Want to be human, but cube-like

If Shoko hadn't repeatedly rejected Alex's suggestion, she would have wanted to fill every alleyway in Ikebukuro with torches.

After all, as long as the brightness is sufficient, there's nothing to be afraid of.

Stepping out of the store and standing on the street, Alex took a deep breath of the fresh air.

"...Ahem!"

Then a car sped by and sprayed my face with exhaust fumes.

"It attacked me!"

Alex, puffing up her cheeks, grabbed the puppet, crouched down, locked onto it, and prepared to deliver a thrusting slash.

"calm!"

Xiangzi, who was standing nearby, was startled and quickly grabbed Alex's arm to stop her.

Xiangzi had no intention of betting on whether the car's metal was harder or the wooden sword in Alex's hand was sharper.

Regardless of which side wins, a whole host of troubles will follow.

Because Xiangzi delayed her, Alex missed the fleeting opportunity to stab him. In just a second or two, the car had already sped away.

"They escaped..."

With her cheeks puffed out, Alex muttered something to herself, a little resentful.

"call……"

Shoko, who was secretly relieved, noticed that Alex seemed a little unhappy, so she tried to change the subject.

"Speaking of which, Alex, I still don't know the name of your burger joint."

As he spoke, Xiangzi guided Alex to turn around and look at his hamburger shop.

"that."

Hearing Xiangzi's question, Alex glanced at her, somewhat puzzled, and then looked up at the area above the entrance to the hamburger shop.

"That... refers to?"

Clearly not understanding what Alex was referring to, she could only look up as well.

"Listen to me, it's that one."

Alex repeated what she had just said to herself, then turned her head in confusion, seemingly wondering why she was still asking.

"that?"

Xiangzi turned to look at her, puzzled.

"The name will be a...no...ne!"

This time, Alex drew out each word and repeated it again, emphasizing each syllable.

Xiangzi was confused for a moment, then blinked and looked at the sign with the words "あのね" on it in front of the hamburger shop that she had been ignoring. Then she looked at Alex.

"so……"

Somewhat uncertainly, they asked aloud.

"What's the name of this burger joint? 【あのね（听说／那个）堡店】?"

This name is so perfunctory!

…………

P.S. Speaking of which, I'd like to ask how everyone posts the images they want in private threads? I only know how to save images posted by others and then repost them myself, but what if I want to post images that no one else has posted? I couldn't find an upload function.

Volume 1: Chapter 24 The New Familiar

Xiangzi remained silent for a while.

She decided to avoid the topic.

So I looked up and followed the sign that read "あのね" (Anone).

There was a crack that stretched all the way to the third-floor roof; it looked real, but the first time...

When he arrived, Xiangzi had already observed it out of curiosity.

The crack looks large, but it's probably an intentional effect; in fact, the structure is very sturdy.

Looking up along the crack, Xiangzi tilted his little head back.

"No matter how many times I see it, I still think this design is too strange."

Then, he whispered something.

"Looks pretty impressive, doesn't it?"

Alex, however, had a different opinion.

She gazed at the enormous hamburger decoration above the hamburger shop, arranged to resemble something falling from the sky and crashing onto the roof. It even featured an inwardly concave and cracked roof and wall effect, which was incredibly realistic. You could even see many pieces of the building scattered on the roof.

If there weren't so few fragments on the ground and no damage found in the burger shop, Xiangzi would have really thought that the burger had actually crashed onto the roof, leaving a huge crater in the shop.

"So how was this effect achieved?"

Xiangzi watched for a while, then asked Alex.

"Ok?"

Alex tilted her head.

You mean that giant hamburger?

she asked.

"Yes, it must have taken a lot of thought, right?"

With just a little thought, Xiangzi could understand that it would be impossible to achieve such a realistic effect without spending a lot of time.

"That's how it came crashing down."

But Alex simply replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Eh?"

Xiangzi was stunned.

"When I first arrived, I saw that the roof on the third floor had been smashed and cracked quite a bit, so I dismantled it and repaired it. Because there were no building materials, I had to tear down all the interior walls on the second floor and use them. Didn't you notice? The second floor was completely empty."

As she spoke, she proudly puffed out her large rabbit.

"Because the materials of the interior and exterior walls are so different, I only used the materials from the second floor to repair the interior walls of the third floor. Although the exterior walls looked very fragile, after I took them down and put them back on, I found that they had become much stronger and could support the structure completely, so I just left it as it was."

As she spoke, Alex reached out and touched a crack on a pillar that stretched down from the roof.

"Don't be fooled by the cracks; they're just a material effect, and the material is still very sturdy."

She turned around and saw that Xiangzi had already retreated dozens of meters away to the other side of the road, looking at her and the hamburger shop next to her with a frightened expression.

His expression was as if he were terrified that the building would suddenly collapse and bury him.

"Xiangzi?"

Alex blinked, looking at Xiangzi across the street with some confusion.

"Anyway! It's getting late, we should go!"

With a somewhat complicated expression, Xiangzi hurriedly called Alex over.

She shouldn't have changed the subject to this burger joint!

The generation gap between people from another world and people in modern society is just too big!

……

After that, the two of them barely spoke to each other the rest of the way.

Xiangzi was still struggling with the question of whether the hamburger shop was a dangerous building.

She was starting to doubt whether she would dare to go in tomorrow.

Looking back now, I realize I must have been pretty carefree to be able to sleep soundly on the third floor of the burger joint last night.

Alex, on the other hand, kept observing the mini-map in her mind the whole way.

She needs to constantly watch out for any red markers entering her minimap.

This is much more efficient than the two of them sneaking into dark alleys.

After all, her minimap can detect a diameter of 431 squares, which means she can observe the current location of all creatures within a radius of 215 meters around her at any time.

This means that as long as she stands on the street, basically every creature within her line of sight, whether or not there are obstructions, will be exposed on her minimap.

"Have it!"

Suddenly, Alex called out softly.

Xiangzi, who had been somewhat absent-minded, quickly snapped out of his reverie.

She gripped the bag tightly in her hand with a hint of nervousness, her eyes darting around warily.

Alex didn't notice Xiangzi's reaction. She focused her attention on the minimap, on the red dot that appeared diagonally in front of her, gripped the wooden katana at her waist, and slowly walked over.

Following the directions on the mini-map, the two gradually turned into a secluded alley.

The orange lights gradually dimmed, and the noisy voices faded into the distance, as if stepping into another world, isolated from the outside world.

"...Thump! Thump thump!...Thump! Thump thump!"

At one point, another sound, distinct from the subtle footsteps of the two, began to come from ahead.

The sound had a very regular frequency, and the first thing Xiangzi thought of was the sound someone would make when bouncing a ball.

Basketball? No, lighter than that. Soccer? No, even lighter... Is it a volleyball?

Speculating on this is pointless; after all, no one would play ball in a place like this.

Even if they did exist, they would probably have been killed long ago.

Xiangzi followed closely behind Alex, glancing sideways at the walls on either side of her. The messy, graffiti-like drawings on them reminded her of the scene she had seen just last night, and her mind began to wander.

The next second, both of them understood how the impact sound was produced.

All that could be seen was a sphere more than a meter tall, constantly bouncing up from the ground, crashing into the wall in front of it with a "thud," then bouncing back, falling to the ground, bouncing up and falling again with two "thuds."

It keeps repeating this process endlessly, meaninglessly, as if it knows neither fatigue nor pain.

The Familiar of the Shepherd Witch

The name on the sphere that appeared before Alex identified it.

[Duty: To receive punishment]

As for the suffix below, Alex is not yet able to understand its specific meaning.

"This...this is it?"

Her voice trembled slightly, and you could tell that Xiangzi was trying hard to suppress her fear. She asked Alex cautiously in a low voice.

"Just like the one that bewitched you that day, it's also a familiar, probably a witch's subordinate."

Alex answered her question softly.

The two did not act rashly. Their goal was not simply to find and destroy these familiars, but to figure out their characteristics and their connection with the "Witch's Kiss".

"However, this is the familiar of the shepherd witch, while the one that day was the familiar of the banker witch. Their duties are also different. The one that day was 'competing,' while this one is 'being tortured.'"

Before leaving, Alex had already explained to Xiangzi that she could see this information, but she also said that being able to see it did not mean she understood what the text meant.

Unraveling these mysteries is what they are doing right now.

Upon hearing this, Xiangzi turned to look at the oblivious familiar, which was still banging its body against the wall.

"To be tortured...?"

She murmured quietly.

Volume 1: Chapter 25 Phantom Sword