462 Unrestrained Red and White, and the Beginning of Misfortune P: The monthly ticket ranking is too intense; I fell so far behind in just a few days. I beg for monthly tickets! Doesn't a daily update of ten thousand words deserve your monthly tickets?

Please give me motivation. …… Hakurei Reimu, as the administrator of the entirety of Gensokyo, was only sixteen years old, yet her power was immense. She possessed not only all the basic abilities of a Hakurei Shrine Maiden but also the power to manipulate spiritual energy, innate luck, and sharp intuition.

Furthermore, she could ignore the influence of gravity, rendering all attacks directed at her meaningless, achieving a state of invincibility… or perhaps this was simply one of the Shrine Maiden’s innate traits. Beyond that, she possessed the ability of Divine Possession. Within all of Gensokyo, including the Celestial Capital of Lunatic Realm, only two individuals held this power, making it clear why she could command Gensokyo—it wasn't solely due to her "necessity" status.

Even a person of such stature could not escape being chosen by the Heart of the World. However, since it was the Heart of Fantasy, this selection seemed remarkably fitting for someone of her standing… Gensokyo was, after all, an otherworldly realm born from fantasy, both for the youkai residing here and for people from the outside world. This outcome aligned perfectly with Lin Luo’s expectations, and naturally, it gave him a headache.

Hakurei Reimu was crucial to Gensokyo, almost indispensable. The difficulty in abducting her was infinitely close to zero. Firstly, given her inherently lazy and easygoing nature, even if she knew about the God War, she likely wouldn't have much interest in participating.

Secondly, the super-mastermind of Gensokyo, Yakumo Yukari, would certainly obstruct him at every turn. How should he put it? Lin Luo felt that merely talking, even if he wore out his lips, would be useless.

As for resorting to force… forget it. In this Gensokyo, even if he had reached the Earthly Tier, he probably couldn't defeat Yukari and Reimu fighting together, and if a real fight broke out, his opponents would certainly be more than just those two. Taking a step back, even if those two issues weren't problems, what would happen to Gensokyo if Reimu left?

The existence of Gensokyo required the Hakurei Shrine and the Hakurei Shrine Maiden; otherwise, the Great Barrier would collapse, and Gensokyo would cease to exist, transforming completely from fantasy into reality. Gensokyo selected a Hakurei Shrine Maiden every sixty years, but Reimu was only sixteen and had only held the position for a few years. Where would she find the next Hakurei Shrine Maiden?

As the saying goes, pulling one hair moves the entire body. If he tried to take the Hakurei Shrine Maiden, he would inevitably alert all of Gensokyo. The difficulty would be no less than capturing Gensokyo itself… In a sense, conquering the Hakurei Shrine Maiden inherently meant conquering all of Gensokyo.

Thinking this, Lin Luo felt truly cornered for the first time. Previous hostesses were individuals; capturing them was enough, perhaps involving one or two others at most. But Hakurei Reimu was intimately connected to an entire "world"… What a headache.

Never mind, he would deal with it later. Since reaching LV5 upgrade seemed hopeless, Lin Luo became much more resigned about this matter. As the saying goes, the cart will find its way when it reaches the bridge; a solution would emerge when needed.

The issue of the curse was currently more severe. Such a tragic event occurred on the very first day; if it continued for a month, he didn't know if he could survive in Gensokyo. "Oh my, you're here too." Not only Reimu emerged from inside, but Marisa and Alice did as well.

Although she and Lin Luo had shared a kiss previously, Marisa showed no awkwardness on her face; instead, she appeared perfectly natural and greeted Lin Luo enthusiastically. As for Alice, she knew more "secrets," so the way she looked at Lin Luo was more complex. Lin Luo chuckled and nodded to both of them.

"You know him?" Hearing Marisa speak, Reimu, unusually, lifted her gaze from the offering money and looked towards the girl behind her, asking… Perhaps, in her mind, that offering money was already secured. Marisa nodded. "Yeah, he's the outsider I told you about." "So it was him." Reimu suddenly realized, her gaze returning to Lin Luo, but this time with a hint of surprise mixed with a certain nonchalance.

"Remarkable, you actually didn't die." "..." Lin Luo truly didn't know how to respond to that statement, but he understood the meaning behind her words. Because the shrine was connected to the outside world, it was easy to find things from that world nearby (Reimu’s beat-up radio probably came this way). Sometimes, people from the outside world would accidentally slip into Gensokyo through tiny fissures in the Great Barrier, but most of those people were found and eaten by youkai (don't assume all youkai in Gensokyo are cute girls who don't eat people; they still do, like a certain sadist girl.

Ordinary people coming here would most likely become food). The lucky ones found the shrine and were sent back home. It was evident that Marisa's earlier clamor about dealing with the "invaders" who slipped into Gensokyo was probably just her finding something to pass the time out of boredom.

"He's super strong, and he even fought me to a draw! How could he get eaten by youkai? Besides, he's a half-human, half-youkai." Marisa blurted out carelessly, explaining to Reimu with a grin.

Lin Luo thought it would be better if she just kept quiet. "Is that so? I can indeed sense a bit of youki." Hearing Marisa, Reimu also sensed it, but she didn't show any concern on her face.

Whether half-youkai or half-human/half-youkai, in her eyes, they were still human. Take Konpaku Youmu, who was half-human and half-spirit; Reimu treated her as human, not to mention Lin Luo’s youki was less than a quarter. So, she mostly ignored such matters.

What concerned her more now was the offering money in Lin Luo's hand. Never mind if he was just a half-youkai, or even a full-youkai or a demon—if someone came to the shrine to worship and put in offering money, they were her honored guest. Lin Luo noticed the girl’s eyes fixed on his hand, or rather, the banknotes in it.

He smiled faintly, loosened his grip, and a thick stack of bills slid entirely into the donation box… He saw with his peripheral vision that Reimu’s eyes brightened momentarily. "That’s a total of one hundred thousand yen. Alright, worship complete." "So fast?" Reimu was slightly stunned, as she hadn't even seen Lin Luo perform the rituals.

Lin Luo smiled and nodded. "I'm not one for mere appearances; I always speak with concrete actions. My reverence has already been invested with that hundred thousand yen." "..." Reimu was speechless, but since the offering money was secured, nothing else mattered.

"May I come in? I have a few things I'd like to discuss with the Shrine Maiden..." Lin Luo maintained a kind and friendly smile, but the moment he stepped onto the corridor of the shrine entrance, his smile froze. It wasn't that Reimu was blocking him, but rather that the wooden plank under his foot, which looked quite sturdy, suddenly cracked with a snap, and his entire foot sank in.

To act so gentlemanly only to encounter such an unfortunate incident—how embarrassing. What made him even more unable to keep calm was that something seemed to have caught his foot, causing considerable pain. "Oh my, how could this happen?

This plank was fine this morning," Reimu exclaimed, sounding surprised, but her expression betrayed more displeasure. She looked up at Lin Luo, her gaze meaningful. "It seems the shrine needs some repairs.

What a bother; and the offering money isn't much." "...I'll cover the cost of repairing the shrine, since I broke it," Lin Luo said with a wry smile as he pulled his foot free. When he saw an object now attached to his foot, his bitter look turned to resignation. He knew: it was all the box's fault.

"What a huge mousetrap!" Alice exclaimed from the side, covering her small mouth. An iron clamp was tightly gripping Lin Luo's ankle, already showing a hint of red. "I think that's a bear trap," Marisa offered a differing opinion.

"Strange, why would there be such a large trap in the shrine? Was it perhaps thrown in from the outside world too?" Reimu tapped her chin, looking puzzled, her expression utterly detached from the situation. Lin Luo had truly witnessed the carefree nature of these people.

He shook his head, detached the bear trap, and, in a burst of frustration, twisted it into a crumpled ball and tossed it into the distance. Looking down, his foot was actually bleeding… Was this what they called a 'bloody disaster'? Truly frustrating.

"Is your foot alright?" Having shared a 'moment of kissing,' Marisa showed a sliver of concern when she saw Lin Luo ignore his injury and follow them into the shrine. "Is your foot alright?" "It's nothing, a minor cut that will heal quickly," Lin Luo laughed. Everything was relative; compared to the indifference of the other two, Marisa’s comment was genuinely touching.

If possible, he really wanted to hug her and give her a few kisses… A moment later, Lin Luo, Marisa, and Alice were seated in a room. Reimu, meanwhile, had gone to pour tea. After all, Lin Luo had offered one hundred thousand yen in offerings; even if she couldn't kiss him, pouring a cup of tea was well within reason.

"Did you come to see Reimu about that curse too?" As soon as they sat down, Marisa asked. "Yes. Regardless, carrying such a curse is always dangerous," Lin Luo nodded.

"Have you discussed anything yet?" "Not yet; we just got here too." Marisa shrugged, then a hint of curiosity surfaced in her eyes. "By the way, your way of handling things is very Gensokyo-like—running to the Hakurei Shrine Maiden whenever you have trouble. Are you really an outsider?" "Half and half, really.

I'm not entirely ignorant of Gensokyo." Lin Luo said casually. Although Marisa didn't quite grasp it, being simple-minded, she wasn't the type to pry, so she didn't press further. Alice, however, looked thoughtful.

The group hadn't talked for long before Reimu returned with the tea. Lin Luo thanked her and reached out to take it, but before he could drink, he made a face, pointing at the cup. "This tea...

is this actually drinkable?" "What's wrong?" Reimu blinked, looked down, and saw several small insects joyfully swimming in the liquid. "That's strange; they weren't there just a moment ago."