Kuki Shinobu faced her mother's barrage of words.
In the end, she chose to watch coldly from the sidelines, offering no response.
She closed her eyes, took a few deep breaths, and her mother's illusion vanished.
Kuki Shinobu was subsequently expelled from the room.
It seemed the intensity of the illusions varied for each person.
The way to resolve them differed as well.
Paimon didn't dare get too close, so she didn't hear the lecture inside.
Seeing Shinobu come out, she hurriedly asked, "What happened? Who was that? Do you know them?"
Itto could recognize the voice and was about to say something.
But Kuki Shinobu spoke first. "Sorry for the scene, everyone. That was my mother's voice."
"I didn't expect… to hear those words again in a place like this."
[So the door shows the memories people hate the most.]
[Feels like it's the stuff buried deep in their hearts they don't want to face.]
[Compared to Mu Yang, Itto and Shinobu's are way milder…]
[One person's honey is another's poison. These might be the things they least want to confront.]
Yanfei only caught something about shrine maidens.
She was still a bit confused.
Kuki Shinobu began to explain.
Being a shrine maiden at the Grand Narukami Shrine was a secure job in Inazuma.
Shinobu's family had paved the way for her, naturally hoping she'd live a better life.
But she didn't want to be a shrine maiden, so she went to Liyue to study.
Mu Yang, resting against a nearby stone wall, chimed in when the topic turned to the Grand Narukami Shrine, making a small effort to stay relevant.
He mentioned he'd stayed at the Grand Narukami Shrine for many days.
From what he knew, the shrine maiden job was easy, simple, and well-paid.
It was a dream job for many.
He left out one detail: you had to endure the fox's sudden pranks.
Kuki Shinobu didn't deny this.
Being a shrine maiden was indeed a great job.
"But just like some cats can be raised at home while others can only survive in the wild…"
She crossed her arms. "I'm someone who needs absolute freedom and space. The shrine maiden job, while good, isn't for me."
Itto was very pleased with Shinobu's resolve.
"Exactly, exactly! You're better suited for the gang life. Look at you, all majestic and dashing… right, everyone?"
[Once Itto said that, I suddenly understood the mother-in-law. Passing up a cushy government job to dye your hair yellow and become a street punk.]
[That metaphor's spot-on, I get it now.]
[Guess we just respect it. Here's to the best 2D world.]
[Sigh…]
The game world wasn't as harsh as reality, after all.
And Shinobu's skills were impressive—she lived comfortably even running with a gang.
The others present acknowledged this.
So they respected Shinobu's choice.
"The things in this door change, and they're all things we don't want to see. So who can open it and find a way out?"
"That little bro's still waiting for our help. We can't waste time."
Itto's comment was, for once, sensible.
He himself was the most reckless, Mu Yang was the strongest, and Shinobu was more rational.
But none of them had found a way to crack the door.
Kuki Shinobu looked at the remaining members—Lumine, Yanfei, and Yelan. "Any of you want to try?"
Yelan declined bluntly.
"No thanks. If it's something scary, I'm not interested. And if someone's going to find a way out, it won't be me."
Paimon didn't get it. "Why not?"
"Doesn't that sound absurd? I don't even believe in it, so how could I make it happen?"
Itto seized the chance to jab at her. "Yeah, you don't seem like someone with dreams…"
Yanfei raised her hand. "I'll do it."
Hearing the benefactor step up, Itto clapped enthusiastically.
Lumine thought it over. "Does Yanfei have anything she's afraid of?"
"Logically, she should… but I can't imagine what." Yanfei walked over and activated the switch.
"Let's find out by opening the door."
The door opened.
Inside was a Liyue residence.
Yanfei stepped in, calm after the experiences of the others.
She examined the room's furnishings.
It looked like the home of a merchant family.
At that moment, a woman appeared in the room, shouting loudly.
"Old man, today you gave away three jin of those eight jin of salt, sold two jin, and traded three jin for wine. How much did you make in total?"
Yanfei thought the woman was yelling at her and jumped.
Thankfully, it was directed at the woman's husband.
The scolded old man looked embarrassed. "Huh?"
"But you said we could just sell the shop's stuff casually. What's wrong with giving some away?"
The woman was furious.
"You idiot! You let the neighbor grandpa come pick up the salt, and who knew he'd break his leg on the way!"
"Didn't you hear his son demanding compensation? You old fool, ugh…"
Yanfei listened while searching but found no special mechanisms in the room.
She left, disappointed.
The people outside were naturally confused, unsure what had happened.
[What's going on here?]
[What's the meaning of this illusion? I don't get it.]
[Is it related to legal consultations?]
[Probably a neighborly dispute—hard to say who's right or wrong.]
Yanfei spoke up, confirming what the chat suggested: it was a civil dispute.
The two people weren't anyone special to Yanfei.
They were just a representation of the many tricky civil cases she'd handled.
"Oh? So you're afraid of petty disputes over daily necessities?"
Yelan perked up—this was rare intel.
Even if she wasn't going in herself, she'd make note of what others feared.
Yanfei thought for a moment. "I'd say I'm a bit wary of people who get hung up on trivial matters."
"Especially cases like that one, where good intentions end up causing chaos…"
There was a hint of helplessness in Yanfei's words.
Good intentions turning into harm and accidents were indeed unfortunate.
Yanfei entered this line of work to help solve problems.
But as a half-Adeptus, not a pure human, she couldn't fully empathize with their emotions.
Even for humans, though, completely understanding complex human hearts was impossible.
The group nodded in understanding.
"Human hearts might be the most complicated and heartbreaking things."
After the reflection, all eyes turned to Lumine and Yelan.
Yanfei had been calm enough,
but she still hadn't found any clues to break through.
Yelan maintained her stance: Don't look at me, I'm not going in.
Itto was annoyed by her attitude.
"Yelan, we're all teammates here. Even if you don't want to try, at least give a convincing reason."
"Fine, I'll be blunt." Yelan stared straight at Itto.
"I serve Tianquan Ningguang of the Liyue Qixing, and my work involves Liyue's major secrets."
"Opening that door means I might have to eliminate all of you to keep those secrets. Satisfied with that reason?"
[Mu Yang: Meow meow meow? So you're pretty bold, huh?]
[Lmao, does Yelan think Mu Yang doesn't know?]
[Not necessarily. Mu Yang only recently arrived at Liyue Harbor, right?]
[She's just exaggerating to warn Itto. She can't even beat the Traveler.]
"Oh, oh… pretty impressive, huh…"
Facing Yelan's blatant threat, Itto wasn't fazed.
He calmly turned to Kuki Shinobu. "But, uh, who's Tianquan Ningguang?"