Becoming a god in a low-key way in the supernatural world

The white-haired mouse, which was rolling around, finally smelled the unfamiliar scent and instantly got up from the ground. It stood upright, more than three meters tall, with large, blunt, rounded ears and a fluffy tail. It stretched out its sharp claws and bared its teeth.

Unfortunately, it's chubby, which halves its fierceness... like a Totoro.

Kotegawa looked it up and down, his face kind: "Can you speak human language?"

The big rat pounced on the ground with a sharp screech.

With a clang, Kotegawa drew his longsword, his aura, many times fiercer than a rat, soaring into the sky.

The white-haired mouse was stunned and collapsed to the ground with a thud, whimpering.

Kotegawa was immediately disappointed and sheathed his sword.

Okay, it's just a big rat that can't speak human language.

He thought for a moment, then walked up to the trembling mouse, squatted down, stared at it, and asked, "Can you understand what I'm saying?"

The white-haired mouse immediately began to shake its head repeatedly.

Kotegawa gave an "oh," then drew his longsword and held it to its neck: "If you don't understand, why are you shaking your head?"

The white-haired mouse froze on the spot, tears welling up in its black, pearly eyes.

Kotegawa looked at it and said in as kind a tone as possible, "Don't worry, as long as you cooperate obediently, I won't hurt you. Have you ever seen a forest of black tree branches?"

The white-haired mouse rolled its eyes, raised its paw, and pointed in a direction tremblingly.

Kotegawa was somewhat surprised. He got up, took his binoculars, and looked in the direction the mouse was pointing, but all he could see was a white light, and the mountains were layered upon layered, making it impossible to see clearly.

He lowered his head and asked, "You're not lying to me, are you?"

The white-haired mouse shook its head frantically.

“Very good…” Kotegawa sheathed his sword and patted it: “Take me there, and I’ll release you when we get there.”

The large rat, which had just wiped its sweat with its paw, instantly became furious again, glaring at Kotekawa and squeaking incessantly.

It was as if she was accusing him of breaking his word.

Kotegawa was quite surprised.

So there are such innocent guys among the monsters?

He thought for a moment and said, "How do I know if you're lying to me? What if you're just giving me random directions? So my request is reasonable."

The white-haired mouse was taken aback. After a while, it subconsciously nodded, as if agreeing with his statement. But then it shook its head, sat down on the ground, waved its two front paws and made random squeaking noises.

Although Kotegawa couldn't understand what it was saying, he guessed the general meaning: it was saying that there was something incredibly terrifying over there, and it was a place that should not be approached.

Kotegawa examined it carefully, nodded slightly, and said, "I don't usually force yokai to do things their way. Since you haven't lied to me, then let's leave it at that..."

He walked away with his sword pouch on his back and his hands in his pockets.

The white-haired mouse, still sitting on the ground, stared blankly at him, its eyes suddenly shining. Then, it flipped over, used all four paws to dig a few times on the ground, and fled in the opposite direction without looking back.

Chapter Five: The Altar of the Evil God

Amidst the falling snowflakes, Kotegawa followed the direction pointed by the white-haired mouse, traversing three mountains in succession, and then, as darkness fell, found a sheltered, sloping hillside to set up camp.

Standing in front of the fire, he ate his dry rations while looking ahead through binoculars.

The route wasn't off-track, but the mountains were high and the snow was deep, making the road increasingly difficult to travel.

He took out a simple map he had drawn, drew a narrow diagonal line on it, and then roughly marked a red dot on it to indicate his current location.

"Let's keep going tomorrow. If we still haven't found anything, we'll go back and regroup..."

After finalizing his plan, he packed his things, added some more firewood to the fire, crawled into his tent, and began to meditate.

Night quickly enveloped the earth, and roars rose up, merging into a torrent.

Awakened by the noise, Kotegawa looked down at the mountain below, lowered his body slightly, and leaped a few times before blending into the group of yokai, like a drop of water falling into a river, completely inconspicuous.

The realm of "impermanence" appears and disappears, and Kotekawa makes a fortune in silence, making money wherever he goes.

When he circled back, he was no longer in the group of monsters. Although he was covered in sweat, he felt refreshed.

Going for a night run once in a while is a good idea.

He returned to his tent, took off his soaked shirt and trousers, wrapped them in a plastic bag and put them in his backpack, changed into clean clothes, and continued meditating.

In the latter half of the night, only the howling wind and snow could be heard in the mountains. Suddenly, a massive black shadow rose up from somewhere, accompanied by a peculiar whistling sound.

Kotegawa awoke from his meditation once more. He unzipped the tent, revealing that the tent and the snow-covered ground were now one color. He glanced at the extinguished fire before looking up at the sky.

He has a talent for night travel; his vision is better in the dark than during the day.

A foul stench wafted from the black mist floating in the sky. A four-legged monster roared and howled towards the southwest, seemingly filled with boundless hatred. Only when wisps of starlight began to fall from the southwest sky did it turn and leave, along with the black mist that filled the sky, which was then blown away by the wind.

Kotegawa rubbed his eyes, pulled out his binoculars, and looked in the direction where the black mist was gathering.

Unfortunately, the view was quickly blocked by the mountains, but judging from the direction the fog was gathering, it was indeed in the direction the white-haired rat was pointing, only it was a bit farther away.

"It looks a lot like that guy! The Great Evil God of the Evil Spirit Society, the Demon King?" He muttered to himself, his eyes sparkling with excitement, his body surging as if electrified. After searching for so many days, he finally had a lead!

However, he quickly calmed down.

This monster can levitate, summon lightning, and even breathe fire... It doesn't seem like a demon king, but rather has the majesty of an evil god.

“It’s even stronger than expected…” Kotegawa looked at the sky, frowning in deep thought.

A gust of cold wind blew by, and he turned around and crawled back into the tent, lay down in his thick sleeping bag, and pondered with his arm as a pillow.

After finally finding the other side, it turns out they're a bit outmatched?

Of course, it doesn't necessarily mean they can't win. Leaping into the air is nothing special; after all, even ghosts can float... except for idiots.

However, the ability to summon lightning cannot be ignored.

Are you leaving?

He definitely has to leave; his supplies are running low, and he needs to go back and regroup.

But when they return, should they continue killing monsters to strengthen themselves, or should they directly attack the enemy's doorstep?

We might not be able to win if we go to their door, but what if we delay any longer and the almost-ripe medicinal herb is gone?

"I should go and check the situation first before deciding whether to develop or confront them head-on..." He cleared his mind, closed his eyes, and after dawn, he quickly packed his things, glanced again in the direction where the fog had cleared up last night, and left without looking back.

In the evening, he returned home, travel-worn. He washed his clothes first, then himself. Just as he sat down on the sofa to eat roast chicken, Youjia and Qingkong returned together, each carrying a bag.

He put down the chicken leg, wiped his hands, ran over to take the food, and said, "You've worked hard."

"Alala, who are you?" Youjia's acting was as exaggerated as ever.

Kotegawa gave a restrained smile and flicked her on the forehead.

As always, Qingkong was considerate, looking at him with concern: "So you still know to come back?"

“Uh…” Kotegawa choked for a moment, then said awkwardly, “After going out two or three more times, we should have a result.”

Gu and the others rolled their eyes, went to the washroom to wash up, and prepared to cook.

Kotegawa followed closely behind Haruka, saying, "I'm telling the truth, we've made a lot of progress over there."

"Yes, yes, good luck... Go out first, I need to use the restroom!" Yujia closed the door.

Kotegawa returned to the living room and somewhat listlessly finished off the two roast chickens.

Late at night, with her cheeks flushed, Qingkong nestled in Kotegawa's arms, her voice soft and low: "Every time she disappears for a week, I can't reach her by phone, and she doesn't reply to emails!"

“The basic communication infrastructure in Hokkaido isn’t very good, and I’m located quite deep in the mountains.” Kotegawa gently stroked her hair and emphasized again, “But we’ll have results soon, in a month at most.”

Qingkong turned her face away, not wanting to speak.

A few minutes later, she sighed and said quietly, "I'm really worried that one day you'll come back sideways."

"That day will never come!"

"...Furate River."

"what?"

"Let's have a child."

"...This matter is not urgent, we can discuss it later."

The next morning, Kotegawa was doing his morning exercise in the yard as usual. Takanashi Hanamai, bundled up in thick layers, was holding a cup of coffee. As soon as she saw Kotegawa, she exclaimed in surprise, "Huh? You're back from the dead?"

Kotegawa remained calm: "Come here."

With her innocent eyes wide open, Takanashi Hanamaru approached step by step: "What do you want?"

Kotegawa grabbed her soft cheeks and pulled them apart.

Takanashi Hanamai cried out in pain, tears welling in her eyes, "It hurts! Let go!"

After a while,

Kotegawa calmly sipped his coffee, while Takanashi rubbed his cheeks, looking sullen.

"Are we going to Hokkaido again?"

"Yes, we'll have to go one or two more times."

"...Qingkong has such a good temper. If it were me, I would have divorced you long ago."

Kotegawa glanced at this guy who never learns from his mistakes and said speechlessly, "I had important things to do."

"Even if it's something perfectly legitimate, you can't just disappear all the time, can you?"

These words left Kotegawa speechless, and he could only say, "It's almost over."

"Alright..." Takanashi sighed quietly. What else could she say?

After a while, she suddenly asked, "So, what exactly are you looking for in Hokkaido? Or should I ask online?"

Recently, her number of followers surpassed 1 million, and she has more than 3 million followers on the other side of the ocean... So, even if only one-tenth of the people are willing to answer her questions, it should still be better than Kotekawa alone.

"No need, I'll be there soon." Kotekawa smiled, handed the empty cup back to her, and led her into the house, telling her to make herself a seat. He then went to get the cake and made himself a cup of tea.

Qingkong was exhausted last night and is still catching up on sleep; as for Youjia, she won't get up until the sun is high in the sky during her vacation.

Kotegawa placed the cake and tea in front of her, then turned on the TV and they watched the morning weather forecast together.