Tokyo Psychic

Sparse chatter could be heard from the somewhat languid classroom.

"As you all know, the newly appointed principal has recently been embroiled in a huge scandal, right?" Kawakami Sadahiro said seriously. "In the coming period, police and reporters will be coming to the school continuously. You are all about to become adults, so please remember the importance of 'being careful with your words and actions'."

Fearing that these young people might misbehave, Kawakami Sadahiro specifically cited several detailed examples before emphasizing again, "Watch your mouth and don't talk nonsense."

"If any of you know anything about the 'Mind Thieves,' remember to report it to the police officers visiting the school immediately."

"There's only one more civics class left for the monthly test. Next week we'll start planning our summer study trip. There will be a voting event on the school forum, so please remember to participate..."

Having given these important instructions, Kawakami Sadahiro waved her hand and said, "Then, dismissed."

Ryuji Sakamoto leaped up with a monkey-like cry, followed by a chorus of howls from the boys throughout the classroom.

Yuki Mishima rushed up and put her arm around his shoulder. "School's out! Let's hurry to the internet cafe, or we'll miss the competition! The prize money is a whopping 80,000 yen, and just making it into the finals will get us 2,000 yen!"

"I thought you were more interested in the study tour!" Ryuji Sakamoto excitedly shook Yuki Mishima's shoulder. "That's a summer excursion! There are beaches, waves, hot spring retreats, and beautiful girls in swimsuits..."

Yuki Mishima was momentarily captivated. "Ahaha, hot spring training camp... no, you almost led me astray. The hiking trip doesn't start until the end of May, and the internet cafe competition registration closes in an hour!"

Ryuji Sakamoto immediately put aside the various romantic thoughts in his mind and, with a serious expression, called out to his friends in the classroom, "Ikeda and Ishii over there, come over here quickly, the competition registration is about to end!"

"Where's Ren Amamiya?" someone asked loudly.

Ryuji Sakamoto looked around. "He's not here. He's probably off working somewhere."

“That sounds pathetic,” someone shrugged, then asked Iori Nina, who was sitting in the corner of the classroom, “Iori-kun! Why aren’t you with Amamiya?!”

"Ah, he must be working, right?" Ishigami Renna replied uncertainly.

Ryuji Sakamoto snapped his fingers. "I knew it. Amamiya isn't like you guys who do nothing all day."

Yuki Mishima urged hurriedly, "Hurry up and get going! It's a 20-minute walk from school to the internet cafe! Kawamura from Class A is probably already out of the school gate!"

......

at the same time.

Haigaoka Girls' College.

Shoko Toyokawa, who was sitting upright in class, suddenly felt as if her heart was being squeezed by something unseen.

She looked down at her phone.

The messages I sent to Akira Kurusu during the break between classes last time are still in an "unread" status.

This is a perfectly normal phenomenon, but today it made her feel inexplicably flustered and uneasy.

It felt as if something precious was being stolen from someone else, somewhere unseen by me.

"Toyokawa-kun," the math teacher on the podium noticed the principal passing by the classroom door and coughed twice to remind Toyokawa Shoko, who was sitting in the first row.

Toyokawa Shoko quickly put her phone back on her desk and continued to listen attentively to the lecture.

I really hope it's just my imagination.

She prayed this in her heart.

*

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(I'm going out for a late-night snack. There will be another "three-in-one" chapter around 3 AM. If you can't wait, you can go to sleep first.)

110. Love is terrifying (Part 2)

At the bandit's exit on the left side of the central road of the Sky Island, Akira Kurusu, controlling a character named "Kaiju," leaned out halfway with a revolver in hand and a grimacing expression.

With his exaggerated reaction speed and superhuman dexterity, Akira Kurusu completed an incredibly fast stop in An and Subaru's eyes, and at the same time, he located the enemy in the middle of the distance the instant he saw him and pulled the trigger.

In that instant, the bullet pierced the edge of the box and reached a position eighty meters away.

Before "Jieti" could even see the enemy, a bullet hole suddenly appeared on the edge of the box in his scope. His health bar instantly dropped to a red number, and he was immediately startled. He quickly used his skill to retreat while shouting in terror into the voice chat, "The wall can shoot!"

The next moment, at the far end of the mid lane, a "Kai Zhou" pulled out half a body length and accurately placed a bullet in the chest, emptying his remaining health.

With a piercing scream, the enemy wielding the sniper rifle died tragically without even having a chance to fire.

At this point, Akira Kurusu's record had reached an astonishing "11-0".

"Pre-emptive fire? X-ray vision? Automatic trigger?!" The game had barely started when the defending team began losing players. Looking at the enemy team's alarming casualty stats, morale was already crumbling.

Under Akira Kurusu's leadership, they won the game with unstoppable momentum.

He almost squeezed out the full potential of the sentry position, from defending the point to covering the endgame, every detail was done impeccably, and he performed all kinds of amazing "1v4" and "1v5" performances.

During this time, An and Subaru could be heard turning on voice chat from time to time, deliberately praising Lai Qixiao in a sweet voice. The praise was quite frequent, causing the teammates' actions to involuntarily become distorted.

With the countdown to the explosion of the radiant core nearing its end, teammates praised Akira Kurusu, whose score had reached 41-10.

In the public chat, you can also see insults and doubts from the enemy.

After all, they couldn't see the first-person perspective of this "Kaiju," and it was a bit too inhuman for Kurusu Akira to have a KDA of over 4.0 and a headshot rate of over 60%.

The game was over. An and Subaru looked at the few new friend requests on the right and quickly clicked "reject".

Before the game started, An and Subaru, who had boasted of being "Valorant masters," didn't even have a chance to perform and ended up being carried to victory.

Now she was generous with her smile, her eyes sparkling as she leaned close to Akira Kurusu and exclaimed "Wow!" Despite its performative nature, it was impossible not to find her annoying.

Akira leaned back on the sofa cushions, realizing for the first time that dating was such a wonderful thing.

In the midst of ordinary daily life, whether it's studying, playing games, or even just daydreaming, one can feel a warmth that cannot be described in words.

He did not summon the Persona named "Dioscuri," but he could clearly remember her every smile and gesture.

Then, genuinely wanting to be good to her, I couldn't help but share all the interesting things I'd seen and heard, and the beautiful sights I'd witnessed, with her all the wonderful memories I held in my heart.

Regardless of how she reacts, I simply want to do this.

It's like secretly moving a strawberry from a strawberry cake to someone else's plate, or secretly giving up the last bottle of ice water at a convenience store on a hot summer day—a small thing, but you're secretly happy.

"Shall we start another round?" Akira Kurusu reached out and stroked Subaru An's soft, long hair.

She happily took Lai Qixiao's hand, feeling the warmth of his fingertips pass through her hair, and his body heat lingered in her heart, like weaving a beautiful silk that was impossible to look away from.

"That's too much," An and Subaru suddenly forgot their "little fangirl" roles and said in a very soft voice, looking as shy as if they were about to cry. "Just be a little bit nicer to me than usual. If you're this gentle, I'll be completely smitten."

My heart pounded, each beat releasing waves of heat that felt like they were scalding me.

Looking at her flushed cheeks and shy, evasive eyes, Lai Xixiao couldn't help but move closer.

An and Subaru felt Akira Kurusu's breath pattering on their foreheads, so they obediently raised their faces, closed their eyes, and slightly opened their mouths, waiting for Akira Kurusu to take what she wanted.

In this completely private space, belonging only to the two of them, she tacitly approved and anticipated all the bad things that would happen.

The seventeen-year-old girl, immersed in the dazzling information bombardment of the internet, harbored countless fantasies about love. She fantasized about the dashing and noble prince charming, the elegance and thoughtfulness of a gentleman in a suit, and even dreamed of being embraced by Superman and soaring through the skies and diving into the depths...

An and Subaru were fortunate enough to find everything they had ever dreamed of in Akira Kurusu.

......

"The ordered roses can be cancelled."

On the street outside the internet cafe, Maruki Takuto, dressed in a white lab coat, squatted next to a fire hydrant, his phone tucked between his shoulder and ear, and pulled a cigarette case out of his pocket.

He glanced casually at the time on his watch; the young couple had been holed up in the internet cafe for over an hour.

I took out a lighter, lit the cigarette, and a blue flame shot up with a whoosh.

The fire is burning really brightly.

Maruki Takumi thought to himself.

It seems there's no need for me to secretly stir things up between them anymore.

A little closer, a group of teenagers stormed into the internet cafe.

The guy in the lead had dyed blond hair, and his legs under his shorts were muscular and well-proportioned, making him a promising track and field athlete.

Maruki Takuto stared at him for a while, then put the cigarette in his mouth, put down the phone clipped to his ear. It wasn't a smartphone, so browsing the internet took forever with all the keystrokes. Finally, he typed in "Psychic Thieves" and searched. The signal was bad, and the progress bar moved slowly. Maruki finished his cigarette before the webpages finally loaded. He looked at them one by one.

Yes, as expected, the Singaporean and Malaysian patrons have turned themselves in.

Time flies. There should be three official members in the Phantom Thieves now.

Even though all the members have been replaced, and some have even become delicate young women, the phantom thief remains just as excellent and reliable.

Maruki Takuto watched as Sakamoto Ryuji went around the internet cafe counter asking his friends for cash, intending to split the bill.

These high school students were frugal, rummaging through all their pockets, and grumbling about how expensive the internet cafe was.

Unable to resist any longer, Maruki Takuto at the door simply threw his cigarette butt into the trash can next to him, then followed them inside, saying behind them, "It's on me."

"Huh?!" Several boys turned around in surprise to look at the unfamiliar middle-aged man.

Maruki Takuto took out his wallet and counted out a 10,000 yen bill. "These five people are probably here to register for that... Valorant competition? I also want to see what this so-called 'e-sports' is all about, so I'll consider it an investment."

As he spoke, he winked awkwardly at the grateful boys, "If you feel bad, you can give me some of the prize money if you win, okay?"

The sales clerk was also shocked by Maruki Takuto's generous gesture, "You two know each other?"

“I don’t know them, but that doesn’t stop me from investing in them,” Maruki Takuto said nonchalantly. “The word ‘invest’ is a bit inappropriate. It’s more like buying lottery tickets. There are times when I splurge every month, and this is a necessary form of entertainment after work.”

He shrugged nonchalantly, “Smoking hurts your lungs, drinking hurts your stomach, saunas are too expensive, karaoke is too expensive, gambling with mahjong disturbs society, buying lottery tickets is economical and affordable… Hmm, a joke I heard from a colleague before, it fits here quite well.”

Despite saying things like asking for a bonus, Maruki quickly walked out of the internet cafe after handing over the cash, then disappeared from the sight of Ryuji Sakamoto and the others as if he were running away.

The boys looked at each other, and saw in each other's eyes an unprecedented surge of unwavering belief in victory.

Unfortunately, esports is ultimately about skill.

A group of high school students, mostly playing for fun and with generally low skill levels, simply cannot defeat a team composed of "internet cafe mercenaries" who wander around for tournament prize money.

The game ended in a crushing defeat almost immediately after just one round. Ryuji Sakamoto and Yuki Mishima were both filled with regret and despair, realizing for the first time how regrettable and painful it was to lose a game.

"I've disappointed that strange old man!" Kawamura, a student from Class 2-A, cried out in despair.

The atmosphere among the five people immediately became somber.

"We only have five hours of internet left, what are we going to do?!" Mishima Yuki shouted from inside the private room.

"We are no longer qualified to compete," Ryuji Sakamoto said dejectedly.

"I have a suggestion."

"You said."

"We'll go out for lunch, then come back and keep playing ranked games until we reach Diamond rank, where we can further hone our skills."

“That makes sense.” Ryuji Sakamoto nodded seriously. “Let’s strive to become top Valorant fighters for that old man’s sake. Mishima, Kawamura, Ikeda, Ishii… the next time we come back here, it’s to defeat those adults!”

The boys whose names he called nodded in unison, surprisingly finding themselves determined to take revenge.

Yuki Mishima pushed open the door to the private room and was greeted by a beautiful girl who looked like a princess, elegant and virtuous, seemingly waving at him from the corridor—this girl looked so familiar, she was "Anwa Subaru" who transferred from Kawasaki!

Just as Mishima was filled with trepidation, Akira Kurusu patted him on the shoulder and said in surprise, "Mishima? What are you doing here?"

"Ok?"

In the moment that Yuki Mishima was stunned, Subaru An had already run over and snatched Akira Kurusu's hand from Yuki Mishima's shoulder.

She led Akira to the door of the internet cafe, her smile sweet and her beauty dazzling. "Ren, do you want to eat Chinese food? I know a restaurant nearby that serves really good Chinese food."

Yuki Mishima stared blankly at their departing figures. Behind him, the once spirited young men also witnessed this scene, and their boiling passion cooled down in an instant.

"They...were dating at an internet cafe?"

"That legendary Anwa actually went on a date with Amamiya at an internet cafe?!"

"So you really are dating!"

"That damn scumbag guy... He already has Jing Qin, isn't that enough?!"

"Aaaaaah!" Ryuji Sakamoto let out a barely audible wail, "You're all focusing on the wrong thing!"

Everyone turned to look at him in unison. "What did you find?"

Ryuji Sakamoto pointed to the private room that An and Subaru had come out of, "This is 'business class'! The highest-standard room prepared specifically for accommodation!!"

Everyone gasped, watching Lai Xixiao's departing figure with awe and reverence.