Chapter 80: Now That You've Accepted the Gift, You Won't Pursue This Anymore, Right?
"Me?" Yotsuya Miko pointed a hesitant finger at herself, her expression screaming, You can't be serious.
Haruto nodded sagely. "Alternatively, you could take Kaguya's place. She's currently playing the role of the meat shield."
Kaguya immediately shot a venomous glare at Haruto. "I never agreed to be some warrior or meat shield! Why aren't you the one standing in front while I play the mage? Don't I have the power of Eternity and the Instantaneous?"
"Me... a meat shield? You... a mage?" Haruto's expression was a mask of exaggerated disbelief. "Let's see. Am I the one who's immortal and absurdly tanky, or are you? Can you heal, apply buffs, and weaken enemies the way I can? I have far more Talisman Cards, too. And as for your power over Eternity and the Instantaneous, just look at how badly it's been nerfed in here."
"I... My physical strength is still very high," Kaguya retorted, her voice losing some of its conviction.
"Exactly," Haruto said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Since you're tougher than I am, if you don't act as the warrior, who will?"
"You..." Kaguya was rendered momentarily speechless. It took her a long moment to squeeze out a coherent sentence. "Can't this Death Game of yours bring in one more person? Just bring that damn Roasted Chicken along! Wouldn't she be the perfect meat shield?"
[Translator's Note: "Roasted Chicken" is a derogatory nickname for Fujiwara no Mokou, Kaguya's eternal rival, who is associated with the phoenix.]
While Kaguya could tolerate ghosts with a normal appearance like the butler, she wanted absolutely nothing to do with gloomy, disgusting spirits like the Lady of the Castle or the mermaid from the previous instance. Touching them was out of the question.
"You think I don't want to?" Haruto rolled his eyes. "If I could, I would have brought my Youmu here ages ago. Setting aside whether she'd be nerfed or not, her specialty is swordsmanship, so the impact would be minimal. More, her Roukanken is specifically designed to slay the undead."
Aside from Yotsuya Miko, who had a vague understanding, everyone else was completely lost. They did, however, arrive at a startling consensus: if Haruto could bring one more person into an instance, whoever he chose would likely possess the same kind of monstrous strength.
Wu Wenwen timidly raised her hand. "Actually... it is possible to bring people in."
"How?" Haruto's eyes immediately lit up.
"There's a special type of ghost artifact," she explained. "It can bind to another teammate and allow you to bring an extra person into an instance."
Tong Yi nodded in agreement. "I've heard of it, too. But that kind of thing is incredibly rare and expensive. On the forums I frequent, at least, no one has sold an item like that for nearly two years."
Haruto turned to look at Wu Wenwen, who wore an apologetic expression.
"It's about the same on my end," she said. "If I ever see anyone selling one, I'll definitely do my best to buy it for you, Brother Haruto."
Haruto didn't press the issue. The topic circled back to Miko.
"So," he said with a sigh, "until I can get my hands on that item, I'll have to rely on you to lead the charge, Miko."
Yotsuya Miko didn't refuse this time, but her gaze fell upon the sword in her hands, which looked like it was about to fall apart. "How about... you get me a different sword first?" she asked weakly.
"Shallow! So very shallow!" Haruto adopted the disappointed expression of a teacher scolding a hopeless student. "How can you judge the quality of a sword merely by its appearance?"
"Then what am I supposed to look at?" Miko asked, genuinely confused.
The others also turned their curious gazes toward Haruto. Could this dilapidated blade truly be some hidden, peerless weapon?
Haruto remained silent, simply raising a finger and pointing to his own chest.
"Look at... the heart?" Miko ventured a guess.
Haruto shook his head. "Look at the person. For a true genius, blades of grass and branches from trees can all be swords. With a heart of the sword, everything is a sword."
Hearing this dramatic speech, which reeked of eighth-grader syndrome, everyone was left speechless.
A muscle in Yotsuya Miko's cheek twitched. "Then... what if one isn't a genius?" she asked faintly.
"Then it's just a piece of scrap metal," Haruto answered bluntly. "I once had an old acquaintance who, relying on nothing but a broken sword, fought his way to becoming number one in the world. He struck fear into the hearts of everyone in the martial arts world."
Hearing that someone had actually made a name for themselves with such a weapon, Miko's interest was piqued. "Really? Where is he now? Is he also in that Gensokyo place where you live, Brother Haruto?"
Haruto shook his head. "He's in an anime."
"..."
Yotsuya Miko silently squatted on the ground and began drawing circles in the dust with her finger. She should have known that would be the answer.
Seeing her look of utter exhaustion, Haruto finally stopped joking. "In all seriousness, I think the plan is feasible. Besides, this sword is surprisingly sturdy. I'll check if there's an ability like 'sword manipulation through qi' available when I get back. If not, I'll find a proper sword for you."
Yotsuya Miko nodded, a flicker of relief washing over her. As expected, Brother Haruto was reliable when it counted.
After the group finished a simple breakfast, they made their way to the dining hall, where they found Xie Lin and Liu Haoran already seated. After exchanging greetings, everyone settled into their original seats from the night before.
Just then, from the corridor on the left, Zhang Katao and his two companions emerged. Faint dark circles hung under their eyes, and their steps were unsteady. It was obvious they hadn't slept a wink.
Kaguya glanced at them, her voice ringing out, completely unrestrained. "It seems some people didn't sleep well last night."
Haruto shrugged. "They've probably done too many things that weigh on their conscience. They're afraid someone might come to kill them in their sleep."
"Pfft..." Liu Haoran couldn't help but burst out laughing. He quickly covered it with a cough. "Sorry, sorry. I couldn't help it. Please, continue."
Zhang Katao's face cycled from pale to flushed. They had indeed been awake all night. As for standing guard, no one trusted anyone else, so how could they possibly feel safe enough to sleep?
In that instant, the situation changed abruptly.
A short blade suddenly slid from Zhang Katao's sleeve. He lunged forward, and with lightning speed, stabbed the blade fiercely into the neck of Huang Dao, the man beside him.
It all happened too fast.
Aside from Haruto and Kaguya, no one else had time to react.
Huang Dao felt a sudden chill on his neck. The next moment, blood erupted from the wound, splattering onto the carpet with a series of soft, wet pats. He clutched uselessly at his throat, trying to speak, but only raspy, gurgling sounds escaped. Blood continued to gush from between his fingers.
A moment later, he collapsed heavily to the ground with a dull thud, his eyes wide with disbelief, forever frozen in his final moment.
Zhang Katao tossed the blood-stained blade aside and put on a mask of distress. "Everyone, it's a misunderstanding! This was all Huang Dao's doing! The two of us were coerced by him yesterday. He had a gun, so we didn't dare resist or speak up!"
As he spoke, he stepped forward and, in front of everyone, pulled a black handgun from Huang Dao's inner jacket pocket.
The tall, thin man with shifty eyes immediately caught on and chimed in, "Yes, yes, that's right! He forced us! If he hadn't had a gun, we would have stood up to him long ago!"
Haruto's eyebrows twitched slightly as he quietly watched their performance. Seeing that Haruto said nothing, the rest of his group remained silent as well.
Taking this as his cue, Zhang Katao placed the umbrella he had used on the first night onto the dining table. "As an apology, please accept this umbrella as a peace offering."
Haruto remained unmoved.
Zhang Katao bit his lip, realizing he would have to pay a steeper price. He pulled out two more ghost artifacts—a pair of scissors and a button—and pushed them across the table.
Still, Haruto only offered a slight raise of an eyebrow.
A flash of ruthlessness crossed Zhang Katao's eyes. For a split second, he even considered fighting to the death. But the thought of Haruto's unfathomable strength made him grit his teeth and swallow his pride. He pulled out two more ghost artifacts and, along with the handgun, pushed all six items forward.
"This is everything."
Haruto, still silent, finally moved. He casually swept all the ghost artifacts and the handgun from the table toward himself. A flicker of satisfaction, like a cat that had just cornered a canary, flashed in his eyes.
The heavy stone in Zhang Katao's heart finally dropped. Since the items were accepted, it meant the matter would not be pursued any further.
He just failed to notice the looks of deep pity that Kaguya and Yotsuya Miko were casting in his direction from the side.
[Inorin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/InorinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/InorinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]