025 Good news keeps coming

Early morning.

In an alley not far from Kabukicho, a low-rise apartment building.

A handsome guy, oblivious to last night's events at Karin High School, awoke to his alarm clock.

Since he hadn't slept well, Kamiyagawa was still groggy and disoriented. He turned over in bed and then, out of habit, grabbed his phone.

Unlocking it.

The screen lit up, showing several notifications from "Strange Tales."

Casually, he clicked on the first one.

[Rank D Strange Tale Ghost Doll Hanako has completed Spirit Descent, visitation progress increased by 20%!]

Kamiyagawa: ???

This woke him up.

...

[Rank D Strange Tale Ghost Doll Hanako has completed Spirit Descent, visitation progress increased by 20%!]

[Spirit Descent attachment item identified—slightly aged left ear hearing aid.]

[Ghost Doll Hanako's descent into reality has not exceeded 24 hours. She is extremely weak, presenting an opportunity. It is recommended to immediately destroy the Spirit Descent attachment item.]

[Note: Destroying the Spirit Descent attachment item and activating positive items or spells can effectively suppress sneaky aura, increasing the chances of successful destruction.]

The notifications from "Strange Tales" were just that. Upon opening the "Visitation Catalogue," the data inside had also changed—

[Strange Tale Name: Ghost Doll Hanako]

[Classification: Rank D]

[Status: Spirit Descent Reality]

[Visitation Progress: 75%]

(Once the progress reaches 100%, the Strange Tale will be able to freely visit and shuttle between the real world and the Strange Tale World according to its will.)

Under [Visitation Progress], aside from the [Publicity Acceleration] entry, there was now a new entry—[Spirit Descent Acceleration].

[Spirit Descent Acceleration: The Ghost Doll Hanako has initiated a Spirit Descent, reaching reality preliminarily. Despite being limited in her actions and strength while in Spirit Descent status, she is only a step away from achieving visitation.]

"So, the current situation is—first, Hanako has completed her descent; second, her visitation progress has surged 20%; third, with the new acceleration entry, it seems like the daily rate of visitation progress has gone up, with a one percent increase in just one night."

Was it the way I slept last night?

How come as soon as I wake up, there's rapid progress concerning Hanako?

"Thirteen days. If it goes up by two percent per day, Hanako will be able to visit reality in thirteen days."

That's an alarmingly rapid rate of increase.

If only it were my investments growing this fast, not Hanako's visitation progress, how wonderful would that be?

Kamiyagawa sat on the edge of his bed, staring at his phone deep in thought, and finally decided to wash up quickly and catch the early train to school.

He had a game to play this morning.

Although he didn't know why Hanako suddenly completed her Spirit Descent last night, since it had already happened, Kamiyagawa preferred to do something that would have real effects rather than complain.

He took the train to school.

Entered the game world in the familiar sakura forest.

"Woo woo woo—"

"Giggle giggle—"

Having walked only a few steps in the Strange Tale World, Kamiyagawa was warmly greeted by the Shikigami boys, with a guard of honor.

The curse effect imposed by Student Hanako was still in action.

Due to the curse-induced spirit-attracting constitution, Kamiyagawa could provoke the Shikigami boys' hatred from a distance.

These past few days, it was best not to even think about fighting monsters in earnest.

But fortunately, a few days ago, when I was playing the assassination and backstabbing game until my waist ached, I cleared quite a number of monsters in the entire Karyou Ghost School. Combined with being very familiar with this map and a bit of luck, Kamiyagawa effortlessly parkoured into the Sword Dao club venue.

Although the situation had changed, the plan remained the same.

In the next few days while "Hanako's Curse" still lingered, I planned to camp out with Mr. Red Ogre and grind the proficiency of "Wild Tachi Self-Manifestation Style".

...

The health room.

During the break of the first class in the morning, Kamiyagawa came here.

In the health room, only Mikami Yui was present, sitting cross-legged in her chair, drinking tea and looking at her phone.

The beautiful health teacher was still wearing a white lab coat and jeans, with a pair of white sneakers on her feet. The act of crossing her legs revealed her ankles, which were fair and very nicely shaped.

"Kamiya student, are you not feeling well? Have you been sleeping well these past two days?" Upon seeing Kamiyagawa enter, Miss Mikami put her phone down.

"I have. Teacher, I came to ask you a few questions."

"Eh? If you have psychological issues to consult about, it would be better to find a psychology teacher, as I am responsible for your physical well-being." Mikami Yui's leg swung, "But still, go ahead and ask."

"Teacher, it's like this. To your knowledge, is there someone in our school who wears a hearing aid?"

According to this morning's "Strange Tales" notification Kamiyagawa saw, the ghost doll Hanako should have completed the spirit possession through a left ear hearing aid.

For now, one can only speculate that the owner of the hearing aid is a student or staff member at Karin High School.

Mikami Yui, as the school's health teacher, would certainly have a certain understanding of this information.

Therefore, Kamiyagawa came to ask her.

"Ah. What's the matter, Kamiya student?" Mikami Yui did not hurry to answer but instead responded with a question.

Kamiyagawa reached his right hand into his pocket, where a smooth, finely textured small silver rod lay.

The Thousand Silver Needles, lowering the probability of being caught lying.

"I found a hearing aid and want to return it to its owner."

The effect of the Thousand Silver Needles was activated.

Mikami Yui stared at Kamiyagawa's face for several seconds, looking a bit dazed: "If it's just found, then give the hearing aid to me, and I'll return it for you."

Under the effect of the small silver rod, even without seeing the lost item, Miss Mikami fully believed in the fact that "Kamiyagawa found a hearing aid."

But for the beautiful health teacher, believing was one thing, whether to casually give out the information about students wearing hearing aids in the school was another.

Kamiyagawa watched Mikami Yui's reaction, guessing that there definitely were people wearing hearing aids in the school.

One lie didn't draw out the information, so he had to tell another lie.

"I want to return it in person. I plan to take this opportunity to officially meet the other party."

The effect of the Thousand Silver Needles was activated again.

Mikami Yui once again looked into Kamiyagawa's face, her expression a bit confused, and it took a few seconds before she returned to normal. She had no suspicions about Kamiyagawa's words and believed them entirely:

"Is that so, it turns out you have already seen her?"

"Yes, I had a glimpse of her before her hearing aid was lost." Kamiyagawa nodded pretentiously, following her words.

Inside, however, he was thinking: Don't ask any more questions, my dear Miss Mikami. The more questions you ask, the more lies I'll have to tell, and the greater the chance of being found out.

"It seems you are quite interested in her. Kamiya student, you prefer that type of girl, huh." Mikami Yui laughed, swinging her crossed leg even more cheerfully, watching with the look of someone enjoying gossip, "However, actually, the girl looks quite cute without her glasses, and it would be nice if she were more confident on a regular basis."

In Japan, teachers do not meddle with students dating at a young age.

To be more precise, in Japanese society, there isn't even a concept of early dating.

Thus, there was no need for Mikami Yui to prevent Kamiyagawa from getting to know the female student with the hearing aid.

"Her name is Ishino Sayuri, a second-year student in class F. Kamiya student, be more gentlemanly when you return the hearing aid. Children who wear such hearing devices usually become somewhat sensitive in their thoughts."