Chapter 170: The Strongest Delinquent of Sakuraaki High
Ding-a-ling-ling—
The dismissal bell rang. Kamihara Shinji, lounging in the back row, scrolling on his phone to kill time, stood the moment the teacher announced class was over. His movement sent a shiver through his classmates, who’d been sneaking glances. Many boys sat rigid, dreading his gaze.
A day after Sakuraaki High’s festival, curiosity about Kamihara Shinji lingered, especially among his classmates. They’d pegged him as a dead-end slacker, a loner with no clique, practically invisible. Now? Unbeknownst to him, he’d earned a title: Sakuraaki High’s Strongest Delinquent.
His photo had gone viral in school chat groups, warning the unaware of his prowess, spinning tales of his “legendary” exploits. Kamihara, oblivious, would’ve laughed if he knew. Two nights ago, he penned his seventh urban legend. Yesterday morning, he reverted from his gender-swapped state. Today, he resumed school, noticing a shift in his classmates’ attitudes but shrugging it off. As long as they left him alone, he didn’t care.
Slinging his bag over his shoulder, he headed to the Ghost Club. Entering, he spotted Chihaya Mashiro, who stood promptly. “Good afternoon, President,” she greeted, as always.
Kamihara smiled, about to reply when a meow caught his attention. A fluffy, pale-yellow tabby cat lay under Chihaya’s seat. “What’s this?” he asked.
“This is Pineapple…” Chihaya scooped up the cat, nervous. “President, you’ve been away from the club lately. I found this cat at the entrance a few days ago…” Like most girls, she couldn’t resist cute creatures—much like the exquisite doll she once kept by her bedside.
Kamihara nodded, strolling over. Eyeing the chubby, adorable tabby, he plucked it from her hands and pinched it hard. Yowling, the cat swiped back, but Kamihara dodged easily. Setting it down, he chuckled at its fierce glare. “Not an anomaly.”
Lately, he’d grown paranoid—every odd or unfamiliar thing seemed like an anomaly. But this was just a cat. He wasn’t unlucky; aside from the Malicious Neighbor, he’d only encountered anomalies indirectly. A cat anomaly might’ve thrilled him—he needed legend points.
“You scared me, President,” Chihaya said, her pale face regaining color, relieved. She’d feared Pineapple was an anomaly, her heart racing.
Sitting, Kamihara studied her. “Third stage?” At school, Chihaya hid behind large glasses and braids, masking her beauty. Knowing her true appearance, he saw through the facade. Now, he couldn’t sense her spiritual stage. At the third stage, the soul transformed, mastering spiritual energy. Unlike the first two stages, where grudges overwhelmed, the third granted a spiritual pressure field, turning grudges into resources. Even higher-stage monitors couldn’t gauge third-stage strength.
“Yes,” Chihaya confirmed, uneasy. Others celebrated this milestone; she dreaded it. Per the president, third stage meant her “tool” role began.
“You’ve checked the Exorcism Network recently?” Kamihara asked.
“Yes.”
“Handle a few tasks tonight.”
“A few?” Chihaya’s eyes widened, but she bit her lip and nodded. “Understood, President.”
Kamihara said no more. Facing grudges would show her how frail they were now—glass, shattering at a touch. “How’s the group lately?” he asked, booting up his computer.
“Oh, right—I meant to tell you something!” Chihaya had forgotten amid the cat scare. She’d joined the Guardians of Light and Darkness, a cheesy-named group, two days ago. Introduced by Yakuman as a Ghost Club member, she was warmly welcomed, never ignored when she spoke. The attention didn’t inflate her ego—she knew it stemmed from Kamihara’s reputation.
“What’s the news?” he asked.
“A new anomaly appeared,” Chihaya said, frowning. “It’s a train, codenamed Kisaragi Train.” She’d seen the name in the group’s chat logs at noon. Yakuman warned everyone to avoid trains, leaving her baffled—she relied on them for school. Walk every day?
Kamihara’s hand paused on the mouse, a question flickering in his eyes. News spread in just a day? Unless… someone survived the Kisaragi Train. His lips twitched—impossible, right? He’d expected the train to harvest legend and morality points for at least a week before detection. Opening the Guardians of Light and Darkness group on his phone, he saw:
Yakuman: Copy this message, and you’ll find a partner tonight. If not, come to me—I’ll give you two punches, you useless thing.
May: Copy this message…
Shadow: Copy this message…
The group was spamming. Spotting Shadow—Chihaya’s alias—Kamihara glanced at her. She looked sheepish, caught reposting. Searching “Kisaragi Train,” he grasped the situation. White Cat?
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(End of Chapter)
Chapter 171: ▅▅▅▅▅
A monitor, then. Kamihara nodded, understanding. It made sense. Scanning the chat logs, he saw Yakuman leaking details: White Cat encountered an anomaly on the Kisaragi Train, enduring 24 hours until the final station, then reported to the Special Division, sparking alarm.
Kamihara clicked his tongue. Surviving 24 hours on the Kisaragi Train and disembarking? Impressive. It was one way to evade death. He’d designed the train to pass through cities with the world’s highest crime rates, embedding numerous criminal offenses from legal codes. Yet, Tokyo, the final station, ranked top five globally for personal and infrastructure safety, first for digital security—a metaphor for a safe haven, a death-avoiding point.
Still, surviving an anomaly’s killing rule relied on incomplete rules, allowing White Cat’s escape. With enough legend points, Kamihara could trap passengers forever, welding the doors shut. He was curious about White Cat’s experience, but survivors’ records vanished from his notebook, as with Akane’s escape from Little Love. Flipping through the group logs, he found Yakuman’s vague warnings to avoid trains, revealing little else.
Kamihara pondered boarding the train himself. The seventh urban legend, Kisaragi Train, was an experiment. His world had ordinary people and monitors. In his notebook, he wrote: “Anyone boarding the Kisaragi Train will encounter terrifying events.” He left “terrifying” undefined, open to interpretation. For ordinary people, grudges were lethal terrors; for monitors, they were resources. What terrified monitors? Anomalies.
Could the train carry anomalies? He’d confirmed it yesterday. His notebook showed text records of those caught in his legends, but many pages were obscured by ▅, hiding details. This confirmed anomalies boarded, but the notebook blocked loopholes—he’d need to investigate their killing rules himself. How many anomalies were aboard? Even he didn’t know. Using records to deduce their rules was impossible, but he wasn’t discouraged. He could board and observe.
His experiment worked: anomalies were drawn aboard, and their kills earned him legend and morality points. Why were wild anomalies attracted? He wasn’t sure, despite crafting the train. Perhaps their victims’ souls belonged to them, while he only needed legend points to complete his rules, creating a symbiotic relationship with wild anomalies. How long would it last? Until the Special Division intervened. Restricting a train seemed impossible short of halting Tokyo’s rail system—unfeasible. A perfect counter-rule item could work, but Kamihara didn’t know the Special Division’s inventory.
His phone rang—Aokiji. “What’s up?” Kamihara asked.
“Don’t ride trains if you can avoid it.”
“Kisaragi Train?”
“You know?”
“I’m in a group, Guardians of Light and Darkness.”
“Yakuman’s group?”
“Yeah, you know him?”
“Played mahjong with him a few times.”
Kamihara’s lip twitched—Yakuman’s social web was vast. “Is the Special Division investigating?”
“White Cat’s intel is enough,” Aokiji said, pausing. “But restricting this anomaly feels impossible.”
Kamihara’s tone grew serious. “With all their rule items, they can’t handle a train?”
“If only,” Aokiji said bitterly. “The Kisaragi Train operates globally. The Special Division wants other countries to handle it, but they’re dodging responsibility.”
“It’s a new anomaly, right? Why not restrict it now, before its rules solidify?”
“The think tank guesses it’s been active for months.”
“Months?” Kamihara blinked.
“People have vanished at stations for months, unexplained until now. Likely the Kisaragi Train.”
Kamihara pursed his lips. A similar train anomaly before? No matter—it didn’t concern him. “Next bit might shock you,” Aokiji added.
“Go on,” Kamihara said cautiously.
“It can carry wild anomalies.”
“What?!” Kamihara’s heart was calm, his voice feigned shock. Seasoned actor.
“That’s why the Special Division hesitates—or dares not act,” Aokiji said helplessly. “It’s the first anomaly of its kind. Normally, anomalies clash, and one dies. White Cat says those on the train don’t. If the train is restricted, what happens to the anomalies it carried? No one knows.”
That explained it. The Special Division feared unleashing the train’s anomalies—potentially into Tokyo, given some anomalies’ sentience. Aokiji’s words also hinted they lacked a restriction method. Stopping Tokyo’s trains was the simplest solution, but impossible.
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