Since Chaldea still needed considerable time to pinpoint the Grand Temple of Time, and there were no new scripts to play, Jiang You resigned himself to grinding for territory activity rewards. Given the comprehensive data provided, he was constantly worried that Konami might have sneaked in an SLG system. As the sole player in the beta test, he feared that once the public release attracted more players, it would genuinely become a playable SLG—the kind with terrifying monetization schemes.
It had to be said, Coral was remarkably efficient. Most tasks could be handled with a simple instruction, making it clear why Aurora considered her her right-hand woman. Yet Jiang You couldn't fathom how Aurora had crushed such a loyal and capable subordinate to death without the slightest remorse. Did that woman even possess a functioning brain?
The Territory Construction System did have its advantages, notably quantifying loyalty as a numerical value, which could serve as a rough proxy for affection.
The sole problem was Coral's loyalty, which remained stubbornly stagnant. She was still hung up on Aurora, driving Jiang You to seriously consider using a Shadow Game to brainwash her. By brainwash, of course, he meant mind-control, not anything... unconventional.
At the request of the Mirror Clan's ghosts, an abandoned building in Salisbury was swiftly cleared out and christened the Library.
Books acquired from across the Faerie Realm, along with those Jiang You had brought from other Worldlines, rapidly filled the Library to overflowing. The sheer volume of books delighted all the ghosts, but their overwhelming numbers—almost the entire ghost population had followed him—forced Jiang You to reluctantly contact Fairy Tristan for help.
Fairy Tristan, now following the Rain Witch life path Morgan had once carved out, was immersed in her own library. The newly constructed Royal Library in New Darlington already housed a substantial collection of rare Rain spell books from Morgan's personal hoard. As a result, some of the ghosts were relocated to Fairy Tristan's Royal Library.
Of course, Fairy Tristan also had a few small requests. In hidden corners of both libraries, there were shimmering, water-like mirrors. These were Magical Artifacts Morgan used to cast the Water Mirror Spell, allowing those who possessed the corresponding artifacts to teleport swiftly between the two locations. Fairy Tristan claimed this would facilitate communication between the two sides, but Jiang You understood her true motive: to keep tabs on him. Still, he welcomed the teleportation function.
When Jiang You suggested installing one in Barghest's residence as well, Fairy Tristan kicked him squarely in the kidney.
Jiang You, ever prepared for her attacks, successfully dodged the blow, but Fairy Tristan seized the opportunity to close the distance and tackled him to the ground.
"You scum!" she roared.
Using a grappling technique she'd learned from Quetzalcoatl, Fairy Tristan locked Jiang You in a painful hold. Though not lethal, this maneuver inflicted excruciating agony—the same technique Quetzalcoatl had used to slaughter her way across North America.
"How many women do you need before you're satisfied?! What's so great about that muscle-bound woman anyway? Is it just her oversized breasts?! And that puny dragon with her frail body—you'll take anyone who comes your way, won't you?! No—wait, are you even capable of feeling pain? Has your thick skin numbed your nerves?!"
"I'm just a simple lecher."
Jiang You could already hear his bones creaking in protest. Fairy Tristan's Strength stat was an A, a full tier above Barghest's normal state. Setting the pain ratio too low had its drawbacks—sometimes he couldn't even gauge his body's limits. Regardless of his motives, Jiang You had to start begging for mercy: "Stop! I'm going to die! I'm going to die!"
"That tone sounds so fake," Fairy Tristan scoffed, sinking her teeth into Jiang You's neck. "Wait, there's definitely something wrong with you! Your blood has no taste at all! Are you even human?"
Are Heroic Spirits considered human? But how could blood possibly have no taste?
Jiang You could already smell a metallic, rusty odor in the air. Fairy Tristan is biting way too hard, he thought. Am I really going to lose my first (death) over this?
"If you don't believe me, taste it yourself."
Fairy Tristan sank her teeth into Jiang You's neck again, then released her grip.
Jiang You had been planning to scrape his wound and taste his own blood to see if it tasted like pig's blood and vermicelli soup, but he discovered the wound had already healed. He wasn't sure if this was due to the Blood-Sucking Fairy's nature or the regenerative effects of his character panel.
"Should I find something to cut myself with?"
"No need for such trouble," Fairy Tristan mumbled, her words slurred by the blood coating her mouth. She cupped Jiang You's cheeks with both hands, and he felt a warm liquid being pressed against his lips.
"Taste it," she urged. "Does anything seem off?"
"How would I know what human blood tastes like? I've never drunk it before," Jiang You retorted instinctively. He swallowed, noting that the liquid had no particular flavor. But just as he realized what Fairy Tristan's actions implied, he was forcibly logged out.
"Tch."
Fairy Tristan shook her head, bored. "Running away already? All lust, no guts! Still, doesn't that mean whoever makes the first move has the upper hand?"
Jiang You was forcibly returned to the Script Selection interface. Here, the environment was an endless mirror lake, its surface perfectly meeting the horizon. A fan-shaped array of doors stood before him, each representing a Script he had experienced in chronological order. The second-to-last door, leading to the Faerie Realm, was now sealed shut, meaning he couldn't re-enter it for the time being.
"Isn't this setup a bit problematic? It's not like I initiated this myself."
Jiang You briefly recalled the warm, gentle sensation he had just experienced, realizing it was indistinguishable from real touch. Logically, if the game wasn't meant to provide players with such immersive experiences, they shouldn't have implemented this feature. Fully immersive haptic algorithms are far more complex than auditory or tactile systems. This situation felt less like a feature and more like the System's inability to control NPC behavior, paradoxically restricting the player instead.
"Isn't this just insane?"
Jiang You found the game's design increasingly incomprehensible. If a feature serves no purpose, why even implement it?!
Of course, there remained another possibility: Konami had actually connected to the Type-Moon World. The moment this thought surfaced, Jiang You almost laughed at himself—even his wildest dreams weren't this absurd. Yet a nagging doubt lingered in his mind.
"Forget it. The second Duel Tournament in the Fifth Holy Grail War Worldline should be starting soon. Time to see if I can snag some Cards from the Clock Tower people; they've been hounding me for ages. Looks like I'll be running into quite a few familiar faces."
After dashing off a scathing post accusing Konami of inhumanity, Jiang You pushed open the door to the Fifth Holy Grail War Worldline. He had stationed nearly all his summonable servants there, and it was time to interact with them and collect some Affection Rewards.