A lake … it was a beautiful lake.
The clear lake water glowed a beautiful blue under the sunlight. Seiji could see all sorts of fish swimming about at the bottom of the lake.
Seiji discovered that he was sitting by the lake, holding a fishing rod in his hand. The fishing line extended far into the lake and was connected to a bobber.
"This is …" He was astonished. Then, he suddenly had a thought …
'I'm fishing.
I'm trying to catch a fish.
Not catching one is a failure.
'… Why am I thinking this?' Seiji was confused.
He wanted to stand up and check out the situation, but … he couldn't move!
He couldn't stand up, let go of the fishing rod, or even turn his head. He was restrained by an invisible force.
Suddenly, the bobber moved, and the fishing line went taut.
'A fish has taken the bait! I have to catch it. ' A voice in his mind told him that.
Seiji reflexively tightened his grip on the fishing rod and tried to catch the fish.
However, the fish struggled violently and forcefully. It swam back and forth rapidly while tugging at the fishing line.
'Damn it! What kind of fish did I catch!? Isn't this too much strength!? '
Seiji gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on the fishing rod with all his might to prevent it from being tugged away.
After struggling like this for a while, he felt his arm begin to ache.
Suddenly, the tugging force weakened.
Seiji instinctively believed that this was an opportunity, so he used all his strength and viciously pulled on the fishing rod!
* Splash!! *
A huge, strange fish that looked like a carp was pulled out of the lake, creating a huge splash of water.
He successfully caught a fish.
The scene before him changed again.
…
After Seiji placed his chess piece down, Shika Kagura noticed that something had happened and immediately cast his Astral Vision.
He saw an incredibly complicated and detailed spell formation appear on the board. A golden-red light swirled around it and wrapped around Seiji's chess piece. The light it emitted enveloped his entire body!
"Brother!" Shika Kagura exclaimed in surprise.
Before he could finish his sentence, the golden-red light wrapped around the other chess pieces and shot them out again.
After being struck by the light, Shika Kagura saw that the scene before him had changed.
She saw Seiji wearing a bamboo hat and a straw raincoat, sitting by the lake with a fishing rod in his hand!
She wanted to call out to him, but she couldn't make a sound, and her body couldn't move either. She could only watch.
He saw the whole process of Seiji fishing.
After he caught the big fish, the scenery changed again and returned to his own living room.
Seiji found himself back in the living room, still sitting by the stove.
What happened just now?
Feeling puzzled, he noticed that the others were looking at him with strange expressions.
"Brother … were you fishing just now?" Little Shi asked.
Seiji blinked.
"Yes … I was fishing by the lake and caught a big fish … How did you know?"
"I saw it," Little Shi replied.
"I saw it too," Feng Wu said.
"Me too," Mika said.
"I saw it too. Brother Harano caught a big fish," said Ling Yang.
Seiji was astonished to hear this.
"You all saw it … wasn't that just my hallucination?"
"It was because of this chessboard," Little Shi told him.
Seiji cast [Astral Vision] and saw the spell formation and the light.
"This board … just what is it?"
At this moment, Mika raised her hand and was about to throw her die.
"Stop! Don't throw it!! "Seiji hurriedly stopped her.
The twintailed girl suddenly regained her senses. Her hand trembled, and the die fell to the ground and rolled over, revealing a "three."
She immediately picked up the chess piece.
"Don't move!"
Seiji wanted to reach out and stop her, but his body was unable to move. Just like earlier by the lake … in the illusory world, he was restricted.
"I … I don't want to move …"
Although Mika said that, her hands didn't stop moving. She moved the chess piece to the third square, which corresponded to a picture of a dancing woman.
The next instant, her eyes became blank.
Right after that, Seiji and the others also saw an illusory scene.
They saw Mika, who was wearing extravagant clothing, standing on a stage. She was dancing clumsily to the melodious music!
Seiji wanted to say something, but he was unable to say anything. He was also unable to move. He could only watch this scene unfold in front of him.
He understood now. This was how everyone else had seen him fishing earlier.
The twintailed girl on the stage seemed quite embarrassed. Her face was flushed red, and her movements were becoming slower and slower. She gradually fell behind the music.
Her dance was terrible … it should be considered a "failure," right?
'Earlier, I successfully fished and successfully returned to the real world. What would have happened if I had failed!? ' Seiji wondered to himself.
Suddenly, Mika tripped and fell over. The dance stopped.
The scene changed back to the living room.
"Mika! Are you alright? "
"I … I'm fine."
As Mika responded, she picked up her chess piece and returned to the starting point.
"If you fail, you have to retreat … that's what it said."
"It?"
"It's like … it's like a voice that directly appears in your mind … that makes you do something …"
Seiji nodded in understanding. Earlier, he also felt like he heard a voice from the underworld.
"Do you feel any discomfort at all?"
"No … when I tripped just now, it didn't hurt at all," Mika told him.
"If I failed, I would simply return my chess piece. There wouldn't be any … negative consequences.
Was this a game?
A board game with Spiritual Abilities that allowed people to experience events in the form of illusions!?
He recalled that he had read some manga or anime in his previous life that had a similar plot, but he couldn't recall which one it was. Seiji could also think of a movie that also had an event that happened when he rolled his die. However, the event in that movie was incredibly dangerous.
By the way, why was the landlord able to bring out such an item!? Or, why would Mika's father leave such an item behind? That father … could the already deceased Uehara -san be a Spiritual Ability user!?
A series of questions kept popping up in Seiji's mind.
He had originally thought that the Uehara family was just an ordinary family, but now there were mysteries to be solved.
Thinking about it more deeply … why did Sakura-san come looking for Mika in the first place? Was that great demon really just doing it out of pure interest? Or was there some hidden reason behind it?
No matter what, now wasn't the time to think about such things.
The game continued!
The next player was Feng Wu.
"I … what should I do?" The blonde teacher picked up her die and wanted to roll it due to a mysterious force. However, she did her best to restrain herself as she nervously asked this question.
Even though she used to be a mafia Grand Mistress, she didn't panic and maintained her calm despite encountering such an abnormal situation.
Seiji looked towards Little Shi.
Shika Kagura shook his head slightly, indicating that he was unable to solve this situation.
Should he obediently continue playing the game, or should he forcefully resist?
Seiji swiftly thought about it and came to a decision.
"Throw the dice, and let's play on," he said clearly.
"Currently, it seems that you won't receive any actual damage while playing the game, but I don't know what will happen if you forcefully resist. Perhaps you'll even get injured, so let's continue playing for now."
Feng Wu nodded and tossed the die in her hand.
The number on the die was 6.
The picture corresponding to the sixth square was … a picture of a beautiful woman bathing!?
Seiji, Feng Wu, Mika, and Little Shi all froze over.
Then, the blonde teacher picked up a character piece.
"Wait a moment! Juumonji-sensei, that's … "Mika said.
"I know … it's fine … if it's Harano-kun …"
Feng Wu spoke in a soft voice as something flashed in her eyes as she glanced at Seiji.
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