Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

Page 442

"Actually, it's a byproduct of making a wish." Meow Dream shrugged. "That wish for 1 billion yen gave me 'super regeneration,' which is an extension of the concept of 'value-added.' At the same time, the concept of 'acquisition' contained within it makes me learn everything exceptionally fast, which is why I can make a living from information."

"Is learning a language quickly part of that?"

"of course."

Miao Meng took a deep breath.

“I have come to appreciate the power of language from films in different languages. Some people get angry because of language, some people cry because of language. Language influences and even dominates human emotions and actions... This is especially true when facing one's mother tongue—not just dialogue, but also the visuals of a film, also known as ‘camera language.’ You see, the camera is also a kind of language.”

“I’ve heard of this theory. You mean language is a meme?” Xiangzi said.

“A meme?” Mu said.

“It’s a type of meme. The definition of this word is ‘the basic unit of culture, transmitted through non-genetic means, especially imitation.’ So besides language, there are many other things that can transmit memes.” Miao Meng Shen Shen counted on one hand, “Architecture, painting, music…”

“The genes of culture,” Xiangzi said. “These are all memes.”

"Language is the core medium for spreading memes. A culture survives because of a language, and the disappearance of a language also represents the disappearance of a culture." It was rare to have someone to chat with, and Miaomeng was clearly in a good mood. "I think what Muzi just said also contains this meaning~"

She raised one index finger, waved it from side to side, and said:

“However, compared to memes, I think language is not just ‘the genes of culture’; it is more concrete and is a real ‘thing’.”

"Can't understand."

“Sigh, I’m not sure how to describe it either.” Miao Meng scratched her head, seemingly struggling with how to explain it best. “It’s said that some mathematicians can sense the existence of ‘equations.’ In their minds, equations aren’t just blackboards made up of Arabic numerals, Greek letters, and mathematical symbols, but real entities. Some people treat vast countries and nations as concrete entities, depicting them vividly as ‘people,’ as ‘self-aware individuals.’ And also, Xiangzi, when you describe music, haven’t you used similar expressions? Saying that the melodies composed of notes are alive, as if they’ve existed from the very beginning, and you’ve just discovered them…”

Miaomeng said a lot of things all at once.

Just like when Xiangzi first met her, she gets very talkative when she gets excited.

However, Xiangzi had never seen Miaomeng so engrossed. Her eyes gleamed with a certain light in the darkness, reflecting the road ahead, but that light seemed to come from a more distant place.

Xiangzi's throat moved slightly, and he nodded.

Miao Meng glanced sideways at Xiangzi's seemingly confused expression, then looked up at the rearview mirror.

Yes, Mu's breathing is steady, and she is sleeping soundly.

"You're willing to talk to me about these things." Miao Meng's upturned lips flattened, and she said in her natural voice, "Thank you."

"It's not bad to chat occasionally. You don't think I was able to lure you out by searching on a search engine, do you?" Xiangzi smiled, his elbow resting on the edge of the car window and his chin propped up.

As soon as he finished speaking, Xiangzi couldn't help but yawn.

"Haha... Let's not bring up old stories." Miao Meng twitched the corner of her mouth and glanced to the side. "Let's rest for a bit before we reach our destination. I won't be the one doing the work later."

"Ah."

Xiangzi did not refuse, closed his eyes, and took a nap.

Miao Meng withdrew her gaze and slightly reduced the throttle to make the car drive more smoothly.

The pickup truck moved forward into the night, its red taillights gradually disappearing at the end of the road.

The Tale of Reincarnation: The Path of Fall, the Road of No Return: Chapter 579 Goods on the Shelf

After an unknown amount of time, Xiangzi was woken up by Miaomeng.

"Sir, your morning call has arrived." Miao Mengteng grabbed Xiangzi's shoulder and shook him. "Wake up, wake up."

Is this what you call "waking someone up"? It's more like "shaking them awake."

Xiangzi's forehead hit the glass, making a very noticeable sound.

"Couldn't you be a little gentler?" Xiangzi complained, rubbing his forehead.

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry, Miss, but isn't it a bit much to ask me to shake you awake while driving and be careful not to use too much force?"

Miao Meng's tone sounded rather unpleasant. Or rather, it was more accurate to say it was full of aggression.

Xiangzi was about to get angry, but after seeing the scene outside the car window, she realized that Miaomeng's low mood had a source.

The night was illuminated.

It wasn't lights, but towering flames.

They arrived in a town, or rather, a small city.

There were roads, buildings over five stories high, and streetlights; it seemed quite modern before, at least that was the assessment. Now, everything was destroyed by flames. The flames illuminated the night, and amidst the crackling of burning building materials, the occasional, synchronized gunshots rang out.

"This is......"

"This is the country's second-largest city. It became the opposition's stronghold after Ahmed's government began its massacres, and the stronghold was captured a few days ago."

Miao Meng turned her head to the side, and in the light of the flames, her face looked somewhat terrifying.

"The Ahmed government has redeployed its sealed AK-47s and rocket launchers, patrolling villages throughout the country and recruiting boy soldiers. Under the pretext of 'hunting down terrorists,' they search villages for any opposition forces, escorting these 'opposition forces' to dug pits, pouring several barrels of gasoline into them, and then throwing in lighters. As for the remaining 'usable talents,' the boy soldiers who enlisted, they take them away and incorporate them into their own forces."

"Young soldiers...aren't there a lot of children here?"

“They’re not older than the two of you,” Miao Meng said. “They make up about 40% of the armed forces, which is quite a lot.”

The air inside the car seemed to freeze, and Xiangzi's expression became much more subdued.

Through the windshield, I could vaguely see the firelight floating in the distant town. The orange flames illuminated the details of the clouds floating in the night sky, turning the clouds completely orange-red. Many places in the town were probably burning with the same firelight, and thick smoke billowed into the sky like a black dragon.

It was once the most advanced place in the country—although it was far inferior to the Reed Plains, it was still the country's most prized possession. After the initial air and artillery bombardments of the civil war, it became the ravaged place it is today.

"We can talk about it later." Miaomeng stretched out her hand, as if asking Xiangzi for something. "Give me 'that thing' first, just in case."

With the checkpoint leading into the city less than 100 meters ahead, Miaomeng slowed down.

Xiangzi knew exactly what she meant by "that thing is dead". He turned the ring on his hand into a soul gem and threw it to Miaomeng. Then he pulled up the scarf around his neck to cover the lower half of his face, and put on a hood to cover his hair as well.

Muhe Miaomeng did the same thing. Apart from being much shorter than an adult male, there was nothing special about Erling Er (II) Yilin 8 Ren Eryi.

To make himself appear more harmonious, Xiangzi reappeared with three AK47s, keeping two for himself and tossing the last one to Mu.

That way, they can fool people by using the name of child soldiers.

The only problem is how to communicate with the sentries.

Xiangzi's idea was to use his Soul Gem to solve this problem. After being repaired, the Soul Gem, while not able to restore its original magical output to the point of being able to grant any desired power, could still achieve that.

The problem is...

Xiangzi had long since lost the ability to distinguish between the magic of "Nirvana" and the magic of "himself." The boundary between the two had become so blurred that it was impossible to tell, constantly reminding Xiangzi that he himself was Nirvana.

However, there's no need to worry about that now. Because Miaomeng actually said she could handle it, and Xiangzi's Soul Gem can be kept as a backup.

Miaomeng parked the car in front of the sentry post, and the soldier in charge of the inspection walked over with his arm raised. Miaomeng spoke to him in the local language, saying that she had taken two boy soldiers on patrol, but they had run out of fuel and food halfway through. The inspector nodded and raised his reading device to them.

"..." Xiangzi closed his eyes, letting the inspector point the reading device at him.

drop......

drop......

drop......

Third tone.

The ID authentication key that Miaomeng had asked Xiangzi to bring is now hanging in Xiangzi's stomach. Miaomeng and Mu also have the same thing.

The ID authentication key retrieves the previous owner's information, which then becomes Xiangzi and her companions' new identity.

In reality, neither their faces nor their figures matched the identities identified by the key. Ironically, the soldiers in the room responsible for verifying identities simply let them pass once the verification light turned green. They seemed completely unconcerned about whether the displayed information matched the person; the green light was more important to them than the information matching.

This is incredibly low quality; no wonder Miaomeng said she didn't need to handle it herself.

The pickup truck passed the checkpoint and entered the smoke-filled town.

"......"

The scene within the town made the air inside the car even more silent. Even though they had seen similar scenes twice before, even though Miao Meng had seen them in advance through videos on the dark web, and even though they were fully prepared, they still fell into a deeper silence when it was all presented before them.

Buildings everywhere were ablaze, and corpses, clearly not soldiers', were scattered about everywhere. Xiangzi saw a woman lying on the ground by the roadside, her body mostly intact. The upper half of her head was missing, its contents spilling out onto the ground, gleaming in the nearby firelight. A child was holding her hand beside her, perhaps a son or a daughter? Xiangzi couldn't tell, because only one arm was holding the woman's hand.

"I can't take it anymore." Xiangzi turned his head into the car, his face turning pale. "Why did we come to a place like this?"

She's not even an adult yet, so why should she see these things?

You've probably seen plenty of gory scenes before, but when a witch is involved, it always feels like there's a surreal filter on the screen... And during battles, the Soul Gem automatically adjusts to the appropriate emotional state for the fight.

Miao Meng patted her shoulder, and just when Xiangzi thought she was going to say something comforting, Miao Meng gestured with her lips in another direction.

Xiangzi looked in the direction her chin indicated. In the firelight, ordinary-looking boys and girls, with dark, dark brown, or white skin, were lined up in the square in the center of town, receiving their ID authentication keys implanted.

This country has many ethnic groups coexisting, and Ahmed's government is conscripting the surviving teenagers in the towns into the army.

Beside them were piles of corpses; the boys and girls were being drafted while looking at the bodies of their loved ones.

"A malicious person." Xiangzi sighed in frustration.

"Isn't it ironic that places like this have already popularized this stuff before us?" Miao Meng smirked sarcastically. "Like merchandise on a shelf."

After the ID authentication key is implanted, all that is needed is to stand in front of the camera for two seconds and a flash will record the appearance of the child soldier in the file, making it their new identity.

Product.

Once ID authentication is implemented, they become products.

Xiangzi rested his chin on his hand, looking out the window.

Sure enough, the occasional gunshots were executions.

Heavy excavators are meant for building structures, not digging graves. Men and women stood in neat rows at the edge of the pit, the executioners signaled to each other, and 7.62mm bullets were fired in unison, either smashing their heads or leaving several bowl-sized bullet holes in their bodies.

Some bodies lost control, becoming limp and failing to fall into the pit. The executioners had to step forward and push them into the pit. Lifeless bodies weren't so easily pushed down; a simple kick wasn't enough. The soldiers had to exert tremendous effort to push them down one by one by hand into the pit of the dead.

Xiangzi felt that the strange and disgusting scene in his dream was about to intensify, and it wouldn't disappear anytime soon.

Her gaze wandered somewhat blankly at the world outside the window, when suddenly she thought of something else.

"What were they before the ID was implanted? Less than commodities?" The words slipped out unconsciously. "During the time I was legally 'dead,' how was I any different from them?"

Miaomeng glanced at Xiangzi sideways, but didn't interrupt her muttering to herself.

Mu simply raised her eyes.

At least six months passed between Xiangzi's legal death and the time she regained her identity document. She truly experienced how painful it is to be without an identity document in this information age.

During that period, I couldn't even guarantee a normal life.

Japan is a developed country, and I can still spend the night in an internet cafe, so what about places like this?

Xiangzi sighed and rubbed his forehead.

She suddenly seemed to understand why these people, despite slaughtering so many lives in front of these boy soldiers, still lined up to become boy soldiers.

The idea that refusing to back down will lead to death is just one reason.

"If you become a child soldier, get labeled, and become a person under the cheap server management of armed forces, then you become a 'person' who at least knows who you are even if you die."

As the SUV continued to drive forward, Xiangzi, resting his chin on his hand, gradually understood.

"...Young men and women choose to obey and become child soldiers in order to go from being something that is not even considered a citizen, something that is not even as good as livestock, to being displayed items on the shelf," Xiangzi said slowly. "They go to the battlefield in order to be on par with Snickers and NFC juice."

"How cruel this world is." Miao Meng sighed as she turned the steering wheel to the right, driving away from the square and towards her destination. "The world of magical girls is completely different from our usual world. And the world of magical girls, our usual world, is completely different from this world."

Here, the relationship between magical girls and ordinary humans becomes even closer.

Underage girls are physically weak and have difficulty even holding a gun, so why are they given the opportunity to become child soldiers?

Because before the girls implanted their ID keys, there was something else lurking nearby.

Kyubey.

It was reviewing which girls could become magical girls. The soldiers who carried out the ID key implantation might not have seen it, but they had obviously received some instructions to cooperate with Kyubey's actions and not to exclude some girls who looked very weak.

However, magical girls are like opening blind boxes, especially SSR blind boxes; they're obviously not that easy to obtain. No magical girl was born until Meow Dream left the plaza.

An ordinary girl who isn't qualified to become a magical girl will only face one outcome if she can't prove she has other special talents.

boom.

Then he rolled into the mass grave with the others.

"Actually, the Soul Gem can regulate dopamine secretion."

Delete crouched on the back seat and reminded him.

"You should know that."

"Thanks for reminding me, but I'll pass." Xiangzi rolled his eyes.