The Hero Turned Into A Potato And The World Fell To Ruin

About an hour later, Yaine completed her proud creation: a massive stone jar several meters high. Inside the jar, a bone stick was tied, rigged with a mechanism. Once tugged, the trap would activate, sealing the jar completely.

That's right, it was essentially a giant mouse trap. Simple, yet effective on the premises that the things in the swamp were of the same intelligence as mice and that they couldn't escape from the jar.

Unfortunately, Yaine wasn't confident about either aspect, so she just planned to try it out.

Osar, however, hadn't expected Yaine's idea of "getting payback" to involve throwing this giant stone jar into the swamp.

It made sense, but it was far from what he had imagined. However, once they caught whatever was in the swamp, Osar would have his chance to exact revenge.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned…

Maybe the plan had been figured out, or perhaps Liu Ji's earlier fishing attempt had scared them off. After throwing the trap into the swamp, the group waited for a long time, but there was no reaction.

Still, Yaine remained unperturbed. Since the swamp creatures didn't dare come to the surface, and with woodlands nearby for easy resupply, they could camp here for as long as needed.

In any case, without understanding what these creatures were or how to deal with them, they couldn't continue to head deeper into the swamp.

With this decision, the group set up camp, assigning night watch shifts. They made a fire, ate, drank, and rested.

To prevent a repeat of Osar's incident, the night watch was paired, with Yaine using earth magic to raise walls around them, adding warning spells inside and outside the perimeter.

The first watch fell to Liu Ji and Yaine.

Yaine wanted to monitor her trap, while Liu Ji, who had an erratic biological clock, decided to keep her company.

In the quiet night, the two sat by the fire, listening to the crackling wood and gazing at the starry sky. For Liu Ji, who had lived his past life surrounded by tall buildings, this was a rare and beautiful experience.

Though they had similar moments while traveling through the forest, the sky had never been as open as it was now.

Staring at the stars, Liu Ji felt a sense of surrealism. They looked more like floating lights than distant celestial bodies.

Well… maybe it's just a misconception. Those stars in the sky are far away after all, so how can I see them clearly from the surface of this world?

While Liu Ji pondered about the stars, he suddenly felt Yaine sit beside him.

Caught off guard, his heart skipped a bit.

A starry sky, night, campfire, two of them…

With these elements combined together, he couldn't help but think of romantic scenes from movies and shows.

Though he knew they weren't in that sort of relationship, Liu Ji's heart still raced. At that moment, Yaine leaned closer, her arm brushing his. Liu Ji grew even more nervous.

I-is she sleepy?

Does she want to rest on my shoulder?

Is my shoulder too high?

Should I lean down a bit?

A flurry of thoughts raced through Liu Ji's mind, but he remained stiff and motionless.

Just then, a small hand waved in front of his face.

"Hey? What is it?" Yaine's somewhat languid voice broke his reverie. "What's so fascinating up there?"

"Huh? Ah, nothing…" Liu Ji felt his face burning. He lowered his head and met Yaine's gaze…

In that moment, he felt his heart skip a beat once again.

Yaine's left arm was already touching his, and now she raised her right hand past his line of sight, leaning toward him. Her delicate face was so close that if Liu Ji just lowered his head a little…

No! It's just your imagination! Liu Ji reminded himself they weren't like that. Besides, he couldn't make that sort of sudden move.

As Liu Ji's cheeks burned from his wild thoughts, Yaine reached out… and flicked his forehead.

"What are you daydreaming about? Time to review your incantation," she said, placing her notebook filled with today's lesson plan onto his lap.

"Ah, oh, right…" Liu Ji glanced at the dense writing and instantly calmed down. It was like being reminded of an upcoming math test just as one was gearing up for a gaming session.

Though incantation wasn't as deadly as math for Liu Ji, Yaine was a rather strict teacher, and the amount of learning each day kept him at the brink of his limits.

In other words, when it came to study sessions, there was no time for breaks or distractions. Were it not for Liu Ji's strong desire to communicate fluently, he really wouldn't be sure he could handle the intense learning.

But… due to a sense of unfulfilled expectations or perhaps because of the serene starry sky, Liu Ji didn't feel like studying today.

Thus, after taking a moment to think, he said, "Um… Today, relax. Conversation practice, okay?"

"Conversation practice?" Yaine was a tad surprised and took a moment to contemplate.

Liu Ji had been diligently building vocabulary all week but hadn't used it much. While one wouldn't forget after learning incantation, using it proficiently was a whole different matter.

That said… How should conversation practice be done? After a while of contemplation, Yaine had an idea. "Alright. You, tell a story."

"A story…" Liu Ji muttered. "What kind?"

"Any," Yaine replied. "Something you've seen, heard, or even your own story if you like…"

"Me?" Liu Ji blinked several times. "My story, okay. But, it might be boring…"

"Doesn't matter." Yaine smiled. "This is for practice."

"Oh, right." Liu Ji scratched his head. "Then, uh, I'll give it a try… Ahem. This is a very, very ordinary story.

"Once upon a time, there was a little boy who, like all the other kids in his class, wanted to become a… um, great magician…"

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