Transformed into the leader of an esoteric sect in Japan

"So that's how it is. This matter is indeed going to be very troublesome," he muttered to himself.

Information about the "medicine" that seemed to have been taken by the original owner was successfully obtained.

Among the esoteric followers of the Shinto sect, this medicine is known as the "Kenju Dan" (Kenju Dan).

Kurosawa Shizuki searched Yamauchi's body and found a bottle of so-called "Fate-Binding Pills." The pills, about the size of a fish eye, were red and round, emitting a fragrance. Just smelling that peculiar aroma was enough to make one's heart inexplicably restless.

The members of the Jieyuan Shendai Society have been spreading this drug in Pingjing for half a month, using almost every channel the Jieyuan Shendai Society can access—the black market, nightclubs, delinquent youths, underground hospitals, health product markets… It is conservatively estimated that at least tens of thousands of people in Pingjing have already taken this drug.

The product was packaged as a health supplement developed by a certain technology company, which was still in the research and development stage and had been accidentally leaked into the underground market.

The effects include aphrodisiac, hallucinogenic, enhanced physical and cognitive abilities, and a short-term boost to self-confidence, leaving the person feeling "completely refreshed."

However, in reality, this medicine is made up of the eggs of a supernatural creature called "Amethyst Worm". During the Red Mist Era when the Divine Society was formed, all the "mist" that permeated the human world was actually composed of this supernatural creature, which was so small that it was almost invisible to the naked eye.

Once a host is parasitized by the Amethyst Worm for a long time, it will begin to lose consciousness. This is because the Amethyst Worm is a creature that grows by feeding on human will. The Amethyst Worm will continue to devour the human's consciousness until the original host completely loses consciousness. After that, the Amethyst Worm will take over the original host's life and continue to live as a human, lurking in human society. The Amethyst Worm has the original host's complete memories. Before the moment of awakening arrives, the Amethyst Worm is not even aware that it is actually a non-human monster.

After the Divine Age Society revives Mist Spring Child, all the Amethyst Insects will awaken, transform, and then sublimate. Those possessed will collapse and turn into red "mist." Humans who inhale the red mist will be infected by the Amethyst Insects and become their ovaries. In the end, the entire Heijing will be shrouded in red mist, and the environment will be irreversibly transformed, becoming the best spiritual field for Mist Spring Child's descent, the so-called "Crimson World."

Kurosawa Shizuki looked down at her hands. The original owner of this body had also taken this kind of medicine. So, does the Amethyst Worm also exist in her body? Or is she the so-called "Amethyst Worm" that has replaced the original owner?

No, Kurosawa Shizuki dismissed the thought. Her body had long been completely corrupted by the black matter. In the face of such an extremely brutal creature as the black matter, even the amethyst worms had no chance of survival and would be easily destroyed by the black matter.

Was all the original owner needed merely to have the amethyst worms devour her original consciousness, making room for herself, the outsider? Kurosawa Shizuki felt an inexplicable fear of the original owner. If that were truly the case, wasn't the original owner far too ruthless to herself?! What was the point of such a suicide?

Moreover, is it really possible to use the amethyst worms to gradually erode one's consciousness without allowing the worms to replace oneself, and finally perfectly allow another consciousness to successfully enter one's body?

Kurosawa Shizuki felt there must be a more complex reason. After thinking for a long time, she finally looked at another title on her system panel that she hadn't noticed before:

"The Chosen Priestess of the Divine Era"—she's clearly the Saintess of the Black Sun, so why is she also the Chosen Priestess of the mortal enemy, the Secret Cult? Could this also be related to the original owner's medication?

[Your side quest, "How I Died," has achieved 52% intelligence gathering completion.] The system notification sounded again, indicating that she was indeed on the right track.

Besides the information related to medicine, Kurosawa Shizuki also obtained more information about the Marriage God Society from the memories of the mountain dweller—including the Marriage God Society's bizarre combat methods centered on "transformation" and "alienation"; the Marriage God Society's basic organizational structure—the hierarchy of followers, guides, priests, and flesh-shedders; and most importantly, the true source of these Marriage Pills scattered throughout Heikyo.

Kurosawa Shizuki obtained an address from the memories within the mountain, where all the amethyst insects that make up the Bond Pills seem to have been cultivated.

"Below the Shedding Club in Linggu District lies a secret underground casino. This is the largest breeding ground for the Pingjing Amethyst Worms. In the casino, very special things are placed on the betting board—the restless flesh of mortals." Kurosawa Shizuki's intuition told her that this place might be a very important stronghold for forming a bond with the Divine Generation Society, because according to Yamanouchi's memories, a fourth-level Shedding Flesh user of the Divine Generation Society was stationed here, clearly guarding a very important secret.

I searched for this place on GoGo Maps on my phone and found it's a very popular nightclub with great online reviews. Apparently, you can see the hottest, most glamorous, and wildest dancers in all of Pyongyang here, and the owner is apparently Indian...

"We spin through the night, forgetting everything, like moths drawn to a flame." This is the most eye-catching slogan of the Shedding Club, but just seeing the word "moth" makes Kurosawa Shizuki inexplicably feel a chill.

Should she secretly go and investigate further to uncover the secrets of the Bond Pill, or should she simply report it to the Anti-Suppression Bureau and use them to eliminate the stronghold? Kurosawa Shizuki decided to gather more intelligence first before making a decision. Perhaps she could try using the resources of the Black Sun Cult's intelligence department to investigate this place? After all, she was the nominal branch leader, and she could use the power of the cult without having to do everything herself.

Kurosawa Shizuki pondered the information she had previously gathered about the original owner of this body—she had gone to Heikyo because of a powerful enemy's pursuit, her father had been killed, and she vowed to avenge her enemy by any means necessary; she had encountered the enemy's henchmen and was trapped in an extremely terrible state, the only way out being to die once and transform into another life form; she had taken an extremely dangerous drug that was the embodiment of the Amethyst Insect, and her consciousness was being continuously drained by the Amethyst Insect, which was a descendant of Kirie Izumi; the original owner was also a "chosen priestess" of the Generation of Gods...

A faint, hidden thread emerged in her mind. Kurosawa Shizuki realized that perhaps in this molting club, the real reason why the original owner lost consciousness would be revealed.

P.S., I've written so many chapters, and it's still the day after the protagonist's time travel. Time seems to be moving so slowly.

On the third day of the journey, the first climax of the book was arranged. I really want to write back to the main esoteric Buddhist storyline as soon as possible.

Section 39, Chapter Thirty-Nine: Private Hikoyama High School

Kurosawa Shizuki pondered how to fully utilize Yamauchi's value as a tool, scrutinizing him with a very malicious gaze. Yamauchi, however, maintained a poker face, showing no trace of his former arrogance.

According to the memories that Kurosawa Shizuki read from Yamauchi, Yamauchi didn't have any other family members. He only had a father who became a vegetable and was bedridden at home for suspicious reasons, and a dilapidated kendo dojo that no one cared about. He didn't have to worry about being recognized by acquaintances, so he could act as a clone that he controlled for a long time.

Relying on the unique connection with Yamauchi, Kurosawa Shizuki has also tried manipulating Yamauchi's physical activities and sharing his field of vision, much like playing some third-person perspective games in her previous life. Moreover, no matter how far apart they are, Kurosawa Shizuki can read Yamauchi's consciousness at any time, which is very convenient. The biggest problem is that when Kurosawa Shizuki is controlling Yamauchi's body, her own body will briefly lose consciousness and become completely at his mercy. Therefore, it is best to find a safe place to settle her original body before transferring her consciousness.

The original body lost consciousness, so the user quickly used the body inside the clone to catch it. The original body leaned against the clone's chest and could smell a captivating fragrance. The fair-skinned girl was like the finest jade. Even with her eyes closed, she still exuded a captivating charm that was like poison, tempting people to commit crimes.

Kurosawa Shizuki forcibly suppressed a bold idea in her heart. The thought of actually using Yamauchi's body to touch the original body, even if it was her own consciousness, still made her feel a little disgusted.

If I really can't stand it anymore, I'll just use the ever-changing black matter to solve the problem myself.

Although Yamauchi's body was manipulated very naturally and could almost completely maintain his actions from when he was alive, it was ultimately a black matter life transformed from a dead corpse. Inside his body, Kurosawa Shizuki could still feel many things that made her uncomfortable.

She has no heartbeat, a lower body temperature than normal, and her eyes and demeanor are colder than before. While her physical strength is greater than that of an average human, her movements are more rigid than ever. Most strangely, if necessary, her body can collapse at any time, turning into a lump of liquid black mud and sinking into her shadow. Kurosawa Shizuki tried moving in this mud state, feeling like she had become a slime, but unfortunately, she couldn't absorb the enemy's abilities infinitely like Rimuru…

The more important problem is that he has lost his ability to genitals, which means he is essentially a eunuch.

Kurosawa Shizuki abandoned the absurd idea of ​​continuing to live as a man in Yamauchi's body. She detached herself from Yamauchi's body and returned to her original form. Only her original form was the body that best suited her current situation, and there was no need to deceive herself anymore.

"From now on, you'll continue to operate under your original identity. Take every opportunity to investigate that molting club. If there's any information you think I need to know, notify me via our mental link. Is that alright?" Kurosawa Shizuki was still somewhat looking forward to Yamauchi bringing her some surprises. Putting everything else aside, as long as he attended a few more gatherings of the Generation of Gods and infiltrated that mysterious molting club, allowing her to obtain more information about the Generation of Gods, she wouldn't be at a loss.

“Your orders are my will. Maintaining the status quo is certainly not difficult,” Yamauchi replied without hesitation. “But there’s one problem, as you know, I have three girlfriends, but I can’t…”

"I don't want to know this crap. Break up with them all, you damn 'normie' guy." Kurosawa Shizuki said through gritted teeth. How could a tool like you have the guts to create a love triangle? Believe me, you'll be used as cannon fodder to shield me at any time.

"Yes, Master." Yamauchi knelt humbly before Kurosawa Shizuki, crawling on his knees to her front, seemingly wanting to kiss her toes.

“There’s no need to put on such an act,” Kurosawa Shizuki said, taking a few steps back in disgust. “From now on, you will still be Yamauchi Yuki, and I will still be Kurosawa Shizuki. It’s best if we don’t have any further contact. No one will know about our connection.”

"Master, I will definitely show you my value." Yamauchi said mechanically in that inorganic tone. Wouldn't it be a problem if he played a living person like that?

"Then, that's settled."

Kurosawa Shizuki bid farewell to Yamauchi, and the two left the factory one after the other, making sure that no one noticed their "communication" in the factory during this time.

Yamauchi can be considered a hidden mob she planted, hoping to bring her more surprises.

Wait a minute, Kurosawa Shizuki was stunned. Based on her experience in the game, the leaders of the major sects were at least at the fourth stage, and there were also many immortal beings at the fifth stage.

Since her transmigration, although she has not yet met the two Yin-Yang Princes of the Black Sun Cult, whose nominal status is higher than hers as a branch saintess, and the Holy Lord, the supreme ruler of Japan, she can still make a rough estimate of their strength.

Kurosawa Shizuki felt that the two princesses should at least be fourth-stage Sun Apostles like herself, otherwise they wouldn't be able to control the various branches in Japan. As for the mysterious "Holy Lord," Kurosawa Shizuki strongly suspected that he was a fifth-stage "Undying Flame," which is the immortal being in the public's perception. As far as she knew, since the establishment of the Black Sun Cult in Japan after World War II, nearly a hundred years ago, the Holy Lord had always been the supreme leader. He was forever young and would never grow old. His dark power was unparalleled, and his rule was unshakable.

Having acquired her first Shadow Servant, Kurosawa Shizuki knew all too well how difficult it was to detect a puppet corrupted by the Dark Matter. It could almost completely retain its consciousness and memories from its previous life, moving freely, but it would fight to the death for its master at any time, with virtually no possibility of betrayal… If another Shadow Servant stood before her, Kurosawa Shizuki still wouldn't be able to recognize it until the other revealed its disguise and fully unleashed its Dark Matter power. This was because before releasing its power, the Dark Matter dormant within a Shadow Servant was almost in a state of hibernation; even members of the Black Sun Cult themselves would find it difficult to detect the dormant Dark Matter within its body.

So how many shadow servants do the higher-ups of the Black Sun Cult possess? How many organizations throughout Japan have been infiltrated by the Black Sun Cult in this way? The more Kurosawa Shizuki thought about it, the more horrified she became. Perhaps even within her own Black Sun Heijing branch, there were other high-ranking members of the Black Sun Cult who had planted shadow servants specifically to monitor her. Given the original owner's control over the Black Sun Cult, Kurosawa Shizuki wouldn't find it strange that any of her followers were shadow servants.

If even a single dark spirit could pull off so many schemes, Kurosawa Shizuki couldn't imagine how other cults and the Anti-Suppression Bureau infiltrated and investigated each other. It seemed that the various cults planting spies among themselves was already commonplace in the Heijing esoteric world. Her control over the mountain today was probably just standard procedure.

Saying goodbye to Yamauchi, who had become nothing more than a tool, Kurosawa Shizuki looked down at her phone. There were only ten minutes left before school started. Damn it, she had gotten up so early today, but all this messy stuff had wasted so much time.

Kurosawa Shizuki, feeling unsatisfied after eating rice balls and engaging in strenuous exercise, bought a bread roll at a convenience store to replenish her energy. Just like a heroine in a shoujo manga, she held the bread roll in her mouth and ran towards the school in the morning light. Run, girl!

Using GoGo Maps on her phone, Kurosawa Shizuki didn't get lost and successfully found her former high school, Hikoyama Private High School.

Nothing particularly noteworthy happened along the way. I didn't bump into the handsome student council president, nor did I encounter my best friend with a sly smile. At the school gate, I didn't see the disciplinary committee leader arrogantly showing off his epaulets. Instead, I met the weathered-looking gatekeeper uncle lighting a cigarette in the wind...

Rushing into the school just in time, Kurosawa Shizuki had only been inside for a short while when the gatekeeper closed the main gate.

She wandered around the teaching building like a headless fly. The school layout wasn't too complicated, and she easily found the first-year B class on her student ID. She walked into the classroom, which was already full of students. Class was about to start, and she seemed to be the last one to arrive at school.

The balding middle-aged man on the podium waved his English textbook: "Hey, Kurosawa, that was close! We almost missed being late."

"I'm sorry, teacher, I got up a little late today." Kurosawa Shizuki bowed her head and apologized, using the shoulder strap of her schoolbag to cover the small tear on her left sleeve from her battle with Yamauchi. Although the tear was small, it still revealed a small section of her fair skin. If she didn't cover it up, it would be very noticeable, and she didn't know how to explain it if someone asked her about it.

"I didn't mean to blame you. Go back to your seat. Remember to get some rest tonight. I hope you can surpass Sanae from Class 3 this semester and aim for the top spot in the grade." The uncle smiled at Kurosawa Shizuki, revealing a set of pearly white teeth.

Kurosawa Shizuki was stunned. What the heck? Aiming for the top spot in the grade? So the original owner was a top student? Although the original Lu Jingxi's grades weren't bad either, asking her to familiarize herself with the Japanese curriculum and aim for the top spot in the grade right after arriving was just asking too much!

She walked toward the only empty seat in the classroom. The students in the classroom were all completely unfamiliar faces to her, and the way they looked at her seemed to be... awe? Kurosawa Shizuki wasn't surprised. After all, the original owner of this body was the "Queen" who defeated all the delinquents in the school and unified the world shortly after the start of the semester. She was also suspected of being exceptionally good at studying. In Japan, where the mindset of the strong prevails, it was normal to be regarded as an unattainable goddess.

Kurosawa Shizuki sat down in what seemed to be her seat, the fifth one in the third row. It wasn't a main seat, and none of the classmates around her were particularly noteworthy; they were all just ordinary Japanese high school girls.

The only thing that caught Kurosawa Shizuki's eye was a girl sitting in front of her. She was wearing black pantyhose, had a well-developed chest, and a baby face that gave off an innocent vibe. She also had a blue butterfly hair clip in her smooth black hair. She hit Lu Shizuki's sweet spot at first glance.

The girl was completely unaware of Kurosawa Shizuki's secret observation. She was looking down at something, with one hand under her desk. Only then did Kurosawa Shizuki realize that she was secretly playing on her phone under the desk.

P.S., sigh, I wanted to find more people to network with, but looking at my grades, forget it, I'm too bad. Nobody would even look at me, and getting rejected when I try to network would be even more embarrassing. I'll just keep burying myself in writing.

PS2, it's almost the end of the month, if you have any extra votes, please cast them... If you don't want to vote, just pretend I didn't say that... *crying* o(╥﹏╥)o.

Section 40, Chapter 40: Chinatsu Ando

Sitting behind the black-haired girl, Kurosawa Shizuki began to examine the original owner's desk. Unfortunately, it was just a normal high school girl's desk with nothing special. However, she found several of the original owner's notebooks, which were all quite carefully written. The original owner's handwriting was neat and tidy, showing that she was a girl who was meticulous and hardworking in everything she did. In addition to the textbooks and notebooks, she only found a few toy gashapon capsules that were casually tossed in the corner of the desk.

It seems they are all exclusive to a set of gashapon figures of girls called "Shining War Nuns," including a busty dark-skinned nun carrying a giant hammer, a young girl with platinum blonde hair who is a holy sword nun, and a blind holy hymn nun who is paralyzed in both legs and sits in a wheelchair... So the original owner liked to collect these kinds of things? Kurosawa Shizuki checked on her phone and found it was another isekai anime where a beautiful girl becomes a nun to defeat a demon king and save the world. It didn't seem to have much to do with cults, so it was probably just the original owner's hobby?

After investigating the original owner's desk, Kurosawa Shizuki prepared to quickly familiarize herself with the Japanese curriculum. The original owner's grades had been so good before, so if they suddenly plummeted when she came to study here, it would be very suspicious.

Fortunately, the original owner had just started high school and had only been in school for less than ten days. Most of her classmates were not familiar with her, and apart from being aloof, she probably didn't leave a particularly special impression on them. As long as she worked hard and maintained the original owner's grades, Kurosawa Shizuki felt that it wouldn't be a big problem for her to continue using the original owner's identity to move around the school.

The only thing to worry about is the original owner's social circle at school. However, based on Kurosawa Shizuki's understanding of the original owner, she doesn't believe that with the original owner's aloof personality, she could make many close friends at school so soon after the start of the semester.

On the surface, she seemed to be attentively listening to the English teacher's lecture, but in reality, this man's spoken English was even worse than hers. His Japanese-accented English sounded strained to listen to, even though she herself had scored over 130 points on her college entrance exam in her previous life. Kurosawa Shizuki was actually reading the original owner's course notes, intending to familiarize herself with the course content first.

Kurosawa Shizuki began flipping through her textbooks one by one. In her previous life, she was considered a decent student, but the teaching methods in Japan differed from those in her home country. Although most of the content was much simpler, it didn't mean that Kurosawa Shizuki could effortlessly achieve good grades without any preparation. Since the original owner had always strived to maintain a good student image at school, based on Kurosawa Shizuki's understanding of her, the original owner clearly had her own plans at school. Until she was fully certain of the original owner's intentions, Kurosawa Shizuki felt it was necessary to maintain the status quo for the time being.

Biting his pen, he started by solving math problems one by one to get a feel for the game. Although he had transmigrated, his basic skills from the past were still there. He tackled math problems from a Japanese high school with ease and without any trouble. For a moment, he felt like he had rediscovered the mindset of a top student from his previous life.

As Kurosawa Shizuki happily worked on her practice problems, the teacher on the podium spoke in a slow, unwavering voice about the social jargon of the New Roman Republic. The only sounds in the quiet classroom were the teacher's voice and the students writing with their pens.

In her previous life, Kurosawa Shizuki had mastered the skill of slacking off in class. Even until the end of get out of class, the teacher never noticed that Kurosawa Shizuki, who seemed to be listening attentively, was actually doing math problems.

The bell rang, and the classroom quickly became noisy again. Students gathered in small groups, chattering about various topics. But strangely, a vacuum remained between Kurosawa Shizuki and the girl in front of her who always had her back to her.

Just like how lion prides on the African savanna automatically make room for the lion king.

No one approached Kurosawa Shizuki for a while, and Kurosawa Shizuki was happy to have some peace and quiet. After all, she had no idea which social circle she belonged to in this class, or... she didn't belong to any circle at all and was the kind of person who was isolated.

Just as Kurosawa Shizuki continued to pretend to be engrossed in doing math problems and trying to avoid being talked to by anyone, the girl in black stockings who had been sitting in front of her with her back straight suddenly turned around and stared straight at her.

Kurosawa Shizuki felt that the girl's gaze was anything but friendly; it was anything but subtle, and even somewhat rude.

She had long, straight, silky black hair, a small face the size of a palm, delicate eyebrows and cherry lips, and long, slender, crescent-shaped eyes that squinted, giving off a somewhat disrespectful air. Her hands were clasped in front of a pair of bulging little rabbits. Wearing the same school uniform skirt as her, she was half a head taller, probably close to 1.7 meters. With her legs crossed, her long, beautiful legs, encased in black stockings, swayed restlessly beneath her short skirt, making one wonder if she had ADHD.

Although they were wearing the same school uniform, the girl's chest development was far superior to Kurosawa Shizuki's! Especially her hands, which were clasped in front of her chest, made her breasts appear even more glaring, almost bursting the buttons off her collar! It was a very bad omen!

"Hey, Kurosawa, it's rare to see you late," the girl said seriously, seemingly oblivious to Kurosawa Shizuki's strange gaze on her chest. "By the way, what's your plan regarding the secret operation?"

A jumble of thoughts flashed through Kurosawa Shizuki's mind. Who was this fierce girl? Was she a friend of the original owner from school? School had only been going on for a short time, and the original owner already had friends at school? What was even stranger was that the original owner had started losing her memory three months ago. How was she still able to act like a normal student at school?

How the hell am I supposed to know what kind of secret operation you're talking about?! Kurosawa Shizuki really didn't know how to respond to that.

"What's wrong? Kurosawa, why do you seem so nervous? If you don't want to, you can refuse, I won't force you." The girl's unexpectedly serious and delicate face suddenly came closer, and Kurosawa could see her delicate collarbone under her collar. "But you must understand that this is very important to me. This is our first club activity."

"I'm sorry, I don't remember you mentioning any activities to me..." Kurosawa Shizuki could only reply helplessly.

After checking the girl's information through the system, all that could be seen was a simple name, with no other information. But just that name alone made Kurosawa Shizuki immediately perk up.

Because the name was orange, this was the first time Kurosawa Shizuki had ever seen an orange name since she transmigrated!

[Chinatsu Ando (unawakened), author of the diary? ???]

The orange name—what does it represent? Next to it is only a simple "Diary Author" description, completely meaningless. She's still unawakened; what kind of being will she become after she awakens?