Help! I changed the gender of the male protagonist in the yandere game

The female ninja, Haruka, who had arrived behind Hyakusuke unnoticed, spoke loudly, startling him.

"Haruka-san... Why are you here?"

Hyakusuke didn't panic; he quickly regained his composure.

"Hehe~~ Because I saw you sneaking out, Senpai, and I got super curious."

She covered her mouth, making a cute, nasal sound: "I was worried about you, Senpai~~ So I followed you all the way here."

"Looks like... I've discovered your secret, Senpai?"

Hyakusuke remained silent.

He wasn't sure what her aim was.

This woman was really from Lady Kohagi's faction. What was her purpose in following him here?

"Haruka-san."

Finally, he decided to speak: "Why are you tracking me? Did Lady Kohagi send you to approach me?"

"Oh my~~ Is that how you see me, Senpai?"

Haruka smiled and took a step closer.

"I can tell you, that's not it at all... I'm a member of an assassination group serving the current head of the clan, called the Shell Serpent Squad..."

Her clear, sweet voice made Hyakusuke feel as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head.

The previous head of the clan, the loli-grandmother Kurokami Mikado, had once formed an assassination group called the 'Shell Serpent Squad'.

Later, the Shell Serpent Squad served the new head of the clan in secret. In the game, they repeatedly hunted down the 'defector' protagonist, Yomei. Gehua and Kohagi's mother determined that Yomei's existence posed a threat to the clan and sent a large number of people to hunt him down.

The Shell Serpent Squad was arguably Kurokami's biggest 'dark side'. Most of its members were sorcerers, practitioners of forbidden arts, or those with special powers who had violated taboos.

Yomei had already awakened his powers by the middle of the game, but he was still extremely battered and nearly killed when facing these Shell Serpent Squad assassins.

"You... Are you here to kill me?"

Hyakusuke naturally remembered some of the events in the game. The Shell Serpent Squad also had a mission to secretly dispose of Kurokami's traitors.

"So, what are your plans now, Senpai?" Haruka played with a kunai with her slender fingers.

"Will you resist desperately and fight me to the death, or will you choose to end your life by taking your own?"

"I... I."

Hyakusuke took a step back, took a deep breath, and calmed his mind: "I haven't betrayed the clan, so naturally, I won't resist desperately or commit suicide... Besides, to kill a Chunin like me, activating the Toad Curse Seal would be enough to end my life. Haruka-san, you're lying, aren't you?"

"Hahahaha~"

She laughed: "Sorry, just kidding."

The girl nimbly hopped and landed next to Hyakusuke, taking his hands in hers, her large, clear eyes looking up at him.

"But I am indeed a member of the Shell Serpent Squad, I wasn't lying about that... However, my mission isn't malicious. On the contrary, I hope to have a good relationship with you, Hyakusuke-senpai."

"I don't understand. Why would the Shell Serpent Squad need to have a good relationship with someone of my status?"

"Because you're Second Miss's favorite."

"No, even within Miss Gehua's faction, I'm a marginal figure."

"Perhaps you think so, Senpai, but you can indeed talk to Miss Gehua and convey some messages to her, so from our perspective, you are also a 'rare find'..."

She huffed a few times.

"The head of the clan will be changing soon, and the most popular candidates, besides Lady Kohagi, include Miss Gehua. Whoever is elected as the next head of the clan, various forces within the clan, including the Six Branch Families, will bet on them."

"You're not saying that you, the Shell Serpent Squad, plan to choose Miss Gehua as the new head of the clan?"

Hyakusuke frowned, pursing his lips.

"We should say that our attitude is neutral," Haruka said with a smile, "However, complete and absolute neutrality can easily offend the factions competing for the position of head of the clan, so we must secretly win over all parties without the current head of the clan's knowledge, and it's best to get in touch..."

She took Hyakusuke's arm.

"That's where Senpai comes in... The Shell Serpent Squad, that is, us, are very afraid of the current situation. We are like a stain on the clan, and we know many secrets that outsiders don't know. For a long time, we have done a lot of dirty work for the clan. If the next head of the clan doesn't trust us, or has a little suspicion, the entire Shell Serpent Squad may be purged."

Hearing this, Hyakusuke understood the meaning of her words.

The Shell Serpent Squad's concerns were not without reason, because since ancient times, these groups and individuals who did dirty work for the ruling class were likely to be secretly executed or cut off when the new ruler took office.

"Okay, I understand what you mean, but I don't have any influence in Miss Gehua's faction."

"No, just getting in touch with you, Senpai, is enough."

She smiled "ehehe" and said, "You're a marginal figure in the faction, but you can often talk to Miss Gehua. Such an inconspicuous person is perfect for us in the Shell Serpent Squad to act as a go-between.

Originally, we in the Shell Serpent Squad are a clandestine group, so we can't act openly. Only this slow approach can avoid attracting the attention of others."

"You, I heard you're also one of the Lady's subordinates, right?"

Hyakusuke suddenly thought of something, his brows furrowing even more: "Could it be that you in the Shell Serpent Squad are hedging your bets? I guess the Shell Serpent Squad has already contacted Lady Kohagi and said something about pledging allegiance to her."

"Senpai is so smart."

Haruka smiled smugly: "But so what? The people we truly pledge allegiance to will always be the future head of the clan. Who can say for sure whether Miss Kohagi will become the head of the clan? Furthermore, even if she becomes the head of the clan, the faction to which Miss Gehua belongs won't disappear. If the Shell Serpent Squad wants to survive, it must see the situation clearly."

In other words, this female ninja named Haruka was a "double agent" type of person, no, possibly a "multi-faceted agent."

"Senpai~ What's with that expression on your face?"

Haruka also noticed that Hyakusuke's face had turned a little strange.

"Nothing?"

Hyakusuke asked back: "Also, are you secretly tracking me, planning to find a flaw in me, and then blackmail and threaten me?"

"Whoa~~ Senpai, don't say it so harshly."

She smiled.

"I don't mean that. Besides, if something happened to Senpai, wouldn't it be troublesome to find someone suitable to act as a go-between again? And if you die, or I spread unfavorable news about you, would Second Miss Gehua still trust the Shell Serpent Squad?"

Hyakusuke didn't speak, but the expression on his face was full of suspicion.

"Then, do you mean you're following me to find a chance to bribe me?"

"Senpai, you don't believe me, do you? I'm very sincere~~ Hehe, that's right, if you want to bribe someone, you always have to pay a price. So, what do you want, Senpai, money or my virginity?"

She giggled.

"By the way, I'm a vir..."

Before she could finish speaking, Hyakusuke turned and walked into the cave.

"Not interested."

...

"So, what exactly are you doing in this cave, Senpai? There doesn't seem to be anything here, does there?"

The cave at the summit wasn't large. After walking for a while, they saw a huge rock tied with a shimenawa rope—beneath this rock stood a small shrine.

"So there's a shrine?"

Haruka said with little interest: "However, there doesn't seem to be any powerful divine power here. I wonder who built this kind of shrine here."

"This is a place to appease the spirits of those who died in the human-demon war one hundred and fifty years ago."

Hyakusuke said calmly.

These were also the words of Yuki Onna.

Back then, the great battle between humans and demons broke out at the foot of this mountain peak, but after that fierce battle, the powerful force changed the terrain, and the traces of the old battlefield were completely erased.

"This cave is actually a shrine. When you came in, you should have noticed the rotten wood inside the cave. That's the decayed torii gate."

Hyakusuke took out rice and sake from his pouch and offered them in front of the shrine.

"After the battle, the dead soldiers, samurai, exorcists, and demon corpses were burned as much as possible, and the remaining ashes were buried at the summit, intending to use the mountain's own spiritual energy to slowly purify them."

Since ancient times, the island country has had mountain worship, believing that those towering mountains, that is, sacred mountains and spiritual peaks, possess powerful spiritual energy.

By entering the mountains to practice asceticism, one can purify oneself through the mountain's spiritual energy. This is the origin of mountain worship.

On the other hand, it's not an inconceivable method to use the power of spiritual mountains to suppress evil spirits.

As for building a small shrine here, it's also to comfort the dead on the past battlefield.

After Hyakusuke finished offering the rice and sake, he started a bonfire in the cave. Considering the cave was damp, he spread the straw mat he carried on his back on the ground.

Seeing this, Haruka, the female ninja of the "Shell Serpent Squad," asked him with confusion.

"Senpai, you didn't come here just to worship, did you?"

"Something like that."

Hyakusuke certainly wouldn't tell the truth.

"We'll rest here today, and when the wind and snow weaken tomorrow, we'll go back together."

He looked up at the outside of the cave. The wind and snow were getting heavier and heavier. Even demons wouldn't wander around at this time—however, there were rumors of Yuki Onna and Yuki-warabe, snow demons, in the Tohoku region. Hopefully, he wouldn't be unlucky enough to encounter them.

"Eh... Is that all? How boring."

"I didn't invite Haruka-san to come here."

"Senpai is so cold."

"Please say that I'm just more vigilant."

Hyakusuke said sarcastically. The reasoning was simple. Even if Haruka said sweet words, he couldn't let his guard down against this female ninja.

"Then, since we're wasting time here, hehe~~ Senpai, how about we do some lewd things together?"

The girl moved her body closer. Speaking of which, her clothes revealed skin in many subtle places.

"There's no such plan."

Hyakusuke refused flatly.

"Eh~ But isn't it true that men want to violate women whenever they have the chance? Especially a beautiful girl like me."

Wow, you can even say that kind of thing.

Hyakusuke had some understanding of her shamelessness and self-praising personality, but he was still surprised by these words.

"That's a prejudice... By the way, do you want to drink sake?"

He handed over the prepared rice wine in a bamboo tube: "Let's warm up a bit, shall we?"

"Okay~~ Hehe, is this a plan to get me drunk and then mess me up?"

"No, this rice wine has a very low alcohol content. Unless you're a child, you won't get drunk."

"You're really airtight."

Haruka pouted her lips and muttered unhappily, "Can't I seduce you after getting drunk?"

Hyakusuke, on the other hand, stared at the outside of the rock cave. He had pasted several barrier talismans outside. If a powerful demon approached, there should be a reaction.

"I'm going to sleep for a while. Please watch the fire, Haruka-san."

"Understood."

Haruka smiled and said solemnly: "Please rest assured, I will take good care of everything."

"Thank you."

After he said that, he closed his eyes, awakened his shikigami Baku, and leaned against the rock wall, slowly entering a dream.

...

Hyakusuke was dreaming a strange dream.

He could hear the roars of beasts in his ears, the pungent stench of iron rust wafted over, the dry taste of sand blowing into his mouth, and the vision stained red by smoke and flames.

"Am I... connected?"

This was a very vivid dream, so clear that he couldn't detect any sense of incongruity in his five senses of hearing, smell, taste, and sight. It was to the point where he didn't feel like it was a dream at all.

Then, his sense of touch... He was holding a long spear in his hand.

"Where is this?"

That wasn't his spear, but a heavy iron spear.

However, this spear had an unusual sense of familiarity.

"Wait, I seem to have seen this spear before... Speaking of which, the Spear Saint I saw in the dream seemed to be using this spear—"

He was also wearing heavy armor, which was also the Spear Saint's armor.

"I... have I become the Spear Saint?"