"Fairy Water?"
"Hehehe, I didn't expect the customer to be so knowledgeable!" The hoarse voice rang out again, echoing in the empty alley. The laughter, like a knife scratching glass, sent shivers down Yoshihiro Shimoda's spine. Staring at the wall, which was still pitch black, a vague fear spread through his heart. Yoshihiro Shimoda instinctively retreated a few steps, putting distance between himself and the wall.
"Yes, I... I want the Fairy Water." His throat bobbed. Yearning showed on Yoshihiro Shimoda's plump face. He vaguely remembered the last time: when he tentatively asked for the item, a withered, skeletal hand emerged from behind the wooden panel without him paying anything and handed him a spray bottle containing pink liquid.
"Hehehe, if that is the customer's wish, then please take it. I hope the customer uses it for the right purpose, hehehe!" The spine-chilling voice grated on Yoshihiro Shimoda's nerves. He fought back his disgust until he saw a bottle containing a shimmering, pink fluorescent liquid emerge from the wall.
He rushed forward in a couple of steps to the bottle, grabbing it quickly without looking at the hand below the bottle, and swiftly retreated. Yoshihiro Shimoda didn't want to stay in this eerie place for another second. Who knew what was behind the wall?
Most importantly, even though Yoshihiro Shimoda now felt fearless because of the power he had, he was still panicked by the unknown. It felt as if what was behind the wall wasn't a person, but something else entirely.
"Hehehe, customer, don't be... so hasty! What's the hurry? Coward!" Yoshihiro Shimoda heard the voice ring out again. Without a second thought, he immediately ran off. Before the person behind the wall could finish speaking, he had vanished from the alley. Unexpectedly, the initially hoarse voice suddenly changed mid-sentence to a slightly playful, girlish voice.
"Hmph! That's the bodily fluid of a Royal Succubus. I wonder which girl will be lucky enough to be exposed to it. I just hope I get a good meal out of it later~" The clear, tender voice came from behind the wall, but her words were cryptic. Although the voice sounded like that of an eleven or twelve-year-old, it was delicately alluring and subtly seductive, as pleasant as a nightingale's song. It made one's heart flutter uncontrollably, wanting to sink into it.
With a loud bang, the wooden panel was slammed shut. The alley returned to silence, only illuminated by the pink light, making it look ambiguous and bizarre.
"Hoo... Hoo..." Yoshihiro Shimoda had run out of the alley. The feeling of being back among the traffic and people instantly relieved him. The absence of the strange atmosphere that had enveloped him made him feel much better. The cold touch of the spray bottle in his hand convinced him that what had just happened was not a dream.
Yoshihiro Shimoda banished everything from his mind. Since he had the crucial item, it was time for his revenge. Yoshihiro Shimoda planned to go to the convenience store where he used to work. He wanted Ho Fei-yu to experience the pain of getting his balls busted, then beat him into a cripple, and finally use the knobby stick to severely punish those two hateful JK girls right in front of him.
Thinking of this, Yoshihiro Shimoda couldn't help but want to laugh out loud again. He felt as if he could already see the two girls being tormented to death, and Ho Fei-yu weeping in pain.
He looked up and surveyed the surrounding buildings, finally finding a billboard with the time displayed below it.
"Six-thirty? They should still be working!" Yoshihiro Shimoda walked toward the convenience store, muttering to himself. He used to make them work until eight so he could watch the two JK girls on the surveillance monitor and satisfy his desires.
The thrill of revenge and abuse urged Yoshihiro Shimoda to quicken his pace. Since being blessed by the deity, he felt his physical fitness had soared. He used to get breathless after just a few steps, but now, after walking quickly for over ten minutes, his breathing was still steady. This power was truly miraculous. He planned to use it for robbery after his revenge to quickly get rich. Yoshihiro Shimoda continued lost in thought along the way.
Finally, he was just one corner away from the convenience store. At this moment, Yoshihiro Shimoda's heart pounded excitedly. He would soon have his revenge.
But the next second, he was stunned. The convenience store was dark, meaning it had closed early. An inexplicable rage surged in Yoshihiro Shimoda's heart. He felt betrayed, like all the work he had done as the former manager had been invalidated and restructured by someone else. The feeling of displeasure was overwhelming, as if he had been cuckolded.
"You idiots!" Yoshihiro Shimoda walked up to the convenience store and peered inside, confirming that no one was there. Enraged, he punched the glass door of the convenience store.
With a loud "Bang!" the glass door shattered, but he didn't care. All he cared about now was the state of his secret base.
If there was anything left in this world that he cherished, it was only two things: one was his former home, where he had piles of his wonton collection, a memory of his good old days; the other was the convenience store's secret base. That also held precious memories for him, such as his patina-covered jar, which contained his accumulated nutrients and was of great sentimental value.
Yoshihiro Shimoda nervously walked toward the secret base. He was afraid his prized possessions were gone. He carefully pulled back the fabric, but the expected fragrance did not emerge. His heart immediately sank. Sure enough, when he fully entered and turned on the light, the room was completely rearranged. It was clean, tidy, and even had a pleasant scent. While this would normally be fine, it was deeply disgusting to Yoshihiro Shimoda. It was like a rat, accustomed to the sewer, suddenly finding itself above ground. Everything was unbearable.
"Clang!"
"Bang!"
"Crack!"
The sounds of smashing were incessant. Yoshihiro Shimoda only stopped when his body felt hollowed out. He slumped to the ground, expressionless, his empty eyes fixed on something unknown. After a single tear rolled down his face, he stood up again. His plump face was eerily quiet, like the calm before a storm.
Yoshihiro Shimoda took heavy steps out of the convenience store and walked calmly toward Mao Nakaizumi's house.
Yoshihiro Shimoda had not returned to his so-called home since he entered the juvenile reformatory in middle school. In his heart, his only real home was that paper house. If it weren't for revenge, Yoshihiro Shimoda would probably never have gone back to that hypocritical house. So what if he tried to defile a girl in middle school? It wasn't like he intended to kill her afterward, and he didn't even succeed!
And those two hateful people who called themselves his parents never visited him once after he entered the juvenile reformatory. Although Mao Nakaizumi had visited him once, he now saw it as mere crocodile tears, probably done only for the sake of the house.