Transformed into the leader of an esoteric sect in Japan

Wounds inflicted by a blade are almost impossible to heal.

The system's pop-up panel clearly displayed Suzuki's attributes. Kurosawa Shizuki only now realized that it seemed the system could only display relatively complete data when the other party truly revealed hostility.

[Suzuki Machiko (Dark Blue), a Level 3 Expert in the Anti-Corruption Bureau. Suzuki speaks softly, but she willingly opens all doors for those in the Endgame. Rationality 15, Spirituality 35, Physique 42. Secret Skills: Wound Passage VI, Centurion's Blade V. Items: Persuader (Blue Weapon), Striker's Earring (Dark Green)]

The deep blue of Suzuki's name almost tinged with purple. Even though she was only at the third rank, Kurosawa Shizuki still felt a chilling sense of danger when Suzuki pointed that strange gun called "The Persuader" at her. Moreover, based on Kurosawa Shizuki's past gaming experience, both of Suzuki's secret techniques were quite formidable. The Blade-attribute Centurion was a technique of conquest and slaughter, while the Activation-attribute Wound Passage was a technique of opening and dismantling.

“I don’t know who I should be right now. But it seems that there’s only me in this body right now.” Kurosawa Shizuki gave a helpless, bitter smile.

"Beep, Mutation Index 0, Mindset Index 23, Threat Index 2080, Class Determination: Level 4 Witness, Target Identity Determination: Extra-Civil Service Operator No. XXXXXXX, Kurosawa Shizuki." A cold and emotionless notification sounded from Suzuki's "gun".

"The persuader has determined that the target is not hostile and is an agent of the Anti-Corruption Bureau. Lethal mode has been deactivated. Return to basic mode." The deformed, scissor-shaped gun retracted and returned to the exquisite little gun that Suzuki had just pulled out.

"Is that so?" Suzuki's tightly furrowed brows relaxed, and Kurosawa Shizuki felt that she seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

Suzuki put the gun back into her jacket, sat back down, picked up her coffee and took another slow sip. Kurosawa Shizuki noticed that the suffocating killing intent that had been emanating from Suzuki had vanished without a trace, and she seemed to have returned to the gentle, smiling senior she used to be.

“The Hermit System doesn’t make mistakes,” Suzuki said confidently. “No matter what happened to you, whether in body or soul, you are still Kurosawa Shizuki, that hasn’t changed. It’s just that whether you are still the Kurosawa Shizuki of this history is debatable.”

"However, as long as you are Kurosawa Shizuki, you are no different from us, and your fate has not changed. So you and the Anti-Suppression Bureau still have the opportunity to continue cooperating."

P.S., should I recommend it or not? Please recommend it!

PS2

I'm so grateful to have found a great resource from this expert. My project referenced parts of the Cultist Simulator's world, while this expert used the world of Ocean of Darkness—both works by the same game developer. But this one is much more interesting than mine.

Captain Lolita's Fantastic Adventure

(Fast updates, lots of content) Shocking! A fair-skinned, beautiful, busty nun, a neurotic maid hunter, and even a nine-year-old empress who is immortal, all fight tooth and nail over a single ticket.

The reason for all this was that on that small, wrecked ship lived a mysterious Lord of No Light, the supreme King of Darkness—Loli Yibai.

A legend circulates in underground London that the fate of every woman who receives her favor will be completely rewritten...

However, as one big shot after another boarded the ship, Yi Bai felt as if a thousand alpacas were galloping through his mind.

Come again?

I'm really just a mortal. Last time, I almost got seen through by that black-haired, scorching-eyed assassin sister!

All I want is to quietly repair the ship, cast my nets, and catch a few mermaids. Please don't come looking for me anymore. I don't know anything about the Dictionary of Evil Gods, and I know nothing about the secrets of R'lyeh...

This is the story of an ordinary girl with no power who, with the help of a mysterious little broken ship, conquers many big shots and beats up the whole world!

Elements in this book: citrus flavor, Dihua (a type of Chinese cultural symbol), Cthulhu.

Section 48 Chapter Forty-Eight: How exactly did I die?

"I am still Kurosawa Shizuki... but perhaps not the Kurosawa Shizuki of this historical timeline?" Suzuki drew this strange conclusion based on the gun. Could Lu Jingxi and Kurosawa Shizuki actually be the same person, just different versions of each other from different historical periods?

“You are still considered a member of the Anti-Corruption Bureau by Hermes, you haven’t been corrupted by the cult, and your mental index remains clean. So I don’t need to enforce the purge agreement on you,” Suzuki said with a bright smile. “That’s wonderful, Kurosawa.”

“I don’t want you, Suzuki-senpai, to become my enemy either,” Kurosawa Shizuki said with a slightly relaxed smile. “Now that the doubts have been temporarily dispelled, can we talk about something more in-depth?”

“That depends on how you handle things next,” Suzuki said noncommittally. “Operator Kurosawa, you seem to have completely forgotten the past; and you haven’t reported to the organization for almost two months; I’ve discovered that you’ve been using your Dark Spirit to attend classes instead of your original self. Although your Dark Spirit is almost completely consistent with your past words and actions, whenever I try to contact you, you always find some excuse to shake me off… Could you explain these suspicious points to me?”

"Wait, senior, you mean that I was using the dark spirit as a substitute to go to school all this time?" Kurosawa Shizuki was stunned. Although she had seen the girl's figure that the dark spirit had transformed into, she still did not expect that this person could go to school in her place without revealing any flaws. So the shadow really did retain almost the original owner's complete consciousness?

“That’s right. Although an idiot like Ando Akagi can’t see it, in my eyes, your black disguise is meaningless.”

It could materialize into its physical form and act in its place. Kurosawa Shizuki remembered that her dark spirit seemed to have this function, but she had never used it. Kurosawa Shizuki closed her eyes and tried to sense the dark matter as she had used her dark spirit in the past.

After confirming that no one was paying attention to them, the writhing shadow crawled around her, trying to coalesce into a blurry human shape. It was vaguely recognizable as a figure identical to Kurosawa Shizuki, who was attempting to mimic her own image using black matter.

However, within the half-formed black humanoid, a human-like cold snort suddenly rang out. She glanced coldly at herself, and then the black matter actually broke free from Kurosawa Shizuki's control, dissipating once more and disappearing into Kurosawa Shizuki's shadow. For the first time, the black spirit actively resisted Kurosawa Shizuki's will. Kurosawa Shizuki is currently unable to use the black spirit to mimic herself?!

The original owner, or at least a part of the original owner, is still hidden in her dark spiritual body. If she wanted, she could even resist her control!

As expected, her distrust of the dark spirit was correct. Kurosawa Shizuki felt a deep unease; the dark spirit was not yet entirely her power.

Kurosawa Shizuki was certain that soon she would have to have an open and honest conversation with the being hidden in the shadows; they couldn't continue to ignore each other like this! Normally it was fine, but if one day she were to be betrayed by her own dark essence in battle, she would truly be devastated! Speaking of which, did that "dark essence spirit will never betray" property of my unreliable stone really work?

"What are you doing? Using invisibility techniques in front of so many mortals so rashly, I might have to report to the Anti-Extermination Bureau to clean up the mess." Suzuki looked at Kurosawa Shizuki with surprise.

"It's just a small experiment, Suzuki-senpai," Kurosawa Shizuki suppressed her unease. She still hadn't figured out how to communicate with the being that seemed to be the original owner. After all, could they really coexist peacefully? "Let's get back to the main topic."

"It's a long story about your concerns..." Kurosawa Shizuki organized her thoughts, compiled the various information she had gathered since her transmigration, and told Suzuki. Of course, she was selective in what she told him; at least, she absolutely couldn't talk about the system. Kurosawa Shizuki was certain that the system she possessed was something that even the original owner of the body hadn't anticipated in her plans.

The girl is narrating...

The girl has finished her report.

"You seem to have encountered members of the Purifiers, and your memories have been steadily fading ever since; until yesterday, you from another history very strangely entered this body, and coincidentally advanced to the fourth rank; you suspect that your past self was in a very dangerous situation, so you had to carry out such a very complicated plan... Wait—you also took the Bond Pill?!!" Suzuki gasped, as if he had heard a fairy tale.

She picked up the "Persuader" gun again, pointed it at Kurosawa Shizuki, and fired a shot. She made no attempt to hide her astonishment, staring dumbfounded at the data generated by the Persuader's scan:

"Having taken the Bond Pill and accelerated the amnesia process through the erosion of the Amethyst Worms, he is still a complete human being without any signs of worm transformation, and has even climbed to the fourth level. Is this reasonable?"

"Compared to something like the Bond Pill, the dark spirit within me is probably much more dangerous, right? The power of the Bond Pill can't erode the dark spirit within me at all." Kurosawa Shizuki didn't think the Bond Pill she got from Yamanouchi was that dangerous, but judging from Suzuki's reaction, the Bond Pill seemed to be far more harmful than she had imagined?

Compared to the matter of the Bond Pill, Suzuki's statement that she was still a complete human surprised her even more. How could she be judged as a complete human when her body was already filled with that dangerous black matter?

“Your dark spirit body… indeed, if it was awakened through that stone, then that explains why your dark spirit body is so different from ordinary dark spirit bodies. It’s truly an unreasonable so-called ‘chosen one,’ capable of forcibly creating shadow servants even at the third tier,” Suzuki said, looking at Kurosawa Shizuki with a strange gaze. “Speaking of which, do you still carry that stone with you?”

"What stone?" Kurosawa Shizuki looked bewildered.

"It's that fragment symbolizing the Black Sun, the enlightenment item that Uncle Shiba personally gave you... Wait, there's no need to take it out. You still have it with you, so there's not much of a problem. Your blood contains the power of reshaping. The insects from the Mist Spring can't take over your brain. Even if they successfully devour your consciousness, they will eventually be forcibly expelled from your body." Seeing that Kurosawa Shizuki was about to take out the fragment of the Black Sun Divine Stone hanging on her chest, Suzuki's face turned pale, and he quickly stopped Kurosawa Shizuki.

“If it’s about using that stone to transfer consciousness to the Amethyst Worm through the Bond Pill, then using the power of reshaping to separate the Amethyst Worm from the original body, and finally using the black matter to devour the Amethyst Worm and transform it into a Shadow Servant… such an operation is indeed theoretically feasible.” Suzuki looked at Kurosawa Shizuki with a strange gaze.

"Wait, Suzuki-senpai, let me sort this out, my mind is a bit muddled," Kurosawa Shizuki said somewhat confusedly. "You mean, in the past, I really did take drugs to let my consciousness be eaten by the Amethyst Worms, and then used my melanin to devour the Amethyst Worms that had their own consciousness? Although my memories have been completely absorbed by the Amethyst Worms, I did die in the process, right?"

What kind of crazy move is this? Reincarnation using another body to go public? What was the original owner trying to achieve by doing this?

“That depends on how you define life and death. The amethyst worm that possesses your consciousness replaced you and then became a shadow servant. Theoretically, as a shadow servant, she will no longer be called to ‘awaken’ by Kirie. She will always firmly believe that she is Kurosawa Shizuki. Why can’t she be regarded as Kurosawa Shizuki?” Suzuki smiled with some pleasure.

"There are also predecessors in the Anti-Eradication Bureau who constantly create puppets to transfer their consciousness in order to achieve immortality. However, each transfer requires killing the previous self. Yet we are still willing to acknowledge that she remains a consistent 'immortal'."

"The cells and tissues in the human body are constantly being renewed. One moment you die, the next you are born. Is it meaningful to think about questions like 'Are you still you?'" Suzuki finished his coffee listlessly, waved his hand, and the manager brought him a cup of milk tea.

"Admittedly, you are Kurosawa Shizuki from another history, but as long as you have successfully inherited Kurosawa Shizuki's memories and possessed Kurosawa Shizuki's physical body, then why can't we consider that you have become the real Kurosawa Shizuki?"

"After all, according to a certain scholar of history, the counterparts in multiple histories actually share the same soul and have a common Alaya consciousness. You are like different petals of a flower. If you share memories in some way, then you can indeed be regarded as the same person."

"I am the real Kurosawa Shizuki..." Kurosawa Shizuki's mind was in chaos. Suzuki's conclusion was so shocking, yet it sounded so convincing.

However, the trouble lies in the fact that she has not inherited the original owner's memories. If Suzuki's guess is correct, all of the original owner's memories are stored in a shadow servant in her shadow. But now she has no way to control this shadow servant, let alone share her memories. In fact, the system does not even show the existence of this shadow servant.

What secrets did the original owner have hidden within this shadow servant? How can she gain the shadow servant's recognition and truly inherit the original owner's memories?

[Your side quest, "How I Died," has achieved 76% completion in intelligence gathering.] The system notification sounded at just the right moment, as if confirming Suzuki-senpai's point of view.

"Now the key issue has become something else entirely—how exactly did your past self summon another historical self into this body? As far as I know, when it comes to crossing multiple histories, the participation of at least an existence of the Immortal rank or higher is required. That is to say, at least one existence of the Immortal rank or higher helped your past self perform some kind of ritual so that your present self could have the opportunity to enter this body. Who is He/She?"

Kurosawa Shizuki felt increasingly lost. "I can't figure it out. How could my past self have known such a being? And why would He help me?"

The suicide summons the arrival of another historical self. But can this really be considered "help"?

“What’s even stranger is the motive of your other self. According to your guess, you think it’s because your past self encountered the henchmen of the Purifiers that you had to carry out this ‘plan’. However, this guess is impossible,” Suzuki seemed to be getting more and more interested.

“After Uncle Chai Qi altered your fate, theoretically, even if the supreme being who settles accounts is face to face with you, He will not be able to detect your true identity. Even if He does find you, what you should do is not to commit suicide using the amethyst worm, but to come to Uncle Chai Qi to alter your fate again.”

"The only reason you need to do this is that some special circumstance forces you to die once. There is no other way. Who could possibly drive you to this point..." Suzuki-senpai's final conclusion once again matched Kurosawa Ai's words. Given the original owner's shrewdness, how could she be driven to such a dead end? What could have happened?

"Thank you for your analysis, Suzuki-senpai. It helped me understand a lot of things..." Kurosawa Shizuki nodded. "I'll find the answers to these last few questions sooner or later."

“I look forward to you discovering the truth…” Suzuki’s fingers touched her glistening lips, and she smiled happily: “It’s been so long since I’ve encountered something so interesting.”

"By the way, Suzuki-senpai, I have another question. Do you know what this stone is?" Kurosawa Shizuki asked Suzuki curiously. Having encountered so much since transmigrating, she had almost forgotten that she was wearing this so-called Black Sun Divine Stone, a purple-quality stone. After all, its presence was so faint, producing only passive effects; she simply wore it and that was it. Unexpectedly, this stone seemed to hold a rather important place in the original owner's plan.

Suzuki seemed very wary of the stone. Kurosawa Shizuki understood Suzuki's reaction somewhat. The last time she took out that stone, forty or fifty believers were sacrificed alive. If she took out the stone now, would it trigger that ritual effect again?

"Impossible," Kurosawa Shizuki rejected the absurd idea. A cult ritual couldn't possibly be triggered so easily with just a stone. Kurosawa Shizuki suspected that the changes after her transmigration were actually the original owner's arrangement. That's why Kurosawa Shizuki took out the stone, which perfectly met the requirements for advancing to the "Corona Ritual" and produced such exaggerated consequences.

The original owner needed her to become a witness of the fourth class immediately after transmigrating; otherwise, the original owner's consciousness would no longer be able to act freely through the Shadow Servant.

The shadow behind Shizuki Kurosawa remained as still as a lake, without any ripples. It seemed that nothing could awaken the shadow girl from her near-permanent slumber.

P.S., this is a 4,000-word chapter. It's inconvenient to break this chapter down, and writing it gave me a terrible headache, but at least I should have roughly sorted out the previous plot. I really dug myself into a hole; I shouldn't have dug so many plot holes in the first place. It was fun digging them out before, but now filling them in is even more of a headache.

Ugh.

Section 49, Chapter Forty-Nine: Birds and Worms

“This stone is a gift from Lord Shizaki to you, to help you awaken your dark spirit body without being eroded by the will of the Black Sun, and to maintain your complete self,” Suzuki said slowly after a moment of thought. Kurosawa Shizuki felt that she hadn’t said everything. “Because of it, the flames of the Black Sun cannot reshape you, but you will have the opportunity to change the Black Sun.”

“I once used it to perform a ritual called the Corona, during which many Black Sun Cultists were sacrificed, and I inexplicably rose to the fourth stage, the Sun Apostle…”

“Most esoteric rituals are actually one-way rituals performed by believers to the gods. Believers will offer most of their shaping power to the gods and take very little for themselves,” Suzuki’s eyes flickered.

"But you are different because your soul is bound to the fragment of the Holy Stone. In a sense, you can be considered a nascent god in the process of formation. All the power obtained through the rituals performed by it and the sacrifices were absorbed by you. The Black Sun can hardly obtain any shaping power in such rituals."

"I'm actually performing a sacrifice for myself, acting as my own priest?" Kurosawa Shizuki really didn't expect that the ritual that was inexplicably held when she first transmigrated was actually like this.

"That's why you were able to break through the extraordinary boundary in such a short time and climb to the fourth tier through such an incredibly cruel method. We sent you into the Black Sun Cult with this intention in mind: to usurp the Black Sun Cult's shaping power to achieve your own goals. So far, you've done quite well." Suzuki took another sip of coffee to moisten his dry lips.

"But you can't rely too much on this ritual: First, if you hold it too often, it will attract the attention of the Black Sun sooner or later, and the Black Sun will definitely not be happy to see you stealing His shaping power for your own enrichment; second, if too many Black Sun cultists die, it will be too much of a loss to the Black Sun Cult's power, and the Black Sun Cult still plays an important role in our long-term plan, so we can't withdraw so early; most importantly, absorbing too much shaping power in a short period of time that exceeds your capacity may cause you to completely lose yourself and become a disqualified thing like those dry-out beings who only crave change and burning."

“Under normal circumstances, even if you are already at the fourth level, holding it once every three months is the limit. Only the immortals can be perfect and unchanging by the flames.”

"I understand, thank you Suzuki-senpai. I will use this stone carefully." Hearing Suzuki's words, Kurosawa Shizuki felt increasingly panicked. I really am the number one traitor, directly stealing the shaping power offered to the gods through the fragments of the divine stone.

If the cult really found out, wouldn't they definitely be burned to ashes by the Black Sun? To actually dare to cooperate with the Anti-Suppression Bureau and directly oppose the gods, the original owner was truly audacious!

“None of these things matter. The current you and the past you are almost completely different people. We think it is necessary to confirm your position now and whether you are still qualified to continue to be our agent,” Suzuki’s earrings sparkled with a crystal light. “If you are not on our side, we may still have to carry out the purge protocol on you.”

"May I ask what exactly your stance is..." Kurosawa Shizuki knew it wouldn't be that easy to gain Suzuki's trust.

"Do you still remember what happened between the birds and the worms? It's a matter of factions, either one or the other, with no room for a middle ground," Suzuki said seriously.

"I'm sorry, I know absolutely nothing about this." Kurosawa Shizuki was a little puzzled. Listening to Suzuki talk about these things, it sounded like the left and right wings from her previous life.

"The Birds and the Worms are two factions that emerged from the immortals during the Third Worm War. In the third origami history, creatures called Worms emerged from the remains of the God of the Sun at the bottom of the Netherworld and launched a great war that spanned all histories. The Worms hated the gods of the Netherworld with all their might. They endlessly devoured everything in their desire to 'reunite the gods.' The worms and the gods fought endlessly, and the immortals split into the so-called Birds and Worms factions."

"This is the first time I've ever heard of something like this..."

"The Flying Birds believe that only under the protection of the gods can humanity better maintain a stable world. Any exploration of the mysteries deep within the Netherworld is not allowed. Humanity is far too fragile in the face of the vast darkness and the unknown. The gods love humanity, and humanity must accept the protection of the gods, just as a fledgling bird hibernates under the wings of a flying bird."

"The Asuka sect believes in gods... so most of the esoteric sects that serve the gods can be considered the Asuka sect?" Kurosawa Shizuki asked after a moment's hesitation.