Chapter 21 Kaidan: Where's Dad Dead
"The new Analog Horror arrived so quickly!"
"Numerous Chosen Ones from various nations had just died not long ago, and now they are being ravaged by the uncanny again? Is there no end to this?"
"Give us a break, why don't you?"
However, this time the citizens of Dragon Country were full of confidence.
Many had run to the live streaming rooms of Lighthouse Country to furiously diss, yet no one was responding.
[Weird, where are those idiots? Weren't they the ones shouting the loudest before?]
[Right, why have they gone soft this time?]
Everyone was puzzled—surely not all the Arun had gathered in cities invaded by the supernatural?
But when it comes to stirring things up, the official channels had the upper hand. There appeared a video from the official account of Dragon Country.
It featured immigrant tycoons, wealthy heirs and young ladies.
Only now, they had lost their previous airs of superiority.
Each one was crying for daddy and screaming for mommy, imploring the overseas embassies to process their visas to return home.
To this, Dragon Country's stance was, you want to come back?
Sure, but processing will take fifty years, so just wait patiently~
As the saying goes, the day you abandon me is the day that cannot be kept.
We all know very well what these people's mentality was!
When Wobuju was powerful, where were they when we knelt three times calling for them to come back?
Now that our Chosen One is rising, they suddenly feel the urge.
Your kid dies, you turn up to nurse it back; your nose drips snot, you learn to wipe it off; when your car crashes into a wall, that's when you know to turn the wheel.
Of course, a good bird chooses the tree on which to perch, Dragon Country respects everyone's choices.
But having made that choice, one should be prepared for the possibility of having chosen poorly!
Apart from Dragon Country.
Nai Zixue of the Sakura Empire also successfully advanced in the last round.
You have to understand, before this, nobody cared about the life and death of such a tiny place.
Moreover, Nai Zixue even cured Bai Liu's mental illness using traditional methods.
And according to the Sakura Empire, Miss Nai Zixue was practically a goddess!
In the Kaidan, Wang Hai, the Dean, and the security guard all favored Nai Zixue heavily.
Wang Hai even disclosed to Nai Zixue the relationship between himself, Bai Liu, and Wang Xiao'ai.
The Dean also revealed to her many secrets.
And the security guard, without ever asking anything of Nai Zixue, even ate that disgusting lunch on her behalf every time.
According to expert research, these actions should be linked to Nai Zixue's unknown talent and her stunning charisma score of 25.
As is common knowledge, the starting value for personal stats is ten points, but Nai Zixue started with 25 points!
After the first successful run, the five points from resource attributes she earned all went into charisma.
So now her charisma has reached an impressive 30 points!
Just as the Arun overseas were wracking their brains to return home but to no avail.
The Sakura Empire extended an olive branch to them.
"Yo, as the saying goes, 'The diligent will be the leaders; all immigrants with issues are welcome to come to Sakura! We warmly welcome you!'"
Once the Sakura Empire made this statement, it immediately sparked a backlash from countless netizens of Dragon Country!
As for how they struck back?
Well, naturally, they targeted Sakura Empire's famous specialty.
[If you can't hack it, just have Sakurako produce a couple more tokusatsu films, stop with the nonsense!]
[You are wrong, in my opinion, Yuko Nogano fits my taste much better than Sakurako!]
[I must disagree with you both—Da Xiaohua is the real deal, her acting is so natural.]
[Guys? Looking for resources, willing to pay. Seeing little Sakura so arrogant, I feel like pitching in too!]
Everyone: ?????
[Eh, actually, I personally don't care about tokusatsu, but you know, I have this friend...]
[Heaven endows the diligent with strength; I, Huang, swear to have nothing to do with gambling or drugs!]
...
The online discourse naturally caught the eye of the Sakura Empire's Prime Minister.
"Dammit! They clearly have yet to realize the severity of the issue! To slander me like this! Xiao Cun Cilang, please restrict our tokusatsu exports to them right now! Carry out the order!"
Xiao Cun Cilang sitting below him was visibly conflicted.
"Prime Minister, they... they have not slandered us, this is actually one of the most critical industries in Sakura Empire, and that market over there is our most important one, we can't lose it."
"Nani? Our grand Sakura Empire is dependent on such an industry?!!"
Watching the Prime Minister's indignant expression, the others around the conference table silently criticized him in their minds.
What kind of act are you putting on right now?
Come on, it was you who originally proposed the strategy of breaking into Dragon Country's market with tokusatsu, wasn't it?
And now you put on an act of irreconcilable differences—who is that for?
Playing both sides is something you, Prime Minister, certainly have nailed...
Reluctantly, Xiao Cun Cilang who was one of the Prime Minister's confidants, had to come forward and speak well.
He said to the Prime Minister with an unruly demeanor.
"Do not worry, Prime Minister, our Miss Nai Zixue has an SS rank talent. Once she strengthens our Sakura Empire, we'll..."
"We won't produce tokusatsu anymore?"
"No, what I mean is, we can sustain ourselves and no longer need to export to Dragon Country!"
Everyone: ?????
But it cannot be denied that Nai Zixue's talent is truly amazing, despite its limitations.
In certain Kaidan, her talent might even be less impactful than an S or even an A rank.
But in certain "kaidan," she probably wasn't even a match for SSS.
The Sakura Empire's bluster did have an effect,
for there were indeed some shameless people from Dragon Country who wanted to immigrate to the Sakura Empire.
After all, Nai Zixue was genuinely a ruthless person, with the outside world's lowest estimate of her being S-class.
Visa applications had become very simple now, being granted instantly as long as the host country agreed.
These shameless folks didn't dare delay and wanted to join the Sakura Empire before the Analog Horror had officially started.
And the Sakura Empire, a tiny speck of a place, was of course welcoming the Dragon Countrymen from Lighthouse Country with open arms!
You see, every immigrant from Dragon Country to Lighthouse Country was undoubtedly a high-end citizen.
If Lighthouse Country was willing to accept them, what reason did their little Sakura Empire have to refuse?
Ultimately, a tenth of the Dragon Country's population that had immigrated to Lighthouse Country defected to the Sakura Empire.
No helping it; through the sands of history, losers like these were never in short supply!
But still, more people would rather stay in Lighthouse Country than go to the Sakura Empire.
When it came down to it, Dragon Country's attitude towards Lighthouse Country and the Sakura Empire was completely different.
National hatred, family feuds.
The Sakura Empire was unforgivable, with countless people from Dragon Country wishing in their lifetimes to flatten the Sakura Empire!
To immigrate to Lighthouse Country, the worst they'd get called were panda huggers and foreign flatterers,
but to go to the Sakura Empire...
Sorry, they'd be too ashamed to face their ancestors!
Before, many had not believed in demons and ghosts, but with the advent of Analog Horror, traditional concepts were now shattered.
What if one could really meet their ancestors after death?
If they immigrated to the Sakura Empire, it would be really hard to explain!
As the streaming screen for "Analog Horror" lit up.
Viewers from 118 countries around the globe could freely choose which one to watch.
That's right, from 120 down to 118, two more countries had been completely annihilated.
[Dragon Country: Jiang Xiao]
[United States: Mad]
[Sakura: Meichuan Neiku]
[Korea: Park Wai Le]
Huh???
Damn!
The Prime Minister of Japan was flabbergasted, where was his SSS treasure Nai Zixue?
Not just him,
Countless people who had just immigrated from Lighthouse Country to the Sakura Empire nearly dropped dead right there!
"Shit! What kind of crap is Meichuan Neiku? You can tell it's no good just by the name!"
Japanese authorities complained immediately.
Analog Horror quickly responded.
[This Analog Horror is special, female chosen ones cannot participate. Nai Zixue will continue to compete in the next round]
Japanese people: ???
Analog Horror also discriminates based on gender?
Jiang Xiao was already at the preparation stage.
"Heavenly Master Zhong Kui, Heavenly Master Zhong Kui, Heavenly Master Zhong Kui, Heavenly Master Zhong Kui..."
Muttering "Heavenly Master Zhong Kui" constantly, Jiang Xiao had hoped to imagine this character before Analog Horror let him activate his talent.
He had thought of this since the first kaidan appeared; if he succeeded in his imagining, he could blaze a trail all the way through!
But sadly,
His passive talent three: In Analog Horror, your condition will be worse than in reality, which will affect certain judgments.
Feeling his mind start to muddle, Jiang Xiao got anxious.
If Zhong Kui wasn't an option, that was okay—it couldn't be Pai Daxing again, right?
"Not Pai Daxing... Not Pai Daxing... Not Pai Daxing..."
[Ding, the game is about to start, please activate your talent effect one]
Jiang Xiao's mind snapped, he left the ground, his thoughts came to halt, and the smart look once again took high ground!
"I want to cosplay... Pai Daxing... No! Not Daxing, star... star, uh… cosplay a student from Sunflower class at Shuangye Kindergarten in Futaba-cho, Kasukabe, Saitama Prefecture, Sakura Empire... Crayon Shin-chan, you know, which is a very normal thing for a normal person!"
Analog Horror: [I must say, your choice suits you quite well...]
[Crayon Shin-chan effect: Because you're beyond control and fear nothing, uncanny powers cannot corrupt you.]
[Negative effect: Precocious, dislikes green peppers, likes beautiful women's photo collections, enjoys the 'butt dance,' is a fan of Donggan Superman, and when getting up to mischief, your annoyance level +50, IQ -30]
Damn it!
Jiang Xiao really wanted to give himself a good slap—this was even worse than Pai Daxing!
Most annoying was the negative effect.
The rest he could handle, but he actually liked green peppers!
The only silver lining was that his IQ wasn't deducted much, otherwise this would've been totally ruined.
Perhaps...
Perhaps this SSS-grade imagined disorder wasn't as twisted as he had thought.
He definitely felt his thoughts become more chaotic when he tried to imagine Zhong Kui.
Maybe he shouldn't have overreached, lest he strain something...
Maybe cosplaying as Doraemon or Balala Little Magical Fairy would've been more reliable...
[Ding, the game begins, entering the kaidan world, Where's Dad Dead]
[Difficulty: Seven stars, each country has two opportunities for hints]