Challenge: The Fool with the Surname Okayamine

Chapter 188 Neighborhood Arc: An Interlude

In this deserted town, night had fallen, and the streets were empty and silent.

In a corner of the town, there stands a lonely two-story apartment late at night, and it seems that the sound of a girl crying can still be heard from inside the room.

Along with a faint emptiness, it is also searching for something.

I couldn't find it under the bed, on the bed, or in the closet.

Could it be...could it be that she abandoned me and ran away? No...no...impossible.

"........."

"That's right!"

Kong Wu recalled that this house seemed to be a two-story building. When they expanded that spiritual energy circle, the second floor was probably built as well.

Thinking this way... she climbed the stairs... slowly, without making a sound.

"...Uh...Ah...Ahhh!"

She saw someone's room, and because she wasn't sure and the door wasn't locked, she quietly walked down the dark corridor and peeked through the crack in the door, only to see this scene.

I saw it by accident!

"Ah...woo...ah...ahhh!"

Although she was clenching her teeth, she couldn't stop sobbing. Perhaps because the room was dimly lit, she seemed to see someone inside the room clutching a pillow and crying.

—It's Tokisaki Kurumi crying.

It was an impact that seemed to turn the world upside down, and Kongwu stared wide-eyed at the sight.

She used to laugh, she used to be angry, and sometimes she would even show a bloodthirsty expression.

But it wasn't crying. Even if she laughed until she cried, even if she was extremely sad, she wouldn't cry, let alone wail like you. This is a Kurumi that no one has ever seen before.

She had become so certain in just half a day, but now her previous illusions had been shattered completely.

Tears streamed down her face like raindrops, unstoppable, even as Kurumi bit her lip so hard that a small amount of blood oozed out.

The girl probably couldn't stop herself from crying by willpower alone.

Sadness, pain, even despair, and some emotions stronger than those mentioned above—all the positive and negative feelings are mixed together.

Why was she crying? Kongwu had no idea why, but perhaps her faith was shaken by something, and she was even forced to shed tears in secret somewhere.

—Just by witnessing this scene, Kongwu's previous understanding of Kurumi was instantly overturned.

Looking back, Kong Wu secretly pondered that it must have been this moment that completely changed his opinion of Kurumi, leading him to make that final decision.

He left the scene quietly, as if afraid of waking something. Since Kurumi seemed to need to use the dormitory, he silently decided to sleep on the sofa in the living room.

Slowly closing her eyes, Kurumi began to vividly recall the scene of her ruthlessly shooting Nogi Ai. Her cold and merciless gaze seemed to freeze the entire world.

However, immediately afterward, the image of Kurumi crying played out before his eyes like a movie, her tears flowing like a burst dam, seemingly pouring out all the sadness and pain in her heart.

No one knows that these two sides are merely one facet of Kurumi's many facets. She is like a mysterious multifaceted being, each facet concealing untold stories and emotions.

Kongwu still can't accept the fact that she cruelly killed a life.

However, well, however—if those tears were her true self, and not the one she pretended to show others.

Even if you don't approve of her killing; no matter how cold-blooded her expression is; and even if she openly says that emptiness is bait.

Even Kumu has no intention of leaving Tokisaki Kurumi's side.

She had made up her mind. She would stick with Kurumi until Kurumi could no longer bear this strange anxiety and gave up completely.

Since she allowed me to travel with her, I should lend her a hand and repay her kindness.

Sora fell asleep pondering such arrogant thoughts. The next morning, Sora smiled shyly at the awake Kurumi.

Good morning, Kurumi.

"...Have you taken the wrong medicine?"

Kurumi, puzzled, narrowed her eyes slightly. Looking at the empty space, something felt off, but before she could react, she smiled at herself again and said:

"Since we had some here, I baked some bread."

"Is that so...?"

"Oh, and I also made coffee. You know, Japanese people drink coffee in the morning, right?"

"Uh, it shouldn't be..."

That's what she said, but Kurumi still added some sugar to her coffee, and then glanced at Kūmu, whose attitude had completely changed today.

All I could see was her smug expression.

"That's incredible. I'm not hungry, but the bread still tastes delicious."

"We are not eating bread, we are just acknowledging the fact that we have eaten bread."

"Ugh?"

The empty expression turned puzzled, but Kurumi also confirmed that she didn't understand.

"...Aspiring elves must have dreams to survive. This is not a metaphor, but a fact."

Kurumi's expression was solemn as she slowly revealed this cruel truth.

"Many young girls stumble into this neighboring world, and most of them disappear because they have no dreams. But there's nothing we can do about it."

"...Why did it disappear?"

"I don't know why. But the weight of the physical body in this world is definitely lighter than in 'the other world'. You don't get hungry if you don't eat, you don't die if you don't sleep, and you don't get old. To be honest, it's practically immortality!"

"Immortal and immortal..."

"However, prolonged inactivity will weaken one's spirit. Therefore, here, the spirit is more vital than the physical, and the most important thing is 'dreams'."

What do I want to do? How do I want to spend my time? What kind of person do I want to become? How do I want to do it?

A pure little wish, a naive little hope.

Even wicked little wishes don't matter. These pursuits fill the heart with vitality, generating a firm belief in living a good life.

What if those conditions weren't met?

“It’s so easy to live happily here. But this neighboring area doesn’t allow such laziness.”

"lazy--!"

If one has no dreams, no strong will to live, and only seeks to exist in this world, that would be enough.

As Kurumi spoke, a blue-haired girl smiling at him flashed in her eyes, and her hands unconsciously clenched.

—On the other side at this moment~

The four walked together on a deserted street. Ahead was a ronin carrying a sword, to his left was a bespectacled girl holding a book in her left hand, and to his right was Wuming walking silently, with Rionmu being protected in the middle.

"Oh! Boss, where are we going next?! I can't wait to go and start hacking and slashing!"

"It's so noisy, it's disturbing my reading."

Caiyan complained, after all, ever since they left that apartment, Zhengmei had been excitedly talking about it all the way.

"If we don't do anything now, let's go to the shopping mall first."

"Shopping mall? Boss, what are we going there for? There aren't any enemies waiting for us to kill."

Zheng Mei looked completely puzzled.

"It's very simple..."

"what?"

“I need to change my clothes. This dress is too awkward to wear, and it’s quite tight because it was altered from the clothes of some skinny blonde quasi-elf.”

Upon hearing Wuming's complaint, Liyinmeng immediately spoke up in defense of herself:

"Who are you calling poor?! I'm clearly a cute idol!"

"What's wrong with me saying this? Isn't this the truth?"

"Don't tell the truth! I'm your benefactor, after all. Even though I can tell whether you're telling the truth or a lie, I still want to hear you lie!"

"I don't like to lie."

"Then at least have some emotional intelligence..."

"Alright, alright, boss, do you want me to help you shut this guy up? I'm pretty good at that."

"Well, when it comes to silencing people, Masami certainly has the most physical means, even I can't match her in this respect."

Rainbow Eyes chimed in, and Rion Dream, hearing the whispers of the two before her, suddenly shut her mouth.

"No need. Although this guy is a good-for-nothing, at least he can be used as a lie detector. Besides, she has done me a favor, so I can't let her die."

Wu Ming waved his hand helplessly. There was indeed too much scheming and backstabbing in Zheng Mei and Cai Yan's tenth domain, but because they were sensitive to it, they were able to fully understand the "sincerity" in Wu Ming's words.

The group continued walking towards the shopping mall.