I was the fourth disaster in Yokohama and was loved by everyone.

Tianyuan must be the dungeon boss!

"Tianyuan, right?" Zhu Yu closed the task panel and looked at Tian Lizi with utmost sincerity, leaving no room for doubt about the truthfulness of her words.

"I'll take care of Tianyuan right away. Don't worry."

As she spoke, she stood up straight, as if she would rush straight to Hongxing Palace and bring down Tianyuan's sword at any moment.

"Wait, wait!" Riko slammed her chopsticks on the table with a "clatter," revealing a terrified expression.

Kuroi's eyes widened, and her finger trembled as she pointed at Zhu Yu: "What did you say?!"

This is absolutely insane!

Xia Youjie's pupils dilated in shock. He quickly grabbed Zhu Yu's shoulder and steadied her in place.

While they wanted to save Riko, wasn't killing Tengen-sama a bit too extreme...?

Gojo Satoru paused for a moment, then let out a small "wow," revealing an expression of interest.

Why didn't he think of doing that? But it would be troublesome if Tengen died...

Thinking of these five points, I smacked my lips and suddenly felt that everything was tasteless.

Seeing that Zhu Yu still looked eager to try, Riko opened her mouth, then closed it again, and finally stammered, "Um... well, actually, there's no need to do that."

That's Lord Tengen! [Kawakami]-san, do you know what you're saying?

Riko was in a state of confusion, but she knew that the other person meant well. Finally, she took a deep breath and said, "Thank you so much for your help."

“I know… this is wrong. How can I cowardly shirk my responsibilities? I am the chosen ‘Star Essence Body,’ the vessel of the great Lord Tianyuan. My will will live forever with Lord Tianyuan, and my body will forge a new legend under Lord Tianyuan’s use.”

"...I've always believed this. But...but the thought of leaving my friends, leaving Kuroi, fills me with panic. Will I still be myself after assimilation? Will Riko still exist?"

Her brow furrowed, and tears welled in her eyes: "There's still half an unfinished sunset painting on the easel, a ticket stub for next week's museum exhibition tucked in my diary, and the potted plant on the balcony has just started to bud... I don't even know if the wild cherry tree in the school's flowerbed will bloom better this year than last year. I'm sorry, I'm suddenly scared..."

"I was too greedy..."

Her shoulders slumped slightly, as if all her strength had been suddenly drained away. Her gaze fell on the dappled sunlight on the ground, the shadows cast by her eyelashes obscuring all her emotions.

"……Yeah?"

A warm hand gently pressed on the top of her head.

She froze for a moment, then looked up.

Zhu Yu stood up at some point and patted her hair. The force was neither too light nor too heavy, but it made Tian Lizi feel as if he was touching some passing small animal.

Riko felt a little embarrassed when someone her age patted her head...

I always feel like I'm acting childish compared to them...

However, a certain "mature" player, seeing that the beautiful NPC had calmed down, suddenly blurted out a comment.

"So, can I go and take care of Tengen now?"

"Please don't!"

Riko was so startled that she jumped up, completely shaking off her low mood.

*

Zhu Yu was exhausted. Why were all the NPCs stopping her from killing Tian Yuan?

Fortunately, the white-haired NPC and the black-haired NPC huddled together and whispered for a while, and immediately came up with a solution - they went with the flow and announced that the "Star Essence Body" had been killed during the escort and that the person who hired the killer was the Panxing Cult.

Riko faked her death and escaped Japan, getting away from the Tengen Barrier and the control of the General Manager's Office.

With a wave of his hand, Gojo Satoru chartered a plane to send the people abroad.

As for the subsequent investigation by the Directorate General, Zhu Yu's ability to inflict chaos upon the "Stardust Body" confirmed its death.

Mission accomplished.

Zhu Yu was like a pendant, his mind blank, just listening to the advice of his two contemporaries—to rediscover the joy of having intelligent support teammates.

After Zhu Yu's actions, the core members of the Panxing Sect were all hospitalized, leaving them short of both money and manpower.

Kong Shiyu seems to have some connection with the Panxing Sect, as another faction within the sect has sent a request: "We request Lord [Kawakami] to take over the Panxing Sect!"

Unlock the "Subordinate Forces" section; the "Panxing Cult" invites you to become its "Leader." What will you choose?

——【YES】

[Congratulations on the addition of a new "subordinate force"—Panxing Cult. Panxing Cult members' favorability +30]

This is free!

*

Indeed... sometimes, what's free is the most expensive...

Taking over the Panxing Sect was like inheriting a complete mess.

Maintaining the Panxing Sect requires a large sum of money, and the headquarters is dilapidated and in dire need of repair. The commission fee for the "Star Essence Body" mission was instantly used up.

She originally thought it wouldn't matter if she used the old, dilapidated house as her headquarters, but the system warned that if she refused to repair it, the loyalty of her members would decrease, and if it dropped to a certain value, her "forces" would rebel.

Zhu Yu: ???

Looking sadly at the decreasing numbers on the game panel, Zhu Yu suspected that he had been scammed by an NPC.

When Zhu Yu first joined the Panxing Cult, the members had very low loyalty, and NPCs would often cause trouble, which greatly bothered him.

Beat up the troublemaking NPCs in front of all the members, replenish their health when it's low, and keep attacking.

After several repetitions, the NPCs behaved themselves, and almost everyone's loyalty value jumped up by several points.

It's not feasible to keep supporting NPCs all the time. According to one of the core NPC members, the main source of income for the Panxing Cult is the offerings from its followers.

Got it, they're into feudal superstition.

Zhu Yu told them to hurry up and go out to work and expand their business.

To be honest, some NPCs are quite capable and can attract a lot of followers.

When believers approached her, yellow exclamation marks appeared above their heads.

Upon contacting them, it was discovered that most of the people were troubled by cursed spirits and were seeking help.

With expertise in the field, the curse master [Kawakami Socks] is dedicated to serving you!

Of course, most of them are low-level cursed spirits, otherwise they wouldn't have survived long enough for believers to come for help.

Running the errand is easy, and the rewards are plentiful.

fickle players say – free stuff is so good!

Thanks to Zhu Yu's diligent efforts in completing tasks, the Panxing Sect reversed its decline and steadily expanded its influence...

*

Zhu Yu's online persona business is thriving, and his main body is also making good progress.

In the year she entered her third year of college, her sorcerer rating was changed to "Special Grade".

Everything seemed the same until the sound of cicadas suddenly appeared on a sweltering afternoon, as the heat intensified.

Summer arrived without warning.

On a day when the cicadas' chirping became increasingly noisy—

Her junior colleague died.

Chapter 150 You'll Know

Zhu Yu was bewildered. In the short time it took to complete a mission, the NPC from Ash Plains was wrapped in a white cloth when she returned.

Wait, wait, what's going on?

Open the [Friends] list to see the status of the [Friends] you have added. Generally, NPCs whose favorability towards you reaches a certain level will automatically be added to the [Friends] list.

In the list, Haibara NPC's chibi-style avatar turned gray, and her health bar dropped to zero.

Oh no! The player's junior has suddenly died!

Haibara, the NPC, is very energetic. Every time you see her, she will greet you enthusiastically and look at you with "bling-bling" eyes.

They're always calling each other "senior" this and "senior" that.

Zhu Yu felt comfortable and happy to play with Haibara as well.

Haibara is a well-behaved NPC; if she says go east, she will never go west.

He takes Haibara to farm, takes Haibara to beat up red-named players, and takes Haibara to pick up trash everywhere.

Although Haibara didn't understand, she said—[Umekawa]-senpai must have her reasons for doing this!

Zhu Yu gained a follower without pain and waved his hand to show that he would protect him.

But now!

The player's little helper is gone!

The player is furious! Who killed the player's favorite NPC while the player was away?!

She desperately wants to know the truth.

The other NPCs from the same period were all in low spirits. After visiting Haibara's body, they left in silence—except for Nanami Kento, who had come on this mission with Haibara.

Nanami Kento huddled in a corner of the morgue, the congealed scabs between his fingers still not removed.

Zhu Yu made a soft rustling sound as she walked over. She stopped beside Qi Haijianren without speaking immediately, but followed his gaze to the body covered by the white cloth.

"...Sorcerers are bullshit."

Nanami Kento suddenly spoke, his voice hoarse like sandpaper, his fingers clenched tightly and stabbed into his palm, yet he seemed not to feel any pain.

"Ah."

Although Zhu Yu was slightly surprised by his "outrageous remarks," she was more interested in figuring out why the Haibara NPC had died.

She readily agreed with Nanami's words.

The simple syllables made Nanami Kento's shoulders tremble.

He looked up abruptly, his eyes bloodshot: "The 'Window' was clearly classified as a regular level two cursed spirit, but it turned out to be level one..."

The two of them can easily deal with a level two cursed spirit when they work together, but if they face a level one cursed spirit, they will have no chance of survival.

From level two to level one, the power of the cursed spirit undergoes a qualitative leap, making it far beyond the capabilities of ordinary spellcasters.

In fact, although the overall strength of cursed spirits has been increasing year by year, level one cursed spirits are still rare.

Suddenly encountering an unexpected level-one cursed spirit caught the two off guard.

Finally, to cover Nanami's escape, Haibara died at the hands of a Level 1 Cursed Spirit.

The morgue was cold, so cold that Nanami Kento's voice trembled slightly.

He twitched the corners of his mouth, trying to make his expression less unpleasant, but he failed.

"That guy...who needs his protection anyway..."

The pale light from the chandelier shone on his trembling shoulders, casting a long, long shadow.

Nanami Kento didn't know why his emotions suddenly erupted at this moment, and he poured out his heart to his senior without any regard for anything else.

Are they hoping for some miracle to happen?

—If this is weakness, then let him be weak one more time.

He never wanted to see his comrades die again.

Zhu Yu stood quietly to the side, not interrupting, but simply watching intently as Qi Haijianren looked utterly dejected.

"Nanami," she finally spoke, her voice as calm as a deep pool, "you really should talk to him about this yourself."

"Haibara will find out."

*

Haibara died from the first-level cursed spirit "Land God".

Haibara and Nanami received their mission this morning and rushed to the scene to exorcise the cursed spirit.