Tokyo Heart Thief's Daily Life

In front of the other Phantom Thieves, Kamoshida's twisted desires have dissipated.

His shadow was crawling at everyone's feet, and he was dying at this moment.

The palace's secret treasure rolled to Xing's feet and was picked up by her.

The crown returned to its original form, which was of course the Olympic gold medal.

"[...Please, give it back to me...]"

Kamoshida's shadow sobbed quietly, his attitude completely different from before.

Most of his desires were eliminated by Luo Zhen's armor-piercing bullet, and he returned to the starting point.

But even with the little residue left, his desire was still struggling, longing for that treasure:

"[This is all I have... Without that treasure, I'll become a worthless country bumpkin again... No one will even look at me; everyone will despise me... I don't want to go back, I really don't want to go back!]"

"...That's just your imagination, scumbag."

Xing avoided his dirty hands and retreated back to Luo Zhen with a cat-like step.

But there was still a trace of pity in her eyes, and she felt sad for Kamoshida, who was only thinking about status:

"You're an athlete after all, and you're clearly much better than the average person. It's one thing for you to not be proud of your status, but you keep saying you're nothing... Apologize to every athlete in the world."

Sakamoto Ryuji: "And to be honest. Although I really want to kill you, it was indeed my fault that I picked a fight with you."

After the battle, Ryuji was surprisingly calm, and didn't even have the slightest thought of venting violence towards Kamoshida's shadow.

He just looked at the poor creature at his feet and sighed heavily:

"It's really wrong to hit someone violently, not to mention I'm shooting myself in the foot. Before I met a scumbag like you, I also thought that as long as I continued to practice track and field, I would definitely succeed and no one would be my opponent."

"I must have been inflated back then, almost becoming the same jerk as you. But I was no match for you. I started the fight, but ended up losing miserably and even having my leg broken... I gave in to my impulses, letting my emotions run wild, and ended up hurting myself. There were many ways to resist a wicked teacher like you, but I chose the dumbest one. That's the lesson I learned from you."

Luo Zhen patted Ryuji's shoulder, receiving a shy smile in response.

Luo Zhen also looked down at him:

"Take responsibility for your tardiness and accept your punishment. Come to school tomorrow and confess all your crimes."

"The investigation will likely take a long time. Remember to expose all implicated groups and stakeholders. This is your responsibility. Don't let this venerable gold medal be humiliated again."

"[...I understand. I'll go...I'm sorry. I'm really sorry...]"

The sobbing shadow completely dissipated and returned to its owner's spiritual world.

Shadows don't lie.

The guilt that Kamoshida had been hiding for a long time finally got the upper hand at this moment, making him feel deeply remorseful for the mistakes he had made over the years.

This must be the correct result.

The members of the Phantom Thieves looked at each other, all smiling with relief at having accomplished a great task.

Boom boom boom...!

When the sound of the entire castle collapsing came, Luo Zhen belatedly cried out, "Ah!"

"The palace is about to self-destruct. Let's leave quickly. If we are buried in a palace without its core, who knows what will happen."

Takamaki An: "There's such a setting?! Why didn't you tell me earlier! (?>﹏

Everyone quickly ran, shouting, and entered the settlement screen!

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After a moment, the group returned to reality breathlessly.

Luo Zhen can actually use the [Mental Suicide Method] to return to reality at any time, and he can also bring other people around him back with him.

But it was a rare opportunity, so he kept it a secret and ran back with the others using the navigation app.

Everyone ran back to the reality in the dark alley in front of the gate of Shujin Academy, which was the original coordinates for entering the palace.

Everyone in the group was still in shock and quickly leaned against the wall to catch their breath and rest.

"That really scared me... Do we have to do a Temple Run every time we take out the bad guys' palace? This is really heartbreaking... Huh?"

Xing, who was fanning her face, was suddenly stunned and looked at what she was holding in her hand.

After confirming that it was a gold medal, and that it had the Olympic pattern and year clearly printed on it, she jumped up in fright!

"What the hell is this?! An Olympic gold medal? A real thing?!... We said we stole the palace's secret treasure, but it turns out we didn't just steal it in the mental sense, we actually stole it?!"

"What should we do? What if someone finds out? Wouldn't we really be committing a theft? This one-of-a-kind thing..."

Luo Zhen: "Calm down Anzu. That's not the real thing, it's just a replica of what's inside Kamoshida."

Luo Zhen waved his hand in front of Xing's face, soothing her like he was training a small animal.

75. Guitar Hero and "I Don't Want to Lose"

"Secret treasures are the crystallization of the hall master's desires, and they are all things in their spirits. But perhaps because they are so crystallized, these secret treasures can actually be stolen and brought into reality."

Luo Zhen explained to Gao Juan Xing the Olympic gold medal in her hand, and confirmed that it was definitely not the real thing.

Now the real gold medal must still be kept in Kamoshida's own home, so there is no problem at all in terms of practical legal issues.

But Luo Zhen's explanation seemed quite simple at first glance.

But when she thought about it for a moment, Gao Juan's head started to burn:

"So you're saying this gold medal is just a replica brought back from another world. Did we really bring back Kamoshida's [Imagination]? ...Oh my god, isn't that too unreasonable?"

Yoshizawa Sumire: "Could this even be considered creating matter out of thin air? The material that makes up this gold medal didn't originally exist in reality? Did it just appear out of thin air?"

Apart from Luo Zhen, the only one present who had good academic performance, Sumire Yoshizawa, was also greatly shocked.

Luo Zhen also had the same reasoning as Sumire Yoshizawa, but he ultimately convinced himself:

"After all, we can both physically travel into the spiritual world. Perhaps matter and spirit are inherently interchangeable. We only took out a portion of Kamoshida's spirit, and his part did indeed disappear, so it was still an equivalent exchange (probably)."

"Anyway, don't worry about such trivial matters. If any of you want to keep this trophy, you can, but remember not to let outsiders see it. ...Ryuji, do you want it? As a commemoration of defeating Kamoshida."

Ugh~! Σ(っ°Д °;)っ

Although he looks like a blond delinquent boy, Ryuji Sakamoto is actually a simple and kind athlete.

Seeing Luo Zhen handing this hot potato-like gold medal to him, he quickly shook his head:

"No, no, no! This gold medal even has the year and event clearly written on it. Anyone knowledgeable can recognize it as Kamoshida's! Even if it's a high-quality counterfeit, how am I supposed to explain where it was forged? You're trying to kill me, boss!"

"That's fine."

Luo Zhen saw that no one wanted it, so he shrugged:

"Then leave it to me. I know a place that handles merchandise of unknown origin. Although the gold content of the medal isn't high, it should fetch a decent price as a high-end replica."

The proceeds from dealing with this [stolen goods] will be used for a celebration banquet. Luo Zhen's arrangement was quickly approved by all employees.

Things were simple after that. Luo Zhen concluded again:

"Everyone has worked hard. Go home and have a good rest today, and wait for the results."

"What happened with the Phantom Thief's heart-stealing, and Kamoshida's repentance, everyone will witness it with their own eyes tomorrow."

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Afterwards, as usual, Luo Zhen sent the Fangze sisters back home.

Before arriving at their house, Luo Zhen took the initiative to pull them both into the alley and hugged and kissed them separately.

"Hmm~?"

Yoshizawa Sumire lifted one leg in ecstasy, enjoying her sister's smirking gaze for a long time.

Yoshizawa Kasumi once again took the initiative to press on Luo Zhen, her body pressed against her lover and said coquettishly:

"I really hope the weekend comes soon so we can finish training quickly. Then we can go to the hotel and have fun!"

"Now I feel full of strength, tingling and itchy all over! I will definitely break Luo Zhen's waist by sitting on it, I promise~?"

Luo Zhen looked amused. "You obviously don't have any experience, do you? Where did you learn that?... No, haven't you been reading a lot of night study materials these past two days?"

The mischievous twins stuck out their tongues and immediately ran out hand in hand, laughing.

Luo Zhen watched them go home, recalling the luxurious enjoyment he had just had, feeling filled with emotion.

At this moment, a familiar weight suddenly appeared on his shoulders.

Luo Zhen glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw Morgana washing his face with a cat's paw:

"Nyahaha~. Our leader is so lucky, he's truly a Phantom Thief! This has to be kept secret from the others, right? I get it, I get it~."

Luo Zhen: "Thank you for keeping it a secret. Morgana, is there something wrong? Why did you come to see me suddenly?"

Before this, Morgana basically followed Long Si, or wandered freely outside.

But today it followed Luo Zhen on purpose and got into his schoolbag.

This meow continued:

"I feel I must personally witness the Fool's journey. My mission is to assist you, a true Phantom Thief, so of course I'm always here to help!"

"And I'm really powerful. Look at my smooth fur! My soft paws! No lady could resist such temptation. I can help you, Captain, quickly start a conversation! Not to mention, I can also help you uncover the ladies' secrets and gather intelligence for you. Please call me your all-purpose assistant!"

Luo Zhen: "I don't need you to help me spy on other people's secrets... but it's okay."

No matter what the excuse is, it is a good thing to have a good brother who can talk to you at any time. Luo Zhen rubbed Morgana's head happily.

To celebrate Morgana's joining the group, Luo Zhen bought some extra ingredients on the way home and made a more sumptuous meal tonight.

When he returned home and introduced Morgana to Momoka, her eyes lit up as expected:

"Meow! We're finally going to have a pet at home? Can we let our pets go abroad like those UP hosts on video websites who have their own traffic generators?!"

"That's great╰(*°▽°*)╯ Meow, you can be my assistant from now on. While I'm recording, you can just sit next to me, scratch, roll around, and sleep. Anything's fine! — This way, I'm sure I can beat that [Guitar Hero], and I won't lose to her Wangcai!"

Luo Zhen was surprised: "Guitar Hero? You still regard her as an imaginary enemy?"

Guitar Hero is a very popular guitarist on video websites. He often covers some popular music scores and has very good skills.

Among serious UP hosts who don't show their faces and only play the guitar, Guitar Hero is already a top-tier one, with more than 30,000 followers.

And although this online name is very rustic, judging from her body shape and long hair, she is obviously a young girl, probably around high school age.

Ever since Taoxiang went solo and started to promote her music on video websites, she has always regarded this top guitarist as her rival.

This made Luo Zhen laugh: "There's no need to compare yourself to her. She became famous earlier than you, and all she uploaded were covers of popular songs, so she naturally has traffic. But you never play covers, you only upload performances of original music, so of course..."

“—but I don’t want to lose.”

Taoxiang, with her back to Luo Zhen, squatted on the ground and teased the coquettish and cute Morgana, but her voice did not sound funny.

76. More Relationships and Infidelity (?)

In Luo Zhen's silence, she repeated it again:

"I don't want to lose. That guitar hero's playing is professional-level, and judging by his age, he's probably around the same age as I was when I dropped out of school, maybe even younger."

"To be able to play at such a high level at such a young age, she must have practiced tirelessly. Playing for over six hours a day, her fingers blistered and callused over and over again. She rubbed them until they bled, staining the guitar with blood... She must have experienced all this."

Taoxiang said it with certainty, as if she was talking about her own experience.

This is indeed the path she has taken.

That's why there's such a suppressed energy hidden in the tone:

"But all she cares about is becoming famous. She keeps uploading covers of popular songs, regardless of genre. But they're all so polished and done to a high standard, proving she spends countless hours practicing other people's songs every day... Don't you think that's a waste?"

Taoxiang turned around.

The stubborn upward turn of her eyes made Luo Zhen feel a kind of hard yet fragile stubbornness, like a glowing gem.

She said very forcefully:

"I don't want to lose. I'll just use my music to decide the outcome. I absolutely don't want to lose."

"...Well, I support you."