"Look, I get that you're panicking, but saying stuff like that right now? I can only describe you as a complete pervert," Kasumigaoka Utaha snapped, finally regaining her senses. She glanced at the giant rat cautiously approaching them, seemingly still testing the waters, and took a deep breath.
"The wall isn't too high. If we stack ourselves up, one of us should be able to get over... So—do we run for it?" Utaha shifted into a supporting stance, placing one foot forward and holding her hands together, palms up, ready to give Luo Shu a boost.
Luo Shu blinked at her in surprise, then frowned. "Are you crazy?"
"What else do you suggest? Better one of us escapes than both die here," she replied, her hands trembling slightly. "Oh right—my name's Kasumigaoka Utaha, Class 1-B, Toyosaki Private Academy. If you make it out, please... let my parents know."
"Kasumigaoka... Utaha?!" Luo Shu's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the girl.
"What? You know me?" Utaha asked, clearly startled.
Luo Shu gave her a long look. She was wearing what he considered her iconic white hairband and a sleek white women's suit jacket over a black satin dress. Under normal circumstances, the outfit would've perfectly highlighted her elegant and refined aura. But right now, with no shoes and a dishevelled appearance, she looked more like someone down on her luck. Still, given the life-or-death situation, it was understandable.
Even so, Luo Shu found the whole thing surreal.
In his memory, Kasumigaoka Utaha—pen name Kasumi Utako—was a high school girl author and a major supporting character in a slice-of-life romance anime.
So… the anime heroine is standing right in front of me?
"Forget it. Doesn't matter if I know you or not. If anything, it's better that I do. Hey! Don't just stand there, come here!" Utaha's voice shook as she called out to him, complaining even while helping.
"I'm not sure I won't regret this in the next second, you know!" she muttered under her breath. "And seriously, all I did was take a shortcut through the alley behind the police station—how the hell did I run into some TV-sized nuclear mutant rat? Didn't the Asahi News say these freaks had been wiped out?"
Nuclear mutant rat? Luo Shu paused, then said solemnly, "I don't know what's going on, but I need you to listen carefully—this isn't a joke. If you agree to let me implant a device into your body, I might be able to gain the power to deal with that thing."
"Huh?" Utaha stared at him, stunned, but before she could react further, the monstrous rat at the alley's entrance took another step forward.
That slight motion shattered her already fragile composure.
"Fine! Okay, I agree! Just do it already!" she shouted in panic.
As soon as the words left her mouth, a chime echoed in Luo Shu's ears:
[Request received. Energy Collection Device: Activating. Ritual of Granting: Initiating.]
In the next instant, both Luo Shu and Utaha watched in shock as a silver-blue arc of light erupted beneath their feet. From that light, a circular magic array formed at their feet—intricate patterns radiating from the centre like a stylized sun.
"You..." Utaha's eyes widened in disbelief. She stared at Luo Shu, stunned.
At the same moment, system prompts flooded Luo Shu's mind:
[Ability System: Activated. Life-Classification System 'Kabbalah': Activated. Emergency Defence Protocol: Engaged.]
[Activating Host Abilities...]
[Ding! Acquired ordinary ability: Intuition.]
[Ding! Acquired ordinary ability: Combat Potential.]
[Ding! Spiritual Power Conversion Complete. Acquired excellent ability: Wind Element Manipulation.]
As the notifications ended, the rat—roughly the size of a calf—rushed at Luo Shu with an ear-splitting screech, seemingly losing patience.
At that exact moment, Luo Shu's eyes changed.
Suddenly, it was as if he could see shimmering threads extending from the rat—lines of fate, or perhaps life—and at the end of those threads, he felt a chilling connection to his own neck.
Instinctively, Luo Shu focused on one of the threads and swung his hand.
Whoosh!
A razor-sharp wind howled through the alley. A translucent wind blade formed from thin air and sliced toward the creature with terrifying speed.
The sudden attack startled not only Luo Shu and Utaha, but even the rat itself. It instinctively leapt aside—right into the blade's path.
Shlick!
A spray of black-red blood painted the alley walls.
Before their stunned eyes, the giant rat was cleaved clean in two, its body slumping lifelessly to the ground in halves.
Then, without warning, black-red flames burst from the corpse, consuming it entirely until only charred bloodstains remained.
As the ashes faded, a new prompt rang in Luo Shu's mind:
[Energy Collection Complete. Host crisis resolved.]
"...What?" Luo Shu blinked, stunned. But before he could process the message, Utaha grabbed his hand.
"Don't just stand there like an idiot! You want the police to find us here?"
Without waiting for him to respond, Utaha pulled up the bike that had fallen earlier and hopped onto the back seat, motioning for him to hurry.
"Come on! I'll direct you!" she shouted.
Still unsure of what just happened, Luo Shu clenched his teeth, jumped on the bike, and pedalled off as fast as he could, following Utaha's directions.
As they rode away, more prompts buzzed in his mind:
[Rat-type anomaly eliminated. Emergency Protocol deactivating. Reincarnation system shutting down... Ding! System shut down complete.]
[Congratulations. Host has acquired first Follower. Energy acquired: 6188 units.]
[Congratulations. Follower 'Kasumigaoka Utaha' has awakened ordinary ability: Mind Reading.]
[Congratulations. Host has taken the first solid step on the path to becoming the 'Lord of the Pantheon'.]
Luo Shu listened to the announcements, a beautiful girl on the back seat, wind in his hair—but his lips twitched in irritation, his face a mixture of disbelief and rage.
So, this was all your doing, damn system!!