Long Live Money in Anime Crossover

The answer is naturally no.

The power displayed by this mysterious NPC is just the tip of the iceberg. With such power, it would be very easy for him to destroy Ai, Yuri Nakamura, Kanade Tachibana, and the protagonist's group if he simply wanted to.

Momo even suspected that he could simply erase the dead from this world. Even if he didn't do that, altering and erasing the memories of Nakamura Yuri, Tachibana Kanade, and others could quickly solve this problem.

This is definitely not a problem for this mysterious NPC. In the original story, Takamatsu was transformed from a dead man into an NPC due to the shadowy anomaly caused by this mysterious NPC, losing all his memories and personality. This shows that this mysterious NPC possesses such power.

Then, here comes the problem.

What exactly was the reason that led this mysterious NPC, who could be considered Gaia of the afterlife, to launch the Shadow Mutation under the pretext of destroying love? In the end, he failed to destroy love, but instead destroyed himself.

What exactly is the reason for this?

There is only one answer: after the mysterious NPC did all this, he fulfilled his will, which was the will and task given to him by his master, the senior programmer Tachibana Kanade, at the beginning of his life.

Having accomplished all this, he can leave this world contentedly, or, due to the established rules, he must seek death to leave this world.

In the original story, after this mysterious NPC was eliminated, what happened in the afterlife was the development that the mysterious NPC hoped for, which was also the goal he wanted to achieve.

So, what happened in the afterlife in the original story after this mysterious NPC was defeated?

That is, everyone has graduated, and only Otonashi Yuzuru remains in the whole world, continuing to wait alone for Tachibana Kanade to return.

This is the result that the mysterious NPC hoped for.

After figuring out everything, it all seemed even more incomprehensible, because there was no cause and effect relationship at all.

Why did Tachibana Kanade, this senior, go to such lengths to create a mysterious NPC, to plan for things that would happen many years later, and the result of that plan was to have everyone graduate, leaving only Otonashi Yuzuru?

Does he have a grudge against Yuzuru Otonashi? What kind of grudge is it?

Furthermore, did he have precognition and know who would appear and what stories would unfold long afterward?

All of this seems to be fragmented and cannot be connected at all.

But at this moment, Mo Mo's eyes seemed to have seen through everything.

"Let me start with a simple question: Mysterious NPC, is your name... or rather, your master's name, Yuzuru Otonashi?"

Mo Mo asked an unbelievable question in a seemingly casual manner, and for the first time, the smile on the mysterious NPC's face disappeared.

090 Small and large bugs in an infinite loop

A silent atmosphere spread amidst the flickering of countless computer screens. The mysterious NPC remained calm, seemingly lost in thought because of Mo Mo's strange question.

Mo Mo actually asked him if his master was Otonashi Yuzuru?

What's the problem?

Theoretically speaking, let alone whether his master is Yuzuru Otonashi, this mysterious NPC couldn't possibly know who Yuzuru Otonashi is. After all, at this point, Yuzuru Otonashi hadn't even arrived in this afterlife yet.

Surely the mysterious NPC isn't a time traveler from the real world like Mo Mo? If he really were a time traveler, would he be so willing to die?

Isn't Momo wasting his time by asking such a strange question?

However, it turned out that Momo was not wasting his time.

Instead, because Momo asked the question, the mysterious NPC remained silent, staring at Momo, which wasted a lot of time.

However, Mo Mo was very patient, and since he had nothing to do at the moment, he could leisurely stare at the mysterious NPC.

Now that things have come to this, if there were a third party around the two of them, they would definitely find that the seemingly nonsensical question Mo Mo asked was actually surprisingly heavy, leaving the mysterious NPC unable to answer it.

This is a situation that is difficult to understand.

Upon hearing this question, the mysterious NPC should have immediately retorted, "Who is Otonashi Yuzuru?" After all, if someone suddenly starts talking to you about someone else, and you don't know who that person is, the most instinctive question you'd ask is, "Who is that person?"

Of course, this excludes the common human tendency to pretend to know when you don't, in order to save face.

However, the mysterious NPC in front of Momo had remained silent for several minutes, seemingly trapped in an inescapable bug loop.

"Just as I expected..."

The first to speak was Mo Mo, whose eyes showed surprise and disbelief. He said, "It really is Otonashi Yuzuru. What an unbelievable development."

The mysterious NPC also breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Is this also due to your ability to know everything, as an outsider from another world? If so, I have nothing more to say. All secrets are no longer secrets in front of you."

After much thought, the only explanation for the mysterious NPC's actions could be this: Mo Mo, this mysterious outsider, probably knows not only the present of his world, but also its past and future.

“No,” Mo Mo grinned and said, “Actually, I made it up.”

The mysterious NPC's expression instantly became bizarre and fascinating, as if he were experiencing a state of mind that was both laughable and absurd. However, his facial expression program seemed to be imperfect, making it difficult for him to express such an expression.

To him, it looked like he was desperately trying to suppress a laugh, or forcibly holding back anger; it was exhausting to watch.

A few minutes later, he came to his senses and said, "Just a guess, a wild guess?"

“It’s not entirely a guess,” Momo shrugged and said, “As you said, as a visitor from another world, I do know a lot of information, but this information is not enough for me to figure out the cause and effect.”

"Therefore, I can only make bold assumptions and carefully verify them."

"However, it seems I've always been quite lucky; I guessed right on the first try?"

Under Mo Mo's eager gaze, the mysterious NPC nodded helplessly and said, "I admit you're right about that. My master is indeed Otonashi Yuzuru. However, if you can't provide more evidence to prove your guess, I won't be responsible for verifying it for you."

"Oh, that's easy."

Mo Mo snapped his fingers and said, "Simply put, it's a bug, right?"

"Because Kanade Tachibana and Yuzuru Otonashi entered this world, and with their wishes, this afterlife, which is essentially an embodiment of data and operates in a program-like manner, has fallen into an infinite loop of bugs, isn't that right?"

Momo seemed to have hit the nail on the head once again. The mysterious NPC shook his head slightly, offering no reply. After a few seconds, he said, "Is this what you humans call the art of language? You still don't quite understand what happened, yet you use general language to tell me as if you already know everything, and are trying to use this to extract information from me, aren't you?"

"Don't worry about the details," Mo Mo waved his hand.

"Okay, although I hate to admit it, you have indeed grasped the truth of the matter, and you are entitled to know what happens next."

"As you said, the world is stuck in a vicious cycle."

The mysterious NPC's gaze seemed to become distant. This human-like behavior made it hard to believe that he was merely an NPC and not a human with emotions.

"The root of all this is two small bugs. One is the bug of my master, Otonashi Yuzuru, and the other is the bug of Tachibana Kanade."

"Only the dead can enter this world, but what kind of person qualifies as the dead is a question."

The mysterious NPC stroked his chin and said, "This is the bug that appeared on Tachibana Kanade. When she had the surgery, her heart was already dead and her body was on the verge of death. However, because my master's heart was implanted, she was resurrected."

"And that's why the world mistakenly took Tachibana Kanade for a dead person and pulled her into this world."

"After that, it was my master's bug."

The mysterious NPC continued, "To enter this world, one must have an unfulfilled wish. My master's last wish was to donate his organs to others so that they could live because of him."

"Although my master's last wish was fulfilled, he was already dead at the time and did not know this. Therefore, he believed that his last wish was not fulfilled, and thus he was pulled into this world."

"This is the beginning of the entire afterlife."

The mysterious NPC held up two fingers and said, "Simply because of my master and Tachibana Kanade, their bugs are harmless. My master should leave this world after regaining his memories because his wish has been fulfilled."

"As for Tachibana Kanade, she will find my master, say thank you to my master, and then leave this world. At that point, the effects of the two bugs will also disappear."

"However, during the time when my master, Yuzuru Otonashi, and Kanade Tachibana were both in the afterlife, an even bigger bug was born."

At this point, the mysterious NPC's face showed a hint of regret, while Mo Mo's eyes also showed a hint of sudden realization.

"Because of love?"

"That's right, because of love."

"Whether it's friendship, family affection, or an expectation of being a partner, I call all the complex emotions of humanity love. Love bursts forth in the afterlife. Love changes my master. Love causes my master and Tachibana Kanade, two little bugs, to generate a huge bug, a bug that almost crashes the afterlife, plunging it into an infinite loop."

The mysterious NPC reached out and summoned the phantom of Yuzuru Otonashi. However, unlike Yuzuru Otonashi in the original work who was dressed in a school uniform, Yuzuru Otonashi at this time was obviously Yuzuru Otonashi who had become a doctor, and was more mature and composed.

"Because of love, my master's wish changed. He had already fulfilled his wish and could leave the afterlife at any time, but his last wish was re-registered in the afterlife, and his last wish was also fulfilled in the afterlife."

"And my master's last wish was to see Tachibana Kanade again and to be with Tachibana Kanade in this world forever."

Hearing this, Mo Mo narrowed his eyes. At this moment, Mo Mo almost understood everything and the reason for this huge bug.

Yuzuru Otonashi was not originally supposed to enter the afterlife because his last wish had already been fulfilled. However, due to a bug, he entered the afterlife, so the rules of the afterlife naturally had to be set in motion to help him fulfill his last wish and find peace.

If Otonashi Yuzuru never had any wishes, that would be fine, but if he did have wishes, then the afterlife would inevitably operate according to the rules of the world.

As a result, a bug was created.

According to the original work, after Otonashi Yuzuru disappeared after Tachibana Kanade's wish was fulfilled, he had a strong desire for Tachibana Kanade to stay and be with her forever. This desire is the starting point of the bug.

"My master made a wish to see Tachibana Kanade again and to be with her in this world forever. After her death, the world turned, and Tachibana Kanade, who had already let go of her resentment, was pulled back into this world. Moreover, due to the rules of the world, she was pulled into this world in her initial state, before her wish was fulfilled."

"At this moment, my master realized the seriousness of the problem, but it was too late. Because Tachibana Kanade's wish was to see my master and say thank you to him. Therefore, my master was also forcibly twisted back to his initial state, becoming the way he looked when he first entered this world."

"The story unfolds in an endless loop; isn't that frustrating?"

The mysterious NPC spread his hands, and Mo Mo nodded in agreement. Then, he asked in confusion, "There's another question. Is this world really that powerful in granting wishes? Why would anyone want to have such a wish granted?"

This is what Mo Mo is wondering about. After all, this world only allows Nakamura Yuri and the others to find peace, but it seems to have become more powerful for Otonashi Yuzuru and Tachibana Kanade.

Is this how the main character is treated?

"Very strong, but not very strong either."

The mysterious NPC gave a seemingly plausible answer, then explained: "The world operates like a program, so once data is input, it will keep running unless the program crashes."

“I understand what you want to ask. This world naturally has its own safety mechanisms. However, these mechanisms mainly focus on the selection of the deceased.”

"Obviously, not all the dead can enter this world. After all, almost everyone dies with unfulfilled wishes, many of which cannot be fulfilled in this world, and these people will not be pulled into this world."

The mysterious NPC looked at the phantom of his master and said, "Therefore, if my master had such a dying wish from the beginning, he would definitely not have been able to enter this world, because he would have been too dangerous to this world and would have been excluded."

"The most crucial point about the bug we just discussed is that my master originally had no wish, but a wish was born out of love, bypassing the program's security monitoring phase and forcibly inputting a variable, which led to all of this happening."

“Of course,” the mysterious NPC said casually, “the responsibility certainly doesn’t lie entirely with my master. After all, Tachibana Kanade entered this world because of a bug, and perhaps my master entered here because of Tachibana Kanade’s wish.”

"In short, the world is trapped in a vicious cycle because of the bug wishes of two bug characters."

091 A Beautiful Dream

After listening to the mysterious NPC, Mo Mo understood what had happened in this afterlife.

If the afterlife is a precisely functioning program, then the dead who enter the afterlife are the input variables of this program, and the dead who find peace are the output of this world.

This world is a place where the dead can find peace.

As for how this world came about, and why it's set up this way, Mo Mo won't waste time considering that. After all, this is a two-dimensional world, created based on three-dimensional creations; what kind of strange and bizarre world wouldn't appear?