Type-Moon: The Human Love Simulator

The capital of Zheng, Xinzheng.

Among the many great cities of the Central Plains, Xinzheng stood out as one of the most prominent. Since Duke Huan of Zheng moved the capital and Duke Zhuang of Zheng rose to hegemony, successive monarchs had worked to improve the city. Even now, it remained the political and military heart of Zheng.

The war between Zheng and the Han clan of Jin, a noble lineage, was not a recent development. In truth, the conflict between Zheng and Jin had persisted for centuries since the reign of Duke Zhuang. This unending warfare had sapped Zheng of its vitality.

As the main battleground in the power struggle between Jin and Chu, Zheng suffered greatly. When Zheng aligned with Jin, Chu would strike. When it aligned with Chu, Jin would retaliate. For three hundred years, Zheng had been caught in the crossfire of these Spring and Autumn hegemons.

Through repeated victories, Jin reached the height of its power. By this point, even a single noble family in Jin wielded enough strength to crush a minor hegemon like Zheng.

Su Kai arrived in Zheng's territory, though by now all that remained of it was Xinzheng. This massive city, however, still held a population of 200,000—accounting for 80% of Zheng's people and economic resources.

"…This scent?"

Su Kai frowned. Something felt off. He had sensed the decay of Zheng before, but now, within Xinzheng itself, the air felt wrong.

The presence of something inhuman lingered.

In this age of gods, beings both divine and monstrous were commonplace. However, a creature capable of influencing an entire monarch was exceedingly rare.

But Su Kai refrained from interfering—he was, after all, out of money again.

Eating required funds, and he had little more than the clothes on his back. Furthermore, every nation had its own currency, so each time he entered a new land, Su Kai had to find work before he could afford a meal.

Although he could easily amass wealth using magic, Su Kai avoided abusing his abilities for such sordid purposes.

"Folks, it's chow time again!"

With a snap of his fingers, the dust in a villager's home vanished, and broken tools and objects seemed to rewind through time, becoming whole once more. The elderly villager, grateful beyond words, shakily offered Su Kai a meal of coarse grain and dried meat.

"Honored guest, this old man is impoverished. I have nothing finer to offer than this humble fare of wheat porridge and jerky."

Taking the food with a smile, Su Kai ate a few bites before replying, "This is fine. As long as it fills my belly, it's good enough. By the way, I have an 'Automatic Plowing Spell' for sale. Would you like to buy it?"

"All I ask for is some grain and money in return. If that's too much, you could pool resources with the rest of the village."

Su Kai added with a grin, "Let me tell you, my spells are famous! Not a single complaint so far. Everyone who's traded with me has seen great returns, trust me!"

The old man hesitated, then shook his head. "Our village relies on hunting to survive. Farming is mostly done on land granted to the nobles in the city; we have no use for plowing here."

Perhaps because Su Kai was kind, doing chores in exchange for a meal, the villagers dared to speak to him candidly. Had it been a noble, they would have been met with threats or outright violence.

"Ah, I see."

Unfazed, Su Kai rummaged through his belongings and pulled out several bamboo scrolls. "In that case, here's a 'Concealment Spell'—it hides your presence so wild animals won't notice you. Or perhaps you'd prefer this 'Beast Attraction Spell,' which makes you emit a scent that lures animals in heat..."

"Honored guest, your magic..." The old man trailed off, his words caught between astonishment and wariness. Eventually, he said, "You truly seem to have a spell for everything."

"Of course! That's what magic is for!" Su Kai chuckled as he finished his meal. "Magic and spells exist to fulfill the wishes of those who are powerless."

"Even the heavens are filled with monsters. So what significance does my magic hold in comparison?"

Su Kai raised his eyes to the sky. While ordinary people saw only blue, his gaze revealed an overwhelming scene:

Spirits, countless spirits filled the heavens.

These were not yet gods but the extensions of Gaia's will, her children born from the planet's consciousness.

Even in the prime of the Age of Gods in Greece, Su Kai had never witnessed so many spirits. Yet here, in the waning days of China's divine era, they were everywhere.

There were spirits in the forms of beasts: wolves, tigers, leopards, dogs, eagles, snakes, turtles, foxes, oxen, chickens, deer, dragons, phoenixes, qilins…

Each radiated an awe-inspiring divinity, having transcended their origins as mere nature spirits to become totemic gods—though many were still tenuous in their standing, their divine status easily shaken.

Some totems were weak, upheld by the faith of mere hundreds or thousands. Others were grand, their divine presence so compelling that mortals instinctively knelt before them.

Amidst the myriad beastly figures, only a handful bore human forms.

Those few humanoid figures wore ceremonial robes and crowns far surpassing any mortal emperor's regalia, marking them as "Heavenly Sovereigns."

But now, there seemed to be far too many Heavenly Sovereigns. Across the four corners of the sky, massive figures loomed, waiting to vie for supremacy and the title of the ultimate and final Heavenly Sovereign.

In Zheng's territory, near the royal Zhou court and Jin's borders, the Heavenly Sovereign being worshiped was none other than Haotian Shangdi, the great deity honored by King Wu of Zhou in his campaign against the Shang.

Haotian's colossal form radiated a tangible divine majesty, his body surrounded by golden light. Sun, moon, stars, wind, rain, and thunder orbited him like celestial attendants. His face was indistinct, yet no matter how one imagined it, it was always one of immense authority.

It seemed that Haotian noticed an intrusive gaze among the masses. His golden eyes descended, sweeping over the mortal realm...

Su Kai withdrew his gaze. A thunderclap split the air, startling the old man into trembling as he fell to his knees, bowing to the sky. "Honored guest, the Lord of Heaven is angry. Please, kneel!"

"My knees are too stiff to kneel," Su Kai said, leaning casually against a tree. "Relax. With me here, even Haotian will avert his gaze. There's no need to kneel."

Haotian's gaze swept across the heavens and the earth, just as Su Kai had predicted. It did not linger on them.

Yet, the old man, visibly shaken, muttered with a lingering fear, "Honored one, you must not show such disrespect to the heavens."

"Once upon a time, King Wu Yi of Shang defied the gods. He played chess against the divine, won, and shot an arrow at the heavens. In his hubris, he incurred their wrath—earthquakes, floods as the Yellow River burst its banks, and divine lightning that struck him dead..."

"That was because King Wu Yi was the son of the Heavenly Emperor," Su Kai replied evenly. "A father striking down his son is only natural if the son has rebelled. But I am no child of the Heavenly Emperor."

Su Kai normally had no need to explain himself. Even when faced with divine interrogations, he never bothered. Yet here, confronted with the musings of a mere mortal, he responded seriously:

"Every Shang king proclaimed himself a son of the Heavenly Emperor. Declaring oneself a child of the heavens while defying the heavens—how could one escape punishment?"

The Shang dynasty had a peculiar history. Though its rulers relied on the favor of the divine to sustain their reign, each king seemed to rebel against the gods, striving for a rule of man instead of a rule of gods.

But therein lay the irony. If the legitimacy of your rule stems from your divine lineage, then to oppose the gods is to undermine your own claim to power.

Su Kai continued, recounting the tale of Shang Tang's seven-year drought during his campaign to overthrow Xia.

On the first day, Shang Tang sacrificed slaves to the heavens. The drought persisted.

On the second day, he sacrificed commoners and a large number of soldiers. Still, the skies remained dry.

On the third day, he offered Xia's former nobles as sacrifices, yet the drought continued.

On the fourth day, he sacrificed his own loyal Shang aristocrats. The heavens did not relent.

On the fifth day, he sacrificed priests said to be able to commune with the gods. The drought showed no signs of ending.

On the sixth day, he sacrificed vassal kings who ruled smaller states under his banner. Even this did not appease the heavens.

Finally, on the seventh day, Shang Tang bound himself to the sacrificial altar and lit the pyre at his feet. Only then did the heavens open, and rain poured down, ending the seven-year drought.

"Because of Tang's actions," Su Kai remarked, "the Shang dynasty held divination and sacrifices in the highest regard. Many Shang kings who sought to change this met grim ends."

He shook his head, the corners of his mouth curling into a wry smile. "Gaia truly isn't benevolent. The gods born of her influence are rarely kind. Not just here—across the world, gods feed on humanity."

He paused, then added with faint amusement, "Perhaps the only ones who don't are those unfeeling machines."

The old man, still trembling, took out all the food, dried meat, and water his family had. "Honored one, we desperately need your magic. This is all the sustenance I have left. If you don't mind..."

Su Kai immediately understood the subtle hint to leave. His remarks had been blasphemous in an age where even a minor totem could command thousands of believers. These words were terrifying.

However, Su Kai didn't argue or offer some grand lecture about gods needing humans as much as humans needed gods. He had already tested such reasoning in Greece—it was futile. Without divine concessions, the idea of equality was nothing more than a child's fantasy.

The gods of Earth's natural order were far less accommodating than the mechanical deities of Greece.

"Fair enough, deal."

Su Kai exchanged a spell for the food. He could produce hundreds of such spells in mere minutes. Truthfully, he'd long lost count of how many he had created.

Before leaving, Su Kai turned to the old man and asked, "One last question. I've heard of Zheng's 'Three Calamities': demons, war, and nobles. Can you explain these in detail?"

The old man hesitated but eventually nodded. "Honored one, if it is your wish, I shall explain what I know."

"The first calamity, the demon, refers to the great monster of Xuanyuan Tomb. It's said that anyone who sees this creature becomes dazed, loses their sense of reality, and eventually starves to death in a trance-like state."

"Xuanyuan Tomb?" Su Kai raised an eyebrow. "Is this demon a fox or a pheasant?"

"No one knows. Those who've seen it lose their ability to speak, so no descriptions exist. Without care, they die from neglect. It's a terrifying creature."

The old man continued, "The second calamity, war, is self-explanatory. Zheng has been the battleground of countless conflicts. Each year, refugees, bandits, and rogue soldiers devastate the lives of its people."

"War leaves the land barren, while soldiers strip it bare," Su Kai remarked. "Makes sense."

"As for the third calamity," the old man said, his voice heavy, "it is the nobles. Unlike the other two, this disaster is impossible to predict and can only be avoided through sheer luck."

The old man sighed. "We wildfolk live outside the city, receive no favors from the king, and sustain ourselves. Because we don't pay tribute, nobles and their retinues sometimes raid us for sport, killing indiscriminately."

"In their eyes, only city dwellers are considered people. We wildfolk are no different from barbarians or animals."

Su Kai murmured to himself, "The hierarchy here is absurd: Emperor, dukes, nobles, scholars, city folk, wildfolk, barbarians, and slaves... Such a small population, yet so many divisions. What kind of hell is this?"

"Achieving universal happiness here might be even harder than in Greece."

In Greece, the smaller territory made its problems more manageable. But Su Kai wasn't particularly concerned about the challenges.

After all, he was still in his learning phase. Every new place he visited, he collected its customs and cataloged its hardships.

To address these issues, Su Kai had created nearly a thousand spells for daily life. He had spells to speed up brewing, purify water, improve food's appearance, soften coarse grain into something easier to swallow—all sold to those in need.

"Still not enough," he muttered. "Even if I solve ten thousand mundane problems, the world remains unchanged."

"My ideals are immature. Showing kindness to barbarians might lead to greater suffering…" He sighed. "What works in dreams—a perfect utopia—crumbles when applied to reality."

Gripping the provisions he had traded for, Su Kai made his way toward Xinzheng.

"So, I need to listen more. Gather knowledge and insight from this world. Only then can I prescribe the right remedy."

"Yes. I haven't given up on this world yet..."

---

In Zheng, under the Reign of Its Final Monarch

Zheng was now under the rule of its final king, Duke Kang of Zheng. Much of its territory had already fallen, and Korea's assaults on Zheng grew ever more ferocious. Even Chu in the south sought a share of the spoils, attempting to join in the partitioning of Zheng.

However, the Three Jin States were at their peak, and though Chu's armies invaded Zheng, they were repeatedly defeated by Korea. In the end, Chu only managed to seize a few small towns before withdrawing from the feast of Zheng's dismemberment.

Truthfully, Zheng was not weak. Even now, it retained tens of thousands of soldiers, giving it strength surpassing that of Lu. Unfortunately, its geographical position was a curse.

Surrounded on all sides, Zheng was a battlefield for any rising power. Strong states seeking dominance often used Zheng's disrespect for the Zhou king as a pretext for invasion.

Standing atop a high vantage point, Su Kai used spiritual sight to observe the fortunes of Zheng. He intended to visit Xuanyuan Tomb before the state met its demise.

With his mastery, even the Heavenly Sovereigns concealed within the nine heavens could not escape his gaze. Assessing the fate of a single nation was child's play.

"…Oh?" Su Kai raised a brow, his attention caught. "Looks like I won't need to go looking after all."

His spiritual sight revealed an intriguing individual.

In the palace, Duke Kang of Zheng had long abandoned state affairs. He spent his days in indulgence, awaiting Korea's invasion to end Zheng's history.

The ministers of Zheng tried to bear the burden of governance, but Duke Kang ignored their efforts, concerned only with his pleasures.

Amid the decadent music that heralded a kingdom's doom, Su Kai entered the palace and seated himself beside a young girl playing an instrument.

"Why are you lounging here, ancestor?"

"...?" The girl blinked in confusion, staring at Su Kai with a mix of bewilderment and unease.

"Another possession trick like Su Daji's, huh?" Su Kai extended a finger and tapped her forehead lightly. Instantly, the enchanting melody ceased, and the illusory surroundings shattered.

The once luxurious and opulent palace revealed its true state of decay. The mighty sovereign of Zheng, who had seemed robust moments ago, was but a flickering flame, on the verge of extinguishment.

"As expected of my family's infamous troublemaking ancestor!" Su Kai gave a thumbs-up, a teasing grin on his face.

The origins of the Su surname were few, and the nine-tailed fox before him was indeed an ancestor of his clan.

"Don't call me that!" the fox girl snapped, baring her teeth in irritation. Her radiant face, framed by indignation, was captivating. "And I am not your ancestor! Su Daji is Su Daji. I am me!"

A Beauty Beyond Mortal Comprehension—Neither Demon nor Fox.

The girl cradled a traditional Chinese musical instrument, and its occasional notes resonated with an ancient, majestic quality, evoking both grandeur and melancholy.

As Su Kai listened closely, he realized that if anyone could still perform the music of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors era, it could only be this fox spirit before him.

Her voice, youthful and alluring, carried an irresistible charm. Even with one's eyes closed, the sound alone painted a vivid image of its owner—a peerless beauty.

Though her tone was sharp and her words biting, her non-human allure only heightened the appeal of her forthrightness, making it impossible to dislike her.

"Well, I'll need something to call you, Miss Fox," Su Kai said with a shrug. He didn't press the matter, only asking, "So, care to explain why you're stirring up trouble here again?"

"Migu~ Just call me Xiaoyu!" the fox girl replied with a shake of her head, dismissing his question. "And it's not me causing trouble. It's that rotten tail of mine. I came here to drag it back!"

Behind Xiaoyu, nine luxurious, fluffy tails swayed gently. She was in her complete form—the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox, an ancient goddess symbolizing the sun, worshiped in humanity's distant past.

Unlike newly risen deities, ancient gods like her no longer needed human faith. They had long surpassed that phase, and additional worship did nothing to enhance their power.

For humanity, this was both a blessing and a curse. Gods reliant on faith would intimidate mortals into devotion, extracting pure belief through fear and despair. But gods who required no faith were unbound, free to act as they pleased.

Such freedom often made them even more capricious, driven solely by whim.

Xiaoyu was no exception. Though her primary nature was benevolent—having once followed the Yellow Emperor and guarded his tomb after his ascension—her nine tails represented fragmented aspects of her personality. Each tail possessed its own will.

When she had fewer tails, her primary nature could suppress the others. But with nine, malicious impulses occasionally seized control, even escaping entirely to cause havoc.

"Back? Where to?" Su Kai didn't spare a glance at Duke Kang, dismissing him as a hollow shell of a ruler. Ravaged by the Nine-Tails' mischief, he could only hasten Zheng's downfall.

"To Xuanyuan Tomb, of course!" Xiaoyu declared. "Migu~ That Yellow Emperor was such a character. I met him about three thousand years ago!"

"He wanted me to ascend with him back then. But come on, his harem had three thousand concubines, and none of them were invited. Yet he said he'd take me? I wasn't about to let him fool me!"

"Migu~ Besides, these little humans are far more amusing. Ascending to the outer realms, where only those insufferable beings dwell? Spending eternity glaring at each other? No thanks—I'd rather stay among mortals."

"But, annoying as he was, the Yellow Emperor did ask me to guard his tomb for three thousand years. I figured, why not? I had nothing better to do."

Xiaoyu's chatter was lively, as if she hadn't spoken in ages. She recounted her stories with cheerful enthusiasm.

"Three thousand years isn't so bad. It's almost over now!"

"…Three thousand years," Su Kai repeated, a faint smile on his lips. His laugh carried a hint of exasperation. "Why would you agree to that? Did he save your life?"

"Nope. Migu~ I already told you—I had nothing else to do!" Xiaoyu tilted her head, her orange fox ears twitching adorably. "Helping out a friend when you're free is no big deal, right?"

"No big deal?" Su Kai shook his head. "Seems like you're not just skilled at wasting heroes' potential—you're quite adept at wasting your own life too."

"Migu~ That's so mean!" Xiaoyu bared her little fangs in mock indignation. "What do you mean, wasting potential? It's called the self-cultivation of a virtuous wife… Hey, speaking of which, your charm is off the charts. Want to marry me?"

Only now did Xiaoyu realize why she found talking to this man so enjoyable.

She wasn't kind by nature. As the great demon feared throughout Zheng as the monster of Xuanyuan Tomb, she had no patience for ordinary humans. She only admired heroes with grand ideals and extraordinary courage.

Mediocre people couldn't even hold her interest. Her mere presence overwhelmed them, reducing them to lifeless husks devoid of ambition.

But this man…

He ignored her seductive aura, her enchanting music, and even the boundless joy and pleasure she exuded. His attention wasn't drawn to her powers or allure—it was focused solely on her, Xiaoyu, the Nine-Tailed Fox herself.

"Amazing," she said, her tone one of genuine admiration. "You're stranger than the Yellow Emperor himself. Even he wasn't this indifferent around me. He was a man entirely devoted to his desires, after all."

Xiaoyu's tails swayed as she regarded Su Kai with newfound interest. Her emerald eyes gleamed as she extended an invitation.

"If you've got nothing better to do, why not come visit me? I've got all sorts of fun things, good food—I'll share them with you."

---

T/N: Is Xiaoyu Tamamo...?

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