Girl in the Box: Please tell me why I was reincarnated as a mimic monster!

“I see…” Li nodded. “That’s true… I haven’t used this skill since I got it…”

Since the "Goddess's Favor" skill was changed to "Goddess's Agent," Li lost the skill's previous effects, such as doubling experience points. Because it was used as a passive skill, it remained in a state of constant operation. Since the "Goddess's Agent" skill wasn't described in detail, Li skipped over managing it.

“There’s still plenty of time…” Xuanze glanced outside. “Since we have plenty of time, why don’t you try out this Goddess Substitute skill now? I don’t believe it’s just a useless skill with a name. Your support skill can control and command most skills, right? Then use that to check on the Goddess Substitute.”

An agent is someone who acts as a proxy outside of one's primary job. As the goddess's agent, one should have more authority, and perhaps this authority doesn't even fall within the scope of skills. Xuanze intends to find out.

"Oh..." Rhetoric activated his magic eye, "Hmm... let me see... activate the skill..."

Skill: Goddess Proxy, Activating... Activation complete.

Familiar subtitles popped up in his field of vision. Li couldn't remember the last time he had seen such subtitles, so he wanted to try to talk to them and see how intelligent this thing that seemed like an artificial intelligence system could be.

Magic Eye, tell me what this skill does?

"Started."

A string of words floated before its eyes. It seemed unable to decipher them. After activating the Goddess Proxy skill, Li felt that she hadn't changed much, just like usual, but subconsciously she felt that she could do something now.

"How is it?" Xuanze asked. "Has anything changed?"

"Nothing has changed..." Li tossed her hair, "and I haven't felt anything particularly noticeable."

“Hmm…” Xuanze nodded, saying indifferently, “Anyway, try out all your skills first. Can you see your own data? It would be even better if you could see something like damage numbers, that can be used as a reference.”

Xuanze was thinking that the direct effect of this skill might be to increase attack power, so he urged Li to try it out with magic. Li obediently did as he was told, but activating the skill did not affect the power of her magic in the slightest. Besides that, Li and he tried all sorts of other things.

For example, they tested a series of possibilities, such as improving their own attributes, adding extra skills, and so on. The final conclusion was that there was no change, not a single change.

“…It really is a useless skill…” Li and Xuanze said in unison.

The two collapsed wearily into the pile of pillows in the tent. The series of experiments they had just conducted had almost completely exhausted their patience and energy, and now they had no intention of continuing; it was pointless. Throughout this time, Ning remained silent, simply watching the two continue their experiments with a sense of detachment.

"Ugh... I'm exhausted..." Xuanze complained. "It feels like I've used up all the sleep I took today."

"Are you a power bank?" Li teased him.

"No, but this is really infuriating." Xuanze sat up. "What was the point of spending so much time researching such a stupid skill?"

"Perhaps... it's to talk about myself?" Li's tone was as if she was trying to convince herself to give up.

Just as the two were about to reach a conclusion, Ning suddenly spoke up.

“Li,” Ning got straight to the point, “use the power of the Time-Space Dragon King and see if there are any unique changes.”

“Power…” Li Dao said, “We already tried it just now, didn’t we?”

“You’re testing in the wrong place,” Ning pointed out. “Since she’s the goddess’s agent, Li must already possess something extraordinary.”

"Alright then..." Li said reluctantly, "Then... let's try one more time."

A silver magical light shone, forming the emblem of the Time-Space Dragon King. Xuanze bathed in the emblem's silver light, looking like he was waiting to see a show. He had already given up hope on this skill, but he was quite interested to see Ning speechless. Meanwhile, this was also Li's last attempt, filled with anticipation. As usual, she activated her powers, checking for the presence or absence of certain things.

Li shook his head and said, "Nothing has changed."

“No,” Ning said, “the usage is wrong. Try using them together.”

"Overlay...?" Ning was confused about what he was talking about. "...I'll give it a try."

The Demon Eye combines the powers of the Goddess's Agent and the Time-Space Dragon King through skill stacking.

"Understood. Skill analysis in progress..."

Unsure of what Ning was talking about, she left everything to the Demon Eye and awaited its reply. Then, the Demon Eye gave a surprising response…

Analysis complete. Time-Space Controller lv.ex + Goddess Agent lv.ex, combination complete. Time-Space Controller lv.ex gains additional ability: domain expansion…

A series of dazzling new explanations appeared before Li's eyes, especially one of which surprised him so much that he was speechless. Ning and Xuanze looked at the astonished Li with puzzlement.

"What's going on? Aren't you going to tell me?" Xuanze sensed something was amiss.

"Uh... how should I put it..." Li racked her brains for a moment, unsure how to explain it best, "Well... Ning seems to be right... because it really worked, the effect of my powers has been greatly enhanced, and it seems I've gained some new abilities that I didn't have before..."

"It's like having administrator privileges granted..." Xuanze was speechless.

“…Um, I have to tell you something.” Li felt she had to tell Xuanze this; Xuanze had the right to know. “You might not believe it…I can now open a portal to Earth…”

"————?!"

Neither Ning nor Xuanze, no matter how composed they were, showed expressions of utter astonishment when they heard Li's words. What did Li's words mean? They meant that she possessed the power to travel through time and space, and that even something as distant as returning to Earth was now within her grasp. Both of them wore extremely complex expressions; this was arguably the most shocking thing ever heard.

The Goddess Proxy possesses abilities akin to administrator privileges. They've only glimpsed the tip of the iceberg regarding the full extent of this skill. Its true power lies in its ability to be stacked on top of other skills, unlocking their previously restricted capabilities. The true extent of its power is beyond their comprehension. To give an analogy, it's like a Minecraft player switching to Creative Mode.

Before figuring out this skill, Xuanze could have dealt with this silly girl, but not now. Who knows what unimaginable abilities she gained through this skill? Everyone remained silent for a long time, each with their own thoughts on the matter. Ning seemed troubled by something, while Xuanze's face betrayed no hint of his thoughts. Li's current concern was simple: was he being treated like a monster?

After a long while, the terrifying silence was broken by a loud noise coming from outside the tent. The three of them immediately stood up and rushed out of the tent. The blood-red moon was getting closer and closer to the ground. The scene was truly spectacular. Li was so frightened that he couldn't speak, but he also felt an indescribable excitement.

"Heh, looks like it's about time." Xuanze revealed a smug smile. "Alright, our night talk is over. It's time to get going."

"Wow!! That's so!!! Spectacular!!!"

The doctor let out a shout like a child.

Ning noticed that the surrounding gravity was changing, and some small stones began to float. Ah, so that's why it was only now that they could travel to the Demon Realm. Xuanze silently put the tent back into the Divine Weapon Catalog, then gently pushed off the ground and leaped into the air, allowing his body to fully experience the effects of gravity.

At this moment, Xuanze floated in mid-air without falling. Li and Ning looked at each other and followed Xuanze's footsteps, flying into the air together. This feeling of floating was really wonderful. It was very novel for Li, who usually flew with wings. Xuanze flew in the lead, leading the two of them to the center of the blood-red moon.

Just as Xuanze had said, the moon was hollow in the middle, which was the territory of the entire Demon Realm. Having the whole moon as their own felt strangely exhilarating. From this vantage point, they could see the entire Demon Realm laid out before them. Compared to the world on Earth, this place seemed far more fantastical. At this moment, they were filled with excitement for the new adventure that was about to begin on this unknown territory.

Ning, who spends every day with her, only glanced at her before knowing what she was thinking.

“Xuanze,” Ning asked, “are you familiar with the condition of the dragon veins here?”

"Huh? A dragon vein?" Xuanze, who was floating in mid-air, turned over. "I don't know the specifics either. As for dragon veins... I don't think there would be such a thing in a place so far from the ground."

"Who knows?" Ning shrugged and suggested, "Since we're here to set up a portal, I think we should show it to the outside world and check the situation. I don't want it to break down after we've set it up."

“You don’t need me to tell you,” Xuanze sneered. “You’re all unaware of the situation in the Demon Realm, aren’t you? The environment here is several times more vicious than on the surface. Simply put, this place exists solely for killing. If you want to set up a portal, I suggest you choose a better location. The situation here isn’t up to us. I don’t know what might happen. I wouldn’t be surprised if they just smashed a portal. You should choose a better spot to avoid wasting time setting it up again.”

“That’s how it is,” Ning turned to Li, who was beaming with joy. “We’ll have to travel a bit more, but it’s best to keep it under a day. We won’t have time to go to any more places after that, understand, Li?”

"Okay!!"

Li agreed without hesitation, seemingly delighted to have a day to explore the Demon Realm. Ning cast a grateful glance at Xuanze, who grunted twice but didn't reply. He knew Li would soon regret her decision; he knew perfectly well how wicked the Demon Realm was, and his cooperation was merely a desire to see others suffer.

"Let's hurry up," Xuanze reminded us. "We don't have time to waste here. We can only float for about ten minutes. After that, the Demon Realm will rise again. If we miss this chance, we'll have to wait another half day."

"Huh? Is that even possible?!"

"That's why I emphasized that the Demon Realm isn't a place you can just go to whenever you want, although coming out is quite easy."

"She's already gone."

The three's one-day trip to the demon world began.

Chapter 25 Demon Realm

"Ugh... Poisonous swamp..."

"Hmm, this toxicity is really quite potent..."

"Huh? What's wrong? Poison swamps are the most common terrain around here."

The three landed on the ground and immediately encountered a problem. Their feet were on a sticky, slippery surface. Gas rising from the ground caused bubbles to form, which burst due to the high internal pressure, releasing a purplish-black liquid and mist. Frankly, the toxic gas was chilling. Their shoes were being dissolved by the swamp, and their clothes, which had been contaminated with the gas and water, were instantly torn to shreds.

Knowing this all along, Xuanze had wrapped his entire body in magic to protect himself before landing, and he hadn't told Li and Ning about it. The two also knew that even if they asked, Xuanze would probably just say it wasn't a big deal; this guy was truly difficult to get along with in every way.

However, dealing with this situation was not a problem for them. Both of them were quite skilled at controlling magic. Li used her power to rewind time and space two minutes before their clothes, and then used magic to cover their clothes to prevent the poison gas and water from coming into contact with them. The two of them hovered in mid-air using their own methods, and Xuanze looked at Li's reaction.

"Wow...this is really amazing..."

Li was currently using her magic eye to observe the swamp. The situation in this poisonous swamp was far more serious than she had imagined, possessing corrosive effects of level 150 and potent poison of level 130. No wonder even Ning's meticulously crafted clothes had been dissolved; this level of abnormal attribute was indeed beyond the resistance of ordinary fabrics. Although she felt excited, at least she still retained her rationality and wouldn't do anything outrageous or foolish.

“Heh,” Xuanze snorted twice, “You two are quite calm. As far as I know, there’s no such level of toxicity and corrosiveness on the ground. I thought it would scare you two right away, but well, this situation is within my expectations.”

"I knew you were doing this on purpose..." Ning shrugged helplessly. "This kind of thing can't do anything to us. If you want to scare us, this is too childish."

"Heh, let's just say that's how it is," Xuanze didn't argue. "By the way, you'd better keep a close eye on her. If she runs around like a curious child and causes any trouble, it'll be a real problem..."

“That’s for sure…” Ning’s gaze never left Li during their conversation.

Judging from the series of events just now, this place is indeed dangerous, but not dangerous enough to harm the three of them. The problem is that if something goes wrong, it will be extremely troublesome and difficult to handle. We can only wait and see what this person does. If problems arise, it will likely take a lot of time to deal with these unnecessary issues.

Although we were given a day to explore, we won't go everywhere. We can't just wander around in the wild all the time, or we'll run into all sorts of annoying situations. As for where we'll go, we don't know yet.

"Li," Ning called out to Li, "Don't waste time here. It's just a poisonous swamp, isn't it? There's no need to study it so deeply."

"Uh? You're right!"

Li then realized that her attention had been completely focused on something unnecessary. She chuckled and returned to the two of them. After she rejoined the group, Xuanze continued forward.

"Did you find anything interesting?" Ning asked. "You seemed quite interested in looking at that swamp earlier, was there something there?"

"Well, not really," Li shook her head. "It's just that I think, as expected of the Demon Realm, it's really amazing."

"Is it really that powerful? I don't feel anything." Ning wasn't particularly impressed.

"Well... it's normal that you don't understand..." Li smiled wryly. "I often hear that person talk to me about the world in the game. Although it's not realistic, it's something I've longed for since I've been bedridden for years. I'm really happy to be able to come to this other world, even though I didn't know it would be in this form. Genze, you feel the same way, right? Although you're wary, you're very interested in everything about this world, aren't you?"

"Who knows?" Xuanze remained noncommittal.

"I'm actually super excited right now..." Ri's face showed an undisguised excitement. "Just thinking that this is the Demon King's base, and seeing all these dangerous things, makes me excited. It really feels so good!"

“You won’t think that way after you stay here longer,” Xuanze poured cold water on her. “This isn’t a place suitable for human habitation. Excitement is fine, but you need to be realistic. Besides, we’re not here to play around, are we?”

"Eh... of course!"

Li turned her face away guiltily, cold sweat pouring down her face. Her actions actually made it easier for people to understand her thoughts, and it was thanks to her easy-going nature that the two of them could coordinate with her pace.

“If we’re going to drag this out,” Xuanze said, “we might as well set up the portal first. Once we’ve finished our business, it’s none of my business how you want to explore the Demon Realm.”

"Ha...you're right..."

Xuanze was too lazy to continue cooperating with her; it was too much of a waste of time. He figured it was better to resolve their main problem first. He didn't have the time or energy to waste on these two fooling around. After Xuanze pointed it out, Li's remaining rationality fought back against her desires. She quickly realized her mistake and then fell into a deep dilemma.

"Let's hurry up..." After weighing the pros and cons and prioritizing the tasks, Li decided to finish the important business first.

Ning respected her choice, so she didn't interrupt or blame Xuanze. Li activated her Demon Eye, combining it with the Goddess's Proxy skill to unlock all its permissions. In an instant, she gained access to information about the entire Demon Realm, including things she couldn't know before. It felt like a computer finally connecting to the internet.

Her vision suddenly broadened considerably, but... wouldn't such a skill have any side effects? It's definitely powerful, but Li is very worried that this skill might suddenly backfire on her, which would be troublesome. She wonders if she could use this skill to contact the goddess and ask her all the questions at once...

"Our current location... seems to be on the easternmost side of the Demon Realm, right?"

“Yes, that’s right,” Xuanze nodded. “We’re on the easternmost edge of the Demon Realm, in the Venomous Swamp. Did your demonic eyes detect this information so quickly?”

"No," Li explained, "It's thanks to the Goddess's Proxy skill that it feels like I'm cheating..."

"In that case," Xuanze asked, "can your demonic eyes see the dragon veins now?"

Considering that Li now has more things to do after gaining administrator privileges, Xuanze wondered if she could use the skill known as the Demon Eye to see the dragon vein. If she could see it, it would save her a lot of trouble.

"Let me try……"

Keyword: Dragon Vein.

Li input the keyword "dragon vein" into his Demon Eye and tried to search for the status of the dragon veins in the Demon Realm using the mini-map function. Soon, the mini-map changed, with messy green lights appearing on it. The distribution of these green lights was very chaotic and constantly changing. After his gaze lingered on these green lights for a while, the Demon Eye provided an explanation.

Dragon veins.

You can actually see it...

I don't even know what to say anymore. I feel like ever since I learned about the effects of using the goddess's agent, a lot of things have lost their fun.

“I can see it,” Li told the two truthfully, “There really is a dragon vein here in the Demon Realm… but how did this dragon vein get here…”

According to everyone's idea, this core is equivalent to the Earth's core, and the dragon vein is like underground magma. Once it leaves the ground to a certain distance, it will no longer have any effect. But no one expected that there would be a dragon vein here. Maybe this idea can be completely overturned. These unseen things are really hard to understand.

"Can you see the dragon vein?" Xuanze and Ning pondered for a moment. "Li, tell me what it looks like. I don't need to go into too much detail."

"Even if you ask me to describe it..." Li said with difficulty, "they don't have any distribution pattern, how am I supposed to explain it to you..."

“You only need to be able to see these,” Ning added. “Xuanze wants you to see what the dragon veins look like and, by the way, distinguish them.”

"Well..." Li thought for a moment, "Some parts are thick and some are thin, this should be the amount of magic power transported. There are dragon veins all over the Demon Realm...that's pretty impressive..."

"Let's assume that for now," Xuanze said. "Li, tell me about the places where the dragon veins seem to be the strongest."

"Hmm... Demon King's Castle, Ancient Forest, Abyss of Sloth, Wrathful Hell, Nightmare Pillars..."

"Alright, stop talking..."

Before Li could finish speaking, Xuanze interrupted her, because the pattern was too easy to understand. Apart from the Demon King's City, the places Li had mentioned were all the worst places in the Demon Realm. In other words, the dragon veins were too strong, causing all sorts of chaos in those places...

"What's wrong?" Li asked when he saw Xuanze's face turn ashen.

"What else?" Xuanze covered his face and said, "You probably don't know, these places are some of the most dangerous places in the Demon Realm. It's impossible for people to live there. Even the demons stay away from there. If you set up the teleportation gate in those places, I estimate that it will be destroyed by the various things that happen there in less than a week."

"Is it that scary...?"