Hoshi was attracted by this song and wanted to find the girl who was singing.
While walking around in the forest, what he saw, heard, and touched all felt incredibly realistic to him, unlike any dream heâd ever had. It all felt tangible to him.
âThis lucid dream is incredible!â That was Hoshiâs opinion at the time.
In the end, he never found the singer by the end of his dream.
âAfter I woke up, I tried recalling for a long while if I had ever heard this song anywhere before, but I couldnât recall it at all. I found it quite strange why it appeared in my dream.â Hoshi tilted his head slightly. âPerhaps itâs that I heard it once long ago but forgot⊠at any rate, I was unable to recall.â
A forest of maple trees, red leaves, and a female singingâŠ
Seiji recalled a common SR-ranked spirit in the cell phone game he used to play in his previous world.
This beautiful female spirit with black hair and red eyes had been an original creation by the gameâs developers, but she was also based on a legend as well. He was uncertain if there was a similar legend in this world.
In his previous world, her legends werenât very famous. Even though she was clearly a beautiful female demon as powerful as Snow Girl, she was quite unknown, which seemed rather wondrous to Seiji. Judging by the contents of the legend about her, she was likely to be even stronger than Snow Girl, and could have been an SSR cardâs power, but she was only an SRâŠ. Cough, he was getting sidetracked.
As for the story involving that original spirit, compared to the situation in this world⊠Seiji subtly felt as if he was sensing evil intentions from the world.
He decided not to think too much into it.
âHoshi, what I need to tell you is that your dream was no simple dream,â Seiji told Hoshi in a serious manner.
âEh?â
âThis was not only an overly clear and strange dream. Itâs best if you treat it as a second reality⊠if you dream the same dream again tonight.â
âWhat?â Hoshi made a foolish sound of dazedness.
He knew that his senpai wasnât joking around due to the serious tone of voice, butâŠ
âSenpai, just what exactlyâŠâ
âItâs not a convenient time to explain the things your dream involves to your right now.â
Hoshi now had a confused expression.
âI apologize for confusing you.â Seiji smiled. âLetâs just leave things as is for now. After youâre done working for today, Iâll contact you again and we can discuss it then.â
âOh⊠Okay.â
âGo ahead and rest for the remainder of your break. Iâm leaving now.â
Hoshi watched his senpai leave and felt like there was a mysterious aura coming from that familiar figure.
Seiji headed to the Juumonji mafia groupâs residence to find Hisashi.
âAs for the matter of people dying in their sleep⊠All I can say is that if any of you have a strangely realistic dream, you should act calmly and treat it as you would in real life,â Seiji told Hisashi. âAnd if your life is in danger, you can try calling out for me to save you⊠although Iâm not sure if it will work or not.â
Hisashi fell silent for a moment after hearing these words.
âGot it. Thank you, Seigo.â
âNo need to be polite.â
âDid you come all the way here just to tell me this?â
âYeah.â
âYou went to the trouble of coming here personally instead of telling me over the internet or on the phone. This means that this is some top-secret information?â Hisashi adjusted his eyeglasses as something flashed in his eyes.
âI suppose you could say it like that. Iâm not sure either if it counts as top-secret or not. I just feel that itâs best to be cautious.â Seiji sighed.
âUnderstood.â Hisashi nodded. âI shall only tell what you said to my father and older brother Zankita. I wonât tell anyone else apart from them. Is that alright?â
âThatâs fine.â
After leaving the Juumonji Group, Seiji then went to go find Peach-sensei to tell her what he knew.
âSoul realm⊠just like that time before?â
âVery similar, but not entirely the same,â Seiji stated. âI donât know how to specifically describe it, but it felt different from being in Reo-chanâs soul realm. It felt more realistic.â
The mangaka looked towards Seiji.
âDid you save someone again?â she asked.
âYeah⊠I felt that things were rather subtle. I wasnât sure if I helped out or actually made more trouble.â
âDid the person in question think that you made more trouble?â
âNo⊠she didnât.â
âThatâs fine, then.â Mayuzumi began smiling as she looked at Seijiâs face. âYouâre a hero, Haruta-kun.â
âI just did what I could.â Seiji felt rather awkward as he scratched his face.
âHee heeâŠâ The mangaka chuckled lightly.
She promised him that she would be careful as well, and that she would tell what he just told her to Saki in person.
âI hope that you wonât force yourself. Itâs nice to be a hero and all, but you have to make sure that you donât collapse first.â
âI know. Thank you for your concern, Sensei.â
After talking to Peach-sensei, Seiji then headed for Shouzou Amamiâs residence, where Rion and Kotomi also lived.
âWelcome, Harano-kun.â
âSorry to be a bother, Amami-san.â
After entering and taking a seat, Seiji directly discussed the main topic.
âAmami-san, have you heard about the Awakened?â
âIâve already heard some news about them, yes.â
âThis will be easy to explain then⊠I believe that Hoshi is possibly going to become an Awakened.â
âOh?â Something flashed in Shouzouâs eyes. âHarano-kun, why do you think so?â
âPlease allow me to keep that a secret. Itâs difficult for me to talk about in detail.â If he talked about it in detail, that meant revealing what he knew about Yukari, which was something he didnât want to do as he had promised to keep information about her a secret.
Seiji looked towards the elderly man. âThe important part here is Hoshi. Although itâs only a possibility, I feel that itâs likely that heâll become an Awakened tonight⊠Amami-san, do you have any thoughts about what to do in such a situation?â
Shouzou fell silent for a moment.
âI donât wish to see that child Hoshi become an Awakened. However, I donât know any way to stop this process.â He sighed. âIf he truly Awakens, then all I can do is do my best to take care of him.â
Seiji nodded. âI believe that Hoshi should be told about the mystical society⊠about Spiritual Ability users, so that heâs at least mentally prepared. What does Amami-san think?â
Shouzou considered it for a moment.
âI suppose that now is a good time to tell him.â He looked directly at Seiji. âWe might as well tell Rion and Kotomi as well, so that they know Harano-kunâs true identity. Is that alright?â
âSure. They already know my true name and family background. All thatâs new is that now theyâll know Iâm a Spiritual Ability user.â
He didnât expect that Shouzou Amami would add in the twins as well.
Seiji felt that it was fine to tell the twins. However, he suddenly realized that with this, his entire dating sim game creation group, with himself included, now had four out of nine members as Spiritual Ability usersâalmost half!
Seiji couldnât help but imagine the future developments.
If everyone in his game group Awakened, then this group whose original intention was to create a game together that called themselves the Knights of the Round Table just for fun⊠wouldnât it become just like an alliance between Spiritual Ability usersâŠ? Wasnât this just like a secret organization!?
Seiji was astonished by his own idea. He didnât know why, but just imagining it made him feel like it had the potential to become reality.
âThat couldnât be⊠no, I canât say that itâs impossibleâŠâ
Seiji couldnât help but continue imagining:
The first knight Hisashi who had two personalities, open and funny on the outside, secretly cruel and dark on the inside.
The second knight, the beautiful Yukari who manipulated spiderwebs and toyed with others as she pleased.
The third knight, the twins Rion and Kotomi that acted as if they were one and had better cooperation with each other than any possible duo, and who would always work together to defeat any opponent.
The fourth knight, the androgynous Hoshi who had a magical-seeming figure and smile⊠Cough! Stop!!!
Seiji forced himself to stop getting carried away in his fantasies and finally returned to his senses.
Although he accidentally thought of a scene that he shouldnât have, all in all, it seemed quite good to him?