty.
It felt strange...
"Ha... Hayashi-san, why are you looking at me like that? Do I have something on my face?"
Feeling that this was slightly different from the sweet romantic scene she had hoped for.
Miko, whose spine was tingling from Hayashi's gaze, laughed dryly and made a joke.
Then she saw Hayashi's eyes frankly scrutinize her face.
Then they swept over the hem of her JK pleated skirt, finally settling on her legs, which were covered in black stockings.
'That gaze is too bold!' Miko thought to herself.
'Also.'
'Was my intuition wrong? Am I actually very charming?'
Just as Miko felt a bit shy from Hayashi's direct gaze, her hands were awkwardly unsure whether to cover her legs and shield herself from his fervent stare.
Miko noticed Hayashi's gaze changed... Hmm, it was like seeing a delicious steak, but it wasn't even rare! It was raw and inedible.
He looked disappointed...?
What... what does that mean!?
"Nothing, I just realized, Yotsuya-san, you are quite pretty."
Hayashi's expression returned to calm. His tone had little fluctuation, yet his compliment was unexpectedly sincere.
But inwardly, he felt regretful: Miko's skirt was dry, there were no water stains on her legs, and she wasn't trembling. Was the timing still wrong?
He clearly remembered that in the original plot, although Miko possessed a will of steel and could face ghosts without changing her expression, making her a true warrior, she was still scared stiff inside... in every sense of the word.
Disappointment...
'I feel like he's thinking something rude.'
This thought flashed inexplicably through Miko's mind.
Therefore, faced with Hayashi's seemingly sincere compliment.
Miko couldn't feel happy at all.
Although Hayashi's tone sounded very sincere, what the hell was that disappointment deep in his eyes!
Hayashi-san was just looking at her legs, wasn't he? She was very sensitive to that kind of gaze.
She didn't have bow legs; in terms of leg shape, having no habit of kneeling, she was certain that her straight legs were the type most boys liked.
Did her legs really disappoint Hayashi-san that much?
Miko, feeling very hurt, forced a smile, but since Hayashi had complimented her, she still politely thanked him:
"Thank you for the compliment…"
*Beep beep*
Just when Miko was awkwardly unsure how to continue the conversation, a savior arrived.
"The bus is here, Hayashi-san; shall we..."
Just as Miko wanted to skip the topic that made her doubt her own charm and motioned for Hayashi to board the bus, she suddenly noticed... Had Hayashi's disappointed eyes become fervent again?
And this time, the object of his fervor was... the bus speeding toward them?
TL Note:
A new translation, found in WTR-LAB. It has high ratings and looks interesting so... I went to translate it.
No promise on schedule though...
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