Boundary Monster! Nine-Tailed Fox Ran!

Neeko: "Merit Ingredients? What are those?"

Plain Reaper: "Just look at how excited this Dragon Girl is, and you'll know it's good stuff. It can make even experts at least at the 'Human Immortal' level covet it."

Kaguya's Young Lady: "Isn't this... just a sweet potato?"

Witch Satella: "@Kaguya's Young Lady, you have Merit Ingredients over there too?"

Kaguya's Young Lady: "This is just the most ordinary crop. In our era, only very poor people would eat it."

Unreliable God of Ninja World: "Ababa."

Forever Seventeen-Year-Old Girl [Administrator]: "Wait, this thing is Merit Ingredients?!"

Gensokyo, Hakurei Great Barrier.

This was a small plane independent of the real world, an enormous barrier created by the Gensokyo Dragon God, the Monster Sage Yukari Yakumo, and the First Hakurei Shrine Maiden. It completely isolated Gensokyo from the real world.

And Yukari Yakumo, a great monster who had lived for seventeen hundred years and bore the title of Monster Sage—

Her strength ranked among the very best in Gensokyo, having reached the realm of 'Body Integration (S).'

"Wait! That sweet potato from earlier was Merit Ingredients?!"

"Then the apple we got from the red packet probably wasn't ordinary either."

"Could one bite really let us ascend and become immortals?!"

"..."

The blonde, violet-eyed girl seemed to have suddenly realized something.

She wore a white pleated dress beneath a purple robe decorated with bagua patterns. On her head was a white lace beret, its red ribbon tied into a large bow in front.

In terms of beauty, the Monster Sage Yukari Yakumo was undoubtedly exceptionally alluring, like the most brilliant gemstone.

"Ran! Ran!"

"What is it, Lady Yukari?"

At Yukari Yakumo's call, the door to the room was pushed open.

A fox-eared girl hurried in. She wore a cute white hat over her brilliant golden hair and a Taoist robe with a hint of Huaxia style, her hands tucked into her sleeves.

Most eye-catching of all were the nine fluffy tails behind her.

Monster Clan—Nine-Tailed Fox Ahri!

Though she was weaker than Yukari Yakumo, she was still at the 'Nascent Soul (B)' level, on the same tier as Senju Hashirama.

"Where's the apple I gave you earlier?"

"I buried it."

"???"

"It was so strange. The moment I put it into the dirt, that apple completely melted into it."

As if puzzled by the matter, Ran Yakumo tilted her head and spoke.

Did Lady Yukari conduct some strange experiment on this apple? Otherwise, how could it suddenly melt into the soil?

"..."

As though she had suffered ten thousand points of damage—

Yukari Yakumo collapsed into an ORZ pose, her entire body seemingly turned gray and white.

She had simply assumed it was an ordinary apple. But she could not throw away a red packet from a Big Boss, so she had told Ran Yakumo to plant it in the soil. It would have been fine if it flowered and bore fruit.

Yet not long after planting it, she learned that it might be 'Merit Ingredients'!

Even experts at the 'Human Immortal' level would covet it.

If she had eaten it, she might have shot up several realms in minutes. Then even beating Yuuka Kazami senseless would have been no problem.

Now, that apple had been directly absorbed by Gensokyo, becoming nourishment for the world's growth.

It was over. She had lost a hundred million in this round!

"What is it, Lady Yukari?"

"I feel like I've missed out on an entire world."

"?"

As Yukari Yakumo's shikigami, Ran Yakumo looked somewhat confused.

Still, Lady Yukari had a few days like this every year. Her old problem must have flared up again, so it probably was not a big deal.

Plain Reaper: "@Forever Seventeen-Year-Old Girl, you didn't eat it, did you?"

Forever Seventeen-Year-Old Girl [Administrator]: "I buried it. I planned to grow an Apple Tree, but it directly merged into the world and became nourishment for Gensokyo's growth."

Neeko: "Ababa. You managed not to eat the apple the Group Leader sent? As expected of the Administrator."

[System Message: 'Neeko' has been muted by the Administrator for ten minutes.]

As though someone had poked at her sore spot, the grief-stricken Yukari Yakumo immediately handed out a ten-minute package.

Under the Administrator's authority, ordinary group members could only be locked in the little black room.

Witch Satella: "My condolences."

Unreliable God of Ninja World: "My condolences +1."

Kaguya's Young Lady: "My condolences +2."

Primordial Great Expert [Group Leader]: "What are you all doing? What are you mourning for?"

Plain Reaper: "The Administrator buried the 'Merit Ingredients' you sent in the soil. They merged into the world, and now she regrets it so much that she's questioning her life."

Primordial Great Expert [Group Leader]: "What Merit Ingredients? It's just an ordinary apple. I've been eating them for so many years—wouldn't I know?"

Qin Xi explained somewhat helplessly.

These people were clearly all 'wise ones' from their respective worlds, so why had they so easily believed a Little Dragon Girl and decided that the most ordinary 'sweet potatoes' and 'apples'—

Were some kind of 'Merit Ingredients'?