This was the coffee café's owner.
He was a middle-aged man with an ordinary appearance who seemed rather gloomy. He had dark circles under his eyes.
According to Riho's senses, his "sense of existence" was as high as 2.3.
This so-called "sense of existence" was something that Riho created herself. It was a number that measured how strong a person's "sense of existence" was.
The "sense of existence" of the person she sensed would change depending on the person's location. For the same person, the further away they were from her, the lower their "sense of existence" would be. Different people would have different "sense of existence" at the same distance.
She used Isamu's "sense of existence" at a distance of five meters away from her as a standard unit to estimate the "sense of existence" of people she sensed. This coffee café owner's "sense of existence" was 2.3 times the standard unit! That was why his "sense of existence" was 2.3.
Currently, Riho sensed that anyone with a "sense of existence" of less than 0.5 would appear to be an ordinary person.
As for those with a "sense of existence" above 0.5, the higher their "sense of existence" was, the worse their complexion would be. However, there would also be unusual situations.
Very few people had a "sense of existence" above 2. This coffee café owner was one of them, and he was the only one that Riho could see at a fixed location.
That was why Riho and Isamu came here to observe his situation.
"His sense of existence has increased," Riho said after observing the coffee café owner. "His current" sense of existence "is 2.5 … no, 2.6, and it's still increasing."
"It doesn't seem like anything has changed …" Isamu was unable to observe anything. From what he could see, this coffee café owner was no different from when they first met.
"It'd be best if nothing has changed, but I don't think so," Riho stated lightly.
"You think that he's going to become a monster?"
"Yeah."
"… Then shouldn't we talk to him?"
"Talk about what?"
"Ask him about his physical condition … something like that."
"If a stranger suddenly asks you about your physical condition, how would you react?"
"I know that this would seem suspicious, but you already predicted that he's going to become a monster. We can't just sit there and watch," Isamu stated.
Riho fell silent for a moment.
"You're right," she agreed. "Go ask him."
"Me?"
'Who else could it be other than you?' The girl gave Isamu such an expression.
"I think that it would be better for a beautiful girl to ask …" Isamu looked directly at the beautiful girl's face.
Riho blinked as her face reddened and she averted her gaze.
"Go by yourself." After saying that, she picked up the teacup and sipped on it, showing that she was too lazy to care.
Seeing her like this, Isamu glanced at the restaurant manager, and could only work up his courage and stand up.
Just then, a customer walked into the cafe.
It was a man and a woman.
Both of them were wearing black windbreakers, trousers, and sunglasses, but they didn't look like a couple's outfit. Instead, they looked like they were wearing the same outfit.
The man was tall and had short, beige hair. He held a black phone in his hand. The woman was tall and slender. Her figure was comparable to that of a model, and her dark red hair was tied into a ponytail.
After walking in, the black-shirted woman looked around the room. The black-shirted man operated the phone and held it up, as if he was filming.
Isamu couldn't help but stop when he saw the two black-clad men who were obviously acting strangely. Riho noticed it as well.
The waitress came forward to greet him, but the woman in black indicated that there was no need for that. Then, the man in black stopped moving, and the phone was pointed at the manager.
"It's that …" He immediately showed the screen of his phone to his companion.
He then put away his phone and slowly walked towards the restaurant manager.
The restaurant manager seemed to have a premonition of something, and his expression became nervous.
The black-shirted woman put her hand inside her windbreaker, as if she was holding onto something. She seemed to be on guard.
The black-shirted man walked up to the restaurant manager, showed him some sort of identification, and then spoke.
Isamu couldn't hear what he said because his voice was rather low. He only saw that the restaurant manager's expression was beginning to distort.
"No … I didn't do anything!!" The middle-aged man suddenly shouted loudly.
He then took a step back and clutched his chest. His expression became even more distorted, showing panic, anger, hatred, and other complex emotions. Blood-red runes appeared in his eyes …
"His stat is rapidly increasing," Riho told Isamu in a low voice. "It's now over 3.5, and it's still increasing …"
* Bang! * The black-shirted man suddenly took out a handgun from inside his windbreaker and aimed it at the restaurant manager's head!
This gunshot startled Isamu and Riho, as well as startled everyone else.
Blood splattered everywhere as the restaurant manager collapsed.
Since this was far too sudden, there was one second of silence in the cafe. Then, the waitress started screaming.
However, her scream was immediately drowned out by a frightening sound that came right after.
"Hahahahahah!!!!"
The source of the sound was the restaurant manager who had collapsed.
The middle-aged man's body started glowing red as it rapidly expanded, tore through his clothes, and changed shape …
* Bang! Bang! Bang! * The black-shirted man continuously fired at the restaurant manager. Every shot that hit the restaurant manager's body exploded with red mist.
The black-shirted woman also took out her handgun and shot at the restaurant manager.
Even so, the middle-aged man's transformation continued. His hands swiftly transformed into giant claws that grabbed at the two black-shirted men!
The two black-shirted men were on guard and managed to retreat in time.
"Hurry and run! Get out of here!! "The black-shirted woman shouted at Isamu and the other customers as she reloaded her gun.
The monster began to get up.
"Let's go!" Riho grabbed Isamu and led the way in escaping.
With someone leading the way, everyone else immediately followed. They all screamed in panic as they ran out of the coffee shop.
The two black-shirted men kept shooting at the restaurant, attracting the monster's attention and allowing everyone to successfully escape.
"Let go …" Isamu indicated for Riho to let go of him when they reached the street.
"Since someone's taking care of this, don't even think about fighting," Riho told him.
Right after Isamu said this, he heard a loud bang.
When he turned around, he saw that the black-shirted man had collapsed on the ground. The coffee shop's floor-to-ceiling window had been shattered. Evidently, this person had been hit by the monster and had been sent flying out of the coffee shop through the window!
The black-shirted woman followed after him and called out the man's name. However, the man didn't respond.
The monster stepped out.
Its entire body was dark red. Its body was like a tree trunk, its legs were like tree roots, and its claws were like twisted tree branches. It didn't have a head. Only demon-like bright red runes could be seen on its body. Its entire body emanated a faint red mist that gave off a strong sense of pressure.
This monster was even stronger than the bird-headed monster from last time! Isamu could faintly feel that something was amiss.
The humanoid tree monster walked towards the two black-shirted men. The black-shirted woman raised her gun and shot at the monster while also swiftly retreating.
The tree monster waved its right claw, and the mist transformed into a shockwave that swept outwards. The black-shirted woman tried to dodge, but was still affected by the shockwave. She was sent spinning twice in the air before crashing to the ground and making a pained sound.
There was no time to think about anything else.
'Activate! My power!! '
Something hidden deep within Isamu's body rose up. An owl mask appeared on Isamu's face, and a flash of light transformed into a pair of red eyeglasses. A black windbreaker appeared over his body, and he held an exquisite revolver in his right hand.
Isamu aimed his revolver at the tree monster and fired multiple shots!
"Class Rep, leave by yourself first!"
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