The Captain Just Wants to Go Home and Play Games

Chapter 21: Have You Seen This Princess's Doujinshi?

"Accept—"

After tapping the confirm button in the Little World Game with his mind, a video chat screen naturally appeared in his field of view.

A girl with long, straight black hair, wearing a pink tracksuit, appeared before Mo Yi.

Thanks to the black technology of the Little World Game, the image Mo Yi saw was more comprehensive than what would be visible through the camera in front of the other person's computer. Not only could he see Kaguya, but he could also make out about seventy to eighty percent of her room.

Although she was wearing a plain, old-fashioned pink tracksuit, with only most of her face and her classical princess hairstyle visible—a long black straight hairstyle with bangs that could cover her eyebrows—her flawless, impeccable features alone were enough to satisfy Mo Yi's expectations of the "most oriental beauty" from her setting.

Simply put, in terms of face alone, it was indeed the most perfect appearance Mo Yi had seen in two lifetimes.

As for other aspects, Mo Yi had no particular expectations. First, her setting kept her appearance at around fifteen or sixteen years old, so a certain kind of gathering was impossible—probably a bit better than Saber from the neighboring franchise. Second, she was also, by setting, the character with the least exposed skin in Gensokyo. Seeing her now, sure enough, a tracksuit fit the otaku style perfectly—whatever was comfortable and convenient, that's what she wore.

As for being captivated at first sight like in The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, that was impossible. Mo Yi, a youth of the information age, had been baptized by countless internet celebrity faces, otaku goddesses, and teachers of both virtue and talent. His aesthetic standards were far higher than those of ancient people who couldn't even eat their fill. How could a mere face compare to 2D wives who didn't need to use the bathroom, never complained, and never demanded to buy things?

Of course, the irresistible charm described in the tale should also include an aura radiating from her that was almost like a coercive, charm-like magic. Ordinary people naturally couldn't resist such a nearly rule-based mystical force. Combined with her innate beauty that even in modern times would be hard to abandon, it could indeed captivate at first sight.

But for someone like Mo Yi, who had also learned mystical powers, this innate charm had little effect.

Mm, in the Rune Magic system Mo Yi studied, there was a branch called "Resolute," which included magic specifically for enhancing one's resistance to mystical forces. Using magic power as a brush and the soul as a medium, Mo Yi had carved various runes into his body to strengthen himself, granting him extraordinary resistance to mystical forces. Even Honkai Energy, a corrosive energy specifically targeting humans, could be resisted, let alone Kaguya's innate, unconscious charm aura.

"So, have you already fallen for this princess's peerless grace?"

If Mo Yi could see Kaguya, Kaguya could naturally see Mo Yi's side.

To be honest, seeing Mo Yi, Kaguya really did breathe a sigh of relief. Although he looked no different from an ordinary high school student—quite pleasant to the eye, actually—at least he wasn't the three-hundred-pound otaku she had once feared. Otherwise, Kaguya really didn't know if she would have just hung up the video chat, deleted the friend, and blocked them outright.

Even though they were just online friends, not a blind date, people were still visual creatures. For someone like Kaguya, who pursued perfection, she really couldn't accept that a friend she had been gaming and chatting with for nine years was a three-hundred-pound otaku.

If that were the case, Kaguya would rather just block and delete, let the friend known as "Qi Mu Wu Wu Kai" disappear, never go online again, and socially die. After all, as an immortal, she had already experienced many farewells with friends. Leaving a good memory was better for everyone.

After sighing in relief, Houraisan Kaguya saw that Mo Yi wasn't speaking and thought he too had been captivated by her peerless grace—she had seen this many times before. So she spoke first to wake him from his daze.

"Oh, really—"

Hearing her self-praise, Mo Yi didn't retort with his usual sarcasm. First, she did have the capital for it. Second, facing a real person made him a bit unaccustomed and awkward.

"I really didn't expect Her Highness the Princess to actually be a female creature... and, well, peerless grace."

"Is that so?"

After hearing Mo Yi's straightforward reply, Houraisan Kaguya's gaze deepened, and she smiled meaningfully. "Do you know about Touhou Gensokyo?"

"Cough, cough—"

Mo Yi was stunned by Kaguya's sudden question!

How did she know?

In theory, Mo Yi should have immediately denied it with the triple "It's not me, I didn't, don't talk nonsense." But since she asked like that, it meant she had found some clue. What was the point of denying it?

So, after coughing once, Mo Yi awkwardly turned his face away, not knowing what to say.

After a few seconds, he finally asked, "How did you know?"

"Heh—, this princess has lived longer than the smallest fraction of your age. A little skill in reading people is still within my ability."

As Houraisan Kaguya said, those who live long always have some abilities others lack.

Mo Yi's biggest blind spot was that he replied immediately after Kaguya finished speaking.

Kaguya knew her own charm ability best. Even through a screen, an ordinary person couldn't snap out of it instantly—it would take at least a few seconds.

After spotting this flaw, Kaguya naturally observed more closely, and from Mo Yi's expression and gaze, she reached this conclusion.

Mo Yi, whose two lifetimes combined weren't even as old as Theresa (forty-seven years old), couldn't possibly fool Kaguya, a girl who had experienced power struggles and was over a hundred million years old.

After hearing Mo Yi's admission, Houraisan Kaguya thought further. The internet in Mo Yi's world didn't have information about Touhou Gensokyo, yet he knew about it. Having written web novels herself, Kaguya easily deduced that he was likely a legendary transmigrator.

Then the question was, did transmigrators all have cheat abilities?

Kaguya was very curious.

But in the end, she said nothing more. Although she wasn't interested in the transmigrator's cheat at all, the human heart couldn't withstand temptation. She didn't want to lose a hard-won friend just like that.

As Kaguya thought, Mo Yi's mind was also in turmoil. He didn't think someone like her, a winner in life, would covet his things. But having been tempered by countless web novels, Mo Yi knew the first rule of a transmigrator was: don't let others know you're a transmigrator, just like a ghost hiding among people can't let them know it's a ghost.

Drawing from web novels, it seemed that anyone who discovered the protagonist's transmigration secret, or even just suspected it, had no good end—either killed by the protagonist or killed off by the author's plot.

However, Kaguya-sama was an immortal who couldn't be killed. Even if he died, she wouldn't.

With his mind in chaos, Mo Yi had to suppress his thoughts. The best course was to wait until nightfall and ask Teacher Ryze for advice.

After a few seconds of silence, Kaguya felt some regret. She seemed to have been holed up too long; her IQ and EQ seemed to have dropped. What did his identity matter to her? As long as he wasn't someone who could threaten her and had a bad heart.

Now that she had said this, it might make him suspicious. The foundation of friendship was trust. With suspicion, the friendship naturally couldn't last.

Regretful inside, Kaguya still kept a smile on her face, actively breaking the silence between them. In a pleasant voice, she asked, "What this princess is most curious about now is, have you seen this princess's doujinshi? The kind with color?"

Because I'm writing two books at once, to maintain the full attendance bonus for the old book, the new book's update speed is a bit slow. I'm also afraid that writing too fast and too rushed will make it, like my previous books, go straight to boom-boom-boom, impossible to pull back even with an ox cart. When there's a recommendation, I'll try to update more. Thanks to the book friends who have been supporting me.

Chapter 22: NEET, You're So Beautiful

"It's not me, I didn't, don't talk nonsense—"

This kind of thing, you absolutely cannot admit to it, no matter what!

Don't be fooled by Kaguya's cheerful grin right now, looking like a fellow enthusiast with that "lend me a copy" expression—who knows whether she actually cares or not? Putting myself in her shoes, if it were me, Mo Yi, I'd definitely care.

Not to mention that women should care even more about this sort of thing; otherwise, things like "nude loans" wouldn't exist.

If Mo Yi admitted it, and she crawled through the internet to destroy the evidence and silence him, wouldn't that be a ridiculously unjust death?

Of course, whether Mo Yi himself had actually seen any doujinshi of Kaguya—that's a past-life matter, and he really couldn't remember clearly. Probably, maybe, hopefully not.

In his memory, doujinshi starring Houraisan Kaguya didn't really leave much of an impression. If it were Touhou characters like Hakurei Reimu, Kogasa Tatara, Yakumo Yukari, Saigyouji Yuyuko, Komeiji Satori, the Young Mistress, or the Second Young Lady, then Mo Yi could give a definite answer—I don't know any of them!

His heart was panicking like crazy, and even he wasn't too sure. Mo Yi thought to himself, should he pull out the ultimate move: "Ah, the signal's bad, I'm about to lose connection"?