Reaching a Consensus

Gu Mo stood up and casually swung the uchigatana in his hand a few times. Perhaps it was an illusion, but the blade seemed to have become a little lighter as well.

He could not be sure whether that was simply because his stamina had instantly recovered and become even more abundant than before, or whether physical attributes such as strength, agility, and constitution had some degree of synergy—improving one would also slightly enhance the other two?

Come to think of it, how was Profession Level supposed to increase? Did gaining a level also give him something like a distributable point?

There should be some difference, though. Otherwise, there would have been no need for two separate leveling systems...

Those thoughts surfaced in his mind, but Gu Mo did not dwell on them. Instead, he turned to Hidechiyo behind him and waved with high spirits. "All right, I've rested enough. Let's head up the mountain now!"

"..."

"..."

The black-haired girl studied him with a strange look. This man was far too strange. She could understand why he had said he needed to rest just now. After all, he had hacked his way from one end of the village to the other, single-handedly taking on every Lesser Hungry Ghost in one-on-one fights. His growth along the way had been visible to the naked eye.

But no matter what, it was already impressive for an ordinary person's stamina to last this long. She had felt that he truly needed to sit down and catch his breath, or he might not even have the strength to climb the mountain later.

Combat genuinely consumed a tremendous amount of stamina. Let alone this kind of brutal life-or-death struggle, even ordinary fights between people were the same. After fighting for a while, people would be exhausted. Like boxing, it was high-intensity exercise and extremely draining.

But still...

He had clearly been exhausted just moments ago, the fatigue plain on his face. Yet he had only gone over to wash his hands, and he immediately became full of vigor again. What kind of trick was that?

Hidechiyo tilted her head, as though question marks were slowly rising above it. Her gaze drifted unconsciously toward the water's edge. Could this strange person possess some special secret art or method... one that allowed him to quickly recover by washing his hands?

Gu Mo had no idea that his strange behavior had led the girl to suspect he was some kind of hand-washing battle god. He simply took the lead and headed toward the stone steps leading up the back mountain.

The black-haired girl could only raise her torch and quickly follow after him.

When they reached the steps, Gu Mo looked at the winding mountain path above. It vanished into the dense forest, its end impossible to see. He lifted his gaze toward the sky. The light of the stars and moon had dimmed, while the eastern horizon had begun to show a faint pale glow...

Dawn was approaching.

Come to think of it, when he had been about to return to his apartment complex and entered this Dungeon, it had only been a little past one in the morning. Even counting everything, he had only spent a bit more than an hour here—certainly less than two hours—

That was even with his cautious exploration, where he had only lured one Lesser Hungry Ghost at a time, and with the powerful companion he had latched onto being so patient...

So no matter how he looked at it, dawn should not have been so close. The only explanation was that time inside the Dungeon differed from time in the real world... That was only natural, given that they were entirely different worlds. Perhaps it was merely coincidence, or perhaps another reason, but every time he entered a Dungeon, it just happened to be nighttime there as well.

This had inadvertently created that illusion for Gu Mo, and it had also been one of the reasons why he initially could not distinguish the boundary between reality and illusion.

"It's almost dawn..." With that remark, Gu Mo quickened his pace slightly.

According to the plot he knew, Tokichiro would also arrive at dawn. Gu Mo did not know what the man had gone off to do after agreeing to wait beneath the night cherry blossoms, only to wait in vain, but having just tricked Axiu not long ago, Gu Mo instinctively wanted to avoid running into Tokichiro.

It would be far too awkward if he got exposed face-to-face...

So he should clear the Dungeon quickly and make a run for it. Even if the truth came out later, he would probably no longer be in this world. There would be nothing to fear.

Behind him, the black-haired girl also glanced at the sky. It truly was nearly dawn. After falling asleep late at night, she had been awakened when a passing traveler was attacked by Hungry Ghosts. Only after killing the lesser yokai and rescuing the traveler had she discovered a letter delivered to her home, inviting her to Thirteen Cherry Blossom Village.

The distance had already been rather far, so it had taken her some time to travel here. Naturally, it had been very late by the time she arrived. Together with the time they had wasted just now, it was hardly surprising that dawn was approaching.

And besides, he had looked like he had all the time in the world just a moment ago. Why did he suddenly seem so pressed for time now?

The girl was somewhat puzzled, but there was no way for her to ask.

"Mm, Perpetual Darkness again..."

Walking ahead, Gu Mo suddenly felt his field of vision darken, the world turning almost monochrome. It was as if he had unconsciously crossed a boundary separating him from the mortal world and fallen into a demonic realm. As the surroundings and light grew dim, his body seemed to become much heavier, and his abundant energy began to drain away.

Still, it felt somewhat different from when he had entered the Ox-Head Demon's Perpetual Darkness domain. It was not nearly as crushing, and the rate at which his energy drained had slowed considerably.

Was it because his constitution had reached 12 points, increasing by two? That was probably it, though perhaps the yokai that had spread this Perpetual Darkness domain was simply not as powerful as the Ox-Head Demon.

The black-haired girl raised her brows slightly and placed a hand on the sword at her waist. She felt the bloodline within her, which had only recently calmed down, stir once more.

Using Yokai Energy and Yokai Power to influence the space of the mortal world and form an Otherworld Realm similar to Tokoyo was something nearly all yokai could do. It was an instinct they had been born with. As inhuman creatures from Tokoyo, they naturally understood how to use their own power to alter the environment and make their movement and combat in the mortal world more advantageous.

Normally, however, it was only a small-scale aura field formed by flowing Yokai Energy. To evolve it into Perpetual Darkness, turning an aura field into an inherent domain, meant not only a massive increase in range and effectiveness—it also showed that its creator was no ordinary yokai.

Though she had slain many lords of Perpetual Darkness before, she would not become careless because of that.

Within Perpetual Darkness, the human side of her would be suppressed, while her Yokai Bloodline would grow active, causing her body, mind, and actions to lean more toward her yokai side... She did not like that, and she was not confident that she could control the berserk state of her Yokai Transformation.

So with another Perpetual Darkness at the Ancestral Hall on this back mountain, she needed to be especially careful. If her Yokai Bloodline, which had only just calmed down, was repeatedly triggered and stirred within such a short time, she might very well undergo Yokai Transformation.

Just then—

The black-haired girl, her brows slightly furrowed, saw that the man ahead had stopped at some point. He had turned around and was staring intently at her forehead. She froze for a moment. Once she understood, she could not help turning her face slightly aside, pressing her lips together tightly.

Again. That same strange look...

Sure enough, he was no different from everyone else...

"Sorry if this is a bit presumptuous, Axiu, but could I take a photo with you?"

The next instant, the strange man's eager voice reached her. He waved a small, exquisite object of unknown purpose in front of her and spoke with a broad smile.

Because of the angle before, he had not noticed it. But now that they were moving together, Gu Mo saw that as soon as the girl entered Perpetual Darkness, a pair of golden Demon Horns, noble and exquisitely shaped, faintly emerged from her forehead. Unable to suppress the urge any longer, he reached for his phone.

He would probably be leaving soon anyway. Whether as a memento of the girl before him or of the first Dungeon he had properly fought through, he had to leave something behind—thinking this, he earnestly made his request to Axiu.

"Mm?"

Hidechiyo froze again. Was he not disgusted because he had discovered that she was a Half-Yokai?

And what was a photo together...?

"Oh, this? It's... well, a specialty from my hometown. One of its functions is taking pictures—it can preserve the scenery in front of us, just like a painting... Well, let me show you directly. It works like this. Wait, I'll turn on the flash. Don't be nervous, it'll flash in a moment..."

Perhaps noticing the girl's confusion, Gu Mo eagerly stepped closer and gestured with his phone as he explained.

This was a little difficult. He racked his brains, trying to translate something completely ordinary to a modern person into terms Hidechiyo could understand.

But the more he explained, the more muddled it became. The black-haired girl's eyes grew increasingly bewildered. He slapped his forehead and simply switched to camera mode, taking a picture of the mountain path ahead... With a soft click, the flash flickered and briefly illuminated the darkness.

The photo was successfully taken. There was no signal or internet connection, but the phone's basic functions were unaffected.

He opened the photo, examined it, and nodded in satisfaction before handing the phone to the girl across from him.

The black-haired girl took only one glance before her eyes widened slightly. Barely concealing her astonishment, she looked at the mountain path ahead, then could not help lowering her eyes again to stare at the image displayed inside that little box... Clearly, this thing was far too novel for her.

"That's how it works. Come on, let's take one together. Smile—say cheese—"

Immediately afterward, Gu Mo stood beside the flustered girl, stretched his arm out with the phone held before them, and snapped a selfie with astonishing speed, as though afraid she might come to her senses and refuse.

He looked at the new photo on his phone. In the gloomy gray forest, behind them was the winding stone stairway leading upward, while a torii-like gate was dimly visible higher up. He himself was making a tacky, old-fashioned V-sign for the camera, and beside him stood the black-haired girl with her face covered and sword at her waist, looking valiant and dashing...

Her expression was somewhat tense and unnatural, and her eyes looked a little lost. Yet that did not conflict with the heroic air between her brows, nor did it feel out of place. Instead, that perfectly measured contrast made her seem a little adorably airheaded.

It was just a shame that her face was covered, making it impossible to see her full appearance...

Gu Mo felt a little regretful. He turned to look at the still-flustered Hidechiyo, thought it over, and ultimately decided not to ask again. That really would have been too presumptuous.

On second thought, there was not much difference. He already knew what she looked like anyway. With that thought, he stopped dwelling on it, looked at the path ahead, and asked again, "By the way, can I take a few more pictures later? Just as souvenirs."

Since they were all for keepsakes anyway, taking a few more should be fine, right? And their first photo together really did not show much. It would be best to capture Axiu's valiant fighting form too—the sort of photo that would let people instantly recognize it as a real-life Nioh 2 cosplay if posted online...

A few more pictures?

Hidechiyo blinked, unsure how to respond for a moment.

"If you don't object, then it's settled! We've reached a consensus!" the man before her said cheerfully, grabbing her hand and shaking it up and down a few times.

What consensus?

She had not said anything at all, had she?

The girl bit her lower lip. All the experience she had accumulated throughout her life could not tell her how to deal with something like this. He probably did not know that she could not speak, nor had he asked about it. Or perhaps he simply assumed she was quiet and reserved, and took her silence as agreement so long as she did not voice an objection?

That was probably it. Watching him fiddle with that little box while turning and continuing forward, she sighed helplessly and could only hurry after him. Her mind was still in disarray, and she could not stop thinking about the photo from just now.

While the black-haired girl was slightly distracted, a disturbance suddenly came from ahead. She quickly gathered her thoughts, only to see that the Lesser Hungry Ghost that had pounced out onto the mountain path had already had its swollen belly sliced open by a single slash. Golden essence scattered through the air.

Gu Mo flicked the uchigatana in his hand. This weapon was much sharper than the firewood knife from before.

They said practice made perfect. After repeating anything many times over a short period, one would generally become proficient very quickly. Beating Lesser Hungry Ghosts to death was naturally no exception.

—At first, he had treated each one like a formidable enemy, engaging in ugly battles that nearly wasted all his stamina, simply to ensure he killed every Lesser Hungry Ghost safely.

—Now, he was gradually gaining confidence and experience. He had begun to steady himself, consciously adjust and refine his fighting methods, target weaknesses for efficient, swift kills, and conserve stamina...

"Huh?"

His sharp eyes suddenly noticed light gradually seeping from the Lesser Hungry Ghost's corpse on the ground. It gathered into a ball, eventually forming a white point of light floating more than ten centimeters above the body.

It actually dropped something? He had hacked his way all this time without seeing so much as a hair. He had thought there was no mechanism for monsters to drop loot!