"Huh!"

  Seeing the bus approag, Yotsuya Miko's face lit up with pure relief, as though she had just spotted her savior. Without hesitation, she quickly walked to the bus stop.

  Following closely behind her, Ryuji also noticed the girl's audible sigh of relief.

  Was it really that big of a deal? So happy just to see the bus ing? Ryuji found himself a bit surprised at her rea.

  As the bus came to a stop, Yotsuya Miko hurriedly prepared to board, clearly eager to get away from something. She had thought that once she got on the bus, she wouldn't have to deal with those terrifying things anymore. But as soon as the door opened, her eyes widened in horror.

  There, ihe bus, stood a grotesque monster.

  "Ah!"

  Yotsuya Miko stumbled ba terror, almost g out loud.

  What in the world was this? How could there be a monster on the bus? Her entire body trembled with fear.

  Ryuji, standing just behind her, hadn't noticed anything at first. But then, suddenly, the girl backed up right into his arms, pletely unaware of what had just happened.

  "Are you okay?" Ryuji asked, his hands lightly toug her shoulders, trying to steady her.

  Before he could make sense of the situation, a meical voice suddenly rang out in his mind.

  "Successfully tacted a target: Yotsuya Miko!

  The goldery has been triggered. Do you want to load it?"

  A system? I have a system? I thought I was just some unlucky reinator without any cheats! Turns out I just hadn't met the trigger ditio!

  Ryuji felt a flicker of joy... but a sed ter, something hit him.

  Wait. Did the voice just say Yotsuya Miko?

  Ryuji froze for a moment, then looked down at the girl in his arms. Her distinct golden eyes were filled with tears, and her face had the expression of someoerly terrified like a ered animal. It tugged at his heartstrings.

  So, it really was Yotsuya Miko. No wonder she had looked so familiar!

  "No, I'm... I'm fine!" Yotsuya Miko finally responded, stepping back as she regained her bance.

  " you see me? you see me?"

  The monster on the bus had noticed Yotsuya Miko's earlier rea. It immediately floated toward her, its eyes glinting with malice.

  Yotsuya Miko knew she had to say something to defuse the situation, otherwise things could go very, very wrong. She hurriedly forced a nervous ugh and said, "I... I just stood still for too long, and my legs went a bit numb. I'm really sorry about what happened just now!"

  Though she was terrified, a part of her was also incredibly embarrassed. After all, she had just leaned into a boy's arms. Except for her father, who had passed away, she'd never been this close to anuy.

  Ryuji, oher hand, shook his head. "It's okay."

  If it had been anyone else, Ryuji probably wouldn't have thought much of it. But knowing that this was Yotsuya Miko, and given what he remembered from the anime she came from, there had to be something more to this.

  In that anime, Yotsuya Miko possessed the ability to see horrifying creatures beings invisible to normal people. These monsters wouldn't harm you uhey realized that you could actually see them. As long as you pretended not to notice, you were safe. But judging by her rea just now, there must be something on the bus that was terrifying her.

  Weirdly enough, Ryuji couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

  "Let's get on the bus first," he said calmly, his mind rag with thoughts. If this had been earlier before he realized what kind of world he was in and before the system appeared he might've been more worried. But now that he had a cheat system on his side, what was there to be afraid of?

  "Mm-hmm," Yotsuya Miko replied in a barely audible voice.

  " you see me? you see me?"

  The grotesque entity h nearby seemed disappointed by Yotsuya Miko's casual respos previously menag expression became dull and aimless as it floated back, seemingly vihat it hadn't been noticed.

  Phew! Yotsuya Miko felt a wave of relief wash over her as she followed Ryuji onto the bus.

  There were only a few people inside. Apart from the driver, just a handful of office workers were seated, either pying on their phones or resting with their eyes closed.

  Ryuji found a seat by the window and sat down, while Yotsuya Miko quickly chose a seat a bit further ahead. She immediately pulled out her phone again, pretending to be engrossed in it, but iy, she was trying to avoid looking at the still-lurking monster. Her prew even more hunched over, trying to make herself as inspicuous as possible.

  ***

  'System?'

  Leaning against the window, Ryuji called out in his mind, hoping to hear from his newly-discovered plug-in.

  What had just happened definitely wasn't his imagination.

  Thankfully, a voice responded in his head, bringing a sense of relief.

  "Detected: The host has successfully triggered a gold entry: [Yin-Yang Eyes]!

  Loading…"

  Yin-Yang Eyes? That actually sounded like a good thing, but it robably triggered because of Yotsuya Miko.

  So, if I e into tact with anime protagonists in this world, I trigger abilities like this? Not bad!

  Without hesitating, Ryuji quickly chose to load the new ability. It seemed useful, so why not activate it right away?

  "Wait! What the hell? Yin-Yang Eyes?!"

  Ryuji suddenly realized what was happening, and panic surged through him. Why the hell did I choose that?! Yin-Yang Eyes means I'll be able to see all those creepy monsters! I don't want that!

  But it was too te.

  "Gold entry loaded successfully!"

  In the instant, Ryuji felt a strange sensation in his eyes, followed by a slight sting. He blinked, and a few tears rolled down his cheeks.

  When he opened his eyes again, the entire world had ged.

  The grotesque mohat Yotsuya Miko had beeing to... was now clearly visible to him too.

  " you see me? you see me?"

  The creature's body was grotesquely distorted, with writhiacles emerging from its form, its movements uling and unnatural. It floated from one passeo another, h close to their faces and asking the same question over and ain.

  No wonder Yotsuya Miko had looked so terrified. If I had suddenly seen this thing without warning, I'd probably have freaked out too.

  Deg not to react, Ryuji quickly closed his eyes and leaned back, feigning sleep. He might have gaihe ability to see these creatures, but that didn't mean he had to eh them.

  " you see me? you see me?"

  The monster's voice sounded unfortably close, but Ryuji kept his eyes shut, staying pletely still.

  'System, you've really screwed me over this time. If you don't give me a way out of this, we're both done for!' he cursed internally.

  Thankfully, the system responded right away.

  "Detected: Host has an unused novice gift pack. Would you like to cim it?"

  A novice gift pack? At a time like this? Perfect!

  Ryuji instantly felt a surge of hope.

  "Use it!" he anded without hesitation.