I Will Never Submit to Miss Grim Reaper - Chapter 413
Chapter 413: Pokémon
“So, now the situation between you two is… Momo has become Nuo’er, and Nuo’er has become Momo. The space forbidden spell that can transfer between the two worlds has an underlying logical error, but it’s not serious. It only affects the spell itself, and you have manually fixed it, right?”
In the morning at the café, warm sunlight proudly poured in from the clouds outside, lighting up and warming the entire café.
“So you two plan to maintain this state and experience each other’s lives.”
On the first floor of the café, after listening to Xiao Mo and my explanation, Fei Luo showed a relieved expression.
“It’s good that Nuo’er is back.”
“Um…”
I felt a bit embarrassed. “Sorry for the trouble.”
Previously, I was suddenly transported to Lizardman Island and lost contact. Naturally, the worried Xiao Mo found Fei Luo and Gabriel on Earth, asking them to search every corner of Earth for news about me. She then went alone to the Void and Grandis, using her intelligence network to monitor the entire otherworld.
This was the first time Fei Luo and Gabriel had taken leave since they started working at the café. It’s said that it even alarmed the higher-ups at Tongmeng Network.
After all, Fei Luo and Gabriel were the core members of “Little Bird Lounge”—one a manager and bartender, the other a top streamer.
Both taking a day off was no small matter, especially shortly after the release of “Age of Aquarius,” during a period when the game was incredibly popular. Gabriel’s leave meant that Tongmeng Network’s live stream popularity would significantly drop, and it would take a lot of effort to regain the lost audience later.
It’s just like a novel. The most crucial time for a newly launched novel to gain popularity and attract readers is right after it goes live. Even if a book updates regularly, it might only gain a dozen or so bookmarks per day.
However, if it releases 20 or 30 chapters at once, dominates the update rankings, and the editor gives it a recommendation spot, it could gain thousands of bookmarks in a day—hundreds of times the usual amount.
Therefore, most novels rely on this period to attract attention. The same goes for streamers. Regular streaming is not as effective as staging events or PK battles during recommendation periods to draw in viewers.
Fortunately, because Gabriel accumulated a lot of traffic early on, even if her popularity drops, it’s not beyond recovery. The only issue is that the “reason for leave” is a bit tricky to fabricate.
“We’re fine. It’s just good that Nuo’er is okay.”
Fei Luo, seemingly not quite accustomed to my current appearance, cautiously glanced at Gabriel, who was still wearing that “I love humans” T-shirt.
“If something had really happened to you… I can’t imagine what Momo would have done.”
“Oh dear, oh dear…”
Using my body, Xiao Mo said in an extremely sly tone. “I wouldn’t destroy the world.”
“That wouldn’t make much difference.”
Fei Luo shrugged. “If it came to that, I suspect you would become the next Demon King, ordering the world to explode if Nuo’er wasn’t found.”
Is Xiao Mo really that scary!
“Hmph, today I am Nuo’er. I must maintain Nuo’er’s cute pet image and won’t argue with you, nyah-nyah-nyah!”
Xiao Mo made a face at Fei Luo, then came over and hugged my arm. “Sister Momo, I need a hug!”
“Look at her…”
I gave Fei Luo a helpless look. “Was she like this when you guys were sealing the Demon King together?”
“No.”
Fei Luo shook her head. “I can only say that women in love have unpredictable and volatile personalities.”
“Nuo’er is not a woman!”
Xiao Mo rubbed her head against my arm. “She’s a cute girl!”
“I can’t bear to watch this.”
Gabriel turned her head away. “Since Nuo’er is fine, I’ll go play games now. You guys chat… Oh, by the way, I’ve almost finished planning the project to introduce mobile phones, computers, and the internet to the other world. Momo, you can check my design drawings when you have time.”
“Considering the current level of magic device design in the other world, along with your abilities, Gabriel, I believe you can create phones and computers. But isn’t building a computer network a bit too difficult?”
Xiao Mo was doubtful. “On Earth, they managed to build the network mainly because their planet is small, countries were relatively united during peacetime, and it took decades to lay underwater cables and truly connect the network. In our world… there are still places with magic storms. It won’t be feasible in the short term, right?”
“No.”
Gabriel shook her head. “You forgot about the mobile network here. We can use that.”
Xiao Mo was silent for a moment. “Satellites?”
“Yes, we can use magic to achieve long-distance information transmission. We just need to launch satellites into the sky like humans do, install these magical devices on the satellites, and let the magical signals cover our entire world.”
Gabriel squinted her eyes, looking like she hadn’t rested well.
“Didn’t we try using magic for long-distance information transmission during the war? As long as we establish the transmission protocol, it should be possible. The only problem is that we currently don’t have the tools to test it. If you really want to do this, give me a few months, and I should be able to make it happen, but you’ll need to provide the resources.”
“If we really do this…”
Xiao Mo’s expression turned serious as well.
“It means that whoever has this technology and controls the internet will essentially monopolize Grandis’s entire information network. Their prestige will be unprecedented, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call them the emperor or deity of Grandis.”
“Didn’t you have a similar plan before? Don’t think we don’t know.”
Gabriel yawned. “You seemed to plan to push someone to become the hero who defeats the Demon King, gaining the world’s admiration, right? But something went wrong with that plan? That person… I guess it was Nuo’er?”
“I wasn’t planning to hide it.”
Xiao Mo turned to me. “In the end, Nuo’er had an accident at the crucial moment.”
“No wonder you disappeared without a trace that day, ignoring everything.”
Gabriel nodded. “That’s all I have to suggest. We can bring Earth’s technology, including mobile phones, computers, televisions, and the internet, to Grandis and establish an internet for Grandis. With the support of the twelve heroes from back then, it’s only a matter of time before the internet becomes widespread. Whether or not you want to push Nuo’er to become this deity is up to you.”
Yawning, Gabriel walked towards the elevator of “Little Bird Lounge”.
“I have a streaming task today, so I’ll take my leave.”
“Thank you both for your help. Sorry for the trouble.”
I felt a bit embarrassed. “How about coming to our place for dinner tonight?”
“Sure, I want to eat that… chicken wings you made before.”
Gabriel, with her back to us, said, “The ones made with a type of drink.”
“Coca-Cola chicken wings.”
“Yes, Coca-Cola chicken wings, and also the cucumber salad. Make sure to have those two dishes.”
“No problem!”
Watching Gabriel walk towards the elevator leading to the basement, I turned to Fei Luo.
“I’m really sorry about the phone and computer stuff. Let’s put that aside for now. Xiao Mo was just too anxious yesterday, so… What would you like to eat tonight?”
“You don’t need to apologize. She and I have been friends for many years. Do you think I don’t understand her personality? Honestly, without Momo, we wouldn’t have been able to defeat the Demon King. I owe her a lot, including my life back then.”
Fei Luo squatted down beside me, staring at the innocent-looking “Yin Nuo’er.” Though she seemed to be speaking to Xiao Mo, it was clear she was actually addressing me, who was using Xiao Mo’s body.
“Nuo’er, you need to understand that Xiao Mo is a demon. And what are little demons best at? Manipulating people’s hearts. Don’t be fooled by her cuteness. During a special mission before, she actually…”
“Fei Luo…”
Xiao Mo, using my loli-like voice, interrupted the black dragon princess in a low tone, “If you keep talking, I’ll have to take action.”
“Alright, alright, I’ll give you some face and stop talking. But as for taking action… at least not before tomorrow. Right now, in your cute kitten form, there’s no way you could beat me.”
Fei Luo crossed her arms and stood up, with a “Do you think I don’t know you?” expression.
“Considering Momo’s love for Nuo’er… this body swap is a great opportunity. She wouldn’t want to switch back so soon. Nuo’er is part of the kind and cute group, so even if she’s in Momo’s body, she won’t do anything reckless. As for you, even if you wanted to do something reckless, you wouldn’t have the ability to.”
Ahaha…
I instinctively grabbed my bangs and twirled them around my fingers. Like me, Xiao Mo has long hair, but the texture of her hair is a bit different from mine. So even though we are both long-haired girls, it’s easy to distinguish the “strong and weak” when we stand together.
But now that we’ve swapped souls, our respective auras have become quite subtle.
“Well, this is just a little game between you two lovebirds, so I won’t interfere. But as payback for Momo scolding me just now, I’ll tell Nuo’er a few things.”
Fei Luo moved closer to my ear to whisper, “Momo’s intention is obvious. She’s trying to show you how cute and charming your original body is, making you form certain thought patterns. In simple terms, it’s a form of hypnotic magic. After you switch back, you might find some changes in your behavior and habits due to these few days of memories. Then, Momo can enjoy your affection… She’s studied hypnotic magic, so don’t be fooled by her.”
“You are now using Momo’s body. Her body is strong, which is an opportunity for you. How you choose to seize this opportunity… that’s up to you, kid.”
After saying this, Fei Luo gave me an “it’s up to you, kid” look and patted my shoulder. As Xiao Mo, I was taller than Fei Luo, so she had to stand on her tiptoes slightly to meet my eyes.
“Hey, I can hear everything clearly from over here!”
Almost simultaneously, Xiao Mo protested, “Hypnosis? I never specifically studied that kind of thing!”
“Didn’t you just say you wanted to maintain Nuo’er’s image?”
Fei Luo turned her head, “Nuo’er is a very polite and good child, she wouldn’t scold me like you do.”
“Darn it…”
Xiao Mo closed her eyes and took a deep breath, “I am Nuo’er, I am Nuo’er… don’t get angry, don’t get angry, I am a good child…”
“Alright, alright.”
Seeing this, I quickly stepped in to smooth things over, “Xiao Mo has always taken care of me, so it’s okay for me to take care of her once in a while. Didn’t Fei Luo say that during the war, Momo was particularly brave? Now that the war is over, it’s good to change the mood and enjoy the happiness of being a girl.”
“See, this is the angelic Nuo’er. Even in a demon’s form, still an angel. Momo, you should learn from her.”
Fei Luo nodded thoughtfully, “Speaking of which, Momo, you had me searching everywhere before. Last night, as I passed over the Shenzhen cruiser by the seaside, I saw a soldier saluting the ship. Out of habit, I went down to chat with him. He said he was once a gunner on that ship and lamented with me how much time has passed.”
“A gunner on the Shenzhen cruiser?”
Xiao Mo looked puzzled. “A human?”
“Besides us, who else would there be but humans?”
Fei Luo chuckled. “That night, the old man kept talking to me about the war. He said that when he was young, he traveled to many places with that ship. The only enemy ship he ever sank was with a shell he fired. He said he didn’t realize so many years had passed and marveled at the difficulty of maintaining peace nowadays.”
“Did he really say all that?”
“Yes, he did. He talked about how much time has passed and how he couldn’t have imagined what peace would look like back then. Now, peace has lasted for most of his life, and he’s almost forgotten the brutality of war. He lamented that he’s just an old guy now.”
Fei Luo looked at us meaningfully. “When he said that, I realized that it’s been a long time since we defeated the Demon King. Not only has Grandis enjoyed a period of peace, but this world you discovered, Momo… at least this country is also in an era of peace. Time indeed flies.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
Xiao Mo smiled. “At least Nuo’er was born in a time without war and can have many beautiful memories, just like her original name, Morning Dew (Diwu), pure and beautiful.”
“And yet you tease her every day.”
Fei Luo shook her head. “Even I worry that one day Nuo’er might become as mischievous as you.”
“I won’t!”
I quickly explained, “Xiao Mo has been striving for me for thousands of years. Even after coming to Earth, she’s been taking care of me. Now she can finally rest a bit. We swapped identities, so it’s only right for me to take care of her as the older sister.”
To be honest, if possible, I’d prefer for us to keep this identity swap. Xiao Mo sacrificed so much for me in her past life. She’s also a girl, and even if in this life she says she’s tired and wants to rest, I have no problem taking care of her for a lifetime.
“Now I understand why Momo has been fighting so hard for someone for thousands of years.”
My answer made Fei Luo’s slit-pupiled eyes show clear approval. “Nuo’er, you indeed deserve such love.”
“Of course, the person I choose, I take responsibility for, and I’m proud of it.”
I smiled. “Alright, we have one more day off. We might go downtown later. Is there anything Fei Luo wants us to bring back?”
“Is it the central area downtown?”
“Yes, the pedestrian street.”
“Then could you bring back two ice cream-flavored cream cakes from the cake shop at the entrance of the pedestrian street? Their signature mini cakes, I think they’re 30 yuan each.”
As she spoke, Fei Luo turned and took out a full milk jug from her small bag. “Nuo’er hasn’t had any in two days. Who’s it for?”
“Of course, it’s for the current Nuo’er.”
I took the milk jug and handed it to the little loli beside me. “Here.”
“For the sake of Nuo’er’s body development, I’ll drink it all.”
Xiao Mo picked up the milk jug and started drinking with a “gulp gulp” sound, looking just like a little kitten catching a whiff of milk.
Fei Luo remarked, “If your story were written into a novel and posted on that Honeydew novel website, the editor would probably sign it on the spot.”
“It’s already being written.”
Xiao Mo poked my waist. “It’s about to be published.”
“Eh?”
“……”
After saying goodbye to Fei Luo, we went to the employee lounge on the first floor to find Ouyang Xue. We briefly discussed the recent situation at the café and online. Once Xiao Mo finished her dragon milk, we left the café and took the bus from Nanqi District to the pedestrian street in the Central District.
After returning to Earth, I changed into our special couple outfit for outings at Xiao Mo’s request—two summer long dresses. This time, since I had become Xiao Mo, I wore the black dress, while Xiao Mo, as “Yin Nuo’er,” wore the girly light pink one.
Ouyang Xue mentioned that the internet café in the commercial street had basically been renovated. They optimized the computer hardware specifically for the game “Age of Aquarius” and set up a special advanced VR area.
Su Yunjin also changed the legal representative of the internet café to Ouyang Xue. As for the logistics, Li Chen was still in charge, and apparently, Tongmeng Network gave Li Chen a public raise because of it, which made Ouyang Xue quite unhappy.
“His salary is now higher than mine, and he can mock me as he pleases.”
“We were supposed to get engaged in August, and I was planning to give him a hard time at the wedding. Now, my position in the household is quite uncomfortable.”
“Hey, Nuo’er, can you believe it? I just can’t figure out what the head office is thinking. Li Chen, a delivery guy, gets paid more than me, the store manager. How does that make any sense?”
Ouyang Xue kept rambling on, but Xiao Mo and I already understood Tongmeng Network’s thoughtful intentions behind this.
It must be said that Su Yunjin and their team really understand interpersonal relationships.
Li Chen and Ouyang Xue, despite their confirmed relationship on the surface, were still causing various disturbances behind the scenes.
Most of the time, Ouyang Xue was quite dominant, but this “dominance” was actually very detrimental to her. There had been several incidents in the past where her insistence on being strong-willed led to problems, like pushing herself to work while sick and ending up in the hospital twice.
Li Chen, who had been with Ouyang Xue the longest and was the most capable of managing her, became the only person who could handle her.
Therefore, Tongmeng Network’s headquarters used reasons like “Li Chen and Ouyang Xue were transferred together to work at the new internet café” and “both the café and the new internet café’s logistics were managed by Li Chen, who had to do double duty,” to justify giving Li Chen a raise that exceeded Ouyang Xue’s income.
This approach solved the logistics staffing issues that the café faced after their transfer. Previously, Li Chen had been coordinating with suppliers for several months, and suddenly replacing him could lead to issues like suppliers losing trust or decreased efficiency.
Therefore, in the short term, only Li Chen could continue handling these responsibilities. Moreover, as the new internet café just opened and needed deliveries, the most cost-effective solution was to have Li Chen handle both roles.
If it were an ordinary person, being asked to do double duty by the headquarters would definitely be unwelcome. But for Li Chen, this situation was different. He had been hoping for this opportunity all along.
As long as the headquarters raised his salary higher than Ouyang Xue’s, it meant he, as a man, would have more say at home. He was willing to bear the workload without complaint, and Tongmeng Network had clear reasons for the salary increase: Li Chen was doing double duty, and Ouyang Xue couldn’t find fault with that.
This is the brilliance of capitalists.
If Li Chen had been transferred to the internet café and the café had to hire another delivery person, Tongmeng Network’s upper management would have to pay the salaries of both Li Chen and the newly recruited delivery person. They might even need to arrange for another large truck.
Instead, they could give half of the new recruit’s salary to Li Chen. This way, Li Chen’s salary exceeds Ouyang Xue’s.
He works hard, without complaint, happily working overtime every day, thankful to the leaders. This also indirectly addresses Ouyang Xue’s usual wilfulness, stabilizes the company’s internal staffing structure, and saves the company on manpower expenses.
This isn’t just about hitting two birds with one stone, it’s practically the most perfect solution currently available.
So Xiao Mo and I didn’t oppose this proposal, although we felt sorry for Li Chen.
“The vehicle is arriving at the station. Please hold on to the handrails and take your seats. The next station is Jianlongyuan, downbound route. Passengers getting off at this station, please move towards the rear doors to prepare to disembark.”
I boarded the bus with Xiao Mo. As usual, I found a seat near the back by the window and sat myself by the window, leaving the seat to my right for Xiao Mo.
“Glug, glug…”
Perhaps due to drinking too much Dragon Milk, Xiao Mo continued to drink from the milk bottle with little ‘glug glug’ sounds even after the bus had traveled quite a distance, looking as innocent as a panda in the zoo.
“When I start work tomorrow, I’ll have to begin taking over the duties of the store manager.”
Xiao Mo was drinking Dragon Milk beside me while I looked out the window.
“It’s my first time being a cafe manager like this. It’s something I never dared to think about before. I hope I can handle it.”
There’s so much to do as the manager of the café. Fortunately, most of the troublesome tasks have already been taken care of by Ouyang Xue, such as the café’s systems. When my time comes, I’ll just need to fix a few minor bugs, continually improve the programs, update the menu when the chefs introduce new dishes, and beautify any unprocessed images. That should be about it.
Now that the commercial street is established, the customer traffic is expected to increase rapidly within this year. As long as operations don’t encounter major issues, the café’s turnover is definitely on the rise.
By the way, Xiao Mo’s body seems to fit in well on Earth.
By the window, I opened the glass slightly to let the summer breeze gently play with my long hair. When I was in the other world before, I wasn’t particularly focused on developing my “insight” abilities because I wasn’t used to it.
Now, being out with Xiao Mo in environments like this bus, I instinctively felt the need to “protect” her while watching “Yin Nuo’er” holding the milk bottle beside me. It feels like my brain is operating at an unprecedented speed.
At this moment, my mind is processing information such as:
Xiao Mo’s heartbeat, breathing rate, body temperature, and facial expressions.
The heartbeat, breathing rate, body temperature, and facial expressions of everyone on the bus.
The engine noise of the car, the sound of the tires and road friction, the operation of the bus itself, the temperature in various areas under the bus, and the sound of mechanical friction coming from underneath.
In addition to that, there are changes in the clouds in the sky, changes in the air quality, temperature variations, wind direction, wind speed, and changes in the odors in the air.
These overwhelming amounts of information, just focusing on “changes in air odors,” are complex beyond counting. For instance, just now as the bus passed the “Jianlongyuan Downbound Station,” not far away there was a vendor selling sausages and fried chicken, further down was a noodle shop.
The brain processes a myriad of odors: the smell inside the noodle shop, the physical state of passengers around, the scent of lubricants from passing cars’ internal gears, the concentration of gasoline, and the burnt odor from tire and road friction… My brain is simultaneously processing this multitude of odors.
For example, the meaty aroma from the sausage vendor and the scent of charcoal burning underneath prompt instant judgments like “that sausage is already cooked” or “that sausage has just been put on the grill.”
Similarly, observing passengers inside the carriage, such as one passenger with their head tilted back, breathing slightly weaker than others but with a steady heartbeat and normal body temperature, the brain deduces that this person is asleep, possibly dreaming.
Likewise, noting the driver’s high surface body temperature, irregular heartbeat, profuse sweating, and occasional frustrated sounds due to traffic congestion ahead, my brain infers that “the driver is currently feeling agitated,” “the driver is hot,” or “the driver may have a chronic health condition.”
What’s terrifying is that the brain not only receives all this information but also processes and synthesizes it into rough conclusions simultaneously.
In essence, as I inhabit Xiao Mo’s body right now, there is no such thing as “paying attention to specific areas.” My brain is vigilantly monitoring every perceivable region around me.
Xiao Mo’s brain is like a super CPU with infinite threads. While others can multitask, she can achieve “multitasking to the extreme,” or even more.
Now I finally understand where Xiao Mo’s usual confidence comes from when she takes me out. As long as “Yin Nuo’er” is in sight, there’s almost no possibility of danger around because Xiao Mo senses potential threats before they even materialize and can prevent them at any moment.
At least in the human realm without magic, Xiao Mo’s brain, akin to a supercomputer, is absolutely invincible to ordinary people. The only difference lies in whether Xiao Mo is interested in intervening.
Moreover, this understanding comes from my use of Xiao Mo’s body, which I’m not very familiar with. If Xiao Mo were using her own body, her brain’s efficiency would be even higher, and “Momo’s” abilities would be even stronger.
“Finished drinking!”
Nearly ten minutes after the bus departed, “Yin Nuo’er” sitting beside me placed the milk jug back into her backpack. Then, she seemed to notice me looking at her and turned her head with some confusion.
“Master Momo, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
I snapped out of my thoughts and reached out to pat “Yin Nuo’er’s” head.
“As agreed, today I’ll spoil you.”
“So, where do you want to go first when we get to the city center?”
“……”
……