Moon World Girlfriend Comes Knocking

The room was a bit dim, since the time ratio was one-to-one; Lan Ze had spent most of the day in the game, so naturally, the same amount of time had passed in reality.

At this hour, Sajyou Manaka seemed to have gone out to buy groceries. Lan Ze walked out of his room, casually turned on the TV, then went over to boil some water, planning to make a cup of coffee.

After playing all day, his head felt a little fuzzy, and especially when he thought about how he hadn't achieved anything in the game, his headache only got worse.

At the same time, the sound of the TV behind him came through clearly.

"According to reports, this earthquake was located in Tokyo City, with a magnitude of 4.5. A large number of Yellow Carnations were found on the shore near Tokyo Bay, and a young girl appeared at the scene, claiming to be the Goddess of the Underworld—"

Lan Ze paused mid-motion as he was tearing open a packet of instant coffee, slowly turning his head to look.

Did I just hear that wrong?

He stared intently at the TV, but as it turned out, his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

The girl on the screen right now was exactly the goddess he'd seen in the game earlier—Ereshkigal.

What's going on?

Staring at the golden-haired beauty on the TV, Lan Ze was completely dumbfounded.

He instinctively raised a finger and swiped downward, trying to see if he could pull up a menu.

As it turned out, no menu bar appeared—because he wasn't in the game.

Clatter.

Before he could think further, Sajyou Manaka, who had just entered the house, turned off the TV.

"Lately, the news really loves this kind of urban legend story," the girl said, casually tossing aside the remote in her hand.

"Urban legend...?" Lan Ze repeated.

"Yeah, the news these days likes to use fresh topics like this to grab viewers."

"No, no, no... that was clearly a real person just now, right?!" Lan Ze exclaimed.

He still remembered Ereshkigal's gaze in the news, and the Carnations blooming around her.

But thinking about it, it was really too bizarre. This world undoubtedly had Heroic Spirits, but Ereshkigal was a goddess of the underworld—deities shouldn't be summonable in principle... at least not without some special reason.

If that was the case, how did Ereshkigal end up in Tokyo?

And causing such a commotion, no less.

Seeing Lan Ze still looking skeptical, Sajyou Manaka's eyes flickered slightly, and she said casually, "Maybe it's just some cosplayer. Haven't influencers been all the rage lately? Probably someone desperate for fame."

"News like this isn't worth watching, and besides..." She paused, then said flatly, "She's just a flat-chested girl anyway."

Lan Ze: "?"

He instinctively glanced at Manaka's chest, thinking, How can you criticize Ereshkigal like that?

"You seem to be thinking something rude," Manaka said, tilting her head with a sweet smile fixed on Lan Ze.

Lan Ze immediately looked away guiltily. "You're imagining things."

After a pause, Sajyou Manaka changed the subject. "Forget it. What do you want for dinner tonight?"

"Anything's fine with me. And didn't you go buy ingredients?" Lan Ze glanced at the shopping bag in Manaka's hand.

"I have to make dishes you like, don't I? Otherwise, you'll just complain again."

Lan Ze said helplessly, "Don't make it sound like I'm always picky. I like whatever you cook."

"Oh wow, I'm so happy." Manaka lightly clapped her hands in front of her chest, smiling faintly. "But you're just being lazy and hoping someone will cook for you."

"Coming home tired to a ready meal feels pretty great," Lan Ze admitted without denial.

Manaka narrowed her eyes, turned around, and walked out of the living room. "Then find yourself a girlfriend already."

Lan Ze chuckled. "Wouldn't I need your approval for that too?"

"Of course. After all, I'm the mistress of this house," Manaka said with a soft hum, disappearing from the living room.

The problem is, I'm not the master of this house. Having to get your permission to find a girlfriend is a bit much... Lan Ze muttered to himself.

Watching Manaka head into the dining room to get busy, Lan Ze set down the coffee he'd been planning to brew, quickly walked into his room, and turned on the computer.

He searched for recent trending news and immediately spotted a striking headline on the homepage:

"After Tokyo Earthquake, Carnations Bloom, Stunning Beauty Appears!"

That headline... has a certain ring to it.

Lan Ze silently complained as he clicked into the page, his eyes quickly landing on a photo of a girl.

The girl sat blankly in a field of blooming Carnations, her golden hair gently swaying in the wind. Beneath her black dress, long, fair legs were faintly visible, and she held a Cage Gun in her hand.

In the second photo, her expression was full of surprise as she looked up at the sky, revealing her pale neck and alluring collarbone. Even through the screen, it was enough to make anyone feel the breathtaking beauty of her face.

In the comments below the forum, the otakus seemed to have gone into a frenzy.

"First floor!"

"Second floor, squeeze in—it's the Goddess of the Underworld! Mom, I'm in love!"

"A once-in-a-millennium beauty, absolutely once in a millennium!"

Lan Ze stared blankly at the computer screen, his mind a little dazed.

It really was Ereshkigal, but the question was, how had she appeared in the real world?

Had a Holy Grail War broken out in Tokyo, or... had someone used some kind of special summoning ritual?

She couldn't have just dropped out of thin air, could she?

Glancing at the game disc sitting on the desk, Lan Ze's heart suddenly stirred. As if remembering something, he pushed off the desk with both hands and stood up sharply.

Could it be the "quest reward" from the game I played today?

Lan Ze thought back carefully. During the day, the system had granted him an ability called "Illusion Manifestation," and after that, Ereshkigal had come running from the Underworld to the login screen... and had even been able to re-enter the game with him.

Then, right after he finished a quest, the system gave him a second ability—"True Illusion Manifestation"—but he'd searched everywhere earlier and couldn't find the skill anywhere.

"Damn... I've suddenly got a wild idea." Lan Ze muttered to himself, turning his head to look at the VR Glasses resting on the bedside.

"What exactly is this place?"

At that very moment, deep underground in the gloom, Ereshkigal was crouching alone on a massive boulder, staring at the unfamiliar surroundings around her. She felt a mix of timidity and an indescribable thrill.

She only remembered that earlier she'd been weaving a cage in the Underworld, wondering if it was about time for what Lan Ze called "dinner"—and if so, he should have already logged out of the game.

Then she'd thought, if she could log out of the game too, what would she be doing right now?

As she pondered, her vision suddenly grew hazy. When she came back to her senses, she was already in an incredibly modern world.

Looking up, towering buildings stood all around, their high glass walls looming under the night sky. The city was ablaze with brilliant lights.

After that, a group of reporters had swarmed in, asking her all sorts of random questions. At first, Ereshkigal answered them earnestly, but then she realized she couldn't cause too much trouble, so she had to find a chance to slip away.

And after that, she'd gone underground... or rather, into the Underworld.

"I need to calm down..."

Ereshkigal took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

She finally steadied herself a bit and roughly understood what had happened.

First of all, she was no different now than she'd been in Uruk—except her magical energy was much less than before. Only when she was in the Underworld did her power fully replenish.

And this era also had an Underworld.

Ereshkigal didn't know if the Underworld existed because of her appearance, or if it had always been there. Either way, she was still the mistress of the Underworld.

But now, she could freely travel between the Underworld and the mortal realm.

"Maybe that Divine Messenger knows something... I need to find him." Ereshkigal murmured to herself, lifting her head to gaze at the Underworld, stretching out before her in an expanse of deep blue.

To achieve that goal, she needed to turn the underground of this entire country into her own Underworld.

That way, pinpointing Lan Ze's location would be a piece of cake.

"So there's really no one in the Underworld either, huh..."

Lan Ze muttered as he took off the VR Glasses, lying in the dim light with his head resting on the pillow, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Just now, because of the Ereshkigal situation, he'd deliberately gone back into the game world. After getting killed by a demonic beast, he'd returned to the Underworld.

But he hadn't seen Ereshkigal's figure in the Underworld, and on the login screen, he hadn't found the goddess either.

Now he was basically certain that the Ereshkigal who had appeared in the real world was the same one from Uruk.

"What the hell is going on? I mean, I knew this world had Heroic Spirits, but this is just too ridiculous."

A character from a game could come into the real world?

Lan Ze was still finding it hard to believe. Just then, a knock came from outside the door.

"Dinner's ready."

As Sajyou Manaka's voice faded, Lan Ze barely pulled himself together and called out, "Coming!"

Either way, thinking about it now was useless. Instead of racking his brain over this nonsense, it'd be more practical to finish eating and go out to see the scene for himself.

At dinner, Sajyou Manaka served the food onto the table. Lan Ze turned on the TV, but unfortunately, the news report from earlier had already ended. He had no idea how things had turned out.

After dinner, Lan Ze couldn't wait to put his bowl in the sink, then went to the entrance to put on his shoes, ready to head out.

"Where are you going?"

Sajyou Manaka was suddenly standing behind him, bent over slightly. She was barefoot, her long, slender legs wrapped in smooth white stockings, as she used her pinky to tuck a strand of pale golden hair behind her ear.

"I remember you don't have any classes this evening, right?" she added.

Among Lan Ze's current courses, two started in the evening, and Sajyou Manaka knew his schedule inside out.

"Isn't it normal to go for a walk after dinner?" Lan Ze retorted.

"Normally, it would be normal. But for you, it's not." Sajyou Manaka narrowed her eyes with a smile. "Under normal circumstances, after eating, you'd at most go back to your room to play games or read a book. Why would you go for a walk?"

She paused, then added, "Could it be a date?"

Though she acted nonchalant, her eyes, gentle as a kitten's, kept watching Lan Ze's expression.

"I wish it were a date, but unfortunately, I don't have anyone I'd call a date yet." As Lan Ze said this, he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right, you still have my phone, don't you?"

"Mm-hmm. I politely declined the invitation for you at noon." Sajyou Manaka smiled sweetly as she handed the phone back to Lan Ze.

There was no doubt about it—Sajyou Manaka was in love with Lan Ze.

It wasn't just about his looks; more importantly, it was his personality. That kind of personality was exactly to her taste.

Over the past six months, Manaka had done her best to clear away unnecessary nuisances—like certain classmates at university who had their eyes on her tenant, or the lingering female deskmate from high school who still kept in touch, and middle school... well, she wasn't worried about that. Lan Ze didn't seem too interested in flat chests.

What? She was flat-chested too?

How could that be the same? She was only fourteen—there was plenty of potential ahead!

In any case, there wasn't a single close female left in his phone now. So what did she have to panic about?

These past couple of days, she might have been a little too paranoid... Manaka's eyes flickered, then she tilted her head slightly and smiled. "Go ahead. Safe travels."

"Look, look—over there, a huge patch of Yellow Carnations is still in full bloom!"

"There's no mistake. That girl who called herself the Goddess of the Underworld in the news earlier—she's absolutely real!"

"How could that be? Even if she existed, the Goddess of the Underworld shouldn't look so delicate. Shouldn't she be all gloomy and grim?"

"It's gotta be that thing, you know—some stunt to get famous and fool the public. How could there really be a Goddess of the Underworld?"

When Lan Ze arrived at the scene based on the information he'd searched online earlier, the area had already been cordoned off. Near the cordon, a crowd of onlookers had gathered.

People pointed at the area ahead, whispering and discussing the news reports they'd seen earlier.