The room was somewhat dim. Because the time ratio was one-to-one, Lan Ze had spent a large part of the day in the game, so naturally, a large part of the day had passed in reality as well.
At this hour, Sajyou Manaka seemed to have gone out to buy groceries. Lan Ze walked out of the room, casually turned on the television, and then walked over to boil a pot of water, intending to brew a cup of coffee.
Having played for an entire day, his head felt a bit congested, especially when he thought about how he had played all day and obtained no achievements at all, which instantly made his head hurt even more.
At the same time, the sound of the television from behind clearly entered his ears.
"It is understood that this earthquake was located in Tokyo City, with a magnitude of 4.5. A large amount of yellow carnations was discovered on the shore near Tokyo Bay, and a young girl also appeared at the scene, claiming to be the Goddess of the Underworld—"
Lan Ze's motion of unpacking the instant coffee paused slightly, and he slowly turned his head to look.
Did I mishear just now?
His gaze stared fixedly at the television, but facts proved that his eyes were not acting up.
The young girl presented on the screen at this moment was precisely the goddess he had seen in the game earlier, Ereshkigal.
What is the situation?
Looking at the blonde beauty who had caught his eye on the television, Lan Ze was thoroughly bewildered.
He instinctively raised his finger and swiped down lightly, wanting to see if he could summon a menu.
The result was obviously that no menu bar popped up, because he was not inside a game.
Clack.
Before he could continue thinking deeply, Sajyou Manaka, who had just entered the house behind him, turned off the television.
"Recent television shows really love to make news of this urban legend type." The girl said as she casually tossed the remote control in her hand aside.
"Urban legend...?" Lan Ze repeated.
"Yeah, recent news just loves to use these fresh subjects to attract other people's viewership."
"No, no, no... How is that a real person by any stretch of the imagination?!" Lan Ze said loudly.
He still remembered Ereshkigal's gaze in the news, as well as the carnations blooming all around her.
But thinking carefully about it, it was really a bit too bizarre. This world undoubtedly had Heroic Spirits, that was true, but Ereshkigal was the Goddess of the Underworld, and deities logically speaking could not be summoned... at least not summoned out of thin air for no reason at all.
That being the case, how did Ereshkigal appear in Tokyo?
And she had even caused such a huge commotion.
Watching Lan Ze's expression remain skeptical, Sajyou Manaka's gaze flickered slightly, and she said in a casual tone: "Maybe it's just some cosplay from somewhere? Haven't internet celebrities been very popular lately? Probably just desperate to get famous."
"There's nothing worth watching about news like this, and besides..." She paused, and said indifferently, "The other party is merely a flat-chested girl."
Lan Ze: "?"
He instinctively glanced at Sajyou Manaka's chest, thinking to himself how she had the nerve to criticize Ereshkigal.
"You seem to be thinking about some impolite thing?" Manaka tilted her head, staring at Lan Ze with a smiling expression.
Lan Ze instantly shifted his gaze away with a guilty conscience, "Your imagination."
After a pause, Sajyou Manaka changed the subject: "Let's not talk about this, what should we eat for dinner tonight?"
"Whatever, anything is fine for me, and didn't you go buy ingredients?" Lan Ze glanced at the shopping bag Sajyou Manaka was holding.
"I still have to cook some dishes you like, don't I? Otherwise, you'll find fault with them again when the time comes."
Lan Ze said helplessly, "Don't make it sound like I'm picky every single time. As long as it's food you cooked, I like it."
"Ooh, I'm so happy." Sajyou Manaka gently clapped her hands in front of her chest, smiling faintly, "Though you probably just want to be lazy and hope someone will cook for you."
"This feeling of coming home to a hot meal after being exhausted is quite awesome." Lan Ze did not deny it.
Sajyou Manaka narrowed her eyes, turned around, and walked out of the living room, "In that case, hurry up and find a girlfriend."
Lan Ze laughed, "Finding a girlfriend wouldn't I still need to make sure you're satisfied with her?"
"Of course, after all, I am the mistress of this house." Sajyou Manaka let out a low hum and disappeared into the living room.
The problem is I'm not the master of this house, needing your approval just to find a girlfriend is going way too far... Lan Ze muttered inwardly.
Watching Manaka go into the dining room to busy herself, Lan Ze also dropped the coffee he originally intended to brew, quickly walked into his room, and turned on the computer.
He searched for recent trending news and immediately saw a striking headline displayed on the front page:
"After the Tokyo Earthquake, Carnations Bloom, Striking Beauty Mysteriously Appears!"
This headline... has that familiar flavor.
Lan Ze muttered inwardly, clicked into the headline page, and his gaze quickly landed on the photo of a young girl.
That young girl sat dazedly in the field where carnations were in full bloom, her golden hair fluttering gently in the wind, her slender and snow-white legs vaguely visible beneath a black dress, and she even grasped a cage gun in her hand.
In the second photo, her expression was filled with astonishment, her head slightly tilted up to look at the sky, revealing the snow-white curve of her neck and alluring collarbones. Even through a screen, it made people feel a beauty so breathtaking it took one's breath away.
In the comments at the bottom of the forum, homebodies seemed to have blown up.
"First floor!"
"Making room on the second floor, it's the Goddess of the Underworld, Mom, I'm in love!"
"A once-in-a-millennium beauty, definitely a once-in-a-millennium beauty!"
Lan Ze stared blankly at the computer screen, feeling his mind a bit dazed.
It really actually was Ereshkigal, but the question was how on earth did she appear in reality?
Did a Holy Grail War happen in Tokyo, or... did someone use some special summoning ritual?
It couldn't just drop out of thin air, could it?
Glancing at the game disc placed beside the desk, Lan Ze's heart suddenly stirred slightly. As if recalling something, he pressed his hands against the desk and abruptly stood up.
Could it be the "quest reward" of the game I played today?
Lan Ze recalled carefully. During the day, the system granted an ability called "Illusion Manifestation," and after that, Ereshkigal ran out of the underworld and into the login screen... and even managed to re-enter the game together with him.
And right after completing a quest, the system bestowed a second ability, which was "True Illusion Manifestation," yet he had searched everywhere earlier and couldn't find where the skill was.
Holy shit... I suddenly have a bold idea. Lan Ze muttered to himself, turning his head to look at the VR glasses resting on the head of the bed.
"Where on earth is this place?"
At this very moment, deep underground in the gloomy depths, Ereshkigal was squatting alone on a certain giant rock, looking at the unfamiliar surroundings around her. She felt a sense of timidity, along with a sort of indescribable excitement.
She only remembered that she had previously been weaving cage guns in the underworld, while thinking to herself whether this time matched the "dinner" time Lan Ze had mentioned. If it did, then he should have already logged out of the game.
Then, she thought again: if she could also log out of the game, what would she be doing right now?
As she thought about it, the field of vision before her suddenly became hazy. When she came back to her senses, she had already appeared in an extremely modern-style world.
When she looked up, buildings stood like a forest everywhere, tall glass curtain walls towering under the night sky, and the night city was ablaze with brilliant lights.
Following that, a group of reporters rushed over one after another, asking Ereshkigal all sorts of messy questions. At first Ereshkigal basically answered them all seriously, but later, thinking that she shouldn't cause too much trouble, she simply looked for an opportunity to slip away.
And after that, Ereshkigal entered the underground... or rather, the underworld.
"I need to calm down..."
Ereshkigal took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
She finally managed to calm down a little and roughly understood what had happened.
First of all, the current her was no different from when she was in Uruk, except that her magical energy was much smaller than before. Only when she was situated in the underworld would her magical energy refill.
And in this era, the underworld also existed.
Ereshkigal didn't know whether the underworld existed because of her appearance or if it had always existed, but in any case, the current her was still the mistress of the underworld.
It was just that she could freely shuttle between the underworld and the mortal world.
"Maybe that divine messenger knows something... I have to find a way to find him." Ereshkigal muttered in a low voice, raising her head to look at the underworld, which was cast in a deep, boundless blue as far as the eye could see.
For the sake of this goal, she needed to transform the underground of this country into her very own underworld.
That way, wanting to pinpoint Lan Ze's location would naturally be a piece of cake.
"As expected, there's no one in the underworld either..."
Lan Ze muttered to himself as he took off the virtual glasses, lying in the dimness with his head resting against the pillow, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Just moments ago, because of the matter regarding Ereshkigal, he had made a special trip back into the game world. After being slapped to death by magical beasts, he had returned to the underworld.
Yet in the underworld, he had not seen Ereshkigal's figure, and at the login screen, he likewise could not find this goddess.
Now it could basically be ascertained that the Ereshkigal who had just appeared in reality and the Ereshkigal in Uruk were the exact same person.
"What on earth is going on? Although I've long known that Heroic Spirits exist in this world, this is a bit too outrageous now."
Characters from a game can run out into reality?
Lan Ze was still somewhat incredulous. At that moment, a knock on the door came from outside.
"Dinner is ready."
As Sajyou Manaka's voice fell, Lan Ze managed to pull his thoughts back and called out upward: "Coming!"
No matter what, thinking about these things right now was useless. Rather than pondering these random things here, it was much more practical to go out and see the scene in person after eating.
At dinnertime, Sajyou Manaka served the dishes onto the table. Lan Ze turned on the television, but regretfully, the news report from earlier had already ended, and he had no idea what the final situation was.
After finishing dinner, Lan Ze couldn't wait to place his bowl in the dishwashing sink, then went to the entryway to put on his shoes, intending to head out.
"Where are you going?"
Sajyou Manaka was standing behind Lan Ze bent over at some point. She was barefoot, her slender and delicate legs wrapped in smooth white silk, and she used her pinky finger to tuck a strand of pale golden hair that had fallen across her forehead behind her ear.
"I remember you don't have classes this evening, right?" she continued.
Among the courses Lan Ze was currently taking, two of them started from the evening, and Sajyou Manaka knew his schedule like the back of her hand.
"Isn't it normal to go out for a walk after eating dinner?" Lan Ze complained.
"Normally it would be normal, but for you it's not normal." Sajyou Manaka narrowed her eyes and smiled. "Under normal circumstances, after eating you at most go back to your room to play games or read books, how could you possibly go out for a walk."
Pausing for a moment, she continued to ask: "Could it be you're going on a date?"
Although she acted as if nothing was the matter, those meek, cat-like eyes were constantly scrutinizing Lan Ze's expression.
"I certainly hope it's a date, but unfortunately, there's no object I can call a date yet." Speaking up to here, Lan Ze suddenly remembered something. "Right, my phone is still with you, right?"
"Mm-hmm, I politely declined today's midday invitation on your behalf." Sajyou Manaka smiled faintly as she handed the phone into Lan Ze's hand.
Without a doubt, Sajyou Manaka liked Lan Ze.
Not just because of his looks, but more importantly, his personality. This kind of personality suited her taste very well.
Over the past half year, Sajyou Manaka had eliminated unnecessary troubles as much as possible—for instance, certain female classmates at university who drooled over her tenant, for instance, the lingering female deskmate she used to contact back in high school, and middle school... Oh, she didn't need to worry about that one; Lan Ze seemed to have little interest in flat-chested girls.
What? She was flat-chested too?
Could that possibly be the same? She was only fourteen years old, with boundless potential ahead!
In short, there were currently no intimate females whatsoever in his phone. That being the case, what did she have to panic about?
These past two days, she seemed to have been a bit too paranoid... Sajyou Manaka's gaze flickered slightly, and then she tilted her head slightly, smiling, "Go on then, have a safe trip."
"Look, look, a huge amount of yellow carnations are still blooming over there!"
"There's definitely no mistake, the girl who appeared in the earlier news report claiming to be the Goddess of the Underworld definitely exists in reality!"
"How could that be? Even if she exists, the Goddess of the Underworld shouldn't look so dainty, shouldn't she logically be gloomy and ghastly?"
"That's definitely just... some little trick deliberately concocted to trick the general public because she wants to get famous. How could there possibly be a real Goddess of the Underworld?"
When Lan Ze arrived at the scene following the information he had searched online earlier, the surroundings had already been cordoned off, and near that sealed area, quite a few members of the public were gathered at the moment.
People pointed and gestured at the area not far ahead, discussing in low voices the news reports they had seen earlier.
Before you continue