The Demon King of the Anime World

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"Go on, tell me your name," Riku said again, raising an eyebrow.

"[Answer]—uc207pr4f57t9," the mech girl finally responded, sounding like she had snapped out of it.

"Uc207pr4f57t9...? Yeah no, that's awful. Pick a name that sounds a bit more human," Riku shook his head.

"[Annoyed]My name's not awful," she said, sounding like she was pouting again. To Riku, it was... honestly kind of cute.

"Come on, change it. If you really want to understand the heart, start by learning how to be more human. Start by giving yourself a proper name," Riku said calmly.

"[Answer]—Trakazuula…"She fell into deep thought, twirling her black hair with her fingers, before replying with obvious hesitation.

"That still sounds way too alien. And it sucks. From now on, your name is Jubi," Riku said, naming her on the spot.

"[Confused]I thought I was naming myself…[Annoyed]Then why didn't you just name me in the first place? [Conclusion]You're messing with me," Jubi said, wiggling on top of him, glaring at him in mock anger. Her expression was full of emotion—adorable, even.

To Riku, that was proof enough that she already had a heart.

"Alright, Jubi, stop getting hung up on it. Also, drop that serial-number-sounding name. If you keep using it, people'll find out what you are in seconds," Riku chuckled, casually shifting the topic. Truthfully, Jubi was right—he was messing with her a little.

"Hmm… Onii-chan… like this… is it okay…?"Jubi paused to think, her ruby eyes flickering with little flashes of data. Then suddenly, she smiled—fingers pointing to the corners of her lips in a cutesy pose.

"...!"Riku's eyes widened slightly. He was caught off guard. Alright, yeah… that was actually kind of cute. But the change was so drastic it almost gave him whiplash.

"Based on heart rate and skin response, Riku showed signs of excitement. Conclusion: this behavior is satisfactory. Will now use this template going forward," Jubi stated.

"Cough, cough. Just… just act normal," Riku said awkwardly, rubbing his face.

"Okay, now can you please get off me?" he added.

"Nope. You still haven't explained what a 'heart' is," Jubi shook her head.

"The heart's something you gotta experience over time. It's not something I can just explain in a sentence," Riku replied. "So how about we make a deal?"

"A deal?" Jubi tilted her head, puzzled.

"Yeah. You stay with me, and I'll help you slowly figure out what the heart is. In return… I need your strength to end this insane god war—to drag the War God off his throne," Riku said seriously.

"Analyzing combat power… the difference is overwhelming. Riku's chances of defeating the War God: zero," Jubi answered bluntly.

"Nope. Probabilities aren't absolute. Just because it's zero now doesn't mean it'll stay that way. And anyway, surface-level data isn't everything," Riku replied, shaking his head firmly.

"[Confused]…[Inconsistent]…[Paradox]…"As Riku spoke, steam literally started rising from Jubi's head—like her logic circuits were frying.

But eventually, she stabilized. She looked into Riku's eyes and quietly spoke.

"Deal accepted. No matter the outcome, Jubi will follow Riku… even to the end."

"Good," Riku smiled genuinely and reached out, gently patting her on the head.

As his hand rested on her head, Jubi's eyes flickered faintly.A strange feeling bubbled up inside her chest.

"Jubi, seriously, get off. You've been sitting on me so long, I'm going numb," Riku teased.

"Mm." Hearing that, Zhu Bi finally stood up from Riku's body.

Riku, on his end, cleaned the dirt off himself with a quick transformation.

"Riku, where are we going now?" Zhu Bi asked curiously.

"Well first, put on some clothes. We're heading back to the village," Riku said after thinking for a moment, patting her on the head.

Now that he thought about it, he was bringing back another little girl again in such a short time... Would Korone lose it this time?

Just imagining it gave Riku a headache.

"Okay." Even though she was puzzled by Riku's reaction, Zhu Bi obediently summoned a set of clothes and put them on. Gotta say, the Mechanized kind sure have some convenient abilities.

Just as Riku was deciding whether to head back through Shangri-La or take the front gate, he suddenly stopped in his tracks. His eyes narrowed as he turned to face the east.

"A strong spirit energy reading. Estimating distance… very close. It'll reach us soon," Zhu Bi said slowly, her eyes flickering with data streams.

"....."