Morning light washed over Takumi's mountain villa like a quiet tide—clean, cool, and deceptively peaceful. Beneath that calm, a million logistical fires simmered.
A new civilization had been born overnight.
Now came the hard part: building the rules that would keep it alive.
Takumi stretched, rolled his shoulders, and sighed.
"...Yeah. This part is annoying."
Miori Shiba laughed beside him. "Worldbuilding is much easier in fiction, isn't it?"
Kisara, walking slightly behind, added dryly, "Try doing it after mass murder and a multiversal kidnapping. Everything is paperwork now."
The Holy Empress walked in thoughtful silence, clutching a tablet containing early drafts of laws Miori's father had helped format.
Takumi led them into the heart of the city—Reason Plaza—where robots and children scurried around like neurons firing.
1. The Monster Economy Problem
Miori gestured toward a holographic display showing a map of the surrounding wilderness.
"So these beasts—Honkai-mutated wildlife—are edible and slightly increase mental energy?"
Takumi nodded. "Yeah. Think of them as nutritious, ethical, extremely violent free-range livestock."
Kisara blinked. "…Ethical?"
"They're not people," Takumi shrugged. "And they respawn. The planet has a self-balancing biomass cycle."
The Holy Empress stared.
"…Your world… respawns monsters?"
Takumi snapped his fingers dramatically.
"Self-regulating biosphere patch. Version 3.0.
It's great for a game-like economy."
Miori understood instantly.
"Right—monster drops."
Takumi pointed at her proudly.
"Yes! Loot economy. Items, materials, cooking ingredients, crafting components. Easy early-game wealth. And we can use it to bootstrap the population into a stable financial system."
The Holy Empress rubbed her temples.
"…You're designing a national economy based on… MMORPG logic?"
"Not based on," Takumi corrected.
"Inspired by."
Then he smirked.
"Besides, the alternative was taxes."
Everyone instantly agreed monster hunting was better.
2. Herrscher of Reason: Constructing a Monetary System
Takumi clapped once.
The world shivered.
Reality bent like malleable metal around thought. Blueprints unfolded in layered geometric lattices—coins, banknotes, blockchain-like ID tags, even entire economic models spun in midair like floating math.
Miori and the others went silent.
This was the Herrscher of Reason in full administrative mode.
Takumi held out a hand and spoke as if lecturing a cosmic university.
"Currency must be:
— durable
— standardized
— divisible
— secure
— symbolically meaningful
— and ideally backed by something real."
Kisara whispered, "It looks like you're building a religion more than a monetary system."
Takumi ignored her.
"The new currency shall be: Astral Credits."
Lines of light wove themselves into glowing tokens floating above his palm—sleek silver disks with crystalline cores.
The Holy Empress's eyes widened.
"…What gives them value?"
Takumi smiled.
"Knowledge, energy, and labor.
Pegged to gold for psychological comfort.
Backed by planetary-scale energy infrastructure."
Miori raised a hand. "Hold up—are these physical coins?"
"Nope. Purely symbolic for demonstration."
He waved his hand.
The coins shattered into light, transforming into a network diagram of digital wallets, identity-verified accounts, and economic subroutines.
"The real currency is digital.
Everyone gets a multi-layer identity card.
Integrated banking. Biometrics.
Impossible to forge."
He flicked his fingers and a glowing card materialized.
3. The Astral ID: Administrative Godhood
The card hovered between them like a holy artifact.
White core. Blue outer ring. Engraved geometric lines similar to Honkai circuitry.
Takumi explained:
"Every citizen gets:
— a Unique Existence ID
— Secure account wallet
— Skill Tree integration
— Housing registration
— Health status
— School enrollment
— Work permits
— Points from monster hunts or missions
— Access to N-dimensional storage (limited)"
Holy Empress: "…N-dimensional storage?"
Takumi nodded.
"Limited, of course. Only a few cubic meters."
Kisara muttered, "Compared to your infinite storage…"
"My storage is for emergencies!" Takumi protested.
Miori raised an eyebrow.
"Is that why you stuffed an entire billion-ton refinery in there earlier?"
Takumi looked away.
"Ahem. Moving on."
4. Converting Miori's Family Fortune
The Holy Empress examined the card.
"And Miori's assets? How do we integrate wealth from another world?"
Takumi pulled out a cube of shimmering metal—compressed gold from Miori's world, compacted using spatial compression.
"We convert world-gold → refined data-value → credit reserves → distribute as initial liquidity."
In simple terms:
He turned gold into universal points.
Kisara's eyes widened.
"That's… alchemy."
Takumi grinned. "Reality-coded alchemy. Very legal."
Miori pinched the bridge of her nose.
"My family was the richest in our world. So in this world…"
Takumi handed her a card.
"You're… upper-middle class."
"WHAT?!"
Takumi shrugged innocently.
"Wealth compression prevents inflation."
Kisara snickered behind her.
5. Banking System: The First Vault
Takumi raised his hand.
The ground rumbled.
A massive vault—black alloy reinforced with Honkai circuitry—rose from beneath the plaza. Hexagonal plates rotated, locking into place.
Letters branded themselves across the front:
ASTRAL RESERVE BANK
Takumi gestured grandly.
"National bank, vault zero.
Backups in Imaginary Space, time-dilated zones, and sub-dimensional caches."
Holy Empress: "…You built it in nine seconds."
Takumi shrugged.
"I was slow today."
6. Interlude: Group Chat Chaos
As Takumi finished constructing the vault, his chat group exploded with notifications.
He opened the window mid-air.
🌐 Group Chat — Slice of Life Chaos
Chika Fujiwara:
[Takumi-kun!! Why does your world's money look cooler than ours?!]
Sagiri:
[I want an Astral ID… does it come in pink?]
Bronya:
[…Your technological level is rising at an unnatural speed. Noted.]
Akeno:
[Ara~ a national bank appearing instantly… that's so bold.]
Zhongli:
[I have informed Ganyu. She will arrive shortly. She fainted after receiving the dream notice. Please prepare tea.]
Takumi:
[…She fainted??]
Zhongli:
[She was working too much. A 'mandatory vacation' overwhelmed her.]
Chika:
[LOL!!]
Sagiri:
[Takumi-world tourism when?!]
Takumi closed the chat before it devolved into sticker spam.
7. The Empress' First Crisis
The Holy Empress looked around Reason Plaza—at citizens receiving IDs, robots assisting families, monster-hunting assignments being posted—and shook with a strange emotion.
"Children… lining up for school.
Adults… receiving housing peacefully.
Monster hunts… regulated."
Takumi watched her closely.
"You okay?"
She hesitated.
"I've never seen a nation rise so fast. Not even in legends. I feel… inadequate. I was a figurehead in my old world. Here—"
Takumi cut her off gently.
"You're not a figurehead here."
He placed an Astral ID in her hands.
"Welcome, head administrator."
Her breath caught.
"Takumi… you trust me?"
Takumi shrugged lightly.
"More like: I refuse to do paperwork."
But the Holy Empress saw through it.
He trusted her judgment.
He was giving her a chance to be what she always wanted: a leader who could actually change things.
She bowed deeply.
"I will not fail your citizens."
8. Reality Distortion: The First Budget
Takumi closed his eyes.
A vast cosmic ledger opened behind him—floating equations, predicted economic flowcharts, risk diagrams. His Herrscher authority processed millions of possibilities, slicing through time-like layers to generate stable outcomes.
It felt like tearing through the atmosphere of futures.
Pain stabbed his head.
He steadied himself.
The Holy Empress and Kisara rushed toward him.
"Takumi?!"
He held up a hand.
"I'm okay. Just… the cost of thinking too far."
Reason came with a price:
the brain must bear what the world cannot understand.
But he didn't stop.
With a firm gesture, he materialized the city's first national budget—fluid, adaptive, auto-balancing, encoded with anti-corruption laws.
It hovered like a luminous scroll.
"Budget is live," he said.
The Holy Empress grasped it reverently.
"Takumi… this is brilliant."
Kisara added,
"You look like you're about to pass out."
Takumi: "That's normal. Building an economy manually is stupidly hard."
9. Society-Building: A Miniature Scene
To test the new economy, Takumi guided the group into a bustling district.
A little girl—pink-haired, maybe seven—approached a robot vending kiosk.
She held out her new card and whispered,
"Um… can I have the strawberry pastry…?"
The robot beeped.
"Purchase confirmed.
Credit deducted: 0.05."
The girl held the pastry like treasure.
Kisara smiled weakly.
"She… paid? With real currency?"
Takumi nodded.
"Her parents receive baseline income from the settlement program. Kids get monthly allowance. It teaches responsibility."
The Holy Empress whispered,
"Your world… might be gentler than our old one ever was."
10. Visitors from Liyue
A portal rippled open above the plaza.
Zhongli stepped out elegantly.
Behind him: Granny Ping carrying her teapot.
Three Adepti silhouettes.
And finally—Ganyu, wobbling, sleepy, clutching documents.
She blinked at Takumi's city.
"…M-Mr. Zhongli… I think I'm still dreaming…"
Zhongli sighed.
"No, Ganyu. You are awake."
Takumi waved.
"Welcome to the Astral Domain. I need your help to build a functioning government."
Ganyu fainted again.
Miori clapped.
"Perfect timing."