sunchime | [ the one where misaki regrets ever having read that blog post ]

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[ the one where misaki regrets ever having read that blog post ]

The last thing Misaki remembers is that it was hot. Hot outside, especially hot inside the Michelle suit, and she's used to it, really, but they'd gone straight from a three-hour show to...some other place on Kokoro's whim. She can't really remember. She just remembers finding it difficult to breathe, opening her mouth to say something, and then everything dropping away. She remembers hitting the ground once, twice, three times -- ohh, that's too many times.

Floating weightlessly in murky consciousness, Misaki hears a voice oddly similar to Google Translate.

【 The System has been triggered by an activation code. Please stand by. 】

Uhh? What System? What activation code? Misaki blinks in the dark, trying to see, but dark is all there is.

【 Welcome to the System 2.0. This upgraded system operates in line with the concept "keep the clicks coming". We hope that during your experience in the ultimate wish fulfillment fantasy, you will help continue Proud Immortal Demon's Way's legacy as a first-rate romantic drama. Please enjoy. ヽ(´▽｀)ノ】

"Uhh??" Misaki says, looking around for the source of the disembodied voice, and she starts to feel like she's spinning, distinctly dizzy. "Uh, hey??"

But the computer-generated voice is gone, and instead she hears real voices, a small chorus of them, anxious and excited. Only an indistinct buzz in her ears at first, as she registers the fact that she's lying down, laid out carefully on a bed. Something about her body feels kind of...off. The voices nearby resolve into intelligible words as the room spinning around her starts to slow down. Misaki feels carsick.

"Shizun! Shizun, she's waking up!"

"Shizun, Ning Yingying is finally awake!"

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Shen Qingqiu stares at her.

"What – Are you going back to sleep?"

"People in these kinds of stories usually go home once their adventure is over, right? I'll just skip the adventure part and wait until the System or whatever sends me home."

But no sooner have the words left her mouth than a warning klaxon sounds in her head, and she all but jumps off the bed.

【 Warning. Your current course of action will deviate from the storyline and constitute an OOC violation. The system will automatically dole out punishment for any violations of the story parameters. 】

Misaki gives Shen Qingqiu a harrowed look. "Wait, I have to play along or this System...punishes me? What kind of punishment does it give out?"

Shen Qingqiu covers his grimace with his fan, but his eyes are still looking a little haunted.

"Ah... it depends," he says, fanning himself. Ning Yingying didn't have a terrible fate in the original PIDW, but he won't put it past the System to come up with an original nightmare scenario to put her through if it has to! "If it deducts too many points then you'll die, though. You died already, right?"

Ohh, Misaki doesn't like that look. Couldn't he try to be like, just a little bit more reassuring?

"Wait, died?" Her face goes paper white. Is that the requirement for getting transmigrated or whatever?? She doesn't remember that being a hard-coded trope in isekai but also...she hasn't read that much isekai. "Uh, no! Not dead! I'd know if I was dead, right? But I don't remember dying, just...uh, passing out..."

Okay, that...doesn't mean she isn't dead, actually. Not remembering is kind of a problem, and it's not like you can prove a negative, right? Ahhhhhh shit if she's really dead... Kanon-san...this is pretty unfair, but I guess I'll leave Hello, Happy World! in your hands from now on...

"Okay, okay," she says, waving her hands as if to chase the thought of her own mortality away. "So I have to play out the story or the System gives out some kind of penalty." She doesn't want to imagine that too hard, thanks.

"But how do I know what I'm supposed to do? Were there even any female characters who weren't there to marry the protagonist?" Misaki presses her hands to her face. Uhhh no way! She's not marrying anyone here, thanks! Especially not that really frigging scary protagonist! "A-all it said was that I'm supposed to continue Proud Immortal Demon Way's legacy as a first-rate romantic drama..."

Hm, maybe death is the better option.

"Mm, about that--" He looks a little shifty. "There isn't a harem any more. So you don't need to worry about that. Unless--"

Unless this is the System trying to course correct after all! Luo Binghe went for a transmigrator once, didn't he? Maybe it figures another one is its best bet for getting things back on track!

Shen Qingqiu blanches behind his fan.

"Well -- we can't know until it starts assigning you tasks," he says stiffly. "Inform me as soon as it does."

Right. He had said a lot had changed since he got here. Still, that look is...super not encouraging. Unless? Unless what, person who still hasn't introduced himself??? Considering we're in the same boat, you could stand to be a little more sympathetic...

"Wait a sec! I still don't even know who you -- "

Misaki stops and blinks in surprise as a dialogue box pops up in her mind. "Hey, it says there's some sort of 'canon review' function....I guess so I can fill in the blanks and see what you changed?"

Ohhhh thank god.

Shen Qingqiu blinks, lowering the fan slightly, and looking somewhat relieved. "Oh," he says, "good. That should save us some trouble, at least." He sighs. "You can call me Shen Qingqiu. If you have any questions..."

He seems kind of reluctant about that offer, honestly, but! Well! Someone has to do it! And he needs to keep a close eye on New Ning Yingying so she doesn't do anything totally unpredictable and ruin everything!

It's not like she has anyone else she can ask. Isn't it the least he can do, considering his position??

Shen Qingqiu, right. Misaki still isn't sure which character that is, exactly, but the question becomes moot as soon as she hits 'OK'. Her eyes go blank, and she is treated to a hyper-compressed montage of the events of Proud Immortal Demon Way -- the abridged edition, of course. The System neatly omits all 18+ restricted content from Misaki's experience, of course.

In reality it only lasts a few seconds, but it still leaves Misaki reeling. A lot of it is from Ning Yingying's perspective, which is helpful, but the bulk of it is about Shin Seishuu and Raku Hyouga's -- uh, Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe's exploits. Understandably, since they're at the center of the story, but it confirms Misaki's initial feeling that she's been jammed into the body of a supporting character. Ning Yingying doesn't have much backstory to speak of. She rubs her eyes to banish the last of the afterimages from her vision and glances at Shen Qingqiu, her lips pursed.

"So this isn't a harem story anymore...because you made it into a BL story instead?"

Way to bury the lede. Seriously.

He doesn't look at her. "It was an accident," he says tersely.

Uhh...how does that make you look any better than if you did it on purpose, exactly?

"Sure, right," Misaki says in the tone usually reserved for glossing over the three dummies' nonsense so they can move along with their day. She's starting to get used to the voice, but she's a little afraid to look in the mirror just yet. She probably ought to just get it over with soon, though -- it's probably like diving into a pool, right? Better to get the shock of cold water over with instead of wading in slowly.

"That's a relief, actually. If the whole point is to 'keep the clicks coming'," ample use of air quotes there, "then there's probably no danger of any kind of romantic storyline between me -- uh, Ning Yingying and Luo Binghe. Introducing a female character to a BL relationship is usually a surefire way to upset the fans."

See? She's not totally lacking in genre savvy.

Shen Qingqiu considers this.

"Perhaps," he concedes. "But the change of genre in the first place, wouldn't that have upset people just as much? And what about hatereaders?" He shakes his head. "Anti-fans can't be underestimated! We really shouldn't rule anything out."

She would really like to, though, that is the thing! She would love to rule it out.

"You'd know better about that, I guess," she says reluctantly. "But was the genre change really just an accident? I mean, you said I'd get instructions, right? And the System seems like it has its mind made up on 'continuing the legacy' and making me the next...act."

Saying 'protagonist' feels too weird. She's still processing this in bite-sized pieces for fear of choking on it all. A little chime sounds in Misaki's mind, a sound she is really starting to dread.

【 Introductory quest issued: 'The Heartwarming Bond Between Master & Disciple'. Quest: Complete training to become a next-level disciple and increase social links. Reward: +100 B-points, +50 Bond Points. 】

Wait, what?? What are Bond Points? Those are different from B-points? How many kinds of points are there??? This feels like an incredibly poorly designed video game.

A grim smile passes over Misaki's face. "Aha...speaking of, looks like I got a quest."

"Ah." His fan stills; for a moment he glances away, as if looking for his own notification – there's nothing, though. Not helpful, System! "What... what is it? Is it about Binghe?"

Please don't take him just because you can.....

"No," she says, silently adding thankfully, because while the new and revised edition of Luo Binghe is less of a terrifying monster than the original goods, Misaki isn't sure she's ready for that just yet. And she -- Ning Yingying is supposed to be fond of him, too. Yeah, that's going to take some, uh, working up to. The System drops a few more files on her with details on the quest.

"It's a quest for training with you. Gotta be a 'next-level disciple', apparently." Leave out the heartwarming bond part, Shen Qingqiu's imagination already seems to be on overdrive. "I think it...wants us to be friends?"

"Ah," he says again, looking her cautiously up and down. Well, it's not like Ning Yingying is incompetent... or, well, she wasn't. He really hopes wherever she's ended up isn't too bad. But -- her cultivation was progressing pretty well, so at least New Ning Yingying will be working from a solid starting point... He's not sure how she's supposed to become a 'next-level' disciple when the established level to be surpassed is Luo Binghe, but maybe Ning Yingying is going to be granted some plot armour...?

"... Hold on." Shen Qingqiu looks skeptically over the top of his fan as his brain catches up with what she's saying. "It wants us to be friends?"

Misaki is aware that she is not the ideal candidate for transmigration into some kind of adventure hero. This is not her area of genre savvy, and she will probably need some actual education in what the hell she's doing. However, that doesn't mean she appreciates being looked over like that. He could really do to look a little more encouraging, okay??

"Yep. Well, the word it used was 'bonding', but." Misaki watches Shen Qingqiu's face, or what she can see of it anyway, for a reaction. Her own is pretty plainly on display: she is generally at a loss here, but she is Trying. "We're supposed to go down to a city near the base of the mountains to do some cultivator training," which she assumes Shen Qingqiu knows what that consists of, please teach her thank you, "and...increase our social link. I guess because we're in the same boat? Maybe it wants you to mentor me. You're already pretty much my teacher, right?"

The fantasy cultivation world stuff, still pretty wacky, but at least the basic concept of "studying" is comfortingly familiar. Honestly, if all Misaki needed to do to get through this was take a series of grueling exams, she would be hitting the books right now.

"Mm... more or less..."

His approach to teaching is pretty hands off most of the time honestly! He might be a lot less clueless than this new arrival, but that doesn't mean he is or has ever been qualified to teach. He likes Qing Jing Peak and his martial siblings and his disciples, and it's nice to have somewhere like this to come back to, but he's spent more time off it than on it since he transmigrated, and everyone just kind of gets on with it when he's not around...

He closes the fan, apparently coming to a decision. "Well, I suppose I can mentor you in," he waves the closed fan in a vague gesture, "ending up in this kind of situation, at least. And it isn't too bad to have someone else around who knows what the internet is."

He's REALLY selling his friendship prospects here, what a winner

Oh, Misaki hopes he's not one of those internet weirdos. Not that missing the internet is a weird feeling to have in this kind of isekai deal, it's totally fair, just -- you know. One hopes.

"What, is there a shortage of cultivation memes?" Misaki deadpans. She starts flexing her legs experimentally, trying to get used to this body. She touches the back of her head, feels part of what she would clarify an elaborate style, and really hopes that stuff is built into muscle memory.

"Besides, you don't really have a choice, do you?" she points out dryly. "I mean, you'd be getting in the way of me doing what the System wants me to do, which means that ultimately something bad would happen to me, right?"

Haha, agency is fake!

The thing is, if you mentioned 'internet weirdos' to Shen Qingqiu, he would have so much scorn to heap on Those People... He is absolutely assuming that if Misaki is online enough to have read about this awful novel she's online enough to not judge him too badly. BAD NEWS BUDDY,

He presses his fan against his forehead and sighs, heavily.

"Yes, yes, you're right. And if I don't cooperate it'll probably get on my case too. Alright, then. I'll have someone bring you something to eat and..." He grimaces slightly, "And tell Binghe where I'm going..." god he's not going to like this is he

Hahahaha he's going to hate it.

Misaki nods, rubbing the side of her head. Right, right, judging by the compressed story flashback the System had given her, this Luo Binghe is...pretty clingy? It definitely has not sufficiently prepared her for the reality, though.

"Thanks." And then, with a little sigh, she feels just a tiny bit bad for sniping at him. Circumstances could definitely be worse, and overall, he seems like an okay person so far. She clasps her hands in her lap and gives him a helpless, if weary, smile. "I mean it. This, um...would definitely be a lot worse if I was alone. I know we don't know each other or anything, but -- I'm glad you're here."

【 Congratulations on initiating quest: The Heartwarming Bond Between Master & Disciple. +5 Bond Points! Keep up the good work! (*＾▽＾)b 】

Misaki buries her face in her hands. Seriously??

Edited 2020-10-18 04:01 (UTC)

Shen Qingqiu blinks at her.

"Oh," he says. Wow, he's never expressed anything close to that kind of sentiment to the only other transmigrator here already? Which, obviously not, that's different, all of this is Airplane's fault to begin with; if he hadn't died cursing out that worthless hack's garbage webnovel then he – okay, well, he would have just been dead, but that's not the point. The point is. Are girls just. Nicer? This kind of response makes him really want to... not let her down...

He waves his hand dismissively, gently flustered, and looks out the window.

"Well – of course. I've been through all of this already, of course I'm going to help you. Anyway, I haven't gotten to talk to anybody normal in years." (Airplane definitely doesn't count.)

Years. Hahahahaha. Misaki immediately buries that thought and gets slowly to her feet. She's feeling a lot less wobbly than a few minutes ago. Actually, she feels pretty good? Lots of energy? Maybe it's this cultivator thing. Maybe having magic powers might be...kind of neat? No, no, she can't get too into the idea. Because this is temporary! This is totally temporary. She will definitely not be stuck here for an indeterminate number of years. She isn't even totally convinced she's dead.

She's just...also not totally convinced she's not dead.

"Ha, yeah, I'm sure you could use some new conversation." Maybe she could tell him about some of the wilder escapades with the band -- hm, no. That thought stabs too tenderly at the notion of being maybe-dead, and she buries that, too. Tennis! They could talk about tennis. Maybe Shen Qingqiu is really into arts and crafts. "I won't lie, I'm kind of looking forward to hearing more about what it's been like for you. The System gave me a pretty condensed version of events. I think my brain is still unpacking it."

It's a weird feeling, actually. Misaki hesitates just a moment. "Do you like it here?"

Ah... what a question.

"... It's fine," he says, hesitantly. "I mean, obviously I miss electricity, and TV, and junk food," and his family, but he's not talking about that with a stranger, "but. The swords are very cool. And the monsters. And Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky was terrible at worldbuilding but it's interesting to see things he just skimmed over fleshed out because they have to actually exist here..."

Hm, yeah. Misaki could really go for just curling up with her phone and a can of coffee right now...but if there's one thing she's managed to do since joining Hello, Happy World!, it's be less of a total downer in situations like these. Is it ideal? No! But she'll be miserable if she only focuses on the bad points, so...

She glances over at the sword at her bedside, resting in its ornately decorated sheath, and reaches for it. It's heavier in her hands than she was expecting, she's never held an actual sword before, but...not that heavy. Maybe she could get behind magic swords.

"That...does sound pretty cool, actually. But, uh..." She has to ask. "How much of your daily life would you say you spend dealing with monsters?"

That depends who you ask and how they define 'monsters', but...

"Well, we'll probably have to fight some monsters or spirits if the System wants us to go down the mountain to train, but, ah, it'll most likely only be regular ghosts and not any of the really interesting demonic beasts... If we travel to the demon realm you could definitely get a look at something cool, though!"

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