Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

A beam of light shone down.

"God! Immediately perform a full-body restoration on Patchouli Knowledge, removing all diseases and curses from her body. Deduct the reward points from my account!" Alice shouted, and immediately saw her reward points rapidly decreasing. But a few seconds later, the God's prompt appeared in her ears again.

[The AA-rank enhancement 'Information Mage - Starlight' possessed by the reincarnator Patchouli Knowledge is symbiotic with 'Unknown Curse'. To cure the reincarnator's ailment and curse, an additional AA-rank side quest and 24000 reward points are required, provided the enhancement is retained. If the enhancement is not needed, the consumed reward points will be refunded, and the enhancement will be added to the God's Enhancement Pool.]

[Additionally, the AA-level enhancement 'Information Mage - Curse Poison' possessed by the reincarnator Alice Margotrovid was automatically retrieved by the Main God before the execution of the horror film [The Mummy], to offset the reward points needed to repair the 'Unknown Curse'. This enhancement has been added to the Main God's enhancement pool.]

“Patch…” Alice looked up at the girl floating in the pillar of light.

"Alice, our knowledge is still stored in our brains. Don't waste precious money on something we can easily retrieve with time!"

“Understood.” Alice nodded emphatically, replying to the large sphere of light in the plaza. “God, choose option two! No need to retain the enhancements!”

An even stronger beam of light descended, its rich golden radiance completely enveloping Patchouli. Countless tiny golden particles merged into her body, while many dark gray substances, resembling mist or strands of hair stuck together, were extracted from Patchouli's body and quickly dissipated within the beam of light, like snowflakes under the blazing sun.

Alice secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Then she turned her head to look at Zheng Zha, who was angrily charging towards her.

"Margot Royd! What are you up to now!" He glared at Patchouli, who was floating in the pillar of light, and angrily swung his fist. "And who is this?"

“I’m cutting my losses,” Alice glanced at him and explained slowly. “This is Patchouli Knowledge. She’s someone important to me, and she’ll be your teammate in the future. She’s cursed, and simply repairing her body won’t cure her; the God of War has to remove the curse first.”

“If I don’t stop you, the God will deduct your reward points until you are penniless, and these reward points will be useless.”

"Uh... does that mean I should thank you?"

"What do you say?"

"Thank you... Did you think I would say that?!" Zheng Zha was almost going crazy. Several veins were bulging on his forehead, and his fists were clenched tightly as if he was about to punch someone. Fortunately, at this moment, a petite girl with a face as young as if she were under the legal age of majority ran over crying and hugged Zheng Zha, refusing to let go. This gave him a way out and he withdrew his fists.

"Alright, although I don't know exactly what we did, I'll just assume she's your conception for now. Everyone's been working so hard and must be tired... We've had a great success this time, but Zhang Jie..."

He looked intently at Alice.

“I think you might owe me an explanation, Margot Lloyd. Zhang Jie, and those newcomers… Even if you’re strong, I still need this reason. If you still consider us your comrades…” He shook his head vigorously and spoke loudly to the others.

"There are many doors around the Supreme God. Just pick one with a handle and hold it. Imagine the room you want, and you'll get a private room here with the Supreme God. We'll meet here tomorrow at noon. Everyone, get a good night's rest. Remember, don't exchange for anything other than the free baby-making service. That's all."

He took the girl's hand and walked towards his room without looking back. However, after taking two steps, he stopped and roared at the Supreme God.

"Give full-body healing to all the wounded who aren't currently being treated! Deduct the reward points from my account!"

Then the main god's healing beams descended, enveloping Zhan Lan, Saito Ichi, Zhang Heng, and the others. They then gradually awoke, their injuries healing at a visible pace.

He then went back to his room.

“This guy…” Alice pursed her lips.

Okay, I have to admit, Zhang Jie's judgment was right.

[This guy might not be the brightest, but his leadership and sense of responsibility far surpass mine. Oh well, being in the spotlight isn't my style anyway, so let's just let him be the team leader as Zhang Jie wishes.]

She lowered her gaze and saw Xiao Honglu standing under the main god's sphere of light, deep in thought. Zero nodded to her and then quietly left without a word.

Soon, everyone in the main hall, except for her, was in a relatively quiet state.

The pillar of light that healed the curse quietly extinguished, and she quickly stepped forward, catching Patchouli as she fell. At the same time, she summoned two humanoid figures, Shanghai and Penglai, and swiftly placed a heat-insulating and dust-removing barrier around them.

"Patch! How are you feeling? Are you all better?" Although Alice could clearly sense the disappearance of the curse, she still wanted to hear Patchouli's answer.

"Hmm...it's all right now." Patchouli raised her hands, squinted her eyes, and gently clenched her fists.

She repeated it, then looked at Alice.

"There are absolutely no problems now."

"That's great..." Alice let out a long breath, finally relaxing.

She took Patchouli's hand.

"It's good that you're alright... Now I can finally... Well, it's nothing."

"We still have plenty of time, let's find a place to rest first."

Section 8. Best Girlfriend, One Quilt!

Alice groggily opened her eyes. She raised her hand, but felt an uncomfortable pressure on her chest. She struggled slightly, but her weakened body couldn't muster enough strength.

"Ah... I went too far." The girl thought to herself, trying to move her sleeping companion's legs and half of her body off her.

—It was all in vain.

"Patch, take your foot off!" She pushed hard.

"Hmm..." Patchouli, still immersed in her dream, seemed to sense something and turned over slightly, which only made the situation worse.

The girl's smooth little feet almost bumped into the tip of Alice's nose.

“…………” A vein bulged on her forehead.

I'll bite!

The next moment, Alice felt the world spin before her eyes. When she came to her senses, she had rolled off the bed, while Patchouli mumbled something unintelligible, turned over, curled up in a ball, and went back to sleep.

【Well, although the process wasn't ideal, at least I achieved my goal of getting up.】 Alice shook her head vigorously to clear her mind. She struggled to sit up, her still blurry eyes looking around.

"Where are my clothes?" Her gaze swept over a long skirt that looked like a mop.

Okay, I don't have any clothes.

Then at least put on your socks.

She picked up a pair of black stockings hanging by the bed and slowly put them on her left foot. However, when she tried to put on her right foot, the stockings, which already had some loose threads, tore in two with a 'rip' sound, and she could no longer put them on.

"…………"

"Why am I wearing socks?" She slapped her head hard and shook it from side to side. "I've gone too far, I've gone too far. I've really lost my mind this time."

She casually tossed the torn stockings aside and, wearing only a pair of black stockings, walked to the other side of the bed. Then she shouted towards the sky, "Set up a bathtub."

A huge bathtub immediately appeared before her eyes, filled with warm water shimmering with flower petals. Too lazy to think any further, she leaned forward and plunged in with a splash. She casually adjusted her position in the water, rolled over, and settled comfortably on the water's edge.

Her mind finally cleared up a bit.

You can't do that again next time.

She rubbed her head vigorously, then gestured with her free hand as she reached out from the water. Shanghai and Penglai appeared from some unknown corner, handing her the document she wanted.

—Her experimental entry notebook, which had been torn apart by the copy.

“Item Three, Genesis.” Alice slowly read aloud the few lines of ancient English she had written hundreds of years ago. “Items One and Two have been confirmed as impossible to achieve. Therefore, Item Three is set as the survival objective.”

"Abandon the independence of magic, package it as a branch of mechanical science and promote it in human society, so that our scholarship can continue to spread in this world. Let magic become an indispensable part of people's lives, and let the whole human society become the fertile ground for the inheritance of magic. This is the creation of our magicians."

She sighed softly and tossed the notebook back to Shanghai.

The magicians ultimately failed...

This entry was executed during the Second Industrial Revolution. Even if they abandoned the struggle and tried to democratize and streamline the magical items they had painstakingly developed, the tools created by magicians still couldn't integrate into human society. There are two reasons for this.

First, while magical artifacts might be more powerful, they were also much more expensive and less convenient to operate than ordinary machines. To fully master a magical artifact, a complete education was essential. However, at that time, ninety percent of the world's population was illiterate.

Secondly, centuries of conflict have created a complete antagonism between magicians and secular forces. Even if magicians surrendered, they would willingly submit to death as long as their academic traditions could be preserved. However, the choice of the church and the state remains one of ruthless extermination, leaving no future threat.

"Genesis... Magic is dead, what's the point of creating a new world? Besides, there's no magic there... It's better to just let those idiots die already, I'm too lazy to save that damn world." She rubbed her temples and squinted slightly.

Suddenly, she felt a soft touch behind her, and a warm breath brushed against her earlobe.

"Alice, giving up so easily isn't your style."

"Patchouli." Alice turned her head slightly, her earlobe quietly avoiding Patchouli's gently protruding tongue. "You can actually go back to sleep; it's still very early."

“How can I sleep when I see you troubled, Alice?” Patchouli said softly, stepping down from the tub and sitting down next to Alice. “We are bound by fate, and we should share everything.”

Those pale purple eyes gazed at her, like a gentle breeze, pushing open the door in her heart that would never have been locked for Patchouli.

“…I give up.” Alice pouted, her shoulders slumping. “I think I told you about the Demon Squad and my clone before. She left me a bunch of experimental projects before she left, including the one I hate the most.”

She waved, and Shanghai obediently flew over and unfolded the notebook in front of the two of them.

“Genesis…?” Patchouli frowned slightly. “This plan…we simply don’t have the space to implement it, the venue, the apprentices, and the materials. Wait, you mean through the Supreme God…?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean.” Alice nodded. “To carry out this experiment, we need a civilization that is clean enough, but whose technology is inferior to that of outsiders. Of course, it has to be Earth. Ideally, the other side should not be prejudiced against magic, and it would be best if they had a powerful external enemy, so that they would be willing to unite all forces that can provide assistance.”

"We don't have as much time as before; the interval between reincarnations is only ten days. We also can't exchange for too much time. So we can't choose worlds from the Middle Ages, the Early Modern Period, the Middle Ages, or the Enlightenment. Instead, we have to choose a world that is advanced enough but hasn't yet reached the point of venturing into space."

"Resident Evil and Ju-on are both worlds like this. They have no magical heritage, their world is in crisis, and we can spread those past legacies within them. Let those dead magicians... rest in peace."

“But you’re hesitating,” Patchouli pointed out her unusual behavior. “You should have other options.”

"...Yes, I have another option."

Alice said calmly.

"Patch, do you remember what I talked to you about past lives before?"

"Six hundred... to be precise, six hundred and seventy-nine years. In a vast and prosperous country, there once lived an unnamed fool who could not grasp his own future, nor his own life."

"It lives like an ant before disaster strikes, unknown and insignificant. And when disaster strikes, it dies like an ant, silently."

"Meaningless, worthless."

"But that world... might need to be saved."

Section Nine: Remnants of the Past

Alice still remembers the last few seconds of her past life. She saw the enormous robot hurtling through the air, unleashing devastating lasers and flames. Countless people screamed and ran, and she was swept up in the chaos.

Naturally, he died. Not from artillery fire, but from being trampled to death by a frenzied mob. From beginning to end, he hadn't accomplished anything of value or significance.

To live like an ant, and to die like an ant.

When she awoke, she found herself as Alice Margotrovid—a wealthy young woman filled with curiosity about the unknown and mysterious, who had given up all her wealth to become an apprentice to the famous alchemist Paracelsus, all in order to come into contact with the legendary and mysterious magic.

She knew perfectly well she wasn't particularly intelligent, but her foundational knowledge of physics and chemistry from her past life, along with her experience far beyond her current era, allowed her to catch Paracelsus's eye. Soon, she went from apprentice to assistant, and then from assistant to a fully-fledged witch. She met many friends and made many enemies, but as time passed and the world changed, of all the magicians she knew, only she and Patchouli remained alive.

Her vast future crushed her insignificant past as she lived past her first century. Her past life was nothing more than a vague dream; she didn't care what her name was or what her face looked like. Although fragments of memories occasionally surfaced from the depths of her mind, they could no longer sway her in the slightest.

She is Alice, Alice Margotrovid. Aside from Patchouli, she cares only about the magic she has spent centuries honing. And Patchouli feels the same way.

It was precisely for this reason that, when the witch hunt ended and the demonic path was nearly extinct, the two of them resolutely stepped into the deep-sea ruins, which had been marked as a forbidden area by countless sages. Three times their hearts were corrupted, and seven times they died, all for the sake of bringing a glimmer of hope to the declining demonic path.

Naturally, they failed. The defeated could only drag their wounds along in Gensokyo, barely clinging to life, awaiting their destined end in despair. But then, that long-forgotten dream resurfaced before her eyes. And the cause was a movie, a movie made by outsiders.

——【Transformers】