Miraculous Forger of the Collapse Chapter 28

But he had to admit, her immortality was impressive. Her chest had been wide open just moments ago, yet she had already recovered in the blink of an eye.

"Ha ha ha, look at you, acting like you've never seen the world. Scared, weren't you? Serves you right. Who told you to scare me just now?" Houraisan Kaguya mocked as she cooked the offal soup.

"When did I scare you? Don't make things up."

"You mean the mountain of corpses and sea of blood I saw behind you the instant I first laid eyes on you was just my imagination?" Houraisan Kaguya curled her lip.

"Umm... if you really are Houraisan Kaguya, then naturally you count as one of those Goblins and Monsters, Demons and Ghouls." Chen Li quickly figured it out.

No wonder Houraisan Kaguya's gaze had gone blank for a moment when she saw him earlier.

Chen Li had thought Houraisan Kaguya had been stunned by his handsomeness.

Tch, what a waste of feelings.

"You weren't just thinking that maybe I wasn't scared, but dazzled by how handsome you are, were you?" Houraisan Kaguya paused her stirring and looked at Chen Li suspiciously.

"How could that be? You can't just say things like that. Do you have any proof?" Chen Li flatly denied Houraisan Kaguya's guess.

"You need proof for that? What do you think about all day? As if I wouldn't know. Relax, it's perfectly normal for adolescent boys to have fantasies about this sort of thing. You really are rather pretty-looking. But honestly, you're not as manly as Fujiwara no Mokou." Houraisan Kaguya waved a hand.

Houraisan Kaguya had been in this world for two years. She scoffed at the online shippers pairing her with Fujiwara no Mokou, but that did not stop her from playing along with the meme.

"..." —Chen Li

Chen Li admitted that much, because Fujiwara no Mokou's masculinity was indeed beyond comparison for ordinary people.

"Alright, it's about done. Want some?" Houraisan Kaguya meant the offal soup.

Chen Li frantically shook his head.

"Then what about this Miss Jingliu? Want a taste? Since you're both immortal species, maybe eating it will improve your recovery ability." Houraisan Kaguya looked at Jingliu with great interest.

Having spent two years in this world, Houraisan Kaguya had dabbled in all the famous games online. Naturally, she recognized Jingliu as another person from another world, which made her especially curious.

Jingliu shook her head as well, declining.

Even among long-lived species, there were differences.

Even Abundance Fiends would not do something like Houraisan Kaguya's habit of ripping out their own hearts and lungs the moment they met someone.

"Looks like you two aren't blessed with the chance. Let me tell you, the offal soup I make is delicious."

Houraisan Kaguya seemed somewhat disappointed by their refusal, then casually poured out the entire pot of offal soup.

"Mm, aren't you eating it?"

"Didn't I see that you two couldn't accept it? So? Thoughtful of me, right? Moved? If you are, remember to toss any valuable items you find to me next time you search in the game." Houraisan Kaguya said.

"Then what about your lunch... Ah, right, I have compressed biscuits. You can boil them and eat them." Chen Li raised his hand.

"No need. You two can split this one-person portion of food. I can just go hungry. Besides, I can revive even if I starve to death." Houraisan Kaguya generously waved her hand.

"..." Jingliu fell silent once again in the face of Houraisan Kaguya's casual waste of her own life.

"Then what was the point of cooking that pot of offal soup just now?"

"Of course, it was for leveling up. Look, my main class: Undead, is already level 31. My secondary class, Shut-in, is also above level 20." Houraisan Kaguya eagerly showed Chen Li her personal status panel.

"You've only been in this world for two years, haven't you? You leveled up that fast?" Chen Li was somewhat surprised by her leveling speed.

"With the main class Undead, all I have to do is keep dying and reviving. Isn't that easy? And for the secondary class Homebody, I just have to stay at home. Have you ever seen me go outside? Your world is really interesting. I like it, especially the class and trait systems." Houraisan Kaguya said.

It was precisely because of the class traits that Houraisan Kaguya, as an Undead, had gained the Energetic trait, allowing her to remain endlessly full of energy before death. She no longer had to worry about the discomfort before dying from staying up too late interfering with her gaming.

And as a homebody, she had also gained the two traits Home Safety and Inner World.

The former was why Houraisan Kaguya had discovered Chen Li sneaking up to her doorstep.

The latter was why Houraisan Kaguya had moved the Bamboo Forest of the Lost into her home—however big one's heart was, that was how big one's house could be. At the same time, she could sacrifice certain things to materialize the environment of her former home.

And Houraisan Kaguya had chosen to sacrifice her lifespan.

Even though lifespan could cap one's status panel, the lifespan on Houraisan Kaguya's panel was infinite.

"Since we're talking about worlds, let's talk about you. How did you come to this world?" Chen Li, who was splitting a proper fresh bamboo shoot soup with Jingliu, turned serious.

"Huh? Didn't the first message I sent you explain it? I was harmed by a treacherous villain. Don't tell me that's why you came looking for me for the first time? How disappointing. I thought my voice sounded so good that you imagined me as some peerless beauty, and after holding back for two years, you finally couldn't resist meeting me in person." Disappointment was plain on Houraisan Kaguya's face.

"Harmed by a treacherous villain? Who?"

Chen Li paid no attention to Houraisan Kaguya's theatrics.

"Yakumo Yukari, who else? Thanks to her, I haven't seen Eirin in two years. That bastard better not show her face in front of me for the rest of her life, or I'll tear her apart and make offal soup out of her!" At the mention of that name, Houraisan Kaguya dropped the act, her face full of displeasure.

"Crossing worlds is that easy?" Chen Li was astonished.

It was easy enough to make Chen Li deeply uneasy.

Chen Li knew something about the Yakumo Yukari Houraisan Kaguya had mentioned. She was a great yokai with the ability to manipulate boundaries, known as the Sage of the Yokai.

It was said that her power could not only create new things in theory, but also negate old things in theory alone. Her ability was related to "origins."

Using that ability, Yakumo Yukari could instantly move from anywhere through cracks in space, move parts of her body elsewhere, and even travel into paintings, dreams, stories, and other places.

Perhaps that was why Houraisan Kaguya had been able to cross over.

"I could probably guess what you're thinking—you're afraid that if crossing between worlds were this easy, the worlds would fall into chaos. Right? If that's what you're worried about, then you can rest assured..."

"No, I'm actually more worried that if I cause trouble in another world, they'll come to this world to seek revenge," Chen Li said anxiously.

Chen Li was not afraid of righteous people coming for revenge, but he was afraid of villains coming for revenge.

It seemed that from now on, he could only wipe out every villain he encountered!

He had to eliminate every possible chance of someone seeking revenge!

Sensing Chen Li's overly "peaceful" thoughts, a card drifted out from the Omniscient Archive within the Miraculous Forging Guide, trembling excitedly.

It was the Illustrated Handbook Card for the miraculous item Peaceful Longbow.

Kill, kill, kill! Kill them all!

As long as they were all dead, there would be no future troubles!

The Peaceful Longbow's Illustrated Handbook Card gleamed brilliantly, making the Peaceful Longbow depicted within look like some kind of holy relic.

"Uh, I don't know what you're thinking, but don't misunderstand. Crossing between worlds isn't easy. Yakumo Yukari can't do it herself. Me coming to this world was an accident," Houraisan Kaguya hurriedly explained after that card appeared, a chill running down her back.

Though she had no idea what had happened, seeing Chen Li's expression gradually fill with killing intent made Houraisan Kaguya feel as if she had inadvertently done something terrible.

But Houraisan Kaguya was not taking the blame for this.

"An accident? What kind of accident?"

"I remember that before I crossed over, an anomaly occurred in Gensokyo. It was called the Miracle Anomaly."

"..." At the mention of the word "miracle," Chen Li perked up.

"At the time, a ball of light appeared in Gensokyo. It claimed that it could grant any miracle. The first one to get it was a blue-haired fairy. Her wish was for frozen frogs to rain down across all of Gensokyo. That idiot threw Gensokyo into instant chaos, but she was delighted, so she shared the thing with her fairy friends."

"Later, the ball of light kept changing hands, and even more fairies had their wishes granted. Fortunately, most of the fairies who got it were idiots, or it might have caused some world-ending crisis." Houraisan Kaguya casually snatched the fresh bamboo shoot soup Chen Li had just served himself and was about to drink, her tone wistful.

To keep hearing the story, Chen Li dared not voice his anger.

"Until... someone got the ball of light and wished for world peace." Even two years later, merely recalling it still made Houraisan Kaguya furious.

"What's wrong with that?" Chen Li asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Everything was wrong with it. Because of that wish for world peace, every being that could possibly harm the world, or had the ability to harm it, was targeted. The first to suffer was the Dragon God. I don't know what happened, but the Dragon God's wails echoed throughout the entire world."

"Ah?"

"If there was to be world peace, then no being could be allowed to threaten the world—not even the world itself. Based on that logic, Gensokyo was the second to suffer."

"Ah?"

"Both layers of Gensokyo's barrier were instantly destroyed. Yakumo Yukari, who had been hiding in the shadows and observing everything because she wanted to see who was behind the creation of that ball of light, immediately blew her top."

"Yakumo Yukari swiftly emerged from a gap, literally erased that person from existence, then used the ball of light to wish for everything to return to the moment before it first appeared in Gensokyo. She also wished for that ball of light to get the hell out of this world and never come back. Luckily, Yakumo Yukari reacted quickly. Otherwise, given the nature of Yakumo Yukari's abilities, she would have been either the third or fourth to suffer," Houraisan Kaguya said.

"That was a pretty quick response, but what does that have to do with you crossing over?"

"Because... Yakumo Yukari left behind a little inheritance." Holding her bowl, Houraisan Kaguya ground her teeth until they clattered.

"What inheritance?"

"According to what Yakumo Yukari said while talking with Eirin, it was a passage left behind when that ball of light departed this world. The passage should have faded away in an instant, but Yakumo Yukari seized the opportunity. Using her boundary ability and the specks of light dropped by the ball of light that she had collected during a previous Miracle Anomaly, she extended the passage's existence to one hour."

"What was Yakumo Yukari trying to do?"

"In Yakumo Yukari's own words, she wanted to study the passage so she could guard against more similar entities coming to this world. Anyway, Yakumo Yukari used her miraculous boundary ability to bring the passage to the Bamboo Forest of the Lost, intending to study it together with Eirin," Houraisan Kaguya said.

"And then?"

It sounded like Yakumo Yukari's intentions had been good.

"Then the Dragon God, who had likewise noticed the passage and discovered that it still existed, immediately blew its top. With one sweep of its tail, it flattened the Bamboo Forest of the Lost, trying to crush that passage completely."

"Sounds good, but..." Chen Li glanced at Houraisan Kaguya.

But there had probably been an accident.

"Ah, yes, an accident did happen, and I was that accident. When the passage was crushed, Yakumo Yukari, who was moving it, was fine. The Dragon God, who attacked it, was fine. Eirin, who was studying it, was fine. But I, who was watching from far away, got showered in passage fragments. Then I crossed over! Damn it!" Houraisan Kaguya fumed indignantly.

Why was I the one who got screwed?

"..." Chen Li was speechless.

"That's the whole story. As for why I ended up directly in this world, I don't know either. I closed my eyes, opened them, and I was here." Houraisan Kaguya wore a rueful expression.

"Hm? Why aren't you saying anything?" Seeing that Chen Li had remained silent, Houraisan Kaguya nudged him with her elbow.

"Oh, I was wondering how you ended up making a living by sending scam texts," Chen Li answered casually.

In truth, Chen Li was wondering how much Miracle Power the Miracle System had wasted in Gensokyo to accomplish everything Houraisan Kaguya had described.

Miracles were never free.

Miracle Power was what made the impossible happen.

But the more impossible the thing one wanted to achieve, the more Miracle Power it cost.

An ant could not possibly solo-kill a human, nor could it possibly solo-kill a dragon.

Miracle Power could help it, but the former would definitely consume less than the latter.

And if that Miracle Power were saved for herself, what terrifying miraculous artifacts could she forge?

But then again, if the Miracle System hadn't wasted all its Miracle Power, it wouldn't have turned evil, and I wouldn't have found this system.

"Speaking of which... when I first transmigrated into this world, I was seriously injured too. And because of the spacetime attributes brought about by the transmigration, my injuries recovered very slowly. Luckily, I knew a little martial arts. I beat several punks so badly their own mothers wouldn't recognize them, then snatched a phone from them."

"But those punks were just too poor. The money in it was barely enough to buy me one filling meal." The more Houraisan Kaguya thought about it, the angrier she got, and she slammed a fist onto the table.

If you had no money, why the hell were you out there acting like punks?

"Of course punks don't have money. If they had money, why would they still be punks?" Chen Li quipped.

In this world, being a punk was also a profession.

Because of the nature of the job, they usually couldn't make big money, but they wouldn't starve either.

"You're right. So afterward, I followed the number format in your world and mass-sent a whole bunch of text messages. And then you fell for it."

"Hm?" Chen Li's gaze turned murderous.

"Ahem, ahem. What I meant was, you were the only one with a kind heart. Mwah." Houraisan Kaguya blew Chen Li a kiss.

"Ugh. Old people really are old people, still using memes this ancient." Chen Li shuddered.