Using these rules, exorcising these urban legends, might yield twice the result with half the effort.

Therefore, Hikari specially came to this tallest building in Tokyo, the Richter Hotel, and through Louisa's connections, checked into the top floor.

"Just don't know if it will really work…", Hikari was merely speculating, not certain.

However, he didn't know any formations, couldn't exorcise like some bald demon exorcist.

So he just gave it a try.

If it really came to a fight, he might not necessarily be weaker than this so-called Doll Mary.

Ring~ Ring~

The phone ringtone rang again.

Hikari raised the phone, and this time, he didn't even need to press the answer button, a voice quickly came through.

["I am Mary Miss, I am now climbing the very long hotel staircase, I'll come find you soon…"]

A sinister, pinched voice came through.

Although it still carried that cute lo-oli flavor, because of the creepy and gloomy tone, one wouldn't feel it was cute, instead, it evoked a kind of heartfelt fear.

But Hikari remained very calm.

"Just like the urban legend said, the call frequency from this Mary Miss is indeed getting more and more frequent. Next time… it'll probably be another call in just a few seconds," Hikari held the phone, calmly watching the screen.

Sure enough, after a dozen seconds or so, the ringtone rang again.

["Hello, I am Mary Miss, I have reached the second floor of the hotel."]

Just like before, Mary Miss's eerie call flashed and vanished, the call was about to be hung up.

But this time, in Hikari's hand, a golden arc of lightning suddenly flashed.

—_—

'Zz zz…'

Lightning wrapped around the phone in Hikari's hand, and thin black smoke wafted from the screen.

["Eh?"], On the other end of the phone, seemingly noticing the call didn't disconnect, Mary Miss let out a puzzled hum.

"Reached the second floor already? I hope Mary Miss you can be quick, I can't wait to meet you," Hikari spoke calmly to the phone that now shimmered with strange light.

"Mm…", Seemingly hearing Hikari's words, the lo-oli girl currently inside the second-floor elevator of the Richter Hotel widened her eyes.

Sure enough, just like Hanako had said, this guy is weird, he can actually forcibly prevent her from hanging up the phone, letting him say another sentence.

'But this human, is he provoking me?'

———

"What an arrogant guy, I'll be right at his door!"

In the dim hallway of the second floor of the Richter Hotel, the petite girl dressed in exquisite lo-olita attire, with a doll-like delicate face, showed a hint of anger and began speeding up.

She decided, she would quickly storm upstairs, find that arrogant human, and give him a good lesson.

———

Looking at the phone that could still function normally in his hand, Hikari raised his brow.

"The power of heavenly thunder really does work on these weird things."

Mary Miss kept calling him, and she could call whenever she wanted, hang up whenever she wanted, only say one sentence each time, with all the initiative completely on her side. Hikari didn't really like that feeling.

But the Vajra Demon Subjugation Technique he mastered didn't seem to help her. After all, that technique only enhanced the surface of his body and couldn't travel through phone lines.

However, the heavenly thunder seed, despite not having been cultivated through the proper Five Thunder Law, although not as strong as Vajra Demon Subjugation overall, seemed pretty effective against weird urban legends like Mary Miss.

Hikari had just decided to test it, to see if he could block Mary Miss's calls or something.

And it really worked, he stopped her from hanging up immediately and said another sentence. But that was all.

"Considering it's that guy's urban legend power, getting any effect is already pretty good."

Though he would've liked to transform into some thunder god and zap that cocky Mary Miss on the other end of the line straight through the phone, Hikari knew that wasn't realistic, getting results was already good enough.

As Hikari pondered, the phone rang again.

["Hello, I am Mary Miss, I've reached the third floor of the hotel."]

Just as before, the phone rang and then cut off. Hikari didn't rush, just calmly listened.

Perhaps Hikari's provocation earlier worked, Mary Miss's call frequency was now getting even faster.

["Hello, I am Mary Miss, I've reached the fourth floor of the hotel!"]

["Hello, I am Mary Miss, I've reached the fifth floor of the hotel!"]

Almost every eight or nine seconds, a call came.

And that crisp voice sounded very eerie, giving off a chilling vibe that made one's back go cold.

However, hearing these urgent and frightening calls, Hikari instead smiled faintly.

"I wonder, after climbing so many floors, will Mary Miss faint from exhaustion…", Actually, this idea was something Hikari planned after reading some online info.

That is, in the urban legend of [Mary Miss's Calls].

Mary Miss would walk toward her target's location while calling them.

And when going upstairs, she would also make a call to report it.

So online, some people speculated. If you're targeted by Mary Miss, what if you go to a very tall building? Will Mary Miss die of exhaustion climbing?

Though it sounded a bit weird, urban legends with rules like these might just make sense.

So Hikari gave it a try, coming to the top floor of the Richter Hotel.

And based on Mary Miss's frequent calls, and how she reported every floor she reached, it seemed like his guess wasn't wrong.

"Mary Miss doesn't seem to be able to fly or teleport… constrained by the rules of the urban legend, she must approach me one floor at a time."

"There are ninety-nine floors total. Plenty for her to climb. I wonder if urban legends get tired."

Hikari chuckled, took out red wine from the deluxe suite's cabinet, poured himself a glass, turned on the big screen in the room, and calmly watched a movie while sipping.

Meanwhile, while Hikari comfortably reclined on the soft top-tier mattress watching a movie, in the dark, narrow hotel stairwell, a figure was still diligently climbing in quick steps.

["Hello, I am Mary Miss, I've reached the tenth floor of the hotel!"]

["Hello, I am Mary Miss, I've reached the fifteenth floor of the hotel!"]

["Hello, I am Mary Miss, I've reached the… twenty-third floor of the hotel!"]

["Hello, huff…"]

Perhaps due to the rules, Mary Miss called Hikari every time she climbed a floor, without fail.

Since it was so frequent, Hikari didn't even bother answering anymore, just let it ring by his side.

What surprised and even amused Hikari was, this mysterious, terrifying figure of urban legend feared by many, seemed to actually be getting tired from all the climbing and calling. The voice over the phone started sounding fatigued.

At first Mary Miss's voice was eerie and emotionless, but it began to sound increasingly hurried.

Just like a normal person who had climbed many stairs, even faint panting could be heard.

The time between calls also gradually lengthened, from five or six seconds to over ten or twenty.

Suddenly, Hikari got another call.

["Hello, I… I am… I am Mary Miss, I… I've reached… reached the thirty-first floor of the hotel!"]

After climbing over thirty floors and making more than thirty calls, even as an urban legend, this Mary Miss seemed tired. Her voice over the phone panted as she spoke, even stuttering.

Hearing this voice, Hikari couldn't help but chuckle.

It seemed she heard the human laughter from the other end before hanging up.

———

In the dark hotel hallway, the sound of stomping echoed.

"Damn human! That damn human, how dare he laugh at me!"

"What floor is he even on? I've already climbed so high, why haven't I found him yet? Still higher?"

In the darkness, the lo-olita figure stomped in fury.

"Just wait! When I catch you, you're finished!"

That figure leaned on her little red umbrella, and started climbing the stairs again.

———

On the other side, Hikari quickly received more calls from Mary Miss.

["Hello, I am Mary Miss, I… I've reached the thirty-third floor. Just you wait!"]

["Hello, I am Mary Miss, I've reached the thirty-fifth floor!"]

["Hello, I am Mary Miss, I've reached the thirty-sixth floor! You damned human!"]

["Hello, I am Mary Miss, I've reached the thirty-seventh floor! I'll kill you! Human! I'll definitely kill you!"]

Hearing the increasingly angry and heavily panting voice on the other end of the phone, Hikari was practically laughing out loud.

"So even urban legends… can get tilted…", Whether it was from the stair climbing or hearing Hikari's mockery during the calls, the formerly mysterious and chilling Mary Miss, whose tone carried no emotion and only brought unease, now, each call came full of emotion, her panting voice laced with fury, clearly flustered and angry.

It really seemed she had broken composure.

One piece of evidence:

Originally, Mary Miss only reported her location, like how many floors she had climbed, and would only say one sentence before immediately hanging up.

But now, Hikari had heard this formerly aloof, sparing-of-words Mary Miss begin to ramble, complain, and even hurl insults at him.

"Seems even urban legends aren't omnipotent. They should exercise more too."

Hearing Mary Miss pant like a bull, Hikari lounged comfortably on the bed, flipped over lazily.

The ringtone rang again. Hikari answered the call.

["Yo-you… Hello, I… I am Mary Miss, I've reached the thirty-eighth floor, I…"]

"When are you finally going to reach the top floor? Can you even make it? You weakling."

Before Mary Miss could finish, Hikari suddenly taunted her, cutting her off.

———

BEEP—BEEP—BEEP—

In the dark hotel stairwell, hearing the call get cut off from the other end for the first time, and being mocked, Mary Miss froze.

She hadn't expected that as Mary the Doll, there would come a day someone would hang up on her.

And although she didn't quite understand what Hikari's words meant, the overflowing mockery in his tone made her clearly realize, Hikari was mocking her.

"That damned guy's on the top floor?nThe very top floor?"

"Arghhh! Does he know how exhausting, how hard it is to climb all these stairs?"

"Damn that guy! ARGHHH!"

In the pitch-black stairwell of the hotel, a figure having a meltdown stomped and bounced nonstop, the frilly hem of her lo-olita skirt fluttering up and down.

Mary was truly about to die of rage.

Back when she arrived at the hotel and sensed Hikari's general location, she thought she'd quickly capture this human and avenge her friend Hanako.

[T/N: Imagine, she walked to 99th floor only to see you go back to ground floor via elevator and then she goes back to ground floor, only to see you go back to 99th again, it would be hilarious.]

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