Challenge: The Fool with the Surname Okayamine

Chapter 193 Neighborhood Chapter: Neighborhood Arrangement

"Ah! So you deduced that the 'Puppet Master' wanted to kill me and then implant my soul crystal into the puppet, oh, I see."

Li Yinmeng clenched her right fist and placed it on her left palm. After blinking, she looked at Wuming with sudden realization.

Watching Rion Meng effortlessly absorb this massive amount of information, Wu Ming, who was analyzing it, and Kong Wu, who had picked up a stool from the side and was sitting there, both twitched their eyelids in exasperation.

"Sometimes I really admire you, you good-for-nothing. How can you accept these settings so calmly!"

"I agree. How can you accept something so terrifying so easily!"

"Hehe, I'm not that amazing. I get shy when you praise me like that~"

"They weren't praising you at all!"

Kongwu and Wuming both complained in unison.

Faced with the barrage of sarcastic remarks from the two, Rinemu paused for a moment, scratched her head, and thought carefully for half a second before speaking again:

"Wasn't that a compliment?"

"Of course not!"

"Useless trash, can't you understand things a little better?!"

"Oh, I didn't mean that. Sorry~ Hehe~"

"Can't you have a little sense of urgency?!"

"Ah, I know, I'm not scared. There's nothing I can do about it. Think about it, after I came to the Tenth Domain, am I like Tang Sanzang in 'Journey to the West' who is constantly being targeted? But think about it again, with the invincible Wuming by my side, I won't die no matter what."

Upon hearing this, Wu Ming's lips twitched, and he said irritably:

"Don't treat me like your bodyguard. I'm just protecting you as a way of repaying a debt of gratitude."

Emptiness chimed in from the side:

"Exactly! I don't know how you guys would respond, but this blonde lady just seems to have a really silly vibe about her. Sorry, what I said might have been a bit hurtful..."

"So silly... Uh, little sister, what you said was really hurtful... Although it's the truth, hehe."

The moment the words fell, both of them fell silent. Wu Ming, who was covering his face, had a feeling for some reason that "even if I don't plan to save her, she doesn't seem to be in much danger."

After staring at people with a black line on his face for a while, Wuming glanced at Kongwu beside him before he realized what was going on.

"Who are you...? Rion Yume, who is she? What about Hijikata and the rainbow-eyed person who was just with you?"

Faced with Wuming's question, Rine Meng's expression stiffened slightly, then she looked at Kong Wu, who was standing next to Wuming and listening with a puzzled expression, and suddenly realized what was happening.

"Ah! You're an accomplice of that attacker!"

"Oh no! This is bad!"

When Kongwu heard Liyinmeng's words, he was stunned at first, and then suddenly realized that he was not their teammate at all. He subconsciously wanted to turn around and run away, but Wuming grabbed his collar.

"Sorry, sorry, I suddenly remembered who you are. You're the unproductive bait who follows that self-proclaimed spirit Kurumi Tokisaki around, right? Is that how you should be addressed?"

With an expressionless and stiff expression, he slowly turned his head and looked at Wu Ming's cold eyes. His legs trembled uncontrollably, as if he had just crossed the Bridge of Helplessness and then the Gate of Hell.

"Ah...ah, is that so..."

"If that's your opinion, then I'll ask you a question now, and you just need to answer it, understand?"

Wuming lowered his head, barely managing to control his stiff muscles to put on a seemingly 'kind' smile, and approached Kongwu.

"I understand, I understand!"

Startled by the sight of Kong Wu, he quickly nodded in response. Although he felt as if he had seen this person before, the sense of déjà vu made him seem even more terrifying than the man and Kurumi.

"Wait... a man?"

Scanning the suit and the unexpectedly tall figure, Kongwu's expression gradually became strange.

"Hello, hello, hello, can you hear me?"

"Ah...yes!"

Wuming began to ask questions:

"Where are Tokisaki Kurumi and Ayame now? What are their plans? Are you also an attacker?"

Kongwu trembled violently, but he had no idea what was going on. "Didn't the two of them suddenly enter when I was switching places with Kurumi?" Wouldn't he get killed if he said something like that?

"Aaaaaah—!"

Just as Kongwu was at a loss for words, from another part of the corridor, the sound of rocks shattering and a scream came.

Wuming cautiously put down Kongwu and looked in the direction from which the sound came.

Rion also tensed up, and as if remembering something, she unconsciously moved closer to Wuming.

"Uh, that direction seems to be... Oh no! Wuming! That's the direction Hijikata-san covered my escape from!"

Wu Ming's expression changed, and he decisively said:

"Damn it! Tell me earlier next time! Let's go!"

He grabbed Rion and ran towards the direction from which the sound came, and Kong Wu hesitated for a moment before following.

On their way there, Wuming and Liyinmeng, both with equally keen hearing, had already caught the sounds ahead.

"Ugh... Damn it, it's a human wave tactic! Although it feels good to kill people, it would be terrible to get hurt... Ugh!"

"What a noisy ronin, but he is surprisingly loyal to others. He could have escaped by simply giving way, but he stayed. If I were to add you to the friends of the 'Puppet Master,' you would be considered one of the better ones. It's just a pity that he lost twenty-two 'friends.'"

The puppet, which had been holding something resembling a staff, raised the staff, and a fierce fireball shot towards Hijikata Masami, whose sword had already been knocked away.

When they arrived, they saw that Hijikata Masami, whose spirit armor was almost completely destroyed and whose body was half charred, was surrounded by countless puppets wielding swords, spears, and even a special kind of mixed spirit energy crystal.

Hijikata Masami struggled to lift his head and saw Wuming and the others. He murmured to Wuming, forcing himself to stay upright:

"Ah... Boss is here, looks like I don't have to die... That's great, looks like after I wake up from this nap I can still go and kill the rainbow-eyed monster and Boss..."

When Wuming saw this, a flash of anger crossed his eyes, but he was more surprised by the ronin's loyalty.

"How could someone as despicable as her, who would even tolerate a sneak attack, also have a samurai side?"

Looking ahead, all that could be seen in the center of a large number of puppets floating in mid-air was that Frost Prochise could tell at a glance that most of the contestants were likely puppets in disguise or being manipulated.

"That's interesting."

Wuming tilted his lips slightly and instantly released a not-so-powerful but extremely dense flame.

"Hey! Keep an eye on it! Hey! Can't you watch my clothes? They're on fire!"

As Li Yinmeng screamed, Wu Ming snapped his fingers, his lips twitching slightly once again, extinguishing the flame that had ignited in one corner of her heart.

"Tsk, what a mood killer."

"No, shouldn't it be that you didn't even tell me before you did it?!"

"…………"

Just as the two were about to bicker again, Proccius had already ordered the remaining puppets to be ready to attack at any time.

Meanwhile, while no one was paying attention to her, the Void secretly approached the nameless angel [Fallen Angel] that Hijikata Masami had been knocked away and stuck in the wall.

"This knife is so light."

Just as Kong Wugang picked up the knife, and Wuming was still bickering with Liyinmeng, the puppet suddenly attacked the three of them.

"Who gave you permission to move?"

Wuming, who was cursing Rinemeng's shortcomings, waved his hand, and black flames formed a giant claw that attacked the puppets.

Although they were skillfully dodged, a few dolls' shells were immediately destroyed, and the soul crystals inside shattered as well.

"It really is... like those players in some games who use cheats, it's against the rules. As expected, you are the one who should be eliminated, not Tokisaki Kurumi."

Although it is also a doll, Prochis's state is more like a collection, and for a moment, all the dolls inside him felt fear towards this man.

He met Wuming's gaze as he turned around, and as the battle began, the ground suddenly shattered.

"Hmm... Is this one of your methods?!"

The ground suddenly cracked violently, as if the earth was trembling, and the entire shopping mall swayed and began to collapse.

Caught completely off guard and utterly unable to protect itself, it plummeted straight down.

"Aaaaaah—!"

"Oh no! Wuming, come save me!"

As Rion Yume cried out for help and Hijikata Masami fainted and was about to fall, Wuming glanced at Prochis, who was thinking for a moment and then preparing to retreat, and threw the two aside without hesitation. He then plunged into the endless abyss without looking back.

"Damn it, the ground is so flat, there's no way to use it as leverage to jump up! Wait, what's that?!"

...Tick-tock, tick-tock, gorgeous transition sound effects~

A bright light swept across the boy's face, and when he opened his eyes again, he found himself outside a classroom that could only be described as ruins.

This classroom is different from the one I taught in when I first arrived. It looks like it has been bombed by missiles, yet it still gives people an extremely uncomfortable feeling.

The classroom was almost half destroyed; the desks were either completely broken or had fallen to the ground, and the chairs were no longer functional.

It felt strangely familiar, or rather—it felt odd.

The hands were still his own, but the suit he was wearing had suddenly changed into something resembling a military uniform. In terms of taste, the suit had many accessories, and one could even say that it was particularly restrictive.

"Wow... such a cringey design."

Wuming internally complained, though he couldn't say it aloud, these were his true feelings.

It felt like a dream.

Looking into the classroom bathed in the setting sun, at the dyed-hair hero standing before the purple-haired girl, trying desperately to save her, he felt a strange mix of jealousy... no, it should be called admiration.

But this longing seems to come from nowhere.

The boy standing in the sunset extended an invitation to the girl; that was something that could be called courage.

"This name suits you very well, Tohka."

The boy's every smile and frown was so innocent, or rather, it revealed only pure kindness.

"Is this the longing for redemption...? What a disgusting thing."

Wuming's mouth opened involuntarily. He could feel that he envied the boy and the purple-haired girl who could be saved, but at the same time, he also loathed her.

"I really wish the girl standing here was her, and I wish the boy standing here offering salvation was me."

A few tears of longing fell, but because of the sheep bone mask on her face.

She didn't know why her body was shedding tears, but she could clearly sense that she was missing someone... not the boy standing in front of her, nor the girl waiting to be saved, but someone who could no longer stand in front of her [her].

Even if I can't remember the face clearly and the appearance is extremely blurry, just thinking about it will bring endless guilt to my heart, as if it were a punishment for gaining power.

"This place is really boring, or is it because of the increase in my memories that I feel that girl's importance in my heart has increased?"

While pondering in her mind, the blue-haired boy standing before her was indeed a striking figure, as if her memories were still returning.

Monsters and heroes stand before a sea of ​​burning flowers.

"Even though the opponent is much stronger than you, are you willing to swing your sword at a monster?"

It was clearly foolish... but the boy's determined gaze was surprisingly admirable.

"Some people are alive, but they live like walking corpses."

"Some people have been beaten half to death, but they can still stand up again by sheer willpower and raise their swords again against the enemy who is in danger of their loved ones."

"Is it because I've been rational for too long that I'm becoming more and more like a clown? Yes, I've been on the stage for too long, and I've picked up a lot of bad habits."

—This hero is so much like my former self.

"Hahaha! It's not a good habit to pat yourself on the back! [Me]"