— — — — — — —
"1997, 1998, 1999... 2000!"
It was a quiet afternoon in the depths of a secluded bamboo forest.
A young man wielding a three-foot-long blade was fully focused, repeatedly practicing his strikes with unwavering concentration.
Nearby, a little girl, around nine or ten years old, sat on a fallen bamboo trunk, swinging her feet as she counted each strike aloud.
Upon reaching two thousand, she clapped her hands and praised him with a bright smile, "Dad, you're amazing~~ Good job~"
"Could you at least sound a little more natural?"
The young man paused mid-swing and shot her a look. "Anyone listening in would think you're praising a child."
"But Dad, you do realize that compared to the years I've lived through," She raised her hand and made a tiny gap between her thumb and index finger to emphasize her point. "You're practically a child to me~"
"Oh, so you actually remember that much..."
Veyron sheathed his blade and looked at her in exasperation.
Her name was Houraisan Kaguya.
She was once a princess of the Lunarians, a race of people living on the Moon. However, she had committed a grave crime against the laws of the moon and was subsequently exiled to Earth.
Though she looked like an innocent young girl, her true nature was anything but—just as she had said herself. Even a fraction of her actual age would still be far older than Veyron could even fathom.
As for why this ancient being appeared as a child and why she addressed him as "Dad," well... that all started with his transmigration.
A "transmigrant"—as the term suggests—is someone who crosses over from one world to another.
Having crossed over, his past life didn't really matter anymore. The only thing Veyron remembered was that he had somehow ended up in this unfamiliar yet strangely familiar world nine years ago.
After landing in this world and taking just a few steps, he noticed a bamboo stalk in the distance emitting a soft, moon-like glow.
He had no idea where he was, but one thing was clear—this was no ordinary scene.
His first instinct? Turn around and walk away.
Yet no matter which direction he chose, he somehow always found himself back in front of that glowing bamboo.
Out of options, he grabbed a conveniently placed hatchet and cautiously cut the bamboo open—only to discover a baby girl wrapped inside.
The whole situation felt eerily familiar. With the pile of gold beside the baby and a jade plaque inscribed with the name "Houraisan Kaguya" in ancient characters, Veyron quickly realized exactly which world he had landed in.
Touhou Project.
More specifically, he had arrived in a time period centuries before the formation of Gensokyo itself—the very beginning of the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter.
In the original story, an elderly couple who made a living cutting bamboo discovered a baby sealed within a stalk of glowing bamboo. They adopted her, and thus began the legend of Princess Kaguya.
Now, however, the one who had stumbled upon Kaguya wasn't some unsuspecting old couple—it was a transmigrant like himself.
Unlike the original adoptive parents, who had no knowledge of Kaguya's origins, Veyron knew exactly who the fuck she was.
And if he had to pretend for years that he was oblivious to her true nature—pretend that she was just a slightly out-of-the-ordinary little girl...
Well, let's be honest. Even if he were only trying to deceive her, he didn't have much confidence in pulling it off.
Not to mention, behind Kaguya lurked another potential observer—one of the greatest minds of the moon, Yagokoro Eirin.
So Veyron decided to lay everything out from the start.
He told Houraisan Kaguya that he had heard of her before—that she was the daughter of Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto, one of the three noble gods of Takamagahara.
If she needed anything from him, she could just ask.
If not, he could leave, and they would pretend this meeting had never happened.
Her response was completely unexpected.
She said, she wanted to experience what it was like to be a daughter. To have a real father.
Veyron: "..."
And that was how, in the depths of this remote bamboo forest, a house called Eientei was built.
"You're stopping already, Dad?"
Seeing him sheath his blade, Kaguya glanced up at the sky in confusion.
Training with the sword had become part of Veyron's daily routine.
After adopting her, he had discovered that every time he cut down a bamboo stalk, there would be gold hidden inside. Thanks to this, he never had to worry about making a living.
Any necessary supplies were brought to him by an elderly couple from the foot of the mountain.
With no financial burdens, he had dedicated himself to training—day in, day out, without fail.
"Am I not allowed to take a break once in a while?"
Veyron walked over and playfully pinched Kaguya's cheeks. As expected, they were as soft as ever.
"If the outside world weren't so dangerous, and if I had been born with an advantage like you, you think I'd need to work this hard?"
"Dad, given that you actually gain something every time you train, I'd say you're already luckier than 99.999% of humans in this world."
Kaguya rubbed her cheeks, pouting as she slipped out of his grasp.
Over the past nine years, he had gone from barely being able to mimic the stance of holding a sword, to gradually learning how to focus power and channel strength...
From clueless swings to finally grasping the proper way to strike — and now, even with an ordinary knife in hand, he could easily split stone or break bricks.
As someone with no formal master or awakened spiritual power, his progress was nothing short of miraculous.
And what shocked Kaguya the most was that, thanks to what he called his "cheat ability," Veyron's growth followed a very simple principle: Hard work pays off.
Every bit of effort paid off.
From her observations, whenever Veyron was fully focused while training, every single swing of his blade seemed to give him some sort of return.
Sure, the gains weren't huge each time — but the scary part was... it happenedevery time.
Nine years of training had turned an ordinary man into a swordsman capable of handling low-level yokai.
What about ninety years? Nine hundred? Nine thousand?
The thought alone was terrifying.
"...You have a point."
Seeing the system notification in his mind.
[Basic Swordsmanship (Lv. 27) +1 XP]
Veyron nodded slightly.
He had stayed in the bamboo forest all these years not just because the outside world was dangerous and it's way safer to just stick close to Kaguya and enjoy her built-in "safe zone" aura. But also because his system ensured that every effort he made was rewarded.
"Anyway, back to business."
Not wanting to get sidetracked chatting with Kaguya, he asked, "When I swung my 1,997th strike just now… did you notice anything weird about me?"
"Weird?"
Kaguya's delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly. She thought about it carefully, then shook her head. "Not really."
"What about the person behind you?"
"Probably not either."
Kaguya gave another calm shake of her head. "If Eirin had noticed anything strange, she would've contacted me the second you asked that question."
"...Interesting."
Veyron muttered to himself, eyes locking onto the floating screen in front of him.
[Would you like to join the Dimensional Chat Group?]
[Yes] / [No]
.
.
.