Chapter 174 The Second Player

2007, July, ■■ City.

“Ah—chi!”

"It seems like someone is talking about me... Well, I guess it's Nanami or Xiong? Maybe they think I'm too slow and are calling me?"

On the wooden corridor of a courtyard of an old-style building, Xi Haiqing Dou, wearing the same high school uniform that he had worn for two years, rubbed his itchy nose, and then talked to himself while crossing his hands and pinching his hand bones. He showed an exceptionally hearty smile with a dark background to the curser in front of him, and said bluntly:

"So, can you please... this unknown gentleman, return my two innocent and adorable junior students to me? Or can you please die first, and I will get them out later~"

"How is that possible?!"

The curser who was two meters away from him had a malicious smile on his face. After hearing Xi Haiqing Dou's voice, he turned around and looked at him in disbelief. His face suddenly changed color: "Why did you come out so quickly? How did you do it?! And what did you see... that thing... what on earth was that thing?!"

As if what he saw was not Saikai Haruto himself, but some bizarre and unbelievable scene, the curser took a step back and suddenly began to tremble slightly. In addition to surprise, his eyes were filled with a kind of fear and terror - those fears were also not directed at Saikai Haruto, but also seemed to be directed at something he "saw" through Saikai Haruto.

His spells could obviously make a first-class sorcerer fall into a nightmare created by his spells without realizing it, and cause an endless cycle of death. According to his expectations, even if he encountered a special-class sorcerer who couldn't trap him forever, he could at least delay him for ten minutes... But this freak Yuuki Igarashi came out in less than three minutes? Especially his "nightmare", can that scene really be simply described as a "nightmare"? !

Damn it, which damn bastard spread the news that Igarashi Yuuki is easier to deal with than Gojo Satoru? ? This guy is obviously more of a monster than Gojo Satoru!!

"Huh? So you can see those things, too?... Ah, it's your spell after all, so it's not surprising that you can see them, too."

Saikai Haruto nodded to himself, a little confused: "But if that's the case, shouldn't you know what it is better than me? Isn't that something created by your spell? How can I know what those weird things are?"

As for how to wake up from his spell and "come out" so quickly... Xi Haiqing Dou was even more confused - is this difficult? Isn't it super-easy, as easy as drinking water?

However, seeing that the curser in front of him looked like he had been hit hard, Xi Hai Qing Dou thought about it and felt it was considerate not to say this out loud.

Well, after all, he still had to rescue the juniors who were still trapped in the curse. He wasn't afraid if they got so angry that they did something desperate, but it would be bad if something happened to the two unlucky juniors again.

"Besides, calling someone a 'monster' is too much and too rude, isn't it?" Xi Hai Qing Dou smiled naturally: "I mean, even though you are so bad and annoying, I didn't call you 'trash'!"

...Ah, so he accidentally said what was in his mind? But you, a monster, are not very polite when you speak, right?

"You've already said it all!" The curser tried to run away while screaming, "You're just as rude! Don't come over here - be careful or I'll kill both of those sorcerers!"

He was the only one left out of the three fellow cursers! So now, as long as he could escape and save his life, he would be considered successful!! He swore that he would never be in a place where a monster like Igarashi Yuuki was!!

"Ah... this is not important, just pretend you didn't hear it! Otherwise... I can beat you until you lose your memory! As for Nanami and Yu-kun, it doesn't matter, they will definitely understand me!"

——Of course, while talking leisurely, it didn’t prevent him from chasing the curser in a few steps and beating him half to death… The curser was beaten unconscious, so the curser’s spell could not be maintained. Wouldn’t the junior who was trapped in his spell be rescued as well?

After stepping on the particularly miserable-looking curser lying on the ground, and making sure that he was truly "unable to rise again", Saikai Haruto stepped on the curser's upper body with one foot, took out a mobile phone from somewhere, found a good angle, and made a "V" sign with a brilliant smile to the camera, which just happened to capture his heroic figure and the miserable look of the curser below clearly - well, perfect!

"Well, I'm still as handsome as ever!"

"Senior?"

"Yuuki-senpai? ...Is this reality?"

Behind him, Nanami Kento and Haibara Yu looked up and saw this scene - Saikai Haruto making a "V" sign arrogantly to the camera, and the miserable curser lying half-dead at his feet, who seemed to be only breathing out but not in - making Saikai Haruto look like the evil villain.

It was a world of difference from what they had seen before... But how should I put it? This scene was indeed very "Yuuki Igarashi" style...

Nanami Kento and Haibara Yu, who were both wearing the same black uniform as Saikai Haruto, looked at each other. They both found in each other's eyes the same helplessness, the difference between being amused and helpless, and the familiar confirmation and sense of security, in addition to the trance and uncertainty of having just escaped from the curser's spell. That's right, the one who would do such a childish and helpless thing was indeed the one they were really familiar with. They didn't know what had happened in the past six months, but he had become more and more like the previous Gojo Satoru, and had the same "childish" appearance as Senior Igarashi Yuuki.

Only the real "Igarashi Yuuki" that they are familiar with can do such a thing... What is in front of them must be real, this is the "reality" for sure...

Nanami Kento and Haibara Yuu both breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey, Nanami and Yu-kun, are you two okay?" Xi Haiqingdou finally took his eyes off the camera of his phone and waved at them with a smile, his smile bright and leisurely: "Want to take a photo together? This is a rare opportunity~"

...This is the same familiar smile of Gojo-senpai! Well, I feel more at ease instantly, it is definitely Yuuki-senpai!

"Senior, here I come!"

Without hesitation, Haibara Yu walked over, skillfully found a good angle and posed, "Nanami, come over here and join us!"

"At this time...shouldn't you make sure the surroundings are safe first?" Nanami Kento helplessly raised his forehead.

Huiyuan Xiong blinked his eyes: "But with Senior Yuuki here, there will definitely be no problem!"

"Xiong-kun is right. I'm here, Nanami, don't worry. There's no danger around now. Come on, smile--"

Reaching out and pulling Nanami Kento over, half-forcing him to pose as well, Saikai Haruto seemed to have forgotten about the curser under his feet and everything else, and started taking pictures from other angles with great interest.

In the photo, with the tragic and miserable curser as the background, Saikai Haruto stands in the middle, with Haibara Yu and Nanami Kento on his left and right. Haibara Yu on the left has a bright and lovely smile, while Nanami Kento on the right has a helpless but habitual smile. The sun is bright in front, and the light is clear, which looks "warm" in a different way.

"Well, the first group photo of July! It's perfect! It seems that my photography skills are getting better and better, but it's a pity that I didn't use a camera this time."

Xi Haiqing Dou was quite satisfied.

A year ago, he suddenly started to like taking pictures. From being ridiculed by Naoko Ieiri as a "straight man taking pictures" to Naoko now actively throwing the camera to her to take pictures of him, his progress is quite significant... He has made such great progress in just one year. Haruto Nishimi thinks, could he really be a genius?

It was only this time that he didn't bring his camera because the time was tight for the mission. Otherwise, he would usually take out his camera to take pictures at this time.

"Senior, please give a copy to me and Nanami as well!" Haibara Yu said with a smile, "I want to print it out too~ This is also the first photo of me, Nanami and I on a mission!"

Saikai Haruto is a special grade sorcerer, and he and Nanami Kento are both second grade. They are usually not assigned to the same mission, and they only meet each other occasionally in school, but not often. After all, third grade sorcerers are very busy, especially Gojo Satoru, Geto Suguru, and Saikai Haruto, who are all special grade sorcerers, and will only be busier... As the saying goes, "With great power comes great responsibility." So this time, they are on a mission together, and this is the second time they have been on a mission together since Haibara Yu entered the sorcery high school.

"No problem!" Xi Haiqingdou made an "OK" gesture and put away his phone. He then had time to pay attention to his two junior classmates as usual: "Are you two injured? Don't be stubborn or avoid seeing a doctor. My magic can still hold up and I can use a few more reversal spells to treat you."

Nanami Kento and Haibara Yuu both shook their heads.

"The previous injuries have already been treated by the senior using the reversal technique. The spell just now..."

As if thinking of something, Nanami Kento frowned unconsciously, paused for a moment, and then continued as if nothing had happened: "Just now, the spell suddenly stopped by itself, and neither Haibara nor I were injured."

"You did it, didn't you, Senior?" Haibara Yu looked at Saikai Haruto with eyes of trust and admiration: "When I came out, you guessed it when you saw me, Senior. You are really amazing, worthy of being a top-grade sorcerer! Fortunately, you are here, Senior!"

"I'm glad you're not hurt. This mission must have gone wrong with the Curse Directorate... These cursers must have come for me. I'm sorry, you must have been implicated by me. I'll feel guilty if you get hurt again." Xi Hai Qing Dou breathed a sigh of relief.

Nanami Kento has always been a cold and taciturn person, but he shook his head when he heard this and said rationally: "If it weren't for the senior, Huibara and I might have died when we encountered that cursed spirit. It was the senior who saved us, not the one who caused the accident."

Nanami Kento and Haibara Yuu are second-year students at Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu High School. They are both only second-level sorcerers at the moment. However, the land god cursed spirit they encountered during this mission, which was judged to be second-level by the higher-ups, was actually first-level… If it weren’t for Saikai Haruto who was nearby and followed them on a whim, it might have been a good ending for them and the cursed spirit to “die together”. Nanami Kento is very aware of their abilities.

Originally, he thought this senior was a bit unreliable and annoying... but now it seems that he couldn't be more reliable.

It was all Gojo Satoru's fault... That guy was usually too unreliable and loved to play tricks on people, which led him to subconsciously think that "Igarashi Yuuki", who was as famous as Gojo Satoru, also had a "Gojo Satoru". Now it seems that except for some childish behaviors that seem a bit similar, the rest are completely different. Nanami Kento even felt a little guilty.

"Well... to be honest, I'm a little suspicious that the cursed spirit might have suddenly changed from level 2 to level 1 because of my presence?"

Xi Haiqingdou muttered quietly, with a guilty look on his face - could it really be because of him? Unlike Nanami Kento and Haibara Yu, who didn't have much contact with him and didn't know him very well, he always had a very high self-awareness of his own "luck". Could it be that they were also "involved" by him?

If Gojo Satoru and Geto Suguru were here, they would have definitely put the blame on him long ago... Fortunately, only Nanami Kento and Haibara Yu were standing here, and they didn't doubt him at all.

A hint of melancholy flashed across Xihai Qingdou's eyes.

After confirming that Nanami Kento and Haibara Yuu were indeed uninjured, Saikai Haruto stretched lazily and asked casually, "Oh, by the way, what did you two see in that spell?"

He kicked the curser lying on the ground again, his tone smiling, seemingly joking but also like a hint of seriousness: "This curser said that his spell can make people see their most feared nightmare come true... What did you two see? It would be bad if you accidentally caused any psychological trauma. You have to speak up in time so that we can solve it! What are the nightmares you saw in that spell?"