Sword Art Online Crossover: They're all close friends, how did I become a player?

Chapter 178 Who are you calling cute?

"Lord Yu Bai, why did you become friends with Lord Hozuki?"

Watching the scene of "forced buying and selling" unfolding over there, a little boy with curly white hair asked Yu Bai a question.

Standing next to him was a little boy with short black hair, who was also looking at Yu Bai with a curious expression.

In the past few days, Yu Bai followed Hozuki on a tour of Hell and saw many interesting scenes, such as the Blood Pool, which is popular among Western vampires, or the True Needle Mountain, which is used to punish lecherous people.

It truly lives up to its name as hell; let's leave aside the eight great hells and the eight cold hells for now.

Those sixteen smaller hells, with a total of 272 deployments, are all different; each one is very unique.

At the same time, he also got to know many people and animals from hell.

The cherry blossom stories include the dog, chicken, and monkey from "Momotaro," the rabbit from "Crunch Crunch Rabbit," two adorable zashiki-warashi (house spirits), and other jailers and spirits.

The two little boys standing in front of Yu Bai are the little devils and jailers commonly seen in hell.

The one with white curly hair is named Eggplant, and the one with short black hair is named Tanggua.

They are considered subordinates of Hozuki and Enma, and are mainly responsible for organizing and arranging official documents and files in the Enma Bureau, as well as announcing various matters.

It's worth mentioning that Hozuki particularly admires Eggplant's artistic talent, and even took Yu Bai to see the masterpiece that Eggplant had painted on the exhibition wall.

When I saw those semi-three-dimensional statues twisting, writhing, and wailing on the wall.

All Yu Bai wants to say is: I don't understand the world of artists.

"Lord Yu Bai, Lord Yu Bai?"

Seeing Yu Bai lost in thought, Eggplant waved its hand in front of Yu Bai's eyes to draw his attention back.

"Huh? Cough cough, sorry Eggplant, I was just spacing out. What did you want to ask?" Yu Bai snapped out of his reverie, coughed twice apologetically, and refocused his gaze on Eggplant.

"I want to ask, why did Lord Yu Bai become friends with Lord Hozuki? Everyone is very curious about how Lord Yu Bai and Lord Hozuki, one a god and the other a demon, could become friends when they seem to be two completely different people."

Eggplant, somewhat naive, asked the question he was curious about, completely ignoring Tang Guang, who was constantly giving him meaningful glances for fear of upsetting Yu Bai.

"Tang Gua, what's wrong? Your eyes keep twitching, are you feeling unwell?"

Well, it's not that he didn't notice, but rather that he did. Eggplant, being such a natural airhead, couldn't understand the meaning behind Tang Gua's wink at him and assumed that Tang Gua was uncomfortable with his eyes.

Tang Gua slapped his forehead with a "smack" in exasperation. He was really stupid, really.

How could he possibly think that winking at an eggplant would work?

"It's nothing, I'm not feeling unwell," Tang Gua replied, trying to sound calm.

"But your eyes were twitching the whole time," Eggplant said, still puzzled.

"Shut up!" Tang Gua finally couldn't help but whisper and scold.

"Tang Gua seems to be getting irritable lately. Is it because he's been working too hard?" Eggplant asked with concern.

"Hahaha~" Looking at the pair of "brainless" and "unhappy" in front of him, Yu Bai was amused by their interaction.

He patted Tang Gua on the shoulder, indicating that he didn't need to worry about it, and then began to think about how to answer Eggplant's question.

To be honest, Yu Bai hadn't expected the people in Hell to be so gossipy. Just a few days ago, a cat carrying a camera, wearing a hat and a kimono, even tried to interview him, but was accidentally scared away by Hozuki.

Although Yu Bai felt that Hozuki seemed to have done it on purpose, since his friend said it was an accident, then it must have been an accident.

As for why Yu Bai remembered that cat so clearly? It was entirely because the reporter cat's name was: Kopan!

"Ah~ Why did I become friends with Hozuki? Well, actually I don't know either." Yu Bai answered, resting his chin on his hand, but his answer shocked Tang Gua and Qiezi.

Noticing their puzzled expressions, Yu Bai curled the corners of his lips and continued, "From the very first moment I saw Hozuki, I felt that we would definitely get along very well. Besides, don't you guys think Hozuki is cute?"

"But, cute?"

Even the naturally ditzy Eggplant couldn't easily say something like "Lord Hozuki is cute." This made Eggplant take another look at the seemingly gentle god beside him and then come to a conclusion.

Lord Yu Bai truly loves Lord Hozuki!

"Tang Gua and Qiezi, could you please organize the information?"

Just then, a deep and powerful voice sounded behind Tang Gua and Qiezi, making them stiffen. Hozuki had appeared behind them unnoticed, staring at them with his deep eyes.

Just now... I wonder if Lord Hozuki heard what Lord Yu Bai said? But judging from Lord Hozuki's lack of reaction, he probably didn't hear it, right?

"What? Is there anything else?"

Seeing that the two were still not leaving, Hozuki turned his gaze away from King Enma and looked at Tang Gua and Eggplant.

"No, no. Yes, ma'am, we'll go right now!" Startled by Hozuki's gaze, Tang Gua grabbed Qiezi's hand and ran towards the archives.

Watching the two figures hurry away, Hozuki turned his gaze back to Yu Bai, who was smiling broadly. He had clearly heard Yu Bai's answer earlier. As for why he hadn't reacted…

"What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?" Yu Bai noticed Hozuki's gaze and asked with a smile.

"Hmph~ I'll take you to see some interesting things later." Hozuki seemed to have remembered something, and a pleasant smile appeared on his lips.

"Oh, but King Yama actually drank the goldfish grass concentrate you made? I wonder if he's alright."

"Nothing will happen. This is a healthy drink that I spent three whole days developing!"

……

Yu Bai: Don't you guys think Hozuki is cute?

Tanggua and Qiezi: Who are you calling cute? Who's cute? What's cute about them?

Hozuki: Eavesdropping secretly.