Tokyo Soft Rice King

"What else? Haven't you already visited its shrine? And you even picked up a beautiful woman."

"..."

It turns out that Kuroo looks like a human because he is a god.

"So the old man was also an agent of God during his lifetime?"

"You can say yes, you can say no."

"Huh? What does this mean? Why is it still so ambiguous?"

"Kuroo chose my husband, but he never acknowledged the role of agent because he doesn't believe in God. He's a complete atheist. Or, in other words, he thinks the gods of this world are just a 'natural phenomenon'."

"...I can understand that. After all, in our original world, God is a concept invented by humans."

Who would have thought that gods actually exist in this world.

"So my wife has never used the power given by God."

"This is too awesome..."

He had plug-ins but didn't use them, and still managed to change history. What a great achievement!

Although Hei Yuming had always admired Grandpa Kobayashi, the senior time traveler, he now wanted to worship him.

However, at this time, Kuroba Akira suddenly thought of Saotome Fuyumi's eyes. If the agent does not use his ability all the time, he will be punished!

"Wait a minute, Grandpa Xiaolin never used his abilities, so he wasn't punished by the gods?"

"Yes, of course I did. How could I not? Didn't he die before me? He's such a heartless person..."

Grandma Kobayashi had a resentful look on her face, which made Hei Yuming's eyes twitch.

"Uh... didn't Mr. Lin die of old age?... Is this considered a punishment?"

"Well, I'm too lazy to tease you anymore. My husband was indeed not punished, but that's only because he had no reason to be punished."

"Using no ability, doesn't that count?"

"I don't know who told you the information about the gods, Baizi, but that's not accurate. You misunderstood the conditions for punishment. It's not that you won't be punished by the gods if you don't use your powers. Instead, agents will be punished if they refuse to gather faith for the gods or if they use their powers in a way that goes against the gods' ideals."

After explaining the more precise conditions of the punishment, Grandma Kobayashi turned around and explained.

"My husband simply 'has never used the power of God' and has not violated these two conditions."

"How can you gather faith without using your abilities?"

"Then I'd like to ask you, Baizi, what do you think faith is?"

"A heart of faith..."

That's my magic.

What.

Although it sounds very idealistic, just like relying on anger or momentum to increase strength, it is very unreliable, but aren't gods very idealistic beings?

"Breaking it down, it's 'trust' and 'admiration'. Simply put, as long as the agent can gain these feelings from people, then they are gathering faith for the deity."

"It's so casual... As long as you have faith, it doesn't matter where you got it, right?"

Indeed, when talking with Saotome Fuyumi, he also said that the faith of the evil is also faith, and as long as the agent does not violate the ideals of God, any use of ability is allowed.

Maybe some gods gather faith by having their agents do bad things.

Like...a god of mischief or something, if there is one.

"In the final analysis, God is the embodiment of human faith. Although the nature of His existence remains undetermined, His existence is reasonable, and God must also follow objective laws. Just as humans seek profit, God seeks faith."

This is similar to what Saotome Fuyumi said, who said that God is actually similar to capital.

It seems that most of those who know about the existence of gods know what the essence of gods is, so they will not blindly believe in gods.

When she said this, Grandma Kobayashi smiled bitterly with a hint of guilt.

"My wife and Kuroo had a good relationship, but...something happened later... Actually, that wasn't my wife's original intention, but judging by the outcome, Kuroo was indeed badly hurt by my wife."

"Why do you say that? Even though he didn't use his abilities, didn't the old man help Kuroo gather faith? And it must have been a huge amount of faith, right?"

"Baizi, you might as well think about it again. If Kuroo really has such a huge amount of faith, why would he ask you to be his agent?"

"what……"

Grandma Kobayashi's words stunned Hei Yuming.

Indeed.

If Kuroo really gained a lot of faith, there would be no need for the "second generation" Kurooha Akira.

"So Kuroo didn't get the faith? Why?"

"Because my wife died."

"Uh...if the agent dies, does that mean the faith is gone?"

"No, that's not the case. It's just that my husband is very special. He doesn't gather faith through the power bestowed by the gods. So other people don't believe in the gods, but in my husband."

"I see... For Kuroo, this is like trying to hatch a duck with its own chicks. It's all in vain."

"That's not all..."

Grandma Kobayashi frowned, revealing her most solemn expression so far, and even the crow's feet at the corners of her eyes seemed to deepen.

But in the end she just shook her head and didn't say anything else.

"Forget it. We don't know how this matter will turn out yet. Let's wait until the dust settles."

"Okay... Grandma Xiaolin, I have one more thing I want to ask you. If you know anything, I hope you will tell me..."

"Tell me about it first."

"That's us... Mr. Lin, me, Miss Hongxiang, and Mr. Yong. Were we all brought here by Heiwei?"

"Yes."

"That……"

"I know what you want to ask."

Grandma Kobayashi interrupted Hei Yuming and gave the answer before he could finish his question.

"My husband, like you, was obsessed with this matter. He tried many methods, but in the end, when he realized there was no hope, he chose to marry me. I took advantage of his most hurtful moment, not by relying on love to keep him by my side... So, Baizi, do you understand what I mean?"

After listening to this, Hei Yuming covered his hands and remained silent for a while. After he calmed down, he raised his head again.

"……Understood."

Grandma Kobayashi’s meaning was very clear.

It has been confirmed that the time travel is related to God and Kuroo.

But it seems that you can only go 'through', but not 'backward'...

Bai Yuming can only continue to be Hei Yuming.

He can never go back.

Chapter 270: Can You Really Become a Cat Girl?

As the mystery of the time travel was solved, Hei Yuming's heart finally settled.

But in his heart, Hei Yuming still couldn't accept this fact, and he didn't understand it at all.

If we can travel through time, why can't we go back? That doesn't make sense, right?

"Please accept my condolences, Yuming. I know it must be difficult for you to accept this..."

Grandma Kobayashi rarely called him by his real name, and her tone was very gentle, because she knew Bai Yuming must be very sad now.

Her man also shed tears for this. It was the first time she discovered that the strong man who stood tall and upright had such a fragile side.

It was after seeing that scene that Kobayashi Mika decided to stay with him for the rest of her life, to comfort his soul and give him a new home in this world.

Although Hei Yuming looks like a heartless and carefree boy, he definitely wants to go back.

He must want to go home.

This is not just wishful thinking on the part of Granny Kobayashi, because the 'conditions' are exactly that.

And she also wants to tell Hei Yuming the conditions so that he can let it go.

"I can briefly explain to you why you can't go back, Baizi. Do you want to listen?"

"Mother-in-law, do you even know this? If you do, of course I'll listen."

"Well, my old man and I once investigated together... Actually, after he turned fifty, he stopped interfering in the affairs of society. After that, he began to study folklore and the occult, mainly to explore the nature and origin of the Kuroo, that is, the gods."

"But the old man clearly doesn't believe in God?"

"Precisely because he doesn't believe, he's even more eager to deconstruct the gods. For example, how many people's faith does it take for a god to be born? Does it depend on the type of faith, the time, place, and people who believe in it? What are the conditions for a god to possess a physical form? And so on... He wants to understand these things."

This truth-seeking and pragmatic spirit is worthy of the Chinese people.

"I understand... I also want to understand it, but it seems that I am lucky. I don't need to investigate it myself. I just need to listen to you, mother-in-law, tell me."

The descendant Hei Yuming is taking advantage of the situation again.

There is no need to say much about the greatness of Grandpa Kobayashi.

"After investigation, we learned that Kuroo was originally a deity from Shikoku. However, because the myths and legends surrounding it are related to Takama-ga-hara, the modern emperor established a branch shrine for it in Chiyoda."

"Shikoku Island?"

Hei Yuming did not have a deep impression of Shikoku. Not only did he, a time traveler, not have a deep impression, but perhaps even the people of the island nation themselves did not have a deep impression of this place.

Although its location is relatively "lower middle", it is considered a "remote area" in Japan and is less well-known than Kyushu and Hokkaido.

This is because Japan's Shinkansen runs from north to south, connecting Kyushu and Hokkaido, passing through Honshu, but missing Shikoku.

So if you want to go to Shikoku, you either have to take a plane or walk across the Seto Inland Sea Bridge...

"Yes, we were invited to attend the opening ceremony of the 'Shikoku Shinkansen' together. We took the opportunity to travel around Shikoku Island and found the 'origin' of Kuroo there."

"Huh? Wait, Shikoku also has a Shinkansen?"

"It didn't exist before. The Shikoku Shinkansen project was halted due to economic and technical reasons. However, thanks to the efforts of my old man, the project was eventually restarted, realizing the dream of connecting the entire country through the national subway."

"Wait, state-owned!"

Seeing the surprised expressions on Kuroba Ming's face, Granny Kobayashi showed a somewhat proud expression and said complacently.

"Haha, now Japan's Shinkansen is 'all state-owned,' that's probably different from what you know, right?"

"Very different...was this also done by the old man?"

Grandma Kobayashi just said a very pretentious word with a half-smile.

"one."

What I mean is that this is just one of Mr. Lin’s achievements.

"This is too amazing... It's so amazing that I don't know how to praise the old man..."

The genes of the infrastructure maniac... have also been brought into this world!

"That's not important. Let's get back to Kuroo's origins. Baizi, have you ever heard of the term 'godhood'?"

"I've heard of it, but I don't know if my understanding is the same as yours, mother-in-law."

"Well, let me start with the Godhead. Actually, the Godhead is what God represents. Simply put, it's the 'vessel of faith,' and this thing is a real 'object.'"

"Oh? It's an object?"

"Yes, it's not an abstract concept, but rather people's faith is placed on objects, so corresponding gods are born."

"Anything?"

"As long as it's a real object, anything will do. Even if only one person has faith in it, a weak god may be born. This is why there are so many weak Tsukumogami."

Having said that, Grandma Kobayashi raised the teacup in her hand and said.

"For example, this teacup was made for me by my old man himself. I like it very much. It probably reflects my faith. However, my thoughts alone are too weak. Such a weak god can do almost nothing and cannot manifest itself."

Hei Yuming stared at the teacup for a long time but couldn't see anything special about it.

"Then when the believer, that is, me, dies, or when this teacup shatters, the faith gathered in it will be gone. So, in fact, many gods disappear without anyone knowing."