My Girlfriend is an Evil Woman

As Kitahara Hideji closed the door, Ono Yoko let out a long sigh of relief and dismissed the dial pad with “110” on her phone. She noticed her phone’s battery was running low and quickly put it on standby. Then, she cautiously approached the bento box a few steps away.

The bento was still warm, and its fragrance wafted out as she opened it, making her mouth water. She was indeed hungry. However, she resisted the temptation and carefully closed the bento box, stashing it back into her backpack, which she then hid in a corner. Afterward, she hurried downstairs.

Once outside the apartment building, she swiftly moved into the shadows, carefully observing her surroundings. Fortunately, this area was secluded, and there were hardly any pedestrians, which eased her anxiety a bit.

She walked along the street, following the drainage ditch, and softly called out, “Hyakujirou, Hyakujirou…”

“Meow!” Her voice startled a stray cat, and it let out a pitiful meow before darting away.

Ono Yoko patted her chest, then looked around again. “Hyakujirou, where are you?”

“Woof! Woof!” In response to her quiet call, the sound of a soft dog bark emerged from the drainage ditch, and a little puppy came out, wagging its tail, happily approaching Ono Yoko.

She embraced the puppy, exclaiming joyfully, “Hyakujirou, there you are!”

Hyakujirou licked her hand, then nudged his head into her embrace and tried to lick her face.

Ono Yoko pushed his head away, giggling, “No, don’t do that, you stinky thing.”

Playing with the puppy for a moment, she soon realized that it wasn’t safe there. She quickly scanned her surroundings, then carried the puppy and stealthily slipped back into the shadows. In no time, she ran back to the apartment building and returned to her home.

She placed Hyakujirou on the ground and put her finger to her lips, whispering, “Shh, don’t make any noise, Hyakujirou.”

Hyakujirou obediently sat down, wagging his tail, and only made soft panting sounds. He didn’t bark at all.

Ono Yoko retrieved her backpack, took out the bento box, and Hyakujirou’s eyes lit up at the aroma. His tail wagged even more happily, but he remained silent, just waiting patiently.

Ono Yoko placed the bento box lid in front of Hyakujirou, feeling a bit embarrassed as she softly said, “Hyakujirou, it’s probably not poisoned, at most, it might be drugged… If I get drugged, it will be terrible. But if you get drugged, I’ll protect you. So, could you taste it first? I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Onii-san seems like a good person, so it should be safe. Tomorrow, I’ll find a way to get you something delicious to make it up to you.”

Of course, Hyakujirou couldn’t understand her words, but he stuck out his tongue, tilting his head, and his eyes glimmered with anticipation.

“You’re hungry too!” Ono Yoko said, tearing off a piece of chicken and scooping some rice and vegetables onto the bento box lid. Hyakujirou sniffed at it, and his tail wagged like a propeller. His eager panting quickened, and he looked up at Ono Yoko, awaiting her command.

Ono Yoko happily patted his little head and smiled, saying, “Go ahead and eat!”

Hyakujirou immediately lowered his head and devoured the food with gusto, making smacking sounds that only increased Ono Yoko’s hunger. He quickly finished the food, even licking the bento box lid until it gleamed. Ono Yoko hesitated for a moment and then added a little more food, saying, “Let’s share the rest! Eat slowly, I haven’t had anything, and there’s no more left.”

Hyakujirou was just a little puppy, probably about two or three months old. After eating half of the bento, he was content, licking the oil off his mouth. He rubbed against Ono Yoko’s feet, and she picked him up, gently stroking his back and occasionally scratching his belly to keep him comfortable.

“Hyakujirou, how have you been on the streets? Don’t wander around too much, be careful of cars, and don’t fight with other dogs. If you encounter the dog catchers, remember what I taught you—quickly hide in the drainage ditch, got it?” Ono Yoko spoke softly to the dog as she combed his fur. “I probably won’t have my own home for another ten years, Hyakujirou. By then, you’ll be old, won’t you? But you must hold on until then, that’s our promise!”

“Awoo…” Hyakujirou looked up at Ono Yoko, not knowing if he understood or not, but he let out a low growl from his doggy mouth in response.

Ono Yoko played with Hyakujirou for a while longer, and seeing that he was still lively, she put him back on the ground and took out the bento. With chopsticks in hand, she put her palms together and cheerfully said, “Itadakimasu!”

Hyakujirou sat by Ono Yoko’s feet, sticking out his tongue and looking at her as she ate. She continued to teach him, “If my mom comes back later, I’ll say ‘run,’ and you stick to the wall and run without making a sound, understand?”

This time, Hyakujirou didn’t respond but instead focused on her bento. Ono Yoko was vexed, “We agreed to share it, I’m hungry too! Okay, I’ll give you a little bit at the end.”

She separated some rice and put it on the ground, and Hyakujirou immediately rolled his tongue and swallowed it, his doggy eyes filled with delight.

…

Kitahara Hideji had finished eating and carefully closed the disposable bento box, putting it in the trash bag in the bathroom. He looked at the mold on the floor and scratched his head in frustration. When he first arrived, he spent two hours cleaning up the mold, but now it was back again.

Japan has a maritime climate, with high humidity, and this old apartment building was susceptible to mold in the spring. It was unbearable for him. As a person from northern China, he rarely encountered things covered in mold there; everything was dry and clean. Being disciplined, he liked things to be neat and tidy, so the presence of mold made him extremely uncomfortable.

He used a brush to clean some visible spots, but it didn’t do much. He sighed, put down the brush, and went outside. Picking up his phone, he opened his schedule and considered whether to allocate more time for cleaning on the weekend.

After some contemplation, he decided to give another two hours on the weekend to deal with the mold and then rearranged his schedule, dedicating all his free time during the week to practicing Sword Technique.

With his Energy Value almost fully recovered, he picked up his wooden sword and began his practice. As the skill level of “Ancient Swordsmanship” increased, his understanding of Sword Technique seemed to become clearer.

The “Suburi” practice involved raising the sword above his head to about a forty-five-degree angle, advancing while sending power, and then performing a downward slash. At a certain point, he would retract the power and step back. The exact point of retraction varied depending on the school of swordsmanship, some ending the slash at the chest or abdomen, while others struck down fully without mercy.

The purpose of this training was manifold: getting accustomed to the correct grip, enhancing arm strength, practicing power generation, building endurance, but most importantly, mastering control. Not every strike could land on an opponent, and without that point of retraction, one could get caught off guard and defenseless if a strike missed and they failed to recover in time.

This can be considered the basic training of Japan Sword Technique, and it should be continuous from start to finish.

The small room was quite stuffy, and Kitahara Hideji was soon covered in sweat again. His muscles, which hadn’t fully rested, were now filled with lactic acid, causing unbearable soreness. However, he continued to swing the sword with unwavering determination – with such excellent conditions, not putting in effort would be foolish!

As they say, no pain, no gain. If he wanted to succeed, he had to sweat first! There was no one to rely on; he couldn’t just wait for a windfall from the sky!

He didn’t know how much time had passed when his left hand’s ring finger and little finger, responsible for controlling the sword, became weak, and the Training Stick slipped from his hand. Kitahara Hideji glanced at the experience points in the lower left corner and found that “Ancient Swordsmanship” was still at LV5.

There was nothing he could do; in the game, skills were relatively easy to level up in the early stages. However, after players experienced the benefits of the skills, they became more challenging to level up, either requiring extensive grinding or spending money – it was one of the tricks game developers used to entice players to spend.

His “Japanese” skill reached LV5 by repeatedly practicing the hiragana and katakana charts for experience points, and then he accumulated experience through daily conversations, reaching LV7. However, for Sword Technique, he intended to level it up quickly, so he knew he had to work doubly hard.

He sat down, gasping for breath, and picked up the books on “shōheihō,” intending to read them carefully. However, at that moment, a loud noise came from outside, followed by a series of curses.