Chapter 148
Hagoromo Kazuma didn't know.
He even suddenly couldn't figure out if this game was actually a game.
So real, so...melancholy.
That said, the only reason he bought the game was because he passed by that old music store on his way home from school and was drawn to the promotional poster on the window.
It was a rather unremarkable poster, with a dim background of light and color, outlining several not particularly attractive character designs, arranged in a scattered V-shape.
Below that, a few lines of promotional text were written in the most ordinary default font, so densely packed together that they were impossible to read without getting closer.
This is a poster composition that is too classic; even the text layout lacks any skill.
However, Kazuma Hatake still paused for a moment because of that pure white.
For reasons he couldn't explain, he walked into the music and video store he didn't usually frequent.
Unlike Mikoshiba, who prefers bishoujo games, he prefers adventure or action games and is more enthusiastic about online shopping.
Kazuma Hatori has never liked to interact too much with others—in Mikoshiba's words, he's a repressed, socially awkward person.
But he knew he wasn't socially anxious; he was simply not interested in socializing.
However, on that day, Kazuma Hatori did indeed walk into the music store and asked the clerk who was arranging the shelves a question.
He was of medium height and slender build, exuding a gentle and reserved elegance, which did not seem out of place even with his slightly long black hair.
When he heard that Kazuma Hatake had come to inquire about that game, he was clearly taken aback before replying, "Yes, please wait a moment."
Even the price was surprisingly cheap.
This is the story of why Kazuma Hatake entered this [groundbreaking virtual] game.
If we reconsider now, there are just too many strange things about it.
For example... he seemed to have never seen any promotion or discussion about this game online.
But at this moment, Kazuma Hatori had no time to think further.
He held the kimono and thanked Granny Chika. Then, when he looked at Gojo Satoru, the emotions deep in his dark eyes flowed like a handful of mercury from his fingertips, shimmering gently and movingly in the pale blue moonlight.
Gojo Satoru stared at him for a long time, a mischievous smile playing on his lips, a smile that seemed both teasing and genuine.
“This kimono isn’t cheap,” Gojo Satoru said with a smile. “Let me think… how much do you think it would cost to get it?”
Kazuma Hagoromo immediately became a little nervous, "How much?"
Even if Wu asked for millions, he would take it out without hesitation.
If it's not enough, you can pay me back first.
"Ah, it's decided, this one's mine—"
Gojo Satoru snapped his fingers and reached out to take away the plate of strawberry daifuku in front of Hagoromo Kazuma—leaving the latter's heart, which had just been lifted, stuck in mid-air, caught between a rock and a hard place by this unconventional follow-up.
Kazuma Hatori watched as the strawberry daifuku, which he had poked with a fork until the cream filling was leaking out, was moved in front of Satoru, and blurted out, "Eh?"
Gojo Satoru: "What's wrong? You won't give it to me?"
Kazuma Hatori stared at the four plump strawberry daifuku placed in front of him, which took up almost half of the table.
Grandma Qianxiang sat beside them, slowly sipping her tea, her eyes filled with joy as she looked at the two of them.
Kazuma Hatake's silence didn't last long—he could hardly contain himself and slowly shook his head at people, revealing a pleasant, involuntary, gentle smile.
"I'm worried you won't be able to finish it. Do you need to pay on credit?"
Gojo made a face at him, his response still revealing a hint of resentment.
"You underestimate me?"
………
"……belch."
After saying goodbye late at night, when Gojo Satoru returned to the vocational high school, the burp he let out still carried the sweet aroma of strawberry cream filling.
The college students had already finished their classes by now. Xia Youjie, wearing a short-sleeved shirt, sat on a bench in the corridor, watching the guy who had dumped the troublesome problem on him and then ran away in a flash, rubbing his stomach as he returned.
"I had a very satisfying meal with Yizhen."
He twitched the corners of his mouth and chuckled indifferently, "Leaving me to be relentlessly questioned by Teacher Moth."
God knows he was practically sweating bullets!
Even if she's a muscle-bound idiot, Ms. Yagami is the kind of muscle-bound idiot who's especially hard to fool!
Gojo Satoru blinked. "Did you manage to handle it?"
“It was a long time,” Xia Youjie said dryly, “but I think Teacher Ye'e must have realized it by now, which is why she didn’t keep asking.”
After all, when giving them the Astral Matter mission, Moth-sensei didn't exactly approve of eliminating Riko Tenten.
He also didn't feel any resentment towards Kazuma Hatake, who left to prevent the assimilation of Tengen.
Gojo Satoru smiled and gave him a thumbs up, "I'll treat you and Shoko to the latest limited-edition ice cream this weekend!"
Xia Youjie: "...I think you just wanted to eat it yourself."
Gojo Satoru: "Oh my, am I that kind of person? Am I the kind of person who would bring you and Shoko along just to make up the numbers for a buy-two-get-one-free ice cream deal?"
Xia Youjie: "…………"
He sighed helplessly, but didn't refuse.
Summer is almost here, and the weather is getting hotter every day. People's restless hearts are also making the spirits more active. It would be nice if everyone could get together for a weekend to go out and eat ice cream.
"Alright, now that you're back on time, I won't wait here any longer."
As Xia Youjie got up, he casually gathered his loose hair and gave a perfunctory reminder to Wu Tiaowu.
"Remember to get some rest."
Gojo Satoru nodded his head, which was also showing signs of drowsiness, and suddenly called out to him.
"Ichijin asked me to pass on something to you."
Thank goodness! I was having so much fun with Yizhen that I almost forgot what he told me.
Xia Youjie paused, turning around curiously to look at Wujiao Wu.
"What?"
"That's what he told me,"
Gojo Satoru thought for a moment, then spoke to Natsumi Yuuki word by word, deliberately lowering his voice to imitate Hatori Kazuma's somewhat indifferent tone.
"[Some people within the Panxing Sect have been watching you for a while now, so be very careful when you're on missions]."
Xia Youjie was truly stunned this time.
"Targeting me?" he asked, bewildered. "But I've never been in contact with this religion before."
And is the use of the word "early"... even earlier than before the [Tengen Assimilation] incident?
"I don't know, I can't give you any more specific details."
Gojo Satoru stood with his hands behind his back, his expression relaxed and lively, almost reminiscent of a beautiful cat with big, blue eyes.
"He has already taken control of the Panxing Sect, yet he still says such things—Jie must know perfectly well who he's referring to, right?"
Xia Youjie rubbed his temples, still somewhat puzzled as to what he had that made him a target for the enemy.
Do you want his life? But he's a non-magician with no background or resources, what's there to covet?
However, Wu could indeed answer the question he was asking.
“…that patriarch,” Xia Youjie said unhurriedly, “I did some research later. He is indeed the holy son of the Panxing Sect. Even he, who went back, couldn’t deal with the Panxing Sect members. Apart from the patriarch, who is of a higher status than him, there is almost no need to think about him anymore.”
"Bingo—"
Gojo Satoru first celebrated that the two of them were on the same page, then moved closer to Natsumi Yuuki's position and lowered his voice.
"Ichijin told you to pay attention to the mission, but I think you can just pretend to let things take their course."
Xia Youjie hummed in response.
Even setting aside his innate talents like "six eyes" and "no limits," Gojo Satoru is still extremely quick-witted and has his own ideas.
He can rely on force to ignore all conspiracies against him—like the bounty he had as a child—but that doesn't mean he's helpless in the face of them.
"I'll talk to Kazuma about it later, but I want to ask for your opinion now."
In the dormitory corridor bathed only in the dim moonlight, Gojo Satoru secretly discussed future plans with Natsumi Yuuki.
"Since they had their eyes on you for a long time, but didn't make a move when you first entered the college and weren't very strong, it means that they didn't want your life."
—At this point, Gojo Satoru pointed to himself with his thumb, using his personal experience as an example.
"Like me, I was put up with a bounty of over 100 million from the moment I was born. That's what it means to really want my life."
These words sounded strangely proud, leaving Xia Youjie speechless.
“Since they don’t want my life, and yet say they’ve got their eyes on me,” Xia Youjie said gravely, “what do they want to do?”
"I don't know, but I think it's definitely a key that absolutely cannot be revealed."
Gojo Satoru's blue eyes shifted slightly. "I looked up some information on my way back. The Panxing Sect has a long history, but its founder has never shown his face."
"There was no name, no photo, no video. No one even knew whether the person was male or female. According to Yizhen's description, he had never seen the person's true face and could only judge from the processed voice that the person was using female sentence structure."
"Therefore, he was unable to kill the patriarch."
Detached from his usual liveliness and casualness, Gojo was extremely intelligent at this moment, and his words went straight to the heart of the matter.
"Think about it, the last mission she assigned to Ichima was to stop the Tengen assimilation. After stopping the Tengen assimilation, did the cunning enemy from the world of sorcery, who never shows his face, have no further plans? She even arranged for Ichima to be a student at the high school a year in advance to ensure the plan's success."
"Teacher Night Moth previously speculated that the Panxing Sect gradually went to extremes during the millennium of worshipping Lord Tianyuan, which led to its desperate efforts to stop the assimilation of Tianyuan. After all, this was not the first time that Tianyuan had been assimilated, and the Panxing Sect had remained silent before. But I don't think so."
Gotsu raised his index finger and put forward an even more shocking point of view from Xia Youjie.
"What if the enemy created the Panxing Sect specifically to prevent the assimilation of Tianyuan?"
Xia Youjie's eyes widened: "What? You mean..."
“Think about it,” Gojou Satoru said. “The Panxing Cult was founded by non-magicians out of gratitude for Lord Tianyuan’s achievements. “But who told the non-magicians everything that Tianyuan had done?”
"That was in ancient times when communication was extremely underdeveloped. Everyone was busy farming all day long, and they worshipped all sorts of strange ghosts and gods."
Xia Youjie, who was halfway through the conversation, muttered to himself, "What a mess..."
“I suspect that behind [the patriarch] there may be a group of curse masters who have been passing down their knowledge for thousands of years—and they are very cunning and cautious.”
Gojo Satoru patted Natsumi Yuuki on the shoulder, his voice lower and more solemn.
"Although we don't know the other party's target, based on Ichijin's description, one thing is clear: [they've been eyeing you for a long time]."
"If they want to use the mission to kill you, resist and don't let them succeed."
"But if they value your abilities and want to recruit you..."
"Why don't you just go with the flow and pretend you've been fooled? Maybe that will help you find out their true identity."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
