Guardian Spirits and Compatibility

The morning sun gently illuminated the land. The golden dawn not only dispelled the long night, but seemed to erase the lingering resentment that had hung over Thirteen Cherry Blossom Village.

But it only seemed that way.

The fire had raged all night. Although the houses were relatively scattered rather than densely packed, preventing the entire village from being reduced to ashes, many places had still burned down to nothing but blackened, collapsed ruins. The bloody stench left by the night of slaughter remained so thick it could not be dispersed, to the point that even the wind seemed to carry a strange, sickly sweetness.

Human blood, monster blood—after one night like this, there was practically no patch of ground in the entire village that had not been stained red.

This was the season when cherry blossoms were in full bloom, their fragrance delicate and their colors vivid. Yet Thirteen Cherry Blossom Village, once flourishing, no longer resembled its former self. After the clamorous demons and ghosts had all been wiped out, the only flower viewers left were silent corpses.

The living people remaining in the village probably had no mood to appreciate the cherry blossoms at a time like this.

Taking Axiu's condition into account, Gu Mo found a relatively intact and clean house, tidied it up, and laid the unconscious girl down. The wheel of fortune really did turn quickly. Not long ago, he had been the one unable to move, relying on the girl to carry him down the mountain. Now it was his turn to carry the immobilized girl down.

The gap between the two had been less than half an hour. The wheel had turned a little too fast.

Looking at the sleeping face of the black-haired girl lying unconscious on the straw bedding he had laid out, Gu Mo exhaled and wiped the sweat from his forehead. The girl was not heavy, and could even be called light, but she was still a person, and the mountain path had been difficult to traverse.

Yet he had carried Hidechiyo down the mountain all by himself. Right now, he had done little more than break a sweat, without feeling tired in the slightest... Thinking about it carefully, it was probably because he had recently raised his Strength by one point and his Constitution by three points.

The one point invested in the former had made him noticeably stronger than an ordinary person, while the three points invested in the latter had given him astonishing stamina and endurance. Put simply, he could carry heavier loads while sustaining that burden for much longer.

Putting points into stats really was amazing...

Gu Mo sighed inwardly. In just one night, he felt as though he had been completely reborn. Even people who had trained diligently for a long time might not have reached his current physical level.

Although the rate at which he leveled up would probably inevitably slow down later on, judging by the extent of his growth in ability, every single point was immensely valuable. It seemed that the increase was not a fixed amount, but a proportional improvement based on his current foundation.

Of course, that was only his current guess. There was no evidence proving it was true. The guess came from how the increase to his stamina limit had felt greater each time after adding Constitution... Yes, it was purely based on feel.

Still, it was not entirely baseless. He had genuinely noticed some clues, which was why he thought so. In total, Gu Mo had invested three points into Constitution, but he had only allocated points twice: two the first time, then one the second.

What he had clearly felt was that the stamina growth from the single point invested the second time had been... slightly greater than the growth from the two points invested the first time.

"Morning..."

Watching sunlight stream through the cracks in the battered door and scatter patches of light on the ground ahead, Gu Mo leaned his head back against the wall behind him and closed his eyes.

It felt like the long night had finally ended. Still, he had gained quite a lot. And because he had latched onto a powerful ally, it could not exactly be called a safe journey, but he had indeed managed to clear this high-difficulty beginner village through sheer luck. He had even leveled up four times in a row, accumulating some starting capital for the early game.

At least in future Dungeons, he would not have to begin with nothing but a level-zero blank-slate character and painfully start the party with his bare body.

Exhaling softly, Gu Mo opened his eyes again and could not help looking at Hidechiyo beside him. The girl's eyes remained tightly shut, her breathing long and steady... It did not seem serious, but he had no idea how long she would need to sleep before waking.

He felt the situation had become somewhat delicate. The plot he knew—or rather, the predetermined "trajectory of fate"—had shifted to some extent. Axiu had not ultimately suffered any real harm. Even without the Spirit Stone's power, she had relied on her own unwavering will to reclaim herself.

That was naturally a good thing, but the price was that her mental exhaustion might have been rather severe. Compared to the original plot, where she recovered with the Spirit Stone's help and immediately carried on as if nothing had happened, she still had not awakened even now.

He might not have much time left...

But if he just left like this, he truly could not put his mind at ease.

Gu Mo looked conflictedly toward the empty window. From where he sat on the floor, the scenery outside seemed extraordinarily beautiful. The blue sky was as clear and spotless as if washed with water, while the petals from the cherry blossom trees not far outside fluttered like snow, drifting all over the sky in the wind.

That way should lead to the village's main gate. Once he left through it and followed the road by the river for a while, he should be able to retrace his route and return to the "spawn point" where he had entered the Dungeon.

That would be the end of it. If he moved quickly, he might be able to sneak back home before the people in his apartment complex woke up, without anyone noticing. Otherwise, if they saw him looking this bedraggled, it would be a little hard to explain...

Gu Mo touched the torn front of his clothes, then lowered his head to look at the mottled bloodstains splashed across his body. He tugged at the corner of his mouth.

He wondered whether some miraculous power would repair his clothes when he left the Dungeon. If not, that would be troublesome. He had better change into another set before returning and say he had gone to cosplay. That would still be better than people spreading rumors that he had gone out and killed several people during the night...

Of course, the girl needed to wake up soon before he could leave without worry...

Hmm, or perhaps he could look at it another way. Could he take Axiu out with him?

A flash of inspiration crossed his mind, but after thinking it over for quite a while, he sighed, shook his head, and rejected the idea himself... He should probably be more cautious about this sort of thing, at least until he was certain.

Just as he was feeling deeply troubled, a piercing burst of electrical static shot through his nerves. The same torment as always made him frown tightly and press his lips together, trying hard to suppress the unpleasant sensation.

"Bzzzt... %￥#@&... bzzzt... $#%&@..."

The harsh, agonizing static seemed to ring beside his ears and echo through his consciousness at the same time. Yet unlike before, Gu Mo could now vaguely catch some broken fragments and distinguish useful information from them.

He froze for a moment, then immediately reacted and hurriedly focused his mind to make out the words. It was like people in the past, with no entertainment available, struggling to listen to the torturous noise from an old, broken radio and desperately extract the barely audible fragments of content.

"Scene: Thirteen Cherry Blossom Village... bzzzt... %￥#@&..."

"Difficulty: Hard."

"Current scene exploration: 87%."

"Bzzzt... sce... $#%&... mode: Non-peaceful."

"Triggered mission: Investigate the cause of Thirteen Cherry... bzzzt... $#%&... and eliminate the demons and ghosts causing harm."

"Mission completed... bzzzt... $#%&..."

"Overall evaluation: B-."

"Based on overall evaluation, additional rewards... %￥#@&... universal experience, Golden Key ×1."

"Achievement unlocked: 'First Blood (Gold).' Achievement badge bonus effect activated by default..."

Although many parts remained vague and impossible to hear clearly, leaving the crucial information fragmented and incomplete.

It was still far better than before. Having more or less understood the habits of the Idiot System, Gu Mo naturally no longer expected too much—he just had to cherish what he had. Who knew whether some classic rob-Peter-to-pay-Paul repair would happen one day, leaving even these audible parts beyond his reach.

The electric sensation running through his nerves vanished, and the muffled interference gradually quieted and faded away. He blinked, confirming that this portion of the settlement had ended, then let out a long sigh of relief. Just now, he had even unconsciously held his breath.

Come to think of it, was this lag? Was that why the settlement had only happened now? The Horse-Headed Demon had been dead for over half an hour. Its corpse might already have melted away like ice and snow under the sun, leaving nothing to find. Was it not a little late for the clearance settlement to pop up now?

Of course, perhaps the calculation mechanism was more complicated, with many factors at play, so it had only now determined that the Dungeon had truly been cleared and carried out the settlement. But considering the appalling frequency of bugs and malfunctions in his Idiot System, he still believed lag was the cause...

Unbelievable. He wondered where he could find a customer service hotline to file a complaint.

As usual, after silently cursing the Damn System a few times and venting his dissatisfaction, Gu Mo finally began seriously considering the information he had just received.

This scene had indeed been cleared. Although it was only the scene restricted to Thirteen Cherry Blossom Village rather than the entire Dungeon World, that was only natural. Just as clearing the Yukihira Restaurant scene did not mean he had cleared the entire Food Wars world Dungeon.

A scene was probably just a specific segment within a Dungeon, with a relatively suitable progression and time span. But an entire Dungeon... that would take far too long.

—It was currently March of 1555, and Axiu's story was just beginning in this Thirteen Cherry Blossom Village.

—By the time everything ended, it would be 1616, sixty-one years later.

With a time span of an entire sixty years, Gu Mo truly could not imagine spending a full sixty years clearing one Dungeon properly... He might as well use the second method to leave the Dungeon. He would not even need to trouble the enemies to do it themselves.

"Overall evaluation B-... Hmm, that does not sound very valuable. And this Golden Key..."

Frowning, Gu Mo pondered the information he had just received. The overall evaluation seemed rather easy to earn. After all, he had practically been carried through the whole way and had shamelessly latched onto a powerful ally, yet he had still received a B-grade evaluation.

He just did not know how much extra experience had been settled. It probably was not enough to immediately send him to LV5, though. And there was also that Golden Key. Was it for opening treasure chests? But if it only gave him a key, did he have to find a corresponding chest himself before he could use it?

That routine felt familiar...

Checking his inventory, he found the new item inside. Its icon was indeed a gleaming golden key, but the description said it could be used directly to open a Dungeon treasury of the corresponding level and obtain one random reward from it.

Gu Mo was slightly stunned. He looked at Hidechiyo beside him again and guessed that the black-haired girl would not wake anytime soon.

So a key appeared in his hand. The instant it landed in his palm, his hand sank slightly under its weight. It was rather heavy.

It was as long as an infant's arm, with an archaic design and a brilliant golden sheen across its entire surface. It radiated an air of extravagance...

He fell silent for a moment, examining the large key in his hand. He somewhat suspected that it was made of solid gold. And just how many pounds did it weigh? Come to think of it, was using it really the best choice? If he brought it back to the real world and found a way to sell it, could he make a huge profit?

Such strange thoughts flashed through his mind, but setting aside every other concern, how could a player resist the temptation of opening a loot box? Almost the very next second, Gu Mo selected the glaring interaction option—

"Use."

Immediately afterward, the air in the center of the room several meters ahead rippled like water. Golden light shimmered as lines took shape in the void, gradually becoming solid and three-dimensional. A few seconds later, a door that seemed forged from gold appeared before him.

The door was tightly shut, bound by thick chains and a massive padlock.

Did it really need to be this ceremonial...

Lowering his head to glance at the key, Gu Mo stepped forward in a daze and inserted the large Golden Key into the lock. With a gentle twist, there was a click. The key in his hand shattered into light, and the padlock and chains vanished along with it.

The great door slowly opened. Beyond it was naturally not the other side of the house, but a space filled with blinding golden light—an unknown realm seemed to lie beyond the doorway.

The glare nearly blinded him. He instinctively raised a hand to shield his eyes. After a while, the dazzling special effect still did not fade. Realizing what was happening, he gritted his teeth, stepped through the door, and was swallowed by the overflowing golden light.

Once the dazzling sensation faded and his vision returned to normal, Gu Mo discovered that he was standing in a strange room. Mountains of gold, silver, jewels, and treasures were piled all around him. It was vulgar beyond belief, but the shimmering gleam of precious metals and the radiance of gemstones perfectly emphasized the room's theme—"Treasury."

At the very center ahead of him stood a cylindrical platform. A huge fiery-red fox sat atop it, several tails swaying gently behind it, visually resembling burning flames...

The next instant, as Gu Mo stared at it in surprise, it rose from the platform. Its gaze sharpened to an extreme as it sprang forward.

It rapidly filled his vision in an instant, seeming to pounce directly onto his face...

As if waking from a dream, Gu Mo abruptly opened his eyes and found himself resting half-reclined against the wall just as before.

The house was old and bare, with no furniture of any kind. Before he had tidied it, the floor had been a complete mess, with all sorts of objects knocked over and scattered everywhere. It seemed that when trouble had erupted last night, the owner had hastily packed valuables and tried to flee the village.

On the pile of straw beside him, the black-haired girl's breathing remained long and steady.

Had everything that had just happened—the process of "claiming a random reward from the treasury"—not actually existed on the level of reality? He looked around uncertainly.

"I'm back, I found something to eat. Brother, come have a taste..."

At that moment, Tokichiro's voice came from outside the door. He already sounded somewhat like a lecherous middle-aged man. The next instant, he pushed the door open and walked in with a cheerful, overly familiar grin.

But Tokichiro's voice abruptly stopped. His pupils also contracted slightly. In his eyes, a massive fox lay quietly beside that strange young man, its entire body blazing like fire while its nine tails slowly swayed behind it.

Was this the other man's Guardian Spirit?

But why was it a Nine-Tailed Fox?

Tokichiro was instantly stunned. He had been possessed by the Divine Ape, messenger of Sanno Gongen, and had spent so many years honing himself under the identity of a Spirit Stone merchant. Naturally, he understood that not everyone could possess a Guardian Spirit. Guardian Spirits only sought out those with exceptional destinies whose compatibility matched their own.

And the Nine-Tailed Fox...

It was feared as a symbol of "the being that brings an age of chaos," yet on the other hand, it was revered as a totem representing "the arrival of an age of peace."

But regardless of which saying was true, both seemed to foretell that the young man before him might become an extraordinary figure in the future. Perhaps he would even become someone whose importance could influence this entire age of chaos...

In an instant, Tokichiro's eyes burned with excitement.