— — — — — —
No one answered Ryo's question.
Or rather, everyone just looked at him with the same subtle expression — the kind that silently said: "Seriously, who here would ever disagree with you?"
Ryo realized his joke had fallen flat. He coughed into his fist, pretending not to notice the awkwardness.
"So… I'll take that as unanimous approval, then?"
He wanted to make it look democratic — though honestly, he was just hoping someone would point out anything he'd missed.
Lancelot was the first to speak, her tone curious. "Would reaching five digits even be difficult for us?"
She'd spent the past few days cramming Little Garden lore in the underground library, so she had a decent grasp of what made up a five-digit community.
The minimum standard was clear enough: either 1 five-digit member + 10 six-digits, or just 2 five-digits.
By that rule, their group was way overqualified.
But Black Rabbit hesitated, fidgeting with her fingers. "Strength-wise, we're fine… but there's a problem with legacy."
Leticia's golden eyes narrowed slightly as she continued, "To ascend to a five-digit community, we need to hold a Gift Game centered on our unique legacy, and it must be officially recognized by a Floor Master."
She paused, then explained further.
"Every five-digit community has its own signature legacy and a corresponding set of Gifts that tie into it."
"Take our ally Perseus, for example. They can mass-produce constellation-based Gifts linked to Perseus himself. They use those to host Gift Games, charge entry fees, or sell them commercially for profit."
"Honestly, selling legacy Gifts is the main source of income for most five-digit communities. It keeps them running — and it's also a public display of strength."
In other words, every five-digit community had its own product line — something it could keep selling, over and over, to gain both prestige and wealth.
Ryo thought of it like this: "So… five-digit promotion is basically a massive product launch. I've turned into a mythological CEO."
Athena glanced toward Black Rabbit. "Then what's our unique legacy?"
'Obviously my Cosmos… but you can't just sell that.' Ryo groaned internally. 'What kind of lunatic would market his Another Cosmology system?'
Black Rabbit looked uneasy.
"We used to sell the previous leader's crafted Gifts. They were tied to his legacy…"
Leticia nodded, elaborating. "Koumei-san was a renowned sculptor. He could imbue sculptures with the abilities of phantom beasts, creating enchanted artifacts. They were extremely popular in the lower levels of Little Garden."
"As for the strategist, Canaria— she was a poet. Her poems could elevate a person's spirit rank. But those were never for sale — only offered as rare rewards in Gift Games."
Leticia's expression turned a bit wry.
"The entry fees for those games were… rather steep. Gods would sometimes wager their divinity. But Arcadia's main focus was always on challenging, not granting, so those events were few and far between. Not by design, of course."
"You could just say Canaria's pricing was daylight robbery," Ryo thought, lips twitching.
Athena shook her head slightly. "I don't possess any authority over forging or craftsmanship."
Luo Hao lifted her brow calmly. "My martial arts can be taught, but only to disciples under my sect. Outsiders cannot inherit it."
"I'm… only good at fighting," Lancelot admitted, looking away.
Leticia sighed softly. "I do have a vampire legacy Gift, but it requires the recipient to become kin — and fall under my command."
Ryo blinked. "So basically, we don't have any usable legacy at all?"
"..." Everyone turned to stare at him like he'd just missed something obvious.
"What?" he asked, sitting up a little straighter.
Black Rabbit hesitated, then muttered, "I thought you'd already prepared something before bringing this up…"
Ryo's mouth twitched. "The legacy I have isn't exactly… universal."
Right now, Little Garden's Central Core only recognized him as possessing the Cosmos — classified as Another Cosmology.
That kind of Gift was impossible to commercialize.
Leticia gave him a look somewhere between exasperated and amused.
"I assumed that when you said our community's new focus would be granting Gifts, you already had a fitting legacy in mind."
A leader announcing a business plan without a product — yeah, that was awkward.
Ryo opened his mouth to argue, then paused. "Wait. Actually… maybe I do."
He thought of the Breathing Styles from Demon Slayer — and of the soul arts from Bleach: Hakuda, Zanjutsu, Hohō, Kidō.....
The former was too weak. Even the strongest Breathing Style wouldn't cut it at five-digit level. But the Bleach system… that had potential.
He pulled out two Memory Cards, infused them with the recorded knowledge, and handed one each to Leticia and Black Rabbit.
"Take a look. Do you think this could work as an legacy?"
Black Rabbit accepted hers with a face that said, "Are you messing with me right now?"
Leticia, however, browsed the memories carefully before raising an eyebrow.
"Shinigami? A spirit-based Gift system with tiered weapon releases, the Zanpakutō included? And Quincies and Hollows?"
"I see. It's a complete framework — and based on the records, it could scale up to five-digit level. There's no existing equivalent in Little Garden."
Black Rabbit's rabbit ears twitched as she finished reviewing hers.
"The system is classified as your unique Gift by the Central Core. It qualifies as a valid legacy — something we could use as a reward in the promotion Gift Game, or sell to spirit-type beings who lack strong Gifts."
Spirits were everywhere in the Little Garden — the souls of the dead, the awakened essence of once-inanimate things, and so on.
Some gods even held yearly reincarnation festivals, transferring these spirits into new worlds or observable universes under their domain.
In fact, many Star Spirits had once been regular spirits before awakening.
Ryo nodded slightly. "So that means… we meet the legacy condition?"
"We do," Leticia confirmed. "All that's left is to hold a Gift Game recognized by a Floor Master."
Then she paused, frowning a little. "But you'll need to come up with a credible origin story for this legacy."
She'd already guessed it came from one of Ryo's otherworld expeditions. After all, when they first met, he'd been carrying a Zanpakutō. That was barely two weeks ago — she wasn't going to forget that.
"I'll handle it," Ryo said evenly.
According to the message from Indra, both the Buddha and Omega would back him up — publicly framing him as "the lucky one who observed another world and successfully ascended."
Choosing Bleach's world as the "observed universe" wouldn't be an issue. He'd already paid a thousand Dimensional Forum points for that world; might as well make it pay him back.
The Bleach universe, like most observable worlds, wasn't particularly special. That meant the gods wouldn't find it suspicious or threatening.
As for selling the Bleach legacy … Ryo didn't hesitate in the slightest.
Why keep something he didn't need when he could trade it for wealth and new Gifts?
And when Aizen shows up in Little Garden and discovers his sacred arts were being sold wholesale across the marketplace… well, that would be damn interesting.
Arcadia would be the official seller, and as the "observer of the Bleach world," it would all be perfectly justified.
Totally legitimate.
Leticia sighed but smiled. "In that case, our next topic is how we'll host the Gift Game."
Ryo shook his head. "Not yet. There's something more urgent first."
"More urgent?" Black Rabbit blinked. "What could possibly take priority over this?"
'Obviously, making my Cloth,' Ryo thought, but outwardly he said: "I need to visit the outer world — to acquire the complete Bleach legacy."
Black Rabbit's face twisted with disbelief, and she nearly exploded.
"So you weren't even prepared to begin with?! Then what the hell did you call this meeting for?!"
As she shouted, Ryo casually stuck his pinky in his ear, looking completely unbothered.
.
.
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