Two Worlds, Starting with Kaguya of Penglai Mountain

In Japan, having around 100,000 followers is quite impressive, considering the country's population is only slightly over 100 million. They're basically comparable to the million-follower bloggers Kurokawa and Yazen in their previous lives.

Judging from this, Banami's performance in this area should be considered quite good.

However, judging from the girl's expression, unlike when she developed the food, she had no intention of taking credit.

Anzu Hachimi: "The video's popularity lasted much shorter than your game's. I was unlucky and didn't manage to create any magical artifacts. However, I had Kaguya help me transfer the relevant faith channels to Youmu's katana, which has now become much more powerful."

She casually recounted how she handled the subsequent issues with the faith she had attracted.

Kazuya Kurokawa: "Is the popularity mainly due to Youmu?"

Anna Hanami: "Mm."

Nodding, Banami chewed on her grilled meat, her words tinged with helplessness.

It just goes to show that there are differences between people.

All her elaborate activities paled in comparison to Youmu Konpaku's single kendo performance.

Although Youmu's fame owes a great deal to Banami's editing, background music, trending topics, and monitoring data.

But the most indispensable one is Youmu, at least in Banami's opinion.

Those short videos, reminiscent of martial arts stories, depicting swords cleaving rocks and trees, even went viral, causing the fan accounts managed by Banami to experience explosive growth overnight.

With her stunning looks and the stylish martial arts moves she recently choreographed, the word "cool" doesn't even begin to describe her.

It's pleasing to the eye, at least if you showed this video to Kurokawa Kazuya, he would watch it immediately.

Anna Hanami: "I've already received messages online from people seeking collaborations to produce merchandise featuring the spirits that accompany Youmu."

Youmu Konpaku, being a half-soul, half-human being, is always accompanied by a white, ghost-like ball of fluff.

Kurokawa Kazuya: "You can feel the difference now?"

Anna Hanami: "I not only felt it, but I even felt it so much that I'm thinking of changing careers."

The blue-haired girl muttered this complaint, her face revealing a visible sense of disappointment.

She initially put a lot of effort into the video, especially after she and Kurokawa Kazuya were completely honest with each other.

That is to turn heartbreak into motivation. In order to avoid overthinking, I put about 90% of my energy into it.

Then videos related to Youmu Konpaku went viral.

But at this moment, Banami finds herself caught in a dilemma after her success.

Anna Hanami: "Kurokawa, do you understand that feeling?"

Kazuya Kurokawa: "I think you understand, it's that feeling of trying hard but failing."

He shook his head at Banami and spoke.

The feeling when ordinary people collaborate with geniuses is a sense of loss, as if their efforts are meaningless and have no effect whatsoever, as if their own existence is irrelevant.

Kurokawa Kazuya: "So, you're giving up, Hachiman?"

Anna Hanami: "No, with such a good start like Youmu, how could I give up? I'm just a little disappointed. Kurokawa, are you underestimating me?"

The blue-haired girl smirked and looked at Kurokawa Kazuya beside her with displeasure.

Kazuya Kurokawa: "No, I'm totally in favor of you meeting me, Hachi. Once you become a world-class internet celebrity, I'll have to rely on you to collect my faith."

He corrected it in such a serious manner.

Anna Hanami: "Kaguya, can you help me? I want to punch him."

The blue-haired girl turned to Kaguya Houraisan beside her, pleading for help.

This guy is being sarcastic towards her, isn't he?

As Kurokawa Kazuya's Shinto training got back on track, Hachiman, who used to be able to suppress the weakling Hachiman with sheer strength, could no longer completely suppress him.

Now, she's going to use Kaguya's power to teach her a lesson.

However, the princess on the moon simply took a step back, making it clear that she would not get involved at all: "I am just an observer, and I will not intervene at this time."

Anzu Hanami: "Anyway, Youmu's business will continue, but because the popularity of short videos is too short-lived, even the magical artifacts cannot be formed, so I plan to shoot something else."

When she started talking about her thoughts, the blue-haired gluttonous girl suddenly perked up.

Through her recent experimentation, Banami discovered her own inclinations and interests; she is actually quite interested in photographing beautiful and magnificent scenery.

It's the kind of thing where you can take photos from morning till night without feeling like time has passed at all, and you might even forget to eat.

When shooting, I sometimes think about what kind of story I can tell with this background.

Anna Hanami: "Taking advantage of the current good traffic, I will recruit some locals and try making a story with Youmu. I have already thought of the first script, and I will make 'The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter'. It will also be a good opportunity to collaborate with your game, Kurokawa."

Nodding seriously, Banami seemed to have been thinking about this matter a lot lately, and at this moment she began to talk at length about her thoughts on the script.

Her focus was evident from the fact that she didn't pick up another piece of grilled meat after she started talking.

Kazuya Kurokawa: "That sounds pretty good."

Seeing that Banami was becoming more and more energetic, Kurokawa Kazuya felt more and more relaxed, and a smile involuntarily appeared on his face.

To be honest, the most pressing issue for him and Anna Hanami in their current situation is not the difficulties in their lives, nor the sadness of not being able to truly connect with their families.

Instead, it's a sense of aimlessness and confusion.

The goal of returning to the modern era, which is three or four years away and cannot be achieved in the long term, does not provide guidance for current actions.

Kazuya Kurokawa has decided to bring his faith home through games and has been taking various actions for his new game.

However, Anna Hanami has never actually found anything she truly wants to do.

It's not that once Kurokawa and Mi achieve their goal of bringing Hanami back to the modern world, Hanami can simply lie back and relax, letting everything be accomplished.

The two of them will have to live together in this other world for at least a few years.

Humans are beings that need self-actualization.

You can call it pretentious, but this pretentiousness is the most essential element of sociality.

People become anxious when they realize that what they are doing has no meaning to their surroundings and they receive no feedback.

When this anxiety accumulates to its extreme, it can lead to emptiness and loneliness, eventually evolving into pathological depression.

We are beings who seek meaning in labor.

Of course, the labor here does not only refer to the "work" that has been distorted today.

Instead, it's about doing something and constantly getting feedback from your surroundings. This feedback doesn't necessarily have to be money, but it must be something that makes you feel that what you're doing has value.

Arriving in another world is equivalent to blocking all the templated paths that the past modern world offered, paths that could be followed and continuously yield feedback.

It's like an open-world game that removes all the main storylines, letting you find side quests and derive enjoyment from them.

Kurokawa Kazuya had been quite worried that Banami wouldn't be able to find her direction, but now it seems that everything is progressing well. At least through continuous attempts, the girl has indeed found something she likes.

Anna Hanami: "Tsk~ Looking like this, anyone who didn't know better would think Kurokawa, you're my dad."

Faced with Kurokawa Kazumi's smiling face, the blue-haired girl pouted unhappily at Kurokawa Kazumi.

Kazuya Kurokawa: "I never said that. Don't tell your uncle that I did if he asks later."

He raised his hands in rebuttal.

As one of only two time travelers, it was only natural that Hanami Anna's family members, Kurokawa Kazuya, had met her. Kurokawa Kazuya appeared quite often when Hanami was making video calls.

When Anna saw his expression, she simply turned her head away and ignored him.

The blue-haired girl glanced sideways at Kaguya Houraisan, who seemed to be invisible, and Yukari Yakumo, who was completely unaware of what was happening in the distance, before turning her gaze back to Kazuya Kurokawa in front of her.

Anna Hanami: "I'm very interested in what I'm doing now, and at least I enjoy it quite a bit, so you don't need to worry too much about my feelings."

She looked up at Kurokawa Kazuya, who was almost a head taller than her, her face showing a hint of stubbornness.

Anna Hanami: "I won't feel happy just because others pity me."

Kazuya Kurokawa: "..."

Kazuya Kurokawa: "Hana, don't you think what you said was rather ambiguous?"

Turning his head to the side, Kurokawa Kazuya tried to ease the atmosphere with a sarcastic tone.

Anna Hanami: "What I said was ambiguous from the start."

The blue-haired girl did not comply with Kurokawa Kazuya's attempt to change the subject.

Her gaze was fixed straight ahead as she fluently spoke the words she had long wanted to say:

"You definitely can't win Kaguya's heart. If you're lonely, you can talk to Yuyuko. But I won't help with that; I'll only help you set up with Kaguya. But don't get too carried away; it's just a simple crush. I don't know when I'll forget about it after I get back, so—"

Both Merry and Yuyuko Saigyouji, who were in the distance, seemed unaware of the small commotion in front of them.

When Banai saw Anja turn around and look at the boy next to her, she said, "You can dump me now. At worst, you can just hide under the covers and cry for a while. If you're going to pity me and invest too much in me since I'm about to run away, then I'll be the one who's upset."

She stared at Kurokawa Kazuya beside her and spoke.

Recently, Banami has been thinking about related matters. As a social butterfly, she is quite adept at understanding other people's thoughts.

She had actually noticed that Kurokawa Kazuya was intentionally taking care of her.

But she found it hard to refuse this offer of care.

To put it bluntly, if Kurokawa and Mi hadn't been by her side during the initial period in the other world, she probably would have collapsed long ago.

It's hard to say whether such overly controlling behavior stems from love or fear of loss.

But things should be much better now; Kurokawa and Miya can have more freedom.

How could a boy possibly resist someone like Yuyuko, with the combined charm of master, servant, and friend?

As for herself?

Just like what Banami said, she has found something she wants to do, and when she is sad, she can curl up in bed and cry by herself for a while.

Having chosen to leave Kurokawa Kazuya here and depart on her own, she needs to refuse Kurokawa Kazuya's biased and deliberately accommodating approach.

She could approach Kurokawa Kazumi, but by restricting Kurokawa Kazumi because of her, Banami really couldn't sleep well at night.

The girl's moral standards are not so low that she can take advantage of this situation with a clear conscience.

Perhaps because she has been in this era for too long, Anna Hanami even considered whether she should pursue Kazuya Kurokawa, who was surrounded by many girls at the time, before leaving.

Of course, these were just thoughts in Banami's mind.

Who knows what will happen then? By then, Kurokawa Kazuya, who has built a harem, might already think she's superfluous.

Meanwhile, in contrast to the silent atmosphere between Kurokawa Kazuya and Banami Anna,...

Hearing this, Kaguya Houraisan's eyes shone even brighter.

The princess, who had initially intended to observe from the sidelines, finally couldn't hold back any longer after watching the two remain silent for a long time:

"So, next, Banami is going to help Kurokawa woo me, right? How about a threesome with me, Banami, and you be my wingman?"

She made the suggestion as if she was somewhat eager to try it out.

Kurokawa Kazuya & Hanami Anna: "..."

Anna Hanami: "Let's work together to find a way to capture Kaguya."

Kazuya Kurokawa: "Agreed."

The two people who were looking at each other turned to look at Princess Yue Shang beside them.

Kaguya Houraisan: "Huh? You want to fight me? Very well, I'll let you fight me with just one hand, without using my abilities, and I'll fight you with my body alone."

The princess on the moon gestured with her slender, fair arm to the two people in front of her.

[9k words, fourth update]

P.S.: I updated this all at once, please vote!

Chapter Sixty-Three: The Elixir of Immortality from Penglai

As night deepened, in the wooden building, the residents, Kazuya Kurokawa and Anina Hachimi, had already gone to bed.

As Kurokawa Kazuya lay in bed, he reminisced about the day's events: the special visit of Merry, Banami's breakup invitation, and Kaguya Houraisan's witty banter.