Let Fingal Be the Student Council President!

The knight named Emiya Shirou put away his straight sword and shield, smiled warmly, and held out his hand to him.

Lu Mingfei was a little bewildered, but he still instinctively reached out, shook Emiya Shirou's hand twice, and then suddenly realized something was wrong.

This would have been perfectly normal on Earth, but...

In a place like the Lands Between, where people slashed at each other before even exchanging greetings, what kind of handshake etiquette was there?

And besides, the name "Emiya Shirou" clearly sounded like a Japanese name, with Emiya as the surname and Shirou as the given name!

Once he realized it, Lu Mingfei instantly became excited. He grabbed Emiya Shirou's right hand tightly with both hands and refused to let go.

"Are you from Earth? You have to be from Earth, right? And you're Japanese too, am I right?"

Emiya Shirou nodded calmly, as though he had long since grown used to this.

Emiya Shirou's palm was warm and rough, with calluses in the web between his thumb and forefinger from years of wielding a sword. The moment Lu Mingfei felt that real touch, tears suddenly began streaming down his face.

Lu Mingfei leaped up and clung to the red-haired youth like an octopus, bursting into loud sobs.

"A fellow countryman, you're a fellow countryman! You have no idea how much I've suffered here alone! None of the people here talk like normal people. Either they mock you the moment they see you, or they speak in riddles! The mountains and fields are full of mindless monsters! I've had enough!"

Emiya Shirou did not get angry over Lu Mingfei's rude behavior. Instead, he skillfully embraced him and gently patted his back in comfort.

"Yes, compared to Earth, this place really is much harder to live in. But I might not necessarily..."

Seeing Lu Mingfei's face covered in tears and snot, Emiya Shirou ultimately swallowed the rest of his words.

But I might not necessarily come from the same Earth as you.

After a long while, once Lu Mingfei had finally finished pouring out his grievances, Emiya Shirou seized the chance to clasp Lu Mingfei's trembling fingers in return.

"Sorry," the red-haired youth said, shaking his head. "The Japan I came from..." He paused, then put it another way.

"The world I came from may not be the same one you remember."

Lu Mingfei's expression suddenly froze. He released his hand and took half a step back. The golden light flowing through his golden eyes dimmed, then brightened again.

"Wait... you mean..."

"In 1994, a great fire occurred in Fuyuki City," Emiya Shirou said calmly, as if discussing the weather.

"And the time I crossed over from was 2004."

Lu Mingfei was completely stunned.

He clearly remembered that when he enrolled at Cassel College, it had been 2009. The Olympics had ended only a year earlier, the Nokia N96 had not been out for long, and Lu Mingfei had just graduated from Shilan High School before meeting that group of freaks who called themselves hybrids... There was no way he could have remembered that wrong.

And as a veteran anime fan, Lu Mingfei could not recall Japan ever having a place called "Fuyuki City"...

So the red-haired youth was not lying to him.

Emiya Shirou patted Lu Mingfei, the newbie Tarnished, on the shoulder and continued.

"The Lands Between where we are is made up of countless parallel worlds revolving around Elden Ring. Every world represents a possibility, and the task of us so-called Tarnished is to collect the Great Runes, travel to the Erdtree, reforge Elden Ring, and save this decaying, collapsing world."

Lu Mingfei's mouth twitched as though he had been electrocuted.

"I can't even replace a lightbulb properly in my original world... and you want me to save the world? How is that any different from making Fingal the student council president?"

Emiya Shirou said nothing more. He merely watched him quietly, giving him time to think.

After a long time, Lu Mingfei suddenly forced out a smile.

"Forget it. We're both trapped in this godforsaken place anyway."

He rubbed his reddened eyes.

"At least... you're not one of those lunatics who start hacking at people the moment they meet them."

Emiya Shirou smiled as well, his smile carrying understanding and empathy. "Yeah. At least we can still communicate normally."

Looking at the red-haired youth before him, Lu Mingfei suddenly felt the burden on his shoulders lighten. In these mad Lands Between, meeting someone who could understand what he said was already an immense stroke of luck.

"Then... Brother Shirou, do you know how to get back?"

Emiya Shirou froze for a moment, then understood Lu Mingfei's situation.

"You must have arrived not long ago and haven't gone to Stormveil yet. As long as you defeat the powerful foe known as Margit, the Fell Omen, before the gates of Stormveil Castle, you'll gain the right to travel back and forth freely."

Seeing Lu Mingfei's confused expression, he explained, "Think of it as... a beginner's tutorial stage."

At that moment, Lu Mingfei's heart was filled with surging joy.

Finally! Finally! Finally, he could go back!

But his remaining rationality, along with the troubled look on Emiya Shirou's face, told him that things were not that simple.

So he asked, "That whatever-the-hell Omen... is he easy to deal with?"

Emiya Shirou did not want to crush Lu Mingfei's confidence, but as upright as he was, he was unwilling to lie to a newbie.

He forced out an awkward smile.

"He should... be fairly easy to deal with, I guess?"

"How many times did you die?"

"Ninety-four times."

Lu Mingfei's smile suddenly froze on his face.

The two fell silent once more.

Lu Mingfei's mouth twitched. "Ninety-four times?"

He counted on his fingers. "If every fight lasted ten minutes on average..."

Lu Mingfei's mouth fell open.

"That'd take more than ten straight hours without sleep or rest!"

Emiya Shirou awkwardly rubbed his nose. "Actually... for the first thirty or so times, I lasted less than a minute."

"Hey, hey!"

Lu Mingfei dramatically backed up two steps. "At a time like this, don't say something so terrifying in such a serious tone!"

But the red-haired youth suddenly grew solemn.

"Every death let me understand his moves better."

He patted the sword at his waist.

"On the ninety-fifth attempt, I won."

Lu Mingfei let out a long sigh and had no choice but to accept reality.

Margit, the Fell Omen, sounded like an incredibly powerful enemy, yet Lu Mingfei had no choice but to challenge him... He wanted to go home.

"Don't worry," Shirou said. "When the time comes, I'll help you."

Lu Mingfei stared at his callused palms. At the thought that he had to fight some Omen just to return home, he gave a bitter smile.

"Fine. A loser's life is just a worthless life anyway."

He looked up at Emiya Shirou. "But I'm really weak. Maybe I'll die ninety-six times and still not win, Brother Shirou..."

"You won't," Emiya Shirou interrupted him. His red hair glowed warmly beneath the light of grace. "I'll teach you the basic techniques for defeating him."

At that moment, Emiya Shirou's figure seemed incomparably tall in Lu Mingfei's eyes.