The afterlife blew up Gensokyo

"Belief is a very important thing. During that long period of my life, I almost forgot why I was living. During that time, I almost forgot everything."

Turning his head to look at the snow-white ceiling above him, Shi Bai's tone seemed to be quite sentimental.

"In the beginning, I forgot what it was to cry, then I forgot what it was to laugh, then I forgot my name, I forgot what I had forgotten, and finally, I almost forgot myself... If a heart has already died, then what is still alive and walking in the world is just a shell. This is the way of death that belongs only to the immortals."

"...So, teacher, are you still thinking about seeking death?"

"No, no, how could I dare? After all, I'm not like before when I had no worries anymore. Now I have a lot on my mind."

Shi Bai sighed helplessly.

"If I can't successfully draw out a Saber, I'll die with regrets. This Saber has been stuck for me for countless years..."

"What is Saber? I think we might be able to find what you're looking for here in the Lunar Capital."

After thinking for a moment, Eirin Yagokoro made a suggestion.

"I can do it here..."

"Aoboros isn't a thing... no, Aoboros is a thing... just think of him as a glutton... by the way, is there anything wrong with your body?"

Shi Bai got out of bed and frowned slightly when he saw the other person's tired face.

"Does the elixir of Penglai have any side effects?"

"No, to be precise, it shouldn't be called a side effect, but rather a defective product."

Yagokoro Eirin shook her head slightly.

"Because the Elixir of Hourai was made with the help of Princess Kaguya's abilities, after consuming the Elixir of Hourai and becoming a so-called immortal Hourai person, the body will no longer change, and muscles, bones, physical strength, etc. will no longer grow... Teacher, after you die and are resurrected, your own buff status will be retained, right?"

"This ability is really awful. I'd rather remove the buffs as well."

As if recalling some unpleasant memories, the person's face immediately darkened.

"So besides these, what about other things? For example, after death and resurrection, will the clothes on your body also be resurrected? Will you be resurrected on the same spot or in another place?"

"Apart from that, these situations are basically similar to yours, teacher."

Eirin Yagokoro nodded.

"Although the people of Penglai are said to be immortal beings, they still feel hungry even when they don't eat, and they can feel pain when they are injured. Although they are said to be 'immortal,' strictly speaking, they can be 'resurrected immediately even if they die.' In addition, because the true form of the people of Penglai is the soul itself, they can move in the form of a soul and be resurrected in their favorite places."

"Uh...right, what would happen if an ordinary human consumed the Elixir of Penglai?"

After nodding thoughtfully, Shi Bai suddenly seemed to remember something and asked Yagokoro Eirin in front of him a question.

"If the body's muscles, bones, physical strength, and so on don't change at all, wouldn't it be terrible for humans to eat the Elixir of Immortality?"

"The body is only external; as long as the spirit is strong enough, other cultivation methods can also be used to improve one's strength."

After a slight pause, Eirin Yagokoro replied.

"However, such beings are ultimately very few. If humans were to consume the Elixir of Immortality, their bodies would be completely destroyed, and their souls would be subjected to endless cycles of annihilation until they are reborn. Humans cannot endure that level of torment."

"Yeah...that's right."

After a moment's thought, Shi Bai nodded in agreement with them.

"Otherwise, given your personality, you would definitely try to give someone the Penglai Elixir, and then make them your best test subject or something... cough cough, well, this is just a joke, don't take it seriously."

After chuckling, Shi Bai got up from the bed.

"You look terrible, you should get some rest."

"........."

(...Are the best candidates for drug trials the people of Penglai? That makes sense, since given their characteristics, they wouldn't need to worry about any health problems caused by drug trials...)

Eirin Yagokoro felt that her teacher always inspired her, so she silently wrote down these words in her mind.

—Just like when someone jokingly said back in the bamboo forest that if they used themselves as a research subject, they might be able to discover the legendary elixir of immortality.

"I'm fine, it's just that some minor things have happened in the Lunar Capital these past few days."

Shaking her head, Eirin Yagokoro spoke calmly.

"By the way, could I ask you, teacher, to help me visit the princess at the Prison of Sinners in the Moon Capital? I will rescue her as soon as possible."

"Princess...Kaguya? She really did take the Elixir of Immortality?"

After a moment of stunned silence, Shi Bai quickly came to his senses.

“From a young age, Princess Penglai has always had an exceptionally strong curiosity about everything. At that time, after I made the Penglai Elixir with the help of Princess Penglai, I was too tired to find out that she had secretly hidden one of them from me... This was my mistake.”

Eirin Yagokoro's expression was somewhat somber.

"By the time I discovered it, the princess's situation had already alerted Lady Tsukiyomi and the others, and it was too late to undo the damage. In the face of immortality, everything else is pale and powerless. Although they imprisoned the princess in the Prison of Sinners in the Moon Capital on the grounds that she was tainted by defilement despite being a princess of the Moon Capital, I understand very well that their true purpose is to obtain the Elixir of Penglai."

"Do you think they'd also be interested in immortal beings?"

Shi Bai raised an eyebrow, subconsciously recalling the woman who had come alone to visit Yagokoro Eirin in the bamboo forest that morning.

"This is eternal life. I think there's no one in the world who wouldn't be interested in this except you, teacher?"

Eirin Yagokoro sighed softly.

"Even the gods who reign supreme over the Moon Capital will eventually fall. In the war of invasion launched by the Moon Capital a thousand years ago, many of its gods perished..."

"So, upon discovering that the 'Essence of Hourai' existed in the world, capable of granting immortality, they immediately became excited and extremely eager to learn the whereabouts of the other 'Essences of Hourai' from Kaguya of Hourai Mountain. However, those in high positions still had to maintain their dignity, and naturally, they had a whole host of excuses..."

Shi Bai reached out and gently pressed his forehead.

"Didn't Kaguya betray you? With the status and position she gave you in the Lunar Capital, there's no way she would be locked up in a place like the Prison of Sinners, right?"

The Prison of Sinners is the only prison in the Lunar Capital, and also the most terrifying prison. In the previous month, out of curiosity, he went to that place to take a look, but he couldn't stand it for more than a minute before he ran out.

What is the most horrific form of torture in history?

You are trapped in an absolutely dark void. You can't see anything, hear anything, smell anything, touch anything, or feel anything. Only your consciousness remains, absolutely clear.

There is no physical harm, no external pain. You are the only one in the entire dark and void world, and you don't know how many hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of years will pass.

In that situation, you can't even feel the passage of time. A second will feel infinitely long in your mind, and all that awaits you is endless loneliness.

This is the cruelest and most terrifying form of punishment.

The situation at the prison for sinners is similar to this.

"...The princess did not betray me."

After a moment of silence, Yagokoro Eirin spoke in a low voice.

"Because I was excluded from the core area by those gods, the princess doesn't know my identity, nor does she know that even if she revealed the whole story, the gods wouldn't dare to do anything to me. In the princess's view, if she exposes me, my fate will be even worse than hers. After all, those gods rule the entire Moon Capital. Even though I have the title of the Moon's Brain, my status in the Moon Capital isn't actually that high. Those gods are still the ones who reign supreme... Teacher?"

"Come on, take me to Tsukiyomi now, and tell her that I want to represent Gensokyo and have a friendly exchange with their Lunar Capital that is more than 1,500 years ahead of schedule."

He pulled out a brick from somewhere and strode towards the door with a cold smile on his face.

"And then tell them that the Elixir of Penglai is with me. If they want it, they'll have to beat me first. It's been years since I've had a proper fight... No, the first thing we should do now is go and dismantle that Prison of Sinners... What's wrong?"

Turning his head, Shi Bai looked at Yagokoro Eirin, who was reaching out to tug at his sleeve, and couldn't help but feel a little puzzled.

"Don't worry, your teacher is a good fighter. Don't you want to throw this brick in their faces and beat them up? If your student is wronged, I'll back them up!!"

"I don't want the lunar capital I've worked so hard to build to be destroyed... Please leave it to me."

Eirin Yagokoro looked up at him, her eyes seemingly carrying a slight plea.

"Teacher, believe me, I will handle this matter properly. I just didn't want to fight before."

"...Alright, then it's up to you."

After staring into the other person's eyes for a moment, Shi Bai nodded.

Then, with a solemn air, he placed the brick in his hand into Eirin Yagokoro's hand, his face full of earnestness.

"If a fight breaks out, you throw a brick as a signal and shout 'Teacher, save me!' Then I'll fall from the sky, understand?"

"………Understood."

P.S.: I used Princess Connect to create ten accounts, and they were all useless... Please throw some thorns at me so I can update more chapters!!

Chapter Thirteen: The Saber King and a whole bunch of lolis descended upon my side.

The Prison of Sinners in the Moon Capital has always been located on the edge of the Moon Capital's barrier. It is a deserted place, surrounded by large open spaces, and basically no one wants to come here.

Shi Bai learned about the history of this prison of sinners from Yagokoro Eirin. This building, which resembles the Tower of Babel, was built a thousand years ago during the invasion war between the Moon Capital and the other world.

For the next thousand years, very few people have been qualified to be imprisoned in this prison, unless they are criminals who have committed unforgivable crimes in the Lunar Capital. Otherwise, it has been empty most of the time.

Kaguya Houraisan, as the princess of the Lunar Capital, was imprisoned in such a prison, revealing the true intentions of the gods.

...Do they really crave an immortal life?

Shi Bai felt that this was like a walled city, where people outside wanted to get in, while people inside wanted to get out.

There are no guards in the prison of sinners, because no one imprisoned there can escape under such circumstances, and those who are capable of escaping cannot be imprisoned there.

Unlike the technological creations of other Moon People in the City of the Moon, the Prison of Sinners is a creation of the gods.

So, very easily, without encountering any obstacles, Shi Bai entered the prison of sinners.

The Prison of Sinners has a tower-like structure with seven levels from top to bottom. The higher the level, the stronger the power left behind by the gods. Prisoners sent here will suffer endless mental torture in the endless dark void.

Everything is empty; you can't feel anything except your own thoughts, which remain clearly present. Yet you can do nothing but think, but all your thoughts are nothingness. In the long and endless process of contemplation, your spirit will gradually descend into utter madness and...destruction.

Because he had experienced that feeling of being on the verge of madness before, Shi Bai was actually very worried about the current situation of a certain NEET princess.

Games are ultimately more fun to play with two people; playing single-player is just too boring. He was actually hoping to invite the other person to play King of Fighters together...

However, after finding the other person on the seventh floor of the Prison of Sinners, Shi Bai suddenly realized that he had worried for nothing... because Kaguya Houraisan was sitting there playing games.

The prison of sinners is a pure, dark void. Anyone who enters it will inevitably be disturbed by the power within and lose complete control of their body. However, it is unknown whether Kaguya Houraisan is wearing some kind of treasure, as a pure white protective shield formed by a fluorescent glow about half a meter in diameter emanating from her body effectively protected her inside.

However, that "protective shield" only seemed to have a so-called protective function. Even though he had now walked right up to the other party, the other party had not noticed him... or rather, could not notice him at all.

"But how did this NEET-hime manage to bring the game console here...? Did she hide it inside her skirt?"

So he simply sat cross-legged in front of the other person, looking at Kaguya Houraisan, who was engrossed in playing a game and trying to break back the game record that he had broken. Shi Bai couldn't help but feel a toothache for no reason.

The protective shield around Kaguya Houraisan couldn't possibly be her own power; it was clearly the work of Eirin Yagokoro. No wonder Eirin Yagokoro didn't show the slightest sign of anxiety when she came to find her before.

After all, she had managed to plan for Yukari's existence even a thousand years after leaving the Lunar Capital. For Eirin Yagokoro, anticipating and planning for these things was actually a very simple matter.

But since everything's alright here... then why did Yagokoro Eirin call me over? Just to supervise this NEET princess playing games? Or is she afraid I'll accidentally destroy the Moon Capital, so she wants to find a reasonable excuse to get rid of me beforehand...?

With one hand supporting his chin on his leg, Shi Bai rolled his eyes in exasperation.

—He finally began to understand the helplessness Zheng Zha felt when facing Chu Xuan.

In his opinion, why make things so complicated?

Why not just beat up all the other gods in the Lunar Capital, including Tsukiyomi? If they're not satisfied, keep beating them. If they're still not satisfied, keep beating them until they submit. See how simple that solution is...?

Hmm... So what should I do now?

With one hand resting on his lap, Shi Bai appeared deep in thought.

The release of the soul shackles means that all the system's functions have been restored. So, can I try to summon Saber again?

Anyway, my innermost ...

After a moment of contemplation, Shi Bai summoned the system interface, which he hadn't opened in a long time, and then took off the storage ring on his hand and threw it into the storage slot created by the system.

Hmm... He added a lot of features to the system before, and even modified the interface to make it easier to understand, just like the interface of an online game. He had wanted to clean up the things in the storage ring for a long time, and he could take advantage of the one-click cleanup function...

[Friendly Reminder: The items in your storage ring have exceeded the system's sorting limit. The estimated time to complete the sorting process is over one hundred years. Continue?]

Shi Bai: "..."

So who the hell developed this crappy system feature?!

With a look of utter dismay, Shi Bai retrieved the storage ring, closed the storage panel in front of him, and then opened the summoning interface, starting to throw items into it one by one.

According to a foodie's logic, as long as he throws enough food into the summoning interface, he can summon either a Saber King or a Luo Tianyi based on the principle of equivalent exchange! It's a guaranteed profit!

Thirty minutes later.

"I should have kept my hands to myself... There's no Saber in this gacha pool at all!! If true duelists can draw cards that aren't even in their decks, then true lucky players should also be able to draw Saber that isn't in the gacha pool, you bastard!!! Shouldn't this rule be universal!?"

Looking at the scattered piles of trash around him, which had been summoned at the cost of equivalent value, Shi Bai suddenly felt like cursing.

"Fine, since I can't summon Saber, I can try to create a Saber..."