Two Worlds, Starting with Kaguya of Penglai Mountain

With her gaze fixed on Kurokawa Kazuya in front of her, the girl spoke her mind.

If someone wants to create a game that incorporates a lot of their own personal agenda, it's impossible to hide it if Kurokawa and Ya are involved.

Yukari Yakumo: "Of course, the only youkai I hope to unite with are those that Kurokawa and Mina mentioned, those that can be called human. Those that do not follow the rules, are unruly, or are inherently evil will be excluded from my list. At present, I will probably only recruit those relatively weak and obedient youkai."

She added something extra after her own words.

Children need to be nurtured from a young age, and the same applies to monsters; they can be nurtured from the weakest.

Kazuya Kurokawa: "..."

Kazuya Kurokawa: "You mean, you want to use games to guide a group of weak, harmless, and controllable yokai to unite and experience the joy of cooperation?"

He stared at the blonde girl in front of him, his expression gradually becoming strange.

Given the other party's solemn demeanor, Kurokawa Kazuya assumed they were requesting something of earth-shattering importance, but...

Kazuya Kurokawa: "I think there's a flaw in your plan. What future is there in a purely independent cooperative development?"

He began with a serious expression, emphasizing:

"Games can only serve as a guide. To truly keep them here, we must corrupt them with the stability, luxury, and entertainment of human society, allowing them to experience the beauty of civilization. A simple gathering of a few monsters cannot be considered a society."

Yakumo Yukari: “?”

She's probably looking for help from Kurokawa Kazuya now.

The other person seems to be taking the initiative more than she is.

Kazuya Kurokawa: "Ahem~~"

Under the somewhat mocking gaze of Kaguya Houraisan, he put on a serious expression.

Kazuya Kurokawa: "What do you think about letting them come directly to my newly built town? The town is currently in the initial construction phase, so it's entirely possible for those yokai to find jobs and gradually integrate into the town through their work."

“I will pay them. They can use the money they earn through their own labor to buy what they want. That is true order. Simply giving is not enough.”

As he spoke, he began to describe to Yukari Yakumo a detailed plan for integrating the youkai.

Yakumo Yukari: “…”

She had lost count of how many times she had looked at Kurokawa Kazuya with a strange expression.

She could clearly understand Kurokawa Kazuya's purpose at this moment.

While it might seem bizarre to want to hire monsters as employees, it's not unheard of.

The shikigami of Onmyoji are, in a sense, a different kind of working monsters, but I've never heard of such a large-scale one, especially one that doesn't sign any contracts.

However, what the other party said really made Yakumo Yukari somewhat tempted.

Because what the other party said was really true. It would take a long time for a few monsters to imitate and learn the cooperative system of humans. It would be better to integrate into this newly established town.

Anyway, there aren't many people in this town right now, so there's no chance of humans overwhelmingly opposing monsters.

Even the existence of humans may not necessarily be a bad thing for the monsters that have been summoned.

A common enemy leads to greater internal unity, a fact that Yukari Yakumo understands all too well.

Even if in the end these monsters and the town part ways, the monsters who have lived there in large numbers will be completely different from those of the past.

They might be able to independently build another town entirely populated by monsters.

The more she thought about it, the clearer it became in her mind. The blonde girl looked intently at Kurokawa Kazuya in front of her.

Yukari Yakumo: "Are you sure you didn't add any conditions?"

Kazuya Kurokawa: "Aside from obeying the rules and being punished for breaking them, there are no additional conditions for entering the city. Unless they commit illegal acts, they are completely free to come and go. I will also have someone draft the relevant regulations and send them to you. If you feel that any clause is excessive, you can discuss it with me."

Yukari Yakumo: "Okay."

The demon, who had reached a certain level of cultivation, nodded and looked at Kurokawa and Miya in front of him.

Regardless of Kurokawa Kazuya's ulterior motives, as long as the other party abides by what she says, even if things really go wrong later, Yakumo Yukari will accept it.

If no mistakes or omissions were found, there's nothing to say about being less skilled than others.

Yukari Yakumo: "Shall we start talking about game development?"

She made a tentative inquiry.

Kazuya Kurokawa: "Let's talk about games."

He nodded solemnly in agreement.

This completely ignited his enthusiasm, as he was now fully motivated by the girl opposite him.

[8.5k Fourth Update]

PS1: Yukari, who hasn't fully become a sage yet, is actually still looking forward to having common partners (laughs).

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Chapter Seventy-Four: The Demon's Self-Attack

The cultivation path of practitioners in Heian-kyo today is actually to transform from humans into demons.

So, from another perspective, monsters are, in a sense, people who are born with extraordinary talents.

If Kurokawa Kazuya could really fool the monsters into staying in the city to train...

Even if it doesn't work and just eats, drinks, and has fun, it can still serve as a power reserve unit for Kurokawa and Miya.

When necessary, Kurokawa and Miyako can certainly summon their forces.

It's like having a highly talented person helping him with his cultivation.

However, to persuade them to stay in the city and endure the possibility that Kurokawa and Miya might take away their power of cultivation at any time, we need to plan carefully.

Compared to humans who live in cities as social beings, the dog-eat-dog environment in which monsters live means that they value their own power more and are less willing to allow their power to be impure.

Kurokawa Kazuya wasn't really hoping for this in the short term, but...

Kazuya Kurokawa: "Everything can be taken slowly. Just like you said, Meryl, let's first cultivate teamwork and let the yokai find enjoyment in cooperation. In this regard, we have to mention those two-player cooperative games."

In the small room, Kaguya Houraisan, not wanting to have the game spoiled, had already run away.

Following Yakumo Yukari's train of thought, Kurokawa Kazuya began to introduce the various ideas that popped into his head.

He made no attempt to conceal his intentions.

Regardless of the arrangements related to the Hakurei Shrine Maiden's legacy, or the idea of ​​hoping that youkai would work for her to help develop her territory and create games.

In short, as the blonde girl listened, she gradually realized that, from any perspective, her goal was exactly the same as Kurokawa Kazuya's.

Both can be said to be moving in the same direction.

How should I put it? There's a strange sense of unfamiliarity about it.

The boundary monster rejected the unfamiliar feeling welling up in its heart.

Yukari Yakumo: "I've also thought of games that involve a lot of people, but how exactly do we implement them?"

Ideas are always simple, but the problem is how to put them into practice.

Yukari Yakumo had considered having the two of them kill someone together a lot, but no matter what she thought of, it would always end up with each of them killing the other.

That's why she's come looking for Kurokawa Kazuya now.

Everyone has their own area of ​​expertise; something interesting needs to be engaging and can also convey ideas.

This game is really not easy to make, especially since Yukari Yakumo is an ancient yokai who has never experienced modern entertainment.

Yukari Yakumo: "If it is mandatory for two people to work together to kill someone, the result will probably be that the two youkai will keep blaming and cursing each other because they didn't kill the right person. The youkai will probably soon turn a simple game into a real fight."

The yokai from the boundary began to describe in detail his thoughts over the past few days.

She wasn't completely oblivious to things; she had thought about it repeatedly before deciding to come to Kurokawa Kazuya.

Monsters don't have a cooperative mindset, so forcing them will only cause psychological discomfort and won't provide them with enough pleasure.

For example, right now—

The blonde girl looked at Kurokawa Kazuya in front of her with purple eyes.

She could sense her own obvious mental unease.

Monsters are independent beings; the only thing a monster can rely on when fighting in the wilderness is itself.

This is especially true for Yukari Yakumo herself. As a unique being born into a realm that can almost be called a miracle, she has no other members of her kind.

She relied on herself for everything she did.

She never expected anyone else to realize her ideas.

Saigyouji Yuyuko is Boundary You's only friend, but this friend she values ​​so much is just someone she confides her repressed feelings to and chats with.

Yukari Yakumo never once considered placing her ideals and actions on the other person.

"The very act of relying on something else brings a strong sense of insecurity and unease to most yokai. It's like having their backs exposed to the enemy's view."

The demons of the realm sat down to summarize themselves and their thoughts.

Meanwhile, Kurokawa Kazuya, who was deep in thought about game development, wasn't paying much attention to Yakumo Yukari's condition.

Kazuya Kurokawa: "This brings us to the allure of role-playing. The characters in games are not the same as real people. The situation you described, Meryl, probably occurs in games with limited lifespans and primarily focused on killing."

With a hint of pedantry in his expression, Kurokawa Kazuya wore a serious face:

“We can definitely create a scenario with unlimited lives, and the gameplay doesn’t necessarily have to be focused on killing. Overcoming obstacles and winning is also part of it, and this game can also incorporate some cooperative gameplay.”

Yukari Yakumo: "Cooperative challenge?"

The demon from the realm frowned slightly. When she heard the term, although she roughly understood its meaning, she couldn't think of anything interesting about it.

Killing is an interesting thing, and Yukari Yakumo understands it very well.

But overcoming the obstacles...

Looking towards Kurokawa Kazuya, the youkai of the boundary quickly noticed the obvious upturn of the other's lips.

It seemed like the other person was just waiting for her to ask a question.

Yakumo Yukari: “…”

So this feeling is really unfamiliar.

When it comes to matters of vital importance to oneself, one can only ask for and adopt the opinions of others.

Even before the game was started, Yukari Yakumo felt a sense of emptiness and unease.

The demons of the realm even instinctively felt rejection and hostility towards Kurokawa and Miya.

Just like when she first met Yuyuko, she instinctively felt hostile towards the other person trying to get close to her.

Having witnessed countless betrayals and lived a life of survival of the fittest, the demon realm naturally harbors hostility towards anyone who threatens its resolve.

However, she rationally suppressed her thoughts.

Yakumo Yukari even realized her mistake of being blinded by her own involvement immediately.

Deep down, she was unwilling to accept betting her own ideals on someone else, especially in a situation where she had no control over the other party.

Cooperation is possible; it should be based on equality between both parties.

If even Yukari Yakumo herself doesn't believe in cooperation, how can she possibly organize other youkai to learn how to cooperate?

She wanted to teach the monsters to cooperate, so even if she didn't want to, she had to experience that feeling.

At the very least, one cannot be completely ignorant of all of this.

I took two deep breaths.

The youkai in the realm should be grateful that when they first arrived, they hid their true identity as a human girl named Merry.

At least, she can be Merry now instead of Yukari Yakumo.

This eased my tense mood.

Yukari Yakumo: "Please teach me, I'm willing to pay the price."

The blonde girl looked up and spoke seriously, choosing to discard all so-called unnecessary reserve.