My wife is the stand-in.

“That’s definitely a good thing,” Amanosaki replied truthfully.

Rin Tohsaka smiled, a sly glint in her eyes: "On a world map, you see countries divided by borders, filled with different colored blocks. When you reach the border, can you actually see that line?"

"You can shop on Earth and in this world using QR codes. You don't have any currency in your hand, just a string of numbers on your phone, yet you can buy genuine goods. What's the difference in purchasing power between virtual currency and real currency?"

Amanosaki was speechless for a moment.

"Whether it's a nation or a currency, they are all based on the collective imagination of humankind. They only constrain humans. For birds, beasts, insects, and fish, what difference is there between flying across a national border and flying over thousands of mountains and rivers in the past? To them, those are all fake and do not exist."

As Rin Tohsaka rambled on, she soaked the small piece of the imprint that had been peeled off in a special solution to heal herself, and then drank a test tube of liquid.

She wiped away her sweat, washed the blood off the knife with alcohol, and looked at Amanosaki lying in the magic circle. He was enveloped in magic power that only magicians could see, and he was thoroughly soaked inside and out.

'The cooking time is just right.'

So the knife slashed open Amanosaki's wrist, and beads of blood oozed from the cut.

Rin Tohsaka's hand trembled slightly, and she stopped in time. After catching her breath, she continued the surgery, saying in a light tone, "But no one can deny that the nations imagined by all of humanity have caused changes to the Earth that nature could not have accomplished in tens of thousands of years."

"Buildings resembling concrete jungles, airplanes soaring through the sky, and countless wavelengths of light, both long and short, densely entwine the world. These real things are creations of humanity under the shared imagination of culture and national unity. Humanity is great because of imagination, and that is undeniable."

"Nozaki, this is turning a fake into a real thing."

"As I've said before, magic is about taking things that can be done with common sense and doing them in uncommon ways."

The girl peeled back the skin, looked at the bright red, plump muscles, and tenderly poured a numbing potion over them before severing the muscles.

Amanosaki bit down on the towel he had prepared beforehand, his eyes tightly closed, and large beads of sweat pouring down his face.

"Since virtual reality can empower us to transform the world, magic can do the same."

"Hmm." Amanosaki nodded. He couldn't say another word. The anesthetic Rin Tohsaka used was wearing off very quickly, seemingly to keep his nerves active so he could accept the mark as soon as possible. Now he felt a burning sensation in his right hand.

It felt as if someone had used a red-hot wire to precisely attach it to the neural network of his right arm; the pain was indescribable, like a category 12 typhoon lashing his brain.

He even wondered if his brain had shrunk into stone from the pain, and he could no longer think of anything. He even vaguely saw a long corridor in which his short life was unfolding.

……

"Okay, you can sit up now."

The blood-stained scalpel and a bunch of knives were laid out in a row on the gauze. These were all recast by Rin Tohsaka after temporarily melting the iron nails with her gem magic.

The girl looked as if she had just been pulled out of the water, but Amanosaki was in even worse condition.

Removing the mark was painful, much like having one of her kidneys removed while she was conscious.

However, the recipients of the transplant were in worse condition; the magic mark was far more dangerous and aggressive than the organ itself. Amanosaki's right arm was now an unnatural red, its temperature approaching fifty degrees Celsius, and bandages soaked in alcohol were wrapped around it in an attempt to cool it down.

"Normally, transplant surgery requires two people to operate, and the recipient is under general anesthesia. We don't have those facilities right now, so we have to simplify things. It's normal for your arm to feel hot; the magic circuits are trying to fuse with the engraving... Hey, what are you doing?"

Rin Tohsaka paused in her hand as she gathered her knives, staring in shock and anger at Amanosaki, who had just sat up and whose face was ashen, as he grabbed a piece of artificial crystal, a faint light shimmering in his left palm.

Having just completed the transplant, Amanosaki recklessly began using magic.

Rin Tohsaka lunged forward, easily snatching the jewel from the nearly exhausted Amanosaki's hand, and angrily shouted, "If you miss, just say so! I'll kill you with one strike! If you do this, won't all my hard work be wasted?!"

Amanosaki forced a weak smile onto his pale face, and with difficulty, raised his index finger, pointing at the crystal.

Rin Tohsaka spread her hands, her anger instantly turning into shock.

The artificial crystal doubled in size. Inside, under the control of the magic awakened by Amanosaki, the hard solid structure transformed into a flat, square shape. Several neat lines on the crystal surface outlined the image of a young girl with a fluttering skirt and boundless youth.

It was a square relief, a crystal relief of Rin Tohsaka made with magic.

“Rin,” Amanosaki exclaimed, “I think drawing with magic is much more powerful than using a graphics tablet. I have so many inspirations now.”

"You guy!"

Rin Tohsaka was half moved and half angry. She raised her right hand and slashed down fiercely.

The hand chop, accompanied by a whistling sound, slowed down as it approached Amanosaki, and finally gently struck his head.

Then that hand grabbed his hair and ruffled it haphazardly.

The girl, with tears welling in her eyes, smiled through her tears.

"That's right. My girl looks most beautiful when she smiles."

Chapter Thirty-Two: The Path of Explosive Liver

The aroma of essential oils wafted through the small room, and even with the air conditioning working tirelessly, the concentration of the fragrance in the air continued to slowly increase.

Rin Tohsaka held the embossed crystal square engraved with her own image, her expression quickly changing from moved to solemn.

Without a doubt, this is a product of magic.

Altering the structure of an object and multiplying crystals are both relatively basic techniques in gem magic. Moreover, it took completely depleting the magical power that Rin had stored in the crystals to barely create such a crude contraption.

Although it looks like a very rudimentary and primitive technique, it is indeed magic.

It is a work by Amanosaki, whose arm was swollen like a water-injected pork after receiving a magic crest, and whose magic circuit is being connected to the crest.

Normal people at this point are already suffering terribly from the disordered magic and the premature use of unprepared magic circuits.

But apart from the swelling caused by the connection and the fatigue caused by blood loss during the surgery, Amanosaki was completely fine!

"Don't you feel any pain?"

Rin Tohsaka pressed her skirt against her buttocks and gently squatted down.

"I felt my hands were very hot, and I also felt like someone was pressing on my cervical plexus."

Amanosaki answered truthfully.

Rin Tohsaka rested her thumb on her chin, looking thoughtful. "This is not normal. Even when I received the transplant, I was in great pain for the first few months and even had to take a few weeks off... It's not impossible for the first transplant to fail."

At this point, Rin Tohsaka began to untie the gauze wrapped around her wound.

This time, not only Rin Tohsaka was shocked, but even Amanosaki was stunned.

Amanosaki's wrist had an I-shaped wound that ran across the entire inside of his wrist. Not only did it skip the scabbing process, but it also skipped the swelling.

The muscles under the skin had been severed, but now the muscle tissue has not only begun to heal, but the skin that was opened and then closed has not shown any signs of atrophy; it has simply grown back together.

If it weren't for the lingering pain and the fresh scabs on the surface, Rin Tohsaka would have even doubted that the surgery she had just undergone was just a dream!

"Rin, I remember you didn't heal me, did you?"

Amanosaki said awkwardly.

"Nonsense!" Rin Tohsaka glared, her black ribbon bouncing lightly on her ponytail. "After the imprint is transplanted, it can only wait for natural healing and must not be affected by the magic of other people... Ah, I see."

“King of Knowledge has learned something again, tell me quickly.” Amanosaki, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, eagerly leaned over, but Rin Tohsaka reached out and pressed his face down, then pushed him into the magic circle.

"My existence is based on your special ability, and you can enjoy half of my special physique. In other words, you and I are essentially the same, and the transplantation and imprinting don't need to be so complicated."

Rin Tohsaka pressed her forehead in deep regret: "It takes time for the mark to adapt to the host's body, but you and I are originally one, so there are no such complicated issues. In addition, the mark itself is a mystery, so there is no need to consider ordinary diseases... I can just cut it up and create a branch for transplantation."

'I see. ’

Amanosaki understood. It was like a doctor taking a patient's skin, cultivating it, and then transplanting the skin to the burn site. This type of autologous transplantation does not cause rejection.

In short, Rin Tohsaka's displeasure with the lack of rejection lies in...

This was something so obvious, yet she messed it up.

"Haha, I just remembered Rin. Netizens often complain about your special skill: 'Handling everything smoothly, but messing things up at crucial moments'..."

Amanosaki's carefree smile stung Rin Tohsaka's heart. The girl knelt down, her hands gripping Amanosaki's neck, her face flushed and burning with shame at the words "you messed up at the crucial moment," her expression contorted with rage.

"You're letting me down, aren't you? You want to complain, huh? I'll strangle you!!"

"No, no, no, I was wrong, Rin. My dear Rin, my wife!... Uh-huh!"

"It doesn't hurt, right? It's still tingly and numb, isn't it? Let me give you some more pleasure!"

Rin Tohsaka pressed one hand against the T-shaped wound, and healing magic was released as she chanted. The rapidly healing wound faithfully transmitted the pressure from nerve proliferation and the connection of the markings to the central nervous system.

On the surface, this manifests as an indescribable, numbing sensation that can leave one feeling weak and paralyzed.

It's like suddenly standing up after lying on a table all day, the numb veins in your feet twitching and your hands throbbing. It's also like touching an electrical wire, your whole body convulsing, like a fish out of water.

The two people's heavy, sticky breaths mingled in the small room, and the sweat and the rising temperature of their burning flesh filled the room with pheromones that were indescribable.

If someone were to walk into the room blindfolded at this moment, he would definitely have the wrong idea.

He slammed his fist on the floor, using a boxing move to signal his surrender.

Rin Tohsaka then released her hand from the magic spell.

"Ah~ Rin, you're murdering your husband." Amanosaki shrank back, his whole body still feeling a little numb, but the swelling in his right hand had already shown signs of subsiding.

After all, it was a copy of half of Rin Tohsaka's magic circuit, which was imprinted and implanted into Amanosaki's body, just like coming home.

"What, do you have any objections?"

"No, no, I wouldn't dare." Amanosaki wiped the sweat from his forehead, thinking that he had to get over this quickly, otherwise he would easily get caught up in it again. He really didn't want to experience this feeling of numbness and tingling all over his body a second time.

I need to think of something to distract myself. What should I be thinking about...?

Amanosaki glanced around nervously, then pursed her dry, pale lips: "Rin, my computer seems to be constantly receiving messages. It must be that there have been replies to the pictures I sent earlier."

"So what?"

"I drew you."

Rin Tohsaka's tone was dismissive, but her fingers curling her hair betrayed her thoughts: "A painting is just a painting."

“I also sent you some photos of your daily life,” Amanosaki said sincerely.

"..." Rin Tohsaka silently stood up, clutching the gem in her hand, and led the limping Amanosaki to the computer.

"If you take a bad picture of me, I'll kill you."

The damp air carried a chilling murderous intent.

Amanosaki's face stiffened, and he forced a smile, saying, "Of course not, how could I possibly take a bad picture of my wife, right?"

Rin Tohsaka fiddled with the gem in her hand, smiling as she watched Amanosaki turn on his computer, enter his password, and refresh the webpage.

The newly uploaded images have already garnered hundreds of replies, and "To That Distant ACG" has gained nearly ten thousand more views.

This data has far exceeded previous figures.

Even when Amanosaki was already famous and even attracted the attention of the True Soul Mantis who launched an offline cyberbullying campaign, the number of new views was only a few thousand.