Esper X Family – Chapter 116 – I’ve Found the Speedrun Formula!

Ye Yao placed her hand on Fang Tang’s shoulder, her expression serious.

At this point, there was no other choice but to resort to her usual tactics.

“Fang Tang, the most urgent thing for you right now is to call me ‘Big Sister’, and I will consider you family.”

When in doubt, just convert them!

Whether Fang Tang was a passerby or an Esper from the Countermeasures Bureau, pulling her to her side was the simplest solution.

Ye Yao had even managed to win over Luo Jianhua before.

What was Fang Tang compared to her?

“Family…? Ghosty, are you going to be my big sister? It’s a bit strange to be family with a ghost…”

“I’m not a ghost, human. I’m human too.”

“Oh, that’s fine then!”

Fang Tang’s expression instantly changed from hesitation to a bright smile.

“Then, will you always play with me from now on? I get bored so easily, so—”

Ye Yao nodded immediately, not even waiting for Fang Tang to finish.

“Sure.”

“Yay!”

【Detected target character ‘Fang Tang’. Adding to the family section… Host, please select a category: Sequence Zero, Magical Girl Alliance, Found Family】

Ye Yao’s eyes lit up, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

She hadn’t expected adding a new family member to actually work.

The Found Family System was just too convenient.

Ye Yao casually categorized Fang Tang under ‘Sequence Zero’ and quickly checked her information.

【Sequence 033, Melon-eating ¹ Slang for gossipping or watching events unfold as a passerby. Enthusiast, Caged Bird】

【Ability: Resonance

Mental Power: 233

Strength: 11

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Stamina: 10

Agility: 13】

【Fang Tang is thrilled to have found someone who can always accompany her in her quest for fun and her escape from boredom.

In her understanding, family members are playmates who will never part.

When she was falling frequently, Fang Tang received your help and broke her cycle. She holds an extremely high favorability toward you.】

Ye Yao: “?”

Wait.

This silly pink-haired loli actually has this kind of background?

What the heck? Sequence 033??

Judging from Zhou Qing and the others’ complete lack of recognition of Fang Tang, this little one probably wasn’t an Esper from the Countermeasures Bureau.

So, where else could a Sequence Esper exist?

It could only be the Countermeasures Bureau’s restricted zone!

And Espers with insufficient clearance might not know the details of Sequence Espers in the restricted zone.

So, it made sense that Zhou Qing wouldn’t recognize her.

Ye Yao hadn’t expected Wu Mi’s ability to drag in a Sequence Esper from the restricted zone into this mess.

She quickly pushed the thought aside.

She could deal with this later.

Right now, the most urgent matter was figuring out why Fang Tang remembered the previous cycle.

“Fang Tang, why do you still remember me? Logically, you shouldn’t know.”

“Human, what you’re saying is so strange. Why wouldn’t I remember?”

Fang Tang tilted her head, changing her address for Ye Yao.

Since the figure beneath the black mist was a cute girl, it didn’t feel right to keep calling her ‘Ghosty’.

She had to admit, the other party was indeed cuter than herself.

So she really hadn’t been lying!

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“Let me think~ After I parted with you last time, night suddenly turned into day!

You disappeared, and I appeared in a new place.

Then, my head hurt so much! Memories of being with you appeared in my mind.

Seems like it happened twice?”

Fang Tang’s way of expressing herself was as peculiar as ever.

But Ye Yao roughly understood.

Something must have broken Fang Tang’s cycle, allowing her to retain memories even after the world reset.

The cycle’s influence on her had weakened.

Ye Yao nodded thoughtfully, considering all possibilities.

The most likely explanation was that she had interfered with Fang Tang’s cycle.

Fang Tang, who had been constantly falling, stopped falling after meeting her.

The cycle was forced to end.

Although Fang Tang was still caught in the falling cycle during their second encounter, she seemed to have developed some resistance to it.

Her attitude during their interaction was even more natural than the first time.

She probably hadn’t forgotten everything.

And after the second cycle ended, Fang Tang might no longer be affected by memory resets.

By the third cycle, she could retain her memories.

Ye Yao wasn’t sure if this was related to the level of mental power.

But it seemed like a huge discovery!

Ye Yao immediately thought of Zhou Qing and the others.

She had interfered in their final battle last time.

She had ensured that everyone survived when Sequence 077 self-destructed, leaving them all barely alive.

Wouldn’t that mean that their cycle had been broken?

Would they retain their memories in this cycle?

Ye Yao couldn’t help but swallow nervously.

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“Good thing I messed up in front of you, Fang Tang. If my identity had been exposed in front of Zhou Qing, I’m not sure if I could’ve fooled them by acting cute…”

Overall, she still needed to remain wary of Countermeasures Bureau Espers.

She couldn’t reveal her true appearance to them.

As for Fang Tang… She naturally gave off a vibe that made people let their guard down.

“Alright, Fang Tang. My name is Ye Yao. There’s something very important I need to tell you.

No matter what, you must not expose my identity. When I meet others, I’ll still use the ‘Ghosty’ appearance.

You absolutely must not let anyone know that I’m a girl, understand?”

“Got it, human! Then, when Ye Yao becomes ‘Ghosty’, I’ll keep calling you ‘Ghosty’~”

Fang Tang was obedient.

Although she sought fun and hated boredom, she wasn’t the type to stir up trouble for the sake of it.

Ye Yao exhaled, quickly setting her next goal.

“Then let’s go find some people and see if they’ve retained their memories.”

Ye Yao transformed into Sequence 008 once again, taking Fang Tang with her to search for Zhou Qing and the others.

After a while.

Ye Yao spotted familiar figures in the distance.

Found them!

It was Zhou Qing’s group.

But what puzzled Ye Yao was that Countermeasures Bureau Squad A2 had shrunk from five members to two.

The other three were nowhere to be seen.

Ye Yao held Fang Tang’s hand as she approached Zhou Qing and Li Muhua.

The lack of surprise in their eyes suggested that they had already met before.

Ye Yao immediately understood.

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“Looks like you’ve retained your memories in this cycle. Has your cycle been terminated?”

Zhou Qing gave a bitter smile.

“It seems so. Shi Dun and the others have disappeared, meaning that the cycle has ended.

It seems that your interference altered the predetermined outcome, allowing us to retain our memories.

It’s a pity that we can no longer defeat Sequence 077 virtually.”

Ye Yao let out a light chuckle. “So, I messed up?”

“No, your actions were absolutely correct. If it weren’t for you, we might have been trapped in the cycle for a long time. This means that the crisis is nearing its end.”

“Any other discoveries?”

“Mm, we noticed that the battlefield where we fought Sequence 077 has disappeared, and the empty space has been filled by areas outside the battlefield.”

“Oh?”

Hearing this, Ye Yao’s mind raced, and her eyes beneath the black mist gleamed.

This statement carried a lot of information.

If the world of cycles was composed of many people’s memories, then by helping them break the cycle, would those memory-based locations disappear, leaving only the place where Wu Mi was hidden?

It’s highly possible!

I’ve found the speedrun formula ² Kamen Rider Build reference. !

Ye Yao didn’t want to waste any more time.

She had to awaken Wu Mi within one day in the outside world.

“In that case, I’m going all out.”

Author Note

B-Burned out…

The dungeon will end soon.

P‐Please feed me~

Text: Good night! Makka Pakka ³ The main character of the British children’s animated show ‘In the Night Garden’. By the way, I found this while looking up the pic.

Translator Note

Author posted this at 10 PM, which is 10 hours later than the author’s usual upload schedule.