Chapter 049: The Teacher on His Back

The empty street was desolate. Apart from the sturdy asphalt road, the only structures visible were lampposts, walls, and other solid barriers there was absolutely no sign of water anywhere.

"No faucets,"

"No pools or rivers in sight,"

"Where are we supposed to find water?!"

…

Hina Tachibana was so anxious that she was on the verge of tears.

Listening to the sounds of Lin Ye battling the monster, she repeatedly reminded herself to stay calm, but the growing sense of urgency refused to leave her.

"Lin Ye-kun, wait for me. I'll go check over there."

With that, she immediately turned and started running.

Meanwhile, Lin Ye, timing it perfectly, used his time-stopping ability to widen the distance between himself and the anomaly.

The anomaly, in what felt like the blink of an eye, realized that Lin Ye had vanished.

"Roarrrrr…"

A furious, guttural screech echoed through the air.

Lin Ye attempted to scale a wall to enter one of the buildings along the street, but an invisible barrier blocked his way like an impenetrable wall.

"This really feels like a video game," Lin Ye muttered with a hint of frustration.

"Let's regroup with the teacher first!"

A short while later,

Lin Ye spotted the female teacher, Hina Tachibana, limping and trying her best to walk quickly.

"Sensei, you're hurt."

"I-I'm fine. More importantly, are you okay, Lin-kun?"

"I'm fine."

Under the dim streetlights, Hina examined Lin Ye closely. Seeing that aside from some scorch marks on his clothing, he appeared unharmed, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"As long as you're okay… But I'm sorry, I couldn't find any water. I'm so useless. I even tried climbing a wall…"

But she had failed and in doing so, had twisted her ankle.

"Sensei, your foot…"

"It's nothing."

"It's not nothing."

Lin Ye noticed that Hina wasn't even wearing her shoes anymore. She had walked all this way barefoot. Although she still had her socks on thicker ones at that walking on the asphalt must have been painful.

"I'll carry you."

"No, carrying me will slow you down. He's coming."

Hina turned to see the monster approaching in the distance.

Its grotesque, charred flesh oozed and hissed with every movement, and the sight struck fear deep into Hina is heart.

She realized that if the monster caught her, she would likely be burned alive, reduced to a pile of charcoal.

"Get on."

Lin Ye crouched down in front of Hina.

"Hurry. We don't have much time."

She bit her lip and leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his neck.

It was her first time being this close to a man, and despite the fear and tension, she felt an unexpected sense of reassurance in the solid, steady support of his shoulders.

Lin Ye naturally supported Hina Tachibana's legs with his hands as he carried her on his back. Feeling the sensation against his back, he couldn't help but notice the difference compared to Hoshino Ai.

The older Hina Tachibana had a fuller, softer figure, exuding a charm akin to a ripe, juicy peach.

Not bad, not bad this feeling wasn't bad either.

Lin Ye quickened his pace.

Behind him, the anomaly chased relentlessly, closing the gap between them.

"Lin-kun, put me down! We can't move fast like this."

"Trust me, Sensei."

He broke into a run.

Activating Time Stop,

From Hina is perspective, it felt like a mere blink, and suddenly, their distance from the monster had increased again. All that was left behind was the monster's furious roars.

"This won't work for long. You'll tire yourself out. We need to find water. Otherwise... Couldn't our blood work to stop it? I have more blood than you. Let's use mine."

By now, she had figured out why Lin Ye believed water was the key.

"Let's set aside whether human blood can even kill the anomaly. Even if it could, Sensei, do you know how much blood would be needed? A single donation is capped at 400 milliliters. Losing more than 1200 milliliters at once can cause shock and put your life at risk."

"But if we just keep running..."

Without water in sight, she thought perhaps using their blood could be worth trying.

"I already know where to find water."

"Eh? Ehhh? Where?"

Along the way, she hadn't seen any trace of water.

Hina glanced ahead. The road remained empty, leading to a distant, shadowy abyss that seemed to swallow everything. The sight sent shivers down her spine, and she quickly looked away.

"We're here,"

Lin Ye stopped walking.

Hina is eyes landed on a vending machine by the side of the street.

"Oh, I see!"

"Bottled water from the vending machine!"

As the answer became clear, Hina realized she had been thinking only about faucets, pools, and rivers. She had completely overlooked bottled water.

The vending machine, which had been there all along, was the solution!

"Lin-kun, your observation skills are truly sharp."

"All I did was systematically recall everything we encountered."

Lin Ye gently set Hina down.

Standing before the vending machine, she immediately pulled out a hundred-yen coin from her wallet and inserted it, but nothing happened. The machine didn't respond at all.

She tried several more times, but there was still no reaction.

"How… can this be?"

Hina is face turned pale. The water was right in front of them, yet they couldn't get it.

"Smash it,"

The teacher said angrily, even raising her foot to kick it, but Lin Ye stopped her just in time.

"I still have one more coin."

"But… it's not a coin issue."

Click...

The coin slid in.

Beep, beep...

The vending machine came to life, and with a clunk, two bottles of mineral water rolled out.

Hina was dumbfounded.

What just happened?

Could it be that the machine simply didn't like her coins? That was too much!

Lin Ye didn't explain. He bent down, picked up the bottles, and prepared himself.

By now, he was entirely confident that mineral water was the effective weapon to eliminate the anomaly.

"Watch me now, Sensei,"

"Please be careful. Your safety comes first."

Under Hina is worried and prayerful gaze, Lin Ye once again approached the anomaly.

It, seemingly unaware of the danger, continued grinning. The scorching stench of charred flesh grew even more intense.

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