“Rin! Rin, what’s wrong? Don’t scare me like that!”
The young girl in the red-and-white shrine maiden outfit grabbed Ritsuka Tachibana by the shoulders and shook her frantically, her face full of worry.
Just a moment ago, the candle flames in their room had been flickering wildly, only to settle back down after a few seconds.
Now, flickering candle flames were normally nothing unusual—but the problem was that their room’s doors and windows were tightly shut, with no ventilation at all. So where would the airflow come from to make the flames dance so crazily like that?
Mirai Natsukawa didn’t think the mere breathing of the two of them could cause such a phenomenon with the candlelight.
Combined with the sight of her best friend suddenly standing up and freezing in place, her mind immediately jumped to the so-called spirit summoning ritual and ghosts.
“Huh… huh?”
The moment Xia Xi swapped bodies, his vision went black, and then light returned just as quickly.
As soon as he felt himself settle into the body, he was hit by a violent shaking sensation, along with a pretty firm grip tugging at both his shoulders.
“Whoa whoa whoa! I can’t control my body anymore! Did the summoning actually work?!”
A lively, energetic voice rang out inside Xia Xi’s head.
This must be the “Rin” that the young shrine maiden shaking him had mentioned.
The original owner of this body seemed a lot like Luo Xinyu back then—she wasn’t angry or scared about suddenly losing control of her body.
Back when he first swapped into Liu Yiyi’s body, Xia Xi had gotten an earful from a certain girl who’d lost control of herself.
“What kind of ghost are you? A ground-bound spirit? A back-ghost? Or some evil spirit from those dark manga? What are you planning to do with my body? And don’t you dare lay a finger on that girl in front of you—she’s a real shrine maiden, you know. One talisman from her and you’ll be scattered to dust!”
A rapid-fire series of questions echoed through Xia Xi’s head, making his brain buzz.
“Rin, y-you’re awake now? Just now your pupils went totally unfocused, and you were just standing there frozen—it scared me half to death!”
Hearing “Ritsuka Tachibana” make a sound, Mirai Natsukawa immediately realized her best friend had regained consciousness.
Still not fully grasping the situation, Xia Xi turned his head left and right to get a better look at his surroundings.
Looking at the still-burning candles, the unlit room, and the girl in front of him wearing that unique shrine maiden outfit… oh boy. Were these two girls messing around with spirit summoning?
This was literally the most classic horror movie setup, and these two girls actually dared to try it—they sure had guts.
Though, they did kind of succeed, didn’t they? After all, they’d “summoned” Xia Xi over.
“Wait… are you still Rin?”
Seeing that “Ritsuka Tachibana” wasn’t answering, but instead looking around with a curious gaze, Mirai Natsukawa immediately sensed something was wrong.
The two of them had checked into this room together yesterday and had already spent a night here—so why would she be scanning her surroundings with that kind of curious look?
That left only one possibility: the person standing before her wasn’t her good friend and bestie, but some unknown ghost that had been drawn in by her half-baked summoning ritual and had possessed Ritsuka Tachibana’s body!
Xia Xi heard her words and weighed his options—whether to admit he wasn’t the real person, or keep pretending to be her.
This time, the swap system hadn’t given him any mandatory tasks. All it required was that he use the slot and secure a swap target, unlike the time with An Xiaoyu when there were objectives to complete.
Plus, his earlier movement of scanning the room had been way too obvious. And without the original body owner’s memories, fooling this young shrine maiden probably wouldn’t be easy.
So the answer was pretty clear…
“Hehehe!”
Xia Xi let out a classic villainous chuckle in this body’s pleasant voice.
“Thanks to your little shrine maiden summoning ritual, I’ve got myself this wonderful body!”
With those words from Xia Xi, Mirai Natsukawa’s face instantly went pale, and she involuntarily took a few steps back.
“W-Who exactly are you?! What did you do to Rin?! Give her body back right now! I’m warning you, I’m a real, legitimate shrine maiden—careful, or I’ll wipe you out!”
It figures—people who hang out together do tend to act alike.
The original owner in his head was already threatening him with the other girl’s shrine maiden identity, and now this girl, who looked like she was playing dress-up as a shrine maiden, was using the same threat on him.
“Yeah, yeah! Give my body back right now, or she’ll destroy you with one palm strike!”
Ritsuka Tachibana’s voice echoed in his head. Even though she was saying threatening things too, it really just sounded like she was backing up her friend’s words.
And that was pretty much the case. For some reason, Ritsuka Tachibana didn’t know why, but even though this ghost had taken over her body, she just didn’t feel like he had any ill intentions toward her—that he wouldn’t hurt her.
“Oh?”
Xia Xi could tell Ritsuka Tachibana didn’t actually want to drive him out, so he decided to keep teasing this young shrine maiden for fun.
He raised an eyebrow and reached out with his index finger, tilting her chin up.
Ritsuka Tachibana was about half a head taller than Mirai Natsukawa, so with Xia Xi holding her chin like that, it forced her to look up at him with a mix of pitifulness, fear, and anger in her eyes.
“I am the Grand Sorcerer under the Heavenly Emperor! I’m standing right here—let’s see how you plan to wipe me out!”
“Wh-What…”
Mirai Natsukawa watched as the other person curled her lips into a provocative smirk, looking incredibly arrogant and full of herself. A wave of frustration washed over her.
If she hadn’t agreed to go along with Rin’s silly summoning game in the first place, none of this body-possession nonsense would have happened.
And now? The other party was a Grand Sorcerer under the Heavenly Emperor, while she was just an ordinary person—how could she possibly compete?
Mirai Natsukawa was someone who believed strongly in science and didn’t believe in gods or ghosts. But with the undeniable truth right in front of her—that her best friend’s body had been taken over—even if she didn’t want to believe in the supernatural, she had no choice now.
Faced with this situation, her mind drifted to all sorts of eerie stories she’d heard at her shrine, and a ridiculous thought popped into her head: “Could those all be real?!”
If things like the Slit-Mouthed Woman or Tomie actually existed, that would be absolutely terrifying!
“Hehehe, Miss Shrine Maiden~ You wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to your good friend, now would you?”
Watching the sinister, charming expression on “Ritsuka Tachibana’s” face, Mirai Natsukawa felt an inexplicable sensation rise in her heart—almost as if the “Ritsuka Tachibana” before her now seemed… cooler…
No, no, no!
How could she think that way?!
That guy was a thief who’d stolen someone else’s body! Right now, she had to find a way to make him give Rin’s body back!
“Sir… Sorcerer, sir? What do you need me to do for you to give her body back?”
Seeing the young shrine maiden cave in, Xia Xi turned around and plopped down onto the hotel’s soft, plush bed.
He crossed his two long, well-toned legs, which showed off strong muscle definition.
“I much preferred that arrogant look you had just now—the one where you said you were going to wipe me out~”
