They all khat Megumi rarely joked.

  She would ease them about such things.

  Therefore, the story Megumi told robably true, and Ryuji in front of them was indeed a capable person.

  They couldn't help but feel a sense of respect toward him.

  Even though Utaha usually had a habit of being sarcastic, she wasn't foolish. She knew when to be sharp-tongued and when to hold back.

  "Well, let me see your palms first," Ryuji said without any further ado.

  "I'd like to perform a little palmistry"

  "Palmistry?"

  Utaha and Eriri were still a little hesitant. After all, they didn't know Ryuji well and weren't familiar with his abilities.

  "That's right," Ryuji, already prepared with his expnation, replied calmly. "Through palmistry, I see a person's fortune in various aspects. I want to firm whether you've really entered any of those strahings."

  In truth, with his current Yin-Yang Eyes, Ryuji didn't o look at any palms to figure out whether someone had e into tact with the supernatural. The palm-reading bit was just an excuse ter his talery.

  "Okay," Utaha said, finally deg to cooperate. After gng at Eriri, she raised her hand, it to Ryuji.

  "Then, take a look at mine first."

  "Hmm." Ryuji took her haly. As one of the heroines of an aaha's skin was smooth and delicate, and holding her hand leasant feeling.

  "Successfully tacted a target: Kasumigaoka Utaha! A purple entry has been triggered. Do you want to load it?"

  A purple entry? Ryuji, pretending to be deep in thought, let go of her hand quickly, careful not to e across as too eager.

  "Yours ," he said, turning to Eriri.

  "Alright, alright!" Eriri was clearly a bit nervous, but after seeing Utaha do it without any issues, she felt she had no reason to hesitate. She raised her small hand.

  "Successfully tacted a target: Sawamura Eriri! A gold entry has been triggered. Do you want to load it?"

  Anold entry? Not bad at all, Ryuji thought, nodding to himself as if he was carefully sidering something.

  Lastly, he g Megumi's hand, but no talery was triggered this time. It seemed that the probability ering ary on the first tact was much higher, and subsequent ces would be lower. But there was no rush; there would be plenty of time to figure things out ter.

  "It seems you really have entered something strange," Ryuji said seriously, letting go of Eriri's hand. "Now, tell me what happened during that time."

  "I'll expin," Utaha volunteered. Despite the fear she felt, she wasn't oo shy away and bravely began reting the events of the previous night.

  Although Miko was only listening, she could still feel the dread in the air as Utaha described the situation. Instinctively, she moved closer to hide behind Ryuji.

  "I see," Ryuji muttered after hearing the story. "No wonder you looked shtehat was defierrifying."

  "Was it an urban legend?" Megumi, who had been silent until now, suddenly asked Ryuji.

  "Hm?" Ryuji looked at her in surprise. Despite the calm situation, her expression hadn't ged it was still the same bionless face as always.

  "I also heard about some urban legends that night. Normal people shouldn't be able to see those strange beings, right?"

  The human-faced dog had indeed said that only certain special urban legends could be seen by humans. Normal spirits and ghosts wouldn't be visible to most.

  "I have to say, you were pretty brave at that time," Ryuji praised her with a smile. "Not many people could stay calm in such a creepy situation."

  Megumi didn't show mu response, but a small sparkle of excitement flickered in her eyes, as if the praise had lifted her spirits.

  "If I had to guess, it robably the Skeleton Woman," Ryuji added, drawing from the knowledge he had gained about various urban legends.

  "Skeleton Woman?" The name fused the girls, as they had never heard of it.

  Unlike famous urban legends like the Slit-Mouthed Woman, Sadako, or Hanako ioilet, the Skeleton Woman was retively unknown.

  "In the realm of urban legends, the Skeleton Woman isn't very well known. She's ay that feeds on the energy of boys. Once you receive her token, she marks you, drains your energy, and won't let go. If aerrupts her feeding, she bears a grudge."

  Traditionally, the Skeleton Woman's token was a hairpin, but in the modern era, it was likely updated to something more appealing to boys.

  If the girls had heard this story before experieng the supernatural, they would have dismissed it. But now, they were forced to believe it, having withese horrors firsthand.

  "Are there many urban legends?" Utaha asked. It seemed that the realization of the paranormal had sparked a need for further uanding.

  "There are as many urban legends as there are gods in Japan," Ryuji answered with a wry smile.

  Utaha fell silent. She was well aware that the phrase "eight million gods" in Japanese culture referred to the tless gods, spirits, and creatures believed to exist in the nd, including even stray animals.

  "Since you know it's the Skeleton Woman, you deal with her and remove whatever she attached on to us ?" Eriri couldn't help but interject, desperate for a solution.

  "Yes," Ryuji replied fidently.

  "Great!" Eriri was about to sigh in relief, but then Ryuji added something ued.

  "Two huhousand yen."

  "???" Eriri's happy expression froze in pbsp;

  "Did you really think I'd help you for free?" Ryuji said, his tone casual.

  "Of course not!" Eriri muttered, finally snapping out of her surprise. She knew Ryuji's request was reasonable, but it still took her off guard.

  "Wait a minute, I'll trahe money now!"