"Another... me?!"
Upon seeing the message pop up on his phone, Kitahara's breath hitched. A piercing chill suddenly erupted from his body, causing nearby staff members to instinctively recoil as the hairs on their bodies stood on end.
He was clearly inside the safe house; who could possibly be the person beside Kita?
Kitahara's mind raced, and a possibility instantly struck him:
An Imposter!
An entity capable of taking on his appearance and approaching Kita with ulterior motives—it was highly likely to be an Imposter!
"Kitahara-kun, what's wrong?"
Kojima asked in a low voice.
"..."
Kitahara remained expressionless and didn't answer; instead, he quickly sent a message to Kita:
"Kita, pray to me in your heart!"
"Huh?"
"Hurry!!"
"O-Okay..."
Although Kita didn't know what was happening, she keenly sensed that something was wrong and hurriedly began to pray silently to Kitahara in her heart.
As the call reached him from the ether, Kitahara didn't hesitate; he decisively chose to activate the "Divine Descent" ability.
[Ability: Song of the Night]
[Passive: Child of the Night. Favored by the night, your overall attributes are significantly boosted in darkness.]
[Active: Kin of the Night. You can forge contracts with others, turning them into your kin. When kin pray and silently chant your name in their hearts, you may choose whether to respond. If you respond, you will instantly teleport to their side; simultaneously, you may choose whether to share your abilities with them.]
Twilight had quietly descended, boosting Kitahara's overall attributes and unlocking the ability to respond to his kin's prayers via Divine Descent.
The next second.
Kitahara's figure vanished into thin air from the safe room.
"Ahhh...!"
"A naked pervert... Wait, is that Kitahara-kun?"
In the empty corridor.
As Kitahara materialized out of nowhere, a young girl's startled cry rang out. There was no helping it; while the "Descent of the Divine" ability was incredibly useful, it didn't allow for carrying external objects—and that naturally included clothing.
Reiko, the bespectacled girl, shyly raised her hands to cover her cheeks. Just as she was peeking through her fingers for a stealthy look, she suddenly shuddered:
"W-wait a minute... why are there two Kitahara-kuns?!"
At that very moment.
There were, in fact, two Kitahara Kitaharas in the hallway.
One was the Kitahara standing beside the three girls, and the other was the Kitahara who had just materialized out of thin air.
"Two Kitahara-kuns—one must be real and the other a fake!"
Alarm bells rang in Matsusaka's mind. She quickly deduced which was which and hurriedly pulled Kita and Reiko back:
"The two female staff members who accompanied us to the restroom are gone. Even if Kitahara-kun had sent them away early, there would have been some conversation—yet we didn't hear a thing..."
Reiko swallowed nervously:
"So... the Kitahara-kun who was at the restroom entrance earlier... was actually a fake?"
Kita's eyes widened as a possibility struck her:
"Could it be... that the Kitahara-kun from before was an Imposter?"
"..."
With its identity exposed, the Imposter-Kitahara showed no panic or monstrous rage; its figure and face shifted quietly, transforming into a completely different appearance in the blink of an eye.
"It's the Neighbor's Wife?!"
Reiko's eyes went wide, and she let out an involuntary gasp.
They had ridden the same bus on the way to the gymnasium. Everyone had assumed she was still in the main hall, yet somehow, she had slipped away unnoticed.
"Human, you are special—to think you could see through my subject's disguise."
The Imposter-Neighbor's Wife tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and looked toward Kitahara. Her voice, expression, tone, and demeanor were completely devoid of the artificiality typical of Imposters; she appeared utterly natural.
"I offer you a chance to submit now, or else..."
"Die!"
Without wasting a word, Kitahara simply lunged forward, moving with the speed of lightning, and unleashed a powerful punch. He hadn't struck the moment he arrived because there was something odd about the "Imposter" housewife. When he'd encountered her in the stairwell earlier, there had been a small set of parentheses after the health bar floating above her head; now, however, those parentheses were gone, leaving only a stark, glaring health bar.
Whatever oddities she possessed, the fact that she dared to lay a hand on Kita meant there would be absolutely no mercy.
Bolstered by the passive bonuses from Song of the Night, Kitahara's overall stats had reached terrifying levels. The three girls saw only a blur—unable to even track his movements—followed by a dull thud as the Imposter housewife was sent flying backward, completely unable to resist.
Splurt—
The neighbor housewife collapsed to her knees, spewing a jet of black liquid from her mouth. A parasitic "Imposter" worm writhed and twitched within the fluid before quickly going still; its body dissolved into black mist and vanished into thin air—clearly, it had been instantly killed by that single punch.
Because the parasite had been inside her for quite some time, the neighbor housewife slumped to the ground and lost consciousness immediately after the worm was destroyed.
"Kitahara-kun is amazing!"
Reiko, the bespectacled girl, let out a sigh of relief and gazed at him with admiration.
Having been attacked by the neighbor housewife the previous night, the mother-daughter duo naturally held a grudge; seeing the culprit get smashed to pieces finally cleared the pent-up frustration in their hearts.
But the very next second...
Kita's voice suddenly rang out:
"Human, you are even more formidable than I imagined."
"Huh?"
Reiko whipped her head around, staring at Kita in shock.
"Kita-chan, what are you saying?"
"M-my mouth... it just started moving on its own!"
Kita hurriedly covered her mouth with her hand, a look of panic washing over her small face.
"Did the Imposter burrow into Kita-chan's body?" Reiko asked, instantly tense. "Kita-chan, hurry and take off your clothes!"
"First, go to the onsen..."
Kita didn't finish her sentence; her eyes suddenly widened, and panic flashed across her face.
"W-wait, I can't move my body!"
Kitahara's expression turned serious as he reached his right hand out toward Kita. "...Extract!"
The Imposter-parasite dwelling within Kita was clearly no ordinary entity; with every passing second, Kita faced greater danger, so it had to be extracted as quickly as possible.
The object-stripping process was completely random—unlike the "pseudo-randomness (RNG)" found in game gacha systems—so when the ability [Schrödinger's Cat] triggered again, Kitahara's consciousness instantly plunged into the boundless Quantum Sea, ready to fish out the anomaly lurking within Kita.
However, a moment later, his heart sank.
"It's... not there?"
As far as the eye could see, the Quantum Sea was filled with floating objects—stockings, a jacket, shoes, a bag, a hair tie, a bracelet... all of them were Kita's everyday belongings. The parasitic "Imposter" was nowhere to be found.
"Human, your ability is unique, but it isn't omnipotent."
Kita's mouth moved involuntarily once more. Her voice remained as sweet and pleasant as ever, but there was no doubt that the "Imposter Queen" parasitizing her body was the one speaking:
"I am not merely a parasite; I have chosen to coexist with this girl. If you wish to destroy me, you have no choice but to destroy her along with me."
"She's someone very important to you, isn't she?"
As she spoke, the Queen spread her arms wide, abandoning all defense, and smiled at Kitahara:
"Will you choose to destroy me and save the world, or will you choose to make an enemy of the world itself?"
Kitahara didn't hesitate for a second:
"Even if the world were to end, I would still choose Kita without wavering."
"Hmm~"
The Queen closed her eyes, tilted her face upward, and took a deep breath:
"I detect no scent of a lie. Human, you really are special."
"..."
Reiko and Matsusaka exchanged glances; worry was etched across both their faces, yet neither of them spoke.
The Imposter Queen smiled at him:
"In light of how special you are, once I rule the world, I might just allow you to coexist alongside my subjects."
Kitahara remained silent, simply walking toward Kita with an impassive expression.
The claim of symbiosis was likely true, but he refused to believe there was no way to separate the Imposter Queen from Kita.
The world is vast and full of wonders; surely a mere Imposter—with a health pool of only a few dozen or a hundred points—couldn't possibly be invincible?
That was, of course, impossible. Unfortunately, the Book of Answers had run out of questions for the day; to use it again, one would have to wait until the early hours of tomorrow. Naturally, Kitahara wasn't about to just sit around waiting, so...
"Human, what are you planning to do?"
The Imposter Queen looked over with curiosity.
Kitahara remained expressionless as he scooped Kita up into his arms and turned his head.
"Matsusaka-senpai, could you please go to the safe room and bring me my clothes and backpack?"
"Right, I'll go immediately."
Matsusaka agreed and quickly turned to leave.
Reiko, the bespectacled girl, didn't know what to do, so she instinctively stayed close to Kitahara.
"Kitahara-kun, don't worry about me..."
Kita's voice rang out again, though this time it was filled with urgency; clearly, the Imposter Queen had returned control of the body to her.
"Don't worry." Kitahara looked down at Kita and spoke gently. "I'm about to call in some outside help."
"Huh?"
Kita blinked.
"But the Book of Answers is out of questions... 'Outside help'—could it be..."
As she spoke, Kitahara walked into the women's restroom, stepped up to the mirror, and began softly calling out Hana's name.
"Human, submit to me." The Imposter Queen's voice sounded again. "After the symbiosis, this girl and I have become one; it is impossible to separate us now."
Kitahara ignored her and continued calling for Hana.
Before long, ripples spread across the surface of the mirror. Under the curious gaze of Reiko, a small girl with animal ears—sporting white hair and red eyes—emerged from the glass.
"Papa."
Hana climbed out of the mirror, tilted her face upward, and looked at Kitahara.
"Huh? She actually calls Kitahara-kun 'Papa'?"
Reiko's eyes widened in shock as she stared at Kitahara. (Could she be Kitahara-kun's daughter... No way!)
(Humans don't have animal ears. Even if they were just accessories, she couldn't possibly be Kitahara-kun's daughter... An elementary school student certainly couldn't give birth to a child!)
"Hana-chan, how do we get the bug out of Kita's body?"
Kitahara asked, looking down.
Stare...
Hana shifted her gaze onto Kita.
The Imposter Queen, who had been watching the show with a calm, smiling composure just moments ago, suddenly changed expression; as if encountering a terrifying natural predator, she quickly retreated into hiding and returned control of the body to Kita.
Clearly, the Imposter Queen had sensed Hana's true nature and realized she was another terrifying entity from Otherworld, so she naturally fell into line.
An ordinary Imposter has only fifty HP; while the Imposter Queen is stronger, she still cannot transcend the limits of her species. Compared to Hana—who boasts over a thousand HP—she was nothing more than a puny bug.
"I can move again." Kita breathed a quiet sigh of relief. "Kitahara-kun, please put me down first."
Kitahara kept holding Kita, refusing to let go. "Let's hear what Hana-chan has to say first."
Hana didn't disappoint; she tilted her little face up and spoke succinctly: "Exorcism via physical intimacy."
"What do you mean?"
"The kind of thing Papa and Mama do—that can exorcise spirits."
Kitahara: "..."
In Hana's world, only Nijika was "Mama" while everyone else was just a "kind person," and the special method Kitahara used to exorcise Nijika... was obviously that kind of act.
As expected, the constitution of an Exorcist Monk is anything but wholesome!
Seeing Kita's face flush crimson with shyness, Kitahara let out a soft breath:
"Is there any other way?"
Hana: "Exorcism via fresh blood."
"Fresh blood?"
Kitahara raised his eyebrows slightly:
"How exactly do I do that?"
He possessed an exorcist's constitution, so it made perfect sense—and wasn't at all strange—for his blood to have exorcising properties. Hana said expressionlessly, "Fresh blood—smear it on her chest."
"On Kita's chest?"
"Mm."
So, the point where the Imposter Queen and Kita were symbiotically linked wasn't the brain, but the heart?
Kitahara decisively chose to trust Hana.
As a "big shot" of Otherworld with over a thousand HP, Hana certainly wouldn't spout nonsense; there had to be a real effect.
Just then, the sound of heavy footsteps—thump, thump, thump—rang out.
Kitahara turned to look and saw Matsusaka running over, clutching clothes and a backpack, with several staff members following close behind.
"Kitahara-kun, I'm back."
Panting, Matsusaka ran up to Kitahara and handed him the backpack, her face flushed.
"Thanks."
Kitahara took the backpack and offered a quiet word of thanks.
"Kitahara-kun, what just happened? Was it..."
Kojima walked over quickly, asking for an explanation.
"I have something very important to do right now."
Kitahara cut her off abruptly; taking Hana and Kita with him, he vanished in a flash and entered the onsen resort.
Resolving the issue with Kita was the top priority; he had no time to spare for anything else. In Kitahara's mind, even the end of the world paled in comparison to Kita's well-being.
"We're going to the bathhouse."
Carrying Kita in his arms, Kitahara strode toward the bathhouse.
"Kitahara-kun, put me down," Kita said shyly. "That thing doesn't seem to dare come out anymore; I can walk on my own."
With Hana nearby, the Imposter Queen didn't dare show herself at all.
"We're almost there."
Kitahara quickly reached the bathhouse entrance, pushed the door open, and set Kita down.
"Take off your clothes."
"Huh?"
Kita's face flushed crimson as she covered her chest.
"Hurry." Kitahara opened the backpack and stuck a band poster onto the wall. "We need to resolve the anomaly affecting you as soon as possible."
"Um... what about the Hand of Deprivation?"
"I already used it earlier, but it couldn't extract the parasite."
"O-okay, then..."
Despite her shyness, Kita understood the urgency of the situation; blushing deeply, she began to undress. After a moment of rustling, Kita turned around, her face flushed, and saw Kitahara take the cursed katana from the band girl; he gripped the blade with his left hand and slashed sharply, causing blood to instantly spurt from his palm.
"Ah..."
Kita let out an involuntary gasp.
"Turn around." Kitahara frowned slightly and reached his left hand toward Kita. "We're going to exorcise it."
Kita looked up at him, her eyes welling with tears:
"But just a finger would be enough—Kitahara-kun, you don't have to cut your palm!"
"I asked Hana; a small amount of blood won't work."
"Ugh, it must hurt like crazy, right?"
"It does sting a bit." Kitahara pressed his blood-drenched left hand against Kita's chest. "So, don't forget to give me a reward tonight."
Kita: "..."
As it turned out, Hana hadn't been spouting nonsense; Kitahara's blood was indeed effective at exorcism. As the blood made contact with her skin, the Imposter Queen soon began begging for mercy.
Kitahara ignored her pleas and continued the exorcism, though before long, the flow of blood began to dwindle until it stopped altogether.
"What's going on?"
Kitahara frowned slightly and looked at his left palm, only to discover that the wound had already mostly healed.
Song of the Night enhanced all attributes across the board; as his physical constitution grew stronger, his self-healing capabilities naturally improved in tandem.
"Haa..."
Kitahara exhaled, then simply took the cursed katana and swiped it across his palm again, causing the blood to flow freely once more.
"N-no...!"
Kita looked up at him, sniffling, her eyes brimming with tears:
"Using...using my body to exorcise demons..."