I was the fourth disaster in Yokohama and was loved by everyone.

"So... that's not your special ability?" Chuuya was somewhat dazed, muttering to himself, "That's true, I've never heard of anyone who can have two special abilities."

"Yes, my superpower is quite strong." Zhu Yu didn't demonstrate it because there were still many people in the store.

Of course, it was the little detective who told her not to show her supernatural abilities in front of outsiders.

"If Kuzi displays his special abilities in public, be careful he might get put under surveillance by the authorities~" Ranpo said with a smile, but his words hit Zhu Yu's sore spot.

Zhu Yu, who had originally intended to arrogantly use vines to get around, eventually had to rely on her own two feet to walk.

Don't show your special abilities in front of ordinary NPCs, or she'll remember it as a hidden game setting.

However, someone like Chuuya, with such a good-looking character model and such high combat power, is obviously an important NPC, so of course there's no problem!

Zhongye looked at Zhu Yu, feeling both touched and helpless. Although he hadn't known Zhu Yu for long, he had come to understand her personality through their daily interactions; once she made up her mind, it was difficult to change it.

After hesitating for a while, and although he didn't know if her superpower was as strong as she claimed, he finally agreed: "Okay, but you must be careful. If you encounter any danger, stay far away."

Where there is danger, there are players!

Even though she thought that way, Zhu Yu still assured him aloud, "Don't worry, I'll take good care of myself. Besides, there's still Chuuya, isn't there?"

Chunye has leveled up again, so taking care of a level 35 Karami is more than enough for him.

With teammates like these, what more could a player ask for?

"I..." Chuuya wanted to say something, but his throat seemed to be blocked. A thousand words swirled on his tongue, but in the end, they only turned into a soft sigh. His heart was pounding in his chest, filled with endless emotion.

In the sheepfold, he was the "king" who had to withstand all the storms. The lambs' insatiable demands for his protection made him feel like he was being suffocated by dodder. But the "protection" that Zhu Yu needed gave him boundless motivation.

He took a deep breath, calmed himself down, his gaze softened yet firm, and gently ruffled Zhu Yu's hair, his voice unconsciously softening: "Since you've chosen to trust me, I definitely won't let anything happen to you. But no matter what, stay close to me, I'll protect you."

Congratulations on obtaining the CG "Intertwined Vows"!

The afternoon sunlight streamed through the glass windows of the dessert shop, clearly illuminating the gentle look in Chuuya's eyes.

Before Zhu Yu could even quietly admire this stunning CG, an update notification suddenly popped up from the system.

[Game resources have been updated. Please exit the game and wait for the update...]

【Loading......】

Chapter 21 is updated! New features added (?o?o)??

Why the sudden update? Luckily, this is a single-player game, so I don't have to worry about getting flamed by my teammates if I suddenly quit.

Zhu Yu put down her phone, exited the app, and stretched her neck and shook her hands.

Playing games for such a long time at once has made my body stiff.

Zhu Yu lazily got up from the sofa, stretched, as if to throw away all the stiffness in her body.

She rubbed her temples, thinking to herself: This little game is quite fun, so why isn't it popular online?

Just as she was silently praying that this lousy game wouldn't go bankrupt, her phone suddenly vibrated, pulling her back to reality.

She looked down and saw a message from a netizen: "Did you see the official announcement from the game? Want to give it a try?"

She met this netizen when she posted a rant about the game "Dimensional Simulator" on social media.

The other person seemed to be a veteran player. After adding them, they immediately shared some official accounts for her to follow. After that, Zhu Yu, as a newbie, would occasionally ask this gaming veteran for advice.

As for the other person's gender, Zhu Yu didn't ask. Don't tarnish our pure online relationship!

The two often exchanged game experiences and got along fairly well. Sometimes when Zhu Yu was too lazy to pay attention to official news, the other person would enthusiastically forward official announcements to her.

The message TA sent this time included a link: "Latest news on Dimension Simulator!"

Upon clicking through, the entire post was an official statement from the game developers apologizing for the impact on player experience and then detailing the update's content.

Zhu Yu has never been very patient. She quickly glanced at it and found that it was just "main storyline update", "adding mood module", "opening up factions" and so on.

No new events? Never mind.

She quickly scrolled to the bottom, and one sentence caught her attention: "Dimensional Simulator will be piloting a holographic version. We are now recruiting testers for free trial. Sign up now!"

What? Where did my phone daddy get it from?

The concept of holographic games has become popular in recent years. Initially, many major game companies announced that they would launch holographic versions of their games. However, the results of the holographic versions were not satisfactory, and players felt that the game experience was not as good as that of PC and mobile versions.

Developing holographic games when technological capabilities are lacking is a disaster: lag, excessively expensive holographic equipment, and a lack of realism...

These widespread negative reviews thwarted game developers' ambitions to turn holographic games into a "second life," and the holographic game genre subsequently faded into obscurity. Although new titles were occasionally released, none of them made much of a splash.

In Zhu Yu's view, only large game companies with strong capital would make holographic games. Now, this small, unknown company is even releasing a holographic version of its single-player game.

It's hard not to worry that she might have a big bowel movement...

That's true, but it's a free trial!

Zhu Yu typed quickly in reply: "Of course! What if I get picked?"

After carefully reviewing the requirements in the notification again, the official statement indicated that a free holographic game pod would be provided, allowing testers to use their own accounts to experience the game.

The task of the experience officers is to regularly provide feedback to the game's official team on whether there are any bugs in the game and whether there are any areas for improvement.

After reading the rights and obligations clauses, Zhu Yu filled in her name, address, and contact information, and clicked "Submit"!

After registering, Zhu Yu switched to the chat window with her online friend and sent a message: "Registered, don't let me down."

The other party replied quickly: "Okay :D"

Ugh, that's such an annoying emoticon.

Zhu Yu didn't continue the conversation because the game showed that it had already finished updating.

Dimension Simulator, start!

【Loading......】

Welcome, player.

The update details are as follows: ...

I've already read the game announcement, I'm not interested, click away.

The screen went black and then lit up again. Zhu Yu had successfully logged in, but the game interface was still stuck on that CG image.

She admired it again.

Chuuya

Reluctantly, I clicked away from the CG image, captivated by the NPC's beauty, and continued playing the game.

Urgent! I need to finish the main quest!

She manipulated the little figure to run in front of Chuuya, only to find him still standing there in a daze. She was a little puzzled: Didn't you say you were going to investigate? Why aren't you leaving?

A small icon—a smiling sun—is appearing above the head of the Chuuya figure.

She poked

Chuuya

Little one, let's see if we can start a conversation.

To her surprise, this time the dialogue wasn't like before—if no quest was triggered, there were only two options: "Say hello" or "Goodbye".

A third option appeared in the choices – “Free Input”.

Upon clicking through, you can choose between "typing input" or "voice input".

Wow, this update is pretty good!

It's important to know that freely engaging in dialogue with NPCs really tests the AI ​​capabilities of the game.

Curiosity got the better of Zhu Yu, so she decided to try out the new feature. Too lazy to type, she simply used voice input: "Hey, Chuuya, why are you standing there like an idiot?"

The little sun above his head immediately turned into a big question mark.

It seems this is the newly updated "Mood Module". It turns out it's not the player's mood, but the NPC's mood, hahaha!

Zhu Yu laughed wildly, feeling relieved that she no longer had to guess the feelings of the NPCs with their cute, beady eyes.

You should know that once when she was exploring the map, she received a mission to help a runaway boy cheer up again and make him want to go home after he relaxed. She took him directly to an amusement park and rode the roller coaster three times.

She thought the NPC was happy, but when the quest was completed, it said, "[The boy with a fear of heights experienced what it means to be worse than dead on this day. He left home only to find it was raining outside, and he never dared to run away from home again.]"

Although the NPC went home, he was so scared that he didn't meet the mission requirements, so Zhu Yu only received half of the mission reward.

It was then that she realized that the NPC's eyes, which were always squinted into a slit after getting on the roller coaster, were filled with fear!

She thought he was so in love that his expression changed...

In the end, she had to reload the save file to get all the rewards.

Thankfully, we can finally understand the feelings of NPCs now~ I hope Yu is moved to tears.

*

The sunlight was perfect then, outlining the soft contours of Zhu Yu's fair face, while Zhong Ye's heart was stirred by the conversation they had just had...

All the warmth was shattered in the next moment.

Suddenly, Zhu Yu ran out from behind the counter and said to him, "Hey, Chuuya, why are you standing there like an idiot?"

Chuuya: ...What's with this sudden hooligan-like tone?

For a moment he didn't know what to say, and stood there in a daze for a long time before he spoke.

"..."

Chapter 22: Let's charge into the main storyline!

"There's no need to be in such a hurry," he said, then stammered, "Your shop doesn't have you... is that alright?"

"It's alright, I'll just make the desserts in advance. As for manpower, Junjie is already at the shop, so we won't be overwhelmed." Zhu Yu recalled the recent customer traffic at the dessert shop and realized that it wouldn't be a problem at all without her.

Junjie is a member of "Sheep" who was imprisoned in a dessert shop to work as collateral for his theft. After being "beaten" by Zhu Yu from time to time, his eyes became clear and his brain was emptied. From then on, he followed Zhu Yu's lead without question.

They respectfully addressed Zhu Yu as "Boss".

Zhu Yu was very satisfied to have an obedient younger brother. Considering that she might not be able to take care of the shop when she was out acting as a "righteous messenger," and seeing that Junjie was quick and efficient and serious in his work, she decided to formally hire him.

Chuuya knew about this, after all, Shunsuke had bought him a small gift after getting a formal job, as an apology gift.

"I'm sorry, Chuuya. I was wrong before. As a member of 'Sheep,' I was protected by you and took your sacrifices for granted... Fortunately, I met you, Boss. I've turned over a new leaf and decided to live a good life from now on. This is my gift, please accept it!"

Junsuke stuffed the gift into Chuuya's hands, said the above words, and then ran away, leaving Chuuya standing there in a daze, his mind racing: What did Kuko do to make someone change so much?

Of course, if he asked Zhu Yu, he'd probably only get a bewildered look from her: "I didn't do anything! Maybe the kid's just passed the rebellious phase..."

*

Yokohama at night is always deep and attractive, with colorful neon lights adding a touch of urban modernity to this mysterious city.

The street, slightly mottled and unlit by the streetlights, was surrounded by piles of waste, making it look like another garbage dump. This was one of the destinations they were investigating the Araba-to incident.

At the end of the street, there is a dilapidated iron gate. Pull the gate open and go straight into a basement.

The dimly lit basement was lit by only one light, and the air was filled with a damp smell. The walls were covered with yellowed maps and notes covered with writing, and in the corner were piles of old, worn-out boxes that had been there for who knows how long.

This is an underground intelligence agency, a melting pot of all sorts of people, filled with all sorts of rumors and gossip.

With enough money, you can buy information; once you place your bet, you can leave and judge for yourself whether it's true or false.

Chuuya walked ahead, shielding Zhu Yu behind him, his hands in his pockets, cautiously observing his surroundings. He had never liked such filthy places, which always reminded him of the mafia that had taken over Yokohama, which also clung to the city to draw its life force.

The air was thick with the smells of cheap tobacco and sweat. Small groups of people gathered, drinking and whispering amongst themselves. The noise effectively masked some of the conversation.

"Stay close to me," Chuuya whispered to Zhu Yu, then walked toward a long-haired woman drinking alone in a corner.

She is the owner of this underground information agency—Kana Sato.

"I want to know something," he said bluntly, while taking a few gems from his pocket and placing them on the table. These were the gems he had seized when he taught the mafia a lesson. "What do you know about Araba-to?"

Kana Sato raised her head, looked him up and down with a half-smile, clearly recognizing him: "Who do we have here? It's none other than 'King of Sheep' Chuuya Nakahara."

Her gaze fell on the few gems of decent quality, and a satisfied smile curved her lips.

“Arabato… hardly anyone asks about this anymore.” She elegantly swept the gem into her handbag. “The massive explosion in Raibo Street eight years ago was supposedly caused by Arabato. Everyone says it was divine punishment in the wrath of the gods. That’s all.”