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

"Takigami-senpai, have you heard of the Fighters' Tea Party?" Kiyono asked.

"of course I know."

Rena Takigami certainly knew about this organization that gathered top players; in fact, all the gods of Japan had heard of their great name.

The tea party itself is a very loose organization, not a guild, but more like a place for a group of top players to share information with each other.

That's why it's called a tea party.

Furthermore, the presidents and key members of several professional guilds in this country, each with more than 10,000 members, are nominal members of the Tea Party.

"Then, Takigami-senpai, if I were to say now... that I recently kidnapped some of the family members of the tea party members, what would you think?" Kiyono Hai asked.

"Eh?"

Rena Takigami froze on the spot.

She probably doubted whether her human ears had misheard, so she transformed her human ears back into fox ears and wanted to hear Qingye Hui's outrageous statement again.

“In fact, I may have kidnapped the families of more than 60% of the tea party members, and I can 'torture' their families at any time if necessary.”

Chapter 33 Emotional Torture

(Please continue reading!)

This time, Takigami Rena understood Kiyono Hai's outrageous statement, but she was even more dumbfounded.

Why don't you listen to what they're saying for yourself? They've kidnapped the relatives of over 60% of the tea party members? At least a hundred people, right?! Hundreds?

Even if we disregard the perspective of a deity, from the standpoint of a normal human citizen, it's a situation where calling the police is absolutely necessary!

So you're the ultimate boss that the top players at the tea party have to take down first?

But wait a minute! This does seem to be one of the ways to discourage those tea party players from playing "Dungeon Sacred 2".

Although it was dangerous and immoral, Rena Takigami was already prepared to do whatever it took to protect her followers.

So… after a fierce internal struggle, a moral dilemma, and a prediction of the consequences, Rena Takigami finally spoke.

"Where did you lock them up?"

Rena Takigami cautiously asked the kidnapper in front of her, who may have already kidnapped hundreds of people and imprisoned them in the dungeon.

“Pfft…hahahaha.”

Kiyono Gray couldn't help but laugh as he looked at the fox lady's strange expression—serious, cautious, and with a hint of self-reproach for sacrificing her conscience to do something bad.

"why are you laughing!"

This made Rena a little unhappy, and she slammed her hand on the table and said.

"How can you laugh about something as terrible as kidnapping someone? Although I'm prepared to be your accomplice, you should understand that what you're doing is a crime!"

"No, Takigami-senpai."

Kiyono Hai finds that the reason she always gets amused by Rena-chan is that Rena's dignity as the Fox God is easily ruined by her own lazy high school girl personality.

"The 'kidnapping' I'm referring to isn't physical kidnapping, but emotional kidnapping."

Kiyono Hai waved his hand, telling Takigami Rena not to be so serious.

"What is emotional blackmail? Could it be...you...you're targeting their female relatives!"

Upon realizing this, Takigami Rena suddenly hugged herself, looking at Kiyono Hai with an even more wary and fearful expression.

Could this fox lady really be... an idiot?

"What are you thinking! Listen to me!"

Kiyono Gray stared at her, noticing that her fluffy tail was almost growing out.

Before Takigami Rena activated her Nine-Tailed Fox true form and gave him a good lesson...

Kiyono Gray recounted in detail how he used the condition of 'duel with Shanor' to get most of the tea party members to find their relatives and family members to start playing Shanor's route, and how he successfully won the hearts of the female relatives of the tea party members with Shanor's charm.

"Hmm, so this is what it means to emotionally blackmail their family. But... what's the point of this kind of blackmail?"

After hearing this, Rena Takigami felt a little relieved, but also a little disappointed.

She breathed a sigh of relief because she no longer needed to face the siege of the entire tea party with Kiyono Hai.

The reason for my disappointment is that Qingye Hui's method of using game characters to emotionally manipulate others doesn't seem to be working.

"The effect of this action will depend on your preparations before you step onto the stage, Takigami-senpai."

It was at this moment that Kiyono Hai officially began to explain his first plan to Takigami Rena.

"First of all, Takigami-senpai, do you have any ideas on how to have this 'performance' put into closed beta testing for a while?"

"Aren't there many games on the market created by gods themselves, where a specific group of players are invited to participate in closed beta testing before the official launch?"

If the gods create their own performance stage, then it's not a test or a hurdle to pass, but a business that needs to be run independently.

Most deities will choose to recruit a group of players for small-scale testing before officially opening their performance stage to the public.

I wonder if the game "Dungeon Sacred 2" will have this feature.

"I'm not sure about that either, but as for the requirements of the closed beta test, I can discuss it with the god who created 'Maze Sanctuary 2'."

When Takigami Rena mentioned that damned god of light and exploration, her silliness was clearly replaced by a hint of murderous intent.

"If he knew that the closed beta testers I invited were actually members of the tea party, he would probably have readily agreed... After all, in his eyes, this is something I would do to court death."

According to Rena Takigami… the God of Light and Exploration has a morbid obsession with 'fairness,' which is, of course, only his own understanding of 'fairness.'

Otherwise, he wouldn't have sent those two invitations to Rena Takigami; he could have just started the performance of "Sanctuary Sanctuary 2" and been done with it.

Therefore, given the requirements for this closed beta test, plus the fact that the invited players are members of the Tea Party, the God of Light and Exploration will certainly not refuse.

"Then let them send out the test qualifications for 'Dungeon Sanctuary 2' to the players at the tea party in advance. It would be best if each player at the tea party received one, but receiving two would also be acceptable."

"As long as the news is released... that Xia Nuoer will also be participating in 'Maze Sanctuary 2', then those female relatives who have already won Xia Nuoer's heart at the tea party will definitely ask them for the qualification to play this closed beta test."

“If there’s only one serving, then the tea party members might only be able to play with their female relatives and friends, which is the situation I most want to see,” Kiyono Hai said.

"What happened after the members of the tea party played 'Dungeon Sacred 2' with their female relatives?"

Even if Takigami Rena was a bit dim-witted, she vaguely guessed the whole picture of Kiyono Hai's vicious scheme, but she still wanted to use her fox ears to hear Kiyono Hai tell her the truth himself.

"What follows is a brutal heartbreak. Perhaps the members of the tea party are all hardcore gamers with hearts of stone, and they don't fall for this at all! They're the type who have no woman in their hearts and can draw their swords as fast as a god."

"But their female friends and relatives who have already won over Shanor's hearts are different. As long as Shanor is in the labyrinth camp, and then put on a heart-wrenching drama."

"It's still the kind of storyline that makes female players feel so guilty they cry, or even develop psychological trauma from it... that Takigami-senpai..."

Kiyono Hai smiled as he looked at Takigami Rena, who was already showing an expression of 'You're really scary!' and said.

"When your family, sister, close female friends, or even girlfriend are crying uncontrollably, would you still ruthlessly kill the 'game character' they cherish and want to protect?"

"When I was acting in 'The Principality of Roses,' I thought to myself, 'You... you have such a beautiful face, but your inner self is so dark that it's awe-inspiring.'"

At that moment, Takigami Rena finally understood... what Kiyono Hai meant by 'using emotions to blackmail the female relatives and friends of the tea party members and then subjecting them to severe torture.'

"But this strategy seems to only work for members of the tea party."

Rena Takigami wouldn't make a foolish mistake at such a crucial moment, and her reactions are also very sharp.

"It should only work for players who have completed the Shanor route in The Principality of Roses."

"Dungeon Sanctuary 2 is not a game simply aimed at otome game players. To be precise, the player base and otome game players do not overlap at all."

While speaking, Qingye Hui first showed the fox lady a webpage of a game strategy forum.

"I will prepare multiple scenarios in this regard, scenarios that will make players feel a strong sense of guilt and self-blame, whether or not Shanor is present."

"But the key is that it's enough to let the players of the Overwatch Tea Party play 'Dungeon Sacred 2' in advance."

"Because they are not only top players, but also active in the player community as strategy experts and speedrun masters. In the simplest terms, they are like opinion leaders among players."

"If the members of the tea party call on the players on the forum not to harm the monsters in the dungeon and to take the peaceful route, I'm sure many players will follow suit."

This is just the first round of measures taken by Qingye Hui; subsequent plans will need to be formulated based on the game mechanics of "Dungeon Sacred 2".

But this first round of the plan alone was enough to make that foxy lady extremely excited.

The proof of this is that Rena Takigami no longer has the opportunity to maintain a proper sitting posture, but sits extremely casually as if she were at home.

"Then, Kiyono-kun, could you tell me more about the story you've created?"

This made Rena Takigami even more eager to know what kind of story Kiyono Hai wanted the monsters of the dungeon faction in "Dungeon Sanctuary 2" to play for the players.

"This might be a little long, and it's not easy to show the interesting parts of the story just through language."

As soon as Kiyono finished speaking, the sound of pattering rain suddenly came from outside.

This was an autumn rain; though not heavy, it was enough to soak someone to the bone in a short time.

"It looks like it's raining outside. Did someone bring you here today, Takigami-senpai? Why don't you go home first, and I'll make a simple game demo and send it to you later?"

Unfortunately, this fox lady is really staying here and refusing to leave today.

With a flick of her small hand, Takigami Rena projected a series of illusionary mountain paths, resembling a chessboard, onto the table in front of Kiyono Hai.

"I still know this kind of illusion magic. The scenery on this chessboard will change according to the scene you want to see."

At this moment, Rena Takigami displays both the vivacity of a fox spirit and the liveliness of a high school girl.

She was leaning forward on the table, her front half of her body supporting her cheeks with her hands on the table, while her back half of her body had her knees on the ground, her small feet crossed and swaying.

After striking this playful pose, she revealed her little tiger teeth with a slightly coquettish smile towards Kiyono Hai.

"It's okay, my driver is waiting for me in the car, I won't get wet!"

"And don't worry about getting rained on!"

"Kiyono-kun, I want to hear your story!"

Chapter 34 Together, Let's Head to the Next Shining Stage

The strange illusions performed by this fox lady truly broadened Kiyono Gray's horizons.

Kiyono Hui can freely create any scene or world she wants using the sandbox chessboard she creates on the table.

The game Undertale is also well-suited to being presented from this board-like perspective.