Though Gensokyo was secluded from the outside world, modern science and technology could still seep in through the mysterious disappearances involving a certain seventeen-year-old girl, a fact the one responsible for these breaches never tired of.() Furthermore, the Kappa and Tengu on Youkai Mountain possessed advanced technological capabilities, enabling them to craft items superior to those from the outside world. Consequently, things like electrical appliances, printing presses, mobile phones, and cameras were certainly present; at the very least, Lin Luo had witnessed Sanae cooking rice with an electric rice cooker at the Moriya Shrine.

Don't ask where the electricity came from. It should be known that both wind and water can generate power, and the Moriya Shrine was home to the God of Wind. Producing a meager amount of electricity was trivially easy, especially since the married-woman Sanae was a miracle-making machine, but...

When Lin Luo saw Marisa talking on a mobile phone with someone on the other end, he nearly suffered a total system collapse. He desperately wanted to ask: Where is the signal? Where is the signal coming from?!

While Kaguya also used a computer to surf the net, she achieved this by harnessing her own abilities to steal the outside world's network—she was an expert in tax evasion. But you, the ultimate winner in life, didn't possess that ability!

This was utterly, completely outrageous!

Faced with this "modernized" Marisa, Lin Luo was profoundly shocked. He could hardly imagine the ludicrous scene if every girl in Gensokyo were to carry mobile phones, sling shoulder bags, and even wear fashionable clothes and high heels while going shopping or watching a movie together.

Lin Luo didn't know if it would be fun, but he knew it would certainly be agonizingly absurd!

Marisa put away her phone after finishing the call. She seemed troubled; despite her inherently optimistic nature, her brow was tightly furrowed. "Blast it, this is a bit troublesome."

"Is it because you stole something and now you're being pursued?" Lin Luo temporarily ignored her high-tech gear and chuckled. From Marisa's recent conversation, he had gathered that she was either fighting someone or playing some kind of game... in any case, the firepower deployment sounded ridiculously over-the-top.

"I'm not being pursued; I'm just making a very ordinary getaway," Marisa countered, raising an eyebrow in defense.

"..." Lin Luo thought: Aren't those two the same thing!

"Ah, right!" Just then, Marisa seemed to recall something suddenly, her eyes brightening. She abruptly grabbed Lin Luo's hand and, before he could react, pulled him along and started running outside.

"What are you doing?" Lin Luo asked, completely bewildered.

"Eloping... ah, no, escaping," Marisa misspoke, fortunately catching herself just in time.

Lin Luo was once again stunned speechless. "...Please, before you speak, try to use your brain. If you keep spouting such nonsensical things, it's going to put an enormous, enormous strain on me."

"What are you talking about?" Marisa shot him a glare. "I'm very capable of thinking! It's just that I recently read a few of Patchouli's books, and they were all about elopement stories, so it just slipped out."

"I see," Lin Luo realized with sudden clarity. "But speaking of which, for Patchouli to write such books, and for you to specifically choose to read them—both of you are quite strange."

"She forced them on me!" While speaking, Marisa had already dragged Lin Luo out of the Hakurei Shrine, glancing to the side before making a sharp turn down a small path beside them. As they ran, she continued, "Lately, whenever I go to the library to get books, she catches me and forces me to read those fan magazines she writes. After reading too much, when I close my eyes, the elopement plots from the books just pop into my head... Ugh, I'm sick of reading them."

"...Perhaps she's preparing for something," Lin Luo managed, unable to process the complaint further. He briefly imagined a scenario of Marisa's 'happy fate' before asking, "Why did you drag me out in such a hurry? If it's just running away, I haven't done anything wrong."

"Of course, to help me escape," Marisa replied matter-of-factly.

Lin Luo covered his head, sounding utterly drained. "Fine, I won't question why you're running away for now, but the problem is, I don't seem to have any obligation to help a thief escape, do I?"

"Stop joking; this is a responsibility you should be shouldering!"

"How is this my business?" Lin Luo broke into a cold sweat, finding the word 'responsibility' hard to bear.

"It absolutely concerns you!" Hearing this, Marisa suddenly stopped, pointed at Lin Luo, and declared authoritatively, "If you hadn't knocked over that cursed box twenty-odd days ago, how would I have gotten cursed? And if I hadn't been cursed, why would I be so unlucky recently? Do you know that now, no matter what I do, I get caught? Even picking mushrooms in the forest leads to mushroom monsters..."

By the time she finished, Marisa's commanding accusation had morphed into a mournful complaint.

"This..." Lin Luo instantly looked embarrassed. Although most of Marisa's actions were mischievous, if her current string of bad luck was truly attributed to him, it wasn't entirely unfair to say it was his responsibility. No wonder she could be so self-righteous; she was standing on the 'moral' high ground.

"So, you have to help me whether you want to or not," Marisa pressed harder as she saw Lin Luo's expression soften. "As friends, mutual help is only natural."

Hearing the words 'mutual help' come from Marisa's mouth struck Lin Luo as incredibly dissonant. Although his head ached a little, unable to withstand her pestering, Lin Luo finally nodded. "Alright, but how do you want me to help? If it's just leading the way while you run, that's fine, but I won't join you if it comes to fighting."

"It's not just running away, but it's not fighting either. If it were a real fight, I'd be enough on my own," Marisa explained. "Your curse is lifted now, right? So, just lead me away for now. If that person catches up, you... just lead her off to the side for me."

Marisa's words were vague, and Lin Luo felt something fishy was going on, prompting him to ask, "By the way, who exactly did you offend to cause such a commotion?"

Marisa was someone who feared nothing and loved using brute force to solve problems. The fact that she was dragging him along, insisting on his help, while seemingly avoiding combat, struck Lin Luo as bizarre.

"Well, about that..." Upon hearing Lin Luo's question, Marisa immediately turned her head away, scratching her hair, looking as if she had something stuck in her throat and couldn't quite say it.

"Don't tell me you offended Eirin Yagokoro, or that Yukari Yakumo is trying to erase you, or even that Yuuka Kazami is coming to blast you with her double-barreled magic cannon?" Seeing her demeanor, Lin Luo grew suspicious.

"Do you think I'm an idiot or just an incorrigible troublemaker? How could I possibly provoke those people!" Marisa shot Lin Luo a look. Although she was reckless and bold, she wasn't invincible; she knew which individuals she absolutely couldn't challenge. After hesitating for a long moment, she finally stammered out, "Actually... it's not a big deal, it's just... I broke Sanae's robot."

"Huh? What did you say?" Lin Luo froze.

Then, after Marisa explained the whole story in detail, Lin Luo finally understood what had happened... Sanae, truly a diligent and good child, had completely mastered the operational methods of the Gundam in less than two days. While she might not have been intimately familiar with it, she knew all the basic controls by heart. The first thing she did after learning to pilot the Gundam was to go to the Hakurei Shrine to show off to Reimu.

When Reimu, who was sitting at the shrine entrance drinking tea and spacing out, saw that enormous metal hulk suddenly appear, she was stunned. She immediately thought an incident involving an invading monster had occurred and was moments away from unleashing Musou Tensei to wipe it out.

Of course, Reimu wasn't the only one stunned; Sanae, who had come to brag, was also astonished because she discovered that the Hakurei Shrine held just as many strange gadgets, such as a robot that cleaned the shrine automatically, a music box with large wings flying in the sky singing songs, and a teapot that proactively poured tea for Reimu... In short, although her Gundam was the largest in size, Sanae was vastly outnumbered by the sheer quantity of Reimu's items.

Consequently, the unwilling Sanae got out of the Gundam and started praising its advantages to Reimu, trying to one-up her... Although this incident had little to do with Marisa, who was the type destined to cause trouble for others, she immediately spotted the new toys belonging to both girls and her mischievous nature took over. However, while Marisa often teased Reimu, she never dared to push things too far, as a furious Reimu was truly terrifying. Thus, Marisa focused her main target on Sanae's Gundam.

The result? While Sanae wasn't looking, Marisa fired a magic blast that rendered the Gundam completely irreparable... The subsequent events were simple: Sanae's hard-earned dream had been so easily shattered by Marisa, and the Miracle Shrine Maiden absolutely refused to tolerate it. The witch immediately erupted in a furious rampage.

Then, Sanae chasing and Marisa fleeing quickly turned into a highly Gensokyo-esque battle royale.

After finishing her tale, Marisa herself seemed a little sheepish, letting out an awkward laugh. "Actually, I never intended to break her robot; it's just that she praised it as the best under heaven, so I tried to play a small prank on her. I didn't expect it to be so fragile."

Damn it! That was obviously an ornamental Gundam; of course, it wouldn't withstand a direct hit from your magic blast—that would be supernatural!

Lin Luo felt no sympathy for Marisa after hearing this; he only felt immense pity for Sanae. He even had the urge to teach Marisa a serious lesson himself, after all, that Gundam was his!

"Ma―ri―sa!!!"

Just then, from the road they had just run down behind them, an incredibly deep voice suddenly rang out, as if issuing from the very depths of hell—terrifying to the extreme!

Marisa’s face instantly changed drastically.

Lin Luo didn't even need to look back; he knew... Sanae was coming for them!

l;!--END--g;RH