After was.h.i.+ng up, Saki went to the kitchen to cook breakfast.

As Mayuzumi's good friend, she had stayed over here countless times in the past, and the same could be said for cooking breakfast. She already knew where everything was.

A few seconds after she started cooking, she heard footsteps approaching.

When Saki turned around, she saw the manga author Mayuzumi behind her, still wearing pajamas.

"Saki…" Mayuzumi mumbled, looking weak and teary-eyed.

When she saw Mayuzumi's state, Saki stopped cooking and headed towards her friend. Mayuzumi walked to her and hugged her tightly, letting her friend support her.

Saki gently patted Mayuzumi on the back.

"It's alright," she consoled. "It's just a dream; everything's fine now that you're awake."

Mayuzumi continued to tremble. Mayuzumihugged her good friend tightly and sniffled gently, like a young child who had been frightened but was trying to overcome their fear.

The two of them simply hugged each other for a while. Only after Mayuzumi had finally stopped s.h.i.+vering did she release Saki.

Saki also released Mayuzumi. "You should go wash up. Breakfast is almost ready."

"Okay…"

Mayuzumi nodded and turned around to go to the restroom.

Saki inwardly sighed as she watched her friend.

Mayuzumi started having nightmares two weeks ago, on the second night of the school festival.

At first, she just claimed to have some slight insomnia, but then Saki noticed that something was off. It was only when Saki asked her seriously about it did she learn about the severity of the situation.

Mayuzumi had started having nightmares every night since that day, and the nightmares kept getting worse.

She went to go see a doctor and had some medicine prescribed, but it was ineffective.

Why did this begin? 

All Mayuzumi said was that on the first day of the school festival, she coincidentally ran into a male cla.s.smate of hers from college and fainted when she came face-to-face with him.

Had this incident activated her subconscious fear and cause her nightmares to begin?

But when she met him, they only exchanged a few sentences, and they never even saw that man again afterwards. Even if there was some fear, it should have dissipated by now.

However, Mayuzumi's condition was still worsening.

Saki was extremely worried.

All she could do was to accompany Mayuzumi as much as she could and hope that the situation would get better.

'But if things keep getting worse…' The editor was quite concerned.

It didn't take long for her to finish cooking breakfast.

Saki brought the food to the dining table.

Mayuzumi had finished was.h.i.+ng up and she'd already changed into her casual clothes. She smiled faintly and said good morning to Saki. Since she'd finished was.h.i.+ng up and was now more awake, her complexion had noticeably improved.

Saki returned her greeting. "Harano called me just now, and said that he was coming over to have an important face-to-face discussion with me regarding his novel."

"Harano-kun… is going to come here?" Mayuzumi blinked in surprise. "What could be so important that it needs to be said face-to-face?"

"I don't know." Right as she said this, the doorbell rang.

'It's probably him,' Saki thought. 'He arrived rather quickly.'

Before she opened the front door, she looked through the peephole and saw that it was indeed Seigo Harano.

"Good morning, Editor Yos.h.i.+zawa." Seiji smiled when he saw Editor Yos.h.i.+zawa open the door, and greeted her politely.

"Good morning, Harano. Please come in." Saki invited him inside.

"Sorry for the bother."

"We're currently eating breakfast. Would—"

*Boom!* A sudden m.u.f.fled sound interrupted her words.

Mayuzumi, who was sitting at the dining table, reflexively looked at the source of the sound.

She saw a man wearing a gray cap and a black jacket on the veranda! His face was obscured by a breathing mask and sungla.s.ses.

Mayuzumi was shocked by this sight.

This… was supposed to be the twelfth floor!

'How did he… how is this…'

*Shatter!*

While the manga author was still dazed, the black-jacketed man strode forwards and crashed through the locked window, entering the room!

Without stopping, he walked towards her and reached out with his hand…

"Mayuzumi!!" Saki shouted loudly. She was similarly astonished by this scene, and after she shook off her shock, she rushed over to Mayuzumi.

However, there was someone who was faster than her.

Seiji cast the [Body-Strengthening Spell] on himself, charged at the intruder with amazing speed, and punched!

*Smack!!*

The black-jacketed man's body was distorted by this punch. He flew back through the window again and came to a jarring stop against the veranda's guardrail.

It seemed that he was about to topple over the guardrail, but he managed to catch the edge of the guardrail with his hand and prevent himself from falling.

Unfortunately for him, Seiji immediately followed up with a kick that sent the black-jacketed man flying off the veranda!

And so, the black-jacketed man fell from such a high height just like this.

Mayuzumi, who witnessed all of this up close, was so shocked that she couldn't snap out of her daze.

It was only until Saki came over and hugged her did she finally come back to her senses.

"I… am I still dreaming?" Mayuzumi muttered disbelievingly.

"This isn't a dream." Seiji returned to the room with a solemn expression on his face. "Who was that man?" he asked them.

Both the manga author and editor could only look at him with blank expressions.

Seiji furrowed his brows. "Neither of you guys know?"

Mayuzumi and Saki slowly exchanged glances.

"I don't know him…" Mayuzumi confessed.

"Neither do I…" Saki said. "I don't know any strange people that can suddenly appear like that on a twelfth-story veranda."

They looked towards Seiji again.

"You… killed him…?" Mayuzumi asked haltingly.

"No," Seiji said, "he won't die from such a height; he's…"

Before he finished, there was another boom.

Once again, the black-jacketed man was standing on the veranda.

Seiji and the two ladies were all rendered speechless.

"Hurry up and escape!" Seiji pointed to the door with a finger. "Get away from here! I'll deal with this guy…"

*Smack!!*

He was sent flying by a sudden blow and crashed into the living room sofa, sending up a plume of dust.

"Harano-kun!" Mayuzumi and Saki both shouted in astonishment and fear.

This black-jacketed man was perfectly fine and reappeared after falling off from such a height! He even sent Seigo flying with a single punch! Just what was…

The black-jacketed man turned towards them, the dark lens of his sungla.s.ses gleaming with a cold light.

The manga author and editor were both engulfed by a terrible sensation of fear.

Mayuzumi s.h.i.+vered. 'Monster…'

'We need to escape!' Saki was the first to recover her senses, and she pulled Mayuzumi along with her, intending to escape.

However, the black-jacketed man shot towards them and reached out with his hand to grab Mayuzumi.

He was instantly sent flying backwards by Seiji, who had rushed back over again. The black-jacketed man crashed into the veranda guardrail for the second time.

"Hurry up and go!" Seiji shouted.

"Harano…" Mayuzumi protested weakly.

"I'll be fine!" Seiji insisted. "Leave everything to me!!"

Seiji clenched his fist tightly as he faced the black-jacketed man.

Seiji's tall, broad back was etched deeply into Saki's and Mayuzumi's minds.

Saki dragged Mayuzumi along with her and began running.

Once again, the black-jacketed man attempted to pursue them.

Seiji blocked him, and the sounds of their fierce, intense clash were audible!

"Harano-kun…" Mayuzumi turned around and looked back in his direction with a face filled with worry.

"He doesn't seem like an ordinary person either… he said he would be fine, so let's believe in him!" Saki dragged Mayuzumi all the way to the elevator and pounded on the elevator b.u.t.ton until it arrived.

A few moments later, when the elevator arrived, they got in.

"Where should we go?" Mayuzumi asked.

"There's only one place we can go," Saki replied; "the police station!" 

Seiji was still in the midst of battle.

He had already cast [Astral Vision], which revealed a gray-black mist around the black-jacketed man's body. Ethereal humanoid figures that popped out of the mist at random intervals. To Seiji, it seemed like they were in great pain.

Just what the h.e.l.l was this?

He had no doubt that this man was also a Spiritual Ability user, but the way he was… just what type of ability user was he!?

Seiji didn't know, but he felt that it seemed rather evil. Were those ethereal humanoid figures actually some sort of grudge-holding ghosts?

He remained vigilant as he circled around the room and fought fiercely with the man.

*Smack! Whack!!*

Seiji grunted as another punch slammed into his chest; but at the same time, he managed to kick the man. Both impacts sent the pair flying backwards, shattering many of the more fragile objects in the room.

The interior of Mayuzumi's apartment was now a mess.

In theory, with such a loud commotion, one would normally expect some neighbors to come see what was going on and complain about the noise. But since this was a high-cla.s.s apartment with excellent soundproofing, no such neighbors came.

"They've already gotten far away, and you won't be able to catch them," Seiji said coldly, rising to his feet. "Just who are you? Why have you come here!?"