Chapter 101
Zenji Naoya was about to immediately refuse this deal that offered no benefit but only sacrifice, but the short blade, still stained with blood, fell before him, like a demon slowly revealing its sharp claws.
Looking up again, there were those dark eyes, as deep as an abyss, staring coldly at me.
The heartbeat that had just barely calmed down suddenly started beating like a drum again. The alarm of "I'm going to die" sounded like a sharp beep in every nerve that was taut with conditioned reflexes. It was as if a cold spike had been driven into my bone marrow and pierced my brain. I couldn't resist this drowning-like fear.
Even though he lost the battle, Zenin Naoya felt that this defeat could not have brought him such deep physical tremors and psychological trauma, as if he had once hovered on the edge of death, and the murderer was the person in front of him.
If he didn't agree now, he would really be dead!
“…”
Taking a slow, deep breath, Zenji Naoya prepared himself mentally.
This deal... comes to a better eye, it's not so bad after all.
He shouldn't attack Gojo Satoru—he couldn't beat Gojo Satoru anyway, so what difference would attacking him be from courting death?
Help me find information about this rune—he's the designated heir, and all the information in the clan's territory is open to him. Just find an opportunity to look it up, and that'll be enough to complete the task.
As for the Kamo family, it won't be too troublesome. The Zenin family and the Kamo family currently have a good relationship. As long as he doesn't go to the place where the Kamo family stores confidential documents, it shouldn't be a problem for him to apply to look for some information in the library.
He only needs to do these two things to save his life from this devil!
After weighing it this way, it doesn't seem so unacceptable...
Damn it, why is he so afraid of this black-haired boy?!
Zenji Naoya became increasingly disheartened, but he still agreed.
There was nothing he could do even if he disagreed; his instinct was to run away the moment he saw the other party, a reaction far stronger than when he saw the Zen Temple's Shen'er or a top-tier cursed spirit.
Kazuma Hatori doesn't know how to use curse power to perform [binding], and there's no such option in the game, so it was Satoru Gojo who performed the binding with Naoya Zenin on his behalf.
At that moment, Zenji Naoya wanted to immediately change from kneeling to standing up, but because his legs were so numb that he could not feel them at all, he fell forward in a very awkward manner and had to support himself on the grass for a while before he could barely stand up again.
...He stopped being so harsh in questioning how women who were required to kneel for one or two hours could possibly not persevere.
This damn sitting posture, which he had only symbolically maintained for a short while before, was the first time he had actually knelt for such a long time—not even on a cushion!
Throughout the process of establishing the [binding], Hatori Kazuma also noticed that Zenin Naoya hesitated to speak several times.
He probably wanted to gain some further benefits for himself, so he pretended not to see it.
Gojo Satoru was preoccupied with the still-bleeding index finger of Hatori Kazuma and didn't notice Zenin Naoya's expression at all.
It wasn't until Zenji Naoya had no other choice but to speak up and remind Hatori Kazuma.
Contact information.
Even though he didn't want to deal with this demon at all... there was no way around it; the [binding] that had already been set still had to be completed.
Although Zenji Naoya had thought, "Isn't pretending to look for someone also a form of looking for someone?", if he made this demon impatient, the other party could say, "If Gojo Satoru kills you, it doesn't count as me killing you." So he should just finish his work quickly.
As for discussing other conditions that could better guarantee his safety, to be honest... he wanted to, but dared not.
After Kazuma Hagoromo gave him his phone number, Naoya Zenin immediately turned and left without looking back, as if a demon was chasing him.
From behind, he even appeared slightly unsteady, as if his legs were still numb.
Gojo Satoru: “…”
Gojo Satoru exclaimed, "This is the first time I've ever seen him so disheveled."
This is someone who has awakened the same technique as the current head of the Zen temple, and is the designated future heir of the Zen temple. If he were within the Zen temple family, there wouldn't even be anyone who would dare to raise their voice at him.
The result was that it scared Kazuma Hatori so much that he was forced to sign a [binding] agreement... Pfft.
Oh dear, he didn't have a single thought of gloating—really, really.
"Oh, is that so?"
After wiping the blood off his short blade and retracting [Karma Double], Kazuma Hatori slowly blinked his black eyes. Just as he was about to turn his head to speak to the pretty little Go, he met a pair of fierce blue eyes.
"——"
Just as he was about to speak, Gojo Satoru reached out and grabbed his shirt collar, staring at him intently with an interrogative air, his voice lowering and his enunciation becoming deep and slow.
"Wow, that's amazing! I can't believe you thought of using blood instead of ink to paint."
Those azure eyes narrowed slightly, and an exceptionally sharp anger pressed down on the clear, misty blue sky, turning it into a dark cloud that settled into Kazuma Hagoromo's eyes, causing him to stiffen.
It was clearly a compliment, but this was the first time Kazuma Hatori had ever heard the beautiful Satoru speak in such a tone.
He blinked his dark pupils twice.
"Now you know how to play the victim with me?"
Gojo Satoru let out a soft chuckle, his voice pleasant but completely flat, which made Hagoromo Kazuma's momentum weaken even further.
The living Yama who could terrify those high-ranking officials was nothing more than a completely harmless, dumb black Shiba Inu in front of the beautiful Xiao Wu.
"You're quite used to self-harm, aren't you? You've done it before?"
Hatake Kazuma was about to shake his head rapidly when he suddenly remembered that he had indeed done the same thing in the previous game.
He also used his own blood to draw a huge [SOS] in the snow so that he and Fushiguro Ei could be found by the search and rescue helicopter in time.
Just thinking about how this happened makes me suddenly unable to shake my head...
Staring at the black Shiba Inu in front of him, which made no attempt to deny anything, and noticing the subtle guilty conscience gradually creeping onto its expressionless face, Gojo Satoru inwardly grimaced.
Hmph, just as I thought.
The movements were so practiced; it was clear this wasn't the first time he'd done it.
Has his past experiences made him so accustomed to pain?
Or perhaps no one taught him to cherish his body, so he himself treated his body as a tool.
No matter which direction you speculate, it's something Gojo Satoru is unwilling to accept.
But the truth was laid bare before him, revealed in the smallest details of his behavior and in the occasional revelations of Kazuma Hatake.
Doesn't the fact that someone subconsciously tries to intimidate others at the drop of a hat mean that these are the only methods that have repeatedly occurred in their past life?
Even the fact that the other person's face hardly showed any obvious emotional fluctuations was now fully explained.
If he were to reprimand Kazuma Hatori now, wouldn't he be no different from those who had hurt him in the past?
Gojo Satoru frowned, pondering what he should do.
Think about all the emergency treatments I've received for injuries... just simple cleaning, applying medicine, and bandaging. There wasn't a single memorable lesson to be learned. How could I possibly teach this black Shiba Inu not to repeat the same mistake?
However, he remembered seeing similar short stories on that forum, some fictional tales featuring them as the main characters...
The two of them froze in place for a moment.
Gojo Satoru remained silent for a long time, making Hatori Kazuma, who was unaware that the other party had imagined a whole bunch of tragic backstories, extremely uneasy.
Could it be... that his admission made Wu even angrier?
He certainly wouldn't do that in the real world, but this is a game with almost no pain feedback. As long as there's no penalty for bleeding, it doesn't matter if you get one or two cuts.
If Pretty Little Wu is worried, he can immediately take a couple of bites of bread to replenish his stamina.
In this way, the wound on your finger will heal completely.
Or at least prove to Gojo Satoru that he has no sense of pain and that it is not worth worrying about.
Like Fushiguro Megumi back then, who calmly accepted his actions.
—If Megumi Fushiguro from the first timeline were here, he would definitely retort, "[It's not calm at all, his brain just crashed from fright!]"
However, Kazuma Hatake did not expect that his seemingly normal behavior from the player's perspective would have such a huge impact on the characters in the game.
"I……"
He was about to explain when Gojo Satoru beat him to it.
Does it hurt?
Gojo asked Hagoromo Kazuma, his blue eyes tilting downwards, landing on Hagoromo Kazuma's right hand hanging at his side.
"not at all."
The question asked was exactly what Kazuma Hatake wanted to explain, and he immediately shook his head, even emphasizing it.
"real."
Trust the game's pain feedback design; it will absolutely not bring any negative experience to players in this regard!
Gojo Satoru: “…”
Nobody believes that. Even if he has six eyes, it would still hurt a lot if his little toe hit the cabinet without him using any "no limits" abilities.
“Hand,” Gojo Satoru loosened his grip on Hagoromo Kazuma’s collar, then spread his hand out to indicate, “Give it to me.”
Hato Kazuma didn't understand, but he obediently did as he was told, placing his right hand in Gojo Satoru's palm.
—Then, his dark eyes widened.
For the first time, those usually indifferent black eyes widened like a cat's, filled with disbelief.
The game blocks out most of the pain sensations, but retains all the tactile sensations.
Whether it's a head pat, a hug, or even a kiss, or even the warmth of another person's body, it can all be received perfectly by the nerve endings and transmitted to the brain, making Kazuma Hatake's mood float along, filled with cotton candy, Mont Blanc, apple soda, and many more wonderful things.
At this moment, Kazuma Hatori's emotions were being swept up by another raging storm, turning everything in its path into the other's territory, including himself.
The fingertip he had cut was now being drawn into a warmer, softer mouth.
Even the way the other person gently licked the wound with their tongue, sending a tingling, numb sensation through his brain like countless fireworks exploding inside, left Kazuma Hatake completely bewildered and flustered, far more so than simple verbal complaints.
But when those bright blue eyes, more beautiful than the clear sky, looked up at him, the cunning and smugness they revealed almost made Kazuma Hatori unable to move, and he would willingly surrender.
This was a little prank by Gojo Satoru, and he was quite pleased with his great victory.
"You'll easily get hurt if you're careless."
Gojo Satoru finally let go of that index finger, allowing it to return to its poor owner, whose earlobe was burning hot.
"So I'll still treat you like this?"
Kazuma Hatake: "..."
Kazuma Hatori raised his hand to cover his face and silently shook his head.
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