What?! The Gamemaster And The Top Player Are Dating?!

[Your mission is to lead the two to the other world and have them participate in the ghost festival]

[How can humans attend a ghost festival?]

"..."

So basically their future was really not bright. 

Zhihao remembered the time when Li Ling had told him that there were happy endings that they had somehow missed. With such a level that was against Happy endings since the beginning itself, did they really exist? What was this bullshit? Every story had a tragic ending and if it didn't, it wasn't a story from T.I.A.D. anymore. 

"This is hard." Zhihao sighed. This level seemed to be easy at first glance, but there was a reason it was an I-ranked level1 It was because the mission seemed so simple yet even if you completed it, you won't be able to complete the level. 

"Let's rest for a while." Zhihao felt it was better to let the girl rest for awhile. It wasn't going to help anything but at least she would be able to live for a bit longer. 

Hasumi looked down, not having enough energy to keep her head up, "The end... Is near..."

"She's a bit creepy." Li Ling commented and Zhihao agreed. 

Zhihao, "Alvi, what is she talking about?"

[She is talking about the end of the tunnel]

"..."

Really a useless bot. 

While Hasumi was out of it, Zhihao thought this was the best chance to ask the question that had been gnawing at the back of his mind, "Alvi, what is the ghost festival?"

[Do you want me to tell you?]

"Yeah."

[Why should I?]

"..."

What followed was Alvi laughing and the drumming sounds getting closer and closer. 

This was a bit questionable. They weren't moving so why was the sound coming closer and closer?

Zhihao had a bad feeling about it, but he was helpless. 

The reason he had suggested resting for a while was because of Hasumi, but the hidden reason behind it was because he needed time to ransack his brain. He needed to come up with a plan as soon as possible. He had waited to get the character background and mission before he made any plans, but now that he had got them both, he had nothing else to blame his procrastination on. 

He had the dots and he needed to connect them. Some dots were missing but he was sure he could make up something with the use of the information he had. Li Ling seemed to have the same thought as him as he took a seat beside Zhihao. 

Now that the lights had completely gone off, the natural nightlight lit the place. It wasn't enough for them to see anything clearly but at least after their eyes adjusted to the light, they could make out the silhouettes of people close to them. Li Ling still had his cell phone torch turned on so that was a plus point as well. 

Hasumi, by this point in time, was completely out of it. She closed her eyes and rested for a while. Zhihao warned her not to fall asleep and she promised she won't, but now that he looked back at her body that was lying on the floor, he was sure she was completely out. She was sleeping so peacefully as if she would never wake up from that sleep. Sadly for her, neither Zhihao nor Li Ling was a prince charming who'd wake her up from her endless sleep with a kiss. They would either drag her for the rest of the journey or in case if she wasn't important, they would leave her behind and keep going. 

But this was good. Now that the only NPC character was sound asleep, Zhihao and Li Ling didn't have to worry about the OOC feature. 

Zhihao, "So I'm the demon."

"And I'm a shaman's grandson." Li Ling sighed, "There has to be a connection between the two."

Zhihao nodded, "There has to be. Why did the real Itsuki have a demon detecting talisman?"

Li Ling, "It can't be a coincidence."

"It could be because his grandmother gave it to him but it is certainly weird."

"It was half burnt."

"Because the real Taki was sitting near him." Zhihao was sure that the talisman was a bit burnt because of Taki. As far as Zhihao knew, there were no other demons in sight, so it was logical for him to come to this conclusion, but this didn't mean he trusted himself so much that he'd not consider other options. This was a temporary conclusion that he was going to believe in as long as the real reason was not uncovered. 

Li Ling, "Could it be that Itsuki knew he was going to meet Taki today?"

"Maybe he was looking for a demon?"

"Sounds possible."

Zhihao, "How can we be sure?"

Li Ling was more than happy to explain the reason behind why he thought such a thing was certainly possible, "Itsuki is a student. As long as I know, no school runs for this late at night. Hasumi said she boarded the train at 11:40, if we were to guess right it should be around the same time Itsuki boarded the train as well."

Zhihao nodded, he had the same thought. Itsuki was an introverted student that didn't like to talk to others so it was out of the question that he was out enjoying with his friends till this late at night. If that was not it then why was he riding a train this late at night?

Itsuki seemed to have everything ready as well. He had a handkerchief in his pocket, this was maybe normal. He had a fully charged phone, this made it seem like he was especially keeping it that way so that he could save his battery, but for what? He had a talisman and some other items that a high school student should not have. 

They had thought about it before but this boy seemed to come prepared for this situation. If he were really here to find Taki and knowing that he was going to be taken to another world, why would he be interested? 

There were a lot of theories that could fit the context. Maybe Itsuki was just a young boy who was curious to know about stuff like this. This was the strongest theory Zhihao thought about. It would make perfect sense. His grandmother was a shaman so she must have told him some stories that got him interested to know what happens beyond what human eyes could see. 

Zhihao was completely focused on the fact that Itsuki's grandmother was a shaman and he was absolutely sure that it was a big hint provided to them. 

"Maybe the grandmother had tasked him up to this?"

Li Ling shook his head, "Not possible."

"Why?"

"She is his grandmother. What type of grandmother would give their grandchildren such a dangerous task?"

It made sense but Zhihao wanted to contradict that statement. 

Zhihao had played a level that asked a father siren to dig out his son's heart and eat it so could he really confidently say that T.I.A.D. characters wouldn't be so cold?

It was definitely a possibility, but Zhihao didn't want to refute Li Ling so he kept silent. 

"You're right. The grandmother won't be that cold to him." Zhihao responded although he didn't believe in what he was saying. 

If the grandmother in question was really not that cold, it was probably for the better but if she was really as evil as Zhihao thought, it wouldn't come as a shock to him and in fact, he would have already seen it coming.

At this moment, Zhihao could say that he had seen so many plot twists in T.I.A.D. that there was really nothing that shocked him anymore. He was stupid in thinking so because he was going to be shocked yet again. 

Li Ling, "He had planned all this."

Zhihao, "So you are saying Itsuki isn't innocent?"

Li Ling looked at Zhihao with a smile, his face was the same that had a beauty spot under the right eye, "Do I look innocent?"

He did. 

Zhihao, "You do."

The smile on Li Ling's face froze. He didn't know if he should laugh or cry. Looking innocent was a compliment, right? 

Right?!

It was a compliment but why did he feel a bit offended when he heard it?

"Let's say that Itsuki planned all this." Zhihao changed the topic as smoothly as butter, "What was he hoping to get by all this?"

Li Ling, "A ticket to the other world and a chance to meet a real demon." 

If the Demon in question was this handsome, even Li Ling would be tempted to do such a thing. 

Zhihao, "That does sound a bit tempting."

Li Ling nodded his head. Both of them were agreeing on this, but both had different reasons to agree. Li Ling agreed because he felt like Zhihao was a tempting demon he wouldn't mind engaging with, but Zhihao felt like kids were curious about every damn thing so of course Itsuki would be tempted by the offer to go to the other world and get to meet demons. 

"But there is one more thing."

Zhihao looked at Li Ling, "What?"

"I think Itsuki and Taki know each other."

"Why do you say that?"

Li Ling couldn't answer honestly so he shook his head and came up with a logical response to the question, "They were sitting side by side."

"Huh?"

"When we first entered this stage, the two were sitting next to each other. I found it weird."

Zhihao, "Maybe it was just a coincidence."

"You think so?"

Zhihao thought about it for a minute and sighed, "Can't be sure."

"Then that's that."

Zhihao looked at Alvi who was sitting in front of them, listening to their conversation attentively, "Are you going to give your opinion?"

Alvi smiled. She looked scary. Her ten-year-old face wasn't unpleasant to look at and instead, it was actually pretty cute but at the moment, Li Ling's cell phone torchlight was hitting her face and no matter how pretty one was if they smiled with the light hitting their face, they'd look extremely scary. 

[You want me to say something?]

Zhihao nodded, "Yeah. Aren't you the personal assistant that is supposed to help us?"

[Correction: I'm the personalized bot that is assigned to help the players have a better gaming experience]

[And better gaming experience comes when there is more mystery to solve and fewer chances of someone cheating]

"So... You are here to make sure we don't cheat and don't understand what is going on?"

[Ding~ You're absolutely right!]

Zhihao had never disliked being right more than now. 

Li Ling, "How was the relationship between Itsuki and his grandmother?"

[Good question]

[Itsuki is really close to his grandmother and the two love each other a lot but recently, Itsuki has been slowly drifting apart from his grandmother.]

"Drifting apart?" Zhihao was certain that this was a clue. He thought his initial theory of the grandmother putting him up for this was indeed right. 

[Itsuki has not been listening to her]

"..."

The theory was thrown out of his mind. 

"Why hasn't he been listening to his grandmother?" Zhihao asked curiously. 

[She has been nagging him a lot and trying to force him to carry a demon repelling talisman with him.]

Zhihao was a bit confused as he heard this, "Demon repelling?"

[Yes. Demon repelling]

Li Ling, "But didn't he have a demon detecting talisman with him?"

[He did]

Zhihao found another clue that could help them solve the case. 

"Why did he have a demon detecting talisman instead of a demon repelling one?"

[Do I look like Itsuki to you?]

[Why the hell would I know?]

'Weren't you the all-knowing bot?' Zhihao didn't want to fight with a bot so he didn't voice out the question.