(Important!
Read the author’s note)
In moments like this, I wished that the Simulation Gu would also show his internal monologue.
The current experience felt like reading a book where the perspective was on a side character observing the main protagonist.
A really unconventional way of going about it.
I pressed the continuation arrow as the proceeding sequence thus commenced.
[You felt bad for having done this to those animals]
[After all, unlike humans, most animals could not be judged with their actions.
They didn’t know better]
[Unfortunately, this was simply the method you deduced to refine your desired Gu]
[This wasn’t the Reverend Insanity world where Gu Masters ruled the world.
You had to deduce your own Gu recipes and come up with your own refinement methods]
[If only your benefactor had given you a Gu as well instead of just an Aperture.
You were still grateful nonetheless, but your situation certainly could have been better if you had one]
‘Yikes…
not as lucky as I was, huh?’
I thought back to the mysterious blue butterfly whose wings were like shards of glass.
That butterfly was the one thing that had prevented me from falling to despair, and Michizane clearly never had that encounter himself, which might be the reason he’s way more callous than me, among others.
This benefactor he mentioned could be that same butterfly, but I doubted that.
In this imagined scenario, why would it give me everything I needed to start with and give Michizane only an Aperture?
He was supposed to be me.
I was sure of this.
Aside from his callousness and pragmatic approach, his personality so far was very similar to mine, if not mostly the same.
The deviation originated from our differing circumstances, not from our separate identities.
Considering I would have most likely ended up like him if the butterfly had not shown up, it couldn’t have been a matter of initial preference that he had not been given a Gu.
That meant his benefactor must be a different entity, I reasoned naturally.
Perhaps, unlike my fortuitous encounter that occurred after I reincarnated in this world, Michizane’s occurred before.
This would explain why the Simulation Gu could not display the event in which Michizane received his Aperture.
That was the more cliché set-up, after all.
In this case, I was actually the anomaly rather than the norm.
The benefactor he mentioned was very akin to a ROB, a random omnipotent being.
They were the ones usually responsible for giving out cheats to us reincarnators.
Suddenly, a funny thought flew across my mind like wind passing through the evening sky.
‘No way…
did my ROB forget to show up and give me the Simulation Gu as compensation?’
That was quite hard to believe.
I wanted to facepalm just thinking about it.
Nevertheless, it was kind of fun to theorize about these different possibilities.
I was probably wrong on all fronts, but it doesn’t hurt to try and think beyond what’s in front of me.
“Right over here should be good, Michi-kun.
Uh, well…
there’s actually a Demon Bear that lives nearby from here, but I’ve already scared it off.” Mizukume revealed as she carefully set the chamber pot down upon the dirt.
She then performatively wiped her face from any sweat and grime that may have built up despite there not being any due to her magical powers.
“Perfect,” the two-faced boy nodded with a calm gaze.
“That bear might actually be useful for testing it out if we succeed.”
“Wow, so eager to kill the local wildlife, huh?” The jackal girl snorted with a haughty air.
“Well, as long as you don’t harm any of my fellow jackals, this one will play along to your every whim, hehe~!”
Michizane approached the chamber pot and examined it closely to ensure that it had remained in good condition.
Determining it to be so, he then started to carefully remove the various poisonous and venomous creatures he carried under his clothing and dumped them all within the chamber pot. This story is hosted at novelping.com.
Mizu watched intently as each creature that caught her gaze immediately froze, as if gripped by sheer terror.
This ensured that not even a single one could escape as she then gave Michizane the lid before he closed the chamber pot, sealing those creatures inside in one writhing mass.
It was only then did I realize what he was doing.
The concept of Gu did not fully originate from Reverend Insanity.
While it may be true that Gu being fragments of the laws of reality was something the Reverend Insanity author came up with, the concept itself as well as the name was far more ancient, having roots in ancient Chinese practices.
In fact, it even existed within Japanese culture as well under a different name, Kodoku!
This term translated to both cursed poison and cursed technique.
It was aptly named considering what it involved.
Ancient alchemists believed that by putting all sorts of poisonous and venomous creatures into one enclosed space, their toxins would merge together in the last survivor, creating a much deadlier concoction.
They would then use this concoction for all sorts of things, like direct assassination, cursing via witchcraft, or even certain sexual practices to heighten one’s pain and pleasure.
There was no doubt in my mind that this kind of Gu also existed within the Type Moon universe where such folkloric beliefs had their place in reality.
By leveraging the Mystery of creating Gu poison, it was perhaps possible to increase the success rate of refining a Gu Worm!
Furthermore, he chose to utilize the black chamber pot given by Abe no Seimei, which had the mysterious property of being able to concoct remedies for cellular decay from ordinary pig’s blood.
If it could do that, then it could surely assist in concocting other types of alchemical products as well, right?
Even if it couldn’t, he had a powerful Yokai to protect him should it explode on his face.
“Do it now.” Michizane instructed his companion as she nodded quickly and reached forward with her two hands.
Immediately, the air seemed to gain a heavier bearing as the sounds of crushing and crunching reverberated from the black chamber pot.
Back then, I tried to phase through human bodies to see whether their insides could be simulated by the Simulation Gu, which ended in failure.
However, the black chamber pot was much less complex than the human body and what was inside had already been displayed before, so I tried to phase through with my head.
The sight made my stomach churn as the various poisonous and venomous creatures were all being blended together by some unseen gravitational force.
Their bodies were relentlessly torn apart faster than they could resist.
Flesh, blood, bone, and exoskeleton were crushed together to form a malleable mixture, similar in consistency to rice porridge.
It only took a minute of this ‘stirring’ before all of them were completely obliterated with not a single living creature remaining.
Afterwards, the temperature rose to a boiling point as steam emanated from the mixture.
It liquified even further, turning into a smooth, red wine-like substance.
The black chamber pot began to glow as mysterious properties seeped into the scarlet substance, imbuing it with an otherworldly and menacing aura.
I waited for the entire process to finish before Michizane removed the lid and gazed inside in wonder.
“Are you really sure about this?” Mizu asked with worry.
“You might die, you know?”
“Come now, it’s fine if I die.
Death isn’t as final as you think.” Michizane grinned as he dipped a single finger into the substance, staining it in red before he brought it to his lips for a taste test.
“I’ll find you in the next life if this one meets its end!”
His finger entered his mouth as his entire body immediately shuddered from instinctive repulsion.
“Well, how was it?” The Yakan asked with morbid curiosity.
“Does it feel like you’re going to die?”
Michizane smiled to reassure her, “Nah, I’d live.”
Solemnly, he gripped the sides of the black chamber pot, lifted it to his large navel mouth, and decisively downed the entire thing in one go!
[Because the Onmyoji who visited you alongside Abe no Seimei was named Kamo no Yasunori, you naturally thought of the Kamo Clan from Jujutsu Kaisen]
[You recalled that the Kamo Clan was inspired by and was in-universe supposed to be the very same Kamo Clan from the Heian era.
However, from what you could gather, it didn’t seem like the Kamo Clan of this world favoured any blood-related abilities]
[Regardless, you were directly inspired by the fictional Kamo Clan’s Blood Manipulation for the creation of your Gu]
[Such a diverse range of abilities was naturally not possible for just a single Gu, especially a Rank 1 Gu.
So you opted to instead try and manifest the simplest aspect of the Kamo Clan’s Blood Manipulation; their poisonous blood]
[In order to refine a Gu with that ability, you devised a refinement method that involved poisoning yourself with the blood and toxins of countless creatures]
[However, you weren’t an idiot.
You exposed yourself to countless poisons and venoms over the years, doing so with small portions in order to steadily build up your resistance so that you wouldn’t die in the end]
[All of your efforts were for this exact moment!]
As the narration ended, the next scene showed Michizane completely paralyzed on the floor.
His skin was even paler than usual and his eyes were completely distant.
Blood spilled from numerous orifices and sweat had pooled across the surface of his skin.
Mizu kneeled beside him, holding his hand tightly as she gazed at his face.
She held him with her right hand as her left hand was held out in an open palm, sending radiant waves of energy into his body, continuously healing him just enough for him to not die, but not nearly enough for him to recover from ingesting the poisonous liquid. The source of this chapter is novelping(.)com.
Judging from the position of the sun in the sky and the nearby lighting, a few hours must have passed.
For that entire stretch of time, Michizane must have just been lying there, unresponsive.
I started to think whether he might have actually died as I then glanced at the Yakan’s expression.
Unlike in the last few scenes, Mizukume wore a completely bored look as if this was all a monotonous procedure to her.
There was no sign of the usual silly, airheaded girl.
In fact, the Yakan was gazing at the paralyzed Michizane like he was a disgusting mongrel, ironically enough, as her eyes were filled with bitter resentment.
Yet the moment his eyes twitched, and he seemingly regained vitality, her bored look immediately vanished, replaced by a mask of concern.
“Michi-kun, are you finally awake?” She asked with great relief.
He did not answer verbally, instead reaching up with a hand as he grasped her shoulder to pull himself up.
“Uh…
I’m…
I’m…” The four-armed boy struggled to form his sentence as he stumbled in his attempt to stand up, falling against her body before he vomited on her, thick ooze staining her blue kimono.
However, she did not display a single hint of disgust like any other girl usually would.
Michizane’s puke was effortlessly wiped away by a gust of wind and even the droplets that had stained the cloth of her kimono were quickly dealt with as she didn’t pay them any mind.
Mizukume leaned forward, accepting him into an embrace.
“There, there…
as long as you’re alive.”
Michizane didn’t resist her hug as he was too disoriented to.
Yet as lucidity returned to his eyes, he couldn’t help but grin, not because of her, but because of the brand new presence within his Aperture!
It was a small, developing human fetus that was almost entirely red.
It had an umbilical cord that looped in on itself, and four visible eyes on its head, much like Michizane’s own.
Looking at its appearance, it greatly resembled the original forms of JJK’s Death Paintings.
This was a Rank 1 Gu Worm of the Blood Path.
His refinement had resulted in an astounding success!
Despite the somewhat questionable methods, I was ecstatic at my alternate self’s victory.
‘Way to go, me!
Only took a couple years’ worth of toiling…’
Alas, it couldn’t be helped.
Reverend Insanity’s power system was infamously brutal.
This much was already a cause for celebration.
I also nodded at his choice of the Blood Path, recognizing its usefulness considering his circumstances.
When it came to Gu Masters with poor aptitude, all hope was not lost for them.
There was always a way even for the weak to thrive under the Heavens.
The most excellent Paths for such Gu Masters were the Blood Path and Theft Path.
However, the latter would definitely be much harder to deduce the refinement methods of, so the Blood Path was easily the superior choice!
[It appeared that Heaven and Earth favoured you today for you succeeded in creating your desired Gu.
Not wasting any time, you immediately took it in as your Vital Gu]
[This Gu was of the Blood Path.
However, it also contained some of the profundities of Poison Path.
Its main application was the ability to ‘curse’ the user’s own blood into a deadly toxin.
Aside from those in possession of this same Gu, only those with sufficient fortitude could resist this toxin]
[Although the supposed deadliness of this cursed toxin was a bit untrustworthy since it came from a mere Rank 1, you were still very excited as it would no doubt become much stronger once you refined it to a higher Rank]
[Seeing this, you named it Cursed Blood Gu!]
It’s supposed to be Mizukume, not Mikuzume.
I somehow didn’t notice my mistake for two chapters straight, sorry (mentally ill, larping author).
By the way, thanks for Bleap for pointing out!
He’s the goat, as usual.
I won’t be changing the earlier chapters because there are already quite amount of comments and I’m afraid changing that much would erase them.