Chapter 27: A Meal Must Be Eaten, No Matter What
The sound of her own heartbeat filled Yotsuya Miko's eardrums, making even Yoru's smiling words in front of her sound somewhat unclear.
"This place was originally going to be converted into an office building. But half a month ago, accidents started happening one after another. Many workers from the construction team died in bizarre and inexplicable ways, so the project had to be temporarily halted."
As Yoru spoke, his voice carried a hint of a smile, and his steps were steady. He even wore his usual frivolous, lazy grin.
Just looking at him, it seemed like he was on a pleasant and relaxing spring outing.
But when the perspective shifted to Miko's face, it was completely different.
Miko was already drenched in sweat. She couldn't even breathe through her nose; she could only part her lips slightly and pant continuously, her golden pupils dilated in fear.
In her entire life, she had never seen a place like this unfinished building, infested with so many evil spirits.
If there truly was a hell in this world, this was probably it.
The key point was that Miko knew ordinary evil spirits and ghosts would flee rapidly upon sensing Yoru's aura, like animals encountering a natural predator, driven by instinctual fear.
But now, these hundreds of evil spirits, although not showing any aggressive behavior, kept following behind the two of them.
What did this mean?
It meant their strength was on a completely different level from ordinary evil spirits!
The black mist emanating from hundreds of spirits almost solidified into substance, making it nearly impossible for Miko to see the path ahead.
No, no, no.
I'm doomed, I'm doomed, I'm doomed.
What do I do, what do I do, what do I do...
Miko chanted incessantly in her heart, feeling that her nerves were about to snap.
Contrary to her fear-filled, teary eyes, her face maintained that expressionless, calm facade.
This contrast was indeed quite... stimulating.
"We're here."
After what felt like centuries to Miko, Yoru finally stopped in front of a door.
"Let's eat here."
Hearing this, Miko felt the warmth of the bento box in her arms and finally remembered what happened before they entered the building. Her face turned even paler.
Eat?
Right, we still have to eat the bento.
Wait a minute.
Does Yoru mean for me to eat this bento while surrounded by hundreds of evil spirits watching us?
Is that something a human being can do?
"Oh my, the door is locked."
Hearing this, Miko breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly said:
"Then how about we call it a day and..."
"Fortunately, I came prepared."
Yoru smiled and pulled a bent piece of wire from his pocket. He bent down slightly and inserted it into the keyhole.
Watching his actions, Miko was dumbfounded.
Good grief. Is Yoru this multi-talented?
He even knows how to pick locks?
She wanted to ask if picking a lock without permission was illegal.
But on second thought, asking such a question in this environment seemed a bit naively stupid, so she decided to keep her mouth shut.
"OK, it's open."
In less than five seconds, Yoru had picked the lock. He and Miko stepped into the room together.
The dusty concrete floor was empty, with only a few load-bearing pillars standing there. It was just a completely empty flat space.
In the distance, amidst the darkness wrapped in countless wisps of black mist, Miko once again saw the "Door" belonging to this area.
The difference was:
The door she saw in the alley last time was only slightly ajar, just a crack.
But the door she saw this time was half-open.
It was just as deep and twisted, seemingly sucking in one's vision—a pure darkness like a black hole.
"Let's eat first."
Yoru didn't mind the dust on the floor. He sat down directly, opened his bento box, looked down, and frowned slightly.
"What kind of crap is this? Just this much food for 30 bucks (RMB equivalent/localized currency)? That's excessive."
Then, he looked at Miko, who was still standing there at a loss, and chuckled.
"Miko-san, sit down. (Reference: 'Why don't you sit down' meme)."
If Miko didn't know that Yoru was a spirit medium like her, just looking at his demeanor now, she would probably think he couldn't see the evil spirits at all.
Wait, that wasn't quite right either.
Even an ordinary person who couldn't see spirits would at least feel the sinister aura in this unfinished building, right?
Looking at Yoru, Miko actually felt like he was enjoying this atmosphere.
Suppressing the panic that made her want to flee immediately, Miko smoothed her skirt, took a few sheets of paper from her bag to place on the ground, and slowly sat down.
The moment she opened her bento box, her heart jumped again.
"Ch... Chopsticks?"
"What, you don't know how to use chopsticks?"
"N-No, that's not it."
"Good. Then hurry up and eat."
Miko took a deep breath, her right hand trembling slightly as she picked up the chopsticks.
She tried to pick up a fish ball from the bento box, but because she was so nervous and her hand was shaking uncontrollably, she couldn't grip it no matter how hard she tried.
"Can... you see me?"
Her unusual behavior immediately attracted the attention of the watching spirits.
An evil spirit with a deep purple body, long black hair, and revealing only a pair of blood-red pupils leaned close to Miko's face.
Its pupils, filled with scarlet blood vessels and rotating constantly, stared dead at her profile.
"Can... you see me?"
Miko felt numb all over.
How am I supposed to eat this!?
Just then, from a dark corner, a long, black-green tongue covered in thick moss extended rapidly. It looked nauseating. It licked across the surface of her bento thoroughly.
The licking action was so detailed it seemed like it was trying to polish the bento.
Immediately after, the long tongue did the exact same thing to the bento Yoru was holding.
"Ugh..."
Miko felt like she was going to vomit.
Although evil spirits couldn't touch physical objects in reality...
Watching that black-green long tongue lick her bento in detail with her own eyes—who could possibly eat it after that!?
"Tastes pretty good."
Under Miko's shocked, unbelieving, and horrified gaze, Yoru didn't even bat an eyelid. He picked up a fish ball directly, put it in his mouth, chewed carefully, and nodded.
"The taste isn't bad, but it's not worth 30 bucks. As expected, students' money is easy to scam."
Miko was stunned.
He can eat even after that?
Yotsuya Miko felt a sudden surge of respect.