"Ahh~~ But, Teacher Ragna, it's Ye Ming! The real, living Brother Ye Ming!"
"Ah?"
Through Vita's strange introduction, Ye Ming and Ragna finally saw each other.
"So you are... Ye Ming..."
At the sight of Ye Ming, Ragna was somewhat stunned.
She had known nothing before, but that morning, Ragna had watched that video as well.
Thanks to some utterly outrageous comments from netizens, she had even left the first livestream comment of her life.
"Hehe, Teacher Ragna is interested in Brother Ye Ming too, isn't she?"
"Vita, go back to the orphanage. It's already late."
"Ahh~~ But..."
Seeing that her student still refused to leave, Ragna put away her sweet demeanor and shouted in the tone of a military instructor:
"7274!"
"Eek!!"
Upon hearing that string of numbers, Vita looked as though her soul had left her body. Frightened, she immediately stood at attention.
"Go back and have dinner."
"Yes! Teacher Ragna!"
With that, Vita, known as 7274, scurried away in embarrassment.
"7274...?"
"She's one of the children at our orphanage. To make management easier, the director gave every child a numerical designation."
"I see... Hehe..."
Ever since hearing that string of numbers, Ye Ming had found it incredibly familiar.
Together with Vita's earlier thumbs-up gesture, he finally remembered.
"Even you never expected to become a girl, did you? BT."
It seemed that even in this world, where everyone could find happiness, there was a place for BT-7274.
And she had even fulfilled her wish of becoming human, though it seemed the gender had gotten mixed up.
"What is it?"
Seeing Ye Ming's gratified smile, Ragna was a little curious.
"No, it's nothing. I just remembered an old friend."
"Speaking of which, I have a friend who was looked after by you as well."
Ragna said with a smile:
"You need to take responsibility for Himeko."
"That was just fanfiction~!"
"Just fanfiction... is it?"
Ragna looked at Ye Ming, her expression becoming incomparably gentle. So gentle that it was as though she was not looking at someone she had just met, but a friend she had been separated from for many years.
She placed her hand on Ye Ming's chest. Without even needing to search, she precisely found the crystallized scar over his heart.
"Just fanfiction, huh~~"
"Ragna..."
Ye Ming did not know what she meant, but the faint pain coming from his chest drew his thoughts back to the past.
"Sorry. That was improper of me."
Ragna's slender fingers stroked the scar on Ye Ming's chest again and again. In the end, she reluctantly withdrew her fingertips.
"Ye Ming, I'm very happy in this world now."
"So you have to become happy too."
Leaving behind those meaningful words, Ragna smiled and left.
As she departed, she softly sang:
"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"
"Thou art more lovely and more temperate."
·················
"Well now, as expected of someone who reversed a destined death. You certainly kept me waiting."
At the agreed-upon café, Yae Miko, dressed in an office-lady uniform, looked at Ye Ming with great interest as he arrived five minutes late.
"Sorry... Too many people stopped me on the way here..."
Then, realizing something was off, Ye Ming explained:
"My current identity is the head of MiHoYo, so there's no need to keep bringing up things from fanfiction."
"Hehe~~ Then, Mr. Director, it's a pleasure to meet you. I am Yae Miko, head of Yae Publishing House."
After making her joke, Yae Miko respectfully handed him her business card.
Ye Ming accepted it only symbolically, without even glancing at it. After all, he was far too familiar with the fox spirit lady before him.
"So, what did Miss Yae Miko want to see me about?"
"Could you let me catch my breath first? I just learned the truth behind The Last Lesson, and I'm so overwhelmed that I can hardly speak~~"
Naturally, this was Yae Miko teasing Ye Ming, but her excitement was genuine. She had merely hidden it cleverly.
"You're still the same as ever."
Ye Ming could not help laughing. This little pink fox had always been so smooth-talking.
"My, we're clearly meeting for the first time, yet Mr. Ye Ming seems to know my temperament very well."
Yae Miko leaned her upper body toward him. Her pair of soft, pink, oversized breasts swayed back and forth before his eyes, drawing his attention.
"I... I've merely heard some stories about Miss Yae Miko."
"All right, all right, no need for excuses. When I saw you, I was filled with a sense of familiarity too."
Yae Miko looked at Ye Ming indulgently and spoke the truth in a teasing tone:
"Do you know? When I saw you covered in wounds and on the verge of collapse, my heart ached so much that I cried."
As she spoke, Yae Miko picked up her coffee with an air of calm control, trying to conceal her emotions.
"Then... would you like me to rub your tummy and comfort you?"
"Pfft!"
Upon hearing that, Yae Miko immediately sprayed out the coffee she had just drunk.
She had never been so flustered in her entire life.
"You really are... different from everyone else."
Someone as calculating as Yae Miko would not be shaken by a few words. The reason her cheeks had turned rosy with embarrassment...
Was because, in that instant, she had truly recalled the sensation of someone rubbing her belly.
It was clearly a memory she had never possessed in this life, yet Yae Miko felt as though the Ye Ming before her had done such a thing before.
"Now, can you tell me why you came to see me?"
"I want to invest in the rights to Honkai Impact 3rd and take part in producing and publishing official novels, rather than being limited to fan activities."
"No problem, as long as the price is right. Besides that..."
Ye Ming thought for a moment. It was time to begin laying the groundwork for Genshin Impact, and Keqing and the others' motion capture and character art were already finished.
"Miss Yae Miko will also need to appear in our game. How does that sound?"
"Deal~~"
After reaching an agreement, Yae Miko even volunteered:
"I heard from Ei that you have a novel technology capable of capturing actors' movements and even their expressions."
"Since I'll be appearing in the game too, might I have the privilege of experiencing it?"
Ye Ming had not expected Trash Fox to walk right into his trap, so he hurriedly set a time with her:
"Tomorrow afternoon. I'll be waiting for you at the studio."
Dressed Up for One Person
"Where did Kiana and Himeko go?"
Having just returned from the café, it was nearly time to get off work. Ye Ming had wanted to hurry and hold a meeting, only to find that two people were missing from the studio.
"Kiana went back to her university. She said she needed to collect her degree certificate and graduation certificate, and she'll be back tomorrow."
"I see... I forgot she's still a university student."
Getting her certificates early was a good thing. She could devote herself fully to work afterward.
"Himeko said she was going to meet someone very important and needed to go back early to prepare."
"Someone important?"
That made Ye Ming rather curious. Other than Kiana, who else could be especially important to her?
"By the way, Ye Ming, can we discuss something with you?"
The moment Mei spoke, the other girls eagerly crowded over as well. Even Bronya's eyes were shining...
Clearly, this was not Mei's idea alone, but the result of everyone discussing it together.
"W-What is it?"
Ye Ming had a very bad feeling about this.
"Could you grow your hair out?"
"Huh?"
"You look especially good with long hair! Even that casually tied ponytail was so beautiful. If you took proper care of it, you'd definitely be even more charming."
"No."
Ye Ming took two steps back. He had never expected his careless action back then to take root and sprout in a situation like this.
"Ahh~~ Why?"
"Don't you think long hair is troublesome?"
Ye Ming looked around at Nahida, Mei, Ei, A-Tzu, Keqing, and Ganyu, then said with a headache:
"Then again, you probably wouldn't think so."
After all, they all had long hair.
"Anyway, don't even think about that. I'm not a girl."
"But in Griseo's painting..."
"Huh? Griseo? What did she draw again?"
"Ahem!"
Seeing Bronya let it slip, A-Tzu quickly coughed and gave Nahida beside her a meaningful look.
Having an unspoken understanding with her sister, Nahida immediately caught on and ran over to change the subject:
Before you continue