Chapter 157

A pen for recording the past? Used on specific props? And this thing is part of a set?

He read the description again, his mind filled with questions. What did "the future can record the past" mean? Wasn't that a contradiction?

The description of the Chaos Item was concise and to the point. Yuki paused for a moment, then put it away for the time being.

Lightning flashed intermittently, like a mischievous child constantly pressing a switch, Bone Plains into darkness one moment and sudden light the next.

Just as the light flashed, Yuki drew his sword, slowly turned around, and saw Attendant in a tailcoat staring at him from a hundred meters away as if he had seen a ghost.

Wait, can this person teleport?

The Attendant was even more bewildered than Shinomiya Hongzheng. He had just fought with this blond youth, who was surprisingly weak and only managed to hide in the darkness with the help of a defensive item.

No, to be precise, it's based on an understanding of this random instance that they can always launch a sneak attack at 'dawn,' only to be counterattacked and then hide in advance.

"Damn, what's he doing here?" The Leopardess also arrived, looking equally incredulous, and quickly looked around. "Where's Shinomiya Hongzheng? Did that bastard betray us?"

"I don't know, but I noticed something was wrong with this battle from the very beginning. Where did this third enemy come from?"

No one could answer that the battle was inexplicable from the start, and the enemy was even more incomprehensible, as if they had created a predetermined battlefield and were just waiting for them to come and die.

The Leopardess also shook her head blankly, the reason unknown, but the situation was very clear:

The two Nagumo Miyabi are definitely not the same person, because apart from the identical appearance, the one in front of you has a chilling aura that only a handful of players have ever experienced.

He came, flashing like a ghost in the interplay of night and day, accompanied by the rhythm of lightning, drawing ever closer with each blink.

A gleaming knife, an antique musket, and an elegant yet chilling smile...

The Leopardess and the Attendant exchanged a glance, understanding each other's meaning even before the battle began:

We're doomed.

It's over?

Kaguya stepped onto the mountain made of bones, silently counting the time it took for lightning to streak across the sky.

As a genius, Yuki was able to memorize his code-like schedule, but having to count the minutes while fighting was just too torturous.

My eyes, already accustomed to the flickering light, glanced ahead in the few seconds it took for the world to return to light, blinking several times in quick succession.

"Is it really over?"

There wasn't a single enemy in sight; beneath the giant lizard skeleton lay only Yuki, who had even sheathed his sword.

"Of course it's over. That idiot has no habit of holding back; becoming an enemy is terrifying." Mai Sakurajima crawled out, her face etched with exhaustion, and said with a wry smile, "Even I was affected. I used to be too afraid to kill even a chicken."

Kaguya's lips twitched slightly as she realized that she had just shot and killed a player. She had even met the woman who used lightning once before, and she felt a mix of emotions.

No, there's also Hongzheng, who is his half-brother.

She felt a little strange, but not so much sad. On one hand, the other party had attacked her first, and on the other hand, in that disgusting "Gold Panning in Filth," she had already transcended the realm of ordinary people.

"It's truly terrifying to be his enemy," Kaguya muttered to herself. Of the seven players, he had killed six, half of whom died before they could even use their abilities.

A professional executioner, but how could such a person have someone as gentle as Mai Sakurajima by his side?

"Scared?" The senior student glanced at her sideways.

"No, he's not my enemy, why should I be afraid?"

Being extremely concerned with saving face.

The senior chuckled inwardly. This Kaguya was different from herself; she had never seen Yuki, but since coming into contact with him, she had witnessed endless carnage.

She was really intimidated by that idiot's head. Oh well, time will tell.

Mai Sakurajima didn't explain, thinking to herself that it would be interesting to see another side of Yuki. As for the ruthless executioner?

If that were true, they would have parted ways long ago.

"Let's go, let's meet up first." Mai patted the girl's shoulder and Mai Sakurajima forward Lightness.

Yuki was cleaning up the battlefield. There's not much to say about what happened; the two men were terrified and he caught up with them and killed them one by one.

The woman still had some backbone; before dying, she overloaded and destroyed all the props on her body. The man, on the other hand, was more cunning; he actually tried to feign surrender to trick him.

Trying to outmaneuver me? Not so easy. But I've never encountered a player who surrendered willingly.

Yuki picked up the blood-stained tuxedo. Surprisingly, it had some defensive capabilities, withstanding a shot from the hunting rifle. However, the momentum sent the Attendant flying, and Yuki caught up and slammed him in the head with his sword.

"Transcendental Grade equipment, thanks."

Yuki only glanced at it briefly before putting it away, thinking he'd have plenty of time to look at it later. He stripped off the clothes and casually tossed the corpse aside.

Done.

He clapped his hands gently, surprisingly feeling little fatigue. He closed his eyes and used the souls he had absorbed to gauge the outcome of his battle:

Shinomiya Hongzheng is at the same level as me, Transcendental Grade II; the Attendant and the Leopardess are around Extraordinary III to IV; the rest are slightly weaker. According to the 'Daytime' assessment criteria, they are roughly 1 A-level, 2 B-level, and 4 C-level?

The results were brilliant. In a regular mission, it would take at least three dungeons to take down these people. Well, if you include Black Sword and Pan Zi, Zhou has suffered heavy losses in just a few days.

Secondary battlefields may be secondary, but the number of people killed is real. Ayanokoji Kiyotaka planned for so long, but his results might not be much better than his own. After all, people can be foolish, and none of these players are idiots.

As for right and wrong? Good and evil? He couldn't consider such lofty levels. He was bad at talking and couldn't use words. It was either being killed or killing someone. It was that simple.

Clashes among their own kind, now you've got what you wanted, haven't you?

Yuki sighed, and when he opened his eyes, he saw a pair of black stockings, which finally eased his sorrow.

"Senior, did you take care of the last one too?"

"Kaguya shot her. She's quite skilled; she didn't hesitate during the fight." Mai Sakurajima stepped forward and took out a handkerchief to wipe the blood from Yuki's face.

"There's no need to praise her like that. After experiencing two dungeons, she's long past the level of a newbie."

"But she's not as cold-hearted as I imagined." Mai Sakurajima seemed a little unconvinced.

"It's just a facade. With Hayasaka around, it won't be easy for her to turn evil." Yuki, clearly more familiar with Kaguya Shinomiya, paused for a moment before saying, "Do you have any objections to letting her join our team, Senpai?"

"What, you want me to have a problem with this?" Mai Sakurajima raised her slender eyebrows, put her hands behind her back, and looked ready to tease her at any moment.

What's with that all-knowing look in your eyes? Do you really think I'm such a beast?

Yuki wanted to explain that with Hayasaka Ai around, how could he possibly have any other thoughts? But when the words were on the tip of his tongue, a pleasant smile appeared on his face.

"I think you must have something to say. Hayasaka is enough to give you a headache, and then there's Kaguya too. The two of them, master and servant, teaming up..."

Before she could finish speaking, she felt pain in her foot. Mai Sakurajima took a step forward with a grin, as if to say, "You're asking me to rewrite your words."

Ah, that's the taste!

Yuki comfortably raised his head. The familiar feeling washed away the stench of blood. He could enjoy being trampled by his senior right after killing someone. Life was too good.

Whether in reality or in a fictional world, whether this is the senior students' dormitory or the Bone Plains, with this sense of touch, he can never become an executioner.

Only when he caught a glimpse of Kaguya Shinomiya following behind, and saw Yuki's delighted expression, did he shudder and freeze in place.

To retract my previous statement, he wasn't the executioner; he was a pervert.

Chapter Sixteen: The Skeletal Dragon! (Second Update)

Unlike the Ruined Battlefield, Yuki did not leave immediately after killing people this time.

There's a war going on outside. Going out now would just be stepping into another vortex. Just like Ayanokoji Kiyotaka didn't care about Yuki's life or death, Yuki also didn't care about victory or defeat. His request was simple:

The daytime must inflict heavy losses, weakening this behemoth to a level that can be dealt with. Whether it notices them or retaliates is not a consideration.

"There are seven A-level members in total. I've already taken down one, and more than ten players have died because of me. Now it's up to you."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka looked incredibly arrogant, so it would be beneath him to be easily crushed. He decided to wait and see how many players were in that academy.

Even with Kaguya included, Yuki's squad only has five people at most. He can draw aggro, but he's not going to be the main force and steal the spotlight.

"The instance will last for 12 hours, which will allow us to avoid this battle."

Yuki glanced at the time; it was almost dawn in reality. In a few hours, he would bring the two back, and even if Ayanokoji Kiyotaka suffered a crushing defeat, it would have nothing to do with him.

As for revenge, the grievances have their source and the debtors their culprits. Go find the academy; at most, it will involve Kaguya Shinomiya, and dealing with her and Hayasaka Ai will be easy.

Why not just give up that wealth and status and run away? With the Fool's Mask around, how much time and effort would it take to find them? Zhou can't possibly be that free.

"But this godforsaken place is truly tiresome; not only is it sometimes bright and sometimes dark, but the scenery is also incredibly monotonous."

All there were skeletons, all kinds of skeletons. If the enemy hadn't already been wiped out, it would have been quite unsettling. So, Yuki assigned a task to his senior and Kaguya.

They were sketching the distinctive skeletons as they walked, because the camera only captured a completely black image.

"Hey, I still don't understand, why draw these things?" Mai Sakurajima shook her aching hands, finally unable to hold back any longer.

The sketching itself wasn't the problem; the key issue was that it would get dark quickly, leaving only a few seconds to memorize the information. Fortunately, the skeletons were enormous, making comparisons easier.

"Of course it's to gather intelligence. Don't you think this place is strange?" Yuki stopped and pointed to a spot a few hundred meters away.

There was also a giant skeleton there, which looked like a composite of a crab and a Stegosaurus, with its body drooping downwards and its head missing.

"Judging from the posture, it looks like someone stomped him into the ground and then chopped off his head."

The senior student paused, flipping back a few pages. Previously, all her attention had been focused on dealing with the players, but now, upon closer inspection, the postures of these skeletons appeared quite natural, rather than being deliberately crafted background sculptures.

Kaguya lagged several steps behind the two, sketching with a pencil while secretly peeking at them as they chatted, clearly not forgetting what she had seen earlier.

The relationship between these two is abnormal. One is a monster that treats players like chickens and can be trampled on at will, while the person being trampled looks quite pleased with themselves.

Kaguya couldn't understand it at all. In her imperial education philosophy, one should be cautious towards the strong, and the strong should maintain an air of mystery and make the most of the tools around them.

'Could this be a case of playing hard to get, using personal relationships to manipulate others? Hmm, Mai Sakurajima's previous behavior can't be explained rationally. Is this the legendary power of love?'

'Wait, how does Hayasaka explain this? She should have seen through the trick long ago. No, I have to ask her about it when I get back.'

The senior's step made her wary again. Am I really that weird?

Yuki didn't even need to ask; he knew that Kaguya Shinomiya was acting out a crazy drama in her mind.

But Yuki didn't care. He hadn't received any education in imperial values, and his thinking had always been simple:

Shouldn't a truly strong person, while respecting others, do whatever they like?

"Do you have a problem?" Yuki asked, but the smile on his face was gone.

Kaguya Shinomiya is Hayasaka Ai in her player form. Since she loves to act so much, I'll just play along.

"If the Reincarnation Game wanted, it could create even grander scenes. It could even build a lifelike instance like 'Yadu Town.' Creating a few hundred sculptures is nothing," the girl retorted expressionlessly, looking quite serious.

Yuki nodded slightly. "That's right, it's a piece of cake for the Reincarnation Game, but there's no need for Him to make things so complicated."

"What you say cannot be disproven, because the reverse is also true."

Wow, he's really stubborn; he just loves to argue and win.

Yuki wasn't annoyed. It would be too boring if everyone around her had the same face. If the same thing happened to her senior, she would just say "oh" and believe it. But if it happened to Shiina Hiyori, the soft girl would obediently nod and then secretly gather clues to refute it.

The maid wasn't interested in such things. If Yuki needed her to analyze it, she could; otherwise, she'd just think it didn't matter, whether it was true or false.

I can't exactly tell you that I found a fragment in the last random dungeon that looked somewhat familiar, can I?

Yuki thought to himself, but this time he didn't see anything familiar; everything except the skeletons had been shattered into dust.

"No reason needed, it's just my gut feeling. Besides, I'm just idling around anyway, so I should at least find you two something to do."

Okay, that's the real reason. I was so serious about it, and the drawing I made could be used as a photograph.

Kaguya slightly raised her hand, as if she wanted to throw the sketchbook at Yuki's face.

She truly gave it her all, and with the enhanced body control she gained as a player, she had surpassed the professional level.

"Hey, don't move yet, you've drawn it really well, you've even captured the details." Yuki forward, took the sketchbook, flipped through a few pages, and exclaimed in amazement.

Kaguya Yoruichi, then immediately nodded. "I've been learning since I was little, so am I really better than you?"

"Really, otherwise I would just draw it myself. Leave professional matters to professionals. That's what Hayasaka taught me."

Kaguya is never short of praise, but this person's praise is very different. Her confidence, which had been repeatedly shattered, immediately swelled up, and even her chin lifted slightly.

I knew it! There's always something he can do better.

Feeling instantly better, she quietly put away her sketchbook. "Before I leave, I'll draw some more for you."

Done.

Yuki nodded emphatically, not at all ashamed despite seeing the disdainful look in her senior's eyes.

Kaguya Shinomiya isn't stupid; of course she knew she'd been tricked, but she still chose to take the bait, all for the sake of her pride.