This Really Has Nothing to Do with Me!
Category: Art Style
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Art Style Value +3
"Um?"
Iori was slightly surprised and turned to look at the boy she had saved. "Could he be...?"
Just then, perhaps influenced by the battle between Iori and the monster, cracks appeared on the platform located at the edge of the cliff and rapidly expanded, soon beginning to tremble.
Kage no Minoru took a deep breath and quickly regained his composure. Years of training had prevented him from panicking like an ordinary person in this situation. Instead, he immediately turned around and tried to jump to safety.
Boom!
It seemed too late. The boy felt his footing give way, the cracked ground began to crumble, and he lost his balance, falling with the rocks.
Do you have experience?
"Ah?"
While almost suspended in mid-air, Kage no Minoru was astonished to find that there was another person beside him, the very same powerful figure who had killed the monster.
"What experience?"
"Bungee jumping!"
A yellow Kido rope was tied around Kage no Minoru's waist, and then the boy was left to freefall—
"Aaaaaah!"
The strong wind made Kage no Minoru hold her breath. Her animal instinct and fear of falling made her heart race to its limit, and she couldn't help but shout out her fear.
As he drew closer to the ground, about to crash, the rope around his waist suddenly loosened and then wrapped around his shoulders and legs, like a parachute. Then, a counter-pulling force came from the other end of the rope, giving him a rather unpleasant experience of sudden braking!
"Hmm!"
Five seconds later, Kage no Minoru made close contact with the earth, but the force was much less, roughly equivalent to jumping down the stairs, which was nothing to his well-trained body.
Two seconds later, Iori gracefully "floated" down.
"Hmm... Why don't you hold me? Can't you fly?" Kage no Minoru raised her head from the ground, having surprisingly regained her composure.
In his eyes, the beautiful moonlight fell on the elegant and handsome young Grim Reaper, who turned his back to him and revealed a cold smile.
"My gentleness is for young girls; men are not within my service scope."
A wanderer! This is the mysterious and powerful wanderer I aspire to be!
[CG included]
[Shadow - Night's Grace]
Category: Art Style
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Art Style Value +2;
"...ah?"
Iori calmly turned her head, her back to Kage no Minoru, her eyebrows involuntarily rising and falling:
What's going on? We only defeated one small monster... Why are the CG cutscenes so free?
Sorry, I need to take the day off today. (⊙o⊙)
Dear readers, I'm taking a day off today, but I'll make it up to you tomorrow o(╥╥)o
Furthermore, starting tomorrow, we will adjust the update time so that everyone can see the updates during the day instead of waiting until the evening.
I'm very sorry, but you will receive all the compensation you are entitled to.
——
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Chapter 200: This really has nothing to do with me! (Bonus Chapter)
Upon seeing the Art Style Value added to her account, Iori's gaze towards the boy immediately changed.
"Please let me take you as my disciple—no, please take me as your disciple!"
Without hesitation, Kage no Minoru knelt down in the mud, performing a perfect dogeza (a traditional Tibetan kotatsu), the sound carrying far through the forest.
He has an extraordinary obsession with "supernatural power". He has tried countless times in his past life but has not succeeded. Now that he has finally seen a "physical" one, he naturally wants to cling to it and absolutely cannot let Iori get away!
"To take you as my disciple?"
The young Grim Reaper glanced at the man with a hint of surprise, a half-smile on his face, as he sheathed his longsword Ama-no-Murakumo, and spoke.
"Why? Give me a reason."
"Your dashing fighting style has captivated me!"
Kage no Minoru said, both expressing her true feelings and offering a compliment, "I want to become like you!"
"Is that so... then you should give up."
"Ah?"
Receiving a completely different answer than he had imagined, Kage no Minoru heard the suddenly cold voice and couldn't help but look up, only to meet a pair of indifferent eyes.
"I... I... Is it not possible? Is there some condition I can't meet? Just tell me, and I'll definitely try my best!"
Kage no Minoru didn't think such a strong person would need money or anything like that, so he didn't mention apprenticeship fees at all, so as not to anger the other party. However, he was also very nervous, wondering why Iori had refused him.
Iori didn't make any demands, but simply shook her head calmly. "You can't meet them. That has nothing to do with 'effort,' but rather with a powerful force that is invisible to everyone and omnipresent."
"That is..."
"Destiny!"
Iori's deep eyes stunned Kage no Minoru, making him feel as if his very soul was being drawn in, and the words that came out of her mouth struck a chord deep within him:
"This was an unexpected encounter, where the trajectory of fate diverged, and what awaited us ahead was a thorny Asura's Path."
Cherish your ordinary yet precious daily life; it's not too late to turn back—before the capricious Goddess of Fate notices you!
"!!!!"
It was as if an electric current was coursing through his entire body. Every pore on Kage no Minoru's body couldn't help but open up, and a joy and satisfaction that came from the depths of his soul, which he had never felt before, surged up.
This is... a dialogue pattern that I practiced countless times on my own in private, thinking I would never have the chance to perform!
You mean fate?
Suppressing his impulse, Kage no Minoru a slightly trembling voice, "My destiny is only in my own hands!"
And now I will embark on the path I have chosen, and carry out my will to the very end!
Where does this obsession come from?
"Yes, this is a difficult question for me to answer, but I can say for sure one thing:"
I admire those powerful individuals who hide their identities and operate in the shadows... Yes, I want to become the Eminence in Shadow!
"Innocent!"
Under Kage no Minoru's astonished gaze, Iori raised his hand and extended his sword-like finger to press against Minoru's forehead.
"Longing is the furthest distance from understanding."
Buzz!
In an instant, the boy felt as if he had been bumped by something, and his body became incredibly light, like a blank sheet of paper being blown away by the cool night breeze—
At that moment, he actually saw "himself"!
Although it was just a back view, it was undoubtedly me, but why could these eyes see my back?
In a daze, he finally realized the problem:
I'm watching all of this from a third-person perspective, like a gamer!
So, what exactly is this version of myself, holding this current perspective—
"Yes!"
Kage no Minoru realized. "It's my soul!"
The next moment, his consciousness sank beneath the cold and cruel surface of the sea, and he lost consciousness.
——
[Young man, open your eyes...]
In an empty world, naked Minoru Kage no Minoru stands on a floor where no shadow can be seen, with a crowbar adorned with a bow hanging in mid-air in front of her.
[Kage no Minoru, do you crave power?]
"Who? Is that you speaking?" Kage no Minoru exclaimed in shock. "You know my name?!"
[Shouldn't it be astonishing that a crowbar could talk in this situation...? Indeed, you are no ordinary person; truly Chosen One.]
"The Chosen One? Me?"
Kage no Minoru was taken aback at first, then nodded as if it were a matter of course. "Indeed, I had a vague feeling a long time ago that I was very different from others—around the time I was in the second year of junior high school."
Hmm... it seems like what you're saying and what I'm saying aren't the same thing...
The crowbar paused, as if pondering something.
Let's put those trivial matters aside for now. The fact that you can hear me means that something quite remarkable has happened to you—
"It's an awakening!"
Kage no Minoru accepted reality very quickly. "You are the demon or Tailed Beast hidden inside me, right? Or is it another personality or guardian spirit of mine?"
From now on, I can shout out your real name and use my supernatural powers, right?
I knew it! I knew I would succeed!
[That's clever... but I'm also curious why I appeared in the form of a crowbar.]
If I am a manifestation of your subconscious, it means this is the most powerful weapon in your mind... Why it specifically?
"Because I saw potential in the crowbar!"
Without hesitation, Kage no Minoru declared, "I've decided to stake my soul on the Holy Sword known as the Crowbar!"
For Kage no Minoru, his favorite weapon is neither a Japanese katana nor an American revolver, but a Physics Holy Sword that is easy to carry, sturdy and reliable, perfectly balanced, and versatile.
Crowbar!
"I see... But unfortunately, you are far too weak to unleash my full potential. Come back to see me when you've become stronger!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the crowbar drifted away into the distance, its form becoming increasingly blurry.
Kage no Minoru Kageno screamed, running naked through the blank world with a desperate intensity. "No... no, don't leave me! I've been trying so hard to find you!!!"
--call!
The boy suddenly sat up and opened his eyes. He felt a cool sensation beneath him. He stared in disbelief at the clear morning sky, tried to clench his fist, and then looked around in a daze.
"...Dream?"
The physical sensations were so real, and looking back on the scenes before, they seemed too absurd; it really was just a bizarre dream.
"What... You made me happy for nothing."
Frustrated, Kage no Minoru rubbed his face and stood up from the ground, only to find that he was surrounded by rocks of all sizes. Looking up, he saw that the cliffs, tens of meters high, blocked most of the sunlight, casting shadows into the forest, like a cold giant looking down on the earth.
"How did I get to the bottom of the cliff... Ugh!"
A sharp pain shot through his mind, Kage no Minoru's breathing quickened as a flood of memories surged forth.
Meteorites, monsters, young samurai, falling off cliffs, out-of-body experiences...