“If you die in this place, your soul gets trapped here forever.
You just repeat the cycle endlessly, with no way out.”
Ren had already figured out the rules of this Domain.
“…” Yumiko gasped as a shudder ran down her spine.
Just thinking about it scared her.
“Is there a way out?” she asked.
“Yes.” Ren nodded.
That one word made Yumiko feel a huge sense of relief.
Ren took Yumiko outside the small house.
“This building has to be the evil spirit’s hiding spot, now we just need to force the real urban legend out into the open.”
He took out a dozen yellow talismans.
Yumiko stayed silent behind him, too scared to say anything.
“Eradicate.” He tossed the talismans into the air.
Powered by his spiritual energy, the yellow papers flew forward and stuck themselves all over the outside walls, as if something unseen were guiding them.
“Raging Fire Talisman.
Eradicate!”
A blinding red light burst out, and a huge wave of heat shot up into the sky.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The seemingly pristine house was blown to ash in a split second.
“Still hiding?” Ren narrowed his eyes at the smoldering ruins.
A black blur suddenly shot out of the smoke.
Instead of going for Ren, it lunged right at Yumiko.
Even evil spirits knew to go after the weakest link.
Unfortunately for the spirit, Ren was faster.
He grabbed the frozen Yumiko and yanked her behind him.
“I said I was going to protect her.
Do you really think you can get past me?”
Thump, thump.
Yumiko couldn’t even put her feelings into words.
Her heart thumped.
This didn’t feel like her crush on Hayato.
Liking him was just a normal teenage thing.
But this pulsing in her chest was something entirely different—It was an emotional surge unlike anything she had ever felt before.
“Golden Light Spell!”
Golden energy wrapped around his fist.
Ren moved forward and punched the shadow straight on, knocking it back.
THUD!
Now that the spirit was knocked back, its real form showed.
It was a Charred Corpse Spirit, its whole body looking like burnt, black flesh—a horrifying sight.
“Found you!” Ren flashed a dangerous grin.
So this was its main body.
Ren took out more talismans and tossed them into the air.
Eradicate!”
CRACK!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The talismans activated, and the dark sky above exploded with lightning and thunder.
The storm’s power made the Charred Corpse Spirit panic.
“Trying to run now?
You’re a little too late for that.” Ren formed a hand seal and aimed it directly at the fleeing monster.
“Palm Thunder!
Eradicate!”
The Heavenly Lightning Talismans boosted the energy around them, making Ren’s attack even stronger.
A huge, blinding bolt of lightning shot from his palm and swallowed the Charred Corpse Spirit.
Inside the bright light, the blackened body disintegrated into nothingness.
[Demon successfully exorcised: Charred Corpse Spirit!]
[Reward: Yin Energy +2500!]
The system notification chimed in his mind.
Ren smiled and let the residual lightning fade away.
“It’s over,” he said.
Yumiko was about to say something, but the environment around them began to distort.
With the evil spirit dead, the Domain it created was collapsing.
“Where are we?”
It felt like waking up from a dream.
When Yumiko opened her eyes again, she found herself back in her seat on the train.
The train was moving normally.
She checked her phone.
Less than a minute had gone by.
It was like everything that happened was just a hallucination.
She looked up and saw Ren sitting right across from her.
“Yo,” Noticing her stare, Ren gave her a casual wave.
“Was that…”
It wasn’t a dream.
There was no way something that real could be just a dream.
“You should start heading home before dark from now on,” Ren advised, keeping it brief.
The longer this spiritual revival lasted, the more evil spirits would appear.
After sunset, the urban legends would get even more aggressive.
The train slowed down and pulled into the station.
Ren stood up and headed for the doors.
“WAIT!” Snapping out of her daze, Yumiko hurried after him onto the platform.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.” Ren didn’t turn around.
He waved over his shoulder and kept walking at an easy pace.
Yumiko stood on the platform, watching him disappear into the night, her eyes full of mixed emotions.
As soon as Ren got home, he opened the system.
He had 2,500 Yin Energy points—his biggest haul so far.
Time for a low-tier draw!! This chapter is updated first at g.com.
[Draw successful.]
[Reward: Yin Gourd.]
A Yin Gourd?
What was that supposed to be?
Luckily, it came with a description.
Ren read it and quickly got it.
The Yin Gourd was an exorcism tool that could trap an evil spirit inside.
The only downside was that it could hold only one spirit at a time.
To capture a new one, he’d have to let the old one go.
“Not bad.”
Compared to his previous pulls, this reward felt a bit underwhelming.
Then again, it was just a low-tier draw.
He couldn’t ask for a masterpiece every time.
He chose not to spend the last 1,500 Yin Energy points on another draw.
Instead, he put them straight into leveling up his skills.
[Demon Exorcism System]
Host: Ren
Constitution: Radiant Monarch Physique
Skills: Golden Light Spell (Lv.
3) | Palm Thunder (Lv.
3) | Mystic Physiognomy (Lv.
4) | Art of Talismans (Lv.
4)
Items: Yin Gourd
Yin Energy: 0
He split the points evenly.
Mystic Physiognomy and the Art of Talismans went up to level four, but Golden Light Spell and Palm Thunder stayed at level three.
Those two combat skills were likely harder to upgrade and required much more Yin Energy.
He also noticed a new ‘ITEMS’ tab on his profile.
As he grew stronger, the system slowly added more features.
“Time to sleep.”
No point in overthinking.
He took a quick shower and went to bed.
…
The next day.
During lunch break in the Service Club, Ren let out a huge yawn and rested his head on the desk, ready for a nap.
“Did you have a wild dream last night, Kouhai?
You look exhausted,” Utaha teased.
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