Chapter Forty-Seven: Choosing Two Out of Five—A Difficult Decision (Please Continue Reading!)

Uesugi Toru found it quite strange.

Clearly, a trend of ghost stories had recently surged on Twitter, and the number of people across Tokyo who participated in summoning the White Hannya was probably no less than several hundred or even a thousand.

Then why on earth did it target Kitano Runa, who had never summoned it at all?

"Um, I think..." Kitano Runa stammered, offering an embarrassed and awkward smile, "Maybe it's because I tried a dozen different summoning rituals in one night? And leaving the White Hannya for last made it unhappy?"

"Huh?"

Uesugi Toru froze for a moment, suspecting that his ears had been damaged by the roar of the White Hannya. "Say that again?"

Kitano Runa repeated herself clearly.

In an instant, an indescribable silence fell over the hospital room.

Uesugi Toru looked with a complex gaze at Kitano Runa, who was glancing left and right while scratching her head with her finger. "Kitano-kun, your skills are lacking, yet your guts are immense. It's truly a miracle you've survived until now."

Kitano Runa lowered her head, her glasses reflecting the light. "That's why I went with Manatsu to that place—oh right, the Special Affairs Division earlier!"

My good sister, you almost wiped out the entire headquarters of the Special Affairs Division in one go.

Uesugi Toru wiped his sweat metaphorically. Airdropping a dozen high-star demons all at once might actually have been enough to conquer the understaffed Arakawa Branch of the Special Affairs Division.

However, that should have been impossible.

Uesugi Toru recalled the "sea level theory" previously mentioned by Nanjou Aimi.

——Meaning that currently, only low-star demons could break through the barriers of Tokoyo and enter the mortal world following the precursors of the first tide.

This was probably the reason why both the Kappa and the White Hannya projection he encountered were only one-star. Otherwise, the White Hannya could have descended with its true body entirely, without needing to take such an unnecessary and massive detour.

"However, I didn't summon them just to follow a trend," Kitano Runa said. "Ever since I was a child, I've been able to sense unusual movements, but I had never witnessed them with my own eyes, so I just thought they were all fake."

Uesugi Toru: "Since childhood?"

Seeing Uesugi Toru's puzzled expression, Kitano Runa began counting on her fingers, ticking off one by one the "fake supernatural phenomena" she had encountered.

Uesugi Toru was left numb by the list, not knowing what to say.

He recalled the Kokkuri-san game the five of them had played earlier. Strictly speaking, that was the first time they had played a real supernatural game, and tragedy had followed immediately after.

Yet Kitano Runa before his eyes... had done every imaginable thing that defied the heavens.

Some of the minute and bizarre details even gave Uesugi Toru goosebumps just listening to them. Even with his current strength, he wasn't certain he could survive in those environments.

And yet Kitano Runa was standing right in front of him, completely unscathed, reciting a menu of horrors.

She was practically a supreme survivor.

Without a doubt, Kitano Runa possessed a special constitution unlike ordinary people.

It was just that she herself was not yet aware of it.

"Kitano-kun, let me digest this information."

Uesugi Toru raised a hand, stopping Kitano Runa from reciting her fiftieth "dish." He sighed, and then looked at the system prompts he hadn't finished reading.

Let's look at the rewards to soothe my mind first.

[You may select two from the following five rewards!]

[1. Soul Ash x800.]

[2. Obtain quest items related to the Walker identity. Upon completing the quest, the rarity of the "Walker" identity can be enhanced.]

[3. Select a demonic avatar to grant it a random innate talent.]

[4. Skill Adaptation: Modify a skill to reduce the proficiency required for its upgrade.]

[5. Exclusive to Smiling Hannya: Upgrade the quality of Demonic Avatar · Smiling Hannya from "Rare" to "Epic"!]

[Note: Your Demonic Avatar · Smiling Hannya originally required acquiring the special item "Mask of the Red Hannya" before its quality could be upgraded to "Epic."]

"Hiss—"

Uesugi Toru gasped softly. The rewards for clearing this dungeon were far too generous, combining both quantity and quality.

With the five options laid out in a row, he instantly fell into a state of difficult choice.

However, the first option could be ruled out immediately.

800 Soul Ash was quite a lot, more than all the Soul Ash Uesugi Toru had earned so far, but in reality, it wasn't that significant—it couldn't even pay for two ten-pulls.

Furthermore, who could guarantee that two ten-pulls would summon the Three-Tailed Fox from the card pool?

Therefore, the Soul Ash reward, which only shortsighted people or gamblers would choose, was eliminated right away.

Next was the second option: enhancing the rarity of the Walker identity.

To be honest, the Walker identity, which could trigger special events, had indeed brought him an immense number of benefits.

Whether it was the blacksmith agreeing to forge a weapon for him, the corporate-slave netizen providing the remnant chapters of Great Onmyodo Arts, or the Five-Tailed Fox he met in Edo Castle...

These were all conveniences brought by the Walker identity.

However, conversely, Uesugi Toru also suspected that the reason Ai-betsuri targeted him and Riri-ko might have something to do with his Walker identity.

Otherwise, how could Ai-betsuri ignore so many big figures and fixate on two nobodies like them?

Overall, though—the benefits brought by the Walker identity still far outweighed the drawbacks.

Since he could only pick two out of the five this time, Uesugi Toru decided to put this into his shortlist and see how the subsequent rewards looked before making a decision.

Option three, randomly granting a skill...

Another gambler's option. Knowing very well that his luck was absurdly terrible, Uesugi Toru immediately passed on it, his eyes lighting up the moment he saw option four.

——Reduce skill proficiency? The benefits of applying this to the Tennen Rishin-ryu style would be enormous.

So, how much is the reduction?

The system panel provided the answer——[One-third].

Uesugi Toru swallowed hard. If he chose this option right now, the Tennen Rishin-ryu style would instantly advance to the proficient tier.

Similarly, the proficiency required for the next upgrade would drop from a potential 1000 points to 666 points.

The benefits of this option would compound heavily the further it went!

Uesugi Toru was practically ready to select it, but the word "Epic" in the fifth option ruthlessly crashed into his field of vision.

Uesugi Toru had no choice but to have a change of heart.

——First use the "Mask of the Red Hannya," then choose option five, directly leaping the quality of the Smiling Hannya from the ubiquitous "Super Excellent" to the noble "Epic"!

The Smiling Hannya was essentially the foundation of his livelihood at this stage. It could be said that the stronger the Smiling Hannya became, the faster Uesugi Toru's own growth would accelerate!

Therefore, there was no hesitation needed for this route. The first choice was locked directly onto option five!

So, what should the second reward be?

On the left hand was a special item capable of upgrading the rarity of the Walker identity, and on the right hand was the long-term, overwhelmingly lucrative reduction in skill upgrade requirements.

Both played an indispensable role in long-term development.

Uesugi Toru felt deeply torn—why couldn't he choose both?

Just at that moment, the door of the hospital room was pushed open heavily, and a gloomy-faced black-haired, black-eyed boy walked in from outside.

"It looks like the two of you are recovering quite well."

The boy curled his lip, spreading his hands. "It seems my redundant presence wasn't needed after all."

Uesugi Toru stared at him and let out an "oh": "Arakawa District's Junior Onmyoji, Kasaki Akira?"

The boy was slightly stunned, looking up at Uesugi Toru.

"Who are you, to actually know me?"

How could Uesugi Toru not know Nanjou Aimi's colleague—or rather, he had previously deliberately asked her for a list and memorized all the Junior Onmyoji in the Arakawa District along with their attendants.

Regarding Nanjou Aimi's question at the time, Uesugi Toru's reply had been that it pays to be prepared.

And look, it came in handy right now.

Uesugi Toru asked the question he had long wanted to ask with a serious expression:

——"Junior Onmyoji Kasaki, do you know Nanjou-neesan's current location?"