Genshin Player in the World of Detective Conan

After all, the Flower of Life might represent the blessing bestowed by Naberius, the Ruler of Life. Perhaps it was a blessing of a higher order than even a Genshin Eye.

At Yin Kong's suggestion, Ono Yoko clasped her hands together and assumed a praying posture.

Thump! Thump! Thump...

Zhongli's advice naturally could not be wrong. After Miss Yoko worked hard to picture the Flower of Life before her, she successfully heard her own wildly restless, powerful heartbeat.

If what she had felt earlier had been a gentle spring, then this moment was an eruption of vitality.

Ono Yoko abruptly opened her eyes, feeling as though every part of her body was filled with an exuberant energy desperate to be released.

Seeing the idol's complexion suddenly become incredibly rosy—so much so that it almost felt like she was too healthy—Yin Kong nodded slightly.

It seemed that even an unenhanced one-star artifact had an extraordinarily noticeable effect on ordinary people.

Come to think of it, even a ten percent increase in health could make one feel a tremendous difference. For an idol like Miss Yoko, the boost brought by a Flower of Life far exceeded that.

"Yin Kong, what should I do now?"

Seeing that Yin Kong had yet to give any further instructions, Miss Yoko could not help asking.

She felt better than she ever had before, but precisely because she felt too good, she could not help feeling an unreal sense of anxiety over gaining and losing it.

Yin Kong came back to his senses.

"Mm, it's already over. From here on, Yoko, just do whatever you want. You only need to pray once in a while to maintain the Flower of Life's effect."

"It's really over just like that?"

Ono Yoko still found it somewhat hard to believe. Even when Paimon borrowed the power of Young Barbatos, she had at least signed a cat-servant contract. Did Yoko really only need to pray every so often?

"Really? I don't need to pay any other price?"

Hearing that, Yin Kong could not help laughing. Paimon immediately laughed excitedly as well.

"Hohoho, looks like Miss Yoko is really worried.

"That's right, Yin Kong lied to you. The price of using an artifact is helping me take care of Young Barbatos..."

Only after hearing Paimon say that did the idol finally become certain that there truly were no additional conditions.

Ono Yoko was gradually beginning to understand why Yin Kong spoiled this little Paimon so much.

Besides being incredibly, incredibly cute, her playful banter could always ease people's unease so effortlessly.

Challenge Mode

Seeing that Miss Yoko's face still carried a somewhat lost and bewildered expression, Yin Kong thought for a moment before saying, "In that case, could I trouble Miss Yoko to show Fischl around the city?"

Hearing another unfamiliar name from Yin Kong, Ono Yoko quickly guessed that this was probably another member of the agency.

Sure enough, Klee soon appeared in the apartment.

"The bell of consecration shall ring! The hour of judgment has come! Rejoice, you who call for salvation! Ah, I have already seen the future in which this city submits before the noble Prinzessin! Oh-ho-ho-ho..."

Of the two expedition slots, Yin Kong had originally intended to send Kazuha and Little Deer, the "golden duo."

With their abilities, they might have been able to track down some useful intelligence overnight.

However, considering that ever since Klee had been summoned, Yin Kong had practically kept her in the background the whole time, to the point where she was nearly bored enough to grow mushrooms, he thought it over before Aoyama Nanami got off work and switched Kazuha out for Fischl.

Listening to Fischl's signature laughter, Miss Yoko found herself at a loss for how to respond.

After all, even among the many characters, Klee was especially unconventional.

Ono Yoko naturally knew about chuunibyou. Although Fischl's outfit, manner of speech, and expressions all matched her impression of a chuunibyou girl, since she was Yin Kong's friend, everything she said should be true, right?

Perhaps Miss Fischl really was a princess?

Just as the idol was caught between doubt and uncertainty, Oz offered an explanation at the right moment.

"My lady means that she is greatly looking forward to the upcoming tour."

Though it was already evening, Tokyo's nightlife was lively even in the 1990s.

Miss Yoko exclaimed in shock, "A crow... t-t-t-talked?"

Oz replied elegantly, "Oh, why be surprised by such a trivial matter, my friend?"

Paimon nodded too, speaking with the air of someone experienced.

"Exactly, Miss Yoko. It's just a talking crow. There's nothing to make such a fuss about."

Seeing everyone else acting as though it were perfectly natural, Ono Yoko immediately said in embarrassment, "Sorry, I was ignorant."

Oz introduced himself.

"No matter, beautiful lady. This is my master, Fischl von Luftschloss Narfidort, the Prinzessin from the otherworldly Immernachtreich. I am her familiar, the night raven Oz, Oswaldo von Luftschloss Narfidort. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Fischl covered her left eye halfway with one hand, which emitted a mysterious deep-blue glow:

"Rejoice! To embark upon a journey alongside Fischl, Prinzessin der Verurteilung—your remaining years should be spent taking pride in it!"

Another world? Immernachtreich? The Prinzessin of Conviction?

Ono Yoko's expression unconsciously turned solemn as well. After all, those titles, along with Fischl and Oz's lengthy names, made them sound anything but ordinary.

This Lady Fischl, the Prinzessin, was probably as formidable as Lady Skirk, wasn't she?

Yin Kong smiled and translated:

"Miss Yoko, there's no need to be nervous. Just call them Fischl and Oz."

"That's right, that's right." Paimon nodded and reminded her, "Whenever you can't understand what Fischl is saying, just ask Oz. He'll translate for you."

Oz immediately said, "You flatter me. It is not translation, merely the relaying of Her Highness's will."

Miss Yoko took Paimon's advice to heart, but quickly asked in surprise:

"Paimon, you're not coming with us?"

In her impression, whenever it came to eating, drinking, and having fun, this little one had always been the most enthusiastic.

But Paimon shook her head and said as though it were only natural:

"Nope. You guys go have fun. I still need to keep the Traveler company."

Though she seemingly could no longer be of much help in the current training, as long as she stayed by Yin Kong's side, even sleeping felt more comfortable.

After Fischl and Miss Yoko left together, Yin Kong also began his training for the day as usual.

However, unlike yesterday, he first opened the limited-time event interface and switched [Twelve Trials] from its original [Easy Mode] to the highest difficulty, [Challenge Mode].

Honestly, he was rather curious about what abilities those demon worshippers had gained.

After entering the dungeon, there was still a thin mist and a completely unfamiliar cobblestone path.

But this time, Yin Kong noticed that something was wrong almost immediately.

Resentment, unwillingness, madness...

Merely breathing in a trace of the mist caused countless negative emotions to continuously well up from the depths of Yin Kong's heart.

"These should all be the lingering resentment of those victims before their deaths..."

Zhongli's calm, dependable voice immediately sounded in Yin Kong's mind.

Clearly, there was no need for Yin Kong to fight alone this time.

After all, he had already obtained the real reward. Even if he wanted to drive a Natlan battleship in here and race around, that was entirely up to his mood.

Of course, that was assuming he had pulled those characters already.

"Ordinary people's senses are surely far less sensitive than the Traveler's. So even if they inhale a large amount of mist, they would merely feel irritated and lose their vigilance."

Although Yin Kong steadied his mind, the interference from those resentments prevented him from discerning the footsteps hidden within the mist as sharply as before.

Suddenly sensing something, he whirled around and swept his spear sideways—

A sharp throwing knife was knocked away by the [Black Tassel Spear], lodging itself diagonally in the ground.

Even their methods of attack had become more varied?

Without Zhongli needing to remind him, Yin Kong had already noticed that the knife's color was somewhat strange. It had clearly been coated in anesthetic, perhaps even poison, beforehand.

Yin Kong grew even more cautious, but his opponent this time was evidently far more careful than those in [Easy Mode].

Using the mist as cover, the other party did not rush to launch a sneak attack. Instead, they simply stayed beyond Yin Kong's range of perception, tossing throwing knives to probe him.

Naturally, Yin Kong tried returning the favor, pulling the knives from the ground and hurling them back in the direction they had come from.

But every attempt yielded nothing. His opponent was clearly extremely agile within the mist.

Just as Yin Kong thought this probing would continue, four large words suddenly appeared—

[Challenge Failed].

His expression froze. Only then did he realize that [Challenge Mode] actually had a time limit.

If he failed to eliminate the enemy within five minutes, the challenge would automatically be judged a failure.

It seemed that trying to clear [Challenge Mode] entirely with my own strength truly was overstepping myself.

Once he came back to his senses, Yin Kong did not feel discouraged. He quickly reopened the dungeon.

However, just as he was about to default to bringing in Zhongli whenever all else failed, he heard Kazuha suddenly say:

"Yin Kong, I have an idea. May I give it a try?"

"Traveler, since you can control our bodies in battle, would it be possible to reverse that, and let us control your body instead?"

The four characters assigned to the battle party were all directly controlled by Yin Kong.

However, under normal circumstances, unless a character's consciousness was occupied with an exploration dispatch and unable to attend to both matters, Yin Kong would let the characters themselves control their own bodies during battle.

After all, their combat experience vastly surpassed his own.

They were also far more skilled and flexible in their use of Elemental Power.

Zhongli in particular—Yin Kong seriously suspected that if he were the one controlling Zhongli, then aside from [Impenetrable Fortress] and [Vortex Vanquisher], he would probably only be able to stand there and slug it out with demons.

Still, Yin Kong had not expected Kazuha to want to turn the tables and take control of his body instead.

"That could work, but what are you planning to do, Kazuha?"

Yin Kong gave it a try and discovered that, as long as he was willing to grant permission, he really could let the consciousness of other characters help "take over" his body.

If he was unwilling, he could also cancel the "takeover" state at any time and reclaim control of his body.

But given Kazuha's character, Yin Kong was not worried in the slightest that he might do anything detrimental.

Kazuha chuckled softly and answered, "Because if we do that, Mr. Zhongli and I may be able to skip [Verbal Instruction] altogether and proceed directly to [Teaching by Example]."

Yin Kong suddenly understood.

"You mean, you can pass your combat experience on to me this way?"

Kazuha nodded.

"Exactly. Since I am not a professional teacher, many of my sword techniques and insights cannot be properly put into words, making them even harder to teach to others.

However, if you can personally experience every realization I have in battle, then perhaps your training can yield twice the results with half the effort."

Zhongli suddenly spoke.

"I see. It is indeed an excellent idea. Experiencing it firsthand once will naturally be more effective than listening to another's instruction ten times over.

However, all things have both advantages and disadvantages. If Mr. Kazuha intends to teach in this manner, I believe there is one point that requires particular attention."

Kaedehara Kazuha asked curiously, "Oh? Mr. Zhongli, please enlighten me."