Chapter Fourteen: The Factory Workers' Safety Helmets

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On the dimly lit lawn, Uesugi Toru sat up, clutching his head with a slight tremble. Suddenly, another head appeared on his neck, making his body feel somewhat unaccustomed. Uesugi Toru was most likely dead. However, before being crushed, he triggered a death cry that took down two sturdy farmers, earning him a total of 60 soul ashes—already a great win.

Why not 90 soul ashes?

Because a fully charged iron hoe came crashing down from behind, smashing the head Uesugi Toru had bitten on another farmer’s neck. That’s why he was still sitting there, savoring the moment.

“It hurts. Damn, it really hurts.”

He cautiously touched his neck and felt that it was still the original, nearly new head. He breathed a sigh of relief, afraid that the thing atop his neck might suddenly explode. After this death, his soul ash reserve had grown to 135 points, enough for at least one tenfold summon.

Not only that.

[You have gained +6 proficiency in Ki Harmony Technique from battle experience!]
[You have gained +3 proficiency in Natural Mind Flow from battle experience!]

After the fierce battle with the three farmers, the proficiency of these two skills increased significantly—a fruitful harvest indeed. Now, the progress on the Laughing Banya upgrade had reached 20%. In less than a day, Uesugi Toru felt his future blossoming with promise.

“Time for a card draw.”

After a simple single draw, Uesugi Toru happily obtained +1 Soul Ash Incense. But he originally came for Soul Ash Incense, and now it had become a consumable for practicing Natural Mind Flow. As for why it couldn’t be used during Ki Harmony Technique training, Uesugi Toru didn’t understand the principle and just assumed the Ki Harmony Technique fragment was too low-level to meet the usage requirements.

The next resurrection count would reset in ten hours.

Uesugi Toru decided to head home for a meal and then sleep in comfortably until he woke naturally.

...

“Dad, I’m back.”

He greeted his father, who was still watching a ball game. Uesugi Toru thought thankfully that his father wasn’t a fan of his hometown team; otherwise, the game wouldn’t be so peaceful—it would already be a heated warning.

Without receiving a reply, he didn’t mind and immediately devoured the thousand-yen pork cutlet bento from the convenience store.

After dinner, Uesugi Toru took out a Nanjo doll from his backpack and hung it by the door.

Staring at the cloth doll’s exaggerated expression, Uesugi Toru was momentarily stunned. Usually, he wouldn’t remember such trivial things so clearly—why did he remember to hang the doll today?

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“Strange...”

He looked at the doll again; was it exerting some mental influence on him?

Faced with this abnormal situation, Uesugi Toru didn’t try to figure it out alone but immediately typed a message to Nanjo Manami on LINE.

[Tsukisa-chan: Nanjo-san, does the doll you gave me have some mental effect on me?]

After waiting a long time without even a “read” receipt, Uesugi Toru shook his head, guessing Nanjo Manami was busy at work and had no time to check her phone.

“At this point, better just sleep.”

After a deep sleep that passed in the blink of an eye, Uesugi Toru checked his phone to confirm it was already early morning the next day; otherwise, he would have kept dreaming.

Waking up groggy, he naturally prepared to enter the “Tokoyo” world, using the scent of thatch and sulfur to awaken his senses.

After donning the Laughing Banya mask, Uesugi Toru immediately performed an epic lung-clearing breath and shouted:

“Refreshing!”

With the combined help of Tokoyo and Laughing Banya, he managed to boot up successfully in just about ten seconds—much quicker than the usual three or four alarms it took to get up before.

This life, Uesugi Toru decided, would temporarily adopt a different exploration strategy.

Instead of risking his life to gain soul ashes, he would try to survive while mapping out as much of the mysterious Arakawa village as possible, preferably encountering some NPCs he could communicate with.

Since Tokoyo had no conventional sun, Uesugi Toru couldn’t determine directions by time.

A side quest mentioned a “Jizo statue south of the village,” so the prerequisite was at least to find the quest location.

“Let’s head toward the factory first.”

Uesugi Toru guessed that since the map had “polluted farmers,” it should also have industrial-related spirits.

And the higher the industrialization, the more likely to encounter communicable entities...

But no such luck.

Standing in the shadow of a narrow townhouse, he looked at two “Oppressed Factory Workers” donning traditional sleeved coats, roaring and wrestling nearby with a sigh.

He had been listening for a long time but couldn’t understand the language they were speaking.

Uesugi Toru gripped his woodcutter’s knife tightly.

If that’s the case, then you’ll simply become soul ash useful to me.

After watching for a while, both workers seemed exhausted. They released each other and collapsed on the gravel, still locked in a “passionate” stare, unwilling to yield.

Uesugi Toru knew the opportunity had arrived.

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Now a faint yellow aura above both workers had turned into thin white mist, meaning they could barely threaten him anymore.

He fixed his gaze, held his breath, and quietly approached.

When he closed the distance to about ten meters, he deliberately kicked a small stone with his toe, causing the workers’ gazes to snap toward him.

At this moment, the ever-present smile of Laughing Banya played its role.

Then, Uesugi Toru fully activated Ki Harmony Technique, aligned the two heads in a straight line, and threw his woodcutter’s knife with all his might.

He felt the sticky impact on the blade.

However, unlike the farmers, these worker monsters were less resilient; one strike dispatched both.

“The blade’s too dull.”

He shook his head. If he hadn’t unleashed full power recklessly, the blade might have gotten stuck in the first worker’s skull.

[You have slain the wandering spirit “Oppressed Factory Worker,” earning 10 soul ashes.]
[You have slain the wandering spirit “Oppressed Factory Worker,” earning 12 soul ashes.]
[You have obtained “Factory Worker’s Safety Helmet (Damaged).”]

“Too bad no skill proficiency gained.”

Sighing but without regret, Uesugi Toru opened the stats of the newly acquired equipment.

[Factory Worker’s Safety Helmet]
[Quality: Damaged]
[Effect: None]
[—Part of the factory worker’s uniform, along with coat, pants, and boots.]

A tattered piece with no bonuses; in reality, no one would want this as a gift.

But for now, he’d keep it—who knew when it might come in handy.

Glancing toward the bustling factory ahead, Uesugi Toru decided to retreat for now.

No way—dozens of factory workers were clearly visible. If he went in now, he’d only end up smashed into meat paste.

If this were a game, a message would probably say, “Area level too high; please explore later.”

Uesugi Toru purposely chose a different route back.

After walking for a while, just as he was about to look for wide fields and “white scarecrows,” he unexpectedly heard a “thump thump thump” sound.

Turning his gaze, he realized the noise came from an exquisitely decorated townhouse.