"So this is another world? It feels... like nothing special."
Having been successfully guided to another world by Medusa, Chen Li looked around.
"The human world doesn't have that many strange things to begin with," Medusa, now wearing her glasses, explained as she curiously sized up the Curio Forger standing before her.
Medusa had spoken with Chen Li before; if he wanted to find forging materials, she could take him to the Demon Realm. However, he seemed quite dedicated to his work, prioritizing the forging of a Curio that would make Jashin-chan permanently dependent on her. For now, he was accompanying her to visit the little evil god.
"By the way, do you have any money?" Chen Li asked Medusa.
"Ah, I have some. Why?" Upon hearing his question, Medusa quickly took out her wallet and revealed a thick stack of bills.
"...Could you not be so forthcoming? It makes me look like some kind of scumbag trying to swindle a woman out of her money. Never mind, just wait for me a moment." As he spoke, Chen Li took out the [Elation's 20-Sided Die] and tossed it on the ground.
The trouble he currently faced was a lack of operating funds. He hoped the die could solve this problem for him.
[13]
While the number wasn't high, it indicated that his trouble would be resolved smoothly. Chen Li glanced around curiously until he spotted a lottery ticket shop. He borrowed a couple of coins from Medusa and walked right in.
Perhaps the solution to his money troubles was in here!
"Damn it, I forgot lottery drawings aren't this fast." But he only remembered this after he had already bought the ticket.
"Hey, you over there. You still have money for lottery tickets? Lend me a couple of coins."
Just as Chen Li was vexing over what to do, three delinquents holding butterfly knives cornered him menacingly.
Chen Li looked at the three of them, then at the lottery ticket in his hand. He had a feeling he'd gone about this the wrong way.
"Thank you for this gift from the heavens." A smile spread across Chen Li's face as he walked toward the three delinquents.
---o---
"I never thought delinquents could drop so much cash. Is that even plausible?" Chen Li wondered, looking at the handful of bills.
"Damn it! Is my path as a delinquent doomed to end so soon?" The blond-haired boy, who had very sensibly handed over all his money after seeing his companion knocked unconscious by a single flick to the forehead from Chen Li, pounded the ground in frustration.
"Young master, since you have failed, you must come home obediently," said a red-haired delinquent next to him.
"No! I don't want to go back! I don't want to go back and inherit my family's three factories, five office buildings, and seven apartment complexes..." the lead delinquent wailed.
Chen Li, who had been listening from the side, finally understood the situation. He landed two solid punches, knocking the boy to his knees, and then tossed him to his underlings.
This guy really sounds like he's asking for a beating.
"Alright, let's go. We have money now," Chen Li said, rejoining Medusa.
"What do you need the money for?" Medusa asked, a little confused.
"To buy snake meat."
"Huh?"
"But before that, to ensure everything goes smoothly, let's roll the die again!" As he spoke, Chen Li tossed the die into the air once more.
[1]
"..."
Seeing that number, Chen Li's composure shattered instantly.
He knew it! The damn die was holding back, waiting to hit him with something big!
Based on his experience, when not gambling against others, any roll below 10 meant bad luck, and the lower the number, the worse it was. A [1] was a catastrophe of the highest order.
But thankfully...
Chen Li immediately crouched down and, before the die had fully settled, flicked it with his finger.
[11]
"I hope things go smoothly from here on out," he sighed.
This time, when using the die, he had defined his "trouble" as being unable to harvest enough forging materials in this world. Perhaps because he was asking for too much, his luck had been so terrible.
He glanced at the cooldown on his [Then I Ask You] Miracle Card and decided to use his next question on the Elation Die itself.
---o---
"Jashin-chan, what are you doing here?"
Just as Medusa was about to lead Chen Li to Jashin-chan's home, they ran into her on the street.
Seeing Jashin-chan in person for the first time felt a little strange to Chen Li. The upper half of her body was that of a cute girl, while the lower half was a snake's body. She moved along the street on her green tail, with two light-blue ribbon hair ornaments tied on her head. Most importantly, she wasn't wearing any clothes.
However, two strands of her golden hair were strategically draped in front of her, perfectly concealing certain parts and allowing an otherwise censor-worthy anime to air successfully.
While watching the anime, Chen Li had thought of Jashin-chan as a natural-born comedy character. But seeing her in real life, he felt she had a certain charm to her.
Chen Li shook his head, clearing the thoughts from his mind. He was probably just really hungry.
Oh, this is weird. A man can't... at least, he shouldn't...
"Oh, Yurine asked me to buy some Shirokuma Almond Tofu," Jashin-chan said, waving a plastic bag that contained a box of tofu and a single leek. "Speaking of which, Medusa, where's your paper bag?"
Jashin-chan zipped over to Medusa and looked her up and down. Because of Medusa's racial ability, she always wore a paper bag when out in the human world to avoid petrifying others. While the petrification would wear off after a while, it was still a nuisance.
"It's these glasses. They're a Curio that can suppress the petrifying effect of my eyes," Medusa explained.
"What's this? That's amazing! You mean you can walk around the human world without a paper bag from now on? Let me try them!" Jashin-chan said curiously.
"Hey, I'm still here. Could you consider my feelings?" Chen Li raised a hand to remind them.
"Hmm? Who are you?" Jashin-chan only now seemed to notice him.
"The Curio Forger. The one who made those glasses for her. I'm here with her to test their effect. It seems to be working well, but please don't take her glasses now. I can't handle being petrified," Chen Li said.
Although his [Gourmet Cells] could increase his resistance to various abilities, his resistance to petrification was still very low.
"Oh, a craftsman, huh? Can you forge me a Curio that will guarantee I win the new mango figure from the arcade's fruit series?" Jashin-chan asked enthusiastically.
"I could, but it's unnecessary. If you want to win something, you just need to use this." Chen Li tossed the Elation Die.
"What's that?"
"A highly random Curio. As long as you roll a number greater than 10, you can smoothly solve whatever trouble you're facing, like being unable to win a new fruit figure," Chen Li explained.
"Sounds interesting. How about you give it to me?"
"Obviously not," Chen Li shrugged.
"Tch, cheapskate," Jashin-chan pouted.
Chen Li didn't get angry. Jashin-chan was just a scummy character by nature. Getting mad at her meant you'd already lost.
"Whatever, I'm going home," she said, picking up her bag.
"Let's go together then. It seems Mr. Chen Li also wishes to visit Miss Yurine," Medusa said.
"Did you bring a gift?" Jashin-chan looked Chen Li up and down.
"Don't worry. My gift is guaranteed to satisfy Miss Yurine."
"What about mine?"
"You don't get one."
"Tch."
Chen Li still had no intention of getting angry with her. After all, she was about to have a very bad day.
And just as he thought, as the three of them were walking towards Yurine's house, they had just turned a corner when a spiked mace slammed directly into Jashin-chan's stomach, sending her flying and her groceries scattering all over the ground.
"Jashin-chan, are you okay?!" Medusa rushed over worriedly, while Chen Li turned his gaze to the attacker.
It was a blonde girl with an angel's halo over her head, wielding a massive spiked mace. Chen Li recognized this angel. Her name was Poporon.
Poporon was an angel of rather poor character. In order to inherit the position of her senior—who had lost her halo and powers and was now wandering the human world—and to continue lording over the trainee angels, she had descended to the human realm to eliminate her predecessor.
"How do you like the power of the Sword of Light? You really got me last time, Spud," Poporon said with a nasty tone.
"Spud? I'm not a spud, I'm Jashin-chan! Who the hell are you anyway?" Jashin-chan roared.
"I'm Poporon, the angel you rolled up and threw into the sea!"
"Did that really happen?" Jashin-chan's brain cells were working overtime, but she still couldn't recall the incident.
"You'd better remember!" Poporon stomped angrily on the items Jashin-chan had dropped.
"The Shirokuma Almond Tofu Yurine asked me to buy! What have you done?!" Seeing the tofu smashed into a pulp, Jashin-chan's entire world turned gray. The thought of what atrocities Yurine would commit when she returned home empty-handed was too much to bear.
"What's it to me?" Poporon scoffed.
"What did you say?" Rage boiled up inside Jashin-chan.
"I came here today to tell you that angels will never be defeated by demons! You demons are just an eyesore. You're an inferior race with no reason to exist. Can you just disappear for me?"
"No."
"Disappear."
"Absolutely not!"
"You're so annoying. Just die already!" Poporon raised her mace in a rage and swung it down at Jashin-chan.
Then, to Medusa's horror, Jashin-chan caught the weapon with her bare hands.
"How can this be? Why? Are you okay? That spike looks like it went in deep," Poporon herself felt a pang of pain as she saw the mace's spike pierce through Jashin-chan's palm.
"It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!" Jashin-chan shook her hand frantically.
"What was that? Are you an idiot?" Poporon mocked her mercilessly.
"You dare underestimate a demon? Who do you think you are, some great angel?" The infuriated Jashin-chan shot up, closed the distance in an instant, and snatched the angel halo from Poporon's head.
Poporon was completely stunned to see her halo stolen. Jashin-chan, meanwhile, paid her no mind and was about to pop the halo into her mouth.
"Wait, don't eat it," Chen Li, who had been enjoying the show from the sidelines, finally interjected.
"Who do you think you are?" Jashin-chan said rudely.
"I'll give you 100,000 yen for that halo."
"Deal."
"You—you two! Stop it!" Seeing them casually trading her halo, Poporon trembled with rage.
"Who do you think you are? Without your halo, you angels can't use your powers, can you?" Chen Li threw Jashin-chan's words right back at Poporon.
"Uh." The sudden realization made Poporon freeze.
"Oh, I see. Then it's this inferior demon's turn now." With 100,000 yen in hand, a wicked smile spread across Jashin-chan's face.
"Wait a minute," Chen Li suddenly said again.
"Now what?" Jashin-chan asked impatiently.
"Sir, could you please return my angel halo?" Seeing Chen Li intervene, Poporon thought he might be a reasonable person.
"Sure. Trade me that Sword of Light and any other weapons you have for it," Chen Li said.
"This... alright." After a moment's hesitation, Poporon nodded.
"Deal." Chen Li tossed the gleaming gold Compulsory Transaction Gold Coin into the air.
After Chen Li returned the halo, Poporon found herself compelled to hand over all her weapons, including the Sword of Light. Having no other choice, she completed the trade.
"Jashin-chan, quick, snatch her halo back! I'll give you 200,000 this time," Chen Li said the instant the weapons were in his hand.
"Deal!"
Poporon, now able to use her angelic powers but armed with nothing, had no means of defense. Combined with Jashin-chan's newfound expertise, her halo was snatched away yet again.
Having fallen in the same spot twice, Poporon was completely dumbfounded.
---o---