Misaki Okusawa / Michelle (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
idontcarebear) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
sunchime2020-10-09 10:57 pm
idontcarebear) wrote in sunchime2020-10-09 10:57 pm
Entry tags:
[ 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!"
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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"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!
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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
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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??
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"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.)
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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?"
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"... 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..."
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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?"
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"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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"Oh. Right. Yes, that would make sense." Alas, his dreams of letting his disciple level up on demonic beasts while he filled out his bestiary... It's the closest thing he gets here to editing a wiki 😔
"Well, you'll need to get used to the sword before we let you near anything like that anyway. How does your cultivation feel?" He thinks Ning Yingying was doing pretty well recently, but he'd only just returned to Cang Qiong a week ago, forgive this master for not having memorised all his disciples' current progress...
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Misaki has to really think about how to answer that. The System helpfully provides her a few resources to hurriedly peruse, kind of like a wiki directly accessible from her brain, and she closes her eyes and tries to focus. It takes a minute, but...sure enough, she can feel something that hadn't been there before. She feels like she's suddenly unlocked a sixth sense, and...okay...yes, it does feel pretty cool. Misaki blinks her eyes open and looks at her hands, turning them over.
"Pretty good, I think? I'm still trying to figure out a baseline. But I definitely feel -- full of energy, I guess?" She flexes her fingers, a trace of bafflement on her face. This is the most real any of this has felt since she woke up.
whoops....hello
"Good, good. When I came here I, ah, inherited the original goods' martial ability as well as his cultivation, so it ought to be the same for you..? We should run through some exercises before we leave, to make sure."
He's really trying not to think about what must have happened to the original goods whose cultivation she's inheriting. It's pretty easy to not worry about it with the original Shen Qingqiu – even after learning about the sympathetic backstory Airplane didn't bother putting in his final draft, he really only felt bad for Yue Qingyuan, and it's not like that guy would have been any better off if the current Shen Qingqiu hadn't replaced the old one. The original Shen Qingqiu was categorically a scumbag, who cares where he ended up! The original Ning Yingying, on the other hand, had never done anything wrong in her life, and without the IQ-destroying effects of the romance in the original story was even, a pretty cool person? Nice to be around? She definitely doesn't deserve whatever he might wish on Shen Jiu.
Shen Qingqiu hopes her consciousness is OK, wherever it is. Maybe somewhere with fewer naturally occurring sex pollen flowers and horny swords...
waggles eyebrows. time is fake
However, Misaki is still very firmly in Everyone Here Is Just A Character In A Book territory, so she hasn't realized she should harbor a modicum of consideration for the original goods yet. Besides, this is all temporary. Kind of like an amusement park ride, if you didn't think too hard about the monsters (or the fact that this is supposed to be a romance): she might as well find a way to enjoy the ride. The old Misaki would definitely have refused to accept the situation at all, and she wouldn't say she's entirely out of denial yet, but...she thinks she can handle this, especially with Shen Qingqiu there.
"Yeah, I'm getting some manuals from the System now. It actually...doesn't seem too complicated?" She was worried about having to memorize like, a bunch of magic spell incantations or something, but cultivation is a little more freeform. Thank god she did not transmigrate into Harry Potter. She hefts the sword in her hand, inspecting it closely for the first time. Like everything around here, it is ridiculously ornate but, she must admit, pretty cool looking. "I think this is going to take more getting used to than the magic. I'm really only used to swinging tennis rackets."
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"I got the hang of it pretty quickly," he says vaguely, "but I am supposed to be your teacher, so if you'd like to practice..."
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He grimaces behind his fan.
"Not... really." Unless you count DESTROYING people on the FORUMS, ha h a ,
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"Oh, huh. Okay, then." Misaki nods decisively, goes to cross her arms, realizes she doesn't really know how to with the sword in the way, and settles for securing it to her belt instead. "If you can do it, then I definitely can. No sense in putting it off, either. Alright. I'm ready."
A little chime sounds in her head.
【 System Alert: Now leaving the OOC Safe Zone. Warning! From this point on, the OOC function will be frozen. Deviations from the parameters set for Ning Yingying's account will result in a deduction of B-points. Please act with consideration. We hope you enjoy your new user experience! 】
Misaki touches two fingers to her temple. This is...already getting very annoying.
"Uh, so," she says, suppressing a grimace, "can you tell me a little bit about me -- I mean, Ning Yingying on the way? I got a decent impression from the canon review, but still. You know her pretty well, right? Is there anything I really need to watch out for?"
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"OOC warnings?" He sounds vaguely concerned. He hasn't had to deal with those in such a long time, he almost forgot they might be a factor? Especially if Ning Yingying is expected to hang out with him... That cat is already out of the bag, System! Can't he just make some excuse for her? Apparently not. He sighs, tapping his fan against his chin. "Hmm, well... she's very energetic and positive... She used to be a bit of a disaster but not romancing the protagonist really let her come into her own instead of just getting kidnapped all the time..."
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It's not that she doesn't have experience pretending to be more cheerful and upbeat than she really is. In fact her, resume's getting pretty long by now. It's just...she usually gets to do it from the sweaty comfort of a mascot costume. She's never had to worry about doing it with a straight face before. Just aggressively channeling Maruyama-senpai seems like the best plan for now...at least if it turns out this is the kind of character who likes to do cute poses at inappropriate times, I'll have plenty of inspiration.
She is pretty sure this is going to get exhausting.
"Hah, yeah, pretty much. I think I get the idea, though." Misaki rubs her face with both hands for a moment, drawing in a breath and trying to compose herself. She could kind of put herself in the same headspace as preparing to go onstage. She was really used to that by now, but this was kind of nerve-wracking. She very quietly mutters a couple of words to herself that sound a little bit like happiness happy magical in English, does her very best to copy Aya's idol sensation smile, and looks at Shen Qingqiu. "Like this?"
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"I don't really have a choice, do I?" she says, still smiling. "Besides, it's not like I don't have practice at this kind of thing. I have some, uh, stage experience."
When she says it like that, it does kind of make it sound like she means a stage in the theatre sense. She does...technically...have some acting experience. Maybe it's better if Shen Qingqiu gets that impression, if only to reassure him and get him to stop giving her that dubious look.
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He pushes that thought to one side so he can engage with the matter at hand, and also so he doesn't have to think about how sad it would make him if Binghe was straight. "Mmm, but you should probably pretend to still be a bit sick, so people will cut you more slack while you adjust to the role. If it's anything like mine was the System will tell you if you're about to make a mistake, but if you don't know the character very well you still might not be able to convince people..."
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She lowers her voice as a thought occurs to her. "Hey, uh...is there any chance we can go practice somewhere other people aren't going to see?"
That is probably already the idea, but she just wants to make sure...if she's supposed to be an experienced disciple, it'd probably be super embarrassing if any of the other disciples saw her fumbling to hold a sword for the first time.