Chapter 780: Existence rating
That individual was the café's manager.
He was an apparently ordinary middle-aged man who had a slightly dark appearance and evident dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep.
In Riho's mental minimap, his "existence rating" was so high that it reached a value of 2.3 points.
This so-called "existence rating" was a term that Riho coined herself. It was a measurement of how strongly each individual appeared on her mental minimap.
The existence rating would change depending on the individual and how far away that person was from her. The same person who was farther or closer to her would thus have lower or higher existence rating, respectively. And, different people who were the same distance from her would also have different existence rating.
When Isamu stood five meters away from Riho, that gave Isamu an existence rating of 1, which Riho used as a standard for people who were spiritual ability users or had something special about them. Meanwhile, this store manager's existence rating was a whopping 2.3, far stronger than Isamu's rating!
Meanwhile, all ordinary people that Riho sensed who likely had no special powers all had existence ratings of under 0.5 points.
Those who had existence ratings of over 0.5 points in her system typically had poor complexions and appeared to be in bad condition. However, there were also exceptions.
Very few people so far had exceeded 2 points in her mental minimap existence rating. This manager was the only one they'd found so far who remained in a fixed location due to his job.
That was why Riho and Isamu came here to this café to pay close attention to his condition.
"His existence rating is increasing right now," Riho said as she watched the manager. "He's now a 2.5... no, he's now a 2.6, and the number is still increasing."
"It doesn't seem like anything is changing about him..." Isamu was unable to tell any difference. As far as he could see, the manager appeared exactly the same as the first time Isamu had seen him.
"That would be for the best, but I highly doubt that's the case," Riho stated calmly.
"You think that he's going to transform into a monster?"
"Yes."
"...Then should we talk to him about it?"
"What exactly would you say?"
"Ask him how he's feeling... something like that."
"How would you react if a stranger suddenly asked you how you're feeling?"
"I know that it would sound suspicious, but you're already sensing that he might transform into a monster. I don't think we should just sit by and watch that happen," Isamu told Riho.
Riho fell silent for a moment.
"You're right," she agreed. "Go and ask him."
"You want me to go?"
'Who else?' The girl looked at Isamu with such an expression.
"I think that a beautiful girl like you would be better suited for asking such a question..." Isamu looked directly at her pretty face.
Riho blinked in surprise and blushed as she averted her gaze.
"You go." She then picked up her teacup and sipped on some tea, acting like she couldn't be bothered.
Seeing her like this, Isamu looked at the manager again and worked up his courage to walk over.
But just at this exact moment, two customers, a man and a woman, walked into the café.
Both of them were wearing black jackets and black pants along with sunglasses. However, it didn't seem like they were a couple wearing matching outfits, but rather that they were wearing uniforms.
The man was tall and stocky with short blonde hair. He was holding a black cell phone in his hand. The woman was tall and slender, with a figure like a model's. Her scarlet hair was tied up in a ponytail.
After the two entered the café, the black-clad woman looked all around the café, while the black-clad man held up his cell phone. It seemed that he was currently filming.
Isamu couldn't help but stop in his tracks when he saw these two black-clad individuals who were clearly behaving in an abnormal manner. Riho also noticed these two people.
A server greeted them, but the woman indicated that they didn't need anything. At this moment, the black-clad man stopped and pointed with his cell phone facing the manager.
"He's the one..." The black-clad man showed his cell phone screen to his companion.
He then put away his cell phone and slowly walked towards the manager.
The manager seemed to sense something as his expression became tense.
The black-clad woman put her hand inside her jacket, seeming like she was holding onto something. She had a vigilant expression.
The black-clad man walked over to the manager and showed him some type of identification. The black-clad man then said something to the manager.
The man spoke in a low voice, so Isamu couldn't hear what he said. Isamu only saw that the manager's expression began distorting.
"No... I didn't do anything!!" The middle-aged store manager suddenly began to shout loudly.
He then backed away while clutching at his heart. His expression became even more distorted, with a complex expression that contained panic, fear, anger, and hatred. Blood-red runes also started appearing in his eyes...
"His existence rating is increasing rapidly," Riho whispered to Isamu. "It's already passed 3.5, and is still increasing..."
*Bam!* The black-clad man suddenly took a gun out from his jacket and directly shot the manager in the head!
This gunshot startled Isamu and Riho, as well as scaring everyone else in the café.
Blood spattered everywhere as the manager collapsed.
Since this all happened so suddenly, everyone remained quiet for a second... until a server broke the silence with her scream.
However, her scream was soon covered up by a far more frightening sound.
"Grack grack grack grack grack!!!!"
This sound came from the collapsed manager.
His body started glowing red and rapidly expanded. His clothes soon tore off as the body changed shape...
*Bam! Bam! Bam!* The black-clad man shot several more times in succession into the manager's body. Every shot resulted in a small red mist explosion.
The black-clad woman also took out a gun and started shooting the manager.
Despite all this, the manager's transformation still continued rapidly. His hands transformed into giant claws that grabbed at the two black-clad individuals!
These two were on guard and managed to dodge in time.
"Run away! Get away from here!" the black-clad woman shouted to Isamu and the café's other customers as she loaded a new ammo clip into her gun.
Meanwhile, the monster started standing up.
"Let's get out of here!" Riho pulled Isamu and led the way in escaping.
With someone leading, everyone else immediately followed after. Many people screamed in panic as they scurried out of the café.
The two black-clad individuals kept firing their guns, attracting the monster's attention. This allowed everyone else to successfully escape.
"Let me go..." Out on the street, Isamu told Riho to let go of him.
"Since someone else is dealing with this, don't think about going to fight," Riho told him.
Right after she said that, there was a loud noise.
Isamu and Riho turned around, only to see the black-clad man had collapsed on the street. The café's window had been shattered, so it was evident that the monster must have thrown him through the window!
The black-clad woman ran out of the café and called out her companion's name. However, he didn't respond.
The monster stepped out of the café.
This monster was dark red and its body resembled a tree. Its legs were like tree roots, and its claws were like distorted tree branches tangled together. The monster didn't have a head, although it had bright red runes in a strange shape similar to a demon's face. The monster kept emanating a faint red mist that gave everyone a powerful pressuring sensation.
This monster was stronger than the bird-head monster from the arcade! Isamu had such a feeling.
The humanoid tree monster walked over towards the two black-clad individuals. The black-clad woman kept shooting at the monster while swiftly retreating.
The tree monster then swiped with its right claw, sending out a mist shock wave that the black-clad woman was unable to dodge. She was hit in midair and twisted several times before crashing onto the ground while uttering sounds of pain.
There wasn't much time for Isamu to think.
'Activate! My power!'
Isamu's hidden power rose up from deep within him as an owl mask appeared on his face. With a bright flash, red glasses appeared on his face as a black jacket suddenly materialized on him together with an exquisite revolver in his right hand.
He aimed at the tree monster and began firing!
"Class President Riho, you should leave first!"