You say this is a love game?

Mizutani Makoto didn't care much. He threw the immortal totem in his hand back into the system backpack and continued walking forward.

The journey was quite long, and even with a bus transfer, it took almost half an hour.

The end point is a Buddhist temple.

Footsteps were heard on the bluestone road.

Mizutani Makoto walked through the rows of family tombs. The tombstones in the temple cemetery were like overturned sugar cubes, densely packed in the cemetery. Each stone tablet engraved with "XX Family" was home to several generations of people.

Japan's funeral culture is influenced by Buddhism and Shintoism. These two major religions basically cover the entire life of the Japanese from birth to death, and Buddhism is the main focus on matters of life and death.

For the vast majority of Japanese people, their final resting place after death is a "family tomb" in a Buddhist temple cemetery, also known as a "family tomb."

Family tombs are a tradition in Japan. "XX Family" is engraved on the tombstone, and urns of family members from past generations are placed in the niches. Compared with the tombs in my hometown, the tombstones here are more like dormitories.

For example, his father, mother, and sister in this life are all here.

——The Mizutani family.

Looking at the tombstone in front of him, Mizutani Makoto inexplicably thought of his previous life.

In his previous life, he was an out-and-out small town test-taker, and the people in his hometown were somewhat traditional. They would bury their relatives on open hillsides, and the ashes from burning paper money during the Qingming Festival could drift three miles away.

But what about the people living in the tombstones?

Can they see the smoke and ashes flying outside the grave?

Mizutani Makoto scooped up a spoonful of clean water and poured it over the top of the tombstone. The water marks meandered down along the words "Namo Amitabha" engraved on it.

Interestingly, nearly 70% of funerals in Japan use Buddhist rituals, but there are very few living people who truly believe in Buddhism.

This is not nonsense. In Japan, many people call themselves Buddhists, but very few actually participate in Buddhist religious activities and practice. Surprisingly, the most popular wish when visiting a temple is "love luck."

I can only say that the situation is very similar to that in my hometown, everyone is a "pragmatist" - especially during key times such as the college entrance examination and university graduation season, the business of Buddhist temples will be extremely hot.

While his thoughts were wandering, Mizutani Makoto offered steamed buns and placed white chrysanthemums.

In the cracks between the tombstones, there are tracks of ants carrying offering cake crumbs.

The sound of chanting came from the temple behind, and suddenly there was a sense of ethereality.

Mizutani Makoto sat down in front of the grave, and like a chatterbox, he talked about recent events to the tombstone - without the system, he mainly said that he had been studying well recently, there were a lot of young ladies who wanted to pursue him, and his life was going well.

He just came here last month to report to his family about his admission to the private Yemi High School. There's nothing new to say yet.

Mizutani Makoto scratched his head and put out another strawberry daifuku.

Different from the previous tributes.

This is for his sister alone.

Mizutani Makoto picked up a strawberry daifuku, casually tore open the package, and took a bite.

To be honest, the feeling of glutinous rice skin sticking to the molars was quite bad, but soon the sweetness of cheap red bean paste spread over the tongue like a tide, and a sense of pleasure suddenly surged into the brain.

You say it's just average, but it's only 200 yen. People don't think you're poor, so what do you have the nerve to ask for?

"This Daifuku is so sweet it makes my teeth fall out."

Mizutani Makoto drank another sip of lemon tea to relieve the greasiness.

He still didn't understand why his sister liked this thing?

"I've come to see you."

He looked at the tombstone where his sister who died young was buried.

——Eka Mizutani.

Chapter 006 The Invincible Woman

In Japan, people will give the deceased a "nickname", but no one will actually use that nickname to refer to their deceased relatives. At least as far as Mizutani Makoto is concerned, even after several years or decades, his sister will still have that name.

——Eka Mizutani.

Unlike his previous life where he had an only child, Mizutani Makoto has an older sister in this life.

To this day, Mizutani Makoto still doesn't understand. When his parents both passed away, he was only 4 years old. His sister was 4 years older than him, so she was only 8 years old. How did an 8-year-old kid raise him?

But his sister did.

She is simply superhuman.

Beautiful in appearance, strong in character and heroic.

Looking at it from today's perspective, that girl is simply the definition of "genius". There is a dazzling radiance on her that cannot be hidden no matter how hard you try. No matter who sees her, they can't help but take a few more glances. She is such an invincible and extraordinary woman.

What is amazing is that she understood the rules of this society from a very young age, and just as her relatives who raised her expected, she followed these rules to move up.

Practicing kendo, being proficient in both literature and martial arts, with overwhelming talent, a rising star, scholarships and invitations from TV stations come one after another...

Then, when everyone had high hopes for her, her life came to an abrupt end and she remained at the age of 17 forever.

That guy died of illness.

Makoto Mizutani lived with Eka Mizutani for 13 years and knew that Eka Mizutani had been frail and sickly since childhood. Now, when he looks through his memories, he can still find many scenes of taking care of patients. In those scenes, Eka Mizutani was mostly lying in bed, being taken care of by him.

Therefore, the relationship between the two is more like "depending on each other".

Eka Mizutani takes care of Makoto Mizutani, and Makoto Mizutani also takes care of Eka Mizutani.

But luck did not favor this broken family. Mizutani Eka eventually died of illness in the health room of the private Yami High School. When she was found later, it made headlines. After all, it was the literal death of a genius, which makes people sigh.

The only thing she left behind was the person called "Mizutani Makoto".

Makoto Mizutani finished off the Strawberry Daifuku in just a few moves.

To be honest, he didn't have a deep obsession with Strawberry Daifuku.

But his elder sister liked it, and his elder sister was the head of the family, so his childhood was filled with this sour and sweet taste.

Mizutani Eka also told him that there was a Japanese confectionery store she liked...

He had also been there. The strawberry daifuku there had a soft and chewy glutinous rice wrapper, and the sweetness of the red bean paste and the sour and sweet taste of the strawberry were just the right blend.

The only drawback is that it is a bit expensive. A strawberry daifuku can cost 600 yen, which is three times better than the cheap daifuku in convenience stores.

"I'm in a hurry this time, I'll take a detour to buy it for you next time."

Mizutani Makoto looked up at the sky and realized it was almost time.

Misty birds flew over the eaves of the temple wall, and girls in school uniforms walked past the temple while chatting and laughing. It was only separated from the cemetery by a wall.

In Japan, death is as standard of life as convenience stores. There is a temple cemetery just around the wall of a Buddhist temple, and there is a bone pagoda next to the torii gate of a Shinto shrine. In some places, you can even come across municipal cemeteries independent of religion while walking around, which is not uncommon.

If there's one thing these three have in common, it's that they all cost money.

Whether it is a Buddhist temple, a Shinto shrine, or a public cemetery, if you want to be buried there, you have to pay tens to hundreds of thousands of yuan in maintenance fees every year. From this point of view, the maintenance fees of Buddhist temples or Shinto shrines are cheaper than those of public ones.

You pay rent while you are alive, and you still have to pay rent after you die. You can't live without rent in this life.

"I'll go and earn some money for your rent."

Mizutani Makoto was so worried.

He propped himself up on his knees, intending to get materials nearby—go to the Buddhist temple and buy some consecrated amulets, ritual implements, and the like.

If you don’t have enough money, you have to consider the Great Thief Ghost Hand.

……

……

At dusk, the hustle and bustle of the city was gradually swallowed up by the twilight, and the hands of time quietly pointed to five o'clock.

The outline of the teaching building appears particularly soft in the sunset. The light gray brick walls and glass windows reflect warm light, adding a bit of tranquility and solemnity to the entire campus.

The fallen leaves fluttered gently in the wind, and a few birds chirped in the distance.

A gust of cold wind blew, and Takahashi Hidego became much more awake.

Japanese high schools generally finish school early, but for the vast majority of students, finishing school does not mean leaving school, but rather participating in various club activities.

The Cultural Department is okay, as club activities usually only last 1-2 hours, but for the Sports Department, it depends more on the club's arrangements. Due to special times, there are many people who train until six or seven in the evening.

The club that Takahashi Shugo joined was the "Paranormal Research Club".

Yes, that kind of comedy club that often appears in various anime, GalGames, and light novels.

To be honest, Takahashi Shugo's motives for joining the club were not pure.

As a geek who likes to play Gal, before joining the club, he actually imagined a plot where there was only one beautiful senior girl left in the club and the male protagonist urgently needed justice to save the club from crisis.

But reality is often a little different from fantasy. There is no club on the verge of being disbanded, nor are there sweet girls surrounding him calling out to his seniors and juniors. There is only a group of supernatural enthusiasts who are particularly interested in aliens, monsters, ghost stories and weird stories.

Oh, there are two senior students who are pretty good-looking, but they both have boyfriends.

As for this year, there were no female students joining at all.

Damn, disillusioned.

But no matter what, the Paranormal Research Department is a formal department, and its status in the night high school is not low. It has a separate activity room, and the requirements for club activities are not strict and are relatively free. He also participated in various... research related to the paranormal with his seniors.

Thinking of the "alien" boy with a pot lid on his head that he found last holiday, Takahashi Hideo sighed.

"Sure enough, the purpose of this club's existence is to have fun."

He picked up the bucket, which contained tools and paints borrowed from the art club. Their president had a good relationship with the president of the art club, and the two clubs often interacted. Today, he wanted to update the blackboard newspaper in the activity room, so he went directly to the art club to ask for some tools.

"Is everything packed? Send it back to the owner."

Hearing a sound coming from the activity room, he saw a short-haired man walking out carrying another bucket.

Kohei Sakamoto is a freshman in high school. He is wearing the school uniform of the private Yami High School and looks energetic.

"Takahashi-senpai—"

"We're all together this time, please give us your guidance!"

The two chatted as they walked. This junior was very popular and had an amazing passion for supernatural events. He was much more professional than him, who had just gotten into the wrong club by taking advantage of the situation.

The art club activity room is at the end of the corridor on the sixth floor.

In this teaching building specially designated for students to carry out club activities, the two went from the second floor to the sixth floor, returning all the tools to the art club.

Dim daylight penetrated the glass of the corridor, and dusk enveloped the entire campus.

"Most people have left."

"After all, we're not the sports club, so it won't take that long... Today is considered quite busy and late."

Takahashi Hideo locked the activity room of the Paranormal Research Society and turned around to find Sakamoto Kohei staring at the stairs in the corridor in a daze.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked curiously.

"Ah, it's about the stairs."

"stairs?"

"Takahashi-senpai, have you heard of the legend of the thirteenth step?"

There was passion flashing in Sakamoto Kohei's eyes, and the way he clenched his fists made Takahashi Shugo's mouth twitch slightly. He almost thought he was the protagonist of a hot-blooded comic who had accidentally entered reality.

But what he was about to say was too old-fashioned.

"How could you not have heard of this?"

Takahashi Shugo shook his head. Even though he was one of those people who joined the wrong club, he had at least been in the Supernatural Research Club for more than a year and was already very familiar with these weird and mysterious urban legends.

Japanese society is filled with a cultural atmosphere of superstition, and campuses are the hardest hit areas.

This is not difficult to understand. Students are in their middle school years, full of energy and strong initiative. They are extremely interested in these inexplicable, mysterious and weird urban legends.

Even the topic of urban legends is another kind of "fashion item".

But the thirteenth staircase... this strange story is too old!

It's so widely circulated that it's not mysterious at all.

Takahashi Shugo still remembers that last semester, the president dragged him to ambush him in the school building at two o'clock in the morning, and then he was left in the cold wind for half an hour. Thinking about it now, he still feels that he was really wasting his life.

"Senior, I was thinking of a different version of this story!"

"Different versions?"