I'm a demon in Tokyo!

Chapter 331 Forty-Minute Speedrun, Reward: Karuta's Decree! Factory Owner Z Appears: Six-Tailed Fox, Die!
Uesugi Tetsu stood at the door, not moving an inch.

It was as if he couldn't hear the fox-faced woman beside him.

You can see that there are thirteen empty chairs placed to the left and right of that figure.

He remained silent for a long time, then turned his gaze to the fox-faced woman beside him who was bowing deeply to him.

Uesugi Tetsu looked up again at the only figure standing in the center of the huge hall behind the door.

That was also a woman with a fox-like face.

The person next to him was exactly the same.

The fox-faced woman beside him spoke, as if urging him on.
"The fifth round of the World's Number One Song Tournament has begun, please come in, sir."

Uesugi Tetsuya remained standing in the same spot, and chuckled.
"It's really you."

He closed his eyes, recalling every fox-masked waiter he had seen in the flower card shop, remembering their movements, tone of voice, posture, and eyes.

“I sensed something was wrong before… How could the servants be so similar, even if they were wearing the same mask?”

The fox-masked woman in the center of the hall remained silent, while the fox-masked woman beside her spoke in a cold, hard voice, like the stiff turning of mechanical gears, riveting together.

"My lord...please come in..."

If we don't go in and experience the storyline soon, I'm afraid I'll suddenly find myself in the dark again, just like at the entrance of the Hanafuda shop.

"Alright, I'll go in then."

Uesugi Tetsu shrugged and stepped into the hall without further hesitation.

The moment he stepped into the hall, a soft "bang" came from behind him.

The mahogany gate behind them was closed.

When Uesugi Tetsu turned around again, he noticed a newly popped-up white tag on the head of the fox-faced woman standing not far away.

——【？ ？ ？】

"It feels just like fighting a boss."

He chuckled and continued walking forward, casually placing his hands on the hilts of the Spider Cutter and the Little Jade, which were located to his left and right at his waist.

However, the label displaying the question mark was white...

Is it fair to say it's neutral?
Moreover, no matter how Uesugi Tetsu observed with the All-Seeing Eye of Hyakume, he could only see that it was a woman wearing a fox mask, exactly the same as the fox-masked woman who had greeted him.

Apart from that, I know nothing.

Unable to see.

—This Hanafuda shop should have just been a fragment of the past in the Edo period, but he entered it by chance using the great blacksmith's memory orb.

Uesugi Tetsu approached the fox-masked woman and asked her three questions in a row.
"What on earth are you?"

What do the factory owners want to do with the [Kaluta]?

What role did the Hanafuda shop play in all of this?

He asked these questions not to get answers, but simply to "activate" the fox-faced woman whose eyes hadn't moved an inch until now.

If she doesn't move, the plot won't be able to proceed.

After Uesugi Tetsu took the initiative to speak, the fox-masked woman who was originally standing at the highest point of the red carpet finally moved.

She chuckled twice, then gracefully descended the steps, stepping onto the tatami mat that occupied most of the hall after removing her wooden clogs.
"It is only natural for you to have many questions, and I will answer them one by one."

The fox-like eyes behind the fox mask narrowed with a smile, and the woman said lightly,
"But only if you beat me."

"After you defeat me, everything is up to you."

Has the health bar appeared?
Upon hearing this, Uesugi Tetsu instinctively reached for the sword at his waist.

The fox-masked woman immediately sensed the fighting spirit and killing intent emanating from Uesugi Tetsuya. She smiled and shook her head at him, then took out a stack of karuta cards from somewhere.

She tilted her head and said coquettishly, "On the karuta."

Then, he added,
"Best of five."

Uesugi Tetsu stared at the incredibly lifelike fox-faced woman before him and slowly lowered his hand from the hilt of his sword.

To defeat the boss in the Hanafuda shop, you need to use Karuta.

This makes sense.

It is also very advantageous to oneself.

The fox-masked woman sat down and slowly distributed the karuta cards. After arranging the cards in front of her, she looked at Uesugi Tetsuya, paused, and said softly.
"My lord, you can start over and over again. Isn't it an easy thing for you to beat me?"

Uesugi Tetsuya did not show even the slightest extra expression; his gaze simply fell normally.

But in his heart, a raging storm had already begun.

—The fox-faced woman, she knows she can reload her save file?!
Does she know how many times she has read it, how much of it has remained in her memory, and what she has done in the process?
Before this, she hadn't shown any signs whatsoever.

If the big boss of the Hanafuda shop had found out about this... it would have been a really tough situation to get through before.

but now……

Uesugi Tetsuya suddenly laughed, flashing a bright smile at the fox-faced woman: "I'm a fox, and you're a fox too, so I won't lie to you or say any more polite words."

Looking down at the fox-faced woman, Uesugi Tetsu raised a finger and said gently,

"No need to start over, I only need this one time to win all three games and completely crush you."

"All right."

Uesugi Tetsu raised his chin at the slightly stunned fox-faced woman.
"Quickly set it up, find a referee, and let's start the game of Gorudo."

The fox-faced woman also curled her lips into a smile: "Your confidence makes me very much looking forward to it."

As the last karuta card was placed in front of Uesugi Tetsuya, a whole panel of judges suddenly appeared beside him.

All the referees wore fox masks, and their voices were as harsh as the turning of mechanical gears.

Uesugi Tetsu didn't care.

After the referee lowered his hand, the first game of the game between Karudo began.

Five minutes later, the fox-faced woman lost.

She marveled as she tidied up the few karuta cards scattered on the floor: "Your skill is truly amazing. I didn't expect to lose a game so easily."

Uesugi Tetsu glanced at her casually.
"Don't bother trying to use any tricks; it's just a waste of time, and I won't care."

He said, "As long as the game with Garuda begins, I will win."

"That's all."

After the new cards were placed, the second game began.

In this game, the fox-masked woman finally lost to Uesugi Tetsu after ten minutes.

After her second defeat, the fox-faced woman didn't say much.

She knelt on the spot, falling into silence.

Uesugi Tetsuya's smile remained unchanged.

In silence, the third game of the game, which was also the decisive game, began.

A full twenty-five minutes later, until Uesugi Tetsu had grasped the moment that symbolized his victory and his opponent's inevitable defeat.

The fox-faced woman suddenly spoke up: "My lord, you are cheating."

Uesugi Tetsu slowly picked up the karuta card from the ground and asked, "So, may I ask how I cheated, and what evidence do you have to prove that I cheated?"

The fox-faced woman stared at him.

While waiting, Uesugi Tetsu did not place the last karuta card on his deck, but held it in his hand, suspending it in mid-air.

After a long while, the fox-faced woman shook her head.
"I do not have."

"Fine, I admit defeat."

She sighed helplessly and removed the fox mask that covered the upper half of her face. Her long, pink hair, like blooming cherry blossoms, cascaded down, and her eyes, which had previously seemed shrouded in mist, were now filled with azure blue, with a small beauty mark adorning the area below her left eye.

After removing her mask, the woman paused for a long moment without warning before opening her bright red, moist cherry lips and continuing her previous sentence.

"—All I see is that all possibilities have been cut off."

Uesugi Tetsu noticed that after the fox-masked woman removed her fox mask, the [? ? ?] mark above her head immediately changed.

——【Karuta】

The three characters “歌留多” are blurry and unclear, like a person with severe myopia staring at a distant object, with endless double images swaying back and forth.

After a long while, the dazzling double images finally merged into one.

——【The Afterimage of Karuta】

A brand new label floated above Karuta's head.

At the same time, a look of realization flashed across Karudo's eyes once again.

Uesugi Tetsu stared at the top of her head.

The lingering image of the song?
That seems to make sense.

This place was originally the abandoned Karuta III Factory.

He stared at Karuta, whose demeanor had drastically changed after removing the fox mask, waited a moment, and then asked,

"The factory owners, have they failed?"

Upon hearing this, Karudo looked at him again and nodded: "Yes, it failed a long, long time ago."

She lowered her head and bit her lip.

"So, I am a [failure]... a failure of the God of Possibility, Karuta, a defective product, long abandoned here."

This place is nothing more than a graveyard that no one cares about.

Karudo looked around, scanning the thirteen neatly arranged, spotless, and completely empty chairs that showed no signs of being used.

No wonder none of the thirteen adults are here.

In the silence, Karuta looked at Uesugi Tetsuya again and stared at him for a long while.

A trickle of blood flowed from the edge of Karuta's azure eyes, then she closed them and bowed slightly to Uesugi Tetsuya.
"I am deeply honored that Lord Uesugi has come to this place."

Uesugi Tetsu raised an eyebrow in surprise.

After staring at him for a while, you can directly see through his name and identity?
He asked with some curiosity, "What exactly does the God of Possibility do?"

"This kind of thing is irrelevant now."

Karuta shook her head: "Moreover... this unsuccessful work of mine, with only fragmented memories, is unaware of the [result] and [truth] that you adults want to obtain."

"Let's not talk about this, Lord Uesugi."

Ge Liuduo reached out and, as if passing through a mold, directly retrieved an exquisite box with gold trim from the void.
"I know why you're here."

She coughed twice, straightened her small face, and said in an unusually solemn manner: "Now, congratulations to contestant Uesugi Yuki for defeating all opponents and winning the championship of the World's Number One Karuta Tournament!"

"Now, please let the champion receive the prize that belongs to the first place winner!"

Karuta opened the box, revealing a beautifully crafted karuta card inside, with her image engraved on the card.

Uesugi Tetsu glanced at Karuta, then reached out and pinched a corner of the karuta card in the box.

【Karuta's Edict】

【Quality: Super Epic】

[Effect: After use, the success rate of target events with a probability of 1% or higher is increased to 100%. Can only be used once.]

"I foresaw long ago that we were destined to meet here."

"Lord Uesugi, please take this karuta card and leave here as soon as possible."

Karuta took the karuta card out with both hands and forcefully shoved it into Uesugi Tetsu's hand.

She pointed to the hall where the paint on the walls was already peeling off.
"This place is about to sink."

rustling...

Not only the walls, but also the mahogany door, the tatami mats on the floor, and the thirteen chairs began to crack.

Outside the hall, the sounds of things falling and collapsing could be heard incessantly.

Seeing that Uesugi Tetsuya remained unmoved, and even had the leisure to look around before frowning and saying to him,

"If you were any later, and one of the thirteen adults who arrived found you, you would never be able to leave again."

Uesugi Tetsu recalled the notes when he activated the special map, [Karuta Factory III]—

[Note 3: Committing serious acts of sabotage on the Karuta III will attract the attention of the factory owners.]

he mused.

"Those thirteen, are they all factory owners?"

"Yes."

"So what will your 'adults' do when they see you?"

Ge Liu opened his mouth several times, as if to speak, but in the end, his eyes dimmed as he said...
"Defective products are destined not to exist in this world."

After a moment's thought, Uesugi Tetsuya made no attempt to hide his intentions and extended an olive branch to this person who was perhaps the most valuable on this map: "In that case, how about you join me?"

The distraught Karuta stared blankly at those bright, sincere eyes that peeked out from below, like rubies, and was momentarily stunned.

Uesugi Tetsu said matter-of-factly, "What you just said must have been said by the factory owner, so why don't you come to me?"

He blinked.
"Didn't you say before that as long as I win, you'll let me do whatever I want with you?"

"That...that was before I remembered everything, so...so it doesn't count..."

Karuta quickly shook his head, wanting to push Uesugi Tetsu away as soon as possible and get him out of this dangerous place.

Uesugi Tetsuya took out the black leather book from his storage bag and waved it in front of Karuta: "Perfect timing, I just happen to need a clerk to record daily matters and fill in any gaps."

He held out his hand to the worried woman; the black leather book lay obediently in his palm, just an ordinary notebook.

"Karito, would you like to come?"

"I……"

Ge Liuduo pursed his lips, a look of intense struggle flashing in his eyes.

"Harmful!"

As Uesugi Tetsu heard the increasingly loud shattering sound beside him, he grabbed Karuta's hand, pulled her into his arms, and then used his internal energy to sever her fingertips from his own.

Two distinct drops of blood, one green and one red, flew out and landed on the [Omnipotent Possession] that suddenly appeared in front of them.

The two drops of blood merged seamlessly into the omnipotent possession, and a [temporary contract] was established with Karuta.

Feeling the extremely weak connection with Karuta in his arms, a connection that barely allowed him to escape the mundane world, Uesugi Tetsu grinned at her.
Life is short, so just live!

"We'll think about other things later!"

Just as Uesugi Tetsu was about to pull Karuta, whose eyes were filled with complicated emotions, away from Tokoyo, he saw the ceiling, which had been half-cracked, suddenly being completely lifted off.

A huge eye wearing a monocle squeezed in through the gap, moved, and locked onto Uesugi Tetsu, who was looking up at him indifferently, and Karuta, whose expression was half happy and half worried.

A deeply suppressed joy flashed in his large eyes.

Immediately afterwards, the familiar voice of Uesugi Tetsuya, belonging to factory owner Z, echoed:
"The lingering shadow of the song remains, alive."

"Six-tailed fox, die."

With a single word, life or death was decided.

(End of this chapter)