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

*

Strange, very strange.

Zhu Yu noticed something was off about the black-haired NPC.

Chapter 124 Stubborn NPC

Actually, things were already starting to show signs when we first met the black-haired NPC.

Why is it that when you encounter a black-haired NPC, there's always a dark cloud above his head?

He was smiling, but the dark clouds overhead almost completely covered his head.

Dark clouds appear quite frequently, but they usually dissipate on their own after a short while.

It was as if nothing had ever happened.

But who is Zhu Yu?

She's a player with both strong curiosity and drive, and she suspects that there must be some hidden storyline hidden in the black-haired NPC!

She immediately became very enthusiastic, and every time she noticed that the black-haired NPC had spawned a small dark cloud, she would poke the black-haired NPC to initiate a conversation with him.

"Hi Jay, are you in a bad mood?"

Black-haired NPCs usually deny it with a smile.

"No, [Kuzi]-chan is overthinking it."

"No, I'm in a great mood right now!"

Ha, another player has encountered a hypocritical NPC.

This happened several times in a row, and Zhu Yu immediately realized that the NPC's favorability had not yet been raised to the level that would trigger the NPC to tell the truth.

Yes, the game has a hidden affinity system.

If the level of affection is different, the same interaction with an NPC will produce different effects.

When you greet an NPC with little interaction and low favorability, they will usually just nod very perfunctorily, call your name, and not give any other reaction.

However, when you greet an NPC you've interacted with a lot and whose favorability rating has been raised to a high level, their reaction may be different each time, and they may even give you gifts from time to time!

Who can resist an NPC who gives players gifts!

Therefore, she would give as many items as possible to green-named NPCs to increase their favorability. Once the favorability was high, the rewards for the quests triggered by that NPC would be more generous.

While NPC favorability is a hidden setting, it can naturally be checked, but—

Items that can visualize favorability are lying in the system shop with a string of zeros, waiting for gullible players to buy them.

She opened the [Shop].

She closed the online store.

She decided to rely on herself.

Then she embarked on a diligent path of winning favor.

Her simple "strategy" was—

What's this, a cursed spirit? I'll deliver it.

What's this, a prop? I'll give it to you.

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

After repeating this process several times and initiating the same dialogue again, the NPC's reaction finally changed.

"Hmm... Is it that obvious? But it's nothing."

"I'm just a little tired, I'll be fine soon."

Zhu Yu: ...The NPC's mouth must be covered in cement, he's so stubborn.

Enraged, she lost her temper and punched the black-haired NPC.

Then......

Continue sending gifts as if nothing had happened.

Fortunately, hard work pays off, and her tools were very effective, allowing her to quickly unlock the hidden quest.

*

At that time, both of them had just finished their mission and returned to the college. Zhu Yu took the opportunity to rummage through the college's trash cans and happened to bump into Xia Youjie, who was walking out of the dormitory building.

After seeing the black-haired NPC calmly greet her again despite the small dark cloud above his head, Zhu Yu skillfully initiated a dialogue and waited for the NPC's response.

The moonlight, like a silver veil, bathed the college's teaching buildings in a hazy glow. The treetops swayed gently in the night breeze, the leaves rustling softly, like the silent sigh of the moonlight.

Xia Youjie lowered his eyes and looked at the overlapping shadows of the two people on the ground.

As usual, he tried to brush it off casually, but when he looked up, he met the other person's eyes—

It simply exists, like moonlight piercing through a thin mist, like the deep sea watching the drowning person sink.

She didn't urge him, but just gazed at him quietly. Her dark eyes reflected not the person in front of her, but the starry sky in the night.

When her gaze fell upon him, the world suddenly felt light.

He used to avoid eye contact when lying, but unexpectedly—

Under that gaze, he felt his heart beat slowly, his blood turn transparent, and his bones seem to dissolve.

He suddenly realized—there was no warmth, no judgment, not even curiosity in those eyes.

Standing in front of her, he suddenly felt that all his struggles, pain, and obsessions were as ridiculous as grains of sand.

It was nothing more than a slight tremor of dust.

She doesn't care.

The thought was like ice water running down my spine, both chilling and liberating.

Suddenly, those heavy secrets didn't seem so difficult to talk about anymore.

"...Maybe not so good."

He finally spoke, his voice low and hoarse.

Those emotions that have been suppressed for too long, like a flood bursting its banks, once they find a crack, can no longer be stopped.

He spoke haltingly, pausing occasionally, then giving a wry smile, as if each word required immense effort.

Finally—he spoke of the nauseating taste of the cursed spirit orb that he had been enduring for so long.

Sticky and fishy, ​​like a lump of living rotting flesh wriggling at the back of the tongue.

That was a rag filled with vomit.

The body was resisting, every nerve was screaming to vomit it out, but it just sank down, too heavy, like an unbreakable vow.

—As a sorcerer, he exists to protect non-sorcerers.

Then, it melted.

It doesn't disappear, but spreads—like a drop of ink falling into clear water, like venom seeping into the bloodstream.

He could never be separated from it again.

So embarrassing.

Now, the shadows still remain, but sunlight is already slanting in.

Congratulations on obtaining the CG "The Suffering of Dust"

*

The black-haired NPC finally said something different from usual, ending the conversation and prompting a new quest to appear in the system.

[Side Quest: Cursed Spirit Orb, a strange entity that causes loss of taste buds. Xia Youjie has been enduring the disgusting taste of the Cursed Spirit Orb, even though he doesn't seem to have pica. Would you be willing to help him solve this problem?]

If she had been cruelly rejected by the NPC again, she was afraid she might have resorted to some extreme measures :D

Zhu Yu's expression softened instantly upon finally unlocking the hidden quest, and she quickly accepted the task.

*

Sunlight streamed obliquely into the training ground of the vocational college.

Zhu Yu and Xia Youjie were huddled together, whispering to each other, their heads almost touching, their muffled discussions occasionally breaking the silence.

"...I see."

"*%&......next time......@#%"

"...Try again...&@#"

Suddenly, a loud "humph" shattered the harmony.

Gojo Satoru leaned against the tree trunk with his arms crossed, raised his chin, glanced at the two of them sideways, and curled his lips into a dissatisfied smile.

"You two have been inseparable lately."

"Tell me quickly, is there something fun you're doing without me and Shoko?!" Gojo Satoru's eyes were filled with accusation, as if he were looking at two cats who had stolen fish.

This time, Ieiri Shoko and Gojo Satoru formed a united front. She suddenly reached out and pressed down on the shoulders of Zhu Yu and Xia Youjie at the same time, and said with a smile.

"Confess and you'll be treated leniently; resist and you'll be punished severely."

Chapter 125 End of Mission

In the past, Xia Youjie would have tried to brush it off with a laugh, but now—

He glanced at Zhu Yu, who looked completely bewildered, and a slight smile played on his lips.

It's like someone who has been huddled in a dimly lit room for a long time suddenly pushing open a dusty window—sunlight streams in, and even the dust particles floating in the air become translucent.

Honesty doesn't require a heroic resolve, just a little courage, like a child loosening their clenched fist to reveal a crumpled candy that's been warming in their palm for too long.

A gentle breeze suddenly rose in my heart.

He calmly confessed everything.

*

The flow of words was smoother than expected.

But the mockery from unscrupulous companions was more biting than the coldest wind.

After listening, Gojo Satoru and Ieiri Shoko were silent for a moment, and then expressed strong surprise that he could swallow the cursed spirit ball with such a terrifying taste.

Gojo Satoru: "Can you eat that ugly cursed spirit?"

Shoko stared at his stomach with a strange expression, lost in thought.

“Amazing in every sense of the word.”

Xia Youjie is truly a man destined for great things.

Wu Tiao Wu was unhappy that Xia Youjie had kept it from them for so long, so he grabbed Xia Youjie's neck and deliberately dragged out his voice in an exaggerated tone.

"Oh dear—what kind of tragic male lead script is our Jie Jun playing? He's actually secretly hiding away and gritting his teeth to endure it all? What, is he afraid that we, as his companions, are not trustworthy and can't help him?"

"Jay, don't try to be a lone hero all by yourself!"

Shoko Ieiri was lost in thought: "No wonder that sometimes after Jet exorcising a cursed spirit, he would choose to stay in his room alone. His expression was sometimes a little off when he came out. It turns out he had just swallowed a cursed spirit ball."

After a back-and-forth exchange, Xia Youjie raised his hands in surrender: "...Alright, now that everything's out in the open, isn't it?"

Shoko Ieiri put away her lazy expression and became unusually serious: "Although Satoru is a bit of a rascal, he did say one thing right—we are comrades."

She pointed to herself and Gojo Satoru: "We'll face everything together. You're keeping it all bottled up inside. Do you think we're just decorations?"

"Besides... you only told [Kuzi] before, does that mean you don't consider us friends?"

Ieyasu narrowed her eyes dangerously.

"Exactly! Jay, you bastard..."