"Taki, good evening." Kitahara greeted her. "Mutsumi-chan's situation is a bit off... Let's go to the [Onsen Village] and bathe together first. We can ask the answer book later."
Taki was about to refuse, but Tomori softly said:
"I want to bathe with Taki."
"..."
Faced with Tomori's invitation, of course, she could only agree.
Kitahara led the girls into the Onsen Village. Once Taki entered the onsen pool, daily task three was quietly completed.
"Very good, I can draw lots again later."
Kitahara exhaled lightly, took out the answer book, and handed it to Mutsumi:
"Mutsumi-chan, you ask yourself."
"Okay."
Whoosh.
The answer book moved without wind.
As a line of text appeared on the blank page, Soyo's exclamation quickly rang out:
"Eh... Mutsumi-chan actually has a second personality?!"
Hearing Soyo's soft exclamation, the girls quickly gathered around. After seeing the answer in the book clearly, they all showed expressions of disbelief.
Kita widened her eyes and hesitated, saying, "Mutsumi-chan has a second personality... This book couldn't be wrong, could it?"
Nijika gently shook her head:
"Has this book ever been wrong all this time?"
"Of course it has." Anon put her hands on her hips and retorted, "For example, when I asked for the winning numbers for the lottery jackpot, the answer said, 'Only the numbers given by the Welfare Lottery director can win.'"
Kitahara reached out and covered Anon's mouth:
"Don't say anymore, or we'll be banned."
Soyo gently furrowed her delicate brows, looking at Mutsumi next to her, who was expressionless, as if it had nothing to do with her:
"...I thought Mutsumi-chan was just a simple, silent little cucumber."
Taki's lips twitched slightly, and she couldn't help but agree:
"Soyo's thought is the same as mine."
Mutsumi: "..."
Even with the new nickname 'silent little cucumber,' Mutsumi remained expressionless and silent.
Sakiko crossed her hands over her chest, her slender brows slightly furrowed:
"Mutsumi-chan and I grew up together, and I've never seen Mutsumi-chan show symptoms of a second personality."
"You can't just look at the surface of things," Kitahara said softly. "It's like Mutsumi-chan's father, a well-known comedian on TV. Who would have known he suffered from severe depression? A second personality is surprising, but it's not the main point. The main point is whether the second personality will be dangerous and whether it will harm Mutsumi-chan."
Soyo gently comforted her:
"Mutsumi-chan, don't be afraid. With Kitahara here, there definitely won't be any danger."
"Exactly." Tomori's voice was gentle, "Makoto-kun will definitely be able to cure Mutsumi-chan's problem."
Kitahara was quite speechless:
"I'm not an omnipotent wish-granting machine. Shouldn't this kind of thing be treated by a specialized doctor?"
"No hospital."
Mutsumi finally spoke, her voice a little aggrieved:
"I hate the smell of hospitals."
Kitahara extended his right hand and gently rubbed Mutsumi's small head:
"Then we won't go to the hospital. We'll wait until tomorrow when the question count refreshes, see if the second personality is dangerous, and then decide what to do next."
Soyo gently pressed her lips together: "For now, this is all we can do."
Indeed, there was no better solution for the time being, so today could only end here.
After soaking in the onsen, the girls gradually said goodbye and left.
Kitahara, meanwhile, watched TV with Mutsumi while opening the lottery wheel, going further and further down the path of single-draw miracles.
The lottery wheel quietly spun in the void. Kitahara casually leaned back on the sofa, not really holding much hope in his heart, after all, it had only been two or three days since the last drop...
"Hmm?"
Kitahara's eyes lit up, and he quickly sat upright, reaching out to catch the ability orb that dropped from mid-air.
"Single draw miracles, indeed, it did not deceive me."
With a slight squeeze of his fingertips, tiny starlight quietly merged into Kitahara's body.
"Let me see what came out..."
Kitahara eagerly opened his ability panel, and a new ability quietly appeared.
[Ability: Health Bar]
[Category: Active]
[Description: You need to consume mental power to activate this ability. When activated, all things will display a 'Health Bar' and be dynamically shown in numerical form.]
[Note: Displaying a Health Bar does not mean you can cause damage. Please use at your own discretion.]
After reading the ability description, Kitahara's eyes couldn't help but light up, remembering a famous quote from the gaming world:
"As long as the Health Bar is displayed, even god can be killed, right?"
"Alright, the note says it clearly: seeing a Health Bar and being able to cause damage are two different things..."
"Let's try the effect first."
Kitahara silently activated the ability, feeling only a slight soreness in his eyes, then turned to look at Mutsumi and Hana on the sofa.
A short red Health Bar quietly appeared above Mutsumi's head, with only ten health points. And Hana, who clearly had the physique of an elementary school student and looked harmless and soft, had a considerably long Health Bar above her head, with a full one thousand health points.
"What a huge difference."
Kitahara couldn't help but exclaim.
One thousand health points compared to ten health points was simply a world of difference. The disparity between the two was not merely a simple numerical difference, but a huge difference in life levels.
"The health of ordinary humans should be similar, but Hana-chan's health is so exaggerated, so, in fact, it can also be used to distinguish between humans and anomalies, right?"
Kitahara pondered another new use.
Undoubtedly, this was a support-type ability, but the effect was super satisfying.
Don't forget, Kitahara also obtained a 'True Damage' ability during the summer vacation.
[Ability: Blessing of the Goddess of Love]
[Passive: Whenever someone pours love into you, you will gain varying amounts of love points. Love points have no upper storage limit. Please note that only love poured into you that exceeds the minimum threshold will be converted into love points.]
[Active: You can choose the amount of love points you wish to consume and infuse that power into your next attack. Each love point will cause one point of true damage.]
The ability effect was too long, so Kitahara preferred to call it the 'True Damage' ability. Previously, when he encountered a strange tale entity on a cruise ship in Kagoshima with Sakiko, he was able to quickly eliminate the monsters in the sea by utilizing the True Damage ability.
However, Kitahara's previous use of the True Damage ability was simple and crude, completely relying on instinct to punch, resulting in either insufficient damage or excessive damage.
Now with the [Health Bar Warrior] ability, combining the two abilities could completely turn him into a true One-Punch Man.
The night passed without a word.
The next day.
Soon after waking up in the morning, a girl walked out of the bathroom.
"Kitahara, good morning."
Soyo's voice was gentle, her eyes bright.
Kitahara was surprised: "Soyo, why are you here so early?"
Soyo raised her hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, her voice gentle: "I mainly wanted to ask about Mutsumi-chan's situation. The second personality is quite worrying."
Kitahara nodded: "I just woke up and haven't had a chance to ask yet. It's good that Soyo can ask."
"Leave it to me."
Soyo naturally agreed, took the answer book, and then asked the question.
Rustle.
The answer book moved without wind, and a line of text quickly appeared silently:
[Personality born for protection, no danger]
"Eh?"
Soyo blinked in surprise:
"The second personality was actually born to protect Mutsumi-chan… Did Mutsumi-chan encounter a very terrifying childhood trauma?"
"I don't know." Kitahara reached out and pulled Soyo into his arms, "But Mutsumi-chan's parents are quite good, it's just that they're busy all day and rarely at home, so her childhood trauma shouldn't be related to her parents."
Soyo's tone was hesitant: "Should we ask for more clarity?"
"This is as far as it goes, no need to dig deeper." Kitahara shook his head, "As long as we know the second personality won't harm Mutsumi-chan, that's enough."
Soyo blinked: "Then we're not going to do anything about it?"
Kitahara gave an example: "The second personality is like an appendix; as long as there's no appendicitis, there's naturally no need to remove it, right?"
"Eww~"
Soyo let out a soft sound, a look of disgust appearing on her pretty face:
"Kitahara-kun, don't use such disgusting examples."
"Soyo actually called me disgusting?"
Kitahara showed an extremely hurt expression:
"My life instantly turned gloomy."
Soyo's bright eyes glared over, naturally seeing through Kitahara's little scheme, and her lips kissed him, her pretty face slightly flushed as she said:
"Is that enough now?"
"Not enough."
Kitahara's gaze was fiery, pressing directly forward. After waking up in the morning, it was the time of day when his yang energy was most abundant:
"This little kiss is completely not enough."
"Mm…"
Soyo's delicate body trembled slightly, and she instinctively raised her arms to embrace Kitahara's neck, then responded passionately.
It wasn't until Kitahara started to take advantage that Soyo, blushing, pressed down on Kitahara's right hand, panting:
"No, don't… Mutsumi-chan will find out…"
Kitahara's gaze was burning: "Let her find out, let her find out. We've already live-streamed in front of Mutsumi-chan before."
"Before was before, now is now." Soyo's pretty face was crimson, and she glared at him shyly, "Let's go to the Onsen Village…"
Bang.
Behind them, the sound of a door being pushed open suddenly rang out.
Kitahara and Soyo both turned their heads, only to see a blue-haired girl walk out of the bathroom, who was Sakiko.
Six eyes met.
Sakiko bit her lower lip with her pearly teeth, breaking the silence: "I'm sorry, I came at the wrong time."
Kitahara: "…"
If he extended his right hand now and said, 'No, you came at just the right time,' would he get hit?
He wouldn't be beaten, after all, Sakiko received the education of a noble lady and wouldn't resort to violence, but she would definitely look at him as if he were kitchen waste!
"Sakiko, let me explain…"
Soyo came to her senses, her pretty face instantly flushed, and she anxiously got up from Kitahara's embrace.
"I just arrived not long ago, I wanted to ask about Mutsumi-chan's situation, after all, the second personality is very worrying…"
Both sides knew that they had crossed the final line with Kitahara, but this was the first time they had encountered each other face-to-face, so Soyo inevitably felt guilty and embarrassed at this moment.
"Sakiko, good morning."
Kitahara coughed twice. Fortunately, his skin was thick enough that he could maintain a steady expression:
"You came for Mutsumi-chan too, right?"
"…"
Sakiko stood with her arms crossed, saying nothing.
Kitahara silently changed the subject: "I just had Soyo ask the answer book, and it said that the second personality was born to protect Mutsumi-chan. Soyo and I suspect whether Mutsumi-chan had a childhood trauma… Do you have any impression, Sakiko?"
One way to resolve a love triangle is to divert attention.
Sakiko frowned slightly upon hearing this, and began to think seriously:
"I haven't heard Mutsumi-chan talk about childhood trauma… But I remember when we were very young, I had just started to form memories then, and Mutsumi-chan at that time actually loved to laugh and was very good at communicating with others. I don't know when it started, but Mutsumi-chan quietly turned into a silent cucumber."
Kitahara said seriously:
"It doesn't matter if we don't know the reason. My idea is, since the second personality is not dangerous, let's leave it alone for now. It's too normal for modern people to have some problems… You haven't eaten yet, have you? I'll prepare breakfast. Sakiko, come help, and Soyo, tell everyone the situation so they don't have to worry."
Soyo nodded guiltily: "Leave it to me."
Sakiko, however, moved her lips and followed Kitahara into the kitchen.
There's no need to elaborate on the cooking process; in any case, Kitahara had a thick enough skin to ignore Sakiko's disgusted gaze.
After a simple breakfast, the girls each went their separate ways.
Kitahara, on the other hand, rode his scooter out, arrived at Gotō's doorstep, and after meeting up with Hitori, slowly rode to school together.
The opening ceremony had been completed, and the campus marathon had also ended. School life quietly returned to normal, and time flowed by uneventfully, a week passing in the blink of an eye.
Sunday evening at eight o'clock.
Kitahara had just finished his weight loss business for the day and was strolling along the Commercial Street with Sakiko, Soyo, and Anon, whom they had coincidentally met.
"Matsuzaka-senpai, look, that boy in front is Kitahara-kun."
Reiko, holding takoyaki, was full of nervousness, quickly whispering to the long-haired black-haired girl beside her.
Matsuzaka looked up upon hearing this, and after seeing Kitahara's figure, quickly said:
"Let's take a detour."
"Eh, is that necessary?" Reiko hesitated, "Kita-chan said that Kitahara-kun is actually an officially certified exorcist, not a bad person."
"He might really be an exorcist, but he's not necessarily a good person." Matsuzaka was quite calm, "We'd best not interact with him. The farther, the better."
"Alright then…"
Reiko nodded in agreement, and the two girls quietly turned and fled.
Kitahara naturally noticed their presence, but he didn't pay any attention to it, merely glancing casually before withdrawing his gaze.
At the same time.
On the rooftop of a three-story building nearby, a girl completely covered in a hood stood silently at the edge of the rooftop, like a ghost.
"I found you."
The hooded girl's gaze fell on Kitahara, and then she silently pulled out a still-beating fleshy heart from her embrace, handing it to the dazed middle-aged man beside her:
"This is a gift from god. Eat it, then kill that person."
The middle-aged man seemed to be hypnotized. He took the fleshy heart without hesitation and directly put it into his mouth.
As the flesh entered his stomach, the blood vessels on the middle-aged man's face immediately writhed like monstrous earthworms. His dull eyes were quickly stained crimson, and then his gaunt body rapidly swelled as if inflated, directly tearing through his suit. Horrific bone spurs pierced through his skin from his elbows, shoulders, and other places, frantically drilling out.
In less than a minute, the original middle-aged man transformed into a three-meter-tall, monstrous creature covered in dense white bones. With a roar, he leaped down from the rooftop.