I was the fourth disaster in Yokohama and was loved by everyone.

[Beep! Mission complete—]

*

boom--

The roof suddenly exploded, scattering wood chips and rubble everywhere. Two dark figures, bathed in blinding sunlight, descended from the sky, their shoes slamming heavily onto the ground—

Wu Tiao Wu and Xia Youjie arrived at Panxing Sect in the Rainbow Dragon.

It's so quiet.

Or rather, it's too dilapidated.

The once magnificent headquarters of the Panxing Cult is no longer recognizable.

Two holes were blasted through the wall, and scorching sunlight poured in through the large opening in the ceiling like molten iron. The remains of the table were scattered haphazardly on the floor, with one of its legs sticking out of the ceiling, teetering on the verge of collapse.

Everywhere you look, there are tiny cracks.

Amidst the ruins, people bearing the symbols of the Panxing Cult lay scattered about—some were overturned against the walls, some had their arms pinned down by stones, and others lay on the ground, their faces covered in blood, their fate unknown.

The entire headquarters collapsed as if struck by a hurricane, and its members were also attacked.

Someone has already taken over the Panxing Sect.

"Downstairs!"

Noticing the slight noise coming from downstairs, Gojo Satoru turned around and called out to Natsuyu Jie, who was dialing the emergency number.

The two ran frantically down the stairs following the trail of blood. The deeper they went, the more grotesque the cracks in the walls became. Unidentified plant roots clung to the walls, as if menacingly waiting for their prey to walk right into their trap.

Then they saw—

In the dimly lit basement, slender vines wriggled like living creatures, pinning a man with a pained expression to the wall—the tips of the vines pierced his shoulder, creating spiderweb-like cracks on the wall.

He opened his mouth in agony, but could only utter broken syllables: "Help...help..."

The girl standing in the center had her back to the door, and her silhouette was familiar.

Hearing the door being broken down, she slowly turned around—

She glanced at them lightly.

"Ah, you're here."

She tilted her head.

Gojo Satoru's breath hitched as he recognized her as the "extremely evil curse master" who had taken away Tenniri Riko.

"Wait!" He rushed forward abruptly, his voice trembling. "Where is Tian Tian?"

"You...killed Riko?"

Xia Youjie asked the question with difficulty.

The girl's indifferent yet cruel expression, the desperate struggle of a weak, ordinary person on the verge of death...

The scene before him was so impactful that it was tearing his reason apart.

He should have immediately activated the spell to summon the cursed spirit to fight the curse master, but his body subconsciously staggered back half a step and asked a naive and pointless question.

It was as if he had once trusted the person in front of him implicitly.

Are you kidding me?

Xia Youjie's heart sank, and he suspected that his intuition was seriously wrong.

The girl looked at him with curiosity, then slowly spoke.

Chapter 148 A Reliable Player Has Arrived

"If so, what do you want to do?" Zhu Yu was really eager to try, wondering if Xia Youjie would instantly switch to a red name.

Sure enough, Xia Youjie's pupils contracted slightly, and the faction symbol above his head began to flash like a strobe light.

Hahaha, the NPCs are practically turning into human traffic lights.

Zhu Yu, as if watching a spectacle, took a few steps closer to try and get a better look at Xia Youjie's NPC expression.

His breath hitched, and he abruptly raised his hand to shield himself, his voice almost a growl—

"Wait, don't come any closer!"

The other person's footsteps tapped out a steady rhythm on the cold, hard basement floor, each step feeling like it was pounding on his taut nerves.

She was clearly dangerous, cold-hearted, and treated human life like dirt—but why did his heart feel like it was being squeezed tightly when she slowly approached, and why did he instinctively want to run away rather than attack her?

Struggling with unknown contradictions.

Unable to confront the issue directly and unsure of what to choose, they ultimately want to escape.

“You…” His voice was terribly hoarse, as if it had been smoked, or as if something hotter was stuck in his throat, “…stay away from me.”

Was this a message meant for her—or for himself?

The girl tilted her head and suddenly chuckled softly. Instead of backing away, she took a step forward.

Just as Xia Youjie was about to snap his taut string of reason, a familiar voice rang out, instantly diverting his attention.

"Um, what's going on here?"

Their protectee, Riko Tenten, pushed open the hidden door and came out, asking somewhat bewilderedly.

Apart from a few messy strands of hair and some dust on the hem of his clothes, he was completely unharmed.

"Riko...Riko, you're still alive!"

After confirming with his own eyes that Riko was still alive, Natsumi Yukichi felt a great sense of relief after the initial shock.

Great.

Riko walked closer, confused as she returned to find herself in this bizarre situation after simply calling Kuroi to let him know she was safe. Kawakami was approaching step by step, while Natsumi was retreating step by step. Fortunately, there was no wall behind him, or he might have had to use the wall to escape to the ceiling.

Gojo Satoru, on the other hand, was quite relaxed, watching the show.

In his view, the other party didn't even have any murderous intent; they were clearly just teasing Xia Youjie.

Since there's no threat, it's quite amusing to see Jay jumping up and down in fright!

Upon hearing Xia Youjie's surprised words, Tian Lizi realized what was happening.

She was forcibly abducted on the surface, and she hadn't seen him just now, so isn't that "suspected death"?

"Ah... the thing is actually like this..."

Realizing that she had been so focused on talking to Kuroi after regaining consciousness that she had forgotten to tell the other two what had happened, Riko scratched her cheek, feeling a little guilty, and began to explain what had happened—

*

To determine the criteria for completing the experiment, Zhu Yu first took out a watermelon and named it "Tian Tian Li Zi".

—Submission failed, the NPC in charge was furious and instantly turned red.

Zhu Yu punched the NPC and then [loaded save].

—Tell the other party that you have killed "Nenchi Riko", and the person in charge says that you cannot pay the final payment without a body, and your name will be changed to yellow.

Hammer it, [read the save file].

After several attempts, I got so used to fighting NPCs that I accidentally used a basic attack on an NPC who was still green-named before submitting the quest. As a result, the NPC seemed to get furious, turning red-named and summoning a bunch of red-named NPCs to swarm and attack the player.

Zhu Yu: ......

These lowly NPCs dare to gang up on players? Do they think players are easy targets?!

There are two ways to complete a task: one is to objectively meet the requirements in the task description, and the other is for the NPC who issued the task to deem it to meet the requirements.

After all, not all tasks involve concrete things; sometimes there are conceptual tasks, such as—[Make XXX happy] or [Make XXX feel the taste of happiness].

Therefore, a second determination rule is required.

So... Zhu Yu tentatively exploited an opening—using her special ability to apply the [Mental Confusion] debuff to the NPC.

After the NPC solemnly "examined" her watermelon and found nothing amiss, he readily paid her the remaining balance.

Great success!

The mission was completed, and Zhu Yu immediately withdrew her supernatural ability.

Not long after, the [chaos] effect brought by the supernatural ability faded, and the NPC was momentarily distracted when he saw Riko being placed properly on Zhu Yu's sofa, breathing evenly.

He slept peacefully.

The NPC was furious. Realizing he had been tricked, he immediately switched to a red name and used the same trick again, summoning members of the Panxing Cult in an attempt to ambush Zhu Yu with modern firearms.

The result was obvious—everyone who came was there to deliver vegetables.

Through this experience, she learned that once a mission is completed, the rewards will not be revoked, even if the mission is later overturned.

Thank you, NPC whose face I can't remember!

*

After Riko's explanation, the group, who were already unlikely to fight, felt even more relieved.

With an invisible boost of goodwill, the group quickly exchanged names, waiting for Kuroi to arrive and reunite with Riko Tennen.

It was already evening when they left the Panxing Sect, and the group randomly found a restaurant to have dinner.

After all—now that the astral body has been confirmed safe, it will soon be sent to the underground barrier of the high school to assimilate with Tianyuan.

The topic inevitably came up at the dinner table, and Riko's originally energetic expression immediately froze.

"I am here to fulfill a great duty, and everyone should be happy for me!"

Noticing the atmosphere was getting a bit cold, Riko raised her chin and pretended to be haughty in an attempt to liven things up.

Only Kuroi, who had been with Riko Tenten as she grew up and took care of her daily life, knew that when Riko Tenten felt uneasy, she would deliberately use exaggerated words and actions to cover up her inner feelings.

Riko.

Young Riko.

Riko is a laughing and playful person.

Kuroi had long considered Riko Tennen as family, so was he really going to watch her go to her death?

She discovered that she couldn't do it.

Gojo Satoru and Natsume's expressions also turned serious.

They had already agreed before the mission that if the astral body was unwilling to assimilate, they would naturally not be cold accomplices and watch an innocent person's life come to an end.

But is Riko Tenchi truly prepared to assimilate?

They stared silently at Riko's forced smile, exchanged a glance, and both understood each other's thoughts.

They were about to speak—

"Hello, Tian Tian, ​​do you need help?"

Before the two of them could speak, Zhu Yu, who had been diligently chewing to replenish her "satiety level," spoke first.

She glanced up at the conspicuous yellow exclamation mark above Riko's head and immediately sent a chat invitation to the client, inviting her to speak with a reliable player with a 100% task completion rate.

"You look a little unhappy."

She tilted her head, looking somewhat worried—the pretty NPC seemed to have a teary-eyed expression again.

Chapter 149 Don't Worry

Side Quest: "To be or not to be, that is the question." Riko is caught in a whirlpool of fate, and the scales in her heart gradually tip to the other side. Are you willing to fulfill her secret wish and help her survive?

——【YES】

*

After reviewing the relevant information about the mission, Zhu Yu discovered that the death of Tian Li Zi was essentially due to her desire to assimilate with Tian Yuan.

Therefore... let's solve the problem directly at its source!