Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The next day, four o’clock in the morning.
When Baishi Shū woke up, the sky was dark and the moon was still hanging brightly on the horizon. It was a perfect autumn morning, with the wind gently rippling through the leaves of the maple trees in front of the temple.
Even though he had just slept for three hours, Baishi Shū did not exhibit any signs or symptoms of sleep deprivation, all thanks to the blessing of Dharma.
This was not a joke nor a belief, but a statement of truth. After Baishi Shū came to this world and did his first exorcism at the roadside, a gush of warm power had formed and surged within his body.
The power constantly grew, so long as he did not abandon his training and sutra recitation, especially the ancient “Vajra Prajna Paramita”, otherwise known as the “Diamond Sutra” that the abbot taught him. With each recitation, the power in his body would double. Not only that, if he applied the knowledge of this world that he learned from school into his monastic training and scriptures reading, the effect would be even greater.
Notwithstanding, the power was not able to enhance his physical ability. It could, however, improve his spiritual power and allowed him to stay energized for a long time. When he was exhausted, he just needed to take a short nap to replenish his lost energy.
The power had also granted him the Divine Eye, an ability that helped him see through physical objects and penetrate the wall between the yin realm and the yang realm. He could carry out various magical feats such as liberating the soul of the deceased or combating demonic threats. All he needed to do was circulate the power and focus it around his palm.
Baishi Shū had once asked the abbot about the power. The abbot told him that it was “Abhijñā”, a kind of spiritual power attainable by Buddhists. Apparently, the power did not exist on the Earth where he previously stayed; otherwise, there would not be so many fake “grandmasters” there.
Since then, Baishi Shū decided to abandon all his bad habits. Before, he was a procrastinator who refused to get out of bed until the last second. Now, after he was reborn as a new person in a new world, he turned a new leaf and led a regular life. With his new-found dedication, he woke up at four a.m. every day before the sun was up. After washing himself up, he would then join the old abbot to pay religious homage and chant scripture in front of the Buddha’s statue, just like the most devout follower of Buddha.
In his former incarnation, Baishi Shū had once jokingly said that if one could achieve success through hard work in real life just like how those characters in the games or novels did, then he would surely go the extra mile to get what he yearned for. Never had he thought that the joke would come true.
“Gili gili eye…”
It was half past seven when the music rang out. The old abbot stuck his hand into his kasaya calmly and pulled out a well worn iPhone. His dry and gnarled hand made a swipe on the screen, and the phone went silent.
“Shinsei, it’s time for you to go to school,” the old abbot said.
“I’ll get going,” Baishi Shū replied after he finished his scriptures reading.
Shinsei was Baishi Shū’s Dharma name. Since Baishi Shū had to go to school and he was a novitiate, he was still using his common name. Right now, only the abbot called him by his Dharma name.
After he had packed up the scriptures, Baishi Shū rose to his feet. He thought for a short beat, and then asked, “Is that… Ikenai Borderline?”
“Oh? You know this song?” The old abbot put his phone aside and turned to Baishi Shū, “I stumbled upon it when I was browsing through some videos last time. It has a catchy tune, so I set it as my alarm ringtone. You’ve heard it before too, Shinsei?”
“Yeah, I’ve heard it once or twice. On that note, you should check out the song “Gokuraku Joudo” as well. It has its own choreography and it’s pretty good too,” Baishi Shū replied.
“Gokuraku Joudo? I will check it out later.”
Baishi Shū waved his hands embarrassedly.
The song was a hit song in his previous world, though its popularity had fallen substantially before he got sent away. It occurred to him that the song had just made its debut in this parallel world, as he often heard people singing the song some time ago.
However, that was not the point. The main point was that even though the abbot was old, he kept himself abreast of the time. Not only did he read comic books and watch anime while reading scriptures, but he would also occasionally accept an invitation to sing at a pub, become a temporary bartender, or work part time as a DJ.
In his memory, the old abbot often stayed out late at night during his childhood. When he did finally return with his paycheck of the day, his clothes would reek of alcohol and perfume, and there would be red lip prints on his cheeks. It was only when the old abbot started growing older that he gradually faded out of such locations. The invitations became fewer and fewer until there were none left.
The life of a Japanese monk was pretty colorful.
No matter how dissolute the old abbot led his life when he was younger, so long as the job he took on adhered to Japan’s legislation and he upheld Buddha in his heart, he was still a monk in the public eye. In comparison, Baishi Shū was different. He was like the black sheep. For two years after being reborn in this world, not only had he forgotten about the plagiarist, which was an occupation that could earn a quick buck, but he also put his whole heart into his training and figuring out how to grow the power within his body, just like an ascetic monk.
“I’ll be heading out now,” Baishi Shū said, looking at the old abbot who was video browsing.
Without raising his head, the old abbot replied, “Take care.”
Baishi Shū felt he had done something wrong. He worried that the old abbot might not be able to handle the song, considering that he was a little long in the tooth.
As Baishi Shū was immersed in his own thoughts, feeling worried for the old abbot, he made his way through the winding cobblestone pathway. Soon enough, he came out of the forest that was situated in the center of Tokyo and returned to the bustling city.
The location of Reimei Temple was too remote, not to mention that the size of the temple was small. If Baishi Shū had not come from Reimei Temple, he would not have known there was a tiny temple next to the Meiji Shrine. This was also why only a handful of worshippers came to pay homage to the temple. Only those who got lost and found Reimei Temple by accident would make incense offerings and put 5 yen into the offering box.
The significance behind the behavior was far greater than its actual value.
Generally, worshippers in Japan would only offer a 5-yen coin to the temple or shrine. This was because “5-yen” had the same pronunciation as “connection” in Japanese. Therefore, to honor the positive connotation behind the word and also to form ties with the shrine or temple, very few visitors would offer more than or less than a 5-yen coin.
This had left those unpopular small temples and shrines in a difficult position.
After all, for those temples or shrines with a greater reputation, a 5-yen coin was sufficient as long as the number of visitors was great enough. Plus, they had offerings and O-mikuji as sidelines to provide extra income. As such, greater shrines and temples in Japan could effortlessly earn a fortune. But what about a smaller one like Reimei Temple?
Reimei Temple did not have many worshippers, to begin with. All passing worshippers would only offer 5-yen coins at most before heading to the Meiji Shrine. Hence, they considered themselves very lucky if they could earn one thousand yen in a month.
What could one thousand yen do in Japan?
The wage of an hourly worker was equivalent to 60 Yuan in China, and was only enough for Baishi Shū to take several trips of public transport.
Shrines and temples in Japan took on full responsibility for the success of their businesses, and the government would not give any financial assistance. For that reason, most Japanese monks had to get a part-time job to make a living and to support their temples, just like the old abbot.
If the old abbot did not go out and earn some money, Reimei Temple might not have walked so far. He would not be able to raise Baishi Shū as well.
Hence, after Baishi Shū was confident that his spiritual power was able to dissipate some minor demons and ghosts in the second year, he began to take on some jobs such as paranormal investigations, and religious ceremonies during his free time to earn some extra cash.
He had never considered becoming a plagiarist, the main reason being that he only had a faint image of the literature in this world. Without a system, becoming a plagiarist only existed in his dream.
Shaking his head to throw the thoughts out of his brain, Baishi Shū paddled his bike faster. Soon enough, he arrived at his high school before the 8.30 am bell rang—Hibiya High School, Tokyo First Junior High School.