Just as Leo and the others were ready and about to head out for the operation—
[Real World Mission: Youth, Seize the Day!]
[Mission Description: Youth is beautiful, it is crazy, and it is even more stupid!]
[Mission Explanation: Fulfill the cherished desire of the wraiths.]
[Mission Reward: Badge · Youth, Honkai energy *3]
[—You never know which will come first, tomorrow or the accident, Man!]
?
Facing this mission that suddenly popped up, Leo couldn't help but have a head full of question marks.
What does... Man mean?
Did the third-year students crash en masse or something?
Ahem, cough, cough!
Alright, he knew he shouldn't make fun of the dead.
But looking at [Tongzi]'s prompt for this mission, he still couldn't resist roasting it.
However, with the hint, he instantly had a lead on the cause of the third-year students' "illness" this time.
—Because an accident came first and they lost their lives, so... they want to experience youth again?
Of course, he didn't think wraiths would be so easily satisfied.
But the line of thought was definitely this one. That meant their intervention this time couldn't be solved by force, but rather by convincing people with reason.
So... are they all innocent?
His eyes rolled; he didn't believe the third-year students were that clean. Only a portion of the second and first-year students were the main culprits oppressing Raiden Mei.
—Just watching helplessly as Raiden Mei was bullied without doing anything was, in itself, a sin.
Therefore—
"What cherished desire would they have?"
No longer thinking wild thoughts, he looked directly at MEI and Kiana, as well as the involved party, Raiden Mei.
He naturally showed everyone the mission he had suddenly received.
Just as he had said, he would no longer shoulder everything alone, but would share the burden.
"Redemption...?"
Tapping her index finger on her pointed chin, Kiana tentatively voiced this possibility.
"Don't imagine people to be so wonderful."
Shaking her head, MEI spoke from the calmest perspective: "Since it's related to youth, they should be even more selfish."
In her view, these guys who stood by and watched coldly didn't deserve to have their wishes fulfilled at all.
If not for considering that this was an event that could improve Leo's strength, she would have even wanted to urge Leo to refuse this mission.
After all, although Raiden Mei wasn't her, she gave her a feeling like a younger sister, so as the older sister, she naturally had to take good care of her.
"I don't know."
Seeing Leo focus his gaze on her, Raiden Mei, who poked her head out from the [blade space], shook her head and spoke bluntly: "I don't understand the people in the third year at all."
"After all, you should understand my situation at that time."
Before becoming an existence detested by humans and dogs alike, she did have a senior sister as a "friend."
But after her circumstances underwent earth-shaking changes, these "friends" naturally disappeared.
And since they were friends of that level, it naturally wasn't enough for her to learn any intelligence about the third year, at most some anecdotes that could spread throughout the school.
Like that teacher in the [Swimming Club] peeping at students; that was something a senior sister mentioned during a casual chat.
But if it was about the situation of the upper grades, then she knew absolutely nothing.
"Is that so?"
After collecting everyone's thoughts, Leo's eyes rolled, and he asked Raiden Mei again: "Then before this day of the [Honkai Domain] arrived, was there any festival?"
Since it was related to youth, perhaps there was some festival involved.
And the [Far East]'s "College Entrance Exam" holds the unified exam in January, with university retakes in February and March.
Therefore, the most urgent festival before this would be—
"Festival?"
Facing Leo's question, Raiden Mei thought for a moment and immediately gave an answer.
"New Year."
Subject to external cultural invasion, the [Far East]'s New Year had changed from the original lunar calendar to the first day of the Gregorian calendar year.
"Then I know where to find them."
Leo's gaze shifted to the high mountain; there was a shrine there.
Although he wasn't sure if the third-year students were there, compared to going from student's home to student's home, or actually going to the hospital, this was the only place that was most likely.
After all, Hatsumode is one of the most important customs of the [Far East] New Year. The third-year students would inevitably go to this sole shrine to pray for blessings, hoping to get into their desired university, or for some other wish.
In short—
"They really are here."
Just arriving at the foot of the mountain, Leo and his group saw police officers surrounding the road up the mountain.
However, it was obvious that ordinary people couldn't stop them.
Just finding a few places where ordinary people couldn't climb, they easily dashed up the mountain.
Besides... the [Far East] wouldn't have that many surveillance cameras!
Anyway, they quickly climbed to the peak, and then Leo stared at the name of the shrine in a daze.
Yae Shrine?
He did know that [Nagazora City] had this one and only shrine, but he hadn't thought the shrine's name would be Yae.
"A pink donkey-eared beautiful girl won't pop out of here, will she?"
Muttering softly, he cast his gaze into the shrine.
However, the girl he expected did not appear; what existed was a layer of thin mist that prevented one from seeing clearly what was happening inside.
It was just like when he was on the rooftop, looking at the entire [Nagazora City].
But at least he could feel that no slaughter was taking place inside the shrine...
...At least not currently.
"What are you saying?"
Kiana had sharp ears and naturally heard Leo's words, only she couldn't understand them.
"You see 'Yae', can't you connect it to Yae Sakura?"
Seeing that Kiana heard him, Leo reached out and pointed at the name on the shrine plaque.
"Uh..."
Slightly stunned, Kiana couldn't help but retort: "Yae Sakura has fox ears, okay!"
"Don't slander people randomly!"
"Yae Sakura..."
Hearing this name closely related to herself, Raiden Mei's expression couldn't help but become somewhat subtle.
Yae Sakura was her soul awakening, and in the [Previous Era], there was also a [Fire Moth] maiden named Sakura who had formed a deep bond with her.
In short, these were all unforgettable memories for her, only lacking someone to "remind" her.
"Stop chatting."
MEI felt she couldn't cut into the conversation, so she spoke up. But just as they were talking—
"Someone else is preparing to go in."
She, who had been focusing intently, had kept her attention on the shrine entrance.
So when the people stationed in front of the shrine made a move, she was the first to discover the situation.
They saw a person wrapped up tightly, looking like they were wearing a spacesuit, walking towards the shrine.
Immediately—
"The steel rope broke!"
The people stationed in front of the shrine couldn't help but cry out in alarm.
Because before that person entered, a steel rope made of high-strength steel had been tied behind them.
But now, the steel rope had snapped cleanly. Such an unimaginable event naturally terrified these ordinary people.
Even if there were government officials and law enforcers among them, in the face of supernatural power, they would still show fear towards the unknown.
And that hero who bravely entered the shrine was a hymn to human courage.
"Let's go."
Understanding they couldn't continue observing, Leo didn't want such a warrior to meet with an accident.
"Mhm."
Also unable to bear seeing a warrior fall, Kiana hurriedly nodded and followed Leo.
As for MEI, she hesitated slightly.
It wasn't that she lacked courage, but she was afraid she would become a burden to these two.
However—
"Don't hesitate."
Understanding what MEI was worried about, Leo smiled: "There will definitely be puzzle-solving rounds later, we still need your help."
It wasn't that he was arrogant, thinking he and Kiana could protect MEI well, but rather that he was more afraid this was a diversion tactic.
After all, judging solely from the mission hints, these third-year students didn't seem to be the main culprit.
Then since that was the case, there must be a conspiracy behind this, so he inevitably wouldn't let MEI walk alone.
"Mhm..."
Although she understood Leo was comforting her, with MEI's intellect, she also guessed Leo's worry.
So she chose to follow Kiana, no longer hesitating.
And as the three of them constantly approached Yae Shrine, a familiar prompt also appeared in front of Leo—
[Temporary Instance: Honkai Erosion Point · Yae Shrine (? Rank)]
[Minimum Level Requirement: Level 15]
[Minimum Player Requirement: 3 People]
[Weapon Restriction: Can only use tachi]
[Weather Effect: None]
[Disturbance Amplitude: None]
[Main Enemies: Sakura Guard (D-Rank), Shenxia Zombie (D-Rank), Claw Zombie (D-Rank)]
[Does the player wish to lead the team to enter?]
[Yes/No]
"See, without you, I couldn't even start the game."
Seeing [Tongzi]'s [Instance] prompt, Leo turned back to look at MEI.
"Hmph!"
Although she understood Leo was joking to alleviate the currently slightly tense atmosphere, MEI still couldn't help but snort coldly, rolling her eyes at Leo.
However... an [Instance]? That's good too.
With her current [Bond] with Leo, she also possessed 3 chances for [Resurrection].
At the very least, she had the ability to preserve her life. In a necessary moment, Leo and the others could abandon her and continue forward.
"What are you thinking?"
Seeing through MEI's thoughts, Leo said: "If we get wiped out, we get wiped out together. This is what Kiana and I agreed upon."
"The prerequisite for living alone is that there is absolutely no possibility of defeating the enemy, but there is still a possibility of exploring new intelligence."
"Otherwise, no matter who among us dies first, we will fight to the bitter end with that enemy."
This was the agreement he reached with Kiana last night, but MEI at that time had already typed 'GG', so naturally she didn't know.
"That's right."
Timely, Kiana also spoke up: "We are a team, not simply completing missions for the sake of completing missions."
"If it were really like that, sooner or later we would be alienated."
If their eyes only saw the mission and they took life and death lightly, they would inevitably lose their perception of death and emotion.
Only by retaining the emotion of wanting revenge could they continue to improve themselves through this feeling.
"...Mhm."
Facing the gazes cast by Leo and Kiana, MEI revealed a slightly apologetic look.
"I understand. Sorry."
"Alright."
Chuckling lightly as he looked at MEI, Leo said: "Don't be so serious, we're entering the instance."
After speaking, his mind moved, and he clicked [Yes].
Immediately, the space around the three of them changed, and they entered into [Yae Shrine].
[Temporary Instance: Yae Shrine]
Just as she entered, Sakura regretted it a bit.
Of course, she didn't regret accepting this mission.
There was no helping it; as a member of the [Fire Moth] secret action unit "Toxic Pupa", she didn't have the right to refuse missions.
What she truly regretted was... she didn't know if she would still have time to buy cake for Rin when she went back later.
Rin, her last relative, her only sister.
The moment she thought of her, she felt her whole body filled with drive.
But even so, she should have shown weakness just now and asked the higher-ups to send more support, instead of solving this mess alone.
"An alien space?"
The moment she stepped into the shrine gate, she sensed something was wrong.
That was a kind of spatial shift, so the steel rope tied behind her broke as expected.
Anyway, she could only rescue the children trapped inside as quickly as possible now.
And one of them was the child of her employer.
"Phew..."
Exhaling a mouthful of white mist, her gaze became sharp.
After entering her working state, her footsteps tapped lightly, and her whole person was like a nimble fox, quickly darting onto the eaves, attempting to figure out the current situation from a high vantage point.
However... no good?
Although she was now inside this space, standing on high, she still couldn't see the area separated by a single wall with her own eyes.
That thin dense fog was still effective even inside here.
In other words, she could only walk in.
However—
"Can't open it relying on brute force either?"
She discovered that some doors in the shrine couldn't be opened, even though these doors would have just been a matter of one kick for her in the past.
But now, even if she pulled out her blade and chopped down, it still couldn't produce any effect, as if these doors were the space itself.
But... they can be opened from the other side?
Although she hadn't played similar games, she felt the deep malice here.
Additionally, this shrine had definitely been enlarged!
With her speed, theoretically, she should have reached the central hall long ago, but she seemed to still be circling in the outermost layer.
The only thing that surprised her was that there weren't any enemies here.
It could even be said to be... completely empty!
Except for the fact that her phone did indeed receive the mission target's signal, otherwise she would even suspect if there was anyone here at all.
Until... until...
"Mm?"
Sensing a sudden anomaly appearing in the space, she couldn't help but become vigilant.
And her vigilance was quite wise, because in front of her, a maiden holding a scythe was suddenly generated. Before she could speak, the opponent swung the scythe down at her.
"Clang!"
As if by instinct, she used the long sword in her hand to block the scythe, and quickly slid it towards the maiden's neck—
"What kind of monster is this?"
Watching the opponent transform into flying ash while simultaneously creating a ring of fire below, she couldn't help but frown slightly.
It was only because her perception of danger was different from ordinary people, otherwise her feet would definitely have been injured by this ring of fire.
And she was famous for her agility; if her legs were crippled, her strength would naturally be greatly reduced.
But even though she wasn't injured, she still couldn't understand the current situation.
The originally empty shrine now appeared "unusually lively"!
Whether in front of her or on the path she came from, figure after figure appeared.
And because of her battle just now, these existences were all running towards her.
The only thing that made her feel reassured was... the strength of these monsters wasn't that great.
Easily solving a few monsters rushing at her, she also took off the heavy protective suit on her body that was like a spacesuit.
Immediately, that waterfall-like pink long hair swayed in the air with the shaking of her head.
Her figure was slender, her whole person standing tall and straight like a sharp sword.
Her legs were fair and fleshy; outlined by that leg ring, they fully displayed her youth and vitality.
Honestly, no one would imagine that she would be the "Forget-Me-Not" of the "Toxic Pupa" who made people tremble with fear at the news!
And after releasing the restrictions on her body, her speed became even faster, killing her way towards the deepest part of the shrine.
Before, she was still hesitating about where to kill towards, but now, she would kill towards wherever she saw more monsters.
Thus—
"This [Imaginary Energy] keeps rising..."
Looking at Kiana and MEI, Leo said with a subtle expression: "Do you guys have any leads?"
Just having entered [Yae Shrine], he saw his [Imaginary Energy] constantly rising.
Although undoubtedly, this was absolutely a good thing, when good things gradually became too many, he would naturally become vigilant.
Just like feeding a cat; when fed too much cat food, the cat would become terrified... could this be this Hammy's last meal?
If a cat was like that, how much more so for him.
However—
"I don't know."
Shaking her head, Kiana said: "I didn't feel any abnormality."
As a member of "Toxic Pupa", Sakura's battles focused on assassination, so naturally Kiana couldn't perceive it.
Not to mention, Sakura had advanced much deeper than them; naturally, they couldn't perceive anything here.
"It's not without anomalies."
Timely, MEI spoke up.
"That person who entered earlier is gone."
In fact, after entering here, she had been searching for that person's traces.
But she discovered that on the ground paved with fine gravel, there weren't even obvious footprints left behind.
One had to know, the equipment that person wore before wasn't light; it would definitely leave heavier footprints than an ordinary person.
Yet now, the footprints on the ground were messy and disorganized, without any particularly obvious traces.
Subsequently, she told Leo and Kiana about her discovery.
"Is that so?"
Revealing a thoughtful expression, Leo stroked his chin and said: "Since that's the case, it seems the other party didn't venture in relying solely on a rush of hot blood; they definitely have some skill."
It was just that he couldn't figure out why [Zombies] appeared ahead.
—How did that person get through?
"Don't think about it."
Compared to Leo and MEI who were good at thinking, Kiana spoke bluntly: "We'll just kill our way over and ask."
In her view, rather than staying here, it was better to kill first.
If this were in a game, she would be purely a skip-party.
—Story?
You just tell me where to go to kill what, and how many to kill, that's fine!
"Mm..."
Although he somewhat disapproved of Kiana's choice to skip life like this, since this was the real world, Leo also understood that simply relying on guessing and thinking wouldn't yield answers.
Therefore, leading Kiana and MEI, he charged forward.
After all, this [Instance] restricted weapons, so only he could perform best.
And relying on his own hard work and sweat, as well as Kiana's negligible numerical help, he successfully killed his way easily through the [Zombies] along this road.
If it were in the past, whatever [Sakura Guard], whatever [Shenxia Zombie], whatever [Claw Zombie], they would inevitably have brought him considerable pressure.
Leaving aside the first two, just the [Claw Zombie] had given him a harsh lesson on the first floor of [Chiba Academy].
And the first two were even more disgusting—
The [Sakura Guard] was an enhanced version of the [Guard Zombie]; attacks would carry double DEBUFFs of burning and bleeding, and upon death, it would even explode into a ring of fire, causing damage to enemies on it. Purely a death-rattle stream manure monster.
And in the area of manure monsters, the [Shenxia Zombie] didn't yield much either.
ADHD-like bow drawing, and shooting an arrow into the sky to summon a rain of fire...
...Meeting you, even Zhuge Liang couldn't borrow arrows!
In short, if his numerical values were even a little lower, this would have been a bitter struggle.
But before his absolute numerical values, these enemies were nothing but clay chickens and pottery dogs—
[Imaginary Energy +87]
[Imaginary Energy +85]
[Imaginary Energy +90]
[...]
Just killing his way through like this, Leo suddenly realized there were no more enemies.
To be fair, because he encountered doors that couldn't be opened from this side earlier, it caused him to become vigilant, to the extent that his progress slowed down quite a bit.
And seeing that there were suddenly no enemies now, he began a battle of wits and courage with the air even more.
However—
"Really none?"
Continuing to walk forward, he found that along this road, let alone enemies, there wasn't even a trace of battle.
If not for the prompt showing him that the jumping [Imaginary Energy] was real, he would have somewhat suspected if he should continue moving forward.
But eventually, when they walked into the central hall, the jumping of [Imaginary Energy] finally stopped.
"Finished killing?"
Stroking his chin, he was certain now; these [Imaginary Energy] points were all killed by the person ahead... I really thank you!
Undoubtedly, this was his most sincere gratitude.
He even wanted to invite the other party to his home for a small gathering tonight after they met.
After all, in just this short while, the [Zombies] the other party beheaded provided him with nearly ten thousand points of [Imaginary Energy].
In other words, the other party beheaded at least one hundred [Zombies]... truly powerful!
Although he could also do it with his current numerical values, from the point that there weren't even battle traces, it could be seen that the other party's strength was obviously above his!
So—
"Where exactly did this fierce person pop out from?"
Finally, at the end of the central hall, he finally saw it.
—Pink long hair... could it be!?
And just as he was excited, the other party turned their head.
Obviously, the other party wasn't [Elysia].
But immediately after, he felt the other party looked very familiar.
Until—
"She is..."
Kiana was the first to recognize the other party, asking Leo in a whisper: "Sakura?"
Thus Leo finally reacted... so it's Sakura!
Sorry Chief, you lost your donkey ears, I didn't recognize it was you just now!
Missing that pair of iconic fox ears, Sakura did indeed look a bit strange...
...In Leo's perspective.
"Who are you?"
Hand on her sword hilt, Yae Sakura looked at Leo and his group vigilantly, looking them up and down.
Students of [Chiba Academy]?
But from the aura radiating from Leo and the others, she was certain that apart from MEI, the other two definitely couldn't be students.
In other words... her bodyguards?
In her view, it should be Leo and Kiana protecting MEI.
Although from the results, it was indeed like this, she obviously thought in the wrong direction.
But precisely because of this, she relaxed her vigilance instead.
Therefore—
"May I ask, this student."
After "confirming" Leo and the others' identities, she spoke up and asked: "Have you seen student Chishima Eiko?"
Chishima Eiko was her employer's daughter; she came precisely for this.
Of course, if she could save the remaining students of [Chiba Academy] in passing, that would be even better.
—There would even be overtime pay!
"Chishima Eiko?"
Her eyes rolling, MEI immediately recalled the other party's identity.
"It's that one from the Chishima family, right? She isn't in the same class as me, but she should be inside."
Although not in the same class, Chishima Eiko was still very famous in the school because of her family background.
—If it's for such an existence, it would be reasonable to dispatch a character of this level.
Due to the lack of time, she didn't know exactly how strong Sakura was.
But seeing that the road here was unimpeded, it could be seen that the other party's strength was definitely not below Leo and Kiana... what an astonishing existence indeed!
Honestly, she had never thought there was such a superhuman-like existence in this world.
Perhaps Himeko, whom she saw last time serving as Mobius's guard captain, might not necessarily be stronger than the other party, right?
At the very least, she didn't feel such a sharp aura on Himeko.
"Inside?"
Hearing this answer, Sakura couldn't help but feel somewhat discouraged.
After all, if she could go in, she would have gone in long ago.
But obviously, the reason she stayed here for so long was because she didn't have a way to enter.
"Let me take a look."
Understanding that now wasn't the time to "acknowledge" Sakura, Leo stepped forward actively and said: "With areas like this becoming more and more numerous, our job isn't easy to do either."
He seemed to be complaining, but in reality, he was probing whether Sakura knew about other places like this.
"Mm?"
Revealing a puzzled look, Sakura said: "So you have experienced places like this too?"
Since she determined their goals were unified, she didn't mind exchanging a bit.
After all, for such an unknown place, she also needed more intelligence to better complete the mission.
"Yeah..."
Letting out a helpless voice, Leo smiled: "Only to make a living would one risk one's life in a place like this."
"They say..."
Eyes flashing with a gleam, he probed: "This place is called a [Honkai Domain]."
"So... this is a [Honkai Domain]?"
Sakura, who didn't have much scheming in her heart, revealed a surprised look.
After all, she had only heard of such places, but had never really seen one.
But since that was the case, she realized she really might not make it in time to buy cake for Rin.
Sorry... Rin.
A sis-con, she was filled with apology.
________________________________________
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