Chapter 52: Cultivation Day 52
Chapter 52
It may sound strange, but Yuta Otsutsuki has been considering suicide lately.
Ever since he first had this idea a year or two ago, he had intermittently tried many methods: stabbing himself with sharp weapons, using drugs or objects containing special ingredients to end his life...
But none of that worked.
No matter how sharp the blade is, it will be broken and bent into a terrifying arc the moment it touches the skin. Those medicines that have not yet been used will be thrown to the ground before they are swallowed and crushed into powder in an instant.
"Ah..." After failing to commit suicide again, Yuta Otsutsukota curled up in a corner, staring at the air in front of him in a daze.
Then, he would subconsciously call out a name: "Rika."
"Yeah, I'm here, Yuta."
Having lost the body and flesh that they possessed as human beings, their lives should naturally die, but they remain in this world, refusing to enter the cycle of rebirth.
The skeleton born out of love or obsession, wrapped in the power of curse, forms a new "Rika Kimoto".
To be precise, it is a possession curse unique to Yuta Otsutsuka, the "special grade cursed spirit" Rika Kimoto.
"Don't stop me, Rika." Otsutsukota murmured, "Why..."
"Yuta." The voice of the special-grade cursed spirit Rika Kimoto has become distorted in its strange state of existence. "Rika, when you grow up, you will marry Yuta."
"Rika wants to be with Yuta forever."
"If I die, I can be with Rika forever, right?" Yuta Otsutsukota asked back.
This time, Rika Kimoto didn't answer his question directly. Instead, she said, "No, Yuta, you must live well and not get hurt. Rika will protect you forever on Yuta's behalf."
It is also not allowed to have suicidal thoughts.
Just like Rika always managed to stop him from committing suicide, Yuta Otsutsuki believed that Rika, who had become a curse, could see into his thoughts.
As a result, the suicide plan continued year after year, and more and more people were accidentally hurt because of Rika...
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
Today, Yuta Otsutsuki decided to try a new approach.
In the silence, dim moonlight sprinkled from under the bridge, hitting the almost calm water surface, reflecting a faint silver band of light.
There was no noise of human voices, and even passers-by would not pass by here. Yuta Otsutsuki thought that this must be a perfect place to enter the water.
As winter was approaching, he took off his school uniform jacket, stepped on the soil in the cool breeze, and moved closer to the water step by step.
He investigated a lot of surrounding conditions in advance, such as the fact that the river was deeper than imagined, and there was no possibility that a person would drown if he failed to stand up in the river.
There were warning signs erected by the river, and his suicide note was placed on the desk. As soon as you enter the house, you can see the letter. Inside, there are apologies to his family and words to his sister. If Rika knew his sister, she would definitely understand his meaning...
That's it...it's all over.
Without inhaling too much air beforehand, Yuta Otsutsuki jumped into the river and soon choked on the cold river water. Suddenly, a feeling of suffocation came over him and spread throughout his body.
"Yu...Ta...!" A vague voice sounded in my ears. It was Rika's angry shout, but the voice seemed to be getting farther and farther away.
Rika, who had emerged from the shore, was unable to immediately lift Yuta Otsutsukota to the surface. His body followed the current and gradually sank to the bottom...
It was not until a moment later that Yuta Otsutsuki, who had even forgotten that he was in the water, slowly opened his eyes, and what he saw was endless darkness.
Unable to breathe, on the verge of death.
After realizing this, Yuta Otsutsuki did not feel the relief and joy he had imagined. On the contrary, an unprecedented desire to survive surged into his heart. He struggled and kicked his legs, his heartbeat accelerating as if it was about to burst out of his chest.
Just then, he felt someone lifting up the collar behind his neck.
Unlike Rika's cautiousness every time she rescued him from suicidal thoughts, the powerful force was almost enough to break through his collar and pull out his entire spine.
After falling to the shore, Yuta Otsutsuki knelt on the ground and coughed violently, choking on the water. It took him several minutes to recover.
"Rika, I told you not to save me--" He complained subconsciously, struggled to open one eye and raised his head, but unexpectedly discovered the presence of another person.
She was a girl with white hair and red eyes, wearing a bun. She was obviously younger than him. She was standing straight in front of him, bending over and staring at him from top to bottom.
...Is it a child? Was he saved by this child just now?
Thinking of this, a biting chill penetrated his body through his damp clothes, and he sneezed violently.
"Here, here's your jacket." The girl threw him the school uniform jacket she had taken off before entering the water.
After drying himself a little with the fabric of his coat and wrapping himself tightly, the voice came again above Yuta Otsutsuka's head.
"You've recovered now, right? Is there anything you want to say to me?" The girl's eyes sparkled, as if she was expecting something.
"Um...thank you?" Yuta Otsutsukota chose his words carefully. "Thank you for returning my coat to me."
"Diving in? Don't you need to thank me for rescuing you from the river?" the girl said angrily.
"Sorry, I forgot." Yuta lowered his head and thanked him obediently, "Thank you..."
etc.
As soon as she finished speaking, Yuta Otsutsukota had a little doubt about what the girl said.
The girl was even shorter than him, so how did she manage to jump into the water and rescue him?
"That's more like it." The girl nodded with satisfaction, then tilted her head. "But... why do you have that expression now?"
Yuta Otsutsuki didn’t even realize it himself:…Huh?
"What expression did you make?"
"Let me guess what's really going on in your mind." The girl touched her chin, sat down cross-legged, and carefully scanned his features. "What does your expression say? Can this girl really save me?"
Guessed right! Yuta Otsutsukota immediately sat up straight and pursed his lips helplessly.
"My expression now is saying—I actually guessed it right. This girl looks younger than me. Is she an elementary school student?"
"!?" Yuta was horrified. How could he guess someone's past thoughts by reading their expressions like that?!
"As a good person who always answers questions, I must first answer your question." The girl winked cunningly and said with a malicious smile, "How about you jump in and drown again, and then I'll have someone record a video to show how I saved you?"
How could there be such a dangerous operation! Yuta Otsutsuki complained in his heart.
"I'm just kidding." The girl added.
Even joking is scary... he actually takes it seriously!
"Then the second question... Oh, by the way, my name is Kanako, and I'm eleven years old." The girl introduced herself.
Out of politeness, he decisively replied, "My name is Yuta Otsutsukota, I'm fifteen years old... and I'm in the third grade of junior high school."
He didn't know if it was his illusion, but the moment he called out her name, Kanako's mood changed.
What may have been a spontaneous chat between strangers before, now has an attitude of "I'm looking for you!"
Kanako grabbed his hand, and before Rika could even react to stop her, she said happily, "Otsutsukota? That's the name, right? Nice to meet you! What a coincidence!"
During her first time traveling through time, Kanako met Gojo Satoru, a high school teacher. The future Gojo Satoru introduced many students to her, including the name of Yuuta Otsutsu, whom she remembered very clearly.
There's just a slight difference in temperament and hairstyle. In the photo Gojo Satoru showed her, Yuta Otsutsuki had short, straight hair, thick dark circles under his eyes, and a decadent and gloomy image, which is quite different from the spiky-haired man in front of her with a lot of inner drama.
Hmm? Why does she know all about Yuuta's inner drama?
Because it's so easy to recognize... His wandering eyes and bitten lips when he was about to say something were simply writing his thoughts on his face.
"Regarding the second question, Otsutsuki, have you ever read those famous Shonen Jump works?" Kanako said, "Those like 'Dragon Ball Zero' and 'Yu Zero Hakusho'. More recent ones would be 'Poseidon Zero' and 'Naruto Zero'."
How did the topic suddenly jump here?
Yuta Otsutsuki: "Uh... I've read most of it, but since I found it too painful to follow the serialization, I plan to read it after it's finished."
Kanako was very excited and started shaking her hands up and down crazily: "Great! I told you there aren't any bad people who like watching anime and having chuunibyou!"
"Listen to me, in the two-dimensional setting, each character has his or her own appearance and dressing style, right? That's why readers often complain, 'Why do you wear the same clothes for hundreds of chapters? Do you have more than a dozen identical clothes in your closet?'" Kanako talked incessantly.
"But little do people know that only by doing this can a character's image be deeply imprinted in the reader's mind. Because after that, with just a quick glance, they can easily recognize this as a certain character in a certain work. It's all for the sake of creation!"
"If characters who have grown up want to change their looks, they'll definitely do so many years after the story ends." After a long discussion, Kanako finally got to the point. "As for me, as a character like that, I won't change my appearance without permission until I'm a teenager!"
"So from the age of eight to twelve, I used the same image!" Kanako patted herself.
By the way, he added: "Maybe when she turns twelve, she will have a brand new image of a beautiful girl!"
Otsutsuki Yuta: ...
He understood and was deeply shocked.
In short, she is a girl with a bit of a middle school syndrome who is addicted to anime and tries to use the theory of the second dimension to explain why she has not grown taller or fully grown for many years.
Yuta Otsutsuki explained himself in his imagination, and then he noticed that the cursed spirit Rika had emerged from the soil without his knowledge and had revealed a partial form.
"Stay away from Youtai--!" Its upper body was a monster with terrifying skeletal arms, and it clenched its fists and punched Kanako.
"Rika, no!" he yelled.
Bang.
Another person was hurt for no reason because of him... Will even his savior be spared this time?
I'm sorry. I'm really sorry.
The air wave caused by the collision of the bodies almost blew him away. Yuta Otsutsuki shivered with cold, but was surprised to find that Kanako was not injured.
No, that's not right.
To say they weren't injured is an understatement. They should have been at least evenly matched...
Yuta Otsutsuko rubbed his eyes in disbelief and saw with his own eyes that Rika's attack was ineffective and was caught by Kanako with her arm.
"Wait! Let me think about it... There is a smell of strawberry yogurt, which means that the level of this curse is above level one... Oh, the curse spirit is a girl? It's the curse spirit attached to you, Otsutsuki." Kanako quickly analyzed a lot of reliable information through this attack.
This is all thanks to the experience gained from completing the high school missions.
"Since it's a possessed curse spirit, it doesn't mean it's a bad curse, right? Then we can't treat it with an exorcism attitude." Kanako put away Youyun without hesitation.
Immediately afterwards, he blocked Rika's subsequent fierce attacks with a smile. There was no intact soil under his feet...except the one under Yuta Okkotsu's feet.
Then the picture became weird.
"Ahhhhhhhh, you are not allowed to get close to Yuta!!!" Cursed spirit Rika attacked frantically.
Kanako said naturally, "What a lively girl! Do you like boxing and arm wrestling too? Me too! My name is Kanako, what's yours?"
Rika completely ignored her words and continued to shout angrily: "Rika...I want to be with Yuta forever!"
In Kanako's eyes, the unreleased power of the special-grade cursed spirit was no different from the greetings between boxing enthusiasts. Kanako even mistakenly thought that she was trying to build a closer friendship between them.
After all, it was their first meeting, so someone who was enthusiastic and lively would definitely take the initiative, Kanako thought.
System: Shut up! You two, you inner drama maniacs, shut up! If you have something to say, why don't you just talk it out nicely?
"Oh, I see. Are you Otsutsuki's lover?" Kanako remembered the key point of this time travel.
This sentence was more effective than any obstruction from Yuta Okkotsu. The special-grade cursed spirit paused visibly, and the next moment, it actually calmed down.
Rika: "What did you say?"
Kanako nodded, understanding everything immediately: "Are you shy? But it doesn't matter. Girls in love at this time actually like to be teased. So..."
"You are in love with Otsutsuki-kun, aren't you?" Kanako pointed at both of them at the same time and then put her fingers together. "So, you pretended to be so angry because you wanted to attract Otsutsuki's attention, and you were also a little jealous!"
"It shows that you care about him and like him very much!" Kanako applauded.
Li Xiang: "..."
After a brief silence, Curse Spirit Rika turned her terrifying body away and displayed textbook tsundere: "No, no."
"I'm not jealous at all... It's all Yuta's fault... Yuta is an idiot!"
Kanako gave a thumbs up: "Yes, Otsutsuki is an idiot!"
Rika's expression changed in an instant: "You are not allowed to say that about Yuta!"
Kanako laughed out loud: "Even her double standards are textbook-level, Rika is amazing!"
Rika felt a little uncomfortable with the compliment and was a little flattered: "Not really..."
This was Kanako's first time seeing such a typical romance plot. She asked curiously, "Where's the jealousy there? Is she the type who doesn't want anyone of the opposite sex to get close to Otsutsuki?"
"I don't want...other women to touch Yuta." Rika began to respond to Kanako's words, "Not even one of them..."
"Got it! Then I'll definitely never run into Otsutsuki again." Kanako habitually gave people nicknames. "Speaking of which, since we already know each other, we'll have a lot of contact in the future. Why don't you let me help you plan your relationship?"
Rika was confused: "Love...plan?"
"It's just a date! Before getting married, you must satisfy your own preferences and make good memories with your lover, right? Wait, could it be that Rika hasn't won the guy yet?" Kanako said.
Rika pondered for a moment and shook her head very seriously.
Kanako clapped her hands: "That's no problem. Come, I'll tell you something in secret..."
"..." This is the system that witnessed Kanako ignoring the hostility throughout the whole process and taking the initiative, and starting a sisterly tea party with a terrifying-looking special curse.
"...Rika?" This was the first time that Yuta Otsutsuka discovered that the cursed spirit was so stable. He was both confused and delighted.
"After all... has no one here ever questioned why a cursed spirit and a human are in love? Not even one?" The system couldn't help but complain.
Yuta Otsutsukotsu stood up and screamed at it: "Huh!? The ghost is talking!!"
System: “…Huh?” Could it be that this kid doesn’t know about the curse?
It looked at Yuta Otsutsuki with mixed feelings, then looked at Kanako who was already talking freely with Rika, and gave up struggling.
"Yes, I am Kanako's parasitic cursed spirit Tongbao. In this world, besides you, there are many people with the same talents as you." The system skillfully took out Kanako's mobile phone and clicked on a document inside.
How to Correctly Introduce the Curse World and Curses to Ordinary People (Version 12.0, Copyright belongs to Tokyo High School)
"Hurry and take a look, then digest and understand it yourself," the system said mercilessly.
All this happened too suddenly and magically, shattering Yuta Otsutsuki's worldview of the past fifteen years and making him feel pessimistic and suspicious - in fact, he was not rescued at all.
Yuta Okkotsu felt that he shouldn't be here, he should still be under the water.
【Author’s words】
It feels like nine months have passed, and now that I'm no longer obsessed with love, I'm looking at Otsutsuki's character from a creative perspective. My understanding of him is completely different.
I even feel that even though this guy became the Bone Brother later on, his nature still remained the characteristics of being autistic, dark, and bullied in school (buhi). In short, he is soft-hearted.
Merry Christmas Eve to everyone!!!
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or provided nutrient solution between 2023-12-23 17:19:54 and 2023-12-24 17:58:09~
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: Yiyi, 10 bottles of 1 orange;
Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!
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