My avatar is becoming the final boss

Chapter 304 The Attic, The Promise, The Final Dividing Line (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
August 10, 3:00 AM Japan time, in a corner of Tokyo.

A colossal statue clad in an opulent battle dress was moving through the night, cradling a boy in a hoodie in its arms. The next moment, it shattered a corner of an advertising billboard and fell into the street. Before pedestrians could react, it abandoned the brightly lit street scene and plunged headfirst into a manhole, falling into the sewer.

After landing, the queen statue straightened up.

Looking up, she was standing on a passageway on either side of a purple-green "river," her empty eye sockets emitting eerie blue flames that drifted like wisps of smoke.

"Is this the place?" Xia Pingzhou asked. He raised his arm, frowning as he covered his nose.

Excrement flowed silently across the river, its stench so strong it made one's stomach churn.

In fact, Ji Minghuan's mysophobia was extremely severe. So severe that just looking at the scene in the sewers gave him a suffocating feeling of being surrounded by eighteen catastrophe-level superhumans, not to mention the smell.

Fortunately, he can adjust the sense of smell in the system settings, setting the sensitivity to the lowest possible level. This way, at least he doesn't have to worry about being overwhelmed by the smell of the sewer.

The empress statue nodded and then put Xia Pingzhou off its shoulder.

Thanks to the Queen's statue's sense of smell, finding the demon has now become an easy task.

Xia Pingzhou always manages to catch up with the demons that appear all over the city before the Tokyo Exorcists Association does.

With fewer competitors, they essentially monopolized the nearby demon production chain.

Therefore, in the past few days, his efficiency in hunting demons in Tokyo was comparable to that in Venice, which is known as the city with the "highest frequency of demon appearances".

The Ripper, however, did not possess the Queen's Statue's sense of smell, and she was also unwilling to compete with Xia Pingzhou for prey. Therefore, in preparation for the war with the Lake Hunt a month later, she returned to Venice alone to devote herself to cultivation.

With her talent and abilities, a month would probably be enough for her to transform herself and become one of the best among the Calamity-level beings. Even so, Xia Pingzhou was still confident that as long as he could advance to the Calamity-level, it would be incredibly difficult for the Ripper to defeat him.

However, apart from Ripper leaving, Tong Zizhu and Rukawa Chiba stayed behind.

Rukawa Chiba, nicknamed "Doctor," always gives off an eerie feeling. His eyes behind his glasses are like those of a snake lurking in the jungle; being stared at by him for too long will make you feel uneasy.

For some reason, he was very interested in Xia Pingzhou and would come to the coffee shop every day to sit for a while and chat with Xia Pingzhou about one or two topics.

Xia Pingzhou was curious whether, as a psychic ability user, Rukawa Chiba could plant a mental imprint in other people's minds like Kong Youling and his mentor.

However, Rukawa Chiba clearly stated that he could not do this; he could only see and feel other people's "emotions" and read some subtle fragments of memories from those "emotions."

Xia Pingzhou knew that Rukawa Chiba's abilities went far beyond that. According to records on the internet, Rukawa Chiba could manipulate other people's "emotions" and drive them to madness in despair.

Years ago, Rukawa Chiba caused a major suicide incident at Waseda University. It was said that the cause was related to bullying, but Xia Pingzhou did not investigate.

Since the mental imprint cannot be removed, Rukawa Chiba, a psychic ability user, has no value to him and instead appears dangerous.

However, what is worth pondering is that Rukawa Chiba once revealed in a casual conversation that he could not sense any emotion from Xia Pingzhou, as if he were looking at a puppet.

Xia Pingzhou wasn't sure if it was true or not. But if it was true, it could only mean that his emotions were entirely focused on his "original body," and Rukawa Chiba's ability had no effect on him.

If it's fake, Xia Pingzhou is still wary of Rukawa Chiba. He had already warned the Queen statue that if Rukawa Chiba tried to use his mind to control him, the Queen would jump out of the chess box and kill Rukawa Chiba immediately.

Right now, in the sewers of Tokyo.

The man and the stone statue walked side by side. The dark passage was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. After turning a corner, Xia Pingzhou suddenly heard a deep, powerful roar. It was definitely not a human voice, and there was more than one.

This indicates that at least two non-human creatures inhabit the depths of darkness.

He looked up, raised his eyebrows, and silently stared at the two strange objects at the end of the passage.

One of them was half-human and half-bee, covered in yellow down and with a pair of thin wings on its back, while the other was shrouded in black and blue mud, and could be vaguely seen to be humanoid.

Light-devouring bees? Xia Pingzhou wondered, "They've actually come all the way to Tokyo?"
"What is that?" Xia Pingzhou stared at the Light-Eating Bee, feigning ignorance. "A demon?"

The queen statue shook its head, raised its finger, and used the cold flame to form a line of text:
"That's not a demon."

At that moment, Xia Pingzhou's phone suddenly lit up. Looking down at the screen, he saw an AI version of a boy in overalls suddenly pop his head out and solemnly explain:
"Uh... that thing doesn't seem to be a demon. The guild leader informed me beforehand that a creature called 'Light-Eating Bee' has recently appeared in Japan."

"A light-devouring bee?" Xia Pingzhou murmured.

“Yes, a strange creature,” the hacker said. “Seriously, the Light-Eating Bees have already infiltrated places like this? I thought they only operated in the Osaka area. Could they be 'scouts'?”

"That creature looks quite dangerous. It crushed the swamp demon. This demon looks to be at least B-level or higher."

Xia Pingzhou looked up and glanced at the light-devouring bee in the sewer.

It bent its knees, and the sharp stinger at its philtrum suddenly split open, transforming into a mouth resembling that of a man-eating flower. The Light-Eating Bee let out a sharp screech, which amplified countless times, creating a deafening buzzing sound.

The swamp demon's body shattered into pieces under the vibrating sound waves, turning into splashes of mud that splattered against the sewer walls.

“Normally, this has nothing to do with us. The Japanese superhumans aren’t very powerful, and Rainbow Wing will handle this. After all, it involves a big shot from the Japanese Imperial Family,” the hacker said. “However, if they ask Lake Hunter for help, then our plan will change… We can take advantage of Lake Hunter’s efforts to wipe out the Light-Eating Bees and bring along the demon army from the Year Beast’s side to launch a surprise attack on Lake Hunter.”

"But isn't Lake Hunter busy dealing with the Nian Beast?" Xia Pingzhou asked. "Could it be that the Light-Eating Bees are more dangerous than the Nian Beast?"

"At present, there is indeed no danger from the Nian Beast. But if we let that group of Light-Eating Bees develop for a while longer, things may change, after all, the Light-Eating Bees are a very powerful species in terms of evolution."

At this point, the hacker sighed, "What a pity, they've already given themselves away, and they'll be wiped out soon... It's like a late-game hero in a MOBA game who hasn't even reached level 16 yet, and they've already been crushed in the early laning phase."

"Is that so?" Xia Pingzhou said casually, intently watching the Light-Eating Bee's brutal actions. It pounced on the ground, swallowing the swamp demon's remains piece by piece.

The hacker said, "Actually, I also hope they can make things difficult for the people at Rainbow Wing, but unfortunately that's not very realistic."

"Let's stop talking now, or my prey will be stolen by a bee." Xia Pingzhou said, summoning the Sky Chaser and selecting a demon chess piece from the black and white ring.

He reached out and crushed the chess piece. Suddenly, a light blue water sphere appeared in mid-air, and a pair of large, bright eyes were engulfed in the water. This was the "Water Demon".

He unleashed the "Bridge of Man and Demon," a phantom bridge spanning the air. At one end of the bridge, and at the other, stood the Queen's statue and the "Water Demon."

The two were pulled towards the bridge by a suction force and merged into one.

After the bridge's shadow disappeared, the Queen's statue reappeared.

She had changed into a light blue battle dress, her whole body wrapped in wisps of water, her eyes shimmering with emerald light, and her weapon had been changed to a longsword formed from raging torrents.

[Hint: After the "Queen Statue" and "Water Demon" merged at the Bridge between Human and Demon, they have transformed into a new chess piece—"Lord of the Torrents."]

The powers possessed by the "Lord of the Torrents" are: "Whirlpool" (creating a highly attractive whirlpool of water within a certain range around him) and "Water Dragon" (raising his longsword, gathering liquids from all directions, and transforming them into a dragon shadow that sweeps forward)

"Whirlpool," Xia Pingzhou ordered.

The Queen statue suddenly raised its head and swung its longsword forward. A vortex suddenly rose ten meters in front of it, engulfing the Light-Eating Bee and the remains of the Swamp Demon.

The next moment, the long sword in the queen statue's hand suddenly transformed into a giant column of water! The torrent shot into the sky and instantly twisted into a lifelike dragon.

She raised her sword high, and the water dragon soared into the air. Suddenly, the excrement and sewage in the sewers surged upwards and flowed into the water dragon's body, just like a river flowing into the sea.

Before long, the huge water dragon had transformed into a strange creature with bluish-purple and black stripes, emitting a strong stench, resembling a giant beast that hadn't bathed for hundreds of years.

Fortunately, Xia Pingzhou couldn't hear it and quietly retreated more than a hundred meters.

"No! I'm eating, don't come any closer!" Seeing this, even the hacker behind the screen couldn't help but wail.

"Who gave you permission to spy on me while I'm eating?" Xia Pingzhou said calmly.

At this moment, the Light-Eating Bees and the Swamp Demons were still trapped in the vortex created by the Queen Statue.

In the blink of an eye, the Queen statue swung its sword, and a giant dragon formed from excrement and urine roared forward, drowning the Light-Eating Bees and the Swamp Demon in its midst.

Ten minutes later, near the Rainbow Bridge in Tokyo Bay, at a deserted cafe.

Xia Pingzhou unlocked the door, pushed it open to the sound of wind chimes, and sat down in the dimly lit café.

Only then did he have time to examine his recent gains, glancing up at a series of floating panels. [Due to the passive skill "Demon Hunter," a one-time use chess piece—"Swamp Demon"—has been acquired.]

[Passive skill "Soul Devourer" has been triggered (When your piece kills a demon, there is a chance to absorb the demon's attributes, making the piece stronger).]

The "Queen Statue" absorbed the soul of the Swamp Demon, resulting in a significant increase in her speed attribute.

[A demon of rank C or higher has been detected killed. The cumulative kill count in the "Winter of the Wild Hunt" system has been updated to 70/70, meeting the requirements for Training Task Five.]

The current advancement progress of the second character's Skyward "Chess" skill is: 52%/100%.

Xia Pingzhou thought that there wasn't much progress left. If he maintained this pace, he could advance to the third tier before September and officially cross the threshold of the natural disaster level.

He brought up the interface of the training system "Winter of the Wild Hunt" and claimed the mission rewards.

[Training Task Five completed – Kill any 70 or more "Demons" of Rank C or higher, or 70 or more "Superhumans" of Rank C or higher.]

[Reward received for completing the training mission: 1 attribute point.]

Training Mission 6 has been refreshed; the kill count has been increased to 120 (current progress: 70/120).

Xia Pingzhou brought up the character panel and quickly allocated attribute points.

[Your second unit, "Chess Player," has undergone a change in its "Spirit" attribute: A++ rank → S rank (Your "Chess Seed" power will also increase accordingly)]

The current attributes of the mech are as follows: Strength: D-rank; Speed: A++-rank; Spirit: S-rank.

He closed the small panel, then poured himself a glass of cold water in the kitchen, took a sip, put the glass down, and went upstairs.

Despite trying to walk quietly, the old wooden steps still creaked under his feet, so he had to try to walk as slowly as possible.

Upon reaching the attic, Xia Pingzhou paused slightly, glancing up from his phone. He saw a girl in an ochre-red kimono leaning against the windowsill, her eyes lowered, quietly flipping through a book.

Origami Ayase didn't speak, nor did she want to. The moonlight bathed her pale face.

"Did you have a nightmare?" Xia Pingzhou walked over and asked curiously. Generally speaking, if Ayase Origami is still awake at this time, she must be having a nightmare.

She said she often dreams about her childhood, including the interrogation room where her father yells at her, saying that she killed her mother, and then the corpse hanging on the wall is suddenly replaced by her mother's face from a photo.

Xia Pingzhou thought for a moment and then said, "Then you can imagine me by your side in your dreams, and you won't be afraid."

She shook her head and said, "There's no need. Every time I wake up from a dream, you're right beside me."

Xia Pingzhou paused for a moment, then said, "That's fine too. Anyway, you'll see me once you're startled awake."

But this time, when she was awakened by a nightmare, Xia Pingzhou was not by her side. Ayase Origami seemed a little unhappy, her pale face indifferent.

Xia Pingzhou walked over silently and sat down on the windowsill.

"Where did you go?" Ayase Origami remained silent for a long time before finally looking up at him.

"To fight demons," Xia Pingzhou said frankly. "I want to become stronger before we run into Lake Hunter... Isn't it to avenge Uncle Takikage?"

“You didn’t reply to my message,” the girl in the kimono said softly. “I sent a lot.”

"Oh, I was just rushing back," Xia Pingzhou said, glancing at his phone and opening Line.

Her information popped up on the Line interface.

[(02:30) KamiNeko: Where are you?]

[(02:45) KamiNeko: Kitten, don't sneak out at night.]

[(02:50) KamiNeko: Idiot.]

[(02:55) KamiNeko: Come back. 】

[(03:05) KamiNeko: Don't come back.]

[(03:10) KamiNeko: Come back. 】

Xia Pingzhou paused for a moment, then reached up and touched his nose, explaining:

"It's all the hacker's fault; he blocked my notification sounds."

No sooner had he finished speaking than his phone started buzzing with notifications. Looking down, he saw it was flooded with question marks from hackers, practically spamming the screen. He tried silencing the phone, but it didn't work, so he simply turned it off and tossed it aside.

He thought for a moment, then looked up and saw that Origami Ayase was ignoring him, just staring blankly with her eyes down for a long time.

She suddenly turned a page. The sound of her fingers tracing the pages was like the rustling of wind.

Ji Minghuan suddenly remembered that one night when he first arrived in Tokyo, he was sleeping in the attic of a coffee shop. He couldn't sleep because of the torrential rain outside the window, just like when he was a child and his parents locked him in the closet. The wind and rain were raging and banging on the windows. The world was like a demon with its claws bared.

So at that moment, he looked up and stared at Origami Ayase's sleeping face for a while, as if wondering if she would wake up.

She did wake up, opened her eyes, and the two looked at each other for a while. She then sealed the window with paper to block out the sound of the storm.

Ji Minghuan slept very soundly that night.

But he wasn't there for her when she was having nightmares, which seems unfair.

In fact, Ji Minghuan didn't know how long this kind of time could last.

He genuinely liked the café and the quiet attic. It was beautiful when the moonlight and neon lights shone in at night. When he couldn't sleep, he could hear the girl's soft breathing, and when he opened his eyes, he could see her sleeping face.

I don't know when it started, but Ayase Origami stopped drawing a dividing line between the two of them with a piece of paper.

But such days will soon be over. He will soon kill the Ripper, become a disgusting traitor, and then take the Old Lady of Longevity and the White Wolf to the Salvation Society to embark on a war whose outcome is unknown.

If she had survived then, if Ayase Origami hadn't hated him so intensely back then, if she had felt sadness because of Xia Pingzhou's departure...

Then Ji Minghuan would return to this café in his original form on a sunny afternoon, stand upright before her, gaze at the kimono-clad girl lost in thought in the sunlight, and say to her:
"Don't be sad. Actually, Xia Pingzhou never existed in the first place. This is who I really am... I've lied to you so many times and betrayed you. Will you forgive me?"

After a long silence with his eyes lowered, Ji Minghuan's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a low voice.

"Will you leave me?" Origami Ayase suddenly asked, her voice very soft. She had waited a long time, wanting him to explain why he hadn't kept his promise. He had clearly said he wouldn't leave her while she was asleep, but he hadn't.

Xia Pingzhou looked up and gazed at her quietly. Outside the window, Tokyo shone brightly, the neon lights shining through the windowsill onto the dim floor.

He was silent for a moment, then asked, "If I really leave someday, will you come with me?"

The girl in the kimono thought for a moment, then looked up from her book with her dark eyes, staring at him intently, and asked:
"Where...are we going?"

Hearing that she used "we" instead of "you," Xia Pingzhou lowered his head.

“I don’t know…” He shook his head, “at least not yet.”

Origami Ayase stared at his bewildered face, pondered for a while, then put down her book, leaned closer to him, and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Don't sneak away," she whispered in his ear.

The world was completely silent, but the neon lights outside the window were still bright. She slowly closed her eyes.

Xia Pingzhou couldn't understand whether she was saying not to sneak away while she was asleep, so that she would be scared when she had nightmares, or whether she had already guessed that he would leave the White Raven Brigade.

He simply lowered his head, pressed his forehead against her fair skin, closed his eyes wearily, and the two of them fell asleep against the windowsill.

The pages of the book in the girl's sleeve were blown by the wind, drifting like snowflakes over the brightly lit city, as if they would fly to the ends of the earth.

　Ask for monthly ticket orz
　　
　
(End of this chapter)