Give children a little self-destruction shock to their worldview.

The orange juice freak nodded vigorously, very enthusiastically: "Thank you for your continued support!"

—The Ultimate Card?

She didn't even notice the brand name Mayumi Haga when she bought it, and a look of confusion flashed in her eyes.

These two people are probably talking about the brand they bought, right?

It's actually a brand registered by some weirdo... How strange.

Haga Mayumi's expression was solemn.

Why are people in this world able to drink orange juice without any resentment after knowing it was made by a weirdo?

Magic is capable of evading food testing and poisoning drinks. Even if it's not poisoning, what if some strange substance is used to control people's brains, or something harmful to the body is added...? In that instant, dark thoughts that the people of this world would never have flashed through Mayumi Haga's mind.

After all, compared to doing business in a proper manner, those methods make money faster and are more in line with the villain's character.

Moreover, this brand is said to have captured about 50 percent of the national market.

This was a terrifying number, leading Mayumi Haga to suspect that some addictive substance had been added.

If the orange juice was made by a strange person, then my suspicions are not unfounded.

After all, the monster wasn't human.

Perhaps it was because she had taken out the Night Core Fruit yesterday, which reminded her of the underhanded tricks her old friend had once played on her, that Yuga Mayumi couldn't help but think more deeply about it.

Although most of the world doesn't require us to think in a darker direction, it's difficult to change a fixed mindset.

However, aside from the contents, Mayumi Haga really likes the brand's packaging.

So, under the expectant gaze of the orange juice freak waiting for praise, she hesitated for a moment and uttered a short sentence: "Pretty good."

The Orange Juice Monster was completely unaware that Mayumi Haga had become suspicious of his orange juice because of his freakish nature; he still thought she genuinely liked his orange juice.

It's a warm feeling that wells up from the heart after being affirmed.

Moreover, the girl in front of me looked like she really loved drinking orange juice! She even smelled of orange juice on herself!

—This is the personal aesthetic of the Orange Juice Freak.

In this strange man's eyes, there are only two kinds of people in the world: "people with taste who like to drink orange juice" and "people without taste who don't like to drink orange juice." He uses this to distinguish between good and bad people, and it has even become a unique aesthetic.

"A kindred spirit! I'm sure you're a huge orange juice fanatic too!" The Orange Juice Man exclaimed excitedly, the orange juice bubbling inside his glass mask. He quickly bent down and warmly shook hands with Mayumi Haga. "Whether it's freshly squeezed juice, orange sparkling water, orange jelly, canned oranges, or orange popsicles... they're all the best in the world! They're divine!"

The Orange Juice Freak is a fanatic for any orange-flavored drink and food, but of course, his absolute favorite is orange juice.

Although everyone thought the beverage he researched tasted great, as if it could transport you back to the orchard with just one sip, for him it was just a simple liking.

True passion should be like this young girl in front of me, drinking all day long until you're covered in that flavor... No, that's a bit too much.

It tastes like the same kind.

The Orange Juice Man smelled a scent of his own kind on Mayumi Haga, which put him into a strange state of excitement.

His obsession with orange juice has always been beyond the comprehension of most people, even those who are eccentric in the same category of drinks or food have not reached his level.

But he sensed a certain attribute in Mayumi Haga that was the same as his own.

“However, it would be a bit wasteful to use it for a bath. If you like, I can give you some orange bath salts that I’ve been researching recently. They smell similar, but they’re not officially on sale yet,” the Orange Juice Man said, winking halfway at Mayumi Haga.

Mayumi Haga was quite confused: ...What are you going to use for a bath? What is this weirdo talking about?

"Okay! I can take you to visit the production workshop... Are you free? Would you like to help test the new products?" The Orange Juice Monster seemed to have identified with Mayumi Haga as someone of similar character, and was just short of opening his skull and pouring orange juice over her. When he got excited, he spoke very quickly, "There's a salary, I'll offer you a generous reward... Please promise me!"

Mayumi Haga had no idea what was wrong with this weirdo. Even if she were genuinely interested in the Ultimate Production Workshop, she couldn't possibly go to the weirdo's lair alone.

Even though she didn't understand the situation, she still decided to refuse first: "I won't..."

Halfway through the conversation, the other party's telepathic communication channel connected.

It was a panicked, youthful voice: "[Boss Jeffrey! Something terrible has happened! There's been an accident on our production line in Miracle City. The workers say there's a problem with the raw water... Are you in Miracle City right now? Could you go check it out?]"

The orange juice weirdo Jeffrey wanted to drag Mayumi Haga to visit the production workshop in Miracle City, but as soon as he said it, something went wrong, and the orange juice that had been bubbling just now suddenly calmed down.

Immediately, a dense mass of tiny bubbles shot up, revealing his extreme anxiety.

"I'm so sorry... I have something urgent to take care of." Jeffrey apologized to Mayumi Haga.

Fortunately, ordinary people cannot hear the contents of telepathic communication, otherwise his newly acquainted kindred spirit might have developed a grudge against him.

After all, food safety is a very serious issue.

Jeffrey has always been very concerned about this aspect, and when his subordinates were building the production line here, he repeatedly emphasized that there must be no problems.

After saying goodbye to Mayumi Haga, the Orange Juice Man shoved a business card into her hand and hurried away.

The orange juice monster's massive figure disappeared into the rain. Mayumi Haga stood in the shop watching the automatic door close, her gaze piercing through the glass into the dark rain.

Rainwater washed over the glass door, blurring Mayumi Haga's thoughtful face.

This sudden downpour, no one knows how long it will last.

Chapter 77 Do You Smell of Sadness?

The rain came unexpectedly.

"Seriously, didn't the weather forecast say it would be sunny for the next few days?" came the complaining of the shop manager from behind.

Mayumi Haga stood in the convenience store, in front of a refrigerated display case filled with microwaveable food. Her hand landed on a mentaiko rice ball, but her thoughts drifted away.

The sky was cloudless when I left home this morning, but I was soaked by a torrential downpour after only a couple of steps outside, and had to retreat to the convenience store. Mayumi Haga had rain gear in her backpack, but she had recently turned her usual areas upside down in her search for Urzana's core, so she couldn't take it out for the time being.

Fortunately, the effort paid off. Urzana's core happened to pick up some fluorescent powder while rolling, indicating it landed in the monster material area. As long as Mayumi Haga keeps cleaning her inventory every day, she'll eventually find that core.

This put her at ease.

On the other hand, this rainstorm was indeed very strange.

Mayumi Haga, who had entered the store intending to buy ten umbrellas, thought to herself.

The accuracy rate of weather forecasts in this world is almost 100%.

While I haven't yet reached the level of the tree-like structure designer in the Academy City of a certain work, who can predict the weather for the next thirty days with precision down to the second, I can still predict the next week with precision down to the minute.

Mayumi Haga has always believed that weather forecasts are accurate.

Is something wrong?

While frowning in thought, Mayumi Haga put all the rice balls she grabbed into the shopping basket without even looking at them.

The unusual weather reminded her of something from long ago.

The same torrential rain occurred when she traveled alone into the swampy territory of the Water Tribe.

The swamp territory lies deep within the jungle, bisected by a wide river. The jungle, forbidden to outsiders, is densely wooded and riddled with traps and mazes set by aquatic creatures, making it difficult to find the right path.

Therefore, Mayumi Haga decided to travel by water.

But when she tried to enter through the water, the swamp, which was clearly in the dry season, was suddenly hit by a torrential downpour. The once clear and gentle water became turbulent and murky, extremely dangerous, and the rain was so heavy that entering by ordinary means would only result in drowning.

So Yuga Mayumi simply abandoned the boat and, relying on the Guardian's formidable immortality, drifted downstream. The river was riddled with traps set by countless aquatic creatures, and by the time she reached a bank where she could dock, the water was not only murky but also tinged with a reddish hue.

Later she learned that the aquatic chieftain possessed the blessing of controlling water and had also placed rain beads around the area to prevent outsiders from entering. The swamp territory experienced rain almost year-round, and the aquatic people preferred living in such a water-rich environment.

They look not much different from humans, can turn their fish tails into legs, and communicate with humans without any problems, but their temperaments are very different from humans.

When Yuga Mayumi first arrived in that territory, she was nearly dragged to the bottom of the water and had her neck bitten off by the aquatic creatures before she even got ashore.

These aquatic creatures, which look like mermaids, have sharp teeth and can easily tear flesh from animals. They have strong sexual and gluttonous desires and love to drag travelers they fancy into the water.

Because of their bloodthirsty nature and the harm they caused, the Water Tribe was driven out by other races living nearby a century ago. The Water Tribe chieftain chose to lead his people to live in a swampy territory far away from other races, a place that other races could not inhabit but was a habitable place for them.

The only problem is that hardly anyone passes by, and the entire tribe seems to have been lonely for a long time.

The arrival of a guardian like Haga Mayumi is a huge piece of meat for the aquatic creatures.

But a problem arises: Mayumi Haga's ability as a guardian is so overpowered that even the clan leader can't do anything about her.

Even if it's dragged into the water and drowned, it will revive. If it bites off a piece of flesh, it will explode in its mouth. Not to mention, this guy also has lightning-attribute weapons. Just throwing them into the water can electrocute several restless aquatic creatures until they almost float to their deaths.

Then, we had to come up with another method.

That means poisoning.

The aquatic tribes living in the swamp territory possess unique skills in the art of witchcraft and medicine. They can secretly poison Yuga Mayumi's food and water, hoping to poison this stubborn guardian and turn him into their own food.

However, the Guardian's poison resistance was also maxed out. Yuga Mayumi tasted all kinds of poisons in the territory and had no problems. Instead, she thought it was just a change in the seasoning in the food and was pleasantly surprised.

Now everyone was speechless.

He can't be beaten up by fighting, nor can he be poisoned; he's like a block of wood, impossible to fool on the waterbed.

I even admire this piece of fat meat a bit; no wonder it's a guardian, it didn't fall for it.

Over time, they forged a friendship that even Mayumi Haga couldn't explain.

She had heard that the water tribe revered the strong and looked down on the weak... but she didn't seem to have done anything wrong.

We just ate a meal here and made some rubbings of the stone tablet. I didn't know the Shui people were so hospitable.

This led to a somewhat peculiar misunderstanding.

Looking back now, my overall impression of aquatic creatures is really just that seemingly endless torrential rain and the toxins that unknowingly spread through the water.

Haga Mayumi thought to herself.

Suddenly, she heard a slightly familiar voice coming from the convenience store entrance, which, along with the sound of the downpour, poured into the store: "Sorry, manager, I'm late!"

"It's alright, it's alright. I just sent you a message. It's okay to be a little late in this heavy rain..." Manager Si Jian handed a towel to the late employee, looking somewhat helpless.

Another oddball.

Mayumi Haga saw the Abyss Gentleman, dressed in a casual shirt, come in looking like a drowned rat. He had an umbrella, but the rain was too heavy, and he was still soaked to the bone.

The former leader of the oddball gang in Miracle City was almost fifteen minutes late on his third day of work, looking miserable: "I'm so sorry..."

The transparent umbrella in his hand looked like it had been used for a long time; Yuuki Haga could see that two of the ribs were broken.

The Abyss Gentleman hastily wiped his face, snapped his fingers, changed his clothes, and put on a convenience store uniform. Only then did he feel a little drier and let out a sigh of relief.

Whether it's a quirky job or a regular one, the Abyss Gentleman can quickly get into the zone. After changing his clothes, he immediately stood behind the cashier.

His long face quickly turned into a beaming smile as he paid the bill for Mayumi Haga: "This is...wait, how much is it? These rice balls seem to be nearing their expiration date. Would you mind if I replaced them for you?"

Mayumi Haga: "...Thank you."

No matter how many times she watched it, she felt that the strange man's lifestyle was very out of place.

The gentleman from the abyss paid her bill, gave her change, and quickly packed the bag into a bag and handed it to her.

Throughout the entire time, my gaze remained fixed on her.

His expression gradually changed from :) to a thoughtful look like :/.

"...Do you smell of sadness?" The Abyss Gentleman finally realized where this subtle feeling came from and slowly narrowed his eyes.

Chapter Seventy-Eight: Remember What You Said Today

The Abyss Gentleman felt a sense of familiarity with the aura emanating from the girl before him.

However, it wasn't the familiarity that came from having met the other person before... To be honest, this was the first time Abyss Gentleman had met Mayumi Haga.

So where does this sense of familiarity come from...?

Without much thought, the Gentleman of the Abyss realized that the "sadness" in the girl in front of him was the same emotion he had sensed in his own younger sister, Little Sadness.

After that one time, my little sadness took on human form after consuming an emotion of unknown origin.

That would have been fine. If it were just that, the Abyss Gentleman would have thanked the girl in front of him, expressing his gratitude for the help she had provided to Little Sorrow.

But the situation is a bit delicate.

Having experienced such sorrow, Little Sadness's attention was drawn to that person.

The Abyss Gentleman has been worried about this more than once: what if Little Sadness gets seduced by a cunning guy?

He understands Xiaoshen's feelings of sadness.

Even he was deeply concerned about the humans who provided him with a "superior fear" that set him apart from others. But his benefactor had passed away long ago, and the Gentleman of the Abyss could do nothing but lament.

At most, they would visit each other's graves with bouquets of flowers on the anniversary of each other's death.

It can be said that for an eccentric character with strong emotions to become human, they must interact with humans, and in this process, it is not impossible for them to be attracted to humans.

The Gentleman of the Abyss was well aware of this, but that didn't mean he wouldn't mind that Little Sadness's heart had been stolen.

He could never completely let go of the youngest member of the family, Xiaoshou, especially since the previous "Shou" had also taken good care of him.