This Humble One, Reincarnation Stream Player Chapter 47

Thinking of this, Yuki took out his phone and opened his photo album. Many landscape photos featuring castles slid past one by one until his finger paused, stopping on one specific image.

Six ramparts stood atop high walls, with the main body of the majestic castle divided into front and rear sections. Between the castle and the high walls lay a lush garden, and not far away, a massive, modern city loomed.

Yuki scrutinized it carefully, then moved his finger to press the delete key before closing his eyes and sinking back into his seat.

Hmm, it was nine, maybe even ten parts similar.

In the evening, the Shinkansen pulled into the station. Dressed in a white shirt and casual trousers, Yuki shouldered his laptop bag and stepped onto the platform while stretching his back.

Looking just like a salaryman on a business trip, he scanned his surroundings, his eyes suddenly lighting up as he strode toward the exit.

A slender girl stood there, wearing a purple floral dress, looking like a narcissus slowly blooming. Unfortunately, a face mask covered most of her features, leaving only her lively purple eyes visible.

"Senior, you really came to pick me up. I thought you were truly that heartless."

"Hmph, if I hadn't come to pick you up, what would you have done?" Mai's gaze was helpless, but there wasn't a hint of disgust in it.

Yuki stood straight and tilted his chin up slightly: "Naturally, I would have acted like a paparazzo, asking around everywhere for the address of the great star Mai Sakurajima."

"Pervert, stalker!" Mai blurted out. Seeing people nearby turning to look, she quickly lowered her voice: "I'm really afraid of you, let's just go."

She couldn't quite figure it out; she considered herself sharp-tongued and mature, so why hadn't she won a single time?

Heh, no one can beat me in a war of words.

Yuki wore a victor's smile and reached out to tug at Mai's sleeve.

"Are we just heading back now?" Mai asked, looking back in pleasant surprise.

"How could that be? You should turn off your spare phone first." Yuki looked up and saw that the station's security camera was no longer flashing red.

"Why?"

"I don't want anything to disturb our world for two."

Mai gave Yuki a speechless look, unable to fathom what was going on in this pig-headed boy's mind, so she simply took out her old phone and turned it off.

"Is this good enough?"

"Mm-hmm, Senior is truly obedient and sensible."

"I'm only in my third year of high school; aren't you ashamed of yourself, a university student?"

Amidst their low-voiced bickering, the two left the station directly. Under Yuki's lead, they wound through several turns, crossed a commercial street, and ducked into a small alley.

Just as Mai began to suspect Yuki of having ulterior motives, they finally stopped in front of a quiet cafe.

The decor was nice and there were few customers, so the two found a corner to sit in.

Mai glanced at the menu and realized it was quite expensive—no wonder there were so few patrons. Noticing that Yuki was dressed in cheap goods, she ordered the cheapest black coffee and resisted even the desserts.

After a while, once the waiter brought the coffee, she took off her mask. While stirring with a gold spoon, she stared intently at the man in front of her.

"Senior, if you look at me like that, I'll really get shy." Yuki turned his head away, putting on a look of great distress.

"Don't lie to me, how could someone with a face as thick as yours get shy?" Mai gave a light huff and tapped the table: "You ran all this way, and even acted like we were meeting for a spy exchange—what exactly do you want?"

"It's simple. Since it was so hard to return to reality, I wanted to look around; maybe I'll find something new. Plus, I can help you with some after-school tutoring."

Hmm, that actually made some sense.

Mai nodded slightly. Since she didn't know what the next dungeon would be, there was no way to prepare, and since the three of them had decided to team up, helping each other improve was only right.

But why did this "after-school tutoring" sound so strange?

She picked up her coffee cup for a sip, then gave a light cough: "After returning, shouldn't you be resting properly? Don't you have any friends?"

"Can't be helped, I'm the captain, so naturally, I have to shoulder the responsibility." Yuki also picked up his coffee cup, swirling it gently in his hand, and looked up at the girl.

"But don't you lack friends as well?"

The music in the cafe was melodious, and Mai was clearly stunned for a moment, her eyebrows furrowing.

Yuki had hit the nail on the head; she really didn't have any friends. But unlike an average girl who would make a scene after being called out, Mai simply lowered her voice.

"When did you start acting like a perverted stalker?"

"I was just guessing. You became famous so early, and humans always keep their distance from things that are too dazzling." Yuki nearly choked on his coffee and looked at the slightly smug girl. "But it doesn't matter. After passing the novice dungeon, we've already become something else—we can't even confide our troubles to others anymore."

"Something else?"

Ding.

Yuki set down his coffee cup, leaned forward, and spoke word by word.

"An anomaly known as a player."

Chapter 5: Isn't This a Date!? (Revised)

Inside the low-key, elegant cafe, Yuki and Mai sat opposite each other, both appearing to be deep in thought.

An anomaly? What a familiar term.

Mai felt no disgust; on the contrary, she was filled with agreement. For the past two days, aside from rejecting her mother's calls about returning to the entertainment industry, she had just been staring blankly in her apartment.

A heavy pile of burdens weighed on her heart, with no one to tell, and at any moment, she could vanish into thin air, never to appear again.

Returning was not as good as imagined; even attending school had lost its meaning. Yet, she still wanted to come back, wanted to see her mother and sister, and wanted to continue chasing her dreams.

This was like the string pulling on a kite; without the anchor of reality, it would sooner or later fly off into oblivion.

"No wonder you went out of your way to find me. Do you think fellow creatures should huddle together for warmth?" Mai Sakurajima smiled slightly, her expression tinged with mockery.

"Wrong. I am only responsible for increasing your survival rate in the game. As for life, you should live it however you see fit."

"Doesn't that contradict what you just said?"

"It's the same thing. I'm just here to listen to the things you can't say out loud and to help you think of ways to solve them." Yuki didn't pester her, stirring his coffee gently.

"As for the rest, you decide for yourself. If you want to continue your acting career, that's fine too. You're already famous enough that you wouldn't be able to hide it anyway."

So that was it. He meant to separate the game from reality—to live as a normal person while confiding in each other as players. Wait, wasn't this exactly the state of my life before?

Mai raised her eyebrows slightly, then realized there were still subtle differences. At the very least, she hadn't had a classmate before who was striving in the entertainment industry, someone who was ostracized outside the spotlight, and the treacherous world of show business certainly didn't offer friends, let alone companions who would risk their lives for one another.

She suddenly saw the light, realizing that Yuki was close to her in every sense, and the Reincarnation Game was merely one point of intersection.

"Thank you. I've been agonizing over these things lately, but you could have just told me this online."

"It feels strange through a screen. Besides, I don't just lack friends; I don't even have a single relative." Yuki shrugged. He was in a much worse spot than Ai Hayasaka or Mai Sakurajima; he didn't even know what to do after returning.

His plan to join the Diving Club had been cut short; he feared the Oolong Tea was too potent and would force him to enter a dungeon in a hungover state, starting the match with a built-in debuff.

"Heh, isn't there a fellow creature, a friend, right in front of you?"

"Senior, your emotional intelligence is incredibly high!"

"You practically handed the words to me on a silver platter; could I really just ignore them?" Mai rolled her eyes and slowly reached out her hand.

Uh, I've been seen through.

Yuki didn't feel awkward at all. Since he wanted to pursue her, he had to start by transitioning from teammate to friend. The timing was perfect, and with their shared brushes with death and aligned interests, this thin layer of paper was easy to pierce.

Their hands clasped together—warm, delicate, and seemingly carrying a unique fragrance. Unfortunately, after only two seconds, Mai Sakurajima pulled her hand back quickly.

"Senior, aren't you being a bit stingy? We held hands many times in Crimson Moon City, and I even carried you on my back."

"That was to save our lives! Can you really count that as the same thing?" Mai glared at Yuki slightly, propping her head up and asking slowly, "When exactly are we going to start the team discussion? Isn't there still the most important third matter?"

Two enhancement points and two specialization points were still unused. She had wanted to use them several times, but couldn't make up her mind due to the sheer variety of options.

"Is it that boring being with me?" Yuki asked, ignoring her question, his whole body deflating like a punctured ball.

"No, it's actually quite interesting." Mai answered subconsciously. Seeing the boy's sly grin, she turned her head away in frustration. "Don't get cocky; I just meant it's not boring, that's all."

It really is interesting. At the very least, I've never met someone so complex. He is a lecherous pig-headed boy with a mind full of dirty thoughts, whose smooth talk even I struggle to handle, yet he is also a cold and decisive executioner who almost never makes a mistake in the suffocating Reincarnation Game.

But more importantly, there is that unwavering loyalty that brought me back from the nightmare.

Yes, I feel nervous when facing Li Dan, but with this pig-headed boy, I don't feel a shred of fear, even though the things he does are terrifying—things that even Li Dan is wary of.

Mai Sakurajima looked out the window, a smile appearing on her face unconsciously. Some relationships are defined in the silence between breaths.

Yuki saw this smile too, but instead of taking the opportunity to launch a barrage of smooth talk, he tilted his head back and downed his coffee in one gulp.

"No rush. I still need to confirm a few things to ensure our daily lives remain undisturbed."

"Regarding reality?" Mai raised an eyebrow. She wasn't stupid; the conversation on the surface was about friendship, but in reality, it revolved around the game and the real world.

"Yeah, there will be results soon." Yuki blinked, picked up his laptop, and slapped a ten-thousand-yen note on the table. "Let's go, let's walk around for a bit."

Mai Sakurajima glanced at the ten-thousand-yen bill on the table, thinking to herself that she shouldn't have gone easy on him earlier.

"I didn't realize you were so rich?"

"Not at all. I spent my inheritance years ago. The monthly rent for my apartment is only twenty thousand yen."

"Then why did you come to such an expensive cafe?"

"I don't even have enough for the train fare back to Izu right now, so these next few days..." Yuki wiped his hair, looking like a man who was poor and proud of it, transforming into a bowing master:

"Senior, please keep me."

I've been played again. This bastard is doing this to me on purpose, isn't he?

In the narrow alley, the streetlights were dim. The girl in the white dress walked in front, looking thoroughly indignant.

She had thought they would just meet offline to clear things up and then go their separate ways until the next dungeon, but she had been latched onto before she knew it.

When she offered to pay for the train, Yuki said a real man couldn't accept charity from a woman. When she offered to lend it to him, he changed his tune, saying he was afraid of predatory interest rates and would have to sign an indentured servitude contract if he couldn't pay it back.

"Hey, are you really not going back?"

Yuki looked down at his phone and tapped the pillar beside him, saying gloomily, "I can't go back. It's a day and a night's walk. I haven't even had dinner; I'd probably starve to death halfway there."

"You... fine! I'll buy you dinner and call you a taxi. That's enough, right?"

"A true man, how could he..." Yuki was halfway through his sentence when he saw the girl's fierce glare, and he chuckled dryly. "If Senior is willing to keep me, it is my greatest honor."

At least you have some sense.

Mai Sakurajima relaxed her brow, suddenly realizing that Yuki was very good at gauging the situation. Even when he was being thick-skinned, he never triggered genuine disgust, and he spoke with such ease, unlike the cold and silent stereotypes of the strong.

What a strange person, but he really is quite interesting.

She gave a soft huff and slowed her pace, allowing Yuki to walk alongside her before asking, "What do you want to eat? And don't you dare pick anything too expensive."

"Where is the liveliest place in Kanagawa? The place with the most street food?"

"That would probably be Temple Fair Street."

"Then let's head to Temple Fair Street."

The two walked shoulder to shoulder, weaving through the narrow alleys toward Temple Fair Street. The streetlights in the old district were dim, and the alleys were completely deserted. In the past, Mai Sakurajima would have certainly felt uneasy, but this time, she didn't feel a shred of fear.

Having gone through the novice dungeon, if nothing else, her mental fortitude was already far superior to the average person. What was a bit of darkness? Was it scarier than a horde of Living Corpses rushing out Under the Crimson Moon? Or more terrifying than a wall suddenly shattering to reveal a three-meter-tall bald brute locking his gaze onto her?

This could be considered a blessing in disguise. Even if she had returned to being an ordinary person, at least her courage had grown significantly. If a thug really tried to accost her, she could kick him into a cripple without the slightest bit of panic.

Besides, the dungeon time was very short, and there was a transition period upon returning, so she wasn't afraid of being discovered either.

Mai Sakurajima quietly clenched her small fist, finally experiencing the positive feedback of the Reincarnation Game.

Gradually, the streetlights grew brighter, the number of people on the road began to increase, and small shops selling accessories appeared on both sides of the street. Mai looked around and saw almost nothing but young couples, hand in hand, with the occasional sound of ambiguous, low laughter drifting by.

She froze for a moment, turning her head to look at the boy walking beside her, who was also wearing a mask.

She hadn't thought much of it before, but set against this street full of couples, the two of them seemed to blend perfectly into the environment, appearing completely natural to any observer.

Wait, isn't this a date!?

Mai Sakurajima suddenly felt her face grow hot. Her fingers gently tightened against the hem of her skirt, and she felt as if she could sense the admiring gazes cast their way, along with the jealous huffs of other women.

Even with masks on, their figures and auras were impossible to hide; if anything, it only made people wonder which celebrities had snuck out for a secret rendezvous.

Isn't this just a date? No wonder he could scheme against Li Dan until he was dead; his level of play is so high.

Soon, she felt a sense of defiance. Setting aside the combat and such, she had at least spent years grinding in the entertainment industry—how could she be so easily led by the nose?