Chapter 93
"The Soil-Offering Contract is a strategic item and must be kept, even though this bamboo slip is almost full."
"The Infinite Rope is too mediocre; I doubt I'll get anything good in exchange for it. The Distortion Kaleidoscope, however, is worth selling."
Yuuki rarely uses this Kaleidoscope Yuki because it harms both the enemy and himself; it's useless against weaker enemies, and it puts him in great danger against stronger ones.
It's a one-shot deal; if you don't kill the other party, you're doomed.
"Suitable for players with high burst damage capabilities, or those with decoy skills."
Yuki proactively posted a trade thread, listing the Distortion Kaleidoscope in exchange for a defensive item. After waiting a few minutes, he posted a second thread, listing the Infinite Rope, with a similarly simple request:
Exchange for an Alienated Grade, luck-related item.
After doing those two things, he hesitated for a few more minutes before posting the third message.
"A Chaos-level weapon, the Chainsaw Sword, forged once, requires an item that continuously eliminates negative mental states in exchange."
In the final post, Yuki approached the situation with a try-it-and-see attitude. The Chainsaw Sword was useful to him, but not particularly so. Mainly, while he was possessed by Demon Possession, the mental strain was too much for him to handle, and the Quiet Dew also had significant limitations.
The dosage needs to be precisely controlled, and he also has to be distracted during battle. What's more troublesome is that even one forging isn't enough capacity, so he doesn't plan to put more enhancement points into this thing.
Items that can continuously eliminate negative mental states are certainly rare, but this Chainsaw Sword is also very valuable to players who desperately need weapons, worth at least four enhancement points.
"If we can't change it, so be it. Let's keep things as they are. As long as we're careful, it'll be just about enough."
Yuki switched posts, opened "A Guide to Falling in Love with Living Corpse," and continued his research on the biology of reincarnation.
Tokyo, Shinomiya Residence.
Hayasaka Ai changed into a maid outfit and walked Lightness down the corridor, a smile on her lips, clearly in a good mood.
The dungeon she had just experienced was difficult, but not hopeless. It was much better than the near-death experience she had gone through last time she returned. More importantly, she felt the tangible sense of becoming stronger.
'Including the final mission reward, I gained a total of two specialization points, four enhancement points, and the Death Knell Revolver underwent a significant upgrade, plus a secondary weapon.'
The sheer destructive power of firing all the bullets at once is exhilarating; one shot could probably level a building. However, after firing, one is too afraid to do anything, as if taking even one step would bring bad luck.
'That forum has a trading area; maybe I can trade for something useful. But I only have two items on me. Oh well, let him worry about it.'
She simply pushed this troublesome matter onto Yuki, her smile suddenly becoming more pronounced, before reverting to an expressionless demeanor at the door.
Knock knock.
She knocked, entered, and saw something tossing and turning on the bed, so she hesitated for a moment.
"Kaguya-sama, I'm back."
"Hayasaka, you've been acting strange lately. You're not even paying attention to your work." The girl on the bed stopped rolling around but didn't sit up. She just casually said, "I'm sick. You can just stand at the door."
"Miss wouldn't be like this if she were sick." Hayasaka stepped directly into the room and saw her long, flowing black hair and snow-white skin.
She didn't answer Kaguya Shinomiya's question. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she asked calmly, "I just heard from the bodyguard that you were also missing for a day. What happened?"
"It's nothing, I'm just feeling upset about family matters and want to clear my head."
"Indeed, Lord Gan'an shows no signs of improvement, and the Shinomiya Clan is shrouded in gloom." Hayasaka Ai nodded slightly, her gaze becoming thoughtful. "But I still can't understand why Kaguya would skip class because of something like this. You should be much stronger than that. Is it really nothing that happened?"
"Hayasaka, didn't you skip work too?"
"I'm on legal leave. Working 356 days a year non-stop is exhausting."
"Nonsense, why didn't you ask for leave before? You weren't doing something secretly, were you? I've told you many times that you don't need to." Kaguya Shinomiya suddenly sat up, her blue and red eyes meeting his.
A few seconds later, Hayasaka Ai moved away again, as was her habit, partly out of guilt, and partly out of pleasure.
An hour ago, she had just hung up the phone with that person. For the first time in so many years, she did not choose to submit. It was as if the experience of surviving life and death brought her not only strength, but also the heart of a strong person.
"How could I possibly do something so futile? Okay, I shouldn't have asked where you were. I'll have the kitchen prepare lunch. Oh, and I'd like to ask for the day off tomorrow."
She stood up, bowed slightly, and quietly clenched her fist as she turned away.
Through Yuki's probing, she now knows that the Shinomiya Group has a large player organization under its control, which is very bad. Miss Kaguya has no power to resist and can only become a toy. It would be normal for her to be handed over to some powerful player after Gan'an dies.
On the other hand, after becoming players, they relaxed their monitoring of themselves and Kaguya. With the Transcendental Grade power in the game, no matter how hard they struggled in reality, it was like an ant trying to shake a tree.
The Shinomiya Group has a strong player organization, but its size and who controls it are unknown, making resistance seem even more difficult.
"But I have him. Give me some more time, and I'll definitely be able to protect you."
Behind Hayasaka Ai, the black-haired girl kept watching her back, slowly gripping the bedsheets tightly. Her red eyes held both pain and hope.
Hayasaka, I will protect you, I promise!
Chapter Four: The Grand Blue
"Izu Station, we've arrived."
As the slightly fishy sea breeze blew in, Yuki, who had been dozing in his seat, opened his eyes. For some reason, he was very excited after returning and hadn't slept at all on the way back.
He simply started thinking about the problem and, incidentally, extracted its characteristics.
[Conceptual Craft Essence: Stand User will attract each other]
Yuki rubbed his face; he was now gaining a better understanding of his own characteristics.
The dungeon time is too short, so you can't draw many cards at all. Rather than a deus ex machina, it's more like you prepare your cards in advance and then play around them. So every time the cooldown is over, he draws a card.
Every costume is useful; it just depends on where you use it, like the one you just drew.
Within a certain range, similar individuals will be attracted to each other, which can be considered a passive skill and also has certain causal elements.
"Save it for now, and overwrite it if you draw something more useful."
Currently, Yuki can store one Mystic Code, which provides a lot of redundancy. Randomness is becoming controllable. Since he didn't have much luggage, he got off the bus and boarded a regular bus, leisurely heading towards the university along the coastal highway.
I have to go back to school today. If I'm not mistaken, some people are definitely searching all over Japan for students who skipped class, and then screening them out for in-depth investigation.
Yuki didn't seem to care. He gazed at the Grand Blue outside the window while fiddling with his phone. He wasn't planning on getting his diploma anyway, so what difference did it make where he slacked off?
"My senior and Hayasaka won't arrive until tomorrow, but luckily I've already prepared my gift."
The two trade posts have been finalized. After comparing several Chaos Item, he chose two of them.
[Chaos Item: Singer's White Veil (Chaos Level)]
[Upon activation, a defensive shield is deployed for the wearer, providing good protection against energy and physical attacks, as well as some mental defense. It can be activated 3 times, and recharges every hour.]
[Side effect: After activation, singing may occur in the wearer's mind, causing some psychological impact.]
[Description: The seemingly thin white veil possesses powerful defensive capabilities, but remember, it is the singer's outer garment.]
[Chaos Item: Lucky Clover Earrings]
[Continuously and slightly replenishes the wearer's luck value; the effect increases after crushing.]
[Side effects: None]
[Description: These are lucky earrings. When you desperately need luck, don't hesitate, crush them.]
Forums are a good thing, but if Yuki were to use his enhancement points to draw items, what's the difference between that and synthesizing relics in some games? Oh, and there's no targeted function either. Isn't that ridiculous?
If you wear a dozen or so Chaos Item, the side effects will kill you.
"That one from the senior is pretty good. It would be even better with some further forging. It should increase the number of uses, and it could even directly upgrade to the Transcendental Grade level. The side effects don't seem that strong."
"I'll just have to make do with Hayasaka. Items related to luck are rare anyway, and any player with a little experience in web novels would know to keep this one."
Yuki selected two gifts. He hadn't decided on his own yet, and after comparing several items, he found them all to be mediocre. Exchanging them for his original Chainsaw Sword would be just right.
But don't forget, Mr. Thomas invested a power-up point in it, so I need to help him reap the full benefits.
Outside the window, the waves surged and chuckled softly. Someone who had been murdering and robbing chuckled softly. After browsing the forums for so long, besides being quite knowledgeable about the biology of reincarnation, he had also come to understand many other things.
Forging is a quantitative change, while upgrading is a qualitative change. Under normal circumstances, forging can only be performed three times. Even if the quantitative change becomes a qualitative change, it is difficult to surpass the Chaotic level. This is similar to drawing a four-star character with six lives, which is equivalent to drawing a five-star character with one life.
It's fair, but abnormal situations are also possible.
Yuki tasted the benefits of the Nameless Longsword, and now possessed by Demon Possession, he highly values this level 2 weapon with no side effects, somewhat like a description in a martial arts novel:
Even falling petals and leaves can kill.
More advanced tools come with side effects, unless those side effects are within a controllable range. This knife is sufficient, at least it's easy to use.
Squeak--
The car stopped, and amidst the swaying, Yuki stopped thinking, got out of the car, and happened to be in front of Izu University.
He had only been away from school for a few days, but it felt like a lifetime had passed. His mind was filled with a long memory, and the school gate seemed somewhat unfamiliar to him.
Tsk, he really has become a poor student.
He first went to the medical school to report and prove that he was not missing. Then he went back to attend two anatomy classes. Seeing his classmates vomiting, Yuki had to act scared.
In his eyes, those corpses were no different from toys. Demons and Living Corpse were far more terrifying than that. In the end, he simply hid in a corner, took out his phone, and continued to study the biology of reincarnation.
Slacking off and wasting time makes it fly by; five or six hours in the Demon Hospital can decide life or death, and everyone has only attended two classes.
As soon as the professor announced the end of class, Yuki the first to leave, as if he had been granted a pardon.
Ironically, the professor was analyzing specimens and teaching everyone how to treat and save lives, but to him it was all a demonstration of murder.
Which spot on the blade will be fatal? Which part of the body will be instantly incapacitated?
Previously, this was considered a reserve of knowledge, but after being incorporated into the Reincarnation Game, it all came in handy.
"No wonder they created Player Forum. Even someone like me who was mentally prepared will inevitably feel out of place when returning to daily life."
As the sun set, Yuki stood on the steps, watching the bustling students disperse. Some went to bars to relax, while others discussed which pretty girl was in the department, creating a joyful atmosphere.
Faced with a survival crisis, academic pressure is nothing, but Yuki doesn't have any philosophical questions; instead, he's quite philosophical.
Different worlds naturally have different ideas. Although it feels a bit awkward, it's still nice to see.
He had already figured out what he wanted to gain from the Reincarnation Game, so there was no need to keep agonizing over it.
As the crowd brushed past him, their laughter echoing, Yuki turned his head and suddenly saw several familiar figures.
Two burly men, a handsome blond guy, and a short-haired girl were there. Coincidentally, they also saw Yuki.
The blond hunk stopped abruptly, covered his face, and thought for a long time before suddenly pointing a finger, "Hey, aren't you that... Kong something?"
"Yuki Sorajima, I inquired about joining the Diving Club before." Yuki paused for a moment, then walked towards them.
At the Yuki of the school year, Yuuki, who thought he could live a peaceful life, consulted the Diving Club. Because diving is expensive and the people there are quite eccentric, they have always lacked new members.
Of course, the Reincarnation Game completely disrupted the plan.
"I remember now, the kid who grabbed the documents and ran away." Shinji Tokita, a muscular man with a buzz cut, walked over and sized up Yuki. "You're in the medical school, right? You don't seem like it."
Because I've been killing people, oh, I did manage to save some people in the Demon Hospital.
"I am indeed a first-year medical student."
"Oh, are you interested in joining us now? We're short-staffed because we're preparing for the Izu Festival!"
The Izu Festival? This incident...
Yuki glanced at Kohei Imamura, who was clutching his forehead and instantly baring his teeth in a grimace. For the first time, his Prophet came in handy in everyday life.
If I remember correctly, Kohei Imamura and Iori Kitahara are going to perform in drag at the Izu Festival, huh?
"Where's Kitahara?"
"You still know that scoundrel Kitahara? That bastard dumped all the trouble on me and went off to have a good Xiaoyao!" Imamura's facial expression became even more exaggerated, with veins bulging on his arms, as if he could kill a bull with one punch.
"Iori has some family matters to attend to, isn't she supposed to go back and take care of them?"
"Tokita, you actually believed him? Who goes home every few days? He must be running away. That scoundrel tricked me!"
"Oh dear, Kohei can handle the men's Kohei Imamura. In exchange, didn't Chisa agree to participate in the women's competition?"
Has the world line changed?
Yuki glanced at the girl with a cool expression and worried eyes, and felt something was off. Iori Kitahara looked somewhat like him.
"Iori-kun skips class every other day?"
"It's not that frequent, just every now and then. Sorashima, would you be interested in joining the Diving Club?" Tokita seemed to sense the girl's worry and skipped over the topic.
Yuuki's original plan to join the Diving Club had been thwarted by the Reincarnation Game. Apart from Hayasaka Ai, Mai Sakurajima Shiina Hiyori, Yuki had no intention of interacting with people in reality.
But then he suddenly realized there was a problem, and he became interested.