Anna Taniguchi stood at the train door, facing the window with her head lowered, flipping through the photos she had taken.
As a photography beginner, her photos could only be described as ordinary—no matter how she looked at them, she wasn’t satisfied.
“Well, it’s not like I’m a professional anyway.”
Anna Taniguchi comforted herself, raising her camera to try and capture the road outside the glass.
Huh?
Why did a Black person suddenly appear in the frame?
Anna Taniguchi rubbed her eyes, then lowered the camera in confusion and looked outside the window with her own eyes.
“Eh? Eh? Eh?”
On the other track, a black-skinned humanoid creature, so muscular it seemed unreal, was running wildly with a frequency of steps abnormal for a human, almost keeping pace with the train.
Anna Taniguchi’s surprise hadn’t even lasted a moment before she suddenly saw a helicopter, clearly not a civilian one, burst into the sky outside the tracks.
“Eh!”
Anna Taniguchi’s jaw dropped.
She subconsciously tugged at a young man next to her who was listening to music, her fingertip trembling as she pointed outside.
She hoped it was just a hallucination from lack of sleep.
The young man glanced at her in confusion—there was nothing outside, as the train happened to be slowing down into the station.
“What was that thing…”
“What was that thing!”
The Defense Ministry Official roared into the phone.
“You bastards! Do you know how close it just got to the Imperial Palace?”
No one on the other end even dared to breathe.
The background noise was a bit chaotic, with someone shouting:
“The target has reached Fengdao District… our helicopter lost it again.”
“I don’t care what you have to do—stop that monster immediately!”
The Defense Ministry Official hung up with a grim face.
After thinking carefully for a while, he dialed the Prime Minister’s number.
***
In the sky, the faint roar of a helicopter echoed, bringing a sense of dangerous unease to everyone.
The bald man who called himself Kuninori Tsuruoka was still shackled—though only the handcuffs remained on his hands, his head hung down, sitting in the chair.
The waiters had already left the restaurant, leaving only the two “Knights” disguised as waiters and four young men in suits.
They were all Security Company personnel hired by Morita Aoya…
When they first heard there might be an invisible attack, they had scoffed.
But the pay was simply too good—no matter what, even playing along with a child’s game had to be taken seriously, without breaking character.
What they hadn’t expected was that they would really stop an “invisible assassination” and hear information that shattered their worldview.
Jiang Jian Yue hadn’t stopped the security personnel from hearing this information.
Now she had already instructed Morita Aoya to take people to Kuninori Tsuruoka’s house to retrieve the little creatures called “Knife Tip Worms.”
As for how to use them or who to give them to, she hadn’t decided yet.
According to Kuninori Tsuruoka’s estimate, there were still two days left.
And Yuki Asahi could use his ability about once a day, so a few more minutes wouldn’t matter.
“Who exactly are you people?”
Yuki Asahi couldn’t help but ask.
“You clearly have such powerful abilities—why seek the help of an ordinary person like me?”
“…It doesn’t matter if I tell you now.”
The bald man spoke with a hint of loneliness.
“We are the ‘Global Phenomena Response Initiative’ (GPRI), a non-governmental, non-profit organization operating worldwide, striving to build a firewall to protect modern society and isolate all supernatural forces from normal human society. Except for a few countries, GPRI has branches almost everywhere.”
It sounded like some kind of brake pad foundation.
“By the confidentiality agreement, I shouldn’t be telling you anything about the organization, but…”
“GPRI has been destroyed—just a few days ago.”
“That’s also why I had no choice but to use this method to forcibly awaken you.”
The bald man lifted his head to look at Yuki Asahi.
“Your Runaway Energy is like a sun in the darkness, radiating throughout Tokyo. All Tunjiti will prioritize hunting you.”
“I can’t even imagine what level a Tunjiti would evolve to after consuming such powerful Runaway Energy—there has never been a precedent.”
Ahh, so this is the protagonist’s fate?
“So what exactly do you want me to do?”
Yuki Asahi pondered for a long time before asking.
If he wasn’t lying, the importance of this matter should indeed be at the top.
“Complete Chantui—master your Runaway Energy.”
“Why not cooperate with the government?”
Jiang Jian Yue toyed with the Invisibility Wristwatch in her hand, leaning against the table as she casually asked.
“We don’t trust the government. That’s all.”
“Mm…”
Jiang Jian Yue didn’t find this answer convincing.
Not wanting more casualties, yet choosing not to engage the greatest armed force simply due to “distrust”?
If this guy was truly as noble as he claimed, then no matter the mistrust, shouldn’t he at least try to contact the government?
“What happens with ‘Chantui’?”
“I don’t know.”
Kuninori Tsuruoka shook his head.
“Hah?”
“Really, I don’t know. Everyone’s Chantui is completely unpredictable—any kind of fantasy ability might emerge.”
Kuninori Tsuruoka gave a bitter smile.
“Someone’s Chantui ability is turning into a magical girl… Yes, just like you imagine—a magical girl.”
“But he was a man.”
That could be discussed in detail, especially about the defeat CG.
“Your Heart Worm is very stable, so you don’t have to worry about a failed Chantui. Runaway Energy is linked to talent, so there’s great potential for evolution in the future as well.”
Kuninori Tsuruoka raised his handcuffed hands and pointed at Yuki Asahi.
“You are a genius.”
“What about me?”
Jiang Jian Yue imitated him, raising two fingers to point at her own chin, but suddenly felt this was too cutesy and quickly lowered them.
Kuninori Tsuruoka looked at the coldly beautiful girl before him and shifted his hips—
Jiang Jian Yue thought he was being perverted, but then noticed the phone sticking out of his pocket. He was signaling for it to be taken out.
Yuki Asahi helped retrieve the phone and operated it according to his instructions.
The phone was rather thick and unbranded, with something resembling an infrared Scanning Device embedded at the top.
Yuki Asahi pressed the button on the side of the phone toward the girl.
After a “beep” sound, the UI on the screen began to spin.
It felt like a barcode scanner at checkout.
“Runaway Energy, one hundred units… No!”
Kuninori Tsuruoka stared at the numbers on the screen, blinking hard as if he couldn’t believe his eyes.
“Negative one hundred? A bug? That’s impossible!”
Yuki Asahi tried scanning the others nearby—most were single digits, and only one person had over three thousand.
Scanning Jiang Jian Yue again, the value still showed negative one hundred.
“Positive values represent the total Runaway Energy per hour—so does negative mean absorbing energy per hour?”
Yuki Asahi asked, looking at the data on the screen.
“Uh… it’s my first time seeing this too. Check the Heart Worm stability.”
Yuki Asahi switched the device to Heart Worm stability mode and scanned Jiang Jian Yue again.
The result was a smiley face on the display, with a line of small red text:
Tip: Please do not attempt to use the Scanning Device on non-human life forms. Research has confirmed non-human life forms have no Heart Worm.
Ah, so now she’s really not human anymore.