End of break

¡¡Hello everyone!!

"I like you!! Please go out with me!!"

"No, thank you. Besides, I'm a man."

"That doesn't matter when there's love!!"

"But I don't feel the same way!!"

What am I doing now?

Well, dear reader, I am once again rejecting another guy who confessed to me on the school rooftop...

Seriously, can someone tell me why this keeps happening to me?

Even when I say I'm a man or give hints that I don't care at all, strangely they keep confessing to me.

Honestly, I want to cry about my situation: no friends, girls considering me a love rival, and men strangely interested in me.

"I-if you reject me to this extent, then there's no reason for me to stop..."

"Huh?"

But when I thought this confession would end like the others, a very bad feeling came over me upon hearing those words.

"H-hey, I want you to see...!"

(BZZZZT!)

"AAAHHHHH!!"

(WHACK!)

But before he could finish speaking, I took out my electric taser using my {"dimensional storage pocket"} technique with one hand to shock him, while with the other hand I took out a frying pan to hit him immediately.

"aaahh...."

(thud)

"Evil has been repelled!!"

That was really close....

<"Wasn't that a bit extreme?">

"That's very naive of you, my dear Echidna."

And to prove my point to Echidna, I checked the pocket the guy was trying to reach into, only to find what I expected in his hand.

"Observe!"

<"I've been with you long enough to know that's a cell phone at this point, you know?">

"It's not a regular cell phone; this definitely must have a brainwashing app."

<"Brainwashing app?">

That's right. What this guy was trying to take out to show me was one of the three things you have to be careful with in this world when dealing with normal people.

You're probably wondering, what are those three things?

Well, let me tell you that while there are many supernatural beings, anomalies, and a large number of etceteras in this world, you mustn't forget that what predominates here is... Eroticism!!

People with dark hearts usually have access in some way or another to something related to these kinds of themes.

And among those, the most common are "possession drugs," "brainwashing apps," and "skin medicine."

The first is the best known, 'possession drug,' which was used by the man who currently possesses Mom's (real) body or by the guys who repeatedly possessed Susie.

What it does is project the user's astral form, allowing them to leave their body and enter the bodies of others to control them, leaving the original person's soul 'asleep' until it is freed from the possession.

Honestly, the ability of this drug is quite unfair, since even if the possessed person's body dies, the 'soul' would continue to exist without problems as long as it can enter another body within a certain time limit, allowing its user to choose between discarding their original body to live the lives of others without the risk of suffering repercussions for what they do with it. But the worst part is that the original people, when they regain consciousness, don't even know what happened or what they did...

Pretty dark, right?

But guess what? The other two aren't far behind either!!

The second is what this unconscious guy lying on the ground tried to use a few seconds ago, called the 'brainwashing app,' which, as its name literally says, automatically washes the brain of its victim.

By showing the application to a person, it allows you to control or manipulate their mind and perception, being able to give them all kinds of orders that they will obey.

But what's terrifying about this application is that it affects the original personality of the victim to the point that even if other people explain to them that they are behaving strangely or that they are being manipulated, they are still incapable of realizing this while they fulfill everything the app user tells them, adapting to their orders.

And the third is probably the worst of the three, known as 'skin medicine,' since its effect is to turn the victim who consumes it into a skin disguise.

Is that all?

Well... sadly no... You see, what happens next is the problem, because once the victim is turned into a skin suit, it can be worn by any person, animal, or thing, and that being will immediately become the victim as they were before turning into a skin suit.

Similarly to the possession drug, the wearer also gains the memories of the person turned into the skin suit.

But although all three have weaknesses—for example, thanks to Echidna, I know you can at least protect yourself from the 'possession drug' by using the defense amulets sold at the sanctuary to avoid being possessed.

Meanwhile, with the 'brainwashing app,' it's enough to avoid looking at the device when it's pointed at you to not suffer the brainwashing.

Or the 'skin medicine,' where as long as you don't ingest it, there will be no problem.

There's a reason why this last one is considered the worst.

The reason is actually very simple, and that is that there is no 'cure' for the transformation into a skin disguise, and at the same time, the skin suit is eternal.

In short, no matter how much time passes or what you do, the original person cannot return to normal once transformed.

In the case of the 'possession drug,' it is still possible to repair the person's life once they are freed, or with the 'brainwashing app,' with enough help and suggestions provided by the government.

But with 'skin medicine,' that is not possible since the process cannot be reversed. The only thing officials can do in these cases is to safeguard the recovered skin suits under extreme security so that they are not used by bad people.

"So, with all that said, do you understand now why I'm kicking it?"

<"Yes, now I can understand. But that leaves me wondering, how is it possible that society hasn't collapsed?">

"Oh, that's easy. There are special departments that take care of that."

Specifically speaking, there are three. The first is responsible for investigating who creates and distributes the possession drug while trying to find a way to expel and contain astral projections.

The second deals with cases of brainwashing victims, giving them therapies to try to break the suggestions they suffer while also seeking to arrest the users of the application.

And finally, the third is one that deals with paranormal phenomena in general. This includes cases of skin suits, which they secure for safekeeping.

These departments often hire people who have suffered because of one of these cases, taking advantage of their resentment to turn it into work motivation, making them very efficient at what they do.

<"I appreciate the explanation without your presumption.">

"I really wouldn't try to give you presumptuous explanations if you told me the important things beforehand."

<"It just seems more interesting this way.">

"¡¡¿Did you just admit that!!?"

<"To everything. So, what are you going to do with him?">

"¡¡¿Are you changing the subject!!?"

(Slap!)

"Ouch!"

<"Focus on the current problem and forget the trivialities.">

"This isn't over..."

But even though it hurts (literally), Echidna is right. I need to concentrate on solving the current problem.

To begin with, Echidna can erase his memories about the application, but even so, that doesn't change the fact that it's installed on his cell phone, and if the application has something like a tracker or some form of tracking, it would be a bad idea to destroy it.

I'm not going to fight an evil organization!!

I mean, I refuse to lose my (relatively) "normal" life in this world to become a mysterious silver knight wandering the wasteland of the "veil" on a horse made of straw dolls with a snake goddess sealed inside me while defending my loved ones fighting in anonymity....

(Slap!!)

<"CONCENTRATE!">

"Haaa...!"

That was close! I almost let my "dark fantasies" take over me....

Although... wouldn't it be a bad idea to try such a scenario?

(SLAP!!!)

"Control yourself, me!!"

I must concentrate and push those (tempting) thoughts back!

I can't leave my problems stored away, ignoring their existence!

"Wait a second... Wouldn't putting the phone in my pockets solve the problem?"

<"It's feasible. Being a separate dimension, they shouldn't be able to track or detect it as long as you don't take it out.">

It turns out I could solve my problems like that...

And with that problem solved, I decided to go back to class to finish the day when...

(thud)

"Oh, sorry."

"Don't worry, there's no pro-....."

(sucking sound)

"Not again.....!"

The student sitting next to me dropped a book that, when opened, sucked me into its pages...