Chapter 22: My Boss is a Ghost Lady
This is the first time I’ve ever seen such a strange individual.
I’ve met women with masculine personalities, effeminate men who are more feminine than women, and even a group called ‘neko-shōjo’ who fall somewhere in between.
However, Phil doesn’t fit into any of those categories.
If I had to describe Phil, it wouldn’t be like Mulan, a woman with an imposing aura. It’s more like Hideyoshi Kinoshita from Baka and Test, but without the strange emphasis on being male.
For instance, his chest is almost flat but seems to have a mysterious swell. He doesn’t have an Adam’s apple, but there’s a slight protrusion. His voice is a bit high-pitched, but it can’t be classified as a female voice.
He has no obvious male characteristics, nor obvious female characteristics. He exists in a blurry middle ground, making it impossible to accurately distinguish his gender. Neither visual nor auditory cues can be used as a basis for judgment.
It’s as if… he has no gender.
If humanity finally developed a ‘genderless’ species, it would probably look like Phil.
“Um? Mr. Juncheng?”
“Huh? Oh, sorry. I was staring at you…”
Phil waved his finger in front of me, pulling me back to reality. Realizing my stare was rude, I quickly apologized.
“Is she a woman?”
“Cough!”
Is it really okay to ask that so suddenly!
Hey Nana, why would you ask such a blunt question?
I held back.
I wanted to ask that question myself, and considering your feelings, I think it’s best to wait until we’re more comfortable with each other and pick a good time.
Perhaps Phil has worried about this issue before. Considering Phil’s mood, it’s best to bring it up casually and subtly.
But I never expected Nana to be so direct, just like when she…
Some sort of spell or artifact was used to conceal it.
“I’ve never seen such a strange human. They don’t have yin and yang?”
“As expected, that question has come up.”
Phil tilted his head, blushing, and said with a slightly troubled expression.
“I’m sorry! If I’ve made you uncomfortable, you don’t have to answer. Nana, apologize quickly!”
His expression felt like it was questioning my conscience, and I immediately felt like I deserved to die for asking such a personal question.
I quickly pressed Nana’s head down to apologize with her, but before I could even bow, Phil placed his hand on both my and Nana’s shoulders and smiled.
“It’s okay. Actually, most people who meet me for the first time ask me that question. Mr. Eddie, for example, even asked me for some cells to test his sex chromosomes.”
Hearing this, Nana and I turned to look at Eddie, our eyes widening in surprise and also… what was the result!
“Huh? Oh, that was last year. At the time, I thought I had a gender identity disorder, but after the examination, I found out I was fine and became interested in Phil’s gender. With his permission, I used his epidermal cells to…”
Phil and I don’t know why Nana also joined in, asking in unison.
“Phil’s cell structure is very similar to ours, but completely different. In other words… he’s not human at all.”
“Eh?! Little Phil isn’t human?!”
“Why are you so surprised…?”
You’ve met Phil before, unlike us.
“That’s right, Phil isn’t human, but…”
I finished Eddie’s sentence before he could.
“…he directly stated its essence. That’s the ability of a newcomer… Interesting.”
Eddie’s eyes seemed to gleam strangely, and I suddenly felt like a lab rat. I shivered involuntarily.
Damn, should I have said that out loud?
But Eddie didn’t seem to intend to start his experiment immediately. He changed the subject and continued.
“That’s right, Phil is an angel. You may have heard that angels are sexless beings. Therefore, angels do not marry or have children.”
“Yes. That’s how it is. I am a spirit of service, and I do not have a gender.”
“Are all angels sexless?”
“Not necessarily. Archangel Gabriel, for example, is female. Angels who reach the Upper Third Seat and are no longer subject to temptation can choose their own gender. I’m just an intern angel in the lower ranks, so I don’t have a gender. It will likely be a long time before I do.”
“In the human world, one needs to complete an identity… For now, please consider me male, as I always…”
“However, in the human world, you still need to use the men’s restroom, hehe.”
*Sigh!*
What a shame!
Seeing my distressed look, Nana, who was standing beside me, said to me with a meaningful look.
“Juncheng… you don’t happen to have that kind of hobby, do you?”
“No, I don’t! I don’t!”
“Really not?”
“I…”
I glanced at Phil again. He looked at me with innocent eyes, then gave a sweet smile.
… If Phil were a woman… if Phil were a woman, what could I do? Could I really do anything to her if Phil were a woman?
Speaking of which, why do I still have this thought?
Could it be that the Charm Magic Circle has subtly influenced my mind, and even though it’s removed now, there’s still a residual effect? SE Light Novel
I slapped my cheeks, forcing myself to cheer up.
Wake up, Juncheng An. Does it matter if he’s male or female? We’re going to be friends anyway!
Gender is… not important at all!
Cuteness is justice!
I can’t let my guard down even for a moment. Although the Charm Magic Circle is gone, the influence it had on me hasn’t completely disappeared. I can’t relax until I’ve recovered.
“It’s okay. Please take care of me from now on.”
My spiritual power is now far beyond what it used to be.
That’s right. Of course, Phil, who made me uneasy just by his appearance, is an exception.
“So these are all the members of Class 6? Where is our section chief? Is it Eddie?”
It couldn’t possibly be Nana.
If the section chief were that comedian, I’d leave immediately.
“There’s one more person we haven’t introduced yet – Mr. Shadow.”
“Mr. Shadow?”
Who is that? There’s no one else in the room. Has he gone out?
“Yes, Mr. Shadow has been near you, Mr. Juncheng, since a moment ago. He seems to like you a lot.”
“Huh? Near me?”
Where is he? Why haven’t I seen him all this time? Wait, Mr. Shadow, could it be…
“Ai, turn on the projector.”
“Okay! Watch this, Ai Beam!”
A focused beam of light shot from Ai’s eyes and projected onto the space in front of me.
Then I saw a shadow on the ground beside me waving hello.
…It really is “Mr. Shadow.”
It really is…
[Shadow (Awakened)]
[■■■■■■■]
Even his title is “Shadow,” projected on the ground.
I can’t see his name, but his title is indeed Shadow. I didn’t expect to be able to see even the title of a shadow…
A silhouette on the ground, lying on its side and waving like a lucky cat.
It’s completely flat, like a person wearing a hood and a cloak combined.
“Why does Mr. Shadow look like that?”
I didn’t even doubt the reasonableness of a shadow existing alone. I’m already used to it all.
I can only say that habit is terrifying.
“I heard it’s because he’s been separated from his body for so long that he’s forgotten what his original body looked like.”
“What the heck!”
I **have to** complain about this. As a shadow, he forgot what his original body looked like?
“This isn’t that strange, really. If you didn’t look in the mirror for a long time, wouldn’t you forget what you look like? But as a shadow, he can’t look in the mirror, so he naturally forgot what he looked like.”
Eddie helped explain. Mr. Shadow nodded cooperatively, then spread his hands in a gesture of surrender, indicating he was helpless—though I couldn’t tell which part were his shoulders.
What strange people… No, these aren’t basically humans at all.
So, what kind of person is my boss?
“Our section chief for Class 6…”
Just then, a scream was heard, and at the same time, strange background music began playing from an unknown source, creating a terrifying atmosphere.
Eddie’s computer.
We all turned to look at the source of the sound. The three monitors flickered like an old TV experiencing static.
Then, suddenly, an image appeared. It was a familiar scene.
A woman in a white dress crawled out of a well, and then crawled out of Eddie’s computer screen.
However, the five of us, plus a robot and a shadow, didn’t scream or run. We just watched the woman crawling out of the screen, reminiscent of Sadako.
And I already knew who this person was.
[Earthbound Spirit]
[Grudge]
Eddie was the first to speak. He frowned, looking at the distorted female ghost crawling towards us, and said impatiently.
“Look, Ms. Akiko, can you stop playing these old tricks on my monitor? My displays are quite valuable.”
“Hmm, Little Eddie is so harsh…”
The ghost with long black hair, perhaps realizing she hadn’t scared anyone, took out a hairband and tied up her loose hair, revealing her face.
A high forehead, a beautiful-looking oriental woman.
She floated in front of us, extended her hand, and said with a smile.
“Welcome to Class 6. I am the section chief of the Investigation Department’s Special Cases unit. You can call me Ms. Akiko. As you can see, I am…”
After introducing herself, Ms. Akiko said to me.
“Brother An, if you have already…”
I nodded, indicating that I understood. “…” I would have exposed her right then and there.
Actually, even if she didn’t bring it up, we wouldn’t talk about it. Since she intends to keep her name hidden,
It’s just too ungrateful.
“I already know about you all. So, our Class 6 has finally welcomed ‘three’ newcomers.”
“Wait, three? Who’s the third one?”
My phone suddenly rang.
Who would call me at this time? I opened my phone and saw the name… then hung up without hesitation.
Okay, I know who it is.
It seems the third newcomer is indeed Lanhua.
What is the extent of this guy’s information network? It’s too broad.
…Also, isn’t there no signal in Black Street?
Oh right, I remember calling Lianbing when we went to Xueqing’s house last time. That must have been when the signal was established during the last lockdown.
Meaning she knows everything that has happened up to now?
Ms. Akiko floated to the side and sat leisurely on a table, conjured a cup of tea, and drank it.
“Everyone in Class 6 has something they ‘want to regain’ or ‘want to seek’.”
“For example, Phil wants to regain his body after being separated from it, and the others also have their own purposes, like chasing escaped criminals from heaven to complete his training.”
“What do you want to ‘regain’ and ‘seek’?”
What I want to regain, and what I want to seek…
“What I want to regain is my daily life. As for what I want to seek…”
My mom said I’m like an old man, and I think my personality is suited for becoming a monk.
“What I seek is…”
I really couldn’t think of anything, but I couldn’t just answer anything carelessly.
“Heh heh, don’t force yourself… But since you can’t answer, you’ll be paired with Nana for now.”
“Eh? Me? I’ll be paired with Mr. Translucent? Heh, this is going to be interesting!”
“Wait a minute! Why not me! Let me be paired with Lord Juncheng…”
Nana couldn’t stand it. Of course, she didn’t want to be separated from me.
“Don’t worry, little sister Nana. Listen to me.”
Then she didn’t say anything, just smiled without speaking.
After a silence of tens of seconds, Nana suddenly lowered her head and said, “I understand.”
They must have communicated telepathically. But even Nana, who is so stubborn, could be persuaded. Ms. Akiko seemed to be no simple person either.
“I happen to have a mission for you. Now, listen carefully, Brother An, and Nana.”
Joining an organization means being assigned missions… Well, whatever, there’s a first time for everything. The first mission won’t be very difficult, right?
“…the recent ‘disappearing corpses’ incident that has been happening frequently.”
And so, I received my first mission after joining the organization.
