Chapter 23: A Gentle Consolation from Tomoyo-chan

Sakura always felt that something was a bit off about her good friend Tomoyo, though she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Upon further reflection, she realized that Ye Hui, the "cultivator," had also been quite strange all along. With two such peculiar people together, it was no wonder they had developed such a rapport lately.

Tomoyo Daidouji took out the copied footage, along with the unedited raw files, and handed them to Ye Hui. Ye Hui tucked them into his bag with a wave of his hand and remarked casually, "It's a pity that the internet isn't advanced enough yet. Otherwise, with your editing skills, Tomoyo, you could have been a video blogger. I’m sure you would have gone viral across the entire web..."

"Oh? A blogger? Do you really think I could do that?" Tomoyo had never considered such a thing.

Ye Hui was, of course, just making small talk. After all, even if there were video platforms, they certainly wouldn't dare to post footage of Sakura acting as a magical girl online. Seeing Tomoyo's interest, he explained a bit further. The internet in Japan had long been a subject of criticism, with fax machines still in use many years into the future, let alone at this current point in time. Ye Hui had originally considered investing in a video website, but given the current climate, he had decided to hold off and wait.

"Besides, the technology in this world is quite puzzling; they switched to advanced smartphones in just four years..." His past-life experience wasn't necessarily applicable to Sakura’s world. "We can only keep Sakura’s combat footage for our own collection; we can’t post it online. However, since your editing skills are so good, why don't you become our dedicated editor from now on?" Ye Hui suggested.

Tomoyo squinted her eyes and chuckled behind her hand. "I would be more than happy to." An editor? As long as she was editing videos of Sakura, she would never find it a chore.

Sakura: O__O'......

Watching the two of them continue to exchange videos and chat right in front of her about filming and editing techniques, she felt so embarrassed that she wanted to dig a hole in the floor with her toes. As for why—well, it was obvious. Look at the girl in the witch costume in the videos; the protagonist was her! She wanted to leave right now! However, Tomoyo and Ye Hui were her partners in battle; leaving without a word would be too impolite. Though they were both strange, they were her friends.

[Kinomoto Sakura Emotion Points +22]

Fine, fine! Let her just stand here in embarrassment!

The following few days of school life became completely peaceful. Ye Hui took the opportunity to focus on practicing his talisman arts and culinary skills. He also directed his butler to hire professionals to build a small forge in his villa. Such a facility wasn't as massive as he had imagined. Technology was much more advanced now than in the past, and high-temperature forging furnaces were not expensive. Yet, this wasn't a game; even though he could already ride a sword through the clouds to pluck stars and catch the moon, in the game, alchemy often required the elemental fire of volcanic magma. Sometimes, because the location of the earth-fire was unfixed, one even had to rent specialized alchemy rooms and furnaces.

"By the way, Ye Hui, the school field trip is coming up soon. Did you know?" Tomoyo asked him suddenly that day.

Over the past three days, Ye Hui had eaten lunch with the two girls and practiced using talismans with them. Occasionally, he would pull out small trinkets he had forged while grinding for experience and let them try them out. As they spent more time together, they grew increasingly familiar. The classic characters from the anime gradually became flesh-and-blood people before his eyes. Ye Hui even began to recognize the ordinary students in class, able to call them by name instead of just seeing them as background characters.

"A field trip?" Ye Hui had a vague impression of it. Tomoyo, assuming that as a transfer student he hadn't heard of these things at his previous school, took the initiative to explain.

"So, it’s like in the anime, where the main cast often goes on an excursion..." Ye Hui realized. Since his rebirth, he had been constantly busy. Having wealth at a young age was dangerous, so he hadn't even bothered with school. Fortunately, he didn't need to go. With money and the soul and experience of an adult, why bother with school? Naturally, he wasn't very familiar with elementary school life. Thinking back to when he watched anime in his past life, Ye Hui had once thought it strange that the protagonists were so carefree despite being students. They not only got out of school early but could also join various clubs and occasionally participate in school-organized activities like hikes, mountaineering, camping, and museum visits.

Thinking of his own school life, even the activities often mentioned in model essays were things he could only imagine. Later, Ye Hui learned that facilities like libraries, youth centers, and amusement parks were activities only available to students in big cities. His own school life had consisted solely of tedious studying. At most, there was the once-a-semester general cleaning, which was the happiest day of the term—nothing more.

"Sorry, I haven't paid attention to these things before..." Ye Hui smiled faintly. Tomoyo paused. Could it be...? She remembered Ye Hui saying that after his parents passed away, he lived a rebellious life for two years. *Maybe he never went to school at all!* Thinking this, Tomoyo felt a surge of pity.

"Everything is in the past... Ye Hui, you should embrace your new life..." Tomoyo said softly, her eyes narrowing.

[Daidouji Tomoyo Emotion Points +28]

Hmm? What new life? Ye Hui was stunned, but quickly realized: had he just been comforted by Tomoyo-chan? Although the feeling was strange, Tomoyo really was very gentle. It was rare to see her generate so many emotion points for someone other than Sakura—or even for him. Ye Hui grinned and spread his hands. "I have food and shelter, I have the long-term goal of cultivation, and I've met new friends. Everything is already very good; I am already living my new life..." Tomoyo blinked and smiled.

As school was about to end, the teacher announced that they would be going to the aquarium tomorrow. Ye Hui suddenly realized. An aquarium? The plot was starting again!

"Great, another side quest to grind!"

On April 17th, in the morning.

"Hmm!" Sakura pouted. On the other side of the glass, in the seawater, a pufferfish was puffed up like a spiked ball. Ye Hui watched the excited Sakura. As soon as they got off the school bus and entered the aquarium, Sakura ran around excitedly, watching the fish, looking exactly like a loach that had wandered into a school of fish.

The school activity was divided into groups. Ye Hui’s seat was close to Sakura’s, so he was assigned to their group. Tomoyo picked up her camera and began filming. Ye Hui scanned the surroundings, keeping an eye on everyone’s location to watch out for the potential appearance of the Watery card. Beside them, their classmate Naoko Yanagisawa also looked at Sakura and laughed, "Sakura likes sports days and field trips the most... especially the aquarium."

They saw many kinds of marine life, greatly broadening their horizons. Ye Hui also saw many creatures he hadn't seen before. This aquarium was truly massive, larger than any marine park he had seen in his past life. It was hard to imagine that this was a structure that could be built in this era.

Just then, Chiharu Mihara ran over to tell everyone, "The penguin show is starting!"

"Great!" The students responded and prepared to head over.

"Whoosh!" Sakura was like the wind, having already run to the entrance. "Everyone, hurry up!" Sakura didn't forget to call out to the others. Naoko was stunned. "She runs so fast!"

On the way, Sakura took the lead. Even on the escalator, she kept chanting, "Penguins~ Penguins~!" Ye Hui watched the excited Sakura and then looked at Tomoyo. He noticed that Tomoyo’s expression seemed even happier than Sakura’s; she held the camera, following Sakura the whole way, her arm strength astonishing as if she didn't know the meaning of fatigue.

The group soon arrived at the penguin exhibit. Next to the ice was a pool. A female trainer held a circular hoop, performing with the penguins.

"Heh, real, live penguins!" Ye Hui had never had the time to visit an aquarium before. He had only seen penguins in textbooks and on TV. After leaving school, whenever he heard "penguin," he only thought of a certain chat software. Seeing the real thing now was quite an experience.