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

But it's clear that the owner has no time to care for it; the withered branches are still trapped in the glass bottle, and the petals have crumbled into brown snow, falling onto the dusty tabletop.

The coffee table was piled high with takeout boxes and empty beer cans. The trash hadn't been taken out for days; waste paper and packaging bags were overflowing the trash can.

There was nowhere left to explore in the living room.

She turned and went upstairs to the second floor, then into the study, casually browsing the items on the bookshelf—

Suddenly, a photograph on the bookshelf caught her attention.

It was a family photo of three. A burly, dark-haired man was embracing a gentle, short-haired woman, who was holding a baby in her arms. They were all smiling happily.

Zhu Yu's fingertips gently traced the photo frame, lost in thought—it's common knowledge that useless clues aren't placed in games, so could this be a hint to trigger a quest?

With that in mind, she picked up the photo frame and began to fumble around in the study.

[Battle Mode Now Activated]

The system notification sound immediately put Zhu Yu on alert.

The next second, the fist tore through the air, striking Zhu Yu's back with a dull whistling sound.

At the last second, she dodged to the side, the force of the punch grazing her clothes before slamming into the bookshelf with a "bang," sending wood chips flying.

She spun around and delivered a roundhouse kick to the attacker's knee, but the attacker blocked it with his raised arm—the dull thud of the two forces colliding made the glass on the desk vibrate.

Looking up, she saw a tall, muscular man staring at her with hostile eyes.

The man had short black hair, with a few unruly strands hanging down his forehead, which made his wolf-like eyes appear even sharper, and a scar at the corner of his mouth made him look even more ferocious.

His gaze swept over the photo frame in Zhu Yu's hand, then looked at the rummaged-through marks on the bookshelf, and his face darkened completely.

"Where did this thief come from..." The man, who was also the male head of the household, Zenji sneered and loosened his muscles. "Looks like I'll have to teach you some manners."

His eyes darkened, and he changed his fist into a claw, suddenly grabbing at Zhu Yu's throat.

A red name, definitely a red name.

Zhu Yu also met the challenge head-on without flinching.

He turned his head to dodge, and at the same time kicked his right leg upward, forcing Zen Monk to take a half step back.

The bookshelf shook violently from the impact, and books crashed to the floor with a clatter.

Zen Monk Shen'er was startled, not expecting the little thief to be so strong; that kick had even made his arm go numb.

But she doesn't have any magical power, so she probably isn't a sorcerer.

He frowned at the mess on the floor, clicked his tongue impatiently, and leaped out of the window.

The red-named player is about to run away!

Zhu Yu followed closely behind, jumping out of the window and landing in the courtyard.

As soon as they landed, they were met with a relentless barrage of attacks.

Zhu Yu aimed his elbow strike at Chan Yuan Shen'er's temple, but he dodged it by tilting his head. The elbow slammed directly into the ground, sending dust flying.

The two engaged in close combat in the courtyard, each strike carrying the force to destroy everything, causing the ground to crack inch by inch under their attacks.

Just as Zhu Yu was about to unleash her superpowers to beat up the red-named NPC—

"Daddy, no!"

The childish scream froze both of them at the same time.

The little dumpling, with cream still stuck to the corner of her mouth, stood barefoot on the ground, tears of fear welling up in her eyes: "Don't hit my sister!"

"Sister isn't a bad person!" Hui jumped up and down anxiously, running over to hug Zenji's leg. "Sister brought Hui home."

"Breaking into a private residence and ransacking things, what else could they be but a bad person?"

Zenji scoffed disdainfully, but eventually stopped and let Hui cling to his lap.

He shook his leg, trying to shake Hui off: "Hey, Hui, get down quickly."

Seeing his name turn from red to yellow, Zhu Yu withdrew his hand, which he had been about to use to activate his superpower, with little interest.

"So why are you in my house, you brat?" Zenji Shen'er looked at her impatiently, wishing he could kick this uninvited brat out the next second.

"To take lost children home."

"Lost?" Shen Er paused, turning to look at his son.

Hui shrank back and whispered, "The house is so big, and there's no one here. I'm scared."

So you just ran off like that, huh? Zenji's expression instantly turned complicated, and he rubbed his temples: "...You brat, you just went off with a stranger like that?"

“My sister is a good person,” Hui protested.

Zen Temple clicked its tongue in displeasure, glancing sideways at Zhu Yu with a questioning look in its eyes: What kind of bewitching potion did you give my stupid son?

Chapter 115 Mission Accomplished!

Now that he had figured out the visitor wasn't a thief, Zenji didn't bother to care why she had been rummaging through his house—there were so many strange people in the world, it would be too tiring to argue with every single one of them, after all, he himself wasn't exactly a normal person.

Zen Temple Shen Er rubbed his aching wrist, raised his chin at Zhu Yu, and said impatiently, "Hey, kid, bring the photos back."

"Then you can leave."

Zhu Yu: ???

What a piece of shit attitude.

The players' rebellious instincts immediately kicked in.

She held up the photo frame expressionlessly, gave Zen Temple a provocative smile, and then stuffed the frame into her system inventory.

"The photo is good, it's mine," she said matter-of-factly.

"Huh?" Shen'er's eyes darkened. He hadn't encountered someone so arrogant and provocative in a long time, and his temper flared up instantly. "Want to fight, brat?"

In the few exchanges they had just had, he judged that her physical strength far exceeded that of an ordinary person.

To achieve this level of strength without any magical enhancement to the body, could it also be a curse imposed by heaven?

Zen Monk Shen'er also got a bit excited and simply followed his own instincts and threw a punch.

Amid Hui's gasp, the two began fighting again, this time more fiercely and ruthlessly than before.

Zhu Yu dodged the attack to the side, and had to admit that the NPC in front of her was really too strong in close combat, and she was having a hard time dealing with him.

Where do you find an NPC whose health bar is reduced by one-tenth with a single punch?

Wouldn't that mean the player would be killed in just a few punches? Is that even reasonable...?

Zhu Yu took a bite of the prop and activated his superpower—the grass, which had been ravaged by the fight, suddenly grew wildly, with the fine blades of grass sprouting from the ground like giant pythons that had come to life, their sharp barbs wrapping around the Zen Temple.

The crooked tree in the courtyard rustled, its leaves transforming into sharp flying knives that rained down upon the Zen temple.

Zen Monk Shen'er's eyes widened.

He tumbled and rolled to avoid it, but in that moment of distraction, a stem and leaf got tangled around his ankle, and he fell hard to the ground.

"Heh, interesting." The Heavenly Curse's powerful physique prevented him from suffering internal injuries from the blow. He pressed his hand against the stem and leaves, crushing them into powder. "You bastard—"

Zhu Yu did not answer. With a slight lift of her fingertips, the thick roots of the crooked-necked tree overturned the ground and strangled the Zen temple like a giant python.

Shen Er's pupils contracted sharply, and he quickly retreated to avoid the roots that burst from the ground. Those roots twisted in the air like living things, without any fluctuations of magical power; this was definitely not a spell.

“It’s not cursed power…” Shen Er wiped the blood from his cheek, his eyes lighting up with excitement. “What exactly are you?”

"father!"

Amid Hui's scream, Shen suddenly grinned. It was a truly sinister smile befitting a "sorcerer killer."

With a chilling writhing sound, Shen'er's throat bulged violently, and a ball of cursed spirit was vomited from his mouth.

The cursed spirit Ugly Treasure, which was used to store his weapon, enlarged in size, wrapped around his shoulder, opened its mouth, and spat out a three-section staff.

The top-grade spell artifact, Cloud Wanderer, tore through the air, carrying an unstoppable force that shredded the incoming vines into pieces.

Amidst the splashing juices, Shen Er's figure surged forward like a ghost, the tip of his cloud aimed straight for Zhu Yu's throat.

She instinctively raised her arm to block, but was slammed against the wall by the force, creating a crater half the width of a person.

[Beep! Mission complete—]

[Congratulations on unlocking a new ability: Cursed Power]

She suddenly felt a strange power surging within her—

An unfamiliar energy surged through my veins like magma, my eyes burned, and my vision was as if filtered through a blood-red lens.

When she opened her eyes again, the cursed spirits that she couldn't see before appeared in the distance.

"what?!"

Zen Monk Shen'er's five senses, which surpassed those of ordinary people, perceived more clearly than anyone else that this person, who had just been devoid of any magical power, was now surrounded by a torrent of the purest magical power!

His pupils suddenly contracted.

"Are you kidding me...? Temporary awakening of magical power?"

Don't say it was his fault that this brat awakened his magical powers...

Zen Monk Shen Er, annoyed, wielded You Yun's staff and cleaved through the thorns that came his way. A sweet, almost eerie floral fragrance quietly entered his nostrils.

His pupils dilated for a moment, and he immediately realized something was wrong. He tried to hold his breath, but it was too late.

The girl in his field of vision suddenly split into several double images, and the momentum of his missed attack made him stagger half a step.

Shen Er struggled to stand up, only to find his arms covered in dark green vines—these thorny branches were multiplying at an alarming rate, quickly turning him into a cocoon.

Most fatally, each vine was contracting in sync with his pulse, as if it were a living thing, precisely locking down all points of force.

Zhu Yu's figure appeared and disappeared among the layers of branches.

Through his blurred vision, he saw her gradually approaching...

The next second, he forcibly tore the plant wrapped around his face with his teeth.

"With such tricks..." Blood trickled from the corner of Shen'er's mouth as his powerful body forcibly metabolized the toxins. "You think you can take me down with these tricks?"

The other person looked at him with a strange expression—as if they had seen some magical creature and were surprised that he could still move.

Then, he muttered something to himself, grabbed something from his person, and casually threw it in his face.

Shen'er's last consciousness was seeing her brat rushing over anxiously.

*

Zhu Yu said that the little NPC's father was really difficult to deal with. Even with a strong hypnotic ability, he could not fall asleep, so he had to take out an item with a forced hypnotic effect from his backpack.

Well, he's an NPC who helps players awaken new abilities, so he's somewhat useful. Players wouldn't kill him on the spot.

"Don't worry, your dad is just sleeping."

Yeah, I'll probably get a good night's sleep and wake up when it's already dawn.

Zhu Yu kindly explained to the little guy who was in a panic.

Hui held her breath and leaned closer, finally hearing the even breathing of the monk in the temple, and breathed a sigh of relief.

He curiously poked his father's face.

Even in his sleep, he frowned, unconsciously ground his teeth, and suddenly mumbled indistinctly, "...you brat."

Once Hui confirmed that her father was doing well, she took Zhu Yu to the living room to continue playing.

The two played together for a while longer before finally lying down on the bed to sleep.

Zhu Yu lay upright and peacefully on the bed.

Hui followed suit, lying on her back with her hands crossed over her lower abdomen, her body pressed tightly against Zhu Yu's. She quickly fell into a deep sleep, emitting even breathing sounds like a kitten.

As for his elderly father, he was sound asleep in the courtyard, with the sky as his blanket and the earth as his bed, completely unaware of his presence.

*

Night Moth's expression resembled a crumpled and unfolded newspaper as he looked at Zhu Yu, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back.

Can anyone tell him why [Kuzi] regained his magical powers after going out for a while?