Great, we're doomed now!

That's right, Ye Shou and Gui are together.

Although there is a difference in age and status between the two, it's only a difference of two or three years, and the amount of wealth cannot stop the restless heart of a young person.

It was at the archery competition that Gui saw Ye Shou in his kyudo uniform. She was attracted by his focused profile as he drew his bow and shot an arrow, and before she knew it, she was deeply impressed. It was as if her heart was pierced by the arrow that hit the bullseye as the bowstring vibrated.

Later, Kei entered the same high school and joined the archery club. The two gradually developed feelings for each other as they spent time together.

What changed their relationship was the national competition. Ye Shou fell into a slump because he was unable to participate due to injury, but Gui was always there to encourage and support him. Later, Ye Shou went to university, but he kept in touch with Gui.

After Gui graduated from high school, the two came out to their families.

Kuze's parents did not approve of their relationship, believing that Ye Shou should marry a girl of equal social standing, while Kei was just an ordinary person from a working-class background. They even threatened to cut off Ye Shou's living expenses.

Even so, Ye Shou did not give up. He decisively left the Jiu family and started living with Gui using his past savings.

"It's just like a shoujo manga," Gui nestled in Ye Shou's arms. "Such a beautiful story...it really could happen~"

"Shoujo manga..." Ye Shou frowned.

I was wondering before why "My Story with Kei" felt so familiar, like I'd seen it somewhere before... Now I understand, it's a shoujo manga!

"It just feels a bit off."

"Hmm? So you're still feeling unwell?"

Gui looked up and said, "You should get some rest. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. We can definitely handle the loan together."

"Loan?" Ye Shou looked down and met Gui's gaze.

“Yes.” Gui blinked his big eyes. “The loan for this house... Although we might have to be more frugal from now on, I’m used to hard times after my father’s business failed. Don’t worry, we’ll definitely get through this together!”

Because her mother abandoned her bankrupt father, Gui harbors deep-seated resentment and hates those who cannot share hardships. Therefore, she doesn't look down on the down-on-his-luck Ye Shou at all, and even somewhat enjoys this kind of life.

The man's expression suddenly changed.

loan?

Careful budgeting?

What are you saying? I don't understand!

A tremendous sense of incongruity overwhelmed his mind, and all sorts of flaws that he hadn't noticed before suddenly came flooding back, along with a flood of memories.

"..."

Why aren't you saying anything?

Gui looked at Ye Shou with a puzzled expression, while Ye Shou's expression made her very confused and even a little uneasy.

Because this man seemed...somewhat guilty?

"Feel sorry."

The words I least wanted to hear came out of Ye Shou's mouth: "I have to do this... In order not to hurt you, there needs to be a strong enough impact to shake this dream."

"Ugh?"

Gently lifting the girl's delicate chin, Ye Shou slowly lowered his head. As that face drew closer, Gui, who should have been with Ye Shou, tensed up, her entire body stiffening like a statue, waiting for those lips to transfer their warmth.

call!

Everything vanished like smoke, and Ye Shou suddenly opened his eyes in the darkness.

Almost instinctively, he swung his arm and slashed with his longsword, severing another snake head. The iron-hard scales offered no protection at this moment.

"Roar!"

With only its last head remaining, the Yamata no Orochi turned to flee, but Ye Shou leaped forward, his long sword piercing through its head and pinning it firmly to the ground!

"Humph!"

Having subdued the ancient beast, Ye Shou didn't stop, but immediately switched to blue—

[Super Power Form]!

Buzz!

Azure energy ripples swept across the entire space, as if dispersing the mist. A magic circle, like a kaleidoscope, appeared in the sky, its patterns constantly changing, and it was faintly facing Ye Shou!

He glanced at it only once, then raised his hand and released eight parts of his light wheel—

Clang!

The magic circle was severed without any doubt, and at the same time, a large number of images flashed through Ye Shou's mind:

Sometimes, together with Lucy, they would transform the entire cyberpunk world, including Night City, into a garden world, freeing everyone's lives from the control of capital and returning them to normal society.

Sometimes he acts as a business tycoon, conquering new territories in the business world. However, when he tries to acquire a small company, he is thwarted by the heir, Asuna Yuki, and begins a battle of wits and courage with her.

The storylines of the shrine maiden Miko and the demon king Chika all invariably develop into romance manga-like plots.

In that brief moment, Ye Shou seemed to have gone through several cycles of reincarnation!

-

"Impossible! He broke free so quickly!"

The Shadow Mage stared at the crystal ball, his voice filled with utter shock: "That's a spell created based on the 'Six Paths of Reincarnation.' If you get even slightly addicted, your soul will be lost within it... Three seconds, no, only a little over two seconds... You broke through in the blink of an eye?"

How could that be... Does that mean he doesn't have normal human desires?

Little did it know, it wasn't that Ye Shou lacked desire, but rather that this spell had been compromised from the very beginning:

Its principle is to use the concept of "reincarnation" to reflect various possibilities. Although it is expressed in the form of dreams, if one is captured, the soul will wander in it forever, which is equivalent to entering a false world of reincarnation.

However, Ye Shou's will is hard to shake, and the "dream" that belonged to Ye Shou was shattered before it could be successfully constructed.

Subsequently, following the entanglement of cause and effect, the dreams of people who had crossed paths with Ye Shou were projected onto him, attempting to use the perceptions of others to overwrite Ye Shou's thoughts...

As expected, it failed because it felt too out of place.

"No, this man is too dangerous; we cannot confront him head-on."

The Shadow Mage was pondering where to go to avoid trouble. After all, this was the "Eight Great Hells," a folded spacetime secret realm with a complex network of passages, making escape relatively easy.

As long as the green hills remain, there's no worry about running out of firewood!

Just then, it subconsciously glanced at the crystal ball again—

"!"

Its scarlet eyes were glaring fiercely at it.

—He made eye contact with Ye Shou!

"What the hell?!"

The Shadow Mage was shocked and casually tossed the crystal ball away. The next moment, a strange energy fluctuation was released from the crystal ball, and a cracking sound was heard as it shattered into countless pieces like glass.

And these countless sparkling points seemed to form a thin mirror-like surface—

A sacred blue figure stepped out of the mirror, and the moment its foot touched the ground, time and space seemed to vibrate like a string on a musical instrument.

Whether it was a trick of the mind or not, the Shadow Mage felt as if he could hear some rousing music playing in his ears, something like "You can't survive without fighting"... but when he listened carefully, he couldn't hear it anymore.

"you!"

The Shadow Mage snapped out of his daze and quickly raised his staff, unleashing a fierce burst of flames, which were blocked by a barrier summoned by the giant with a wave of his hand.

"I don't really care if Hell is invaded, and I won't be too angry even if you go and refine the Ten Thousand Soul Banner. After all, you're the villain, so it's normal for you to do bad things—but this behavior is a bit too much, isn't it?"

The silver-blue giant had a half-smile on its face and didn't seem threatening, but Ye Shou's invisible aura was so immense that the Shadow Mage couldn't help but retreat.

"How...how did you break free?"

The Shadow Mage finally couldn't help but say, "Illusions are all projections of the human heart. Logically speaking, the closer someone is to you, the more likely they are to make you lower your guard."

"nonsense!"

Ye Shou immediately unleashed a Zapelion!

"How could I possibly give up my harem and go for a solo route!"

-

-

P.S.: Actually, I've already thought of a fantasy story for each female character... but writing them all out would be too wordy. I'll write a side story later if I have the chance.

Chapter 369: Who's Darker, Me or Me? (4K)

Wait a minute! The plot shouldn't be going like this!

You should have exerted all your strength, exhausted yourself, and finally overcome all obstacles to reach me with the help or even sacrifice of your companions, and then I would stand on high and laugh at your weakness... Isn't this a bit strange?

The Shadow Mage stared blankly at Ye Shou, who had seemingly traveled through time and space as if it were a joke. He was completely stunned and finally realized that his strategic judgment was completely wrong. The opponent's strength was obviously higher than that of a normal Giant of Light.

At the same time, it also realized one thing:

Gatanothor definitely didn't consider him a confidant!

As a great monster born from the concepts of "shadow" and "the darkness of the human heart," the Shadow Mage inadvertently glimpsed the ancient gods due to his own talent. Although Gatanothor was not awakened in his slumber, even a wisp of his thought possessed sufficient wisdom, and his unconscious "radiation" would affect many things.

The Shadow Mage was deeply fascinated by the powerful evil god, to the point of worship, and was willing to become its lackey. Gatanothor's malice towards humanity was endless, and even in his sleep, he was given vague instructions to destroy humanity.

The Shadow Mage acquired its power and knowledge almost entirely through this channel, which allowed it to quickly surpass its original level and become a rare and powerful demon (it is actually of the same race as Obik, and its true level is more powerful, but still limited).

Not only did it infiltrate the deepest part of the underworld, successfully plunging the Queen of the Underworld into an indescribable and terrifying dream, but it also slowly corrupted the entire hell. Before long, it will be able to usurp the highest authority and further invade other parts of the underworld.

This made it incredibly confident!

It was initially confident in its invasion of Ye Shou, believing that even if it could not win in a one-on-one fight, it would surely be able to successfully snipe Ye Shou by setting up numerous obstacles.

According to what it saw in its "dream," the Warriors of Light have limited energy and cannot sustain themselves in the dark for long. Although Ye Shou (Bayeli) is somewhat special, he is not significantly different from the other giants.

The fact that the giants joined forces to defeat the Ancient Gods is highly questionable, because according to the Ancient Gods' memories, they had the absolute upper hand in that battle. Having destroyed human civilization and achieved their goals, they then went underground to slumber.

It didn't lose, it just didn't want to play anymore—this is the memory of the ancient gods.

Among them, it was particularly impressed by Bayeri, believing that he was stronger than the other giants, but still a firefly compared to himself.

The Shadow Mage believed he had already extracted a great deal of divine power from the ancient gods. Based on this assessment, he should be no weaker than Ye Shou, and might even be slightly stronger!

The other side didn't bring any other giants, just a few ghosts and gods of unknown origin, while our side had a whole bunch of powerful hellish monsters and could even control the Queen of the Underworld. There was no reason to be afraid at all.

Therefore, the choice of Shadow Technique is very simple: "Battle"!

And now—