Miss Player, please don't cast spells on me.

"Perhaps gods who can retain their memories would find it boring, but for mortals, this kind of immortality might be an acceptable way of life?"

This is just a rather pessimistic view of Qingye Hui, but there should be a small number of people who would be willing to live in this endless cycle of 180 days.

"It is not immortality."

Rena Takigami wasn't angry; instead, she adopted a tone as if she were educating a junior.

"The souls of mortals are worn down during the process of reincarnation, and this wear and tear is exacerbated if they die unexpectedly during the process of reincarnation."

"Originally, the soul strength of most mortals could withstand the wear and tear of ten thousand years of time, but my followers have died too many times during the cycle of reincarnation, causing their souls to be unable to withstand the wear and tear for much longer."

Kiyono Hai felt that something was off about what Takigami Rena was saying.

"Too much wear and tear, too many deaths... Takigami-senpai, didn't you already reincarnate your followers into this world?"

"Or is this damage caused by the previous world?"

Kiyono Hai felt that although the Japanese gods and demons in this world were running rampant.

However, when gods clash in reality, they do so in an extremely secretive manner, because no one dares to risk revealing their true identity, as this would result in being immediately eliminated by the performance system.

Therefore, no god would be so cruel as to specifically target and kill the followers of other gods.

"Their original world bound their souls, so I could only bring a part of them here, somewhat like a clone?"

Rena Takigami's tone sounded somewhat weak at this moment.

"Although they have a new life in this world, their original bodies are still bound to the original world. Once their original bodies are completely destroyed, their lives in this world will come to an end."

After Takigami Rena's explanation, Kiyono Hai understood. If what this fox lady said was really true...

"Does that mean your followers, Takigami-senpai, suffered many massacres in the original world?"

"The reason this tragedy occurred is because the country where your followers live was chosen as a stage for this 'performance' in the past, right?"

Kiyono Hai easily deduced why Takigami Rena, as a god, could only watch helplessly as her followers died tragically time and time again.

Because the culprit who killed her followers was probably the 'player'!

The country that worships this fox lady was probably chosen as the stage for the "performance" ceremony in the past, just like the "Rose Kingdom".

However, unlike "Rose Kingdom", which is a romance game with a smaller emphasis on combat, "Rose Kingdom" is a different game.

However, if the chosen stage type is an RPG, action-adventure, or other combat-focused game...

The NPCs who are treated as monsters in the game will not just die once or twice; they may be slaughtered by players millions or even tens of millions of times.

"Well... after all, in my world, I am the god of the 'monsters' that humans talk about."

Rena Takigami was trying to force a smile as she spoke, but she seemed to recall some unpleasant memories, and her whole body began to tremble slightly.

Sensing Rena Takigami's helplessness, Sayaka gently tugged at her friend's hand at that moment.

Without any resistance, the fox-like girl simply leaned into Sayaka's arms, seeking comfort in the process.

With a saintly gentle expression, Sayaka gently rubbed Rena's small hand, which was placed in her palm.

As for the way that fox lady fell into Sayaka's arms, Kiyono Hai felt that he could add the line, "Only Naoko can give me some comfort at this moment."

Okay, just kidding. At this moment, Rena Takigami's expression perfectly illustrates what 'vulnerability' means.

Rena also drew some strength from Sayaka's embrace, and then continued speaking.

"So, during a 'performance' ceremony, my country was chosen as the 'stage,' and the performance featured an action-adventure game."

"And then I could only watch helplessly as the players who poured in, the people who regarded me as their faith, killed me millions of times, maybe more."

"They keep respawning and being killed by the players. In the players' eyes, they are just experience materials, and this process repeats until the end of the show."

"Most of my followers survived, but their souls are already scarred and broken. If..."

Rena Takigami held her friend Sayaka's hand tightly before she had the courage to continue.

"If my country is chosen as the stage for another 'performance,' and the genre is still related to battle, then..."

Miss Fox could no longer continue speaking at this point.

The intense sense of loss overwhelmed the deity.

As a seventeen-year-old high school girl, she simply couldn't bear such...bitter emotions.

All Takigami Rena could do was bury her face in her friend's chest to ease her fear and seek comfort.

Sayaka gently patted Rena Takigami's back like a mother would, and Kiyono Hai could hear Sayaka softly murmuring things like, "It's okay, it's okay."

This might be why Miss Fox is so eager to become stronger.

They wanted to protect their followers from being harmed by the players.

Kiyono Hai remembered that a deity wanted to change the type of "performance" ritual, which required an extremely high rank.

While Sayaka kept comforting Takigami Rena with motherly words like "It's okay, it's okay..."...

Kiyono Hai suddenly said something that made this originally helpless fox lady break free from the gentle embrace of her friend Sayaka.

“Takigami-senpai, what if I told you I have a way to save your believers?” Kiyono Hai asked.

"What did you say?"

Rena Takigami's action of breaking free from Sayaka's embrace was so forceful that even Sayaka was somewhat surprised.

Kiyono Gray placed one hand under his collarbone, while making an inviting gesture to the fox lady with the other.

At that moment, Takigami Rena and Kiyono Kai's deep purple eyes met.

Rena Takigami could clearly see her own longing reflected in those deep purple pupils, a deadly allure that seemed to want to tear her into them.

While Takigami Rena was still in a daze, Kiyono Hai repeated what he had just said.

"Then I'll say it again, senior..."

"What if I could save your followers just like I saved 21Rain? What would you choose, Rena Takigami-senpai?"

Chapter 23 The Player Ladies' Relentless Pursuit

What choice would I make?

Takigami Rena didn't actually have any expectations for Kiyono Hai.

Because once a "performance" ceremony is selected, it is either a forced recruitment or a self-organized performance.

Even for the easiest level, the conditions required to make changes during the "performance" are extremely stringent.

It was so harsh that even a god of Kiyono's rank wouldn't dare to dream of it.

But in her desperation and desperateness, Takigami Rena couldn't help but ask.

"What exactly is the method?"

"In short... it's about creating a game script that allows players and your followers to coexist peacefully?"

When Kiyono Ash described this method in a somewhat naive tone...

Rena Takigami didn't react much, but Sayaka couldn't help but cover her mouth and chuckle softly again.

The reason Sayaka smiled was not because Kiyono Hai's proposed solution was too outrageous.

She was laughing at herself for actually getting nervous just now because... Kiyono Hai said with a straight face that he could save Rena-chan's followers.

The reason for the tension is that if Kiyono Hai really has a way to save Takigami Rena's followers, then her friend will not only have her as a supporter in the future, but also Kiyono Hai.

This feeling of being forced to share, no… being taken away.

This won't do; this is the last thing Sayaka wants to see.

But now it seems that Sayaka's worries were completely unnecessary. How could Kiyono Hai, a low-level deity, possibly have a way to save Rena-chan's followers?

Rena Takigami's reaction was more direct, perhaps to alleviate her earlier sadness.

Suddenly, the fox lady stood up, tiptoed, and with one hand supporting her on the table, she stretched her upper body across the table and then used her other hand to deliver a karate chop to Kiyono Gray's head.

Kiyono Hai didn't dodge, and Takigami Rena didn't use much force in her hand.

To cooperate with her, Kiyono Ash even pretended to be in 'a little pain'.

"Did I say something wrong, Takigami-senpai?" Kiyono Hai asked.

"You didn't say anything wrong, but you're too naive... This isn't something that can be solved by relying on a game script!"

Rena Takigami gave a very direct example.

"No matter how good your script is, in a game with combat elements, what would you do if you encountered a character whose name is marked as a monster or enemy and is in red?"

"If it were me, and there was a conversation option, I would definitely go up and talk to them."

Qingye Hui is the kind of player who is extremely curious and will try almost every possible option in the game.

"Okay, you've gone up to talk. But what about me, who's already been labeled a 'monster' by the 'performance'?"

I wonder if Takigami Rena's acting urges kicked in.

She suddenly acted like a frail woman who abruptly and delicately sat down on the ground, sobbing as she spoke.

"Please don't kill me, dear player. I'm just a normal little monster."

"But if you don't kill me, you won't get experience points and rewards. Without experience points, you can't level up and complete the game. You'll just be wandering around the starting village forever."

"I know this means you've wasted your money on the game, but even if you have, please don't kill me, okay?"

Rena Takigami's three lines are delivered with a melancholic tone reminiscent of Lin Daiyu, almost like, "It's my fault for being a little monster if my brother can't level up."

Although his voice was tinged with a hint of tears, the sense of sarcasm was inexplicably overwhelming.

"Then why is it necessary for players to gain experience?"

Kiyono Gray then asked the fox lady, who was acting like a drama queen, a question that immediately snapped her out of character.

"Kiyono-kun, the question you asked makes me wonder if you've ever played video games."

Rena Takigami looked Kiyono up and down and said.

"In a game with elements of combat, adventure, and RPG, isn't the system of players killing monsters to gain experience points and leveling up the most basic thing?"

"The 'performance' stage will definitely have this most basic system. With experience and levels, if players don't kill monsters to level up, are they going to fall in love with monsters?"

Kiyono snapped his fingers lightly, indicating that this was what he wanted to say.