Guardian Spirit and Compatibility

The morning sun gently illuminated the land. The golden dawn not only dispelled the long night but also seemed to dissolve the lingering resentment in Thirteen Cherry Blossom Village.

But that was just how it seemed.

The fire burned for a whole night. Although the houses were relatively scattered and not densely packed, so the entire village wasn't reduced to ashes, many areas were still burned down to charred, collapsed ruins. And the smell of blood from the night of slaughter was still so浓郁 that it wouldn't dissipate, making the blowing wind seem to carry a strange, sweet, and腥 smell.

Human blood, Yokai blood. After a night like this, there was basically no inch of land in the entire village that hadn't been stained red.

This season was the time when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, their colors vibrant and their fragrance delicate. However, the once-prosperous Thirteen Cherry Blossom Village was no longer what it used to be. After the noisy Yokai were all eliminated, the only spectators left to admire the blossoms were the silent dead.

The living people left in this village probably weren't in the mood to appreciate the cherry blossoms at this time.

Considering Axiu's condition, Gu Mo found a relatively intact and clean house, tidied it up, and gently laid the unconscious girl down. It was like the tables had turned. Not long ago, he was incapacitated and had to be carried down the mountain by the girl. Now, it was his turn to carry the incapacitated girl down the mountain.

The time between these two events was less than half an hour, which made the turning of the tables a bit too fast.

Looking at the sleeping face of the unconscious black-haired girl on the straw mat he had prepared, Gu Mo let out a breath and wiped the sweat from his forehead. The girl's weight was certainly not heavy, even quite light, but it was still the weight of a person, and the mountain path was also quite difficult to walk.

But he had carried Hidechiyo down the mountain by himself. His current feeling was just a little sweaty; there wasn't any sense of fatigue at all... Thinking about it carefully, it was probably because he had worked hard not long ago to increase his Strength by one point and his Constitution by three points.

The one point invested in the former significantly increased his strength compared to a normal person, while the three points invested in the latter made his physical endurance astonishingly high. In simple terms, it allowed him to bear more weight and also endure the process of carrying that weight for a longer time.

Adding points is truly wonderful...

Gu Mo sighed with emotion. In just one night, he felt as though he had been reborn. Perhaps even those who had consistently exercised for a considerable time couldn't reach his current physical level.

Although the rate of leveling up would inevitably slow down later, judging from the magnitude of ability growth, every point added brought about a precious change. It seemed that the growth was not a fixed amount but a proportional increase based on the current stats.

Of course, this was his current guess, and there was no evidence to prove that this was the case. The guess came from the experience that after adding Constitution, he felt that the increase in his stamina limit was greater each time... Well, yes, it was purely based on how he felt.

But it wasn't just a baseless feeling; he had indeed noticed some clues, which was why he thought so. Because overall, Gu Mo had invested three points in the Constitution attribute, but he had only added points twice. The first time he added two points, and the second time he added one point.

And his feeling was very clear: the stamina growth brought by investing one point the second time was slightly higher than the growth brought by investing two points the first time.

"It's light..."

Watching the sunlight stream in through the cracks of the dilapidated door and scatter into spots of light on the ground not far away, Gu Mo leaned his head against the wall behind him and closed his eyes.

He felt as though the long night had finally ended. However, he had reaped quite a harvest, and because he had clung to a strong leg, he couldn't say it was without danger, but he had indeed managed to clear this difficult beginner dungeon relatively luckily and even leveled up four times, accumulating some beginner capital for his early stages.

At least for future dungeons, he wouldn't start with nothing, not even a dog, just a level 0 blank slate struggling to take on mobs in melee.

He gently exhaled, then reopened his eyes and couldn't help but look at Hidechiyo beside him again. The girl was still closing her eyes, her breathing long and steady... It seemed like she was fine, but he didn't know how long she would sleep before waking up.

He felt that the situation had become slightly delicate. The plot he had grasped, or the predetermined "fate's trajectory," had shifted somewhat—Axiu ultimately didn't have any major issues. Even without the power of the Spirit Stone, she relied on her strong will to regain her Id.

This was certainly a good thing, but the cost was that her mental energy consumption might be a bit high. Compared to the original plot where she recovered with the help of the Spirit Stone and immediately acted as if nothing had happened, she hadn't woken up yet.

He might not have much time left...

But if he just left like this, he really couldn't feel at ease.

Gu Mo looked at the empty window with a troubled expression. From his sitting position on the ground, the view outside the window seemed incredibly beautiful. The clear blue sky was as pure and spotless as if it had been washed, and the cherry blossom petals from the tree not far outside the house fluttered like snow, drifting and scattering in the wind.

Going that way should lead to the main gate of the village. After exiting the main gate and walking along the riverbank road for a while, he should be able to return to the "spawn point" where he entered the dungeon.

Everything ends here. If he was quick, perhaps he could sneak home quietly before the people in his neighborhood woke up and not be discovered. Otherwise, if they saw him in such a sorry state, it would be a bit difficult to explain...

He touched the torn front of his clothes, then looked down at the mottled bloodstains splashed on his body, and twitched the corner of his mouth.

He wondered if his clothes would be magically repaired when he left the dungeon. If not, it would be really troublesome. He'd better change into a different outfit before going back. Saying he went to cosplay would be better than being rumored to have gone out and killed a few people at night...

Of course, the premise was that the girl could wake up as soon as possible so he could leave with peace of mind...

Hmm, or maybe think differently, could he take Axiu out with him?

A flash of inspiration crossed his mind, but after thinking about it for a while, he sighed and shook his head, dismissing the idea himself... It might be better to be cautious about such things, at least wait until he was sure.

Just as he was feeling quite distressed, a harsh electrical static surged through his nerves, tormenting him as usual. He couldn't help but frown and purse his lips, trying to suppress the unpleasant feeling.

"Zizi...%￥#@&...Zizi...$#%&@..."

The harsh and tormenting static seemed to ring in his ears and echo in his consciousness. However, unlike before, Gu Mo could now roughly hear some fragmented pieces and distinguish useful information from them.

He was stunned for a moment, then immediately reacted, concentrating his mind to carefully distinguish, as if people in the past had no entertainment and could only try hard to listen to the tormenting sounds from an old, broken radio, desperately trying to extract the barely audible fragments of content.

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

"Difficulty: Hard."

"Current scene exploration: 87%."

"Zizi...scene...$#%&...Mode: Non-peaceful."

"Triggered Quest: Investigate the cause of the problem in Thirteen Cherry Blossom...Zizi...$#%&... and eliminate the troublesome Yokai."

"Completed Quest...Zizi...$#%&..."

"Overall Rating: B-."

"Based on the overall rating settlement, additional reward...%￥#@&...Universal Experience, Golden Key × 1."

"Unlocked achievement 「First Blood (Gold)」, achievement badge buff effect is activated by default..."

Although there were still many blurry and unclear parts, resulting in fragmented key information.

But it was already much better than before. Gu Mo, who already somewhat understood the Idiot System's quirks, naturally didn't hope for too much—he would cherish what he had. Who knows, maybe one day there would be another classic "robbing Peter to pay Paul" type of repair, and then even what he could hear now would disappear.

The electric tingling sensation shooting through his nerves vanished, and the fuzzy static interference gradually grew faint and distant. He blinked, certain that this part of the settlement was over, and let out a long sigh of relief. He had subconsciously held his breath just now.

Speaking of which, was this a delay? Is that why the settlement is only happening now? The Horse-Headed Demon had been dead for over half an hour. Its corpse might have already melted away like snow in the sun, completely gone. Isn't it a bit late for the clear settlement to pop up now?

Although it's also possible that the calculation mechanism is complex, with multiple factors influencing it, and only now has it determined that the stage is truly cleared and can be settled. But considering the appalling bugs and frequency of glitches in his Idiot System, he still believed this was due to a delay...

It's truly incredible. He wonders where he can find a complaint hotline.

After grumbling a few words about the Damn System in his mind as usual, venting his dissatisfaction, Gu Mo finally seriously considered the information he had just received.

This scenario was indeed cleared, although it was limited to the Thirteen Cherry Blossom Village scenario and not the entire Dungeon World. But that was to be expected. Just as clearing the Yukihira Restaurant scenario didn't mean clearing the dungeon of the entire Shokugeki no Soma world view.

A scenario should just be a specific scene within a dungeon, with a relatively suitable flow and duration. If it were the entire dungeon... that would take too long.

—It is now March of the year 1555 AD. Axiu's story has just begun in this Thirteen Cherry Blossom Village.

—And the end of everything, that should be the year 1616 AD, sixty-one years later.

With a time span of a full sixty years, Gu Mo truly couldn't imagine having to spend sixty years to play a single proper game... In that case, he would rather get out of the dungeon using the second method. He wouldn't even need the enemy to do it themselves.

"Overall evaluation B-, hmm, sounds like it's not worth much. And this Golden Key..."

Frowning, Gu Mo pondered the information he had just received, feeling that the overall evaluation seemed easy to boost. After all, he had been AFK for most of the way, essentially being carried through the stage, yet he still got a B- rating.

He just didn't know how much extra experience was settled, but it probably wasn't enough for him to directly level up to LV5 again. And there was also something called a Golden Key. Is it for opening treasure chests? But they only gave him the key, so does he have to find the corresponding treasure chest himself before he can use it?

This routine feels a bit familiar...

Checking his Inventory, he found the extra item inside. The pattern was indeed a shining gold key, but the description said it could be used directly to open the corresponding level's Gate of Babylon and obtain any one random reward from it.

Slightly stunned, Gu Mo looked towards Hidechiyo beside him again, figuring that the black-haired girl wouldn't wake up anytime soon.

So, the key appeared in his hand. The moment he held it, his hand felt heavy; it was quite weighty.

Its length was like a baby's arm, its style was very ancient, and it was entirely golden, exuding a sense of luxury...

He was silent for a moment, examining the large key in his hand, a little skeptical whether it was really made of pure gold, and how many pounds did it weigh? Speaking of which, was it a good choice to use it, or if he took it back to the real world and found a way to sell it, could he make a killing?

Such bizarre thoughts flashed through his mind, but leaving aside other concerns, how could a player resist the temptation of opening a box? Almost in the next second, Gu Mo chose the clearly visible interactive option—

"Use."

Immediately after, not far in front of him, the air in the center of the room rippled like water, shimmering with golden light. Finally, lines were outlined in the void, and the texture went from nothing to becoming three-dimensional. A few seconds later, a door that looked like it was cast from gold appeared before his eyes.

The door was tightly shut, locked tightly by thick chains and a huge lock.

Is there a need for so much ritual?

Looking down, Gu Mo stepped forward somewhat bewildered, inserted the large Golden Key into the lock hole of the door lock, and gently twisted it. With a click, the key in his hand shattered, turning into light, and together with the lock and chains, it dissipated.

The door slowly opened. Inside was naturally not the other side of the room, but filled with dazzling golden light. Inside the door seemed to be an unknown Space.

He was nearly blinded, subconsciously reaching out to block it. After a while, the glittering golden effect still didn't disappear. Realizing what was happening, he gritted his teeth and stepped into the door, swallowed by the overflowing golden light effect.

Once the dizziness disappeared and his vision returned to normal, Gu Mo found himself in a strange room, piled high with mountains of gold and silver treasures, vulgar but the luster and brilliance reflected by the precious metals and the sparkle of jewels perfectly highlighted the theme of this room—the "Gate of Babylon".

In the center directly in front of him was a cylindrical platform. A large Fox, completely red, sat upon it. Its multiple tails behind it swayed gently, visually resembling burning flames...

The next moment, as Gu Mo looked at it in surprise, it stood up from the platform, its eyes becoming incredibly sharp, and it leaped forward.

Instantly it rapidly enlarged in his field of vision, seeming to pounce right onto his face...

Like waking from a dream, Gu Mo suddenly opened his eyes and found himself leaning against the wall as before, resting.

The house was old and bare, with no furniture whatsoever. Before he tidied it up, it was a mess, with various items overturned and scattered everywhere. It seemed that when the incident happened last night, the owner of the house had frantically packed their belongings, wanting to flee the village.

On the straw mat beside him, the black-haired girl still breathed deeply.

Everything that just happened, the process of "receiving a random reward in the Gate of Babylon," didn't actually exist on the physical plane? He was somewhat surprised and glanced around.

"Coming, coming, I found some things to eat, brother, come and have a taste..."

At this moment, Tokichiro, who already looked a bit like a sleazy uncle,'s voice came from outside the door. The next moment, he pushed the door open, wearing a familiar, smiling expression.

However, immediately after, Tokichiro's voice stopped abruptly, and his pupils slightly contracted. In his eyes, he could see a huge Fox, its body like fire, lying quietly beside the strange young man, its nine tails behind it gently swaying.

Is this the other party's Guardian Spirit?

But why is it a Nine-Tailed Fox?

Tokichiro was instantly astonished. He was possessed by the Divine Ape, the messenger of Sanno Gongen, and had honed his skills as a Spirit Stone merchant for so many years, so he naturally understood that not everyone could have a Guardian Spirit. Moreover, Guardian Spirits would only seek out and possess those with special destinies and Compatible with them.

And the Nine-Tailed Fox...

It is a symbol feared as "an existence that brings about a world of Chaos," and on the other hand, revered as a totem symbolizing "the arrival of a world of peace."

But no matter which interpretation, it seems to indicate that this young man before him is likely to become an extraordinary figure in the future, perhaps even an influential existence who can affect this entire chaotic era...

Immediately, Tokichiro's eyes burned with fervor.