Chapter 676

It is well known that the Hakurei Shrine is a traditional Japanese shrine.

Although the shrine’s resident miko doesn’t even know which deity she worships, it is certain that the shrine does enshrine some god—this question should have been asked of ‘Yukari Yakumo’, but now it seems unnecessary.

‘No, better to ask anyway.’

Everyone turned their gaze to Yukari Yakumo in Shadow City, only to see her shaking her head like a rattle drum, as if utterly unaware of what was on screen.

‘.’

【Search initiated: Filtering high-match mythological symbols from central database data—Three Pure Ones, Lord of Heaven, God, unknown esoteric symbols.】

Chen Jun stared blankly at the information projected on the crystal panel; he wanted to say that even without filtering, it didn’t matter—indeed, no database lookup was needed at all.

Most others present felt the same.

But knowing something doesn’t make it reasonable—does it make sense for the Hakurei Shrine to feature a Sichuan-style spicy hotpot stew of hamburgers and salmon?

Does the Hakurei Shrine enshrine the Three Pure Ones, Lord of Heaven, and God?

Fine, the Eastern ones—but the Western ones too?

【Hey, don’t mess with the offerings!】

Before the Squirrel Camera could react, Reimu Hakurei grabbed it and held it up to her face.

【Still seeing squirrels this season? Ran out of stored food?】 Reimu muttered, then sighed at the orange segment stuck in the squirrel’s mouth: 【I was going to eat these myself after the offering—you really know how to pick your moment.】

Reimu set the squirrel down and noticed it stood frozen, as if stunned.

【Forget it. Apologize to the deity and thank them for your food.】

She mechanically copied Su Lin’s earlier prayer gesture, clasping her hands together before the pile of offerings and murmured: 【Amen.】

She calmly mimicked Su Lin’s previous prayer gesture, clasping her hands together and murmuring to the pile of enshrined “deities”: 【Amen.】

Amen?!

You’re a miko and you clap your hands and say ‘Amen’?!

‘What deity does your Hakurei Shrine worship?’ Bubble checked every setting—no such thing as this Gensokyo existed in the data.

‘A Gensokyo blessed by all gods must enshrine all gods,’ Reimu the City Guard replied weakly: ‘I don’t know which one specifically.’

“A fantasy land blessed by the gods must of course enshrine the gods,” said the city guard Lingmeng, her voice lacking conviction. “I don’t even know which one specifically.”

‘Do these deities exist in Gensokyo?’

“Do these deities exist in the fantasy land?”

Yukari Yakumo thought for a moment and said: ‘At least in our Gensokyo, these deities have long vanished.’

‘Perhaps a timeline where the gods never disappeared?’ Shandora analyzed.

The Squirrel Camera’s disguise was flawless—no flaws appeared. After ‘praying,’ Reimu Hakurei paid it no further attention, made no move to shoo it away.

Who would leave their room in this freezing weather unless they were desperate for food?

The squirrel thought so. Reimu Hakurei thought so too.

Fortunately, today’s benefactor donated plenty of offering money, and she bought plenty of sake and stored food from Kourindou and the Human Village.

Tonight, she could go to the izakaya and drink her fill.

In good spirits, Reimu Hakurei hummed a tune as she left. The squirrel, after a moment of stillness, wandered aimlessly until it reached the offerings.

【Detecting faith accumulation data collection.】

The biological probe was deployed to collect Gensokyo data from this void dimension; the hive’s mainframe had already entered high-speed computation mode, and Tavil, long on standby, began recording data—this required the unique properties of void life to erase dimensional differences.

In short: synchronizing a mathematical model of the opposite world for later analysis and inference.

【Model established, logged: Three Pure Ones】

【WARNING!!!】

【WARNING!!!】

The central computer suddenly blared an ear-splitting alarm; warnings echoed throughout the hall: 【Unknown tampering detected in independent database!】

‘Tampering is spreading! All offline databases, Fushu universes, and dimensions are showing anomalies! Maximum alert level activated!’ Bubble and Little Bubble’s voices rang out—these Hive machines could detect even the faintest trace.

Windows popped up on screen, appearing at eye-speed—ethereal, intangible. From the central statue of Yuanshi Tianzun, the faintly streaked temples and deep, ancient eyes became the uniform feature of every Tianzun.

The Gensokyo-derived Three Pure Ones model now appeared ethereal, intangible.

But that wasn’t all—every Three Pure Ones model, whether newly created or from other universes, even every image in the database, had subtly changed.

‘Anomaly ceased. No further effects detected.’

‘Calculating security risks.’

‘Alert level temporarily lowered.’

Hive technicians suddenly sprang into action; emergency meetings of all sizes convened immediately.

Those still within the Hive stared at the screen for a long while.

‘Likely memetic-level esoteric influence,’ Aria, expert in esoteric knowledge, explained: ‘Involves higher-order causality—untraceable.’

“A memetic-level mystical influence is suspected,” explained Alaya, expert in mystical knowledge. “It involves higher-order causality and cannot be traced.”

‘Probably not. Feels like some phenomenon-level effect.’

The sudden anomaly halted model construction—but then another change occurred: the squirrel instinctively looked toward the shrine’s entrance.

【Detected cosmic constant deviation. Signal entering trough.】

【Detected cosmic constants show deviation; signal entering trough】

Infinite darkness surged forth.

The cold snowstorm continued, as if all creation had plunged into a dark, frozen winter.

It did not last long. A swirling, lava-like light rose from one direction, stretching to the sky’s limit.

Somewhere, a choir seemed to chant ancient hymns; in their reverberation, boundless light swept through the snowstorm, raining down pure, luminous, illusory feathers.

But this phenomenon lasted only a moment—vanished without a trace.

Had it not been for the melting snow, one might have thought it all an illusion.

‘Detected cosmic constants restored to normal. High-concentration divine residue evaporated. Traces erased. Suspected emergence of a creator deity.’

“All detected cosmic constants have returned to normal values; high-concentration divine residue has evaporated, traces vanished and unrecordable. Suspected presence of a creator deity.”

‘Given the Three Pure Ones case, recommend temporarily skipping model construction for the ‘cross’ and ‘Lord of Heaven portrait.’’

“Given the case of the Three Pure Ones’ statues, it is recommended to temporarily skip establishing data models for the ‘cross’ and the ‘portrait of the Lord of Heaven.’”

On screen, Reimu Hakurei had already pulled out the Yin-Yang Jade. Seeing the anomaly vanish, she walked to the doorway and peered out.

Soon after, the black-and-white witch Marisa Kirisame arrived on her broom.

【Reimu, going to investigate the anomaly? That direction looks like the Everlasting Pavilion!】

【If there’s no follow-up, forget it. The man in the Penglaishanhuiye -Fujiwara no Mokou love triangle deposited plenty of offering money today.】

【Huh?! He came? Didn’t he try anything on you?】

【What do you mean?】

【Didn’t you read today’s newspaper? Apparently he’s got ambitions to turn Gensokyo into his harem paradise DAZE!】

Marisa pulled out a newspaper. Reimu took it.

【You believe that crow-tengu’s paper? What is this lewd illustration?!】

Overwhelming information volume.

Those in the Hive data center turned their gaze again to Yukari Yakumo and Fujiwara no Mokou in Shadow City.

Surrounded by a group of excited youkai, the two exchanged glances—both wearing expressions of ‘Are you kidding me?’

‘There’s one more emblem. I suggest using an independent universe test site to generate a fantasy object and establish an illusory faith link to determine the esoteric direction,’ Tavil proposed.

Since Gensokyo’s nature remained unclear and preparations for future negotiations were needed, the experiment bypassed approval and was granted.

After severing all causal and material links, only hours passed.

A [URGENT] report arrived:

‘Fantasy object model corrupted by loss of sanity and grotesque mutation. Entire test universe has been neutralized! Divine characteristic: anti-order, unspeakable!’

‘Using world interference theory, a matching object was found on Earth.’

‘Blind, foolish.’

This isn’t Gensokyo.

The president holding the report thought so.

Su Lin had a dream.

He dreamed of a great flaming sword planted in the ground, and not far away, a throne—himself dragging Su Tuoni back, preparing to burn him as fuel.

Too bad dreams are just dreams—because now his hands were empty.

In a daze, Su Lin walked to the sword. Soft carpet and pink walls gave a calm, relaxing feeling.

A large bed stood in the center, its ancient, ornate canopy tied to the frame.

A golden-haired girl sat playing with a patched-up stuffed bear, wearing a sleep cap shaped like a doorknob, adorned with red ribbons tied into a bow on the left, a side ponytail emerging from a hole beneath the bow.

Notably, behind her grew a pair of withered branch-like wings, each bearing eight seven-colored crystals radiating impossible light.

Notably, behind her grew a pair of wings like withered tree branches, each bearing eight seven-colored crystals radiating inexplicable light.

Absolutely not.

I absolutely refuse to sit at the same table as Xiao Yan, Song Shu, or Emiya Shirou.

But how do I explain this? Am I secretly a lolicon?

Coach, this isn’t how it’s supposed to go!

As if sensing something, the golden-haired girl turned, her crimson eyes fixed on a direction. Though strange, Su Lin was certain—she was looking directly at him.

As if sensing something, the golden-haired girl turned around, her crimson eyes fixed on a certain direction; though it felt odd, Su Lin was certain she was looking directly at him.

“Are you here to play with Flandre?”

She jumped off the bed, scampering in her red dress to the edge, but a boundary—unreachable, like a mirror—separated the two.

Flandre tilted her head in confusion, and Su Lin mirrored her motion.

“Won’t you come out and play with Flandre?”

Flandre waved her hand; Su Lin waved back.

“Big brother.”

Please don’t call me that—it’s unfairly cute.

No wonder the blood supply in the Village of the Human Realm is running low. I’d considered this possibility from the start, but I thought it unlikely.

Even in this pure-hearted Gensokyo, such things are happening. The morals of the age are declining.

“Logically, that blood carried no divine power or mystical elements.”

He crossed his arms, and before he could think, Flandre copied his posture exactly.

“.”

Su Lin fell silent, glanced at the little girl whose eyes brimmed with curiosity, and clapped his hands.

Clap! Clap!

Clap! Clap!

Flandre imitated him perfectly, then laughed happily: “Let’s play together?”

It’s just a dream, after all.

Playing wouldn’t hurt.

Su Lin nodded. He and Flandre turned their heads in near-perfect sync, then he turned around, pulled open his shirt, revealing his McDonald’s employee uniform, and put on a wig.

Flandre stared at the red-haired, explosive-haired, red-nosed clown in front of her, her expression startled.

Su Lin crossed his hands, tapped his shoulders, then raised them high: “Blue Blue Road~”

“Blue Blue Road~” Flandre echoed him, as if this were a competition.

“Patchouli GO!”

“Patchouli GO!”

The two began a call-and-response dance of imitation, and music—wherever it came from—began to play.

“It’s Flandre’s turn now!” Flandre said.

She thought for a moment, as if finding a winning strategy, then her form blurred into four identical copies.

—Forbidden: Quadruple Existence

Heh, little girl.

[Is this your excuse for splitting? If you could do it again, would you love me?]

Amid the music, Su Lin sneered, twisted his body, and split into the same number of clones.

—Forbidden: Shadow Clone Technique

“So cool!”

For Flandre, a game wasn’t fun unless victory wasn’t easily decided.

Drowsily, she didn’t know how much time had passed.

“Second Miss.”

“Second Miss.”

She opened her eyes to find herself lying in her bedroom, and the maid Sakuya stood nearby, holding a cake.

“I heard you calling out Patchouli-sama’s name.”

“.”

I must’ve had a strange dream.

Flandre shook her head, confused. She glanced around her unchanged room, then fixed her gaze on the food.

“The food these past two days has been delicious.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

Sakuya set down the food as usual, then closed the door and left.

Flandre slid off the bed, walked to a mirror, raised her hand, and called: “Blue Blue Road!”

Playing alone isn’t fun.

She turned away, dejected—when suddenly, a shadow formed behind her, solidifying into a real figure: a red-haired, explosive-haired, red-nosed clown in McDonald’s red-and-yellow striped uniform.

Flandre’s eyes widened in shock. She raised her hand: “Patchouli~GO!”

“Patchouli~GO!” the red-haired clown echoed.

A faint, elusive connection pulsed through the figure, as if she’d gained one more…

Clone.

The burning, tearing pain faded.

“You’re awake.”

“Say the surgery was a success and I’ll force-feed you a witch’s potion.”

“Tch.”

The first thing Su Lin saw upon waking was a crowd gathered around his bed—anyone unaware might think a strange ritual was underway.

“Did I say anything in my sleep?”

Remembering that absurd dream, he felt compelled to confirm.

“You kept shouting out a lot of names—some I’ve heard, some I haven’t,” Lu Mingfei blurted out. “Also said something like ‘I’m definitely becoming the harem king.’”

Right. That was obviously a lie.

Su Lin sat up, only to find the others watching him with strange, mocking glances.

“What the hell?”

“Hah—cough—”

Xiao Yan covered his mouth, barely holding back laughter, then snatched a newspaper from Keleyn, who was sipping tea and reading.

【Scandalous Conspiracy: Gensokyo Amusement Park Plan! Our Reporter Barely Escaped Death, Exposing This Outsider’s Devious Intent Toward Gensokyo’s Women】

Su Lin dropped the paper, as if laughing in disbelief, and spat out two words:

“Bullshit.”