Chapter 433: Chapter 352: Your Friend

Jiuyue merely thought to herself but did not explicitly express her thoughts.

At least until she could construct a complete story, she had no plans to do so.

Meanwhile, a sense of joy began to stir in her heart as she gradually came to understand all this—this time, she had truly entered into Duan Mingyuan’s heart, both physically and mentally.

Jiuyue realized that the suspicions about "black mud" and Void Demons were affecting Duan Mingyuan’s judgment.

Even if they were not real, they would, as Da Jiang had mentioned about the annihilation of the Royal Hunting Court Hunter team, subtly alter Duan Mingyuan’s perception.

Once Duan Mingyuan began to dwell on those thoughts and accusations, the change had already happened.

"Deep memories" would generate more and more NPCs that didn’t originally exist to corroborate his thoughts; once he accepted these notions subconsciously, they would become established facts.

Thus, at this critical moment of survival, the storyteller Jiuyue was entrusted with an urgent mission and made a timely appearance.

Jiuyue conjured a noticeable hand fan and changed her clothes at random, the evening dress transformed into a traditional Blue Star robe, her long hair was tied into a long ponytail, and a touch of heroism added to her appearance.

Back on Mechanical Star, Mr. Mingyuan had taught her the usage guidelines for the Conscious Space, which now came in handy.

"What are you doing?"

Duan Mingyuan saw Jiuyue’s transformation and asked in confusion.

"It’s now Jiuyue (The Storyteller Special Edition), cherish it well, because in a pay-to-win mobile game, it would cost 168 shell skins!"

Jiuyue’s fighting spirit ignited; she was filled with a sense of mission.

Unconsciously, the two had followed the high school era Duan Mingyuan into a subway station, which was nearly filled with students in uniform, and a few parents scattered about.

They were mostly students from the same class walking together, discussing the strange tales and unusual events they had recently heard about.

Only Duan Mingyuan chose the last car, deeply engrossed in his notebook.

For everyone on the platform, it was just a typical evening.

The students were seizing the free moments after school to relax, knowing that once they were home, they would have to face a mountain of homework; meanwhile, Duan Mingyuan was embarking on another journey to expel malicious spirits.

"Mr. Mingyuan, I remember you mentioned that you were preparing for your future career at that time,"

Jiuyue suddenly spoke up.

Duan Mingyuan had seriously considered making expelling evil spirits his future profession; therefore, visiting various ominous haunts was like joining an extracurricular club for him, albeit his interests differed greatly from those of most of his peers.

Consistently dealing with evil spirits came at a cost—the accumulation of negative energy, even for Duan Mingyuan, was inevitable.

"This manifests in daily life when people around you think of you as a gloomy man. Spend enough time with you, and they’ll unwittingly associate you with some bad things,"

Jiuyue brought up a theory she had heard at the Hunter’s Guild; based on this theory, it wasn’t difficult to deduce that the majority of a hunter’s life is lonely. Even if they retired and started families, they would almost always marry within the industry, leading to the relatively secluded community of hunters.

Before the downfall of the Royal Hunting Court, many venerable hunters came from families of hunters spanning generations.

"Why suddenly talk about this?"

Duan Mingyuan always felt there was something subtle in Jiuyue’s expression. Although it seemed she was simply sharing some industry knowledge, there was an underlying sense of sympathy and pity.

"So relax, it’s not your fault you don’t have friends."

As Duan Mingyuan was pondering whether there were other suspicious individuals in the carriage, Jiuyue noticed he was standing at the very end of the carriage, in stark contrast to the cheerful students around him.

She continued with scientific knowledge, "Malevolent yin energy can cling to humans, causing people who come into contact with it to involuntarily conjure horrifying thoughts and thereby keep their distance from you. But in reality, your personal image is quite good. It was evident in high school that you were a trustworthy senior with personal charisma. If I had attended that high school, I would definitely have had a crush on you."

"...Are you trying to comfort me?"

"No, all of these are scientifically based."

Jiuyue smiled, but Duan Mingyuan found himself unable to respond for a long time.

He could feel Jiuyue’s good intentions, but this was probably what people mean when they say warm words that can be especially heart-piercing. He hadn’t been focusing on the atmosphere in the carriage until Jiuyue brought it up, and now he began to notice his situation.

This directly affected his subconscious, making him realize that the adults in the carriage were looking at him differently.

Their looks were full of sympathy.

As if they had already judged that he was the type of youth who was isolated and bullied in school, only able to focus on his studies and seek solace in a virtual world.

Additionally, family relations seemed tense; there were no grandparents to pick him up after school, perhaps he had gotten used to commuting alone on the subway since middle school.

These changes made Duan Mingyuan feel heavier in his heart.

Meanwhile, Jiuyue, representing all the adults in the carriage, set an example.

She warmly hugged Duan Mingyuan’s shoulders, allowing him to lean on her shoulder. Even in Conscious Space, real warmth and touch existed, "It’s okay, Mr. Mingyuan, everything will get better."

"I think you might be mistaken."

Duan Mingyuan felt compelled to clarify, "Although I indeed didn’t have many friends in high school, I definitely wasn’t bullied."

In his memory, their high school was a district key point and there was no culture of bullying among the students.

At most, he rarely talked to his classmates because he spent his spare time developing skills for his future career, which resulted in him being completely oblivious to many popular cartoons and games his classmates discussed.

"Mr. Mingyuan, do you think there’s a chance that I also went to your high school but you never noticed?"

Jiuyue whispered, suggesting that she might have actually been sitting on that chair over there, secretly admiring him and silently following him home all the time.

"No, there’s absolutely no possibility of that."

The chair opposite him did not harbor the Jiuyue of his high school days, and not all suddenly emerging settings could influence Duan Mingyuan’s subconscious, "Besides, that sounds like a yandere."

"What’s wrong with being a yandere?"

Jiuyue’s eyes sparkled, she was always good at finding the shiny spots in human nature.

Though yandere tactics might be terrifying and hard for ordinary people to accept, the full-hearted love they invest is no lie.

"You should focus on whether there are other suspicious individuals in this carriage, we are doing serious business now."

"This is serious business."

Jiuyue asserted, "There’s no more important business than this."

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read