A New World’s Wonders and a Sticky Situation

Though she knew Alezno might not ultimately remember, Li Yue was determined to leave her with a trove of beautiful memories.

Their journey would begin with a celebratory welcoming feast.

However, Li Yue refrained from taking Alezno to any upscale commercial districts. After all, Alezno had expressed a desire not to walk too far, so their dinner would have to be settled within the bustling shopping street near the residential complex.

“So, what exactly should we eat?”

As Li Yue pondered their dinner options, she slowly ambled along the street with Alezno in tow.

Alezno’s expression, however, was tinged with a languid weariness. Before stepping outside, she clearly hadn’t registered the scorching midsummer heat, evidently mistaking the air-conditioned indoor chill for the ambient outdoor temperature.

It was the peak of rush hour, and the streets teemed with pedestrians, their footsteps hurried and purposeful.

Li Yue cast a sidelong glance at Alezno, only to find her curiously surveying her surroundings, her eyes sparkling with a mixture of excitement and wonder.

‘So similar, remarkably similar,’ Li Yue mused.

In Li Yue’s eyes, Alezno at this moment was a mirror image of her own past self.

Upon her own initial arrival in the other world, her reactions, beyond a pervasive nervousness, had been strikingly similar.

Even though Alezno possessed the knowledge imparted by Su Luoli, for her personally, everything felt incredibly novel—a starkly different environment from the one she knew in her own world.

Here, she had no one to rely on but herself.

Pondering this, Li Yue turned to her. “Ale, are you interested in this world?”

“Hmm, everything is truly wondrous.”

Alezno nodded, her gaze then falling upon the dynamic advertisement screen positioned at a shop’s entrance.

“This billboard is truly an astonishing magic artifact,” she observed. “Is the magical technology in this world incredibly advanced?”

While Alezno recognized the object, its underlying principles clearly eluded her.

Li Yue chuckled. “Huh? That’s not a magic artifact at all; it’s technology! Ale, there’s no magic in this world, no magical power whatsoever. But precisely because of that, our scientific advancements are incredibly sophisticated. Unlike magic, technology is a kind of sorcery that anyone can wield.”

For those accustomed to technology, such a statement might seem an exaggeration, yet it served as the perfect explanation for Alezno.

“Then, are there dragons in this world?” Alezno asked.

“No, dragons exist only in legends and stories.”

“What about elves, then?” Alezno inquired.

“Er, none either… This world is home only to humans; there are no demon races here.”

Upon learning of the absence of her own kin, Alezno’s head drooped slightly, a hint of disappointment clouding her features.

Li Yue quickly moved to reassure her. “However, humans in this world are divided into numerous ethnicities! See, even though everyone is human, there are distinct differences in appearance, such as skin color…”

Just as she was about to elaborate, she noticed an unfamiliar object materialize in Alezno’s hand.

Even Alezno herself was startled by it.

“Eh? Wh-what is this?”

“…It’s an Apple phone,” Li Yue replied, a question implicit in her tone. “Where did you get it?”

Alezno gazed down at the phone clutched in her hand, her own face a mask of utter bewilderment.

“This isn’t mine, and I have no idea when it appeared in my hand.”

This was indeed not Su Luoli’s phone.

“Ah, could it be…”

Li Yue murmured, her gaze sweeping their surroundings. Sure enough, not far behind them, a man in a crisp suit was frantically patting himself down, his movements betraying a growing panic.

He had just brushed past Li Yue and Alezno moments ago; it was likely then that the deed had been done.

Li Yue pressed a hand to her forehead, sighing. “Your hands are far too quick! You didn’t even realize you’d done it?”

“Are you suggesting… I stole it?”

“Most likely, yes. Su Luoli’s ingrained instincts are influencing you…”

Alezno’s eyes widened in sudden realization. “I see,” she murmured. “So, this body’s previous owner was a thief?”

Such an imperceptible thieving technique suggested that even in another world, Su Luoli would have been an exceptionally skilled rogue.

Alezno, clutching the phone, then asked:

“Moon, what should I do now? Should I go apologize?”

Li Yue shook her head.

“Leave it to me.”

She retrieved the phone from Alezno’s grasp, then gently tugged her along toward the suited man, tapping his shoulder lightly.

The man turned, momentarily stunned as his eyes met those of the beautiful blonde girl standing so close.

“Sir, is this your phone?”

Upon seeing the phone Li Yue presented, his face instantly transformed into an expression of sheer relief and delight, as if a lost treasure had been returned.

“Ah! Yes, it is.”

Li Yue maintained her apologetic smile. “My friend found it on the path ahead,” she explained. “We saw you searching around, so we thought it might be yours.”

The suited man gratefully accepted the phone, then turned to profusely thank Alezno, causing her to blush slightly in embarrassment.

“Thank you so much, both of you young ladies,” he gushed. “I truly thought I’d been robbed!”

‘He wasn’t wrong…’

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Li Yue demurred, waving a hand dismissively. “Just a small matter, really.”

Due to her height and vantage point, she couldn’t help but notice the dialogue box hovering over the man’s chest.

[Ah, what a cute blonde lady, I want to date her.]

A shiver of goosebumps instantly prickled her skin.

Maintaining a stiff smile, Li Yue retreated, then swiftly pulled Alezno away from the man.

“Wait! If you don’t mind, I’d like to treat you both to a meal!”

“We do mind! Goodbye!”

The suited man took a couple of steps in pursuit, but Li Yue had no intention of letting herself or Alezno be burdened by his persistence.

“You really need to keep your hands in check,” Li Yue admonished. “Perhaps turn off that ‘auto-collect’ passive of yours.”

Only after the suited man had retreated into the distance did Li Yue gently poke Alezno’s forehead.

“If something like that happens again, and you’re caught red-handed, it would be a real mess.”

The blue-haired girl, reeling slightly from the poke, squinted her eyes and swayed, then promised earnestly:

“I—I’ll be careful, Moon.”

Realizing the extent of her blunder, Alezno scratched her cheek, a flush of shame creeping up her neck.

In her hand, she still clutched Li Yue’s phone.

“Eh?”

****

Though the brief interlude had concluded, Li Yue remained at a loss for dinner ideas. They had wandered until the sun was nearly setting, yet the oppressive heat on the street showed no sign of abating. All she truly desired was to quickly find a restaurant and escape into its cool embrace.

Sometimes, an abundance of choices could be as much a burden as a blessing.

She even entertained the thought of inviting Mo Linyu to join them, considering the latter was still supposedly roaming around the city…

A moment later, however, she dismissed the notion.

She couldn’t recall when she had started genuinely treating Mo Linyu as a companion, but such familiarity was ill-advised.

Their alliance was merely temporary. Even if Alezno could forgive the Demon Lord, others might not be so accepting, and Li Yue had no desire to appear overly close to the Demon Lord in front of her true companions.

“Along this street, have you seen anything you’d like to eat?” Li Yue asked.

Unable to make up her mind, she decided to defer the choice to Alezno.

Alezno, hearing this, looked up and surveyed the dazzling array of shop signs. Her hands remained tucked into her jacket pockets, wary of extending them lest she trigger her passive ability again.

After a moment of deliberation, she simply replied, “I’m fine with anything; I’ll follow your lead.”

Ah, there it was!

One of the most vexing lines men encountered during courtship.

Li Yue rubbed her jaw, then asked, “How about we think back to what we used to eat when we went camping?”

Halin, the priest, had always been responsible for their meals.

Their daily fare typically consisted of either stew or barbecue, supplemented by non-perishable dry rations to fill their stomachs.

Ingredients were mostly sourced on the spot; after all, it was impossible to buy supplies in demon villages, so they ate whatever they could find, without being picky, especially when deep within demon territory…

Demon lands also had animals and wild vegetables, which looked somewhat different from those in the human kingdoms, but as long as one was good at identifying them, it was not easy to get poisoned.

“Oh, I’ve got it.”

With this thought, Li Yue seemed to have found a solution.

“Let’s go eat hotpot! Maybe we can find some of that feeling?”