“What do you mean, looking at me like that? Was what I said that unexpected? Or are you saying I can’t do it?”
After asking if he could become a Chosen, Minakaze found Mio and Grandpa just staring at him.
Kitahara Minakaze frowned.
“It shouldn’t be impossible, Grandpa. Look… even someone as weak as Mio can do it.”
Minakaze shifted his position, moving behind Natsume Mio, who was sitting opposite him, and vigorously rubbed her head.
He had to admit, being tall had its advantages sometimes.
Even with Mio sitting properly, he was still half a head taller than her, allowing him to rub her head effortlessly.
“Shut up… who’s weak?”
Sitting with perfect posture, Natsume Mio shook her head.
Finding that she couldn’t shake his hand off, she turned her head to the side and clenched the hands resting on her pale thighs into fists.
Minakaze ignored her, keeping his hand resting on her head as he looked at Grandpa.
No matter how you looked at it, the one with the final say was the old man in front of him, not the girl beside him.
“Why?”
Grandpa leaned on his cane, unexpectedly calm and collected.
Though his voice was still quite loud.
But he wasn’t yelling; he was just calm…
“I’m interested in the mystical, the supernatural, and all that.”
“I won’t let my grandson risk his life for a reason like that.” Grandpa shook his head.
“This one is your granddaughter, too.” Minakaze pressed down on Mio’s head.
“She has no choice, but you are different.”
“I’ve already participated in two of these duels you mentioned, and I won both.
Looking on the bright side, I’m at least stronger than Mio, and having an extra member of the clergy is a good thing.
“Looking on the dark side, I’ve already fought them. Who knows if they’ll come seeking revenge later? Honestly, I feel like it’s going to be very hard to survive relying solely on a mortal body. A few more times, and I think I’ll die.”
“You can hide, you can explain yourself. You have no obligation to accept a challenge.”
Grandpa continued to shake his head.
“Tch, are you really that strict, Grandpa…?”
Minakaze clicked his tongue.
Then, looking at Mio, whose head he was still pressing down on, a flash of inspiration hit him.
“Then what about wanting to protect Mio? Does that reason work?” Minakaze crossed his hands and leaned his weight onto Mio’s head.
“Brother, my hair.”
Mio pressed one hand against her collarbone, clutching the neckline of her summer uniform.
Tilting her head up slightly, she struggled awkwardly.
“Don’t move. I’m striking a pose to show our deep sibling bond. It’ll be over soon.”
Natsume Mio: “…”
Minakaze looked at Grandpa.
Grandpa lifted his cane, tapped the floor a few times, and said, “That reason is enough.”
Minakaze breathed a sigh of relief.
“As expected of a grandson of the Natsume family.” Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
“Strictly speaking, I don’t have any Natsume blood…” Minakaze retorted.
“Shut up! You will soon enough. Now get out.”
Grandpa suddenly issued an order to leave.
“…”
Minakaze was slightly bewildered, but he eventually pushed himself off the floor, stepped away from Mio, and headed out the door.
Mio kept her head down, straightening her long hair.
By the time she looked up again.
Minakaze was already gone.
The door slid shut on its own.
Mio withdrew her gaze and looked back down at the floor.
“I’m sorry, Mio. As your grandfather, I’m not even as good as that stepbrother you haven’t seen in half a year.”
The old man in front of her suddenly spoke.
“Mmm…” Mio gently shook her head.
“It has nothing to do with you, Grandpa.”
“It really was too much for you to handle alone. You’ve worked hard. Live well from now on; that brat will protect you.”
Grandpa’s tone was very gentle.
It was the first time he had ever spoken to Mio like this.
But Mio didn’t notice.
She kept her head bowed, staring at the floor, her expression obscured.
“He’ll be my real brother from now on?”
she asked suddenly.
“Yes.” Grandpa nodded.
“…”
Mio pursed her lips and suddenly whispered, “Then can we reject him? Look… isn’t it quite dangerous? I can actually do this on my own.”
“No.”
Mio murmured, “Oh…”
And just like that, a young girl’s delicate feelings were stifled.
…
Meanwhile, Minakaze stepped out of the main hall.
He didn’t go far, simply sitting cross-legged on the side veranda.
He checked his status panel.
After waking up in the hospital, he had noticed that he had gained a new Special Status…
as well as a skill, or rather, a Supernatural Ability.
[System: Host: Kitahara Minakaze Strength: 9 Agility: 9 Endurance: 7 Luck: 0 (You will have a fatal attraction to monsters and demons) Supernatural Ability: [Rage] Special Status: [Aftereffects] Emergency Quest: Please save Natsume Mio. Comprehensive Evaluation: Tier 8 An unlucky and ordinary high school student, though with reasonably well-developed limbs.]
Minakaze focused his gaze on [Rage].
[Rage: Burns the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys; hair stands on end in sheer rage.
Boils the blood, further enhancing physical capabilities, even briefly transcending the laws of physics.
Note: Each use will worsen the [Aftereffects], causing irreversible tissue necrosis.
PS: The fierce battle has begun.
As you charge, shout: God for Harry, England, and Saint George.]
It was a very vague description.
In contrast, the Special Status [Aftereffects] was much more straightforward.
[Aftereffects: Please press firmly on the Danzhong acupoint, which is the midpoint on the line connecting the two n*pples. Does it hurt? If it hurts, that’s correct. This is the price of burning your life force. Please take good care of yourself. PS: Becoming a Chosen can effectively alleviate or even eliminate the aftereffects.]
Minakaze looked at the description of the aftereffects, his face expressionless.
He had pressed it last night.
The price was that he lay on the hospital bed for over ten minutes, unable to recover, his entire body feeling as if it were convulsing.
That was the “little accident” from the first half of the night.
It felt truly awful.
Of course, what felt even worse than that was the sensation of being pushed forward by this so-called System.
The Special Status of the aftereffects fell just short of explicitly stating: If you don’t want to die, go become a Chosen.
In fact, a small part of the reason he had been so insistent on convincing Grandpa inside just now was due to the influence of this Special Status.
Although there were other factors involved, honestly speaking, this feeling of being forced to do something was truly unpleasant.
Furthermore…
Minakaze cast his gaze toward that Emergency Quest.
It still wasn’t completed.
Did those three people not die?
Or was it for some other reason?
If it was the former…
Setting aside the Salaryman Uncle and the Frivolous Youth, he had definitively stabbed the miko three times.
After the fight, including when he saw those two police officers at the hospital, he had thought he was destined for prison.
If she could survive even that, she was indeed very tough to kill.
If it was the latter…
Minakaze looked at the messy brackets on the panel.
He suddenly felt the urge to recite a famous quote from Brother Xun: “Everything requires study to be understood. Since ancient times, it’s often been said that the System eats people…”
But he had barely started.
From the main hall behind him came the sound of Grandpa’s chanting and the ringing of kagura bells.
Minakaze turned his head to glance inside the hall, then leaned back and lay down on the floor.
He couldn’t be bothered to recite it anymore.
If it eats people, then let it eat people.
This thing wasn’t an app; he couldn’t just uninstall it.
And at the end of the day.
Whether it was his own heart desiring a different life, or the System pushing him forward…
Minakaze actually…
wasn’t entirely sure.
After all, whether during his ordinary twenty-plus years of life in his previous world or now, he had always yearned to be extraordinary.
Everyone goes through a chuunibyou phase.