Chapter 275

How to speedrun?

"Although the Demon King won't be foolish enough to respond to your appearance on this grassland and be killed by your Peaceful Longbow, you can go find him yourself. Coincidentally, I have a glove here that can be used to slap someone. Although you can't use it, Aqua can." Chen Li took out a glove.

Although Aqua has completely forgotten the Demon King's name, that Demon King will absolutely, absolutely, absolutely never forget Aqua, absolutely never!

Maybe he's calling out Aqua's name every night, and sticking little figures on his cursed doll.

"Hahaha, Satou Kazuma! Want to defeat the Demon King? If you want to defeat the Demon King, then come and beg me!" Aqua suddenly snatched the Slap Gloves, then put her hands on her hips and laughed wildly without restraint.

"... Are you out of your mind? If I defeat the Demon King and can have any wish granted, wouldn't you be able to return to Heaven? Give me back my gloves!"

"I'm not giving it back! I'm not giving it back! If you want the Slap Gloves, you'd better call me 'sir' from now on... Kazuma, you never keep your word. You just agreed to my request, but then you broke it. Do you have any Miraculous Item that make people keep their promises?" Aqua turned to look at Chen Li.

"Yes, friend, yes." Chen Li took out the Forced Transaction Coin.

"Hahaha! Satou Kazuma, do you want me to defeat the Demon King? If so, then from now on you must call me 'Lord' and worship me. After returning to town, you must Aqusis Cult, pray to me three times a day, and when I say I want a dish, you can't resist at all; you have to obediently serve it to me!"

"!!!" Satou Kazuma's forehead veins bulged.

"Even if I, Satou Kazuma, am swallowed by a giant frog or slapped to death by a bear, I would never beg you! You're not using these gloves? Then don't use any of them, you useless goddess!"

"You're not going to use any of them? Fine! Then you can stay in this other world forever and be a shut-in!"

The Forced Transaction Coin instantly glowed with golden light, leaving Satou Kazuma and Aqua completely bewildered.

"???"

"No, buddy..." Chen Li couldn't help but cover his face with his hands when he saw the Forced Transaction Coin take effect.

What have you two done?!

Chen Li wondered if the Stupidity Halo would work on allies, right?

Satou Kazuma, how did Aqua manage to drag your IQ down to the same level as her?

Or does Aqua possess this skill herself?

If you two work together, use the Slap Gloves to slap the Demon King, opening a one-way portal, Satou Kazuma uses the Peaceful Longbow to snipe the Demon King along the one-way portal with the Cleansing Moment, wouldn't that allow you to quickly travel to another world?

One can return to the heavens, the other can obtain the gods' promise—to grant any wish.

Everyone was happy!

"Have you ever thought about this? If you returned to the Celestial Realm, wouldn't you have whatever you want? Would you still need Satou Kazuma to grant your requests?" Chen Li looked at Aqua.

"Oh right." Aqua suddenly realized.

"You... never mind, perhaps this is the choice of Steins; Gate. You can't blame yourself." Chen Li didn't say anything to Satou Kazuma to teach him a lesson.

After all, his teammates are Aqua, what more can you ask for?

"Why are you criticizing me while I'm not?" Aqua, somewhat indignant.

"That's because I've given up on him. Is that answer satisfactory?"

"Hmm, I see." Aqua nodded thoughtfully.

This is the difference between a promising young person and a hopeless case!

"What do we do now?" Satou Kazuma looked at the Slap Gloves in his hand that he couldn't put on, feeling somewhat desperate.

"What else can you do? Go find other people who can contact the Demon King or whose names he has called out before. Until then, just enjoy your adventures in this world. And even though you have Aqua as a burden by your side, with your Stupidity Halo, all your enemies are Aqua. Plus, with the Poké Ball, don't you have the confidence to defeat the Demon King?"

"That makes sense..."

When Satou Kazuma realized that his side only had one Aqua, while the Demon King was surrounded by Aqua, he began to feel sorry for the Demon King.

If even the Demon King could be Aqua, then Satou Kazuma feels even more invincible!

"Oh, right, you said you could make me another Miraculous Item..."

"Oh, just pretend I didn't say anything."

"Ah?"

"I was going to say that you could use the wish you get after defeating the Demon King as the reward for creating the Miraculous Item, but..." Chen Li glanced at Aqua.

"After defeating the Demon King, the gods bestow upon you the gift of granting any wish of the Hero. But whether it's resurrection, wealth, or an ordinary world, the Miraculous Item can provide it all for free. So why not change your wish to something more powerful, like obtaining a more valuable abbreviation!"

"But clearly, this idea has failed..."

"Aqua!!!" Satou Kazuma roared after understanding the situation.

"Don't come any closer, or I'll make a move!" Knowing she was in the wrong, Aqua used a White Crane Spreads Wings move to threaten Satou Kazuma.

"Alright, don't be angry anymore. You should just stay in this world and enjoy your amazing life." Chen Li patted Satou Kazuma on the shoulder.

"Can one really enjoy a life of extraordinary success?"

"Brother Bao. The potential of the Stupidity Halo' is limitless. And isn't adventuring in another world the life you've always dreamed of? Leveling up by fighting monsters, teaming up with beautiful female adventurers, and even getting close to your female teammates while defeating the Demon King... all of these are within easy reach!"

"Alright then." Satou Kazuma nodded reluctantly.

This kind of life sounds pretty good...

The thought that Aqua also couldn't return to the Celestial Realm made Satou Kazuma even happier.

"But then again, how about I use the wish I can make after successfully defeating the Demon King to pay you for creating this Miraculous Item for me?" Satou Kazuma suddenly asked.

"It's not impossible..." Chen Li nodded after thinking for a moment.

Since the other party provides the payment and I forge the Miraculous Item, it's not Equivalent Exchange, so it doesn't matter if it's even a little less equal.

As long as the Miracle Crystal obtained after forging Miraculous Item exceed Miraculous Item Miracle Crystal cost of forging it, Chen Li usually doesn't ask for excessive rewards. In fact, his conditions can be considered quite lenient.

"I'm willing to sign a contract: you forge another Miraculous Item for me, and I will give you the right to make wishes in the future," said Satou Kazuma, holding the Forced Transaction Coin.

"Okay, I agree. What kind of Miraculous Item do you want?"

"Miraculous Item that allows me to freely enjoy an adventure in another world! In other words, let this world become a true online game for me!" Satou Kazuma exclaimed excitedly.

"Isn't the Stupidity Halo enough?"

Chen Li did not question Satou Kazuma's idea, or rather, Chen Li thought Kazuma was incredibly clear-headed.

Now that we've joined the group of Miraculous Item, where we can be resurrected after death and have no worries about food and drink, isn't the most important thing now to defeat the Demon King?

No, of course it's about enjoying the process of defeating the Demon King—enjoying life!

"But I'm about to die of poverty..." Satou Kazuma said sadly.

This is reality.

Real fantasy worlds can't compare to the beauty of online games.

In online games, you can level up simply by diligently grinding and killing monsters. When you log off, you can just leave the game running without worrying about safety.

The reality is that Satou Kazuma can't even afford to stay in a hotel, so he has to live in the stables with Aqua.

But Chen Li, the Miraculous Forger, had no money.

So Satou Kazuma decided to go all out!

"Yes, that's the idea! You want to change the whole world, right? I'll help you!" Chen Li rolled up his sleeves, looking quite excited.

Only by giving the world a grand celebration can Chen Li gain more fame!

"Wait, wait, wait, I mean just me is enough."

"Well?"

"After all, What If everyone's life is on easy difficulty, then what's the point of my easy difficulty?"

"That makes sense..."

"And you can also create a Miraculous Item that you can share with your teammates, just like the Stupidity Halo '. Give some perks to your group members."

"... You've been giving out perks to the group members all this time, you wouldn't happen to be trying to borrow their Miraculous Item for free, would you?" Chen Li glanced at Satou Kazuma and saw through Satou Kazuma's thoughts.

For example, the Peaceful Longbow that Satou Kazuma has been holding and has never returned.

However, considering that other group members didn't actually need to use the Peaceful Longbow, Chen Li didn't bother with the matter.

"It's better to share happiness than to enjoy it alone."

"Good idea... I have a general idea, but no material. I need a term for 'Equivalent Exchange.' Let me think where to find it..."

Chen Li felt that if his "Friends Circle" continued to strengthen like this, it might really become his first Two-star Artifact, or even his first Three-star Artifact.

"Equivalent Exchange? What does this have to do with online games? Shouldn't the entry be titled '[Games]'?"

"Equivalent Exchange means that you will get a reward for your efforts. This allows you to become stronger simply by killing monsters. At the same time, it also allows you to directly turn monsters into money after killing them. This way, you don't have to worry about how to transport the monster corpses back, and you can ensure that you don't waste any of the rewards from the monster corpses. With some other attributes, you can even get extra random loot, just like in online games," Chen Li said.

"Then my [Luck] attribute will be useful, right?" Satou Kazuma was pleasantly surprised.

If you can randomly obtain loot after killing monsters, then Satou Kazuma, who is very confident in his luck, would really feel that the game has become an easy mode!

When Satou Kazuma became an adventurer, the saleswoman told him that he only had high intelligence and luck attributes, and was more suitable to be a merchant because adventurers don't need luck.

But everything is about to change!

"That's right, are you happy?"

"Yes, I'm happy!"

"But as I said before... there is no entry for 'Equivalent Exchange'."

"..."

"Or you could use [Exchange] + [Equal], but it's best to have a higher keyword brightness. Using high-brightness keywords to create Miraculous Item is more cost-effective."

"Then what should we do?"

"Just wait. Or post a reward on your Friends Circle."

"Then go ahead and send it."

"It's been sent."

Since Friends Circle is a platform for communication, it shouldn't be used solely for communication.

For example, posting a bounty to find the keywords Chen Li needs.

The group members probably have some good items, which Chen Li might find useful.

Alternatively, one could directly use Starstones to extract the Starsea Trove; taking a gamble was perfectly acceptable. Even if Chen Li didn't get what he needed, Chen Li would still collect valuable items, and might even pay a high price for them.

Overall, no one lost out.

This rather strange bounty system stems from Chen Li's distrust of his luck in drawing cards, which is why Chen Li rarely uses the Starsea Trove feature.

Rather than sacrificing his own 30 years of being single in exchange for winning three gold medals in ten consecutive years, Chen Li would rather sacrifice his group members' 30 years of being single.

"So what was the result? Did you receive it?"

No. Just wait.

"..."

"Oh, by the way, would you like to try your luck with a few Starsea Trove? Considering you brought me to this rather magical world, I can give you 100 Starstones," Chen Li said.

Chen Li won't lose out, because the Miraculous Item the [Stupidity Halo] was put on Satou Kazuma's head and took effect, Chen Li gained 3,000 Starstones, and it's still increasing.

These Starstones came from different group members, but Satou Kazuma's contribution was also significant.

"Okay, I'll give it a try. The only thing I'm confident I can do without is luck." Satou Kazuma nodded.

"I want one too, I want one too. I was the one who brought you into this world too," Aqua said, raising her hand.

"...Here you go." Chen Li also gave 100 Starstones.

Although Aqua had terrible luck, Chen Li couldn't deny what she said.

As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. In a world where there are old clients, Chen Li is more likely to receive new commissions, although the probability is still very low.

Satou Kazuma was able to contact Chen Li, and there were indeed objective reasons why Aqua had established contact with Chen Li... even though Aqua never replied to Chen Li's words.

Chen Li hoped to sacrifice Aqua's luck for the rest of her life, betting that Aqua would produce some good stuff this time!

One shot, and you're dead!

Just as Chen Li was staring at the Miraculous Item group, wondering if any group members were lucky enough to get items related to Equivalent Exchange, Chen Li's private chat interface suddenly rang.

[Fu Xuan]: Do you need Equivalent Exchange of terms?

[Dad]: That's right, you drove it out?

[Fu Xuan]: I don't have many Starstones on hand, but I think my Dharma Eye might meet the requirements. After all, knowledge is gained through suffering...