Gensokyo, Land of Paradise, Fantasy, Dreams and Youkais

I was falling. Uncontrollably at that.

...

"DID WE REALLY HAVE TO START LIKE NO GAME NO LI-"

[Starting Life System]

[Scanning]

[Registered User found]

[As a congratulatory gift for completing the tutorial, the User will be gifted the one-time opportunity of a name change ticket. Use it? If declined, the User will keep the current name]

[Accept] [Decline]

While I definitely thought that now wasn't the time for things like this...

"Use Name Change Ticket. Change name to Rin Satsuki."

...I couldn't help but want to pay respect to the scrapped third main character of the series that didn't make it into the first game of the windows-generation.

Thank you, Rin-senpai. I'll make sure to honor your name.

[Idora Dea --> Rin Satsuki]

[Display User...]

"Now is not the time for this!"

While countless blue windows opened, while I was still free falling, I started examining what I had on my body that could possibly help me keep my body in one piece.

I would definitely survive this, no doubt. But what use would living be if my body ends up as a paste smeared all over the ground?

Not only would it be a waste of resources, but it would also defeat the purpose of the cheat I received, which is that I get to keep my previous life's skills and training. Both things I needed if I wanted to keep up with the residents of this land.

Overpowered humans, gods, and youkai. This is the world I chose.

Anyways, whose bright idea was it to drop me in the middle of the air? Couldn't they have placed me in a more convenient location?

Mainly the damn ground!

It was a pity that I already had to use the things I brought, but this is Gensokyo. Land of the Forgotten. Land of Fantasy.

While it still pained my heart that I have to use the rare materials from my previous life, I am sure I can find better things here if I look for them.

So, without hesitation, I pulled out a green crystal from my spatial ring.

Oh, are you wondering what this is? It's a mana crystal. Mainly one with the attribute of wind. In my previous world, mana crystals were quite common.

Slay a monster, and they would have one inside their heart, without a doubt. Even lowly goblins or slimes had a mana crystal as their core. Though, elemental mana crystals are another thing.

Super rare items that drop in a ratio of one in a million, with all seven elemental attributes having an equal rate of dropping. So, getting a wind mana crystal would be one in seven million chances.

In fact, it was so rare that I might have been the only one outside the royal family to own one.

Usually, those crystals are completely useless before your process them, but elemental crystals have a funny attribute.

If you put enough mana into them, they would shatter before releasing a giant attack of the same attribute.

So, I was hoping for a giant gust of wind that would propel me upwards enough to slow down my fall to a speed where my body wouldn't turn into a paste once it lands on the ground.

Here I go! Concentrating, I used my body as a catalyst to move as much mana as possible into the crystal...

-crack

...

That isn't a noise a mana crystal should make-

KA-BOOM!

Crash.

...

I saw my life flash before my eyes as my body violently fell to the ground. Despite everything, an unexpected situation, followed by an explosion in my face...

...everyone would be shocked at that.

Looking at the bright side, I did fine. To my luck, the explosion from the elemental crystal created a force in the opposite direction of gravity, slowing down my fall considerably. Not to mention that I was also quite close to the ground as it exploded.

Thanks to that, I am alive with my body still intact.

Of course, in this case, intact is a broad term. If your intact means "not damaged," then no. I am not doing fine. My body is excessively injured right now.

But if you mean, "I still have all my limbs," then yes. My body was intact.

Honestly, it's mostly only because my synchronization rate was so low that I wasn't screaming out in pain.

How should I say this? While this might be my body, I still am technically just pulling along a dead corpse along, and a dead corpse couldn't be any more different than an alive body.

So, even if this was the body I was born in, the soul inside of it, my soul, felt pretty unfamiliar with it.

Thanks to that unfamiliarity and the fact that my body is pretty broken right now, moving just wasn't quite an option I had.

I can't believe how many items I had to waste already. I just arrived in these lands! I pulled another item out of my spatial ring.

Internal size of my storage? I think it was about 1000 cubic kilometers.

Anyways I pulled out a health potion and poured it all over me. As the external life force of the potion slowly healed my injuries, I started looking at all the blue screens that popped in front of my face.

[Displaying User Status]

[Lvl.1 Little Star, Rin Satsuki]

[Skill Points: 0]

[System Points: 0]

[Title and Skills reset due to condition of the body]

...

I am in trouble, aren't I?

[Warning, condition of soul declining due to subpar vessel.]

Let me rephrase it: I am fucked, aren't I?

If I think about it, I have felt exhausted for some time now, despite exhaustion being a thing of the past for me after my consciousness relocated in my soul.

So that means my soul, my very existence, is in a state of "exhaustion."

It might sound pretty harmless, but would you still think the same way if you knew that it's your immortal soul that feels like it's wearing down?

I made a really stupid decision at the end of my last life, did I not?

In a desperate attempt to find a quick solution, I continued to browse through all the windows that floated in front of my face. It was in the hopes that the System would have a solution for my problems.

As I did that, particularly one window stood out to me.

[1* Flight Test - Completed]

[You have arrived at your desired location. It would be a pity if you were to die now, wouldn't it? Survive the free fall.]

[Reward: 1 Skill Point & 100 System Points]

Points. They sound useful, but what the hell are they?

[Skill Points are points you put into your skills to gain enlightenment without effort. In other words, you can improve your skills instantly as long as you have enough points.]

"Wait, are you telling me in just an instant I can gain levels of skills people need years to train for?"

[Yes.]

[System Points are points you can use for various other functions in the System that are not the Skill System. For example, they are used in the shop or Gacha.]

The System Shops. That must have practical items, right?

"Open Shop."

[Shop System locked. Use 50 System Points to unlock?]

...

Welp, no use complaining. This System of mine is honestly giving me an advantage over others that do not have it.

After all, I gain free items after completing a quest or two? Well, technically not free since I need to pay with System Points, but technically they appear out of thin air. I mean, looking at it from my perspective. For all I know, it could be stored in some interdimensional warehouse, but do I really need to care about that since it's located outside of my universe? So, doesn't that mean that things appear out of thin air? In that sense, it's free stuff if I pay for it.

Besides, isn't this how the hero's journey is? We would go around in our travels, listen to the troubles of the locals, help them out, and get rewarded for it. Wasn't this basically the same?

That's what I said in this situation to cope with reality. That's right. Right now I am taking large amounts of copium to rationalize my anger, and you can't stop me!

"Unlock Shop..."

I shouted as a streak of blood flowed down the corner of my mouth.

[50 System Points Deducted. Welcome, to the honored customer.]

And there it is, the pain of finding out you just unlocked the lowest-tiered shop after spending half your points.

I have to sink in more points to unlock the higher tiers. Honestly, these systems throw someone into the deepest hells after promising rewards from the high heavens. Ignorance really is bliss sometimes.

I'd rather not have known some of the information on there.

Still lying on my back, the healing potion barely did shit to my broken body before a thought flashed through my head.

"System, can I sell items?"

No reply. Just another panel, but this one was empty.

...

I put a rock inside of it.

[Worthless]

The System spat it back out on my face. Fair enough.

After that experiment, I put my hand into the panel before releasing a thousand highest-grade healing potions from my old world.

[Lowest Grade Healing Potions x1000.]

[System points: 50]

Once again, I was shocked to see the number. That meant 20 were only worth 1 System Point.

[Real Healing Potions use vitality external to the body to heal. The "Healing Potions" of the User's tutorial world are classified as "Wound Closing Medicine" in the System. Wound Closing Medicine uses the vitality internal to the boy to heal. Since the "Highest Grade" in the User's tutorial world contained some traces of external vitality it's barely classified as "Lowest Grade Healing Potions"]

[On a side note, "Wound Closing Medicine" is considered too inferior to sell in the Systems Shop.]

Hearing that, I started laughing wildly in frustration. Despite it being my last life, I still hold fond memories of that place.

It might be only a distant memory for me now but still, I can remember all the effort, blood, and sweat the people put into the potions just in the hope that it would help somebody out in a fight.

Hearing that the efforts of those people, the smiles that were still so burning vividly in my memory get berated like that.

Even if the emotionless, cold System didn't mean it like that, I still felt frustrated.

"So you are telling me that all the efforts of the world I previously lived in just barely amount to be worth being sold at the lowest shop you have. Is that what you are telling me?!"

[Negative]

"That's right you- huh?"

[The tutorial world didn't have the resources present to create healing potions. Instead, they used the resources they had to create a product equally efficient with the demerit that the cost of its healing is the User's vitality.]

"Wait. So, people lost days of their life when using the "Wound Closing Medicine," or so you call it."

[Negative. Vitality is a complicated subject matter. It can't be reduced to "losing or gaining a day of lifespan." Leading a healthy lifestyle, consuming the right food, sleeping enough, etc., would increase the vitality somebody has, and bad habits like taking addicting substances, sickness, etc., would decrease the vitality. In essence, vitality is strength, health, and energy. The more you have of it, the better, and you naturally feel better if you have a lot of vitality. But a lot of vitality ≠ a long life.]

That would explain why everyone felt like shit after they used a health potion. They didn't only feel exhausted from a tough battle, but the potions also drained their vitality, adding to their exhaustion. That's why everyone preferred me to sing a song to heal everyone. It didn't only pick up the mood, but it seemed that it also replenished their vitality.

I felt a lot better knowing that.

"Hey, does that mean that there are items in my old world that would be worth a lot of System Points?"

[The User has to find out for themselves]

I took out the key to the secret base that was useless now and was about to sell it.

[Dismantling function unlocked]

"How convenient."

Of course, I immediately opened it. Then a quick tutorial appeared in front of my face.

[Dismantling depends on the User's capability of dismantling an item by themself. Of course, the System will always dismantle in the User's "current peak state." If the User gets more experienced in dismantling items, the dismantling results will be better. The level of the User's dismantling skill level will be displayed in the top right corner. Enjoy.]

Interesting. Apparently, my dismantling level is currently "Lvl 1".

I put the hideout key in.

[Mithril Chunk x1]

Looking at it, I wanted to doubt the results since the key was made with a mithril alloy, not to mention that I could clearly see the ruby embedded into it. But that just meant that my current dismantling skills were that miserable, huh?

But I guess beggars can't be choosers. I dismantled the key and got a mithril chunk into the System before putting the chunk of metal into the selling section of the System Shop.

[System Points: 12]

That might not sound much, but considering what I sold was maybe 20 grams of mithril, it was quite a lot.

"Is Mithril sought out in the multiverse or something?"

[It isn't in particular demand, but it's still widely desired]

Not that it mattered to me in any way. Anyways, after I sold these items I was now the proud owner of 112 System Points.

So, I started browsing around the shop for a while.

[System Points: 2]

...

Before you blame me for my quick spending decision. You need to know what I bought. I bought the Strong Vitality skill, which prevents my vitality to drop into the negatives for 50 points, and 2 low-grade vitality potions for 30 each.

Now I know what you might think. 30 for consumables when I barely have any currency and only low-graded at that?

To that, I have to say. A vitality potion is the superior version of a healing potion. It not only uses external vitality to heal the body, but the remaining leftover external vitality transforms into internal vitality after a while.

So, it isn't only a health potion but also a resistance and stamina potion at the same time.

Things my corpse-like body needed. Considering everything I said, I would say the vitality potion is about ten times more effective than the revival spring I brewed.

What? Of course, it isn't a real revival spring. In my previous life, death was permanent and despite everything I said about "health potions," they were expensive to buy, even the lowest-graded ones.

But because that's all we had, every party made sure to at least buy one for each person as a lifeline.

After all, uncertain death was better than certain death.

No, the revival spring was called that way because it gave you the feeling of "being revived" after taking a long soak in it, and in a sense, it wasn't wrong.

[The revival spring would classify as a Peak Grade Health Potion in the System]

It was by far the strongest available healing source in the world.

Well, in my last world, it was and now I am holding potions in my hands that were far superior to it? Call me a fool, but I won't hesitate to use up my money if it's meant for my body.

After all, my body is my physical anchor to the physical world. If I didn't have it, I would just be a phantom floating around. Unable to do anything.

So, without hesitation, I downed both potions in an instant.

[Synergy detected. Strong Vitality reacts to the vitality potions. Overflowing vitality gets absorbed. Strong Vitality reaches the basic level (lvl 0), Strong Vitality reaches lvl 1]

After hearing that prompt, I suddenly felt a lot healthier.

I opened my skill level and looked at my new skill.

[Strong Vitality Lvl 1 (+)]

[Vitality is the basis of all life that relies on corporeal bodies. Having a Strong Vitality means that the flame of life can't be easily extinguished. This prevents the User's vitality to fall into the life-threatening state of negative vitality. Healing effects are amplified by an insignificant amount.]

Looking at the panel, I pressed the "+" sign.

[Consume 1 Skill Point to upgrade the skill?]

I immediately declined. So, this is how Skill Points worked. It seemed too much of a waste to consume my only point right now on a skill like Strong Vitality. I decided to hold onto it.

Anyways, after consuming both vitality potions and thanks to my skill, I finally felt I could move around again.

In fact, I could feel how the slightest bit of vitality returned as my heart started beating on its own. With a pace of maybe 1 or 2 heartbeats per minute. While it wasn't much, it was certainly better than nothing.

Anyways, after my vessel started working properly again, I stood up and overlooked the landscape. Asking the important questions.

Which was, where in Gensokyo am I right now?

But considering that I am currently standing on a heap of trash...

...on a closer look, it was quite the modern trash. PC-98 computers, outdated calculators, and peripherals outdated for more than five centuries.

In the entirety of Gensokyo, there is only one place where stuff like this could be found. In fact, thinking about it, it was the place where it made the most sense for an outsider to arrive in Gensokyo.

"Muenzuka."

A resting place for the nameless dead. The only place where the barriers of the outside world, netherworld, and Gensokyo cross.

It's a beautiful place lined with purple cherry blossoms and spider lilies. The perfect place to do some flower viewing if it weren't for the fact the sights created by those flowers were an atmosphere of sorrow and sadness, making it impossible for people to view it in a merry view.

Yes. Despite its beautiful appearance, Muenzuka was a dangerous place. It was a place dedicated to the nameless dead. A place where countless phantoms roam, a final resting place to appreciate the fleeting beauty of purple cherry blossoms.

Seeing the sight of the purple petals fall was intoxicating. Once the trees bloom and the petals fall, the hesitation that keeps the dead in the land of the living will be severed and they will peacefully pass into the afterlife.

The amounts of spider lilies were proof. A flower that only bloomed here if phantoms or ghosts stayed in a place for a prolonged time.

If I stayed any longer, my soul would have surely left my body and I would have followed the others, but...

*ding*

...the sound of a notification pulled me out of my thoughts.

[1* Fight Test - In Progress]

[Muenzuka. A place for the nameless dead, a place where the nameless things cross over and humans get spirited away. Since outsiders are free game for the local residents. Youkai wait in prowling to attack and consume them. Have contact with them and survive the encounter.]

A fight? It would make sense since I probably lied here for a while and communicated with my System. In hindsight, it was probably more of a miracle that the local residents didn't already attack me.

Listening to my surroundings, I focused so not a single sound would escape my notice and as I did that, I realized that my enemy isn't going to be a normal one.

Approaching me, I could hear that incorporeal sound of the wind. No, air moving in an unnatural strange way. A twisted sound that wasn't from this world.

Swoosh.

Something that just rushed past me and attacked me with the intent to kill. Or maybe it was with the intent to eliminate my soul and take over my body?

[Lvl. 9 Resenting Spirit]

A spirit that was just about to turn into an evil one. I'd say it was only one step away from turning into one honestly.

It was certainly a difficult first enemy, considering that it had no physical form and physical attacks would almost have no effect.

But unluckily for it, it chose the wrong opponent. After all, I was the idol that moved souls. My very moveset practically oozed anti-soul combat skills.

Though most of it is locked because this body of mine can't play well enough to activate them. The motor skills of a barely living body just weren't good enough.

Still, my skills should be good enough to let a lowly evil spirit pass into the afterlife.

Pulling out my Erhu, I started playing an arrangement on it. It was a piece somber, melancholic, and sad. Those feelings were amplified by my choice of instrument and the way I played it. Yet despite all those heavy and dark feelings, there was still a sense of determination. A determination to move on, look up and smile as if saying that the next adventure is still around the corner.

It was a simple piece, yet even a simple melody can touch a soul and move them in ways unexpected.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8k3npUOif8)

Looking up, it was visible how the dark particles slowly detached from the spirit as they got fewer and fewer until it was transparent and floating away onto the other side of Higan.

Happy at the sight of helping a soul pass on to the afterlife, a bowed down. Earnestly praying for the spirit's judgment.

*ding*

[1* Fight Test - Completed]

[Calculating additional rewards for excellent clear]

[Reward: 2 Skill Points + Instrument Exchange Ticket (Tier 1)]

I guess the + is used to signal an additional reward. An Instrument Exchange ticket? It would be a lie to say that I am not interested in the instruments the System Shop had, but it's a pity that it's limited to Tier 1 items.

*ding*

[1* First Steps - In Progress]

[Muenzuka might be beautiful, but it's too early to spend time here. Get out from Muenzuka]

Wow, System. Aren't you throwing a lot of quests at me? I thought those would be rarer, but this is the 3rd one and they weren't particularly hard.

Not that I am complaining. Collecting my exchange ticket, I put it into my spatial ring which I am renaming to inventory from this point on and put a Skill Point into Strong Vitality to level it up to level 2, apparently maxing the level of the skill out.

Honestly, I didn't feel a significant improvement, but...

[Condition of Soul stabilizing. Appropriate body found. Bind to the User?]

It seems my body is finally in a state recognized as living. Even though my heartbeat is only a tepid pace of 6 to 7 beats per minute. The average heartbeat of an animal hibernating through winter.

In the end, I decided against binding my current body to my soul. While this body was technically living, it still felt more like a shackle that was going to hold back my soul.

So, no. Do not bind to the User.

[Understood. The body will not be bound to the User.]

Now that that's done with, time to leave Muenzuka. Time to take the first proper step into my new life!

*clap**clap**clap**clap**clap*

But before I left, an unnerving clapping appeared from a direction I couldn't discern.

[3* Emergency Quest - In Progress]

[Bold of you to assume that the air of Gensokyo doesn't have eyes that overlook everything. Survive the encounter with the Youkai Sage of Gensokyo]

Seeing this window appear in front of my face, I immediately knew what was happening. To summarize the situation in one sentence:

I am in danger.

As the soft applause continued without an indication that it was going to stop anytime soon, a shiver ran down my spine as cold sweat slowly dripped down from my forehead.

Ironic. A near-death experience is putting my body into a state which would be considered normal for a human.

So, from the outside, I might look relaxed, but internally I was screaming my lungs out.

Slowly turning my head, I could see an impossibly thin line appear in the air before a finger poked out of it and slowly "zipped" it open like a zipper.

As the hole in reality slowly revealed its insides more and more the more it was opened, I realized how much more horrifying reality is as opposed to fiction.

Countless eyes of various sizes were wriggling around inside that gap of reality, rapidly turning and moving in all directions like someone who couldn't focus on something, before all of a sudden they all stopped and looked at me dead in the eyes.

I felt nauseous at the sight in front of me. Nightmares made real, all condensed in a single location.

Which made the contrast of the beautiful blond woman in a deep purple dress in the middle of it all even more horrifying.

For the first time in a long while, I felt fear. Fear to my deepest core, fear to the point I was paralyzed and couldn't move a muscle. Fear to the point I forgot to make my body breathe.

I feared looking at the woman that was only armed with a pink lace parasol and a paper fan.

"That was a beautiful performance. Could you please tell me the name of the piece you just played?"

Japanese? I guess it made sense since Gensokyo is located in Japan, and Youkais mainly appeared in Eastern culture. So, it should only make sense for the residents to speak Japanese. Though it's indeed an older version of the language, considering that Gensokyo split up from the outside world in the Meiji Era in 1885.

Still, my Japanese was quite rusty, considering it has been more than one lifetime since I used it. Not to mention the fear and disharmony between my body and soul made it difficult to face and speak to someone so much more powerful than me.

The demon lord was a nobody in her presence.

[Lvl. ???? Youkai Sage, Yukari Yakumo]

Are those four question marks? What kind of level is that?!

While I was preoccupied with my sense of crisis, I only vaguely noticed how Yukari was praising my music before she noticed how I was acting and started blinking in surprise.

"Oh my~. Is it that shocking to see a beautiful onee-chan like me appear out of thin air? That's such a shame. I only want to hold a pleasant conversation with you. Do you think you can calm down on your own, or should big sister here help you out~?"

For a second, I wondered how I faced similar odds like this in my previous life. An innocent village girl, not having any special ability, fearlessly faced nobility, royalty, and the hero's party members.

Without a care in the world, I wouldn't hesitate for even a split second to make a decision anyone else would have dismissed.

Where did that infinite well of confidence come from? Despite everything, even though every one of my decisions turned out to be right, even though I never was once wrong, even though the logical right answer was on my side more often than not, that wasn't the reason why I was so fearless.

The reason why I did those things was simply that I thought they would lead me to a fun time.

How would the chronically jealous girls around my childhood friend react if I pointed out their feelings that they are head over heels for him?

How would the faces of everyone contort if it turned out that the retard that chose the obvious "wrong option" returned way stronger than if they picked the "right option"?

How would the princess react if I drank all the "lethal" poison she prepared and came out unharmed?

How would everyone react when I refuse my childhood friends/hero's proposal in the middle of the public?

How much would everyone lose their shit if I didn't react the way everyone expected me to?

My blessing told me in the past that I was a "soul idol," but I never was a genuine idol. I didn't give out dreams, hopes, and blessings.

All I did was entertain the people around me, doing things I loved to do.

So, how would Yukari Yakumo react if the tiny trembling animal in front of her suddenly lost all fear and acted unpredictably and inconsistently?

"How was the little melody I played for you, Ms. Evil Spirit? No, you are obviously not just a lowly evil spirit. It was probably rude of me to call you that. Oh, Grand Demon Queen, how was the melody this lowly one just played for you. I hope it wasn't too unpleasant for your ears!"

Wide-eyed, she stared at me with surprise. Covering her mouth with her paper fan, seemingly trying to hide her expression from me.

Though, I can't confirm that right now, as I was kneeling and bowing my head down in front of her.

It was a surprisingly calm reaction to my reaction, but that's to be expected by a Youkai that is at least 1200+ years old.

With a life as long as that, you must have seen quite an amount of weirdos. A little act like that shouldn't throw her off her game.

"Ehem. While I appreciate your polite gesture, it's a bit too much. Especially if I only want to talk to you."

I slammed my head into the ground. Not as if I could feel much of it because of my condition.

"How could someone like me dare to look at someone so divine as you? Just you taking your time to talk to me like this is enough for me!"

I heard the paper fan close rapidly with one motion as it was grabbed with a bit too much force.

Shit. Did I push her buttons too much? What if she killed me because of my actions-

"SIT UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUPP!"

...

I was still kneeling, but this time I was sitting upright, looking into her deep purple eyes.

She lowered herself appropriately for the situation. Basically, she was sitting in front of me on a gap about a head above me.

"Geez. I know meeting me all of a sudden like this must be quite a shock, but wouldn't it do good for you to listen to me? Being polite is one thing, but isn't insisting on your politeness quite rude when your superior is saying to do otherwise?"

I nodded.

"Anyways, don't call me Grand Demon Queen or whatever anymore. If you want to call me something, just call me Yukari."

"Yes, Ms. Yukari."

"Ah. You don't need to call me Ms. Yukari. I feel old if you call me that way. Just call me Big Sister Yukari."

"Yes, I am sorry Big Sis Yukari."

I'd say, overall. My goal was a success. Right now, Yukari seemed a lot less mysterious and intimidating than before.

She felt more like a woman in her late twenties, right before her thirties that was scolding her niece because she is sensitive about her age.

"Anyways, where was I before?"

"Eastern Dream."

"Excuse me?"

"You asked me for the name of the piece I was playing! It's called Eastern Dream."

"Right, I did that, didn't I? So, it's called Eastern Dream."

After she heard the name, Yukari closed her eyes and seemingly started to seriously ponder about it for a moment. After a while, she opened her eyes again and looked at me.

"An Eastern Dream, huh? A fitting name for a beautiful piece like it."

"I still have much to learn, but I appreciate your kind words, Big Sis Yukari."

"Fufu~. Tell me, do you often deal with Evil Spirits?"

As she asked me that, a shiver ran down my spine again. It seems that now came the difficult part. Turning clueless girl mode on.

"Evil spirit?"

As I earnestly said that Yukari looked at me with surprise. As if I told her something outrageous like "I am the king of the outside world."

"The black haze you just made pass on. Hell, you even called me an evil spirit before. Don't try to fool me or play games with me. I know you know what I am talking about."

The pressure intensified. I might have dug my own grave, but I didn't intend to break character anytime soon.

After all, fake it until you make it.

"I-it just came into my head when I looked at you, but when I try to define it in my head it just comes out blank."

She still had a look of doubt on her face, but it seemed that she was considering giving me the benefit of the doubt.

"What is 1 + 1?"

Huh?

"Huh? I- I mean 2!"

"How do you calculate the circumference of a circle?"

"2 times the radius times π or the diameter times π."

"How many strokes does the Kanji for "Sky" need?"

"8."

"What is your age?"

"Huh? Why are you suddenly asking me such an easy question? It's obvious, I am..."

At this moment, Yukari looked at me as if she had a revelation.

"...actually, I don't know how old I am."

Yukari nodded.

"What's your name? You didn't introduce yourself to me yet, did you?"

"Oh! How impolite of me. My mother taught me to be better than this. Excuse me for the late introduction, but I am..."

"Go on."

Looking like I was defeated, I gave Yukari my best apologetic face.

"I am sorry. It seems I can't recall who I am. In fact, now that I am thinking about it, did my mother teach me manners this well, or was it someone else? It's all a haze to me."

Now you might wonder. How could Yukari Yakumo, Youkai Sage of Gensokyo, and manipulator of borders fall for such an obvious lie?

In fact, what she did this entire time while asking the girl's question was open a gap to browse through all the girl's thoughts.

Well, the explanation was quite simple.

[Skill Detected: Inscribing into System.]

[Six Senses Mental Lock (Introductory Level)]

[A technique that locks away all of the User's senses so they can focus on a single thought. The User's level of the technique is insufficient. Unable to improve with Skill Points.]

Well, that. That's all there is to it. Right now, Yukari Yakumo was seeing a girl, genuinely distraught over finding out that she was unable to remember who she was, who her family was, or if she had any friends.

"Girl, what can you remember?"

"Oh! That's something I can answer! I think? Considering how well I played the Erhu, I must be an amazing musician, don't you think so? In fact, considering how all my other knowledge, besides my own identity, is so clear in my head and the sheer vast amount of it, I think I might be some sort of genius. Well, that's it. Unless you want me to go over everything I know in technical detail."

"No. That's quite enough. We would sit here all day if we tried to deduce who you are if we talked about just your technical knowledge. There is quite a lot of it in your head."

"Wow! How did you figure that out. Aren't you amazing yourself?"

"Fufu~. Compliments won't get you anywhere. Though, I am still curious about something. What made you pull out an instrument to fight an evil spirit?"

As if the memory was unlocked in her head, Rin's pupils shrank for a second before returning to normal again.

"I remember the people's praise of my music. They called it moving, life-changing. Some even said as a compliment they could move into the afterlife without regrets after listening to my concerts. I guess I just subconsciously remembered that and my body already moved by itself before I realized I picked up the instrument. Thinking about it, I was quite lucky, wasn't I?"

Hearing her words, Yukari smiled, but not before hiding it under her paper fan. What an amusing, pitiful girl.

To think a human could pass over to the barrier like this and not be spirited away.

It was unbelievable, but it seemed real. A girl with no ties to the outside world. A girl that was completely forgotten by the outside world. A girl that even herself forgot who she was.

To think a human could so utterly, completely, and properly pass over into Gensokyo...

"Girl, aren't you curious where you are? You show a surprising lack of fear towards the supernatural."

"Oh, I just figured that you can't be a bad person since you are willing to talk to me for this long."

"Fufu~. What if I did that to lull you into a false sense of security?"

"Shouldn't you have taken advantage of me as I treated you like a god then? Instead, you scolded me like a big sister, big sister Yukari."

Yukari blushed as she heard someone earnestly and honestly call her big sister for the first time in a very long time. Though that wasn't visible to Rin, as Yukari held her paper fan in front of her face for a while now.

"Little girl. Follow that road through the forest and you'll get out of it before you realize it. From there on out, just go straight and you'll find a human settlement. Right now we are in Muenzuka, a dangerous piece of land where Youkais roam around to prey on humans like you. Though they are the least of your concerns since the cherry blossoms themselves might make you pass into the afterlife. Not to mention that the spider lilies on the ground are the flowers of the dead. They are quite dangerous for the living, so you might want to avoid them."

"Big sis?"

"Yes?"

"You are a Youkai yourself, aren't you? Why aren't you preying on me as you said?"

"Fufu. I am feeling generous right now, but you shouldn't count on that. Other Youkai won't be as kind as me."

Rin nodded.

"Understood."

Seeing the girls resolve. Yukari determined that she helped out the girl enough. So, she opened up a gap as she was about to leave.

"Big sis, wait!"

Curious about why the girl called out to her, she stopped for a moment and looked back.

"My name is Rin Satsuki! Sorry for the late introduction."

"Did you just remember, or how did you find out?"

The little girl pointed at a barely visible engraving on her Erhu. It indeed spelled out "Rin Satsuki."

Seeing that...

"Welcome to Gensokyo, Rin. Land of Paradise, Fantasy, and Dreams."

...Yukari genuinely hoped that an amusing girl like her would survive in this land. Gensokyo was called the Land of Paradise, not because it was a paradise for humans but because it was a paradise for Youkai.

...

[3* Emergency Quest - Complete]

[Reward: 12 Skill Points & 2000 System Points]

The moment Yukari left, I immediately fell on my butt and sweated buckets. I was lucky that she didn't find out about the System. Then again, if Yukari found out, that would mean that those so-called creators would be quite incompetent.

Still, the power of the name change ticket was incredible. Everything that previously had "Idora Dea" engraved on it now said "Rin Satsuki."

Though, I never thought that my focus would be that strong. What did it say? By blocking my six senses I focus on a single thought?

The description wasn't wrong though.

Anyways, 12 Skill Points? I now had 14 of them how generous! Those should last for a couple of max skill upgrades and my Strong Vitality still had a "+" sign. So, let's upgrade it and see where it takes us!

[Consume 6 Skill Points to upgrade the skill?]

Once again, I bleed out of my mouth. I knew it wouldn't be so easy.