003. The mind trembles!

"Have you thought about what you want to buy?" Jiang Yu walked side by side with Komai along the street, asking the girl beside him.

Her steps were light, and she hummed an unknown melody as she replied, "Just things like a toothbrush and a towel—nothing special."

Jiang Yu couldn't quite understand why his sister was in such an inexplicably good mood.

And... what was with these exaggerated reactions from the passersby? It was one thing to turn back for a second look, but even couples were sneaking glances their way as they passed. Wasn't that a bit much? And that middle-aged man—your fruit fell to the ground!

"All right, so what do you want for lunch?" he asked.

"Whatever you decide is fine!" the girl answered.

"Um..." Jiang Yu frowned, thinking carefully about what decent and affordable restaurants were nearby. It seemed their remaining funds were rather limited.

Suddenly, his brows arched in decision. "How about that family restaurant up ahead?"

Komai smiled softly. "Sure."

Wow. Jiang Yu felt healed by that smile.

They entered the restaurant and chose a seat by the window. Almost immediately, a man dressed as a waiter approached, asking, "Hello! May I take your order... Eh? Yu?"

Jiang Yu, who had been looking down at the menu, raised his head. Familiarity washed over him, and he blurted, "Runya? You work here?"

Aki Runya—pretty much his predecessor's only friend at school. Thinking about it, his predecessor's social skills in reality were truly worrisome. Not that he himself was any better.

"Yeah. Yu, you are...?" Runya said, casting a curious glance at Komai, who was smiling quietly.

"Ah—this is my—"

"Hello, senior! I'm Komai, Yu's younger sister!" Komai interrupted before Jiang Yu could finish.

"Uh... Komai, this is my classmate and friend—Aki Runya."

"Wow, it's a miracle my brother has a friend in the real world. He's been a bother to you, hasn't he? Thank you for taking care of him, Senior Aki!"

"...Did you just say something outrageous without batting an eye, my dear sister?"

"Wait, you really have a sister?" Runya stared at Jiang Yu in disbelief.

"Well... I remember telling you I had a cousin. You just refused to believe me," Jiang Yu replied with a bitter smile.

"But Yu, you’re such a sis—cough, how could you really have a sister?" Runya still looked incredulous, though he seemed to be minding his words, speaking in a rather subtle way.

"Impossible! I am absolutely not a sis—ugh, never mind. I want to order now, Waiter Aki!" Jiang Yu retorted, looking somewhat aggrieved, and forcibly changed the subject.

"Ahem. Very well, what would you like to order? I recommend this set meal," Runya said, understanding Jiang Yu's cue, pointing to a set featured on the "HOT" page.

By the way, shouldn't this be your real job, Runya?

Komai looked at the two of them in confusion; if this were an anime, she probably would have three question marks floating above her head.

After ordering, they waited a while. The food wasn't delivered by Runya, much to Jiang Yu's relief. He grumbled internally, "Even if I am a sis-con, don’t say it in front of my sister... Cough! No way, I'm definitely not a sis-con—nonsense!"

"Ah, right, Yu. Stay after the opening ceremony the day after tomorrow; I have something very important to ask of you!" Runya appeared again at some point, speaking solemnly to Jiang Yu.

"Yeah, yeah! Go back to work, Runya!" Jiang Yu replied irritably. At the same time, he was startled—school was starting already? Wasn't it still just the end of March?

Oh, apparently the private Fengzhi Academy his predecessor attended used a three-term system. How unfortunate.

...

In the end, Jiang Yu wiped his mouth, feeling satisfied. He had to admit, this family restaurant had good reason to maintain such a prime location for so long. If he ever had to bring someone out for a meal again, he’d definitely choose this place.

Komai narrowed her eyes, savoring her post-meal sundae.

"Careful not to upset your stomach," Jiang Yu warned.

"That won't happen!"

"...Then be careful not to gain weight."

"...Big brother, you're mean!"

"Hahahaha..."

...

After buying their things and having dinner, they returned home, and Jiang Yu discovered a serious problem.

When he was about to pay for their purchases at the convenience store, he suddenly realized he didn't have enough money. Thankfully, Komai, who was following behind, noticed his predicament, swiftly paid the bill, and hurried her mortified brother out of the store.

So... how should he earn money?

Jiang Yu sat on the floor of his bedroom, frowning deeply, lost in thought.

Asking his biological father for money was certainly an option, but it would feel like admitting defeat. Besides, his parents in his previous life had passed away early, and he had been used to fending for himself since childhood. Asking a relative he hadn't even fully accepted for money was something he found impossible to do, now that he was, after all, an adult.

What could he do, then?

Make games? Of course, but that would take too long.

Anime? He'd need the skill and capital for that... He could edit videos, but making a profitable anime on his own was out of the question—not to mention the production timeline, he couldn’t even solve the staffing issue.

Then... write novels?

Suddenly, Jiang Yu's eyes lit up. He had always written well; in his previous life, he had submitted manuscripts to a certain web platform for a living. He hadn’t become famous, but it had helped him through the toughest times.

So, what kind of novel was easiest to profit from in this country?

Obviously, light novels! And a single volume of a light novel was around 100,000 words—much less than the millions of words typical in web fiction, so the workload was much lighter.

First, he'd see what genres were popular in this world.

Jiang Yu logged into Google on his phone and began searching for the light novels of this world.

The more he searched, the more astonished he became. Many of the works he was familiar with simply didn’t exist!

For example, hits from his previous life like "SAO," "Re: Life in a Different World from Zero," "5 Centimeters Per Second," "Konosuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World"...

Instead, there were titles like "Legend of the Fantasy Demon Blade," "The Explosive Dark Fairy," and, for lighter works, the likes of "Love Metronome," which Jiang Yu had read before.

Of course, not everything was unfamiliar; for example, the Monogatari series by Nisio Isin still existed, with Araragi being called "Arara-garbage-kun." "A Certain Magical Index" remained popular, and "The Irregular at Magic High School"—a light novel Jiang Yu had only heard of but never read—was still on the charts.

As for manga, only "One Piece" and "Bleach" dominated the scene, while "Naruto" was nowhere to be found.

The music was all unfamiliar to him, and most anime adaptations of light novels were titles he’d never heard of.

Jiang Yu started searching for the names of authors from his memories: there was no Wataru Watari, no Reki Kawahara, no Tsukasa Fushimi, not even Honobu Yonezawa or Keigo Higashino.

Only writers like Yasunari Kawabata, Soseki Natsume, Osamu Dazai, and Haruki Murakami, with their unchanged works, remained.

After a long search, Jiang Yu became convinced that the ACG (anime, comics, games) scene in this world was quite different from that of his previous life.

"In that case, could I bring over the classics from my old world?" he muttered to himself.

In that instant, Jiang Yu felt as if his head would explode—countless pieces of information raced through his neural pathways like electric currents. He collapsed to the floor, biting his lip to keep himself from crying out in pain.

On his retinas, a string of garbled code, full of zeroes and ones, seemed to flash by. He didn’t know how long it lasted, but eventually, the sensation stabilized. The pain gradually faded.

Then, he felt as if something new had appeared in his mind.

"This... this is..." Jiang Yu clutched his head, his voice trembling with shock.

In the depths of his mind, an icon resembling "My Computer" from the Windows 10 system appeared. When he tried to open it with his thoughts, the familiar white interface and disk names nearly made him crash.

Windows, Game, ACG, Dream.

His whole body trembled as he clicked on the disk named "Dream." Inside, there was only one folder, titled: "Fantasy of the Second Dimension."

Jiang Yu's eyes instantly brimmed with tears. This was the most precious thing in his computer—his four years of youth in university.

During college, aside from his studies, he participated in no outdoor activities. Every day, he stayed in his dorm during his free time, using RPG Maker to build, bit by bit, a world that embodied his youth and his deep passion for the second dimension.

To build this world, he watched the anime that had moved him, over and over, then sought out the original light novels and read them again and again.

He listened tirelessly to all kinds of songs each day, trying to perfectly integrate them into his world, one track after another.

He repeatedly revised character design sketches until they reached perfection in his heart.

He painstakingly sorted through the storylines he wrote, striving to iron out any awkward or discordant passages.

Unfortunately, in the end, due to life's demands, just as the game was about to be completed, he had to join the crowd of graduates and find a job to support himself.

Even after waking up in this new world, he never had the chance for his youthful story to take its final step onto the stage.