Raiden Mei looked toward the direction the voice came from… and saw a one-armed Homu? Why was it a Homu again?! Was this world populated only by Homu?
Raiden Mei walked toward the Buddha sculptor Homu. At the same time, a description of the mechanical arm suddenly popped up in front of her.
"So it's called a prosthetic arm?" Raiden Mei thought to herself.
"What is your name?"
Raiden Mei was about to speak, but the Buddha sculptor Homu interrupted her. "That eye… you must be a wolf who failed to complete its mission."
Whatever, say what you want. Raiden Mei thought, already treating the person in front of her as an NPC in a hero story who could only say "Hero-sama."
After that, she inquired for information from the Buddha sculptor Homu and discovered that her current mission was to go to the tenshu keep in Ashina Castle to rescue her lord that is, young Kiana.
There was also the secret that she could come back to life after dying, something called the Dragon's Heritage power, and that she could find prosthetic tools in the map to strengthen her prosthetic arm.
After accepting these missions, Raiden Mei's Sekiro journey officially began.Sekiro, activate!
For Raiden Mei, most of the small enemies in Ashina Castle were easy to deal with. After all, she possessed the full license (Menkyo Kaiden) of Hokushin Ittō-ryū, and with this body's stats, she could basically go 1v1 without taking damage. Moreover, Shun had set almost everyone in the game as Homu, so she didn't have to worry about feeling any guilt from killing.
Cutting through enemies like chopping vegetables along the way, Raiden Mei reached the castle gate path and obtained her first prosthetic tool the Shuriken Wheel.
This should be the prosthetic tool the Buddha sculptor mentioned could be installed… Raiden Mei returned to the ruined Buddha statue in front of the castle gate path, offered a prayer, and teleported back to the abandoned temple. She hurriedly walked into the house.
After installing the shuriken prosthetic tool on her arm at the Buddha sculptor's place, Raiden Mei excitedly continued forward after talking with the newly appeared NPC doctor Homu Nagashi, until
"ROAR!" Raiden Mei couldn't dodge in time and was grabbed by the Red Ogre. It slammed her straight into the ground. In an instant, the full-health Raiden Mei was smashed to death by the Red Ogre.
The world turned black and white, and a large red word "Noob!" slowly appeared in her eyes.
What… what kind of power is this? I actually got one-shot? After reviving at the ruined Buddha, Raiden Mei still felt lingering fear. This could be considered her first death.
The small enemies before, even if they accidentally hit her, would only scratch off a bit of health. None of them were like this one hard to deflect and instant death upon being grabbed.
No… try again! Even though the opponent looked like a mini-boss, how could she stop here!
Next, Mei as usual instantly slashed the two small enemies under the tree to death and charged toward the Red Ogre.
Second time failing, Mei's body was once again grabbed by the Red Ogre Homu's massive hand and slammed into the ground. Another "Noob!" appeared.
Raiden Mei refused to accept it and tried again. She was grabbed once more. After dozens of loops like this, she still couldn't kill the Red Ogre. Even in the closest attempt, the opponent still had half a health bar left, and its posture bar had barely moved.
The Red Ogre was unbeatable!
Could she really not defeat the powerful enemy before her? After failing dozens of times, Raiden Mei also started to feel discouraged. Perhaps because Shun hadn't set the bosses with fixed patterns like in the actual game, the difficulty had increased significantly. That was why even after dozens of tries against the Red Ogre, it was useless.
Shun, watching from the sky, couldn't help but shake his head. Girl, you probably don't know the eight-character mantra:
"More hair, weaker fire; bigger body, weaker gate." You don't even have the bell, and you haven't even gone to the Hirata Estate from a few years ago yet you're already fighting the Red Ogre? If you don't go to jail, who will?
Thinking of this, Shun couldn't resist giving a hint. "Go find NPCs you can talk to, or eavesdrop on other people's conversations. Perhaps they have clues on how to defeat the Red Ogre."
Since it was transmitted directly into Mei's brain via Fenghuang Down, Mei naturally took this clue as her own idea.
It looked like she couldn't fight this power-type opponent head-on. There were probably other clues…
This time, Mei didn't immediately kill the two people under the tree. Instead, she eavesdropped on them and learned the clue that the Red Ogre was afraid of fire.
Afraid of fire? I remember I have oil… but I don't seem to have anything to light it with. At that moment, she looked at her prosthetic arm again.
Maybe…
In the end, Mei went back and obtained a Guardian Bell from an NPC. After offering it to the statue, she traveled back three years.
"How magical… so this is time travel?" Mei was still shocked by the wonders of this world, but in her heart she became even more convinced that she was the so-called protagonist. This actually made her Dao heart even steadier.
After obtaining the axe and the Flame Vent here, Raiden Mei's progress advanced steadily. Under the double torment of oil and fire, the Red Ogre could only meet its end on the spot.
After defeating the Red Ogre, Raiden Mei didn't rush forward. She went back three years again and took down the Butterfly old man. During this, the only teammate Raiden Mei had encountered after playing for so long that pure bushido spirit moved her somewhat.
However, it also let her truly see an even younger Kiana from three years ago. If not for the insensitive Butterfly old man in front, she would have almost lost control of her loyalty.
As Raiden Mei gradually deepened her understanding of this world, she also became more and more curious about the story.
What was the Dragon's Heritage power? Why could it let people come back to life after death? And who was it that killed her after she killed the Butterfly old man three years ago?
These stories would probably only be unraveled later…
At the right moment, Shun kicked Raiden Mei out of the world bubble. Finishing the Red Ogre and Butterfly old man in one night was already decent progress. Although it couldn't compare to his own ten-hour speedrun back then, it was still quite fast.
The main reason was, if Raiden Mei really cleared this dungeon in a few days of grinding, what would he let her do afterward?
Would he make her go link the fire after finishing Sekiro? Or become the Elden Lord?
That didn't seem appropriate. What if she really turned into a resolute Mei with iron will? Besides, the worlds of Dark Souls and Elden Ring were too cruel. Sekiro was acceptable except for the Shura ending, but linking the fire… better not.
He was afraid Mei's mentality would have problems. Compared to薪王 Mei or Elden Lord Mei, Sekiro Mei was still better.