Chapter 53: Fifty-third Day of Cultivation

Chapter 53

In short, with the help of the system, Yuta Otsutsuki stumbled through the document that introduced the world of spells to ordinary people from scratch.

When Kanako came back from her private chat with Rika, she asked with a confused look on her face, "Huh? Why are you showing Otsutsuko a textbook?"

System: "Is it possible... I mean, is there a possibility that Otsutsuki is just an ordinary person right now, and he has never been exposed to any knowledge related to spells."

"What!?" Kanako exclaimed, then began muttering loudly, "I just told him so much, but I only revealed it based on the fact that he's a future sorcerer in reserve..."

System: "You mean... if Otsutsuki-kun didn't become a sorcerer in the future, you wouldn't be so enthusiastic just now?"

Kanako: “That seems to be the meaning!”

Yuta Otsutsuki: "..." The truth! He said the heartbreaking truth!

But I can understand it, after all, it's someone like him...

"Okay, just kidding." Kanako didn't touch Yuta Otsutsukota, but instead patted Rika's sharp nails. "Even if (this world's) little Otsutsukota doesn't become a sorcerer in the future, I'd still like to know you guys."

Li Xiang: "You Tai..."

"I think I understand a little bit now..." Otsutsukota thought hard. "Kanako-san just said that Rika is my cursed spirit. So... is it Rika who cursed me after her death?"

"What do you mean by classmate? You should call me Kanako-senpai, okay?" Kanako thought about it and realized that something was wrong. "Forget it, just call me Kanako-senpai."

Although she couldn't let the other party know about the time travel, Kanako was very confident in her calculations.

When she grows up naturally to this age, she will definitely be a few years older than Otsutsuki, so it won't be an exaggeration to call her a senior.

[But you are obviously younger than me...]

Although Yuta Otsutsuki thought so in his heart, he did not refute her.

He still lowered his head slightly and whispered, "Senior Kanako."

"Hello, Otsutsuki, Rika-chan." Kanako nodded in satisfaction. "Let me digress a bit. I'm curious, were you planning to commit suicide just now?"

"...Yes." Otsutsuki replied.

Kanako asked, "Why do you want to commit suicide?"

Perhaps it was because Kanako saved his life and prevented him from being hurt by Rika, or perhaps it was because it was the first time he knew about the existence of magical power and curses... Yuta Otsutsuki, who still had only a vague understanding of the truth, seemed to have found his own long-lost sense of security after years of helplessness.

So he decided to temporarily overcome his fear and tell everything.

"Because of Rika... No, it's because of me." Otsutsukota told the truth, "When we were eleven years old, Rika was in a car accident and died on the spot."

"Ever since that day, Rika has been like this, following me around all the time. Sometimes... I can't control her actions, and Rika becomes easily angry and hurts others." Otsutsukota tightened his coat uncomfortably, clasping his hands together. "Because of me... countless innocent people have been hurt and almost died."

"And I can't do anything... I want to end it all, and the only way is to end my own life." He raised his clenched hands and buried his head even lower.

Kanako was originally playing with her hair with her fingers, but she put it down halfway through listening.

For the second half of the next session, she listened quietly to his speech.

"Whenever I have suicidal thoughts, Rika stops me, and every time I consider suicide, it always ends in failure."

Shortly after she finished speaking, Kanako looked at the air next to her and said, "Did you hear that, Rika-chan?"

Rika stretched out her terrifying bony claws and growled hoarsely, "It was those people who started it first..."

"They just touched Yuta and bullied Yuta!"

"Is this the case for everyone?" Kanako asked.

"Well... most of the time, yes." Otsutsukota shook his head. "The rest of the time, I can persuade Rika not to hurt others."

"Yeah, that's right, Rika is a very smart girl!" Kanako said, "Otsutsuki, even though you look stupid, you're not stupid when you speak!"

Otsutsuki: "Hmm..."

System: "Don't say any more. I think Otsutsuki-kun's head is about to bury itself in the dirt..."

Kanako turned around and said, "Is it my fault? I've always chatted with others like this."

System: "But in terms of personality, I'm afraid Otsutsuki-kun's character can't withstand your pranks and jokes. I think he will go crazy sooner or later."

Kanako compromised and said, "Okay, I'll be more restrained."

Omit some overly passionate and energetic expressions and retain some concise and clear direct shots.

"Otsutsuki, let me help you find a way to commit suicide!" Kanako knocked her left hand against her right.

System: "Is this what you call convergence?"

"Help me... commit suicide!?" Yuta Otsutsukota finally couldn't help but complain, "Most people would only express positive or negative opinions about my suicide plan... How can someone help others commit suicide?!"

The system was tangled up: "Is helping someone commit suicide considered homicide?"

"Don't worry about the details! Choose a good location and method for suicide. Maybe Rika will be satisfied." Kanako already had a good idea. "Besides, who says carrying out a suicide plan can't be considered a date?"

"Rika, get ready to go on a date with Yuta!" Kanako raised her arms and cheered.

This time, the special-grade cursed spirit Rika Kimoto responded to her words.

She carefully spread out her bony claws and said in her calmest voice, "Okay."

"nano……"

"It's Kanako, don't miss the pronunciation, or I won't know you're calling me."

"Kami...Nako."

"Yeah, I'm here, Rika."

*

The next day at noon, Kanako was carrying a small bag and holding a tourist map in her hand.

"Are there any tall mountains nearby?" Kanako looked around. "Let's go hiking!"

Yuta Otsutsuki was ordered to change out of his soaked school uniform jacket. According to Kanako, "Since you're going out on a date, you must dress neatly!"

After a whole morning of tossing and turning, taking trains and hitchhiking everywhere, almost crossing half of Japan, Yutakotsu, who always considered himself weak, was so tired that he had to support himself on his knees to catch his breath.

The small handbag and coat in her hand were all purchased casually on the roadside. When Yuta Otsutsuko asked why she had to go so far to climb the mountain, Kanako said, "Because this is the place Rika chose."

After that, she spread the tourist map on the ground and called softly, "Rika, just poke a hole in the direction you want to go~"

“Pah.”

Sharp claws stretched out from the ground, creating a huge gap that occupied more than half of the map.

Kanako pretended to be in deep thought and pointed casually: "Okay, Rika said to go to this mountain!"

Otsutsuki: Who can tell where this is going?

"I was originally planning to take Rika to get a manicure. After all, Rika's nails are so long, and the outline of the nail tips is very perfect." Kanako said as they walked, "Unfortunately, the manicurist can't see Rika, so forget it."

"Li Xiang." Yigu Youtai called.

"Well, what's the matter?" Rika responded as if no one was around.

"That's great... With Kanako-san here, Rika won't hurt anyone else." Otsutsukota quickly changed the subject and said, "Do you have any secrets, senior?"

Kanako opened a folding umbrella to block the midday sun and pondered, "The secret..."

"The secret is that Rika can't beat me, so she can't hurt me." Kanako snapped her fingers, "Otsutsuki, try your best and become stronger than Rika. Then, when Rika tries to hurt others, you can stop her yourself, right?"

System: "You make it sound so simple!"

Yuta Otsutsuki: It’s impossible!

"I feel like Rika has been very eager all the way. Why is that?" Kanako asked.

The cursed spirit's voice rang out in mid-air: "Rika, I hate women, but there's no Kanako...why?"

"Although I am of the opposite sex, I am not human." Kanako chuckled, "And now I am a good helper to escort Rika on her date."

The cursed spirit pondered: "Hmm..."

Kanako: "So Rika doesn't hate me, right?"

Curse Spirit: “Hmm.”

Kanako: "If you don't hate it, then you like it. Very good, the soft education of Curse Spirit Rika is complete!"

The system was surprised: "So fast!?"

Otsutsuki's reaction arc was very long: "Not human!? This... seems to be no longer surprising to me compared to other things... Ah, the top of the mountain."

What caught her eye was a sign announcing the arrival of the "mountaintop". Kanako placed her hands on her hips and scowled, "That's it? The total height we've climbed isn't even a hundred meters!"

Otsutsuki: "If it's a tourist attraction, they might deliberately call a hill a mountain..."

Rika: "Mountain...climb the mountain."

"Now that we're at the top of the mountain - Tongbao, it's time to get ready for the picnic!" Kanako gave an order, and the system flew to her bag in a well-trained manner, taking out a picnic blanket and a bunch of boxed lunches and snacks bought from a 24-hour convenience store.

"Can this small bag really hold so many things!?" Yuta Otsutsuki missed the point.

"The setting of the two-dimensional pocket is like this. It looks very small on the surface, but it is actually bottomless." Kanako spread out a mat and almost threw Yuta Otsutsukota onto it.

"Rika, look at the camera, this way!" Kanako turned on her phone and pressed a button.

From their perspective, Rika, who had partially squeezed her body into the crevice of the rock, used her huge arms to make the shape of a big eggplant. Because the photo was taken too suddenly, Yuta Otsutsuki's eyes were looking elsewhere in panic.

An awkward photo was recorded on the phone, but unfortunately the curse spirit could not be captured in the photo.

But the fact that most of the space on the picnic mat was left empty clearly indicated who it belonged to.

"Mountains... I remember Rika used to climb mountains," Otsutsukota said, "but something bad happened one day, and she never went hiking again after that."

Kanako smelled a story: "What is it?"

"It was probably before she started elementary school. Rika and her father went missing after hiking. It wasn't until a week later that Rika was found in a shelter... but her father disappeared after that."

"I'm sorry, Rika." Otsutsukota stood up. "You never mentioned it once afterwards. I almost forgot the shadow that mountain climbing had left on you... I'm sorry, we'll leave right away. Kanako-senpai——"

"No, I won't," Rika said. "It's fun hiking."

"Hehe...Rika really likes mountain climbing." She laughed softly, "I enjoyed it that day too."

"Because Rika...has always been slowly changing her life for the better, throwing away things she doesn't need and holding on to things she does need."

"Youta, do the same thing."

"What exactly do you want me to do...Rika." Yuta Otsutsukota's words were stuck in his throat.

If you wanted to be with him, why did you keep trying to stop his death so that they could stay together forever?

If you want him to live well, why...why can't you listen to him and not hurt the people around you?

With a bitter expression, he looked at the ghost beside him: "...Is the relationship between Kanako-senpai and Tongbao similar to that between me and Rika?"

Kanako opened a bag of instant noodles and swallowed it in two mouthfuls.

"No." Yiyatu and Yi Juling stopped moving at the same time and turned around to refute.

Otsutsuki: “!”

"Curses aren't the only way to connect lives." Kanako couldn't offer any profound explanations, so she simply stated, "As long as both parties are willing, and find a mutually acceptable medium, it's all fine."

Kanako jumped up and easily crossed a hill, leaving Otsutsuki Yuta behind struggling to keep up. The system, unable to bear it any longer, flew to him and reached out, pulling his collar hard and pulling him up, before helping him to climb over.

She asked, "Speaking of which, a curse becomes more stable when attached to an object. Do you have a medium?"

"Object...ah!" Yuta Otsutsukota wiped off the sweat, opened his coat, and held a ring tied to a silver chain in his palm.

"This ring was given to me by Rika. Could it be the 'curse medium' you mentioned?" Yuta Otsutsuki asked hesitantly.

The outer ring was wrapped in a thick layer of cursed energy that was almost rose-red, and exuded the scent of strawberry-flavored yogurt. Kanako swallowed and took a big sip of the yogurt in the picnic box.

"Absolutely!" She threw away the yogurt box, rushed forward, snatched the ring from Otsutsuki's hand, and with a little force, she broke the entire chain.

The next second, Kanako raised her arm and extended the ring to the outside of the mountain guardrail.

Outside the guardrail is a small cliff that is at least ten meters deep. An ordinary person would surely die if he fell down.

"Otsutsuki, it's time for you to commit suicide."

【Author’s words】

Kanako: I recently learned a trick to provoke people, so I’ll just play the villain and see how it works.