Moon World Girlfriend Comes Knocking

Thinking it over carefully, it did not seem to have much of an impact. At most, he would gain another title, and after he died, his respawn point would be set here. She could even revive him immediately.

No matter how he looked at it, there was no downside.

Having thought it through, Lan Ze nodded without hesitation. "All right, I accept, Master."

Ereshkigal's cheeks flushed slightly. "You do not need to call me Master. Just address me as Goddess."

She was not quite used to that form of address.

"Okay, Ereshkigal."

"I said Goddess... forget it." Ereshkigal sighed. "In any case, from now on, you are my Divine Messenger. If you encounter any difficulties, you can come to me..."

As though worried that Lan Ze might commit suicide or something, Ereshkigal hurriedly added, "Of course, you absolutely must not deliberately kill yourself!"

It is not like I have some kind of mental illness. Why would I kill myself for no reason...? Suicide hurts too much.

Lan Ze looked into Ereshkigal's eyes. "Do not worry. I will take good care of myself."

Ereshkigal flushed with embarrassment and gave a light snort. "Do whatever you want. I would not worry about some mere Divine Messenger, so do not get ahead of yourself!"

As she spoke, the Cage Gun lightly tapped the ground. She raised her head to look at Lan Ze again and warned, "Do not die again. If you die next time, I will not help you."

As the Cage Gun lightly struck the ground, a faint glow enveloped Lan Ze.

Lan Ze lowered his head and saw his body vanish into the air like particles of light. Before disappearing, he cast one last look at Ereshkigal. The Goddess of the Underworld's flawless pale face no longer held that coldness she had feigned earlier. She watched him with gentle eyes.

The next moment, Lan Ze's vision sank briefly into darkness.

"Ahhh, what do I do? What do I do?!"

Ishtar held her head in both hands and looked up at the sky, her face filled with panic and guilt.

She had not expected to run someone over and kill him while returning to the Temple...

If this were modern times, Miss Ishtar's driver's license would have been confiscated by now.

If that glittering golden king found out, he would definitely mock her and might even try to confiscate her mount.

She had done plenty of outrageous things before, such as stealing other gods' treasures and destroying local crops while escaping on Ma'anna. But something like today had never happened before.

She had never expected something this absurd to happen today.

Ishtar crouched beside Lan Ze's "corpse," clasping her hands together apologetically. "Sorry... I truly did not mean to do it. As compensation, I shall grant your family the blessings of a goddess."

As Ishtar murmured, she sized up the youth she had "run over."

Judging from his appearance, his face was not inferior to that Golden Flash's in the slightest. Compared to Golden Flash's arrogance, though, this boy looked much gentler. His soft black hair rested lightly over his forehead, his skin was fair, and he had died peacefully.

"May you have a good dream." After saying that, Ishtar looked around. This happened to be a desolate wilderness, without a single passerby in sight. A monster hungry for food stood off to the side, staring in their direction.

Ishtar flicked out a gemstone.

A crisp, pleasant explosion rang out. The monster let out a low growl, twisted its sexy backside, and ran away.

"All right, now to deal with this child."

After chasing off the monster, Ishtar sighed and turned around.

She bent down slightly, intending to hoist Lan Ze onto her shoulder. But before her hand could touch his shoulder, Lan Ze, whose soul had just returned to his body, slowly opened his eyes.

The surrounding land was barren, and the scene before him gradually came into focus. This was clearly the site of the "traffic accident" he had just suffered.

Dilapidated buildings lay everywhere. He was sprawled on the desolate ground, while across from him stood a scantily dressed goddess. She had a tall, graceful figure, and her creamy skin looked especially snowy white beneath the sunlight, carrying a translucent beauty.

The goddess most beloved by the gods—Ishtar—and also the culprit behind this incident.

"Y-you, are you human or a ghost?!" Ishtar stammered, her gaze upon Lan Ze uncertain, as though she had seen a ghost.

She was clearly the goddess, yet Lan Ze had frightened her instead.

Lan Ze scratched his head. "Of course I am human, Goddess."

"B-but did my Ma'anna not..."

"I did not die. I was just unconscious for a moment." Lan Ze intended to brush it off.

"How is that possible?! I clearly checked. You had no signs of life at all then. How could—"

Ishtar abruptly stopped mid-sentence and lowered her head, studying Lan Ze suspiciously.

This guy... seemed to really be alive.

She walked behind Lan Ze and examined him from top to bottom for quite some time. Gradually, she calmed down, resting a hand beneath her chin as she guessed,

"You... did not escape from the Underworld on your own, did you?"

Logically, that was utterly unrealistic. Although the Underworld of this era could be reached simply by digging a hole, it was still the Underworld.

"That is not right... With that foul-tempered Goddess of the Underworld guarding the place, how could she possibly allow souls from the Underworld to escape?" Ishtar suddenly thought of something. "Did that goddess let you out?"

Though she said so, her eyes remained full of disbelief.

In Ishtar's eyes, the Goddess of the Underworld was an exceptionally awful-tempered deity. After all, the reason she wore so little clothing now was all because of that Goddess of the Underworld.

"How strange." At this moment, Ishtar was still having trouble believing it. Looking at Lan Ze, she muttered, "That should not be possible... Though it might not be appropriate for me to say this, that goddess has an absolutely terrible personality, you know? How could she let you out so easily?"

You actually know your own personality is incredibly awful... Lan Ze grumbled inwardly, saying nothing.

At that moment, Ishtar suddenly leaned in closer. She lightly sniffed at Lan Ze, her delicate brows knitting as a thoughtful glint filled her eyes.

After a moment, she lifted her lashes. A mischievous smile appeared in those incomparably beautiful crimson eyes.

"So that is how it is. That goddess acknowledged you, so she let you out? I see... hehehe..."

Ishtar's smile was breathtakingly beautiful, a face unmatched by anyone in the world. Yet for some reason, Lan Ze felt that smile looked like a demon's.

Ishtar's smile was beautiful, but in Lan Ze's eyes at that moment, it seemed demonic, brimming with danger.

In mythology, Ishtar had always been the goddess most beloved by the gods. Though possessing a human with a wavelength similar to her own had made her temperament somewhat gentler.

That did not mean the goddess who was originally a little devil would become a well-behaved girl merely because of possession.

At least when it came to possessiveness, Ishtar had never changed.

"Young man, do you want to become stronger? Do you want wealth and glory?"

Smiling, Ishtar rubbed her hands together as she slowly approached Lan Ze. Her figure gradually cast a shadow over him.

No, I do not want either of those at all... Lan Ze felt immense pressure. "Sorry, I have little interest in wealth and glory. An ordinary life is what is real."

"Then why did you become the Divine Messenger of the Goddess of the Underworld?!" Ishtar's smile vanished, and she instantly looked ferocious.

Unfortunately, no matter how fierce an expression she made with that stunningly beautiful face, it did not have much intimidation to it. Her bright eyes were glistening with moisture, and when she stared at Lan Ze, rather than seeming fierce, they instead looked tender and affectionate.

Ishtar gave a haughty little snort before continuing, "I will give you one more chance. Leave that goddess and become my Divine Messenger."

"Uh..." Lan Ze looked deeply troubled. "I have already made a contract with the Goddess of the Underworld. Besides, I have decided that I am only willing to serve her. Please do not make things difficult for me, Goddess."

Ishtar frowned unhappily. "Then change your mind now and swear to serve only me."

This goddess does not value my talents at all. She is just trying to compete with Ereshkigal... Lan Ze understood inwardly and shook his head. "Goddess, please do not make things difficult for a commoner like me. Since I have already given my word to the Goddess of the Underworld, how can I casually break my oath?"

"Heh... you really do have a strong sense of contract, do you?" Ishtar narrowed her eyes and bent over, staring into Lan Ze's eyes.

"If you do not agree today, I will curse you so that for generation after generation, you will have no descendants."

In Mesopotamian mythology, Ishtar was the goddess of nature and harvest, as well as the goddess who governed love, fertility, and war. As for cursing people... as far as Lan Ze knew, she truly seemed capable of it.

But—

I am just playing a game. What the hell am I afraid of?

With that thought, Lan Ze shook his head again. His expression was resolute, his attitude firm, as he slowly opened his mouth.

Before he could get the words out, however, a crisp, pleasant voice suddenly sounded.

[You have received a curse from Ishtar. Rejecting her will subject you to the curse, lowering your Luck stat. (This is a critical choice. Please consider it carefully before making your decision.)]

My own... did that refer to the game character's Luck stat?

Looking at the red warning prompt that had appeared, Lan Ze inexplicably felt tremendous pressure.

For some reason, even though it was only a game, he felt an inexplicable sense of oppression.

"Even so, I cannot casually break a contract—"

"Have you decided?" Ishtar sneered.

"Of course." Lan Ze nodded firmly. "I am willing to serve the goddess like an ox or horse, to give my all until my brains spill out."

Ishtar's brows relaxed. After examining him for a few moments, she nodded in satisfaction. "Very good. From now on, you are my Divine Messenger. Come see me at the Temple later."

"Goddess, the Temple is still quite a distance away. There are many monsters along the way, and I am weak. I fear I may not be able to reach the Temple safely." Looking very troubled, Lan Ze made his bid to freeload some items.

Ishtar pondered briefly, then nodded slightly. She tossed a sack of gemstones onto the ground before taking out several glittering gems.

She put those gems into a small pouch and tossed it to Lan Ze. "Do not say this goddess is stingy. These are specially made Star Slice Gems. Throw them out when you encounter danger, and something miraculous will happen."

To be honest... I want to try one right now. Lan Ze's eyes lit up slightly as he took the small pouch of gems, feeling its satisfying weight in his hand.

"If you do not come see me at the Temple within three days, I will curse you all the same. Remember that!" After saying so, Ishtar mounted her flying vessel and flew out of Lan Ze's sight in the blink of an eye.

Lan Ze weighed the pouch of gems in his hand. After watching Ishtar depart, he could not help but smile.

Though her temper was not very good, this goddess was quite generous.

She could give away gems so casually.

Lan Ze opened his inventory and looked at the pouch of gems he had just received.

[Star Slice Gem: A gemstone gifted by Ishtar. It contains a portion of divine power and possesses immense destructive force.]

The description looked terrifying enough, but he wondered how powerful it really was.

With that thought, Lan Ze took a gem from the pouch. Just as he wondered how to use it, an explanation suddenly appeared in his mind.

He flicked the gem out. A monster spying on this place from afar sensed danger, let out a howl, and spun around to flee.

With an explosion, a notification popped up before Lan Ze's eyes.

[You have killed thirteen magical beasts. Remaining requirement: 13/300.]

"So killing magical beasts also gives extra rewards?" Lan Ze muttered thoughtfully, frowning.

The system had clearly given no prompt, yet a mission window had appeared. This was probably a hidden quest, right?

Or perhaps the system was simply too lazy to even issue quests.

Lan Ze took another gem from the sack and threw it toward an area where a large number of magical beasts had gathered.

Another explosion rang out.

Lan Ze did not stop there. He continued forward on foot, searching for places where more magical beasts were gathered.

If Ishtar knew someone was wasting the gems she had given away so extravagantly, he wondered whether she would be angry or pleased.

After all, that goddess herself was exceptionally extravagant when using gems. The Divine Messenger she had just recruited was equally extravagant in using them, which was truly speechless.

Time passed silently as Lan Ze tried to find places with greater concentrations of magical beasts to complete the mission.

At sunset, he sat on the ground, gasping for breath as a notification appeared before him.

[Kill three hundred magical beasts. Reward: True Illusion Manifestation.]

Lan Ze: "?"

He opened his inventory and took a look, but found no extra reward. He opened the Achievement Book as well, yet did not see any newly activated item.

"Is this system messing with me?"

He had wasted most of the day, only for the rewarded skill to be another thing that felt like it was making him solve a riddle. Would the next completed mission give him True True Illusion Manifestation?

"Exit game!"

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Lan Ze simply exited the game and took off his VR Glasses.