I Can See Health Bars in Real Life

"What are you doing here?"

Suddenly, a voice came from beside her.

"I..."

Yatsugaya Miko’s body froze slightly. She turned her head somewhat numbly, discovering the person she had been looking for was now standing by her side, without her knowing when he arrived.

He was standing quietly under the bus shelter, arms crossed, watching her with gentle and calm eyes.

Or perhaps it wasn’t that he suddenly appeared, but more like he had been standing there all along.

When she arrived, she probably didn’t notice him at first because of the angle. Afterward, her attention was entirely drawn by the two girls and the building, so it wasn’t until he spoke that she realized he was there.

Even though she subconsciously wanted to find him from the start, his appearance still made Yatsugaya Miko feel somewhat afraid. Especially since she had just had a nightmare about him last night, which meant she was still somewhat apprehensive and concerned.

At this moment, the girl with long black hair couldn’t help but shrink slightly under the calm gaze, unsure of what to say.

"..."

"..."

His gaze swept over her calmly, then turned to the building nearby. It looked situated in a bustling area near the city center, seemingly ordinary from the outside, but she could see dazzling spiritual light shining from it.

Numerous glowing characters and strange, mysterious patterns—

were somehow imprinted on the building’s surface, forming layers of barriers and talisman protections.

At a glance, the entire building appeared as an impregnable fortress, especially within the brilliant spiritual light’s range. The entire street was clean, with no evil spirits daring to enter; they all avoided it.

Instinctively, they knew where to go and where not to go.

This was the main reason Yatsugaya Miko had just been in a daze. She wasn’t sure if she had seen this building before, or if it had been there all along, but she had never noticed it. After all, her eye problem and the awakening of her extraordinary spiritual vision had only happened in recent days.

"That’s the headquarters of the Strategy Room..."

Gu Mo casually explained.

"Strategy Room?"

Yatsugaya Miko was somewhat puzzled. She wasn’t unfamiliar with that term, but what was this Strategy Room, and why was it established?

"Oh, I forgot you just got in touch with the Mind Industry... Generally, when we discuss such matters, the Strategy Room usually refers to one thing: the Supernatural Disaster Countermeasures Room. It’s a semi-official organization on your side, specializing in dealing with evil spirit incidents."

Gu Mo thought for a moment and raised a finger, explaining as he waved it slightly.

His choice of words seemed casual, but his tone and phrasing intentionally or unintentionally conveyed a shared understanding, as if it were common knowledge that anyone in this circle should know, providing a preconceived psychological hint.

"Supernatural disaster... semi-official organization..."

The girl with long black hair naturally knew nothing about this. Her expression unsurprisingly froze for a moment, then suddenly turned joyful.

—So, there is indeed a force that can oppose evil spirits?

—Just like those setups in anime, with organizations fighting darkness and protecting the light?

She had perhaps already speculated about this, subconsciously thinking that if evil spirits existed in this world, there should also be forces combating the darkness. She had only recently started exploring this unknown world, so she wasn’t aware.

When the person in front of her spoke of this common sense-like secret with such an obvious tone, it matched perfectly with what Yatsugaya Miko thought, and she naturally accepted this "setting" without suspicion, quickly adjusting her worldview accordingly.

Oh, seems like she has a high acceptance level...

That saves me the trouble of explaining. Gu Mo glanced briefly at the girl who looked delighted, knowing what she was thinking. He pondered for a moment and, seeing her face full of hope as if she had seen the light, kindly chose not to burst her bubble.

The rampant situation of demons and spirits in this world is actually very dire and severe.

It’s unclear whether the mechanism managing souls has collapsed or if it never existed. The increasing population and growing spirit bodies after death inevitably give rise to various problems, like a tangled mess. Violence is a simple solution, but untangling it is not easy.

Even though he possesses godlike power, able to grasp the entire planet in his palm, creating multiple fabricated histories from nothing, manifesting a society of Demon Exorcists that never existed, and adding numerous elements to make the Mind Industry operate as a purification system to curb the proliferation of evil spirits,

this process doesn’t yield quick results, as ecological governance isn’t achieved in a day but requires long-lasting persistence.

Moreover, eliminating evil spirits entirely isn’t Gu Mo’s goal. He doesn’t seek an extreme outcome resulting in either rampant evil spirits or the extinction of spirit bodies but wishes to establish a stable balance, applying patchwork to the abstract and grand macroscopic system of the "world."

Given Yatsugaya Miko’s shocking spiritual vision ability, it’s probably difficult for her to completely rid herself of this visible trouble...

Not knowing this, the long-haired girl felt reassured by the information. She carefully glanced at the young man across from her, and, wanting to confirm, asked: "That Strategy Room, is it specialized in handling these paranormal events?"

"More or less, they’ve always relied on this for a living..."

Gu Mo nodded in a noncommittal manner, and continued looking in the direction of the building over there, seemingly deep in thought about something.

His posture naturally gave Yatsugaya Miko a subtle hint, and she suddenly had a kind of epiphany, or rather a flash of insight that connected the clues of the situation together... Looking at the young man across from her, it seemed like he had been standing here all this time just to observe that building in the distance?

So does this mean—

This person might also be here for that Strategy Room, which is why he’s been wandering in this area lately?

She subconsciously thought so, feeling that this must be the case, her heart was greatly relieved in an instant. It seemed the other party hadn’t been targeting her from the start, nor had any ulterior motives, but purely by coincidence, she just happened to meet them here?

The girl vaguely gave rise to such thoughts, finding an explanation so she believed them even more firmly.

Yatsugaya Miko glanced at the building again, then summoned her courage to look directly at the young man across, hesitantly speaking: "Um, do you have time now..."

......

...

"D-damn it..."

From behind a distant utility pole, her younger brother peeked out angrily, reacting with a disbelieving fury.

He was so angry that his whole body shook, because not only did his bad premonition really become reality, it was even worse than he initially imagined!

"How could she... how could she..."

From the end of school, Yotsuya Kousuke had been meticulously following along, worrying that his sister Yatsugaya Miko might encounter something unpleasant, very very concerned... And witnessing everything along the way seemed to gradually confirm his worries.

His typically calm and composed sister always exuding a reassuring tranquility.

But today, since leaving school, she had been in a rush, so eager not knowing who she’s meeting... This made Yotsuya Kousuke very jealous, feeling a sense of crisis as if his sister was really being taken away, making him extremely anxious.

And the subsequent scenarios just made him more and more angry and furious, because having followed her here, he saw with his own eyes his sister behaving so anxious and restless, completely unlike herself, not retaining her usual calm, displaying clear signs of unease throughout.

Upon arriving here and being called by that person, her body instinctively trembled...

Then during the conversation, it was clearly showing an overly cautious demeanor...

Finally, just moments ago, when she wanted to say something, she needed to take a deep breath and muster the courage to make a request...

—Doesn’t this clearly imply something!? How could it be anything other than obvious!?

Sister... she really got pua-ed by a jerk!!

Under normal interactions, how could it ever show such behavior!! Yotsuya Kousuke was furious and anxious, heartbroken, even though due to the distance and angle, he couldn’t clearly see who exactly the hateful liar was, the sign of the bus stop completely obstructing his view.

But he already conjured up a roughly repulsive outline in his mind! Wishing he could rush over and throw a punch to send him flying!

It can’t go on like this; he must make his sister wake up!

He tightly clenched his fists, angrily emerged from behind the utility pole, only to find that in the time he’d spent fuming, there was no one in front of the bus stop anymore... For a moment, the little boy panicked, anxiously and hurriedly looking around.

How did they disappear so quickly?

Where had they gone, where had they gone?!

Almost instinctively, he recalled the remarks from those supposedly mature girls at school earlier today when analyzing his sister’s situation, saying things like "My sister was like this when she first got a boyfriend too" and "Girls offer their body and soul to those they love"...

Because he’d heard such statements, he reacted and felt growing concern, which compelled him to take emergency tracking measures.

Ah ah ah ah ah, no no! Absolutely not, he must prevent this from happening; he can’t let his sister fall into this jerk’s hands!!

His expression rapidly changed, Yotsuya Kousuke bit his lip forcefully, angrily and urgently searching for suspicious places—

Small alleyways, remote inns, hotels, love hotels...

Where could they have gone?!