Chapter 7
He looked like a very ordinary middle-aged man, with wrinkles on his face just like any normal person.
"This bus is a monster, it will safely take us to our destination."
"Mon...ster?!"
Minato was stunned for a moment, what the hell, a monster.
He looked at the surrounding environment; if this driver wasn't lying, then he was currently inside a monster's belly.
Eww~ Thinking about it is disgusting.
Wait, if Kamishiro Rize's constipation was really cured just now?
Forget it, forget it, I dare not think about it.
No wonder the driver kept restricting them earlier.
The battle just now didn't just affect Kamishiro Rize, he was restricted along with her.
That thing of his, similar to a cheat, couldn't be used.
"Speak, what is your purpose?"
Although Minato was standing casually at the moment, his body didn't relax in the slightest.
It was already very clear that this driver had an extraordinary status.
And he had the power to restrict Ghouls, which was no small feat.
"My purpose has always been very clear: to invite you to enroll."
The driver handed Minato an admission letter.
Minato asked: "Enroll? That Yanghai Academy?"
The Old Driver nodded.
Minato didn't take the letter and said: "I'm already in my twenties, not a student."
The admission letter suddenly turned black—it became an employment offer.
"Uh... that's quite something."
Minato watched this scene, speechless for a moment.
The Old Driver stared at him intensely: "You don't need to go now, just come when you are willing."
He seemed to have compromised.
Hearing the Old Driver say this, Minato skeptically took the letter.
This letter, like the driver, was very sinister.
However, he didn't feel the slightest discomfort.
"Why?" Minato asked, "Why are you so persistent about me joining this so-called Yanghai Academy?"
"Because you possess the power to touch the world, mortal."
The driver's voice was very distant, as if he weren't actually there.
Mortal, the radiance of mortality.
Minato connected these together.
He was thinking about what kind of special nature he possessed.
System? Rebirth, transmigration? Or that strange flame?
"You don't need to overthink it, I won't scheme against you," said the driver.
"I don't think so."
Minato shook his head: "If you really aren't scheming against me, tell me what you know first."
The driver looked at Minato for a while: "I don't know much."
"Heh, that's a nice way to put it."
"I cannot tell you anything, but I can help you unlock some things in advance."
The driver tapped Minato on the head, and a dark purple light instantly illuminated the entire bus.
Minato widened his eyes, feeling as if something had been shoved into him.
No, that's not right! He was being fed.
He was being fed something, something he craved intensely.
He could feel the flame inside his body surging with excitement.
The purple light only lasted for a short moment before ending.
But it took Minato several minutes to recover.
The most intuitive feeling at this moment was that his body had become stronger.
And, that mysterious cheat seemed to be usable inside this bus.
"What was that?"
"The mortality of monsters from the past."
The driver said slowly: "That bit of stuff just now counts as my pre-paid salary; Yanghai Academy welcomes your arrival."
"Is this forced buying and selling?" Minato asked with amusement.
"Then do you accept?"
"Of course I accept."
Minato nodded with a smile; although he was afraid of trouble, he had a very strong interest in these things.
Or rather, he had always wanted to know the truth about his transmigration and rebirth.
Could it be that some big shot was manipulating things from behind the scenes?
Or perhaps, he had the qualifications to be a hero in children's books.
An existence like Minato, afraid of trouble, yet extremely curious, curious about all things mysterious.
The reason he met Takatsuki Sen in the first place was because of the mysterious aura about her.
"Who exactly are you, no, what exactly are you?"
Minato was very curious about this guy's identity.
"Just a passing driver."
Chapter 8
"Young man, we will meet again on the intersecting lines of causality in the future."
The driver waved at Minato through the car window, then drove away and disappeared from this place.
For the first time, Minato truly saw how he left.
The entire bus seemed to be bathed in darkness as it vanished.
"It really is a monster," Minato touched his nose, feeling a bit unreal, "Monsters, Ghouls, what other demons and monsters are there?"
"But now that this driver is gone, I'll have to spend a lot of money on taxis in the future."
Thinking of this, Minato had a bit of a headache.
How should he put it, because this bus was very eerie.
Basically, he used this vehicle for all his trips, and the price could be considered free.
Just now on the bus, he heard from that person that because he had come into contact with enough causality, all outsiders in this world would be expelled.
Including himself.
"Even though I'm an outsider, they aren't kicking me out." Minato stretched while holding his umbrella sword, "Could this thing actually have a use?"
Minato glanced at the passersby; the image of the passersby in his eyes was different from usual.
Flames were burning at their chests.
This flame reminded Minato of an anime he watched in his previous life, Shakugan no Shana.
One of the few anime he watched in the past.
The flames in their chests were very similar to the soul flames in that show.
But that was all.
The driver told him that this represented the flame of the soul.
Representing the past, present, and future of an existence.
The crystallization of his life.
And existences possessing this kind of flame were mortal beings, possessing various desires.
Conversely, gods... do not possess this thing.
With the help of that person, he could now see this flame, and even... grab it.
Minato waved his hand gently, and the blue flame in the passerby's chest appeared in his hand as if guided.
"Is the characteristic of this flame attachment?"
The moment he grabbed the flame, Minato understood the ability of this flame—Attachment.
It could attach flames to weapons, flames like weak water.
'Ding~~'
Minato's system rang rarely.
That radiance of mortality finally showed a difference, or rather, an extra picture appeared.
It depicted something that looked like a human but not quite, and that creature seemed to represent all living things.
If viewed as a human, it became a human; if viewed as a Ghoul, it became a Ghoul...
And at the chest of this creature, flames were burning.
'Unlock existing intelligence—Mortal Fire'
A line of text appeared in Minato's mind.
Mortal Fire is the fire of mortality, possessing the nature of delusion without having realized the truth.
This is the nature of ordinary people, the nature of fools.
Based on desire, therefore, its shape, its color, its power, and its radiance are all different.
He clicked on the illustrated guide, which contained some of the main uses of Mortal Fire.
One of the biggest uses was that he could use these flames to improve himself.
As for how to improve and what to improve into, that was something he needed to explore himself.
"So after all this time, my system isn't some cheat, but a search index?"
Minato didn't know what to say.
He wasn't disappointed, though.
After all, if the system really gave him things and abilities from novels, various anime, and myths, he would be very afraid.
Why?