It’s a Memory-Loss Second Playthrough, Ya Hear!
2: Chapter 2: Nani!
It’s a Memory-Loss Second Playthrough, Ya Hear!
As the bell signaling the end of class rang out, the quiet classroom gradually grew lively again.
This, however, had nothing to do with the two soundly sleeping Thirens.
“Lynn, why is Ellen still asleep?” Ruby rested her chin on her hand, looking rather troubled.
“Maybe she’s found a sleeping buddy,” Lynn said, glancing at Ellen, who was snoozing exceptionally peacefully.
“Ahhh, that damn Mo Buyuan!
He’s stolen away our break-time sharkie!
Boohoo!” Ruby looked as though she and Buyuan were now sworn enemies.
“Ruby?
Is this guy a transfer student?” A girl with small cow horns approached them.
“Nope, his name is Mo Buyuan.
He’s the one who hasn’t shown up since the start of the semester,” Ruby said with a hint of admiration in her voice.
“Probably had family stuff, huh?
Is he another person affected by a Hollow disaster?” Monna asked curiously.
“Monna, you’re that interested in him?
Well, he is really handsome, and having a tail is definitely a bonus!
But you don’t even know each other yet~” Ruby’s expression turned impish.
“No!
I wasn’t— I’m just a little curious.” Monna jabbed Ruby with her elbow in annoyance.
When afternoon classes ended for lunch, Buyuan said a quick hello to the group and turned tail to go grab some food.
He wandered around Lumina Square for a bit, and soon enough, it was time for afternoon classes.
No surprises there — he once again duo-queued with Ellen in full AFK mode.
Happy times are always fleeting, and the pair’s comfortable sleeping environment quickly reached its end.
The final bell rang out, accompanied by the melodious piano tune from the broadcast room.
It swept away the students’ weariness after a long day, and also roused two slumbering souls.
“Hey!
Wake up.” Ellen’s somewhat languid voice pulled the sleeping Buyuan back to consciousness.
“Hm?
Class is over?” Buyuan rubbed his eyes a little groggily, the ears atop his head twitching with nimble energy.
“Ahh, those ears are so unfair,” Ruby’s sudden voice snapped Buyuan much further awake.
Buyuan selectively ignored Ruby’s remark, stretched, and shook out his slightly stiff tail.
“Thanks, you guys.
If not for you, I probably would’ve spent the night here.” Buyuan threw a wink at the three girls.
After all, there was hardly anyone else around now, so his social anxiety had naturally packed its bags and left.
“You two are something else.
Sleeping all morning, and then managing to keep sleeping through three more afternoon classes.” Ruby was very displeased with Buyuan for drastically improving Ellen’s sleep quality.
“The black-haired one with glasses is Lynn.
The cow-horned Thiren is Monna.
We’re all Ellen’s good friends.” Ruby pulled the two beside her forward and introduced them to Buyuan.
“Hello to you both.
My name is Mo Buyuan.
Just Buyuan is fine.” He gave them a friendly smile.
After parting ways with the three, Buyuan headed to Lumina Square and found the Waterfall Soup run by Chop Junior.
He ordered a bowl of ramen and a cup of tea-infused milk, then planned to head home.
“As expected, sleeping quality in a classroom is off the charts,” Buyuan muttered to himself, before remembering a matter that was both somewhat important and not really important at all.
“Come to think of it, I’m not exactly a run-of-the-mill fox Thiren, am I?” Buyuan tried hard to piece together his scattered memories.
In the fragments he’d sifted through that morning, a second tail had emerged while he’d been out of control.
Buyuan scratched his ear.
“Tch, so I’m a nine-tails, huh~ Wonder if I can fire off a Tailed Beast Bomb.
But judging by the fur color, it’s probably not that kind of nine-tails.” It looked like he’d have to do some serious research tonight.
After all, there seemed to be some sort of inheritance — or maybe not.
He was pretty sure he hadn’t caught a single word of what that voice had said.
For all he knew, it had been cussing him out.
Back on Sixth Street, Buyuan waved at Uncle Enzo, who had now fully accepted reality.
Once home, Buyuan threw himself onto the bed.
It wasn’t that he was slacking off; he simply had no clue how to even start researching.
He couldn’t exactly go find a researcher, could he?
Besides, his intuition told him the time just wasn’t right yet.
So then, what to do now?
Looking at the balance in his account, Buyuan felt a bit helpless.
There were so many zeros you couldn’t even count them all.
Short of buying property in the center of New Eridu, there was simply no way to spend it all.
He had no idea where the money came from.
He only had memories going back a little over ten months, anyway.
This New Eridu, which had only just recovered its vitality, was sorely lacking in entertainment.
It seemed like all the technology had been poured into dealing with the Hollows.
As someone who had once lived on Earth, he simply couldn’t accept such a boring world.
After all, he couldn’t enter the Hollows yet.
This place was, frankly, a bit dull for him.
“Ah, I’ve got it.
I’ll just head over to the video-seller siblings and grab some tapes, then cook up some software myself.
Problem solved.” Buyuan clapped his hands together sharply.
This world’s artificial intelligence and AI were ridiculously advanced.
It wasn’t that they lacked the technology!
It was that they lacked the expansive imagination to apply it to things outside the Hollows.
And he, a model fox citizen of the new century, had a head brimming full of exactly that.
If he just showed off a tiny bit of his skills, it would be — for New Eridu — a ninety-nine percent pure rarity~ With that thought, he no longer hesitated.
He headed straight downstairs to the garage.
He planned to first go to the Bangboo specialty store at the Marcel Group, buy a Bangboo, then hit the mall for a video player.
Buyuan’s car was one he’d bought during his NPC days — an eye-wateringly expensive supercar.
He smoothly ignited the engine, hit the gas, and arrived at Lumina Square, locating the Bangboo specialty store.
The moment he stepped inside, he saw Bangboo of all shapes and sizes, currently docked in standby mode on their charging stations.
“Sir, how may I assist you?” A shop assistant dressed in a professional office lady outfit approached.
“I’d like to custom-order a Bangboo.
I can sketch the design draft on the spot.
Oh, and I want the enhanced version!
Enhanced in every aspect.” Buyuan had already hatched a brilliant little scheme in his mind.
“Certainly, sir.
Right this way, please.” Guided by the shop assistant, Buyuan quickly sketched out the blueprint for his Bangboo.
The sketch depicted a Bangboo dressed in a purple kimono.
At Buyuan’s emphatic request, it was also given purple hair, adorned with two purple flowers and a fan-shaped hair ornament.
Heh!
Since this was a Bangboo meant to help him create programs, it had to be an outstanding programmer, of course.
Beelzebub makes her dazzling debut!
“Alright, sir.
I wonder if you intend to authorize the use of your designed Bangboo’s appearance…” The shop assistant didn’t even finish the sentence before Buyuan cut her off.
“I don’t intend to.” Buyuan refused without waiting for the rest.
He didn’t need to hear it to know what she meant.
He had no desire to see a second, identical Bangboo pop up anywhere.
Under the onslaught of Buyuan’s financial offensive, his Beelzebub would be delivered to his home by tomorrow evening.
Next on the list: buy some clothes and a video player.
Perhaps because he was on his own, the meaning of being in a shopping mall seemed reduced to purely purpose-driven purchasing.
Before long, Buyuan had gathered all he needed.
He’d found a set of clothes with a Chinese-inspired style, though he figured he’d wait a while before wearing them.
Paired with his natural assets and good looks, it would draw a little too much attention.
Driving back to Sixth Street, Buyuan secretly resolved to seek out the characters he knew.
Being alone in a modern city really was a bit lonely.
Then he’d start with the siblings, Wise and Belle, and Sharkie!
Taking his things back home, Buyuan changed into his newly purchased outfit.
A three-quarter-sleeve shirt with a cartoon pattern, and a pair of light grey jeans.
Don’t ask where the tail comes out!
The answer is that there’s a small hole in the jeans.
Buyuan stealthily peeked through the doorway of Random Play.
Once he confirmed both siblings were in, he pushed the door open and went inside.
“Brother, I’m so bored.” Belle sat beside No.
18, idly browsing Inter-Knot.
“Bear with it.
Commissions have been a bit scarce lately, and who knows what Nicole and the others have been up to,” Wise said with a hint of resignation.
The moment the door opened, Wise and Belle immediately fell silent.
One quietly continued browsing Inter-Knot, the other tidied up the video tapes.
“Hm-mm-mm, mm-mm~” No.
18 waved happily at Buyuan.
“Welcome!
Is there anything I can help you with?” Belle, spotting a customer, immediately set down her phone and stood up.
“Hello there!
I’m the tenant above Uncle Enzo’s place, so I guess that makes me your neighbor.
I happened to need some tapes to pass the time, and thought I’d come get acquainted with the two shopkeepers.” Buyuan greeted the pair warmly.
Without strangers around, he was actually quite outgoing.
“Huh?
A new neighbor?” Belle’s eyes lit up upon seeing Buyuan.
Buyuan’s face habitually wore a relaxed, languid expression.
His slightly long white hair partially obscured his eyes, casually tied back into a ponytail with a red cord.
He looked a bit unkempt, yet not at all sloppy.
“Not quite new.
The name’s Mo Buyuan.
Just Buyuan is fine.
I moved here before you two, so accurately speaking, you two are my new neighbors.” Buyuan corrected her.
“Hi, hi!
I’m Belle, and this is my brother, Wise.” Belle pulled her brother over, introducing them both with open friendliness.
“Nice to meet you, Buyuan.” Wise extended a hand, and Buyuan shook it.
“You two shopkeepers really are just as easy-going as the neighbors all say,” Buyuan smiled at the two shopkeepers, his tail swishing behind him.
“So, mind giving me an introduction?
What kind of tapes do you have here?” Buyuan didn’t plan to veer into other topics.
For small talk, they weren’t that close yet, and for work, he wasn’t a Proxy.
“Let me handle this.
Over here, over here.” Belle immediately shoved Wise aside and led Buyuan to the neatly arranged racks of video tapes.
“What kind of films does our little Buyuan like to watch?” Belle was naturally quick to warm up to people.
Add to that Buyuan’s rather youthful appearance and the neighborly connection, she effortlessly settled into the role of big sister.
“Hmm, hot-blooded action?
Romance?
Comedy?
Or maybe educational stuff, I guess.” Buyuan didn’t really mind what Belle called him.
“Mhm~ Wide-ranging tastes, huh.
Here, here, and over there, those are all tapes of the genres you like.” Belle pointed out several cabinets in front of them.
With Belle’s assistance, he quickly picked out six tapes.
Bangboo Knows!, Sunset Plaza, Oh~ Sweetie, Small Body, Big Crisis, Starlight Knight, The Heartbeat.
“That many?
Want to sign up for a membership card?
It’ll save you quite a bit, you know~” Belle, having bagged the tapes, playfully waggled a finger beside her head.
“Sure, sorry for the trouble, Shopkeeper Belle.” Buyuan pulled out his phone, scanned, registered, and paid, directly depositing a credit of 50,000 Dennies into the account.
“Eh?
Such a large deposit on your first visit?” Buyuan took out his phone and added the two as contacts.
“Just consider it supporting a new neighbor’s business.
Well then, goodbye you two.
If there’s ever anything you need help with, just knock on my door~” Buyuan picked up the packaged tapes, waved goodbye to the pair, and left.
Back home, he comfortably sank into his beanbag chair, watching Starlight Knight, eagerly awaiting the arrival of Beelzebub tomorrow, and then — the beginning of his grand plan to conquer the web.
As night gradually quieted, beneath the tranquil sky, the Hollow’s brilliant, prismatic glow tugged at people’s hearts, appearing abnormally alluring.
Buyuan, on his soft bed, gradually slipped from consciousness.
Suddenly, a single, active tail emerged behind Buyuan.
As it swayed gently, it emitted a soft light.
Wiggle wiggle wiggle.
(Missing an AI, aren’t ya?
Here, take it!) A purple soul was tossed out by the tail, which then, with a pop, dispersed into a swirling, luminous mist.
The purple soul gazed silently at the sleeping young man.
“Did Yuan blow up his tails trying to save someone again?
Honestly, he’s always like this.
He promised he’d find me a body, but then he goes and forgets everything himself first.” The ethereal fingertips of the purple figure gently brushed past Buyuan’s face.
“In that case, I’ll just take up residence in this ‘Beelzebub’ of yours for now~ But let’s be clear upfront, programmer stuff — you said yourself that’s what Ei is good at.
What Beelzebub is good at has nothing to do with me, Baal.
Big sis here is better at cooking, you see~” With that, the purple figure gradually faded away, tucking itself into some corner.
The young man seemed to dream of something, an unconscious smile lingering faintly at the corner of his lips, utterly irrepressible.
Comment it and let me know.