The Multiverse: Starting with the Delta of Fate, My Friends Are Going Wild Chapter 8

Chapter 0007: Super High School-Level High Jumper Joins the Chat Group (4K)

Clock Tower, Department of Spiritual Evocation.

"These people are quite interesting."

Leinys revealed a little devil's smile, then turned her head to look at Lin Zhen:

"Are you watching the livestream too?"

"Mm, more or less."

Lin Zhen propped his head on one hand with his eyes closed, while his other hand loosely grasped the air, making adjustments to the small world.

Building a virtual world for the first time wasn't as simple as he'd imagined.

But it wasn't due to a lack of ability.

Rather, it was a lack of "experience."

The time he'd had the Illusion-Reality Dao Fruit was far too short.

In the game, "Kirei Kotomine's" performance wasn't like an NPC—it was that he could only be an NPC.

Lin Zhen's understanding of Kirei Kotomine, compared to the man's actual existence, was quite limited.

Even creating a Virtual Personality would come with some distortion.

So he simply treated him as an AI with a certain level of intelligence, capable of responding to specific situations but bound by rules of conduct.

"But I think the most interesting thing is still this game. I wonder who made it—this is already beyond the scope of magecraft..."

Leinys murmured beside him:

"...Could True Magic accomplish something like this? It should be possible, right?"

"It can."

Lin Zhen gave an affirmative answer.

The current game could be achieved with True Magic, but it would be far more difficult and complex than his method, consuming countless time and resources.

The truly strong lie in using "little" to leverage "much."

With the Grand Dao as the foundation, one could leverage everything—this was the most powerful path.

"But magecraft can only replicate this game itself."

Lin Zhen said: "What lies above it cannot be copied—for example, the aspect of communicating with life from other worlds."

Leinys pondered for a moment, then quickly grasped Lin Zhen's meaning:

"You're right. This game is still within the scope of human imagination."

"But the core of this 'livestream' system, its essence, has already exceeded human understanding. The intermediate process can only be vague."

"Yes."

Lin Zhen nodded slightly, but vague things could be things of uncertain truth and falsehood—and that fell within the domain of his Illusion-Reality, True-False Dao Fruit.

But to refine falsehood into truth, to refine illusion into harmony with the Dao—

He still needed to go and gather materials on-site for greater efficiency.

In the blink of an eye, a phantom figure stepped out from Lin Zhen's body.

The phantom casually waved a hand and said a word to Leinys.

"I'm stepping out for a bit."

Leinys didn't actually hear the sound, yet it felt as though Lin Zhen had spoken to her.

She looked at Lin Zhen, who was still leisurely twirling the prayer beads in his hand, and asked with some suspicion:

"Did you just say something?"

Lin Zhen lifted his eyelids slightly:

"No, you misheard."

Meanwhile, the phantom opened a false door, walked out, closed the door behind him, and glanced down.

He lightly patted his clothes, instantly transforming into a black robe, taking on the identity of the Dao Tian Palace Guide, "Su Ling."

"How interesting."

Inside the room, Lin Zhen sensed the two completely different bodies—this was somewhat like Monkey King's "External Incarnation."

The Dao Fruit truly had endless wonders.

First, let the false body go to Fuyuki City to gather materials on-site.

"Su Ling's" figure blurred for a moment; the false body's current "position" was negated, and it reappeared above Fuyuki City.

He descended slowly, walking through the streets and alleys of Fuyuki City, recording everything he saw, felt, and heard—all of it real.

He did not interfere.

Only observing, measuring, and collecting truth.

A sewer near the shopping district.

"A killer, huh. Coming to hunt on the Tohsaka family's turf, you should have expected this outcome."

Tokiomi Tohsaka, dressed in a suit and upholding elegance, spoke.

At his feet lay the corpse of the serial killer, Ryunosuke Uryu.

"Su Ling" stood beside them, recording the facts. As long as he didn't want them to notice, no one could detect him.

Far away in London, beyond the **.

Lin Zhen drew "true" inspiration from this, crafting the first "blue-quality item" from the game and injecting it in.

[Not a NEET: "Feels like the drop rate's pretty low. I've rummaged through over a dozen trash cans and seven or eight manhole covers, and only got one green."]

[Customer Service Xiang: "Green?"]

[Shinigami Elementary School Student: "He's talking about item quality in the game, right."]

[Not a NEET: "That's the one."]

Kazuma Satou uploaded the item panel he'd just fished out from the school gate to the group.

[Item: Killer's Finale x1]

[Type: Craft Essence]

[Rank: E (Green)]

[Effect: Upon the equipping character's death, allies gain a minor attack power boost and a weak-point attack bonus. However, it easily attracts and provokes attacks from local administrators.]

[Uncle Tony: "Hikigaya?"]

[Hachiman Hikigaya: "Yahallo... what do you want me for?"]

[Uncle Tony: "Feels like this one's for you."]

[Hachiman Hikigaya: "..."]

[Academic School Talented Woman: "An effect that only triggers when a teammate dies... that's too cruel."]

[Not a NEET: "No worries, I'm almost at Hohzuki Academy. I'm sure I'll dig up something good."]

Oh?

Lin Zhen raised an eyebrow slightly.

I just made it, and it's already been pulled out?

Still, it didn't surprise him.

After all, the drop rate he designed was purely random, with no separate adjustments.

The item's drop rate was determined entirely by the virtual world and the player themselves.

All it meant was that Kazuma Satou's hidden luck stat was very high.

But even so, Lin Zhen had no intention of tweaking the drop rates or the loot.

If it was his own luck, then let him get the drop.

The joy of gaming is what matters.

Lin Zhen was just a game maker. His primary goal was to make people have fun; expanding influence came second.

He wasn't here to be some scummy game designer.

To put it bluntly, he lacked for nothing now.

As things stood, Lin Zhen was already invincible in this world. Nothing could threaten him anymore. Though he could still go further, there was no rush. He could advance slowly.

Lin Zhen closed his eyes, continuing his meditation, drawing inspiration from his doppelganger, and kept crafting items and Craft Essences to perfect the virtual world.

Rather than restricting player output, it was better to make enough items and build the world thoroughly enough to release an official version, letting dozens of people duke it out in a free-for-all.

Leinys looked up at him, simply assuming he was also watching the livestream and trying to analyze this mysterious thing.

This was Lin Zhen's usual demeanor. The more something intrigued him, the calmer he appeared, then he'd advance coolly and methodically.

So she suspected nothing.

Leinys turned back to continue watching the stream.

This new form of entertainment—livestreaming with danmaku—was far too interesting for a traditional mage girl like her.

"Hohzuki Academy."

"Heh heh, a school, huh."

Kazuma Satou stood at the school gate, watching the boys and girls coming and going, a wave of emotion washing over him.

"A little nostalgic."

Kurisu Makise also gazed at these lifelike NPCs with the same nostalgia, but for a completely different reason.

She had barely attended a normal school for a few days before heading off to university, then spent her time in research institutes and academic exchanges across various countries—what she really missed was a youth that had never existed.

Hachiman Hikigaya was the most normal among them, relatively speaking, but even he wasn't exactly ordinary.

In any case, the three of them stood rooted at the school gate, none willing to take the first step.

"Hey."

Kurisu Makise spoke first: "Can't you two gentlemen show some initiative?"

Hearing this, Kazuma Satou shook his head firmly:

"Sorry, but I'm an egalitarian. Don't use that excuse to say something that only benefits you!"

Hachiman Hikigaya looked left at Kazuma Satou, then right at Kurisu Makise. Neither of them made a move, and they seemed to be subtly locking horns.

He sighed, hunched his back slightly, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and shuffled toward the gate with a dejected air.

After Hachiman Hikigaya stepped inside, nothing happened, so he turned back and waved:

"Come on in."

The moment all three of them set foot inside the school.

A black-haired, dark-eyed man walked over, stopped in front of them, and spoke in a crisp, efficient tone:

"Are you students from another school?"

Kazuma Satou asked:

"And you are?"