Tsukumogami Song

Hei Er (not his real name), 27 years old, unmarried.

Ever since he could remember, he had been trained as an assassin—though he actually wanted to be an artist. Destruction was boring; what he really wanted to do was create.

He grew up a lonely orphan and wandered the outskirts of this town, until finally (and inevitably, one would say) the Waning Principle Sect picked him up and adopted him. Though now he had people, but he still had no family, as everyday he would train in total darkness, and learn the skill of killing. All he had was his mind and the various imaginary friends accompanying him when the black was too much to bear.

He wanted to be a sculptor; creating his friends—his pillars of support—for everyone to see. So one day, when children just like him stumbled upon them, they would know they weren't alone.

"Aren't you a slippery one?" Hei Er sneered at Shou, who kept dodging his attacks. Though he was calm on the surface, his heart raced uncomfortably.

He knew he wasn't the strongest—In fact, he had always slacked off while training—but he still reached the 4th stage! And he was the graduate of the 34th generation of assassins, the Hei Generation!

Though he heard he was the last surviving one, since everyone else had been hunted by someone from the 36th Lan generation... Ah, how scary... Well, it didn't matter anyway!

"Hei Er!" Ah Liang screamed, "return to my side!"

"But Sir, I cannot allow such disrespect from this mongrel."

It didn't matter precisely because he now worked for Ah Liang. It was him who pulled him out the sect. Thus his only connection with his dark past is his name, which he kept only to remember his roots. And for that, he will always be eternally thankful.

To see someone mocking his benefactor—and with such childish taunts—he could not bear it.

As he kept lashing out, he felt himself get into a rhythm and his attacks flowed smoother—Wait, rhythm?

Now that he listened closely, there indeed was music playing. Who was so audacious to play on his instrument at such crucial time?

The youth stopped jumping around. He rested his hands on his hips and shouted at the sky. "Alright, I'm done warming up. That was a good exercise, you can do what ever you want now, Si."

And just like clockwork, the whole shop started to mysteriously shake (and no, not because of Ah Liang).

What he then saw, shook his mind to its very core!

Through the wooden walls, several round creatures flew out. They were the size of his hand, with half their body being two beady eyes. They looked like blobs of water, but with four stubby nubs, presumably as hand and feet.

The creatures floated out the walls, the floor, the door, the lights, the plants, the desk, the cores, the paper, the bookshelf, the water, the windows, all manifesting out of nowhere—all different colors. The music kept resounding in the store, with the creatures cutely wriggling around to the beat, shaking left and right as if dancing.

"..." Hei Er tightly gripped his sword in bewilderment. Ah Liang hid behind his other bodyguard, terrified of these unknown beings.

The creatures seemed to be performing, twirling around, moving their body, and creating shapes like synchronized swimmers. As they did so, they slowly neared Hei Er.

He immediately felt his hair stand on all ends, and his sweat running backward. In desperate attempt, he took his sword and slashed downward with his strongest move— "Listless Sword March!" —and hit a red blob.

Before he even smile, the creature started inflating and promptly exploded! The shock-wave hit Hei Er square in the face, and he was forced back. With no time get his footing, another red blob exploded and he was sent flying. From below, a green blob shot out a piece of wood, while a brown blob hit him with a stone from below. The yellow blobs shocked him with lightning, the white blobs burned him with light, the blue blobs threw him around through manipulating water in his body, the turquoise blob shot ice-needles, and finally, the violet blob choked the air out of him.

He was pummeled from all sides, giving him no break at all; he could not even land on the ground and was tossed around to the beat of the string music.

His last thoughts as his mind faded out was, 'Ah, if only I could have had so many friends when I was small...'

Everyone watched in terror, the cute little creatures mercilessly destroying the poor Hei Er. They all had expressions of shock as they curled up and trembled in fear.

After a few minutes, which felt like years, the blobs stopped beating him up. With a bow, they excused themselves and disappeared from where they came from, leaving only a fainted Hei Er on the ground.

The whole place turned silent.

Si declared proudly, "See, I held back, right?"

"Did you now?" Shou closed his eyes and massaged his temples. "You went too far you idiot!"

"Hueh [???] Why, he's still alive, right?" Shou's shout caught her off-guard. "I made sure to choose the cutest defense system! It's the Song of Tsukomogami. Ah, a Tsukomogami is spirit within tools that have existed for centuries and the song calls them out. It's great!"

"I know what a tool spirit is you dolt. I'm saying just because you leave the person breathing doesn't make it okay!" He paused. "Also, how can there possibly be so many tool-spirits?"

"Ah~ you're mean! Calling me an idiot is uncalled for! I created them just now, don't take them away from me!"

Shou sighed. "Fine, let's keep them for now, because they are interesting." He then strutted to Ah Liang and company, on his face a gentle smile. "So, which one of you wants to start the instance? Ah, don't worry, I will reimburse you for that guy over there."

Ah Liang stared at 'that guy', whose mouth was foaming with his eyes rolled back. "I think... I will come back another time."

"Huh, why?" Shou innocently tilted his head.

'Why don't you take a guess!' Ah Liang almost screamed out, but he contained himself.

An Bai who stayed silent the whole ordeal, stepped forward. "Actually, I would like to give it a try."

Ah Liang's eyes almost popped out as he saw the pig offer himself for slaughter. "Have you grown tired of living?"

"Relay, Fatty Liang. You said it yourself, I can't always stay as number 3 in The Circle. I can see that this shop has potential."

The Fatty Liang grabbed him by the shoulder. "I fear you may have misinterpreted my words. Should I slap you to wake you up?"

"If you touch my face, our decades of friendship ends here. Don't forget you are a stage below me." He came closer to Ah Liangs face and whispered, "Don't be like that. Your gut was right. No one can deny that this shop is hiding something enormous. I'm just taking your tip. Come on, it's a one in a lifetime opportunity."

Ah Liang squinted his eyes. He then sighed in resignation. "...All right."

The bodyguard understood his duty immediately. "Then... I shall test that artifact for you." He swallowed his saliva and almost felt like crying. He hit his chest to pump himself up. He forced a smile, trying to stay optimistic. As long as he could help his employer, that was his job!

The two rich men looked at him as if he was already dead.

"...Sir, could you not stare at me like that?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Well then, good luck."

The bodyguard nodded and walked to the core. He placed his hand above it and promptly fell unconscious.

"Hiii~" Ah Liangs face turned pale. "I knew it, we should have left! Another one taken out! Ah, mommy, save me! My bodyguards!" He screamed so loudly, Shou had to calm him down.

"Hey big guy, why don't you take a deep breath and just look over there." Shou pointed at the screen that had popped up.

'What now?' Ah Liang peeked through his fingers and saw a pale blue light emitting out the core. The light depicted his bodyguard who had just fallen asleep. The man looked befuddled as he turned his head several times. "This..."

"I told you, right?" Shou explained, "The man right here has entered the illusory world."

"What! Impossible!" Ah Liang leaned forward, his belly shaking. As he looked at An Bai, he saw his friends mouth hang low. "You're telling me he is in there right now?"

The bodyguard in the game perked up. "Boss Liang, is that you I am hearing?"

"Oh Lord, he answered!" Ah Liang gasped in shock. He ran to the screen, seemingly wanting to pounce at it. "Can you hear me?"

"Yes sir! This is amazing!" The bodyguard nodded vehemently. "It's like I've been teleported! The air here is incredibly fresh and I feel more nimble. I think it's because of the dense Spiritual Essence in the air."

The two rich man couldn't believe their ears. Right after, the introductory page appeared in front of the bodyguard, and as they read it, they could not believe their eyes either.

What was that? Karma? Fate? Earning rewards by reaching a 100%?

An Bai jumped forward. "Boss, open a core right now!" Ah Liang followed right behind. The Hei Er incident already forgotten.

Shou did as told, and soon after, the three people had entered the illusory world.

"Hmm, doesn't it feel like we are starting to get popular?"