Chapter 2: The White-Haired Girl Appears
[The Mask of the Punished: Empty / Lumine: This is the mask worn by the Traveler siblings during their journeys in Teyvat. Once you put it on, no one will recognize you.]
"Why is it 'Punished' instead of 'Traveler'? Is this a bootleg version?" Fu Ming stared at the name, his roast energy fully charged.
"Wow~ With this mask, I can show up right in front of the old antique, and she won't even know it's me!"
The Herrscher of Sentience, not caring about the item's name at all, giggled excitedly at the thought of standing boldly in front of the old antique while wearing it to tease her.
"Even without the mask, she wouldn't know who you are right now. You haven't even been born yet in this timeline. Of course, your appearance still needs the mask... and I probably do too."
Fu Ming looked at the silly Herrscher of Sentience and reminded her that the timeline hadn't reached her debut yet.
"Oh right! Hehe~ I can't wait to see the old antique's face when she sees both of us. Hahahaha, just thinking about it feels amazing!"
"Ming, how about you come with me to prank the old antique later? We can steal all her clothes!"
The more she thought about it, the more the Herrscher of Sentience felt like rushing straight into St. Freya Academy.
"Okay, okay, okay. You're practically drooling. When the chance comes, I'll help you get your revenge. My turn to draw now." Fu Ming coaxed her in a tone one uses with a child.
"Even though we've only known each other a short time, I approve of you." The Herrscher of Sentience patted Fu Ming on the shoulder, feeling for the first time what it was like to be protected by someone.
Fu Ming rubbed his hands together excitedly and reached grandly into the infinite bag.
"Give it to me!"
[Try Again]
Fu Ming: ? (Why is it "Try Again"? This doesn't make sense.)
[Try Again]
[Try Again]
[Try Again]
...
[Try Again]
Fu Ming: "I********, you********."
"Hahahaha~ Are you even capable, Ming?" The Herrscher of Sentience looked at the system prompts, clutching her stomach and laughing hysterically.
"A man can't be told he can't do it. Next time for sure."
(Heaven bless me, Jade Emperor bless me, please have mercy. I'm willing to sacrifice my author friend's ten years of single life for a good pull.)
Fu Ming prayed silently in his heart as he shakily reached into the bag again. As expected, his friend was doomed to stay single.
[Broken Time-Stop Pocket Watch: Though it looks a bit worn out, it has the effect of stopping time for 5 seconds. Cooldown: 1 hour. OP... oops, got carried away with the spiel.]
"Holy crap! A time-stop item!"
"You know the value of time-stop (series), right~" Fu Ming stared in shock at the pocket watch in his hand, then waved it in front of the Herrscher of Sentience with an extremely exaggerated, meme-worthy face. (Reference: Kamen Rider Drive's Brain character)
Of course, the Herrscher of Sentience—who never holds back—promptly punched him square in the face.
"Have you eaten yet? If not, eat my fist!"
"Ow! What was that for~" Fu Ming clutched his nose, sprawling on the floor with his legs spread, looking aggrieved as he watched the Herrscher twist her wrist.
"Who told you to make such a punchable face?"
"..."
The Herrscher of Sentience picked up the infinite bag from the floor, shook it a few times, and pulled out a button.
[Art Style Shift Button Trial Card: After use, you will enter an invincible art style for a limited time of 1 hour.]
"What does 'invincible art style' even look like?" The Herrscher of Sentience tossed the button to Fu Ming, asking curiously.
In Fu Ming's mind, images from his past life involuntarily popped up—JoJo's Bizarre Adventure—and then he pictured a JoJo-fied Fu Hua. He quickly shook his head.
"I have no idea..." Fu Ming covered his face, too guilty to answer her.
He couldn't exactly say it turns you into a muscular hunk, with bulging lines, average height 190 cm—that would be way too embarrassing.
No matter what, Fu Ming considered himself a handsome guy. Turning into a beefy muscleman would only attract guys. Good thing it's just a trial card.
Noticing the sky darkening outside, Fu Ming stored the items, got up from the floor, patted his "perky butt," and headed to the kitchen. The fridge was stocked full of ingredients.
"There's plenty of food here. Time to show off my skills."
...Amid the rumbling sounds from the kitchen...
"Are you sure these black lumps are edible? Otto would probably glitch out if he ate this." The Herrscher of Sentience poked at the food on the table with her finger; some were still smoking black smoke, and the acrid smell filled the entire room.
"Ah!" The Herrscher of Sentience threw a piece on the floor—it bounced back and smacked her in the face, making her yelp.
".....It's been too long since I cooked. Let's just order takeout. Ha... ha... ha(?°3°?)" Fu Ming looked away, unable to face the disaster on the table.
"Even worse than the old antique's pickled everlasting youth." Rubbing her forehead, the Herrscher of Sentience shot Fu Ming a disgusted eye-roll.
"Let's get some Shenzhou delicacies then." Ignoring her, Fu Ming pulled out his phone and smoothly opened a delivery app.
"Braised beef, roast duck, chicken stew with mushrooms, rice rolls, boiled pork slices, almond tofu."
"That should be enough... hmm, add one everlasting youth too." Hearing her mention "everlasting youth" , Fu Ming kindly added it.
He probably never imagined that the food the Herrscher of Sentience hated most was everlasting youth. Having inherited Fu Hua's memories, enduring five thousand years of the same pickled dish—no one could stomach eating the exact same thing for five millennia.
"All set. Once the delivery arrives, we can dig in." Fu Ming sat on the sofa and finally started recalling his identity in this world.
Fu Ming, 18 years old, from Shenzhou, currently a senior at Qianyu Academy's high school division, serving as class president...
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Before he could finish reminiscing, knocking came from the door.
"Delivery this fast? Gotta give it five stars." Checking the time on his phone—only eight minutes had passed—Fu Ming got up to open the door.
Standing outside was a white-haired, blue-eyed girl, panting heavily, holding the takeout bags in her hand.
"Huh? Class president? You're the one who ordered all this?" The white-haired girl looked up, realizing the boy who opened the door was her usually quiet class president, and she broke into a silly grin.