Don't force me to use my right fist.

But that wasn't the most upsetting thing for Saya. What really bothered him was that he could only silently endure the situation without being able to fight back.

Although this environment was created based on his dream, he still had no sense of controlling the dream. The power was firmly in the hands of the evil spirit that invaded his dream, taking advantage of his lack of combat experience.

"Damn it, what happened to the idea that the masters in my dreams can easily change the world? I'm having a hard time with this."

As Zuoyou endured the corrosive effects of the blood rain in this desolate end, he gave a bitter laugh. He truly hadn't expected this situation.

Then, something unexpected happened again for Saya.

The face that had been grinning maliciously as it watched Saya being corroded by the blood rain was suddenly grabbed by a tentacle and crushed into pieces as easily as crushing a cookie. A monster made of tentacles and chunks of flesh fell from the sky and landed directly in front of Saya.

"Oh dear~ Is this what happens when you cut in line?"

Looking at the indescribable, unidentifiable mass of flesh in front of him, Sōyu swallowed hard and then complained.

If there were a voice-over, it would be appropriate to say "san" at this moment.

Chapter Sixty-Three: This kind of XP might be a bit too early for humans.

Sawa can only be thankful that he is well-informed and not like the tragic investigator in some other world who is so scared by corpses that he goes insane.

So even though the monster in front of him did look somewhat abstract, Sōyu didn't have any intention of turning around and running away.

After all, it saved my life, didn't it? Although it just felt like it was just something I happened to be passing by.

After praying for A-Zhen, who had been crushed by this fleshy monster, Sōyū shook off the blood and looked at the monster that had stopped in front of him.

In the end, it's just a dream. It won't hurt you to look at it, right?

Moreover, the other party didn't seem to have any intention of attacking him. Just because he looked scary, Saya wouldn't be scared into running away.

"Um, thank you?"

Seeing the monster blocking his way, its tentacles writhing and unable to distinguish between its head and body, Saya could only smile awkwardly and tentatively greet it.

"roar~"

A roar-like sound came from the monster in front of them. Its fleshy body swelled up, and its tentacles moved without wind, as if they would devour it at any moment.

However, Sawa did not sense any hostility from it.

It looks scary, but there are many scary things. If they didn't make a move, does that mean they didn't actually want to kill you?

After all, judging from how easily it crushed Sadako who invaded its dream, dealing with him, who was weaker, shouldn't be too difficult.

So here's the question: if it wasn't here to kill Saga, then what was it here for?

It couldn't have been just a simple act of wanting to save him.

Scratching his head in confusion, Zuoyou tilted his head and looked at the monster that had roared but then stopped moving. He took a step and slowly approached it.

"Um, excuse me, so why did you come to find me? Or rather, can you understand what I'm saying?"

Still feeling a bit nervous, Zuoyou stared at its constantly writhing tentacles. If you disregarded the tentacles and gave the fleshy parts a nicer, healthier color, it probably wouldn't look so terrifying or ugly.

Seemingly startled by Saya's step forward, the monster's already swollen body grew even larger, and its tentacles stretched out to protect it.

Why does it feel like it's afraid of itself?

Sōyū's expression became even more confused. What was going on? Wasn't it the one who just tore apart an evil spirit? Now it was as if he was the one in control, which was a bit hard for him to understand.

Watching it puff up its body as if deliberately trying to intimidate Saku and make him stop approaching, Saku didn't know what got into him, but he unexpectedly felt that this thing was actually quite cute.

Summoning his courage, Saya slowly reached out his palm and gently touched the tentacle blocking its way with his arm, which had turned into a cube again.

It feels a bit slippery to the touch, but surprisingly, it doesn't have the slime that Zuoyou hates so much.

It feels quite comfortable to the touch.

The black fleshy ball that had swelled to its limit deflated as soon as Saya touched it, and quickly shrank into a small ball.

The tentacles no longer tensed up, but instead quickly retracted into the body.

The swollen chunks of flesh, perhaps due to compression, lost their fleshy texture after being squeezed into a small sphere. Instead, they resembled a dark, round ball. The retracted tentacles also turned into small fleshy bumps, completely losing their terrifying and ferocious appearance.

"This looks more like a cat."

Saku retracted his outstretched arm and looked at the black sphere that had shrunk to the size of a slime, making a sarcastic remark.

Were those students scared by this thing? That just shows they're not very knowledgeable.

Then, seemingly finally snapping out of its shyness, a tentacle once again emerged from the curled-up black sphere, awkwardly reaching out towards Sōyū, like a kitten unpacking a new and exciting object for the first time.

"What exactly are you trying to do?"

Sōyū helplessly watched the tentacle slowly touch his body before quickly retracting.

Sensing Saku's question, the black sphere writhed, and a somewhat ferocious crack appeared in the middle. Two tentacles reached inside, writhing as if groping for something.

Just when Sawa thought it was going to pull out something that needed to be censored to pass the review, what it handed to Sawa with its tentacles was just a somewhat shriveled apple.

"Huh?"

Of course, Sawa recognized this thing. After all, it seemed that only he could produce an apple that looked so much like an apple.

Although it was a bit shriveled, Saya was still certain that this was the apple he had casually left on Saya's bed.

In other words, this thing really is his deskmate, that timid green-haired girl who's as timid as a little rabbit?

Even though he was mentally prepared, Saya was still a little confused when he learned the name Saya and thought about her true form. So, what his classmates said was true? If you get close to Saya, you will meet her true form in your dreams every night?

After briefly summarizing the current situation, Zuoyou sighed. He now understood why the girl had been misunderstood.

Judging from her current behavior, she doesn't actually intend to attack anyone who comes into contact with her. To put it bluntly, she's just a little animal who's been surrounded by loneliness and solitude, and after being cared for, she can't stand the loneliness and wants to play with others!

Ultimately, all I wanted was to be friends.

This girl probably didn't even know she possessed such power, let alone that she would appear in such a terrifying way in other people's dreams.

If an ordinary person saw something made of chunks of flesh and tentacles appear in front of them and approach them, wouldn't they be terrified? Isn't that the perfect template for a nightmare?

No wonder he was misunderstood. After deducing the truth, Saya could only cover his face and look at the monster who was still holding the apple back as if it were a treasure.

It's clear now that those classmates were afraid of Saya because of this, but that's no excuse for them to bully her.

The girl wasn't at fault; ultimately, it's the ugly human heart that's to blame.

Saku took the shriveled apple the girl offered, took a deep breath, and gave her a friendly smile.

“If we exchange gifts, then we’re friends, Saya-kun.”

Saku grabbed the tentacle it was trying to retract, took a step forward, and stroked the chubby head of the little black monster in front of him as if he were petting a kitten.

This isn't the first time Saku has made friends with monsters.

Chapter Sixty-Four: The Expired Curse

Saya woke up.

I woke up very quickly.

Perhaps it was because he touched something she shouldn't have, or perhaps she was just too shy, but by the time Sōyu came to his senses, the tentacle, which was like a cannonball, had already sent him flying, and he woke up from his bed with a start.

The time was exactly seven hours, which was about the time to go to school.

Sawa breathed a sigh of relief after checking that he was no longer in that blocky body. Without the system's assistance in the dream, he really felt a bit powerless.

A glance at the status bar in the upper right corner revealed that, as expected, it had refreshed again. However, unlike usual, the previously blood-red, curse-like buff had turned grayish-white, as if it had entered a...

【Evil Spirit Curse V】: You promised a one-on-one fight, why did you bring in outside help?

To Zuoyou's surprise, he found several more pieces of rotten flesh in his backpack, as well as a golden crystal of kindness that he had been longing for day and night.

It seems that monsters that were accidentally stolen by others in dreams still drop loot, which is a good thing.

"We didn't get to eat the stolen food."

With a hint of greed in his mind, a smile appeared on Sōyū's face.

A wonderful day begins with going to school, and Kaguya did not refuse Saya's suggestion to continue attending school.

It doesn't really matter whether she goes or not; if something really happens, she can just leave on the spot and no one will say anything about her.

Moreover, Saya has proven with his actions that as long as you are with him, there is absolutely no need to worry about safety.

But for the students in the class, this was nothing short of a bombshell.

You have to understand that Kaguya Hazaki is basically just a figurehead in this class. No one really thinks that this rich girl would actually come to school every day like an ordinary person. It's a miracle if you see her twice a semester.

But she came again today? And she was with Saya, the boy who is currently second only to Saya on the list of most disliked students in the class, which surprised the other students.

Kaguya didn't care about any of that. In fact, she had her own reasons for coming to school with Saya.

"Why do I feel like they're looking at you as if you killed their whole family?"

Kaguya, having returned to her seat, turned around and asked Saya, who was fiddling with a golden crystal she had somehow acquired.

"Have you forgotten what I said yesterday? Oh right, I wasn't here back then. If you had said something like that, you would have received the same treatment."

Sōyu ignored the hateful gazes. They were just a bunch of kids. Because they were associated with Kaguya, he hadn't even received any covert retaliation. He wondered if they had lost their youthful spirit or if the reputation of the Hanesaki family was truly that intimidating.

"Me? I wouldn't threaten them like you do."

Kaguya glanced at the classmates who were avoiding her gaze, chuckled, and then spoke.

"I never threaten anyone. If someone really crosses me, I'll retaliate directly. It's easier to wipe them out than to leave them afraid and with potential problems."

A flash of coldness crossed her eyes as Kaguya spoke in a completely emotionless tone.

That's definitely her style.

Saku waved his hand and put the crystal of goodwill he was playing with back into his backpack. Kaguya may be pretty, but when she gets angry, Saku still admits he's not as good as her.

As expected of the successor of a large conglomerate, describing her as ruthless and decisive is not an exaggeration.

At least Saya knew that whether it was the men in black they encountered when they first met that night, or the people who attacked them yesterday, they should all have probably sunk into Tokyo Bay by now.

"Yes, you're amazing, but girls who are too ruthless are usually not very cute. Like you, you've never seemed to have anything to do with the word 'cute'. It's a pity for such a pretty face of yours."

While replying to her, Sōyu didn't forget to tease her back.

"So what if I'm good-looking? So what if I'm cute? Can that stop those people from attacking me? Only strength matters."

Upon hearing Saya's words, Kaguya felt a strange, inexplicable anger ignite within her.