Chapter 217
"Aren't you going down to take a look?" Hayasaka Ai asked.
"I'll leave it to Hiyori and see what the initial results are. I don't know why, but I feel a bit down."
"It's quite depressing in here. Would you like me to make you a cup of coffee?"
"Thanks."
After a while, the aroma of coffee filled the air, and Yuki was finally able to smell another scent, Yuki mood somewhat.
He watched as the maid carefully packed away the bag, not even letting a single grain of powder fall, and knew that supplies were hard to come by here, so they couldn't waste their spiritual nourishment.
Replenish supplies?
Yuki a beat, and he said softly, "Hayasaka, don't you have anything to say to me?"
"I've already said what I needed to say. And don't try to find out what I shouldn't have said," Hayasaka said warily.
So you're going to self-destruct, huh?
Yuki recalled the secret he had revealed when he first arrived and gently shook his head, "What I mean is to set aside your player identity and vent to me with 'human' emotions."
Being intelligent people, Hayasaka Ai naturally understood what this meant, and stood there stunned, a thin layer of mist appearing in her jewel-like blue eyes.
Yuki saw fear, regret, and reluctance, emotions similar to those he had felt at the beginning of his transmigration.
Come to think of it, I didn't even properly say goodbye to my parents. Home is farther away than she is. Ten years later, through the Reincarnation Game, that world became my second home, but before I could even live there properly, I was forced to leave again.
How come I'm even more miserable than Hayasaka???
Emotions are contagious, Yuki, on the other hand, felt a pang of urge for comfort. But then Hayasaka Ai suddenly clenched her teeth, raised her hand, and wiped her face heavily with her sleeve.
"I have something to say, but I can't tell you right now."
"Why?"
"Because of reason, you must concentrate on the current situation." The maid stood at the edge of the building, pointing to the desolate city. "So many unknowns surround us, like a sea of fog. We must follow behind you to find our way home. Don't feel burdened. The current situation has nothing to do with you; it was the Reincarnation Game that dragged me into this vortex."
As always, Yuki was rational, as if she had returned to the impression she had when she first met Hayasaka under the Crimson Moon:
This girl is very professional and reliable.
"Why don't you have a good cry? My arms are always open for you."
"Do you think I'm a crybaby? Everyone else is putting up with it, why should I be the one to be fragile?" Hayasaka Ai frowned.
Yuki hesitated to speak, thinking to himself, "Weren't your eyes already filled with tears just now?"
But after thinking about it for a moment, I think Hayasaka Ai should be fine, since she not only has Kaguya by her side, but also new friends like Mai Sakurajima Hiyori.
"I underestimated you," he said, bowing his head in apology.
"No, you're not underestimating me. If I had come to this godforsaken place alone, I would have found a corner to squat down and cried my eyes out long ago." Hayasaka Ai blushed slightly as she talked about this embarrassing thing, and simply turned away.
"Didn't you promise Mai Sakurajima- senpai you'd take us back?"
"Um."
"Then I'll keep my promise. It's not too late for me to hold you and cry when all hope is gone."
The voice was clear and firm, which invigorated Yuki, but then he realized something was amiss. So, it was a reversal of the Heavenly Gang's ways; who was comforting whom?
"Hayasaka, I didn't expect you to be so good at comforting people."
"Practice makes perfect, and there's this idiot who needs my comfort, so I have to pull myself together." Hayasaka Ai remained as resolute as ever, as if the tears welling up in her eyes earlier were the greatest indulgence she could give herself.
No wonder you were chatting so enthusiastically with Kaguya Shinomiya; you were trying to distract her.
Yuki suddenly realized, his melancholy vanished, and while he wasn't exactly moved, he was certainly gratified.
Who says players from the everyday world have to be saccharine and cloyingly romantic? Can't they still have hearts of Steelflesh?
Slap slap
He patted his face, tilted his head back and finished his coffee, his tone urgent. "Hayasaka, search two more hours further north, and notify Kaguya to take up a high vantage point and hide. I refuse to believe that such a large place is completely deserted."
"And you?"
"I'll go find Hiyori and figure out how to use that black door. She just said that there are similar things in the buildings next door. If we really have to touch it, I'll have to do it."
Hayasaka did not leave. Seeing the man's hurried figure disappear, she opened her palm, and a thick layer of dust quickly settled on her palm.
The particulate matter index here is off the charts, making it completely unsuitable for human habitation. She didn't know where the dust came from; it felt like the embers of something that had burned.
It was filled with an aura of destruction.
She raised her long, slender neck. The enormous vortex slowly rotating in the sky was unsettling; it felt like an eye staring right at her.
Hayasaka Ai shook off the dust, slowly covered her face, squatted down on the spot, her shoulders shaking, venting all her longing, despair, and pressure.
Accompanied by sobs that Limit, tears slid through her fingers and fell to the ground like glistening pearls.
"Sorry, I really am a crybaby."
Yuki had no idea that Hayasaka Ai such a good actress; he had even been fooled by her. After some "talking therapy," he was now putting all his effort into conquering the game.
The unknown is discovered step by step through exploration. As long as people are alive, they will surely find a way out if they keep moving forward.
He quickly descended to the ground floor of the building, where there was a spacious lobby. Passing through the revolving glass doors, one could reach the street, and in the center of the lobby stood a large, dark door.
It stood out conspicuously, towering alone in the middle, and its style was different from the city's. At least based on the information gathered, the city's architectural style was similar to that of the real city.
Shiina Hiyori was reading the details on the door when she saw Yuki approaching and quickly went to greet him.
"Mr. Yuki, I've looked around, and every building has one of these doors. Every detail is exactly the same; it doesn't seem like a man-made object."
She has a keen eye for detail in her Reality Reading and observation; even if products are manufactured from the same mold, she can spot the differences.
Yuki nodded, circled the door a few times, and found that this thing was much larger than the previous door, big enough for four or five people to step in side by side.
"Want to give it a try?" Hiyori was somewhat eager to try, but she dared not touch it before Yuki arrived, in case something escaped from inside.
It doesn't look like a sealed artifact, so it shouldn't be dangerous.
Yuki considered it for a while, but unlike before, he wasn't as cautious, afraid of making a mistake.
"Step back, let me touch it first, and see if I can open it."
Hiyori was very obedient and immediately jumped to the other side of the hallway. Then she saw Yuki draw his sword and, as if afraid of being electrocuted, slowly extend his left hand.
Half a meter, one foot, one inch.
His hand slowly approached, and the moment his fingertips touched the door, Hiyori, widened her eyes.
The door opened—no, to be precise, it disappeared along with the door frame, transforming into a slowly rotating purplish-red vortex.
So beautiful.
As if a galaxy were unfolding before her eyes, that was Shiina Hiyori's first thought. She quickly shook her head and anxiously opened her mouth:
"Mr. Yuki, run..."
Yuki didn't run, or rather, his knees were bent, and he was ready to run, but he was as if he had been frozen in place and couldn't move an inch.
But he wasn't controlled because, in his astonishment, he heard strange murmurs:
[Player Yuki, do you wish to proceed to the Reincarnation Crossroads?]
Chapter Four: Borderlands- Fei Lun?
Yuki has been bewildered many times today, and has even developed some resistance to it.
His legs seemed welded to the floor, and the purplish-red vortex so close that it filled his entire field of vision, turning his blood-red eyes into a dazzling galaxy.
What is this thing...?
Yuki's first reaction was that it was too beautiful. Even an art idiot would be shocked by its magnificence, feeling as if he had become a god, standing in a higher dimension, overlooking the workings of the Milky Way.
It's so beautiful that you forget about time; just admiring this vortex can make you stand still until the end of time.
No, this thing looks a lot like the one in the sky. It has a blurry emblem in the middle, and judging from the shadow, it looks like some kind of plant.
Yuki bit her lip, using the pain to snap herself out of it and quickly refocus her attention on the murmur she had just heard.
[Player Yuki, do you wish to proceed to the Reincarnation Crossroads?]
As luck would have it, He gave it another hint.
The Borderlands? Old Man's Ring!?
No, entering a dungeon means you disappear immediately; there's no way players could choose where to go. It must be another location.
"You idiot, are you alright?"
Calls came from behind, and Mai Sakurajima, Hayasaka Ai, and Kaguya Shinomiya all arrived, each holding a bow and drawing a spear, looking as if they were facing a formidable enemy.
"I'm fine, and I wasn't controlled or hypnotized." Yuki quickly took a few steps back, looking at the dazzling starry sky with a feeling of eager anticipation, but quickly used his survival skills to suppress his curiosity.
"Read the details with the characteristics of the Hiyori."
"I tried it. Apart from a blurry emblem in the middle that looks like a vortex in the sky, I don't dare to read the starry sky. Just looking at it makes my head throb and feel like it's going to explode."
The girl's pained voice came through the window. Yuki focused his gaze on the starry sky and felt a throbbing in his head. He quickly looked away.
This thing can be admired, but not read. Just looking at it for a moment fills your mind with an overwhelming amount of unknown information, much like the feeling of opening a detailed panel when you first enter the Crimson Moon.
The human brain cannot process excessive amounts of information; if forced to read, the 'CPU' will instantly become overloaded.
But he saw the badge at the center of the vortex, blurry and somewhat resembling some kind of flower or plant, then its surface was wiped away by something, leaving scratches.
What is this thing?
No one could answer. Yuki simply memorized the badge and resolutely decided not to continue courting disaster.
He regretted it somewhat; he should have let Hiyori touch it first, so as to eliminate his own special status. But now it was too late to say anything.
"Go check the other doors and see if they're the same."
"I'll go." Hayasaka turned and walked away, crossing the street and returning a minute later.
"It's the same. Then when I leave the hall, the door closes automatically. And did you hear the whispering? It said it leads to some kind of Reincarnation Crossroads?"
"I heard that. It seems this thing is harmless, and they all lead to the same place."
With a reference point, Yuki felt much more at ease. Since the door closed automatically, nothing would suddenly jump out.
Portal?
Yuki waved his hand, signaling everyone to step back, and then stepped in front of the starry river.
"Hey, are you going to try it?" Kaguya quickly called out to him.
"Why waste time if we don't give it a try?" Yuki was resolute, having already constructed a logical framework from what he had seen and heard.
If each room is a team's base, then a tall building can accommodate dozens of teams. The lobby below serves as a passageway, leading to the same destination through a single door. Combined with the newly added points system...
"This place should be where players trade, so why go through all this trouble?"
Yuki didn't understand, so he had to try. Under the tense gazes of everyone, he decisively took a step forward. When his fingertips touched the vortex, he completely calmed down.
[Toll fee: 100 points; 10 points are consumed for every 24 hours spent at the Borderlands.]
[Player Yuki, score 0, cannot pass]
The fact that no one in this world would pay to die indirectly confirms the conjecture.
"You all have to try." Yuki waved his hand, signaling Mai Sakurajima and the others who were on guard to come over. Then each of them touched the path and found that it really couldn't be passed, and the prompts were all the same.
Oh, could it be that the Outpost is actually a relay point?
"100 points equals one enhancement point, but you can only redeem it once per dungeon cycle." Hiyori somewhat reluctant, but she knew what to do. "To be on the safe side, we can only have Mr. Yuki take a look."
"Then I'll exchange them." Mai Sakurajima said without hesitation, decisively exchanging two enhancement points for two hundred points, and then trading them to Yuki.
As the number changed from 0 to 200, Yuki touched it again, and sure enough, the message changed.
[Player Yuki, teleport?]
Damn, it's a points recycling program, huh? Luckily, upgrade points aren't too hard to get.
Yuki's eyes twitched; his curiosity had reached its peak, and he had to go.
"Keep looking around the city; I don't believe there won't be a single clue."
"You be careful too, you might run into other players." Mai Sakurajima realized she had said something obvious, since it was inevitable that she would encounter them.