Once they got home, Luo Li took their purchases out of his portable space, filling a corner of the living room.
He looked at the pile, then at his own still ill-fitting T-shirt on Castorice, and decided to clear out the room first.
With the portable space, that miraculous tool, clearing out the storage room became incredibly easy.
All Luo Li needed was a thought, and the dusty cardboard boxes and old furniture vanished into thin air, one after another, temporarily stored in that one-cubic-meter subspace.
In less than half an hour, the once cramped and cluttered room stood empty, with nothing left but bare bed boards and a thin layer of dust on the floor.
"Next comes cleaning and decorating!"
Full of enthusiasm, Luo Li found the cleaning supplies.
Castorice rolled up her overly long sleeves as well and volunteered, picking up a cloth. "I'll help too."
Her movements as she wiped the windowsill were a little awkward at first, but she soon got the hang of it, her expression focused, as though she were performing some sacred ritual.
Watching her serious profile, Luo Li felt that peculiar sense of satisfaction well up inside him again.
Working together, they soon had the room spotless.
Next, Luo Li assembled the newly purchased bed (thanks to his physique as an ability user, this little bit of physical labor was nothing), put on the pale purple sheet and duvet cover Castorice had chosen herself, and arranged the pillows.
Once everything was in place, this once-forgotten corner had become a cozy, comfortable little haven.
"From now on, this is your room."
Luo Li clapped his hands, looking at the results of his work with satisfaction.
Castorice stood in the middle of the room, looking around this little refuge that belonged to her, her first in this unfamiliar world, a faint light shimmering in her purple eyes.
She gently stroked the soft duvet and said quietly, "It's so warm... Thank you, Luo Li."
"I told you, you don't need to be so formal."
Luo Li smiled, in high spirits.
[Ding! Target "Castorice" feels reassured and happy to have a space of her own. Affection +2. Current affection: 43%.]
With her accommodations settled, Luo Li saw that it was still early and began thinking of something else.
Since Castorice would be living in this world, she would have to learn to use some basic modern devices.
And as a gaming streamer, the one he was most familiar with was naturally the computer.
"Castorice, come here. I'll teach you how to use this."
Sitting in front of the computer, Luo Li patted the chair beside him.
Castorice obediently sat down next to him, studying the glowing screen and the "board" covered in keys with curiosity.
"This is called a computer. In our world, you can use it to do all sorts of things.
"For example, looking up information, reading the news, watching movies... Um, that means watching moving pictures and stories. You can play games too."
Luo Li gave her a simple introduction as he turned it on.
He started by teaching her the most basic mouse and keyboard controls.
"This is called a mouse. Move it, and that little arrow on the screen moves.
"The left button is for clicking and selecting things. The right button... Uh, we'll get to that later."
"This is the keyboard. Pressing different keys lets you enter text..."
Castorice was a very attentive student. She tried moving the mouse, and the cursor on the screen moved along with it, shakily and not very smoothly.
She seemed particularly interested in "clicking," carefully pressing the left button with her index finger and blinking slightly at the crisp click.
"Luo Li, this is... quite remarkable."
She spoke softly, like a child who had discovered a new toy.
Her clumsy yet adorable attempts melted Luo Li's heart, and he guided her patiently. "Yes, just like that. Take your time. There's no rush."
Thinking he would find her something simple and interesting to watch first, he casually opened "This PC," intending to find a cartoon or a nature documentary.
However, he had forgotten-as a veteran homebody and a devoted Castorice-only fan, his hard drive held another vast... "treasure trove" besides his games.
Just as he scrolled through the drive partitions, looking for a suitable folder, one with an extremely straightforward and conspicuous name appeared on the screen Castorice was watching-
[★Treasured collection★Casti of Amphoreus★]
Luo Li's blood instantly ran cold!
Oh no! How could I have forgotten about this?!
That folder was stuffed with all kinds of Castorice fan art, MMD videos, and AI-generated artwork he had collected over the years, along with quite a few pieces of "study material" whose explicitness went a little... beyond ordinary appreciation.
Having always been single before, he had never even considered hiding any of it.
"W-wait! Don't click that!"
Almost reflexively, Luo Li reached to snatch the mouse.
But it was already too late.
Castorice was curious about the folder bearing her name (though written a little strangely) and the word "Amphoreus." Seeing Luo Li suddenly reach over in a panic, her finger moved instinctively-
Click.
The folder opened.
Whoosh!
Densely packed thumbnails instantly filled the entire file window.
There were official high-resolution wallpapers and carefully drawn fan illustrations-including quite a few works displaying Castorice's graceful figure with a touch of artistic sensuality.
There were even video files with extremely suggestive names. Though their cover thumbnails were censored, the blurry outlines and evocative titles were enough for anyone in the know to recognize their contents at a glance.
Castorice's gaze froze.
Her eyes swept over the pictures-the "her" in them wore outfits she had never worn, with shockingly little fabric, striking seductive, alluring poses she would never make; some pictures even showed her in... intimate interactions with other characters from the game?
To sum it up in one word: "thirsty."
Her mind buzzed, as though steam were rising from the top of her head.
Her cheeks, ears, and neck rapidly flushed a vivid scarlet at a speed visible to the naked eye, and even her breathing stopped for an instant.
W-when had she ever... done any of this?!
W-was the person in these pictures... really her?!
"W-w-what is this...?!"
Castorice whipped her head around to look at Luo Li, her purple eyes filled with utter shock, bewilderment, and incomprehending embarrassment, her voice trailing off in a tremble.
At that moment, Luo Li wished he could find a crack in the floor to crawl into!
He fumbled to snatch back the mouse, closed the folder so fast his hand almost left an afterimage, then hit the computer tower's power button with a smack.
The world fell quiet.
But the air in the room seemed to have frozen solid.
Castorice remained stiff in that same position, her face as red as a ripe apple, her chest rising and falling slightly, her eyes darting away, not daring to look at Luo Li again.
She opened her mouth as if to say something, but in the end, only a few meaningless syllables came out. "I... um... sir... no, Luo Li... that..."
She could not understand anything she had just seen.
Those images were far too overwhelming, and... far too real-as though they had actually happened.
Yet she clearly had no memories of anything like that.
Luo Li's mind raced, his CPU practically overheating.
He had to explain, had to salvage this-or the image of an "upright, kind, helpful young man" he had just established in Castorice's mind would collapse completely.
"Um... Castorice! Let me explain!"
Luo Li took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, his tone utterly sincere. "Those... none of those are real-they aren't things you actually did!"
Castorice raised her moist, hazy eyes and looked at him in confusion, clearly not understanding.
"They're... something called 'fan works'!"
Luo Li struggled to find words she could understand. "It's... some people really like your story in Amphoreus, and really like you as a person... uh, as a character, so they draw, or use certain special methods, to imagine... pictures and stories about other versions of you!"
He gestured wildly. "It's like... like the bards of Amphoreus composing new poems based on legends! The person in those pictures isn't actually you. It's... a 'shadow' imagined by someone else! Yes, a shadow!"
Castorice seemed to understand a little, but the flush on her face did not fade. Instead, understanding that "other people were imagining her striking those poses" only made her blush harder.
She lowered her head, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz. "W-why would they imagine... me like that..."
"Well... that's..."
Sweat beaded at Luo Li's temples as he steeled himself and explained, "Maybe because... everyone thinks you're beautiful, so... they want to see you looking different?
"Of course! Imagining things like that without permission is wrong! I... I'll delete them all right now!"
As he spoke, he made to turn the computer on.
"N-no need!"
Castorice hurried to stop him, her voice still very quiet but tinged with panic.
Though embarrassed, she also vaguely sensed that those "works" seemed to contain some kind of... intense fondness? It was just that the way it was expressed left her, their subject, completely unable to cope.
She secretly raised her eyes to glance at Luo Li's mortified expression, as though he wished he could atone with his death. Inexplicably, some of the shock and embarrassed indignation in her heart faded, replaced by a... more complicated feeling.
This person... had collected so many... "shadows" of her?
Seeing that she had not immediately treated him like a pervert and thrown him out, Luo Li breathed a small sigh of relief, but the awkward atmosphere still hung in the air.
He gave two dry coughs, trying to force a change of subject. "Um... anyway, that's how the basic computer controls work! Shall we... look at something else? How about I teach you to use a phone? You use this more often!"
He practically fled the computer desk, picked up his phone, and began explaining at a pace so fast he sounded like he was rapping.
Castorice obligingly refrained from mentioning what had just happened, but the blush lingered on her face for a long time. She was also somewhat distracted as she listened to Luo Li's explanation, her gaze occasionally drifting toward the computer's now-dark screen, a subtle, indescribable look flashing through her purple eyes.
[Ding! Target "Castorice" has unexpectedly discovered the host's "secret collection." Her feelings are extremely complicated, leaving her confused and embarrassed. Affection fluctuation: -5 (from shock and embarrassed indignation) +8 (from a subtle fondness arising upon noticing the host's intense affection and his current embarrassment)! Current affection: 46%!]
Listening to the system notification, Luo Li felt a jumble of emotions.
Did this count as... a blessing in disguise?
Still, after this ordeal, he realized something profoundly-certain "study materials" needed to be thoroughly encrypted and hidden, immediately, right now!