Chapter 162: Science World Comic Chaser

world of science.

Jinpei Matsuda flicked the button of the lighter from time to time, and the clicking sound was very crisp.

The flickering flames swayed in his eyes, and Jinpei Matsuda couldn't help but recall the fantastic experience of going to the world of magic yesterday.

That volcano-headed guy actually mistook him for the wrong gender - there was no way he would be mistook for the wrong gender!

After all, cursed spirits normally have no concept of gender. It's rare that the coral can differentiate between men and women.

Yesterday's oolong incident left Matsuda Jinpei speechless, but looking back, it was something to be happy about fighting side by side with his good friend Jiang Lai again.

And yesterday during the battle, he was having a lot of fun swinging lightning - even though he is no longer a teenager, it is certainly very cool to be able to use super powers.

If it weren't for Jiang Lai, he might not have been able to experience such a miraculous experience.

"Hey, Matsuda, what are you doing here?" A hand suddenly rested on my back, and my colleague Murashita laughed, "Are you going to smoke secretly? I'm going to report you--"

"Hey, I'm not smoking. I just came here to get some fresh air and play with my lighter because I was craving for it." Matsuda Jinpei played with the lighter in his hand and put it in his pocket deftly. "I still have strong self-control."

"There's a smoking room over there. If you really can't do it, just go there and smoke." The colleague let go of his hand and patted Matsuda Jinpei's shoulder. "It's not impossible to relax during the break."

"Well...mainly because we agreed to quit smoking, so I'm smoking less."

The colleague looked surprised and leaned back, "Really? - I'm not saying this, Matsuda, you've been smoking for who knows how many years, do you really want to quit?"

"Really? Why would I lie to you?" Matsuda Jinpei pulled out a cigarette box from his pocket, opened it with his thumb, and showed it to his colleague. "Here, look, it's full of candies, no cigarettes."

"…It's amazing." The colleague took the cigarette box and looked at it, and found that it was indeed filled with candies, not cigarettes. "By the way, who did you make the appointment with? Of course, if it's a private matter, you don't have to answer me. I was just asking casually."

Despite this, my colleague's expression was full of gossip and a bit teasing, as if he had discovered his best friend's secret love affair.

"…What are you thinking about?" Matsuda Jinpei said with a half-mooned look in his eyes. "It's a promise I made with my friends."

"Oh, my friend... OK." The colleague looked a little regretful, but then sighed, "It seems that you have a good relationship and are willing to change your habits for each other."

"Yes, indeed - they are friends who can be called family." Jinpei Matsuda admitted openly.

The decision to quit smoking was indeed made together with my friends.

The reason was the situation with Jiang Lai. They were worried that Jiang Lai in the world of spells would make some decisions that would not care about his health, so they kept conveying their concerns and instructions through the Internet.

Jiang Lai's reply was cheerful and reassuring, and he also suggested that "we should live longer together and be cuckolds in the world together."

Even though the word "turtle" is tempting to make people complain, they still made a pact to "live longer together".

Jiang Lai's promise is "value others and value yourself", Matsuda Jinpei's is "quit smoking", Morobushi Kagemitsu's is "go to bed on time and don't stay up late", and Kurosawa Akira's is "safety first in the research process."

Upon hearing the news that Matsuda Jinpei was going to quit smoking, Hagiwara Kenji immediately expressed his support and said with a smile:

"Then I will be responsible for supervising the small formation. But I will not hide your secret smoking for the sake of our friendship."

"What the hell, Hagi, don't underestimate me, I have strong self-control." Matsuda Jinpei and his best friend were fighting and pushing each other symbolically.

However, Furuya Rei said that he could supervise Morobushi Kagemitsu. After all, he must go to bed later than Morobushi Kagemitsu, so he just needed to check whether the other party was online before going to bed.

Morofushi Jingguang: "...Zero, you should also go to bed early. There is no end to the overtime work."

The squad leader in Nagano Prefecture even sent them a message, saying that "quit smoking" and "go to bed early" are good habits.

Recalling the past, Matsuda Jinpei's brows softened a little. He took a piece of candy from the cigarette box and put it in his mouth, trying to resist his urge to smoke.

"Ah, come to think of it, you look a little familiar." The colleague put one hand on his chin and stared at Matsuda Jinpei for two or three seconds.

"What?" Matsuda Jinpei asked vaguely.

"I remember now - you look a bit like the dog in that comic book!" The colleague tapped the palm of his right hand with his left hand and said with sudden enlightenment.

Matsuda Jinpei: “…”

Then, my colleague Murashita noticed the inconsistency in his words and quickly waved his hand, "No, no, I don't mean to scold you, I just... uh, you know, the shadow dog in the new series of Cursed Return that we are all following has your aura."

"Just, curly hair, cool, smoking, arrogant, these keywords are a bit similar to you - but Shadow Dog doesn't wear sunglasses."

When Jinpei Matsuda heard the other party mention "Shadow Dog", cold sweat broke out on his back subconsciously, and he almost thought he was going to be exposed.

However, as someone who had been undercover in an organization, he would not easily reveal his emotions. On the outside, he still looked as nonchalant as usual, and said:

"Well... he does have some of my aura. After all, that shadow dog is pretty handsome. It's a pity that he doesn't have sunglasses. He's not as cool as me."

My colleague laughed and continued, "Come to think of it, there have been quite a few ups and downs in the last few stories. When I saw the duel between Nanami and Louhu, I thought he was going to die like in the original novel, but I didn't expect the boy he adopted to be so powerful!"

"Although there was some preconception, and I saw some people online talking about how that boy must be something special... But after seeing the scene in the comic with my own eyes, I still find it incredible." A colleague said with emotion, "Who would have thought that a junior high school student could be a top-class magician."

"Isn't that how comics are all about? Elementary school students and high school students saving the world - and now there are junior high school students too, so it's perfect." Jinpei Matsuda replied lazily.

"The plot later on is hilarious, Louhu actually mistook Yingquan for Rixiang!"

The colleague laughed, patted Matsuda Jinpei on the shoulder, and joked, "Do you know what I was thinking at the time? I was thinking, this shadow dog looks so much like you, when I come to work the next day, I can tease you by calling you [Matsuda Riko]."

"Hey, you guy--" Matsuda Jinpei put away the cigarette box, walked up to the other person and strangled him as if playfully, and his colleague also exaggeratedly begged for mercy.

Matsuda Jinpei let go of his hand at the right time, nodded slightly and said, "Since you admit your mistake like Lougo in the comics, I will call you Murashita Lougo from now on."

"Matsuda Rika!"

"Murashita Louhu!"

Even as adults, they still have some childish jokes during their free time at work. The two of them call each other by that nickname.

Another colleague, Fujii, who was also reading the comic at the next table, said, "There's no need to be so obsessed with a comic."

It was break time, and he calmly drank his tea.

Jinpei Matsuda and his colleague Murashita turned their heads.

"Why don't you take off the limited edition LeShen Baji on your bag before talking about this!" by Jinpei Matsuda

"Hey Fujii, don't think I don't know your online nickname is [Pokemon Master Watanabe-kun]!" by colleague Murashita

Fujii's illusion of calmly drinking tea was ruthlessly exposed. It turned out that everyone was obsessed with the comics!

——

The world of spells.

Kento Nanami's injuries have almost healed, and the scars left by the burns have become very faint.

Kento Nanami's mission this time was to deal with the missing persons and casualties near the Mount Fuji scenic area. The cursed spirit that caused this incident was not Louhu, but another first-level cursed spirit.

That's why [Window] sent the first-level sorcerer Kento Nanami to carry out this mission.

And encountering the special cursed spirit Louhu was purely accidental.

The first-level cursed spirit that caused the accident at the Mount Fuji scenic area has been exorcised by Kento Nanami, so after a simple rest in this small sanatorium for a day or two, he is ready to set off back to Tokyo.

Just as he had said to the little sheep Jiang Lai before, he knew that the two of them had important things to do, so he left everything to them.

All Nanami Kento can do is to silently give support and assist in secret when needed.

"The future depends on you." Nanami Kento said in a calm voice, and before leaving, his eyes fell on the two of them.

Otsutsuki Yuta nodded and said seriously, "Don't worry, Nanami-senpai."

They did not have further communication, but Yuta Otsukotsu could feel that Kento Nanami had already noticed their situation.

The little sheep Jiang Lai waved his hands exaggeratedly, smiling brightly: "Don't worry, I have never lost before. I always won the games with my pig teammate before. This time I am with my god teammate Okkotsu-ge, so of course there will be no problem!"

He replaced the dangerous gambling with playing games so that Kento Nanami wouldn't have to worry too much about them.

Nanami Kento could hear the hidden meaning of Little Sheep Jiang Lai's words. A smile appeared on his serious face and his eyes stopped on the brown-haired boy:

"No matter what, I'll wait for you to come home."

This is a very plain, yet extremely profound statement.

The little sheep Jiang Lai nodded and replied seriously: "Okay, I will go home."

Nanami Kento didn't stay here for too long, as the return bus was about to depart. He got on the bus and finally looked at the figures of Okkotsu Yuta and the little sheep Jiang Lai from afar through the window.

The two young men stood there, their bodies looked very small, but they seemed to be carrying the distant mountains and tomorrow on their shoulders.

“……” Nanami Kento felt a strange sense of security—in them, he saw the hope of the new generation.

He thought back to the other students in the technical high school, all of whom were young and energetic.

Perhaps the chaos of cursed spirits in the curse world and the shadows lurking behind society will all come to an end in their hands.

Nanami Kento leaned back in his chair.

I can understand to some extent why Gojo chose to become a teacher and train those young people.

Jiang Lai stared at the bus that Nanami Kento was riding on until the vehicle disappeared around the corner ahead.

After bidding farewell to Nanami Kento and waiting for him to leave safely, Jiang Lai prepared to return to the foot of Mount Fuji to meet Louhu in his original form.