I said you are all war criminals

Deng shook his head, "I just thought Xiang would commit suicide."

"Suicide and self-harm...is there any difference?"

Bai Ye scratched his head. He really couldn't understand what Deng was thinking. To him, both of these actions were quite extreme, and he wouldn't do either one anyway.

Deng raised his head and whispered, "Suicide is the desire to lose everything. Self-harm... is the desire to be saved."

"I don't understand," Bai Ye shrugged.

Never mind, it has nothing to do with me anyway. Anyway, Deng, you chose Xiangzi as the main character, so you must have some idea, right?

Hakuno continued, "Do you want to save Xiangzi?"

Deng shook his head. "Xiangzi is a very strong person. She doesn't need my rescue."

...You're about to hurt yourself, don't you need help?

Hakuno felt that Deng's sensibility was a little strange.

"Then why did you choose Xiangzi as the main character?"

Bai Ye asked again.

The light didn't answer, but continued to operate.

Xiangzi used his magical powers to heal his wounds and returned to school.

Although Xiangzi's reputation in the class was slightly damaged due to a few days of sick leave, he quickly restored his reputation with his amiable attitude and good manners.

[In addition, Xiangzi also began to investigate urban legends.]

Bai Ye raised his eyebrow, urban legend?

Speaking of the hottest and most popular urban legend recently... isn't that the art of resurrection?

"Who do you want to resurrect?"

Hakuno asked, "I have a resurrection item, you don't need to prepare this in the simulation."

Although Hakuno had no plans to use the items in real life, he did buy a few that he liked. Among them, there were dozens of items that could revive others... No matter who Deng wanted to revive, Hakuno could pull that person out of the ground.

"Resurrection is not important,"

Deng said softly, "Working hard for resurrection is what's important."

Hakuno thought about it.

He felt that Deng was right.

Xiangzi discovered dozens of resurrection techniques. Their unique characteristics were that they were not "spells that directly resurrected someone," but rather "real resurrection techniques learned from other things."

For example, there's a secret technique called "Yellow Spring Guidance." At midnight, seven ghostly blue will-o'-the-wisp flames are lit in the center of a cemetery. Then, a datura flower growing on the grave is watered with the blood of a living person. It's said that the flower will reveal the path to the underworld, and only by walking this path can one find the way to resurrect the dead.

[For example, on a full moon night, a human heart is offered as a sacrifice to summon a hundred demons, who are then asked to reveal the secret of resurrection. It is said that each demon has different abilities and weaknesses, and only by finding the right demon can one obtain the desired answer.]

For example, at 4:44, if you ask a fox, dog, or raccoon dog at 4 feet 4 inches and 4 points, you will learn the resurrection technique.

Xiangzi quickly pinpointed the origin of the rumor... which was "the fox, dog, and raccoon dog at a distance of four feet, four inches, and a quarter."

What should I do next?

The light stopped operating.

She turned over slightly and moved her body closer to Hakuno.

"Hakuno,"

Deng looked into Hakuno's eyes, "Do you know this worldview?"

"do not know."

Bai Ye said confidently.

Bai Ye actually didn't really study the templates, but Deng, on the other hand, carefully read the template contents before starting the simulation this time.

So, Deng began to explain to Hakuno.

"Mystery, City Level, Curse, and Curse Beads—these aren't four worldviews, but rather subdivisions... The simulator has the ability to refine the worldview."

This was the first time Bai Ye knew about this.

Deng's slender fingers traced the air, as if plucking invisible strings. "The worldview in the simulator is like a pyramid. The bottom layer is 'mystery,' which refers to the presence or absence of supernatural powers. It determines whether this new worldview contains ghosts, gods, or magic... The next layer above that is 'sphere of influence,' which determines whether the impact of these powers is global or limited to a single city."

Bai Ye was a bit confused. Why did this sound so much like an RPG setting? He scratched his head. "So, 'city-level' refers to the area of influence? Does the curse affect only one city, or does each curse affect at most one city?"

"It's the scope of the impact,"

Deng nodded, confirming Bai Ye's question. "Further up, there's the 'Event Type', such as 'Curse', 'Miracle', or 'Mage Resurrection'. At the very top, there are the specific items added this time."

She paused, sorted out her thoughts, and concluded, "In this new worldview, 'mystery' is 'yes,' 'area of influence' is 'city-level,' 'event type' is 'curse,' and the 'core item' is the 'curse bead.'"

"Curse beads?"

Bai Ye raised an eyebrow. The name sounded like a cheap online game. "Could it be that collecting 500 mantra beads unlocks a large mantra bead?"

Deng seemed to see through his thoughts and continued, "In this worldview, if a person harbors resentment after death, and the process of their death becomes an urban legend, a curse will be created. When spiritual energy fluctuates violently, these curses will condense into curse beads, which have the power to resurrect the dead."

"So the world view setting can be so detailed... I haven't tried it before."

Hakuno nodded thoughtfully, then noticed something. "When spiritual power fluctuates violently? When the Starry Knights regain control of their spiritual power, it will cause a violent fluctuation, right? So, will curse beads appear in Tokyo?"

Deng nodded.

She blinked her clear eyes and said, "Hakuno likes tragedy, I know."

"...Don't worry about me too much,"

Bai Ye reached out and patted Deng's head, "The most important thing is that you have fun."

19

Chapter 19: Failed to become human.

As night fell, rain poured down from the leaden sky. Dense rain threads intertwined into a huge net, covering the entire city.

The dim street lights weakly penetrated the rain curtain, the halo spread in the wet air, and the hazy light and shadow made everything unclear.

Pedestrians on the street held various umbrellas, their colorful umbrellas dotted in the gray rain curtain. They walked hurriedly, eager to escape from this sudden downpour, or rather, they were eager to escape from their own fate.

The rain washed the glass curtain walls of high-rise buildings, reflecting the hazy lights of the city. The light was distorted in the water curtain, making it look particularly gloomy.

The flashing neon lights between the buildings are like the cold eyes of a giant beast, staring indifferently at the tiny creatures below.

In full view of the public, this pedestrian bridge quietly spans the street.

Perhaps because of the heavy rain, there were almost no people on the overpass.

The reason I use the word "almost" is because there are still people here.

There are two people.

The dense raindrops fell like hail, mercilessly hammering at the girl's frail frame. The bitter downpour poured down relentlessly, soaking her once crisp blue twintails and hanging heavy on her shoulders. She stood alone on the empty overpass, without an umbrella, her slender figure looking especially frail in the wind and rain. Raindrops streamed down her hair, flowing over her delicate face, gathering into glistening droplets on her pointed chin, dripping down and disappearing into the vast veil of rain.

Her thin clothing, already soaked by the rain, clung tightly to her body, outlining her exquisite curves but also revealing her overly slender figure. Her skin, soaked by the cold rain, shone a frightening bluish-white, appearing particularly fragile in the dim light.

The rain washed her pale cheeks, making her expression unclear.

"You came."

The blue-haired girl whispered.

Opposite the blue-haired girl stood a girl with light gray hair.

The gray-haired girl's hair fell softly over her shoulders, gleaming faintly silver under the dim streetlights. She held a transparent umbrella, and the dense raindrops hit the transparent umbrella with a crisp "tick-tick" sound, like a rhythmic melody, echoing across the empty overpass.

"Because, I am also me."

The gray-haired girl said softly.

Raindrops fell like beads from a broken string, hitting the blue-haired girl's face and sliding down her cheeks like silent tears. She stared at the gray-haired girl across from her, her eyes complex, as if filled with a thousand words, yet she didn't know where to begin. The gray-haired girl stood calmly beneath the umbrella. The transparent umbrella shielded her from the rain, but it also seemed to block the flow of emotion between them. Only the sound of the rain and the shallow breathing of both of them intertwined.

A few seconds of silence passed, like frozen time. The blue-haired girl raised her hand, her slender fingers slightly bent, forming a pistol shape, and pointed it at the gray-haired girl.

"Last words..."

She finally spoke, her voice hoarse, as if polished by sandpaper, so soft that it was almost swallowed by the sound of rain.

"That's not necessary."

The gray-haired girl interrupted the blue-haired girl, her tone still calm.

The rain kept falling between them.

It's like fate.

"……makes sense."

A little blue light ignited at the fingertips of the blue-haired girl.

The blue light at his fingertips suddenly burst forth, not with the expected roar and explosion, but instead condensing into a thin, sharp beam that silently pierced the gray-haired girl's heart. There was no splatter of blood, no wails of pain, and even the transparent umbrella didn't waver.

Until... someone sighed softly.

The sigh was as gentle as a feather falling to the ground, almost drowned out by the sound of rain.

The gray-haired girl's body swayed slightly, and the transparent umbrella slipped from her hands, bouncing a few times on the wet ground before finally lying there quietly. The umbrella reflected the dim streetlight, like a mirror, illuminating the gray-haired girl's fallen figure. The gray-haired girl's body slowly fell, like a broken puppet, making a dull sound on the cold ground. The rain washed over her body, soaking her once soft gray hair, which stuck tightly to her cheeks and obscured her calm face.

She is dead.

【Toyokawa Shoko killed Takamatsu Tomo.】

The lamp killed itself easily.

"and many more--"

Bai Ye stood up suddenly, "Killing him is too boring!"

He paced around his bedroom a few times before saying, "Deng, why don't you commit suicide? I knew this would happen from watching you in the simulation anyway!"

Not only that, Bai Ye became excited, "We can find one of your band members to commit suicide... Yes, Li Xi, commit suicide in front of Li Xi! Then the curse beads will definitely appear in Li Xi's hand!"

"Hakuno,"

Deng said softly, "When playing games, the side you hold the controller on is the standard... Is this your rule?"

"Hmm... Yeah, I understand."

Bai Ye pulled the corner of his mouth and sat down, "I'll just watch you operate it."

The lamp paused the simulation and lay on its back.

The light from the screen shone on Deng's face, making her look a little pitiful, like a little animal.

"My plan is simple,"

Deng's voice was gentle. "In the simulation, I suddenly died, and was murdered. This was enough to motivate Li Xi to take action. But if it was suicide..."

Her voice was filled with pity. "Lixi will probably accept the reality after some distress, then decide that this is my own decision and accept it."

Bai Ye scratched his head, as if he couldn't follow Deng's train of thought.

"So, you want Lixi to think you were killed?"

Deng tilted her head slightly, and her gray hair fell down, covering part of her cheek, adding a bit of mystery.

"Although this is indeed suicide, I don't want Lixi to think that I committed suicide."

Bai Ye was even more confused. He scratched his messy hair. "Is this a tongue twister? Committing suicide but not wanting to be considered suicide? Then what exactly do you want to do?"

Deng looked at him, "Hakuno, I want to see how far Riki will go for me."

Then, the light continued, "After all, the simulation is real...right?"

"In that case..."

Bai Ye lay down on his side, next to the lamp, "Should we torture the corpse? Make the corpse look horrible, so that Li Xi will be more motivated, right? For example, carve words on the corpse? Or, simply..."

"I'm not good at this kind of thing."

Deng reached out and turned the page of the simulator in a circle.

"So, please help me, Hakuno."

20