Chapter 22: Sakura: Don't exchange shameful videotapes right in front of me!

"Well, might as well go with it."

"Being able to share a hobby with Tomoyo will also help me complete that ridiculous 'bonding' quest..." Ye Hui mused.

He took a quick glance at his personal stats:

[Stats: Strength 3.1, Spiritual Power 2.2, Root Bone 5.1, Insight 1.1, Fortune 2.1, Divine Sense 0.8]

Having unlocked the Crafting profession, it was no surprise that his Strength and Spiritual Power had increased. Crafting is closely tied to strength, and as for Spiritual Power, crafting is also a skill that utilizes spiritual energy. The decimal points in each stat were likely gains accumulated while he was grinding his side professions. Whether it was drawing talismans, casting them, cooking, or simply eating... as long as it was related to a skill, he could gain experience. These daily activities provided only minor stat boosts, but it was a steady process.

"Wait, why did my Fortune increase?"

Ye Hui was surprised by this particular improvement. In the cultivation mini-game he had developed in his past life, the Fortune stat allowed for the triggering of various hidden events and serendipitous encounters. When entering sub-maps, one would also face Fortune checks. Players would trigger different events based on passing these checks. Naturally, the higher the Fortune, the easier it was to encounter opportunities within those maps.

"Could it be that my passive Fortune increased after joining the protagonist's team? Or is it simply due to the 'Cuteness King's' lucky blessing?" Ye Hui pondered.

The hidden event triggering mechanism in the game wouldn't be displayed directly on the game map. Thinking of the map, he wondered if any new areas had unlocked that might grant new opportunities. Previously, there had only been one map, "Overseas Immortal Sect," which was an unreleased dungeon. He had waited two years for it to finally unlock.

Ye Hui opened the game map. A simple ink-wash style island map appeared before his eyes. However, looking at the "Wanfa Immortal Sect" displayed on it, along with the vast areas of fog surrounding it...

"Why is it still a locked area?"

Those mists represented unexplored regions. In the game, the character usually had to explore using a flying sword for them to be revealed. Yet, even after exploring, they remained locked! Ye Hui had activated the map function while in his villa, but the map showed the area around the villa was still covered in fog. The only thing lit up was the "Ancient Cave Abode Ruins."

"System, where is my character's icon on the map? Why has it disappeared?"

[This is an unknown area. To view the character's location, please unlock the map...]

"Then, can you show me my surrounding environment?"

[New maps require the character to travel to that location to unlock it...]

To view it, he had to unlock the map. To unlock the map, he had to go view it. Are you kidding me with this circular logic?

"System, which module is malfunctioning this time?"

[Self-check complete. No issues found. If the host has any questions, please submit an error log and wait for processing.]

Fine, the system had gone back to being a blockhead. Never mind; he would just assume these places were new, unreleased maps. The unknown meant there were surprises waiting. What if one day they refreshed into secret realm dungeons? Then he could just lie in his villa and harvest resources from a secret realm at his leisure. Wouldn't that be a total win?

After washing up, it was already past midnight. Ye Hui had arrived at school around ten in the evening; Tomoyo's arrival, Sakura's costume changes, and the filming had taken quite a while. Tomoyo had only stopped once her new batteries were nearly drained. By the time the card capture ended and Ye Hui returned to the villa, it was nearly twelve.

"It's too late. Forget it, I won't grind for experience today..."

Sakura was just a Cardcaptor, not a corporate slave. She didn't need to punch a clock or hit daily quotas to capture Clow Cards. Ye Hui remembered that Li Syaoran transferred to Tomoeda Elementary School two months later. At that time, Sakura had fewer than ten cards. On average, that was only one card every week. It meant working only one day out of seven. How comfortable!

To trigger side quests, Ye Hui had to participate in the process of Tomoyo watching Sakura capture cards. But at this frequency, it wasn't tiring at all. He had plenty of time to level up on his own!

"Since I have time to grind for professional experience outside of the side quests, I don't need to be too anxious. After all, the further I go, the more skill experience is needed for professional advancement. There's no point in rushing..."

Thinking of this, Ye Hui suddenly felt much more relaxed.

...

April 13th, morning.

When Ye Hui entered the classroom, he heard a boy named "Yamazaki" telling ghost stories to the other students.

"...The desks in the classroom were messed up by that thing again, even the glass shattered into pieces... and the statue mysteriously disappeared..."

He told the story vividly. It was just that the story sounded strangely familiar. Wasn't this just what the Shadow Card had caused at school? Yamazaki spoke as if it were the absolute truth—though, in fact, it was. But seeing Yamazaki talk with such bravado, one would think he had witnessed exactly what happened that night. As expected of the king of tall tales, his mouth was truly something else.

As for the story Yamazaki Takashi was telling: the overturned desks were because the human-shaped shadow in the classroom had been restless during Sakura's battle with the Shadow Card. And the missing statue...

When Ye Hui had arrived on campus that morning, he had seen the janitors and teachers cleaning up the rubble. It was indeed quite eerie. A statue that heavy—who would go out of their way to move it to the school gate and smash it? But in this day and age, there was no surveillance. And even if there were, Tomoyo’s power would likely have been working behind the scenes.

The day ended, and Ye Hui passed another peaceful day of school life. At dismissal, just as he was about to leave, he heard Sakura calling out to him. She was holding two wrapped bags.

"Eh? Ye Hui, you really are here! I heard Chiharu say you were heading toward the audiovisual room..." Sakura said, slightly out of breath.

"Oh? What's the matter, Kinomoto?"

"This is for you. Thank you for helping me and Kero!"

[Kinomoto Sakura's Emotion Points +8]

"Oh, thanks." Ye Hui blinked and tucked the gift into his bag. "By the way, have you seen Tomoyo?"

Ye Hui smiled mysteriously. "I was just about to go find Tomoyo. She's in the audiovisual room. Kinomoto, do you want to come along?"

The two opened the door. Right in front of them, they saw the footage of Sakura riding her staff, flying in mid-air, being chased by a dark shadow, and dodging in a panic... It was clearly the recording of last night's battle.

Sakura: "Eh?!"

The arrival of Sakura and Ye Hui brought the sole audience member in the room, Daidouji Tomoyo, back to reality.

"It's filmed so beautifully, wonderful!" Ye Hui praised.

Sakura trudged over to Tomoyo, feeling drained. "Tomoyo... you even filmed that?"

"Of course. I absolutely cannot miss a single second of Sakura's heroic posture..." Tomoyo nodded as if it were only natural, her eyes sparkling with excitement. She then looked at Sakura with wide, expectant eyes, hoping Sakura would definitely come to her whenever she captured cards in the future! At the same time, she promised she would take good care of Sakura's battle costumes.

Faced with her best friend's request, Sakura found it hard to refuse and could only agree with an awkward, helpless expression.

At this moment, Ye Hui stepped forward. "Tomoyo, since the video editing is finished..."

Tomoyo immediately apologized. "Ah, sorry! I was just mesmerized by Sakura's heroic posture! Just a moment, I've already made a copy of the materials; it's right here."

Sakura: "..."

Watching the two exchange the embarrassing videotape right in front of her, Sakura no longer knew how to explain it.

*Sigh.* Whatever! Let them be!