Long Live Money in Anime Crossover

At first, Saten Ruiko was just having an academic discussion with Momo, but the more she spoke, the slower her tone became, as if she had realized something.

If Mo Mo had anything he wanted from her, it would undoubtedly be her most valuable possession. And now, Mo Mo had already told Saten Ruiko that her most valuable possession was her own body. So, what was Mo Mo's purpose...?

Saten Ruiko felt her heart stop beating. She quickly took a few steps back, her hands unconsciously clenching her collar and pulling down her skirt. Her face flushed, and she stared at Mo Mo warily.

"S-Senior...you wouldn't be implying that I...my body..."

"No, no, this is absolutely unacceptable! This is simply too absurd! Senpai already has Misaka-senpai, how could I... Besides, I would never sell my body!"

"If this was your intention from the beginning, then I must say goodbye. Senior, please don't come any closer. If you take just one step, I... I'll scream for help immediately!"

As she spoke, Saten Ruiko moved backward step by step, treating Mo Mo as if he were a wolf among men.

Mo Mo didn't care about Saten Ruiko's wariness at all. After all, if anyone told you to your face that they were interested in your body, your brain would probably explode instantly, right?

Someone with a fiery temper would probably just slap them across the face.

Seeing Saten Ruiko retreating rapidly in front of Mo Mo, as if she were about to turn and run away, Mo Mo said softly, "Yui, send her a Heroic Spirit invitation."

"Now? Dad, she'll definitely refuse!"

"It's okay if you refuse; it's just a stepping stone for me."

"Okay, I'll do whatever Dad says."

Yui immediately followed Momo's orders and sent an invitation from a Heroic Spirit to Saten Ruiko, which made the wary Saten Ruiko stop in her tracks and freeze in place.

The vast amount of information about the Hall of Heroes and Heroic Spirits instantly flooded Saten Ruiko's mind, making her understand what Heroic Spirits meant, what price she would have to pay after agreeing to become a Heroic Spirit, and what changes would occur.

All of this left Saten Ruiko completely stunned.

With the guarantee of the supreme divine authority, no one will question the information inputted into Saten Ruiko's mind. Faced with this invitation, anyone will only agree or refuse, without questioning its authenticity.

It's like having a built-in passive skill of trust.

Mo Mo didn't mind Saten Ruiko's dazed expression. He walked step by step to Saten Ruiko's side and gently flicked Saten Ruiko's forehead again.

"what!"

Saten Ruiko gasped in surprise, snapping out of her daze. She immediately clutched her head; as a powerless individual, her brain was not fully developed, and receiving so much information at once clearly left her somewhat confused.

"You felt it, didn't you? I'm not lying! And you guessed right just now, I do desire your whole being, your entire body, but it's not that kind of desire."

"Don't be so lewd at such a young age! Look at my kind and righteous eyes!"

Mo Mo lowered his head and approached Saten Ruiko, startling her. She took a few steps back, still wary of Mo Mo, but instead of turning and running away.

"Um... I'm sorry, I really misunderstood you just now, senior. After all, this kind of thing... is hard for me to imagine. Heroic Spirits, such beings, how could I possibly become a Heroic Spirit?"

"That's right. As long as you accept my invitation, you will become my Heroic Spirit, a being beyond mortals, and coexist with the Hall of Heroes. I believe I don't need to go into the details, do I?"

Saten Ruiko nodded. Although her mind was somewhat confused, all the information transmitted from Valhalla had entered her consciousness and would not disappear. What Saten Ruiko needed to do was to understand it little by little.

"But... why did you choose me, senior? I... I'm just a mortal, nothing at all. What do I have that you value so much?"

"What I just said, if you value me, senior, although that scares me... but being interested in my body is at least a reason, after all, there are creatures called lolicon."

"And now, in front of my senior, haven't I suddenly lost everything? After all, even my most precious body, which my senior mentioned, is no longer valued."

Saten Ruiko's tone was full of confusion; she was genuinely baffled. However, her words surprised Mo Mo as well.

"Hey, I never said I didn't value your body, Ruiko. You're so cute, Ruiko. You're a beauty right now, let alone in the future, aren't you?"

"Come on, if you don't believe me, look into my sincere eyes, they're shining!"

Author's Note:

Second update

141 Ideals are beautiful, but reality is cruel.

Seeing Mo Mo acting cute and silly, and even adding sound effects to her own sparkling eyes, Saten Ruiko's impression of Mo Mo was refreshed once again.

So this senior isn't a serious person after all. The topic we just had was so serious that even Saten Ruiko herself became serious.

Especially now, as Mo Mo's face is getting closer and closer to Saten Ruiko's, and Saten Ruiko has realized that Mo Mo is not toying with her, but has truly presented her with a choice that could change her life, her hostility towards Mo Mo has disappeared.

Of course, wariness was still there, but now that Mo Mo openly expressed his desire for her body, Saten Ruiko felt at ease. After all, who would do something so openly and honestly?

Could Mo Mo in front of me really be a psychopath?

In any case, Saten Ruiko didn't believe that Momo was really interested in her body. Instead, she took Momo's words as a joke and laughed along with him.

"Don't get too close!"

Saten Ruiko smiled and pushed Momo's face away, her cheeks still flushed. After all, Momo's playful banter with her had just left Saten Ruiko feeling a little unaccustomed to it.

"Senior, please tell me the truth. Why did you take a liking to me? After all, Heroic Spirits must be legendary beings. How could I possibly be qualified to become one?"

"I've already told you, it's me who desires your beautiful and alluring body, Ruizi, why don't you believe me?"

"Senior, I'm really getting angry!"

Mo Mo shrugged and said, "Alright, alright, since you don't believe this truth, then I'll tell you another reason why I value you."

Saten Ruiko slightly suppressed her smile, because she felt that Momo was now telling the truth.

"That's your courage."

Saten Ruiko was taken aback and said, "Courage?"

"That's right, your courage. The courage to use your humble strength to help others even though you are powerless."

Upon hearing this, Saten Ruiko subconsciously shook her head and said, "Courage and such... I don't have that kind of thing. What happened today was just a subconscious action. I was just protecting a child. And if it weren't for you, Senpai, I probably would have been injured."

Ultimately... it's just that I can't do it.

The topic seemed to have circled back to Saten Ruiko, a powerless person, wallowing in self-pity. However, this time, a thought began to emerge in Saten Ruiko's mind.

If she had the ability...

Heroic spirits...

"You can't do it simply because you lack the ability. That's the world's fault, not yours, Ruiko. If you had the corresponding ability, Ruiko, you'd probably be the charming and popular Ruiko, the ladies' man, in Academy City, right?"

Saten Ruiko was amused by Mo Mo and said, "Senior, I can't keep up with what you're saying. There are so many things I can complain about!"

"Even if I really had the ability, I couldn't possibly be a 'Tearful Master,' I'm a lady. Besides, if I don't have the ability, I simply don't have it. It's due to my lack of talent, or perhaps it's because I haven't tried hard enough..."

"After all, I always give up after trying for a while, and sometimes I just give up on myself and do nothing at all. Maybe I don't even deserve it... Oh dear!"

Momo flicked Saten Ruiko on the forehead again, which made the already sullen Saten Ruiko glare at Momo angrily and say, "Senpai, I'm really angry!"

However, this time, Saten Ruiko noticed that Momo's expression had become serious.

"senior?"

"Haven't I told you before? Your lack of ability isn't your fault; it might even be the world's fault. Are you taking this as a joke?"

Saten Ruiko was taken aback and said, "Isn't this a joke? Aren't abilities symbols of talent and hard work? Look, isn't that how Misaka-senpai became a Level 5?"

Mo Mo shook his head slightly and said, "Tears, what I'm about to tell you might overturn your concerns and your feelings for Academy City, so before I tell you, we need to make a deal."

"A transaction? What is that... this is a transaction!"

Momo initiated a transaction with Saten Ruiko, and Saten Ruiko instantly sensed the presence of the transaction power. Having sensed the presence of the Hall of Heroes before, Saten Ruiko was not so surprised this time.

"Senior...you really surprise me. Just who are you? Could you be some legendary god?"

"I would never presume to be a god. If I really have to say what I am, I am just a businessman facing his true self."

Momo said something that Saten Ruiko couldn't understand, and then stated the terms of the deal: "Everything I'm about to tell you will be my bargaining chip. The price is that you agree to my request to become my Heroic Spirit and become one of my people. If the deal is successful, everything I'm telling you will become part of your memories."

“If the deal fails,” Momo placed his hand on Saten Ruiko’s head and said, “everything I’m about to tell you will be taken back by the deal power, and you will forget all of this and continue to be an ordinary girl, Saten Ruiko.”

"Do you understand what I'm saying, Ruiko?"

Saten Ruiko's pupils dilated slightly. The trading power relayed Mo Mo's request in detail. This was a method that Mo Mo had recently discovered and begun to skillfully utilize. It was as if the failure of a transaction had become an inherent skill of the trading power, allowing him to retract the terms of the transaction.

"Ah."

Saten Ruiko bit her lip. With the power of transaction, she couldn't possibly be unaware of this. At the same time, she clearly realized that what Momo was about to tell her would be the key to her choice.

"Then, I'll tell you everything I know, starting with one of Academy City's most core secrets."

"The strength of the abilities of the ability users in Academy City can be determined from the very beginning; it's something that was already decided long ago. This is because the ability users' perception of the world, based on their own physiological and psychological structure, has already determined their personal reality, and they all have their own set of qualities."

"In the end, how strong an ability user can become depends on how much time and energy they spend fully unlocking their potential. People with low potential cannot break through their limits, while only those with high potential have the value to continue unlocking their potential."

"This rule is called the 'competency assessment' rule."

Saten Ruiko's pupils dilated to their limit in an instant. Mo Mo's words were like a heavy hammer, shattering all of Saten Ruiko's hopes for the future and for Academy City, leaving nothing behind.

Saten Ruiko wanted to say it was impossible, but with the power of the transaction as a guarantee, everything Momo said must be true and beyond doubt.

The assessment of literacy does indeed exist.

"As for Misaka, the process of upgrading from LV1 to LV5 was actually just a process of Misaka continuously developing her abilities. As for why Academy City kept this secret, I think you understand why, right?"

Saten Ruiko nodded heavily and said, "If this secret... is exposed, people who have lost all hope will definitely leave Academy City. At that time, the very foundation upon which Academy City was founded will no longer exist."

"All of this... is real."

The cruel truth was laid bare before Saten Ruiko. Even her chance to question or escape was blocked by the trading power. The heavy reality weighed on Saten Ruiko's heart, and everything before her seemed to darken in an instant.

Hope and the future—the very things that sustain the efforts of countless people in Academy City—never existed in the first place; they were nothing more than hypocritical lies.

The strong and the weak, the talented and the incompetent, are determined from the very beginning, leaving no room for change.

This is the cruel truth of Academy City. On the magic side, one can learn magic through study, but in Academy City, it all depends on whether one is favored by the heavens.

This is truly the worst joke ever.

Saten Ruiko suddenly felt her body grow cold, because at this moment she realized how naive her past efforts were, how ridiculous her expectations for the future were, and that she was destined to be a powerless person with nothing, a destined ordinary person.

The brilliance of Misaka Mikoto will never appear on her, not in the past, not now, and not in the future.

This is reality.

However, at that moment, two large, hot hands touched Saten Ruiko's cheeks. The heat made Saten Ruiko's gradually calming spirit jump, and then a tearing sensation came from her face.

"It hurts!"

It turned out that Mo Mo reached out and grabbed Saten Ruiko's face, stretching her mouth into an exaggerated straight line. Saten Ruiko slapped Mo Mo's hand away and said, "That's too much, senpai!"

Mo Mo laughed and said, "What, is this all there is to despair?"