Chapter 37: The Newcomer

Liu Mengchao stood in the dark library, silent, just like Mei Misaki across from him. It was as if both had turned into soulless dolls displayed in a glass cabinet.

"Clap. Clap."

Applause suddenly echoed through the library.

"Welcome, welcome, my colleague."

Liu Mengchao narrowed his eyes. The voice sounded like a broadcast, emanating from a void, slowly reverberating throughout the room.

"I am Qingyun, an executor for the Main God Mars. Welcome to the fantasy nation known as Anothen, executor of Joanna."

Holding his greatsword, Liu Mengchao engaged in a heated telepathic exchange with Bai Ya in his mind.

"Bai Ya, can I kill him here? Or must I wait for the next Main God team battle to finish him off?"

"No, theoretically, only within a Main God team battle can a Main God fall and their executor die. However..." Though her words were disheartening, Bai Ya’s tone carried a hint of contempt.

Liu Mengchao did not let her finish, cutting in with his own thoughts.

"However, as long as I drag this out long enough, I can deplete his pool of points, right?"

Liu Mengchao smiled, articulating exactly what Bai Ya was thinking.

"Yes, Executor. Sufficient pool points are the most indispensable resource in a Main God team battle. As long as the time is long enough..."

"He will absolutely go bankrupt!"

Liu Mengchao swung his sword of rebellion. A flash of silver light descended, smashing into the floor and shattering the tiles.

"Oh?" Qingyun chuckled. In the pitch-black library, the sound was nauseating to Liu Mengchao. "You’ve already figured it out, haven't you, Joanna's executor? This library is the source of the curse in the world of Anothen."

Liu Mengchao curled his lip, standing motionless.

"Everyone who dies because of the curse is resurrected here via their photographs. No, rather than resurrected, they have always lived here, existing as ghosts." Before Qingyun finished speaking, a pool of blood suddenly bled out onto the floor in front of Liu Mengchao.

A hand slowly reached out from the blood, writhing and stretching.

"Does this hand look familiar?" Qingyun’s voice was filled with smugness. "You should be familiar with this face, too. At least, you've met before."

Met?

Liu Mengchao let out a disdainful laugh, watching the face slowly emerge from the blood at his feet.

It was Reiko Mikami.

"Bai Ya, start the timer. Tell me how many pool points he spent when this is over," Liu Mengchao muttered to himself while slowly backing away.

"What, are you afraid?" Qingyun laughed wildly. "Do you even know what a Main God’s executor is, newbie?"

The figure crawled forward slowly, like an evil spirit returning from hell. Reiko Mikami was still wearing the clothes she died in—a beige blouse and a black skirt. Even the blood that had sprayed out at the moment of her death remained on her.

"Is this woman beautiful? Let me tell you, in my eyes, whether they are reincarnators or plot characters, they are all my tools—tools used to toy with losers like you." As he spoke, Reiko Mikami’s eyes snapped open.

Her bloodshot eyes radiated malice.

"Go, my tool!"

*Click... click...*

Reiko Mikami’s neck twitched, a grotesque smile plastered on her face, as she walked toward Liu Mengchao step by step.

"Any regrets? Do you feel it's unfair?" Qingyun’s voice buzzed in Liu Mengchao’s ears like a fly. "You just became an executor. How many pool points do you have now? Is it even over a hundred thousand, newbie?"

Liu Mengchao retreated rapidly, his back pressing against the wall.

"Did I hit the mark? Your luck is poor; you became an executor only now, when the anime worlds have almost been carved up by us. Hmph, 'rising star'—it sounds nice, but there is no room left for you to grow."

*Snap!*

A pair of hands burst from the wall, the left hand pressing against the right wrist to form a cross, pinning Liu Mengchao’s throat.

"Having trouble breathing? Looking at Reiko Mikami walking toward you, do you feel helpless, just like those reincarnators?"

*Crack! Snap! Crack! Snap!*

Four more hands erupted from the wall behind him, grabbing Liu Mengchao’s limbs.

"Watch death approach you step by step. Despair! Scream! And then weep!"

Liu Mengchao did not answer, merely frowning.

*Not yet. It is not the time to counterattack. At the very least, I need to let this man named Qingyun enjoy himself a little more. For example...*

"Let me go! Let us fight fair and square!"

"Oh?! Fair and square? Have you ever been a Main God's executor? All we have to do is make people despair. When have you ever seen a Demon King fight a hero one-on-one?"

Qingyun was very satisfied with Liu Mengchao’s expression. He felt everything was under his control, just like the reincarnators he played with in the palm of his hand.

"Unwilling to accept this? That’s understandable. After all, you’ve just become an executor and haven't enjoyed the feeling of toying with human hearts like I have, right?"

As Qingyun spoke, the previously motionless Mei Misaki also began to approach Liu Mengchao.

"Why do you think I spent two million pool points to gamble with you? It was just to see this look of despair on your face!"

"Are you... an idiot?"

Liu Mengchao couldn't help but twitch his mouth. This executor’s nonsense was truly excessive.

"I said..."

He flicked his left wrist, and with a *shing*, a silver light shot out. With a twist, a spurt of blood erupted from his side.

*Thud.*

A hand fell to the ground.

His right hand, holding the greatsword, flipped and pierced into the wall. Blood began to stain the wall behind him, and faint, ghostly weeping could be heard from behind the masonry.

With a loud *snap*, the hands that had been gripping Liu Mengchao’s throat were torn away by force.

Bending his waist, he exerted strength!

A shoulder throw!

"Boom!"

A dark shadow was dragged out from behind the wall and slammed to the ground. Without hesitation, Liu Mengchao plunged the longsword into the shadow’s head.

A flash of silver, a splash of blood.

A flower of gore blossomed.

Only then did Liu Mengchao’s words slowly drift out.

"Don't lump me in with you—someone who only makes a hundred thousand points per world."

He drew his guns, the black Ebony and the white Ivory, firing alternately.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

Golden shell casings littered the floor in front of him. Orange-red flashes illuminated the dark library, casting light on Liu Mengchao’s face, which was full of disdain, and on the words he had bulleted into the wall:

"Idiot."

"Idiot! You actually called me an idiot? Face reality! The only way to stop me is to kill my projection in this world, to kill the one in front of you—"

"Mei!"

"Sa!"

"ki!"

"Misaki!"

After a long pause, Qingyun’s voice returned to a calm state.

"Can you bring yourself to do it, newbie?"