Daily Disposable Persona

Moments after the black hole swallowed up the Death-Walker, the sky was calm again.

It was still the middle of the night. Big Ben in the Palace of Westminster had just struck midnight. A flock of red-breasted birds flew by from a distance and came to rest here and there on withered branches.

Both the Night Watchman and the Child of the Wind required 35 San points, but the former cost half as much at night. Now that Zong Yan had 60 San points in his pocket, he could switch between the two persona cards when it was dark.

Anyway, the points were deducted when he activated each persona. No matter how quickly he canceled the status, the cost was the same.

Zong Yan purposely flew a short distance away before turning back. Meanwhile the harbinger bird flapped its wings and flew above him.

When he finally returned, he was a pathetic sight.

The young man’s dripping wet black hair was plastered to his cheeks. Cold streamlets of water trickled down his thin face and onto his white shirt, soaking the fabric and revealing the pale skin beneath.

“Yan Ge!” When Wang KeMing saw the other teen appear out of the night, he ran after him at a trot and took out a compressed towel from his bag.

When the temporary investigation group was first organized, Wang KeMing had engineered a role for himself.

First of all, his Awakening talent wasn’t that impressive. He was just a Level 1 Awakened which didn’t compare at all to Yan Ge, who was practically born to save the world.

Second, he really wanted to form a good relationship with the little prince; and third, the final person in the team was a girl. Wang KeMing would have been embarrassed to make her handle everything, so he positioned himself as the logistics officer of the team.

“Where’s Edward?” Zong Yan took the towel, draped it loosely on his hair, and wiped a few times as he asked casually.

“When he saw it was an emergency, he decided to go find the other investigators. I just contacted him and he said he’d be back soon.”

Wang KeMing held up his cell phone. Their temporary investigation team had set up a chat group on MU’s app. Whenever something came up they could notify each other immediately.

Zong Yan nodded. He took out his phone also and unlocked the screen.

The latest notice in the chat group was a message from Ada. Her profile pic was a selfie of herself with a fan over her face.

【Bloated Woman (Ada)】 : I just saw the notice from MU. Is everyone okay?

【Your handsome classmate Wang (Wang KeMing)】 : We’re all fine. Have you been impacted at all?

【Bloated Woman (Ada)】 : No (^-^)/ Stay safe everyone

Zong Yan thought for a moment and replied.

【I love Gauss (Zong Yan)】 : We’re okay. Don’t worry

After closing the chat group, he swiped back to the notification screen.

To be honest, Zong Yan had gotten a bad feeling ever since he dropped his Child of the Wind status.

His original plan was to delay the creature until the rest of the troops arrived.

It was only after Zong Yan faced the Death-Walker in his Child of the Wind persona that he understood the majestic strength of the Great Old One’s avatar. He couldn’t protect himself, let alone retreat safely.

Sure enough, Zong Yan’s premonition was right on the money.

MU’s app was blowing up, and the first post left Zong Yan speechless.

【A mysterious humanoid alien appeared in London】

【A new type of alien fought and successfully drove back the Death-Walker. Seems to be an unidentified evil god. Video inside】

【London’s under attack. Monarchs are on their way to provide support】

Humanoid Alien / Unidentified Evil God / Zong Yan: “…”

It was a bit too much. Obviously his opponent had retreated for no reason during the fight. How did he get the credit?

When he clicked inside, he didn’t expect to find a video in full HD, directly tracking the figure in the center of the storm.

The short Greek robe was unmistakably retro, and that long platinum white hair wasn’t a color you’d find on a normal person. Thank goodness he wore a mask or he’d be a goner.

“Yan Ge, so great!”

Wang KeMing was watching the same video. The little fat man marveled aloud as he followed the action, then suddenly whispered, “Yan Ge, is it okay if you tell me your Awakening level? I’m just curious… I’ll definitely keep it a secret!”

""

Zong Yan gave him a chilly look.

Finished, he was so finished. He was definitely famous this time.

Just then another message came in. It was highlighted in red, bolded, and pinned to the top by the administrator.

【London is now on S-level alert status. An unidentified evil god is in the area. The situation remains dangerous. Investigators, please take your stations】

Okay, he’d officially become an evil god.

Zong Yan wrinkled his brow and quickly skimmed the updates.

Sure enough, the senior investigators were already sorting it out.

First of all, Ithaqua couldn’t have appeared out of thin air. He must have been summoned. Otherwise, since this thing stayed in the North Pole year round, how could it cross half of Europe and arrive in Great Britain? Besides, almost all human cities had alchemical magic arrays in operation. Lower-level creatures generally didn’t appear in cities, and upper-level monsters were even less likely to show up on Earth. As for evil gods, most of the time their well water didn’t mingle with the river water of humans.

As it so happened, investigators in London had recently uncovered some clues and speculated that this matter might be related to the cult entrenched in London.

Zong Yan’s temporary investigation team had been given an E-rank mission to look into a mysterious underground organization in London called “The Order of Feasters”.

In a strange coincidence, tonight’s incident had circled back to their investigation practice mission.

“The Order of Feasters” was quite a mysterious cult. It was said that this organization has been established in London for a long time. Its background was so powerful that it hadn’t been eradicated yet.

How strong were its supporters? There were rumors that senior members of the cult belonged to the British Parliament, including the prime minister’s cabinet, and even the royal family.

For many years, MU had tried to keep an eye on this organization. It was one of the political considerations that led to the opening of the Gate of Truth in London this year.

The Spire Council had finally made up its mind to eradicate the cult. Unfortunately, they were caught off guard by the enemy.

Of course, there was no way that kind of task would be given to the reserve investigators studying at MU. Zong Yan’s E-rank mission was nowhere near that difficult.

Especially after this latest incident, the senior leadership were concerned about the little flowers of MU, who after all were the future of the occult world. For that reason the tasks were changed and made a lot easier.

MU sent over a lot of information about “The Order of Feasters”, and the practice tasks were now so simple that if they managed to find any valid clues at all, they’d be permitted to hand in the mission.

Zong Yan casually forwarded this information to the group.

He didn’t know if these two things would turn out to be related.

But it was certain that the Death-Walker had been targeting them.

While Zong Yan was lost in thought, the little blond-haired, blue-eyed prince came running over from a distance.

“Thank goodness you’re okay.” When Edward got closer, he surveyed Zong Yan’s body and felt relieved.

“How is Buckingham Palace?” Zong Yan asked.

“Fine. That old man won’t die.” Edward sneered. “The Spire Council’s investigation team is on site. London is under martial law right now. We had better leave it to them.”

Now that he’d escaped, there was no way Edward would willingly return to that cage. Buckingham Palace was in a state of confusion, and it was the perfect time for them to leave.

As he looked at Edward, Zong Yan was reminded of the incident before.

It was a tower of suffering, filled with the dense remnants of souls, piled high with corpses. The bones of the dead had been crushed, and the bricks that formed the walls were mixed with a foam of blood and flesh, so much that the tower itself emitted an incomparable aura of cold even during the day.

Zong Yan couldn’t put into words his psychological state when he saw so many dead souls under his feet. He only knew that the pressure from the Death-Walker was so terrible at the time that he really didn’t want to think about it.

Even now, as he remembered it, the fear gave him a chill.

Zong Yan: …

He could honestly say he wasn’t afraid of anything on Earth, and when it came to ancient gods he was bold enough to hold a grudge, but what scared him the most was ghosts.

Heaven knew why there was such a spooky thing in Buckingham Palace, but in light of that report he’d just read, maybe—

Maybe “the Order of Feasters” included people in the royal family. It was probably impossible to construct something so sinister in any normal way.

Since Zong Yan said he didn’t want to spend more money, they all went back to the Maybourne Claridge Hotel booked for them by the school.

The snowstorm kept half the city awake all night.

The editors of the British media got out of bed began typing up their stories for the next day’s newspapers. Twitter hashtags about London’s bizarre drop in temperature made it to the trending list. Videos on Instagram exploded. This abnormal weather event attracted the attention of the world.

And as one would expect, the forces of the occult world arrived on the scene to sweep up the mess, including all those piles of snow at Buckingham Palace.

MU’s investigators were losing their minds. Not only was there an incarnation of Ithaqua, but an unknown evil god had appeared too. Then there were the cultists watching from the shadows. It was a dramatic increase in workload.

It was an evening when the forces of all sides were busy.

After Zong Yan thought about it all night, he decided to come to the point and ask Edward directly.

“About that tower—”

Just as he lowered his voice and was about to ask, there was a brisk knock on the door.

Wang KeMing jumped up from his chair and ran over to answer it.

Outside, a black-haired girl in a cheongsam was holding a folding fan over her face. When the door opened, her eyes curved like a crescent moon as she smiled, but not a single bit of light was reflected in her eyes.

The people in the room looked at each other in unison.

“I’m so glad you’re all okay.” Ada smiled and pinched the handle of her fan with long, slender fingers. She suddenly folded up the fan and put it away, revealing her red lips. “I already have some clues about the mission.”

Edward was sitting to one side with a cup of tea in his hand. His eyes swept over carelessly, but paused when he saw the handle of her fan.

In an instant, hot tea spilled down and scalded the cuff of his sleeve. But he didn’t seem to notice. Instead his eyes gradually slackened.

That symbol—he knew it all too well.

At the last second before his reason was obliterated, Edward opened his mouth to warn his companions.

“What’s wrong?” Zong Yan, who was reading the mission task on his phone, lifted his head.

“Nothing, it’s fine.” The little prince gave a trance-like smile, and the inner depths of his eyes were silently stained ink-black. 

—

The author has something to say:

This E-level task won’t take long. I really want to write about the protagonist starting senior year three, hahahaha

TL Notes:

points were deducted whenever he activated the persona card – 反正他每使用一次人设卡, 保底就是扣除35点 (etc.) – I rephrased from the original and added some clarification to this section to make it less confusing

compressed towel – One of those little tablet towels that expand when they get wet

Bloated Woman – 肿胀之女 – Alternatively: The Bloated Woman

he’d be a goner – from 掉马 – fall off (a horse) – Online slang that means to expose a disguised identity such as a side account. Recall that 马甲 (vest, horse armor) is slang for a secondary or side account (Chapter 6 notes)

their well water didn’t mingle with the river water of humans – 井水不犯河水 – The well water does not intrude into the river water — each one minds his own business; each going his own way; keep as clear of sb. as well water and river water; None may encroach upon the precincts

uncovered some clues – 蛛丝马迹 – spiderwebs and horse’s footprints — traces; thread of a spider and trail of a horse — clues; the gossamer threads of a spider and the trail of a horse

suffering – 炼狱 – purgatory; hard circumstances; abyss of sufferings or misery; hardship and miserable conditions

he wasn’t afraid of anything on Earth – 他天不怕地不怕 – He wasn’t afraid of anything on heaven or earth; He wasn’t afraid of anything; a daredevil

Glossary of world terms—new in this chapter:

The Order of Feasters – 欢宴者修道会 – Alternatively: Feast Monks, Society of Revellers

Transliterated names, titles, and places—new in this chapter:

Big Ben – 大本钟

Palace of Westminster – 威斯敏斯特宫 – Wēisīmǐnsītè gōng

Gauss – 高斯 – Gāosī – Carl Friedrich Gauss was one of history’s most influential mathematicians. Wikipedia contains a list of things named after him, including a unit of magnetic induction