In a crossover anime, the only way to become stronger is by marrying a wife.

This question kept echoing in Orimoto Kaori's mind.

The secret realm is open for seven days, and its difficulty is lower than that of the real underworld. More importantly, players are not allowed to attack each other, which is why the two of them have been able to survive until now.

Even if these two manage to survive the secret realm, how will they survive in the outside world?

In the end... I'll still die, won't I?

This terrifying nod lingered in Orimoto Kaori's mind.

At first, she was able to barely distract herself from these problems, but as time went on, the situation worsened and she became more and more desperate, and Orimoto Kaori's thoughts inevitably began to emerge.

Gradually, she stopped resisting the idea.

"Yes, we will all die eventually..." she murmured, dragging her extremely weak body to the jade rope.

It is now the evening of the sixth day.

"You must have stored up quite a lot of food before, could you give me some?" Kaori Orimoto said weakly.

"It's not the right time yet, let's talk about it tomorrow," Yu Sheng said with a smile.

"..."

However, Kaori Orimoto's expression remained unchanged.

She glanced at the shrunken pockets and belt on Yu Sheng's body, asked one question, and then had no further questions.

That night, however, Kaori Orimoto did not massage Hiiragi Tsukikawa again. Instead, she sat alone on the side, motionless and silent.

Yu Sheng found it a bit strange, but didn't say anything more.

Kaori Orimoto was already quite weak, and she had been bringing back less and less food these past few days, so it was normal that she didn't have the strength to massage.

There's no food tonight. Yu Sheng scratched his head, but couldn't come up with a solution.

I had no choice but to sleep where I was to conserve my energy.

The maggots inside my body just won't stop. There's nothing I can do about those maggots that have burrowed into my body. I can't exactly cut open my organs to take them out, can I?

So thirsty...so thirsty, so hungry...

Yu Sheng still wanted to live, and she would do anything to survive. She would live as long as she could.

As before, Yu Sheng fell asleep and didn't wake up until the next day.

When I woke up, the other teams had already set off, which was normal. The surroundings were empty, which was not strange.

The maggots on his body were still wriggling and burrowing inside him, making him extremely thirsty.

But when he turned around, he was startled.

Because at that moment, Orimoto Kaori was squatting in front of him, quietly watching him.

Her body was skin and bones, her face thin and haggard, completely unlike the loud and unruly Orimoto Kaori who used to be at school. She had completely lost the vitality and energy she had when she first entered the Otherworld.

Yesterday, her eyes were lifeless, but this morning, she seemed to have recovered somewhat, and her eyes looked bright and sparkling.

"Hey, have you checked the chat group?"

Kaori Orimoto smiled. "This time, the secret realm seems to be a swamp full of moisture, which seems to give us plenty of hydration."

"Oh, really? That's a good thing."

Upon hearing this, Yu Sheng felt an even greater craving for water. Her throat felt dry and sore as if it were on fire, and she longed to drink a large amount immediately.

However, Kaori Orimoto's condition was somewhat strange, but it was hard to pinpoint exactly what was wrong.

Kaori Orimoto said this with a smile, but it didn't seem to convey the joy and surprise of someone who had just received rain after a long drought.

Perhaps it's because they've stayed in this secret realm for so long that their emotions have changed. Yu Sheng could only speculate.

"So what do you plan to do? Do you want to continue exploring?" Yu Sheng asked.

“Well, let’s go up and take a look…” Orimoto Kaori smiled.

Looking at her smile, Yu Sheng wondered if she had been possessed. How come her mood was so different today compared to the past few days? She seemed much more optimistic.

Could it be that she really found some way to survive?

Without waiting for Yusheng, Orimoto Kaori finished informing Yusheng and headed towards the stone steps on her own.

"Wait, I'm coming too, wait for me..."

Yu Sheng, dragging her body riddled with maggots, got up and limped after Orimoto Kaori.

Kaori Orimoto, however, seemed not to have heard anything and continued walking forward with light steps, just like a healthy, ordinary person.

Today is the last day in the secret realm. In the center of the square, there are seven stone staircases that reach into the clouds, each facing a different direction.

Kaori Orimoto quickly climbed the stone steps.

At first, she kept walking upwards, gritting her teeth and walking slowly, but she did not choose to rest. She continued to climb, dragging her tired and weak body along.

Even when she was exhausted, she used both hands and feet, climbing upwards on all fours like a wild animal, as if there were some life-saving resources at the end of the stone steps.

"Hey! Don't run so fast! Conserve your energy, you're asking for it if you keep walking like that..." Yu Sheng was still walking slowly behind, constantly calling out.

Kaori Orimoto, however, continued climbing upwards as if she hadn't heard anything.

Finally, they reached the middle of the stone steps. Yu Sheng, panting, leaned on a tree branch and finally saw Orimoto Kaori.

"Are you sick in the head? Don't you want to live?" Yu Sheng accused. "You've even made me waste so much energy."

At this moment, Orimoto Kaori was not facing the top of the stairs, but rather the Jade Rope, and she did not continue forward.

"Hey, Yusheng, do you think there's any point in us continuing to stay here?"

She smiled as she looked at the jade rope, her smile as gentle as a spring breeze.

If it weren't for that thin and haggard face, she really would be the same Orimoto Kaori who spoke without thinking before.

"Does our continued existence truly hold any meaning?" she asked with a smile.

Chapter 137

"What do you mean, alive or dead?"

Yu Sheng didn't understand and looked at Orimoto Kaori with a puzzled expression, unsure of what she was thinking.

Kaori Orimoto remained calm, even with a faint smile on her lips.

“There’s no point in staying in this alternate world any longer, is there?” Kaori Orimoto laughed. “We’ll all die eventually, won’t we?”

"Hey, we're not dead yet!" Yu Sheng said. "Believe me, we can still live, we definitely can. We've made it through so many days, haven't we?"

"Besides, the secret realm will be over soon. Today is the seventh day. Once today is over, we can leave this damn secret realm."

However, Kaori Orimoto shook her head. She looked at the jade rope, her smile unchanged, but now tinged with a hint of mockery.

“No, the situation outside is only going to be worse than it is now. The real underworld is even more difficult to survive than the secret realm,” Orimoto Kaori said. “We have no way out, you know that?”

"There's always a way out. Live as long as you can, and we'll see what happens when you die. Don't underestimate yourself," Yu Sheng said anxiously.

Their current food supply depends entirely on Orimoto Kaori's daily massages for Tsukikawa Hiiragi, and even then, she only receives a pitifully small amount of food and water each day. If even Orimoto Kaori dies, Tamahane knows he won't go much further.

Therefore, we absolutely cannot let Orimoto Kaori die, at least not now. If she has to die, it should be after we find enough to survive the next seven-day survival mission in the real underworld after the secret realm ends.

Kaori Orimoto looked at Tamaki with a smile, but the mockery on her face grew stronger and stronger, gradually turning into a sneer.

"Heh, Tamaki, do you really think I don't know?" Orimoto Kaori said. "Tell me, where did all the food we got these past few days go?"

"I...I'm just storing it away," Yu Sheng hurriedly explained, "I just want to eat it when it's absolutely necessary."

"Can you take the food out and let me see it now?" Kaori Orimoto said.

"..." Yu Sheng remained silent.

Kaori Orimoto simply stared at him, her eyes filled with mockery.

Based on Yu Sheng's words and actions over the past few days, Orimoto Kaori had already grasped the general situation, but she was unwilling to believe it or expose him.

She really couldn't accept it, and didn't want to believe, that Yu Sheng would do something like embezzling, but now that the facts were in front of her, she had no choice but to believe it.

“You really did eat all the food,” Kaori Orimoto said.

“I…I just couldn’t take it anymore. You know I’m injured and desperately need water and food, or I’ll die,” Yu Sheng said.

“Yes, you will die,” Kaori Orimoto said. “But what about me? I will die too…”

Tamaki remained silent, as did Orimoto Kaori.

Both sides remained silent.

"I've had enough," Kaori Orimoto said after a long silence.

"I don't want to stay here anymore."

"There is only endless hunger, thirst, and exhaustion here."

Kaori Orimoto looked at the jade rope and smiled.

"Hehehe... I don't want to continue."

After saying that, she leaned back and fell freely down the middle of the stone steps, a faint smile on her face, as if she had been completely relieved.

Soon, her body turned into a tiny dot and then blended into the scenery below, disappearing from sight.