Chapter 565
"Kaguya know you were coming?"
Hayasaka, then puffed out her chest. "Is that not allowed? Only Jun-senpai gets the benefits, but I'm not allowed to get any, right?"
"I... I just want to have a heart-to-heart talk," Mai Sakurajima protested weakly.
"Heh, having a heart-to-heart talk dressed like this?" Hayasaka's cold laugh made the upperclassman shrink back, while Yuki hugged her, not knowing what he was doing.
Is this a recipe for disaster?
Unexpectedly Hayasaka Ai walked straight over, gently patted his left hand, and took a deep breath.
"You're usually quite clever, why do I have to be the one to bring it up?"
"Say what?"
Hayasaka Ai lowered her head, her rosy cheeks visible through her golden hair. She didn't speak, but placed Yuki's hand on her waist.
"Give it to me quickly..."
"Huh?" Yuki craned his neck, feigning ignorance, and immediately felt a warmth, followed by a passionate kiss.
"Make room for me!!"
In the early morning, it was the same simple and familiar breakfast. Yuki her head and looked at Hayasaka Ai and Mai Sakurajima sitting together. She felt that the two of them were closer together today.
With their black and blonde hair intertwined, the two used forks to pick up fried eggs, and upon noticing the gaze, they viciously slashed at the sausage.
What are you looking at!
Yuki looked at the sausage phantom limbs throbbing in pain, but still smiled and said, "No, no, you've all become very strong, I'm very happy."
Baffling.
At first, the two didn't react, but after a second, their faces turned completely red.
Withstanding the combined impact of a level nine physique and the Orc King's passive ability, how could it not be powerful?
Certain heart-pounding images kept flashing through my mind, my cheeks felt like they were burning, and I clutched my head in pain.
I've fallen for it again without even realizing it. How ridiculous!
Last night was indeed absurd, a mix of white, gold, and black, with interludes like "I want to press down on you," Yuki reminisced, until a cup of black tea was slammed onto the table.
"Your tea, drink it quickly," Kaguya Shinomiya said fiercely, her face contorted with rage.
The outcome is decided. She promised to take Hayasaka back, but she was tricked into becoming an accomplice. What's worse are the two Mena Ryougi, who are still not behaving even when tied up with golden locks, saying things like, "How about I give you a live text update?" "My brother will do this and that." "I can't take it anymore. I need to turn on the computer and find the biology knowledge folder. I need to look at it to fill in the gaps in my memory."
Damn it, I really want to shoot a few arrows in his forehead!
Yuki didn't care about Kaguya Shinomiya's attitude at all. During a break in the fierce battle, Hayasaka Ai even sold out the young lady's underwear, saying that Kaguya admired him, but he just couldn't bring himself to say it because he was too proud. The Shinomiya Clan's education is too perverse; they always have to be one step ahead of you.
"Kaguya, it seems you haven't slept all night? What have you been doing?"
The girl, who had just taken a few steps away, froze and turned around like a rusty machine. Just then, Mona was rubbing her eyes incessantly, appeared at the door and happened to hear the question.
"I know! Kaguya- san last night..."
Swish.
In a flash, with a single leap, Kaguya Shinomiya and Mena Ryougi disappeared. The girl's mouth was tightly covered, and the door slammed shut with a bang.
Everything happened in an instant, Mai Sakurajima looked up in surprise.
"What's wrong? Wasn't she watching over Mona last night?"
"They are keeping an eye on her, but Miss has a strange smell." Hayasaka Ai elegantly ate her sausage, licking her lips. "Just a heads-up, Senpai had quite a bit of that smell last night."
Mai Sakurajima was taken aback, then lowered her head and said nothing more.
Last night must have been lively. Look, neither Hiyori nor Frieren is up yet. I can't tell which one was breathing last night, just from the faint breathing sounds outside the door.
Praise be to the omnipotent and great Reincarnation Game!
Yuki clasped his hands together in a prayer-like gesture. Only in moments like these could he truly appreciate the grandeur of the game. Without the Reincarnation Game, would you believe that Mai Sakurajima and Hayasaka Ai could play Jenga? Dream on.
"It's all your fault. How am I supposed to face them now?" Mai Sakurajima finally came to her senses, her face filled with shame and indignation.
Fine, the blame is being shifted onto me.
Yuki thought to himself, "Who attacked whom last night?" He coughed lightly and said, "Don't worry, this is just for fun. Everyone knows what's most important."
This is the greatest aspect of the Reincarnation Game: its relentless pace leaves no time for players to waste too much energy, allowing them to pause progress at any time.
Sure enough, as soon as he said that, Mai Sakurajima rolled her eyes at him, the meaning of which was very clear:
Without Reincarnation Game, how could it be cheap for you?
"Ahem, seriously, forget about that incident in 'Aberration Calamity,' and just go about your business as usual."
"Demolish it even more thoroughly?" Mai Sakurajima and Hayasaka exchanged a glance and spoke in unison.
"Hmm, Hiyori's idea is good. You all have your own friends, so switching squads between teammates isn't difficult. But don't rush it. Let me make a scene first." Yuki narrowed his eyes, preparing to continue his journey after a short rest.
"I'm going to use an Outpost for experiments. That's a truly earth-shattering thing. Once it's confirmed that I can really cut flesh off the Reincarnation Game, the situation at the Borderlands will become even more chaotic."
Letting a dungeon detach from the main structure and letting an Outpost disappear are two different things. The latter could truly kill the Reincarnation Game; without players, what kind of game is it?
Hayasaka Ai thought for a while, then her breathing became rapid. She knew that once she took this step, there was no turning back. The train of Destiny would accelerate wildly, rushing towards either freedom or death.
"Mr. Yuki, since you've made up your mind, let's do as you say."
Hiyori came out of the inner room with a flushed face, instantly giving away who was outside the door last night.
Fortunately, when it came to serious matters, Yuki never joked. He nodded solemnly and said, "Yes, I have decided to speed up the plan. The longer it drags on, the worse it will be for us. I have already asked Ryougi Shiki to find out where to conduct the experiments."
"Valhalla's intelligence network is a hundred times stronger than ours. You can make the arrangements directly."
Everyone gathered in the living room. Yuki scanned the player panels one by one. They were like a breeding team in a certain sense, concentrating all resources on a few people. Just like Kaguya Shinomiya changed drastically, while Mona almost remained the same.
This relationship isn't something that can be achieved through mere playful banter; it involves real rewards—points of Shirogane —that go beyond simply 'trusting each other's backs.' Keep in mind that in the Reincarnation Game, getting players to part with their reward points is harder than killing them.
Of course, the biggest change is in Hayasaka Ai, who has finally crossed the boundaries of epic proportions.
Player: Hayasaka Ai
Faction: Thorny Rose
Physical Strength: LV8
Epic Metamorphosis: Danganronpa
[Killing Shot: Ignores all defenses; accuracy, power, and range are inversely proportional; duration: 5 seconds]
[Bullet Curtain Dancer: Super-fast dodge, extremely effective against shooting skills and items; the closer the enemy's attack range, the less effective it becomes.]
Ego Trait: The Fool's Mask LV.6
[Possesses six masks, which significantly interfere with perception before activation, greatly enhancing stealth capabilities. Each mask can project the user's consciousness, requiring a known target; the more contact, the more complete the projection.]
Soul Material: Heart of the Storm
Equipment: Death Knell Revolver (Chaos Grade Class), Death Red-Dot Sight (Chaos Grade Class)
Items: Lucky Candy (Arcane Grade Level), Lucky Earrings (Arcane Grade Level)
Special Item: Doomsday Cataclysm Armor (Phase 1)
Transcendental Grade Skills: Gun-Kata (Master), Bullet Pierce (Legendary)
Bloodline Skill: [Ghost Shooter (LV2)]
[Entering Spirit Form for 2 minutes greatly increases physical resistance, weakens energy resistance, and unlocks Terrain Adaptation]
[Shadow Heart: Shadow Teleportation]
Residual reinforcement points: 0
Specialization points remaining: 16
Points: 100
Overall rating: Epic I
The interface is extremely clean, with nothing fancy. It simply involves stacking items and traits, and then using the legendary skill 'Bullet Pierce' to step into the epic realm.
"A very powerful and extreme Epic Metamorphosis, a causality-level shooting skill."
"It should be called a destructive skill," Hayasaka Ai corrected, trying to maintain an indifferent expression. "I need to get close enough for the Epic Metamorphosis to be fully unleashed. It's not as powerful as Miss's special ability, but at least it has the ability to dodge, unlike her who is easily killed by light."
"A Gun-Kata," Yuki glanced at Kaguya Shinomiya, who was gritting her teeth, and asked, "The next upgrade is pretty obvious, isn't it?"
"Hmm, gather 24 specialization points, invest them into the Heart of the Storm, and upgrade 'Death Knell' to Abyss Grade (Level 7)." Hayasaka Ai stroked the silver revolver, which she had brought from the Crimson Moon. "Evasion, accuracy, and then absolute damage—I'll definitely be able to help."
That's a given. Unless you have an item that can reverse cause and effect or life and death, who would dare to take a hit from Abyss Grade- level Death Knell?
Yuki a deep breath, feeling his confidence return.
"Those who haven't reached Epic level yet should do so as soon as possible; this is the ticket to the final battle."
No one refuted Yuki's words; the Epic rank was a threshold, and if you didn't reach it, others would have to be distracted to protect you.
"OK."
Mai Sakurajima, Shiina Hiyori, and Frieren all nodded in agreement; this was something that had to be achieved.
"Reaching epic rank and improving your rating as soon as possible is not an excuse for you to slack off." Yuki glared at the smug Mena Ryougi and added, "But you don't need to go into dungeons anymore; it's too dangerous. I'll find a suitable platform for you."
"Factional warfare?"
"Yes, we'll choose a suitable battlefield. I'll have Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and his team deploy elite troops to assist us. Don't let your guard down; faction wars are even more brutal and ruthless than dungeons."
Learning how to fight other players is also an important lesson, but there's no need to rush; the time isn't right yet.
Then Yuki: "Hiyori, you mentioned in the 'Golden City' that you had something to report in person. What was it?"
"I was just about to say that." Shiina Hiyori took out a golden object from her storage space and whispered:
"During the initial boss fight, we discovered it was Lost Ones, which inadvertently triggered the subjugation quest."
The Lost Ones?
Yuki became a little more serious. The Lost Ones were players from other games who had fallen into the territory of the Reincarnation Game; he had encountered them twice before.
One was the Witch God, and the other was the King of the Night; both were extremely powerful. This girl really only reports good news and not bad news; that mission must have been extremely difficult.
He looked down and saw that it was a Golden Short Sword with black spiral patterns on the hilt.
[Special Item: Golden Book]
[This item allows the player to immediately enter a special mission space without any warning.]
[Note: You can choose to join the quest in team mode or area mode. The maximum range is 5 meters, and the activation time is 1 second. It cannot be used in instance space, but it can be activated in all other ways. It will automatically disappear upon completion of the quest.]
The moment the dagger was touched, a murmur came, just as Hiyori had said, something that couldn't be explained clearly with a fax machine.
It's clearly a short sword; it doesn't resemble a book at all.
Yuki couldn't help but mutter a complaint, but of course it wasn't important; there were plenty of cases of names not matching the description in the Reincarnation Game.
"Huh, it's a follow-up mission." Mona, who hadn't participated in the 'Golden City', stared at the props in surprise.
This isn't a new setting; there are indeed follow-up quests in the Borderlands, but they are very rare and not guaranteed to yield any rewards. However, the recent 'Taiyi Legacy' incident has made the follow-up quests very popular, with countless treasure hunters digging everywhere.
Yuki toyed with his short sword; he had no interest in finding treasure, but his descriptions were quite interesting.
"Without hints, there's no main storyline. Does this look familiar to you?"
The group exchanged glances, Kaguya Shinomiya suddenly raised her hand. "Random quests! Before, random quests were just a simple battlefield!"
That's right, it's a random quest, a quest type that only 'Thorny Rose' can trigger.
Yuki triggered it a few times, initially thinking it was a trick of the Reincarnation Game to keep the game from being exposed to the world. Later, she realized something was wrong, because other factions didn't have this thing at all.
Whether it's a regular quest, an epic quest, Destruction Mission, or a hunting quest, the Reincarnation Game has a pre-written script, and players are merely performing within that framework.
"They shouldn't be the same type, but this thing does have some special uses."
"For escape?" Hiyori asked immediately; she had already researched it.
"Well, to be precise, it's for emergency avoidance, but it's not very useful to me." Yuki, according to Mona, this kind of item is extremely rare, and the teleportation space is unknown. Using it to run away is both extravagant and dangerous.
Its true value lies in the last sentence. "[It cannot be used in the instance space, but can be opened in all other spaces. It will be automatically destroyed upon completion of the task.]"
This suggests that it can be used in Borderlands, or similar zones where players cannot attack each other, similar to how players used to engage in combat on Earth to initiate random quests.