"Your name."
"Xue Dili."
"Age."
"Just turned 18."
"Why are you applying to go to Neon?" The visa officer looked at the big boy in front of him, who seemed to have stepped out of a Tokusatsu film set, feeling a bit undecided.
After all, every year around New Year's, there are always some folks who've been duped by the anime world, and his job is to be cautious of these people.
"Just for tourism, you know, relax after the college entrance exam." Xue Dili replied casually.
"And after the trip ends?" the visa officer continued to ask.
"Of course, I'll come back to study. I have to go for military training on the 28th." Xue Dili looked puzzled at the visa officer, not knowing why he was asking this.
"Your visa's been approved, young man. Have a pleasant trip." The visa officer handed the documents to Xue Dili with a smile and reminded him, "Be sure to take precautions, the rate of berry flu outbreaks over there in Neon is high, stay safe, and don't get swindled by deceitful women."
"Uh..."
He's a serious person; women would only slow down his transformation speed!
After receiving the visa, the plane ticket was quickly purchased. After waiting half a day, Xue Dili boarded his very first international flight.
Looking at the clouds beneath the plane, gazing at the distance, Xue Dili's thoughts couldn't help but drift far away.
The old man might have been truly mesmerized by a Neon idol; even at the last moment, he wanted to watch Da Gu's concert. Looking at the tickets he'd already bought on his phone, Xue Dili planned to find a chance to get an autograph, and finally place that autograph in front of the old man's memorial tablet.
And in that Otherworld, will the Empire become better? As long as the people of the Church Court aren't fools, the rotten and once-cleansed Royal Family should be in no position to resist.
Royal Knight Order? That idling organization is likely to act as a passive ally, and the Empire might become a nation where divine rights are bestowed.
The Church's authority is above the King, and initially, people's lives will be much better than before.
However, an organization like the Church naturally represents extreme "order," societal class stagnates, people's behaviors and thoughts are all fixed according to doctrine; anything beyond the doctrine is forbidden, with prayer times, meal times, and bedtimes rigidly set.
Extreme order breeds extreme corruption, and the doctrine can only govern those who need no governance.
According to historical patterns, the Church will eventually become a Hell for little boys, where daily there will be boys clutching their butts leaving the Church.
In a few hundred years, when development reaches its peak, such a backward system as the Church will naturally become an obstacle to people's happy lives and gradually become the object of overthrowing.
This is the story of the dragon slayer becoming the evil dragon.
But Xue Dili quickly let it go, realizing a generation could only accomplish the tasks of one generation. As for the Church's decay in a few hundred years, by then the grass over his and the old undead's graves would probably be taller than the Church itself.
At least for now, no matter how rotten the Church's absolute order is, it's better than the Empire's ridiculous system of "dying in battle is disgraceful, deserting is honorable."
The Empire's system is inferior even to what Wanyan Gou had; how he unified the continent Xue Dili found it absurd just thinking about it.
If there really were time to stay long-term in that world, Xue Dili even had a series of highly feasible paths for technological and cultural development.
Kidding aside, he was a loyal fan of the "Civilization" series and Paradox Interactive. With the old undead's help, he was confident he could develop the Empire to the early stages of capitalism within twenty years.
Entering full-fledged capitalism, then the undead would become very valuable, being an endless source of cheap surplus value.
By then, the Undead Mage profession might be highly sought after, with businesses involving undead mining, power generation, and burning coal, plus an undead assembly line putting even skeletons to screwbolts...
Just thinking about it, Xue Dili felt himself almost unbearably excited, like he might soon be lynched by the undead on a lamppost.
Unfortunately, time was limited, and his grand blueprint for farming and transforming the Otherworld was doomed to fail.
And on the plane, as Xue Dili thought about the upcoming mess of the Empire, he kept an eye on the countdown in the Consciousness Space.
He didn't know what would happen when the countdown hit zero, possibly another visitor? Or a refresh of some strange item?
Time passed quickly, and when the countdown reached zero, Xue Dili felt like the entire Consciousness Space had been hit by a flashbang.
He nearly went blind.
And after the light ended, an old man with a white beard appeared in the Consciousness Space.
The white-bearded man and Xue Dili locked eyes, with only the Birdman Armor beside them emitting a faint glow.
"Hello, child, I am a 200-year-old mage, you can call me Yushua." The old mage extended his hand, the beard on his face seeming to smile, "Great Sage, Yushua."
"Xue Dili, an ordinary, prospective male college student." Xue Dili extended his hand, shaking hands with the old sage.
It was his first meeting with this legendary Great Sage.
The plane slowly landed at Narita International Airport in Tokyo Chiba Prefecture, and Xue Dili, carrying his backpack, arrived in this strange yet familiar land.
This place was a prototype area for a Masked Rider series; he even remembered that there was a noodle shop named "East Noodle House" on the street ahead.
He took a few steps forward, and sure enough, saw that noodle shop called "East Noodle House," almost identical to the one from the show, if you disregarded the filter.
In four days, Nagano Hiroshi's concert would be held at Takasaki Hall in Chiba, very close from here.
And going a few dozen kilometers to the east, he would reach the famous Masked Rider holy ground, the seaside where many famous memes had originated.
After booking a hotel, Xue Dili lay on the soft big bed.
The old sage seemed to still be studying the Birdman Armor, as well as Xue Dili's strange Consciousness Space.
Through these observations, Xue Dili discovered that this old man must be a bona fide Magician, because the thirst for knowledge in his pupils could not lie.
Whether it was curiosity about Xue Dili, about the Consciousness Space and the Birdman Armor, or about the world seen within Xue Dili's pupils.
The only puzzling thing was that when Xue Dili shook hands with the old sage, he found that the hand extending from the white robe was frighteningly strong.
The muscles on that forearm were comparable to his legs.
That gave Xue Dili quite a bit of caution, after all, what kind of serious mage would have forearms trained like that? With muscles like those, who needs magic, just go berserk and charge to crush the opponent.
But later on, with the old sage's behavior, Xue Dili gradually dispelled his doubts.
Most importantly, previously, he deliberately pretended to have come across the most classic episodes of "Ultraman Tiga," then observed the old sage's reactions, occasionally chatting with him.
Thanks to the old Undead Barak, Xue Dili learned an easy way to judge whether someone in the Consciousness Space is good or bad.
At least, those who like Ultraman aren't bad people, which is much more effective than that Divine Art's evil detection spell.
"These are stories for children, aimed more at the fairy tale direction, right?" The old sage asked after watching two episodes.
Unlike the illiterate old undead, this Great Sage saw through the essence at once.
"Yes, but I really like these stories." Xue Dili played the last two episodes.
At first, he often chatted with Xue Dili, asking about the basic items and settings in these stories, and when Gatandje turned Ultraman into a statue, the Great Sage frowned deeply.
Was he...angry?