The afterlife blew up Gensokyo

"In the end, it just turned out to be just drifting along at sea, which is completely different from what I imagined..."

—Her words were tinged with obvious resentment.

"Being too anxious about gains and losses is not a good thing. Don't romanticize this trip too much."

He casually tossed the special fishing rod he had just taken out to Ibaraki Kasen, and then lay down lazily on a bench covered by a parasol.

"Isn't this kind of situation a rare experience? You can't rush things. Instead of worrying about when we'll reach land, why not go fishing to clear our minds?"

"...Aren't you getting anxious?"

Looking at the fishing rod in her hand, Ibaraki Kasen couldn't help but ask the man in front of her a question.

"We're on the open sea right now, and there's no way to gain leverage in the water. Our strength will be greatly hampered. What if something unexpected happens..."

"No, the European Emperor has no fear."

Shi Bai lifted the sunglasses on his face with his finger and glanced at Ibaraki Kasen, his face serious.

"........."

Although the time spent drifting at sea was boring, Ibaraki Kasen had to admit one thing.

If I hadn't suddenly decided to ask the other person to go on this trip, my journey would have been much more difficult than it is now. Where would I find such a relaxed and carefree experience? Like fishing at sea or something…

Although it might be a bit inappropriate to describe it this way, it's as if having that person by your side always provides a sense of security, no matter what dangers lie ahead.

For example, right now.

The ocean is dangerous; this is common knowledge among both gods and monsters. This danger comes not only from the waves and storms, but even more so from the monsters that live in the sea.

They prefer to call each other monsters rather than yokai (demons).

It wasn't just because they were completely unable to communicate, but also because they generally possessed immense destructive power commensurate with their enormous size. If one of those massive monsters were to appear right now, their bamboo raft would be completely destroyed.

But now it seems... there's nothing to worry about?

Casting his fishing line far into the sea, Ibaraki Kasen gazed thoughtfully at the vast ocean before him.

As night falls, another day comes to an end.

Dinner was grilled fish, which Ibaraki Kasen had invited us to. Although it looked a bit strange, it tasted pretty good after being prepared.

Although bathed in moonlight and starlight, Shi Bai still placed street lamps around the raft as usual. The light emitted by the street lamps enveloped the entire raft drifting on the sea in a soft, shimmering glow.

"What are you looking at?"

Turning her head to look at the man lying on the recliner with his head propped up on his hand, gazing absently at the starry sky above, and listening to the silent surge of the waves beside her, Ibaraki Kasen suddenly turned to the man and asked him a question.

"I'm looking at the stars and counting the moon."

Shi Bai glanced at Ibaraki Kasen and raised an eyebrow slightly.

"What's wrong? Is something the matter?"

"I just suddenly wanted to chat with you... What are your views on good and evil?"

She simply lay down on the recliner with her arms hanging down, and Ibaraki Kasen began to speak with a slightly troubled expression.

"Although I know that resolving my problems requires cultivating virtue and abandoning evil, I still have no clue how to do it. If this continues, I'm worried..."

"You don't need to think so much, you just need to follow your heart."

Turning his gaze back to the starry sky above, Shi Bai interrupted the other person in a calm tone.

Instead of thinking so much, why don't you think about... hmm?

Shi Bai suddenly sat up from the recliner, squinting as he looked into the distance.

"what happened?"

Noticing the other person's unusual behavior, Ibaraki Kasen also sat up from the recliner, looking in the direction the other person was looking.

Just then, a sudden gust of wind picked up at sea.

Dark clouds drifted in from the horizon, obscuring the stars and moon in the night sky. As the last glimmer of light disappeared into the sky, a cold sea breeze blew in from the far distance.

It was only early evening, but the dense clouds in the night sky completely blocked out the light. The clouds, which seemed so close that they could be reached out and touched, gave people a sense of oppression and depression.

The sea also began to surge, and the restless ocean waves grew larger and larger as time went by. Almost in an instant, the once calm ocean turned into a raging torrent.

"Hmm...it seems a storm is brewing."

Looking up at the dense black clouds in the night sky, Shi Bai nodded thoughtfully, then turned to Ibaraki Kasen, who was still standing there, and spoke in a serious tone.

"See, my luck is still pretty good after all."

Ibaraki Kasen: "..."

As if the whole world was trembling, the waves on the sea were towering, and the calm ocean was completely transformed into the most violent wrath of heaven, seemingly about to devour everything on the sea surface.

Accompanied by the roar of thunder from the thick dark clouds, purplish-blue lightning wove an incomparably magnificent pattern within the thick curtain, and layers upon layers of waves transformed into towering walls, mingling with boundless torrential rain as they poured down.

This is the most primal form of divine power.

Ibaraki Kasen was completely stunned as she stared at the enormous waves, some over ten meters high, that had been whipped up in front of her.

Only after witnessing firsthand the awe-inspiring power of the heavens, which resembled the end of the world, did she realize just how unrealistic her initial idea of ​​using that simple wooden raft to cross the ocean had been.

"This is what you call a grand spectacle? Honestly, the apocalypse is far more terrifying than this."

As if he could read her mind, Shi Bai chuckled softly, then got up and walked to the front of the bamboo raft.

"You talk as if you've witnessed the end of the world..."

Her face flushed slightly, and Ibaraki Kasen muttered something under her breath. However, when she saw the other person's actions, she was immediately stunned.

"Wait, you're not going to..."

She had barely uttered half a sentence when her voice was mingled with the roar of the raging waves, swallowed by the wind along with the torrential rain, until even she could barely hear herself.

However, in this environment, the other person's voice reached her ears with unusual clarity.

"Hmm... what's that saying again? When we encounter difficulties, we shouldn't be afraid, we should face them with a smile... no, not that one... I've got it..."

After clearing his throat a few times, Shi Bai drew a long sword as smooth as water from the void in front of him and held it in his hand.

Before the enormous waves that almost blotted out the sky, Shi Bai's body appeared incredibly small, but the words he uttered were utterly calm.

"...Let the storm rage on!"

Beneath the dark sky, a massive wave crashed against the tiny bamboo raft, and a small figure stood at the very front of the boat… Ibaraki Kasen stared wide-eyed at the scene before her, feeling a strange emotion brewing within her.

It wasn't until much later that Ibaraki Kasen understood what the emotions that had begun to brew in her heart at that time were.

..................................................................

When Ibaraki Kasen woke up, it was already dawn. She was lying on a recliner with a soft pillow under her head, and the parasol above her head protected her from the direct sunlight.

"Hmm? You're finally awake?"

As if he had heard her get up, the man who was sitting on the edge of the bamboo raft fishing with his feet in the sea turned his head.

"I've put all the food in the box next to you. Just open it and you're good to go."

"Wait a minute, last night was..."

Ibaraki Kasen pressed her slightly sore forehead hard with her hand, looking somewhat hesitant. The scene from last night, which felt like the end of the world, now seemed like a mere dream.

But the mess and damage on the bamboo raft told her that what happened last night was not just her imagination.

"A storm is coming at sea, it's a very common thing, have you forgotten?"

He glanced at her with a slightly strange look, and after confirming that she was alright, Shi Bai turned his head away again.

"Although it wasn't a big scene, dealing with those endless waves was still a bit troublesome... It's a pity that my streetlights cost seventy-five suns each."

"Uh……"

Shaking her head, Ibaraki Kasen, who felt much better, stood up.

"By the way, I can see land now."

A calm voice came through.

P.S.: Tickets

Chapter Two: Journey Through the Central Plains

"...I never imagined that I would set foot on land in such a way."

Turning her head to look at the calm and sunny sea behind her, Ibaraki Kasen, who had finally set foot on land, felt an unprecedented sense of security, but her mood was also quite complicated.

Although the sea in front of us is beautiful, anyone would get tired of facing the same scenery for a long time.

Especially after experiencing the world-ending storm last night, even she felt a sense of powerlessness in the face of such unstoppable divine might.

However, if it weren't for that storm propelling the raft across the sea, they would probably have remained adrift for at least another month.

"See? I told you I was lucky! My wishes came true!"

Shi Bai stuffed the battered and nearly broken bamboo raft into the box, a smug look on his face.

"Look, haven't we successfully reached land?"

"...I hope this kind of luck doesn't come again next time, or I might really die next time."

After a moment of silence, Ibaraki Kasen spoke quite seriously.

"There is always a trade-off between gain and loss. If you want to get something, you must first give something in return. This is a truth."

Shi Bai turned his head and glanced at Ibaraki Kasen, then pursed his lips.

"Isn't it fair that we can get the results we want by taking only a small risk? Even luck should be governed by basic principles, right?"

"Is it true that every gain comes with a loss?"

For some reason, Ibaraki Kasen suddenly paused.

"Isn't this obvious?"

Turning and walking towards the shore, someone spoke softly.

"For example, those rich people, although they have more money than they can spend in a lifetime, they also lose all their worries... That's the nature of gains and losses..."

"........."

To be born with knowledge is a fundamental ability possessed by beings of this era.

They do not face language barriers or written communication obstacles; in other words, everyone speaks the same language.

However, this ability has largely disappeared in later generations, much like the story of the Tower of Babel in the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament of the Bible.

At that time, mankind united to build a tower that they hoped would lead to heaven. To stop mankind's plan, God made mankind speak different languages, so that mankind could not communicate with each other. As a result, the plan failed and mankind scattered to different places.

Although there isn't much research on the reliability of this biblical story, it does reflect, to some extent, the passing of the age of gods.

I didn't originally have this ability, but because of Saya, I was also given this ability... But I still hate English.

"Where are we going now?"

Completely unaware of the incredible leaps in someone's mind that had occurred in such a short time, Ibaraki Kasen quickly caught up with the other person and asked Shi Bai a question.

"If you're asking for directions, you at least need to figure out where you are right now, right?"

Looking up at the sky, still preoccupied with his English essay scores consistently below three points, he replied with a dark expression.

"However, I doubt there are any races around the coast, so we need to get inland at least..."

............................................................

The Central Plains, or what could be called the Divine Continent, is different from the theocracy of the West or the conflicts between gods and monsters in the Far East. On the Divine Continent, hundreds of races coexist.

There is no simple distinction between gods and monsters. Most of the ethnic groups in the Central Plains exist in the form of clans, such as the well-known Youqiong Clan and Tushan Clan.

The emergence of geniuses among various races and the intermarriage between them created a rather unique social structure, and many cities were built under these circumstances through the combined efforts of various ethnic groups.

The main threat faced by these groups is the various ferocious beasts that appear endlessly on the continent. Most of these beasts are extremely brutal and cannot be eradicated.

One of the main reasons that prompted these clans to intermarry was the threat posed by these powerful and ferocious beasts.

Similarly, the strange changes that occurred between heaven and earth, and the opening of the cycle of reincarnation in the underworld, made these clans feel an unprecedented sense of crisis.

Some Di people followed the legends of Shennong and Fuxi from ancient times to go to the heavens in order to seek inheritance or help, while other clans went out to sea to find the legendary fairy islands such as Penglai and Yingzhou.