The girl Alice favored, Lin Luo could guess without even thinking, was nothing more than Marisa Kirisame, or perhaps Patricia—at the very most, the rival Patchouli Knowledge. As for the boy she liked… considering how few males there were in Gensokyo, coupled with the coy, embarrassed manner she’d just displayed, Lin Luo could lock onto himself with 99% certainty just using his toes to guess. Though he might only command half, or perhaps even less, of Alice’s love, Lin Luo still felt immensely proud. After all, the original Alice was a yuri enthusiast; to be able to change her sexual orientation—what a glorious achievement! It was just like how much skill it would take for a man who loved women to convince that man to climb the slopes of Brokeback Mountain!

So, when he heard Alice’s somewhat venting question, Lin Luo patted her shoulder and comforted her very seriously: “Don’t worry, it’s not wrong for a man to be perverse, and it’s not wrong for a woman to be strange. Especially for a cute girl like Alice, being a little stranger is fine, so you don’t need to mind it at all.”

“Eh, that…” Alice immediately became a bit embarrassed, but she still held back her shyness and asked, “Really?”

“Of course. Take me, for example. While I like girls, I also like… ah, crap!” Lin Luo slapped his own mouth hard at this point before continuing, “No, I misspoke just now. Take me, for example. The girls I like come in all sorts of varieties: lolis, young maidens, mature women (Yūjō), married women (Rōtsei), queens, goddesses, maids, witches, shrine maidens, assistants, female knights, glasses-wearing girls (Meiganniang), manipulative girls (Fuhara Shōjo), emotionless girls (Sanwu Shōjo), ghost girls, magical girls, scientific girls, yokai girls, vampire girls… In short, as long as they are cute girls, regardless of age, race, or even whether they are alive or dead, they fall within the scope of what I like. See? Am I perverse or not?”

Originally, Alice hadn't thought Lin Luo was perverse at all, but after hearing this speech, she couldn't help but nod, looking at Lin Luo with a strange, complex gaze. “It seems… you really are a little perverse.”

Huh? Am I really perverse?

Faced with Alice’s perverse-like stare, Lin Luo couldn't help but feel a surge of doubt, but he quickly pushed the thought aside and continued to counsel the bewildered maiden. “I like so many types, and you only like two types: men and women…”

“And dolls,” Alice reminded him.

“Fine, even if we add dolls, that’s only three types. I omitted a full three thousand words above; the types I like number in the hundreds. Compared to me, you are simply a small speck compared to a great mountain. So, you really don’t need to worry about this. Moreover, the most important thing is that your strangeness is only strange to ordinary people. In Gensokyo, there are plenty of people stranger than you.”

“Is everyone strange?” Alice asked, genuinely unable to think of anyone in Gensokyo who wasn't bizarre.

Lin Luo nodded as a matter of course. “You should ask if there is anyone who isn’t strange. For example, Yakumo Yukari. She’s an ancient being whose single thought can span ten thousand calamities, yet she insists she’s forever seventeen. She loves peeping and enjoys [REDACTED], and despite being a Sage, she’s lazy and gluttonous. Very strange, right?”

“Mmm, now that you mention it, she is quite strange… But, is it really okay for you to talk about her like that?” Alice nodded but then cautiously glanced around, afraid that the strange Sage might jump out from nearby. That would be disastrous.

Lin Luo shrugged, looking utterly composed. “It’s fine. She doesn’t even have time to attend the banquet, so how could she have time to eavesdrop on us? Speaking of which, it’s precisely because she is so strange that she can be the hidden mastermind of Gensokyo. And Remilia. She’s clearly an old crone over five hundred years old, yet she’s permanently stuck at 1.42 meters tall. Despite lacking the dignity of a major figure, she still calls herself the King of Vampires. Very strange, right?”

“Mmm, Remi lacks dignity.” Alice wholeheartedly agreed with this statement. Just recently, rumors circulated that the Scarlet Devil Mansion was going to change masters, saying Remilia’s dignity was waning like Reimu’s integrity, leading to Flandre usurping the throne or something. However, the matter eventually died down without resolution; the reason was unknown.

“But if she weren't strange, how could she be the master of the Scarlet Devil Mansion? And then there’s Mokou. She’s clearly a girl, yet she always refers to herself as hon shō (this young master). She’s plainly a delinquent girl, yet she calls herself the ‘Crimson Self-Defense Squad.’ Very strange, right?”

Alice nodded thoughtfully and said, “Indeed, Mokou is a girl. She’s so cute, you can barely tell when she’s dressed up.”

Hey, what have you guys been doing?

“And Yuyuko! She’s clearly an undead spirit, yet she eats so much. Do you think a species like the undead even has a stomach? Where does all the food she eats go? If she’s an undead spirit, why does she feel so fleshy to the touch? She should be weightless! Very strange, right?”

“You’re absolutely right. I’ve been pondering this problem too,” Alice nodded heavily. The setting of an undead glutton is just too bizarre.

“And then there’s Reimu, who suffers from dissociative identity disorder; Marisa, a girl who wants to start a harem; Keine, a teacher whose surname isn't Awano; Chen, a Tengu who prefers photography over swallowing the sun; and Sanae, a maiden who is referred to as a married woman (Rōtsei)… In short, strange people are everywhere in Gensokyo. So why should we care if we are strange or perverse?”

Lin Luo finished his sweeping criticism with a shrug. It was a good thing the others couldn't hear him, or those girls he’d mocked would likely ditch the masked man to tackle him.

However, Alice was instantly enlightened by his words, and her mind cleared immediately. “I see. I almost forgot that Gensokyo was never a normal place to begin with; normal people can’t survive here. You only survive by becoming strange. Saying that, my hobbies don’t really count for much anymore.”

Lin Luo nodded. “Exactly. And the stranger you are, the better you live. So, Alice, in order for us to live more [Self]-freely and gracefully, let’s strive to become even stranger.”

“How strange should we become?” Alice asked excitedly.

Lin Luo pretended to ponder for a moment before saying, “For example, by having you become my daughter or something.”

“Huh?” Alice’s mouth dropped open, a look of utter confusion on her face.

Lin Luo quickly explained, “Your mother said you lacked love, which is why she requested me to do this. Although I didn't agree at first—after all, you are much older than me in terms of years—it is precisely because of this that the matter is strange! Because it’s strange, we must do it, don't you agree?”

“This…” Alice suddenly felt her intelligence was insufficient. It sounded plausible, but also not quite right. Remembering what Lin Luo had told her at the very beginning, she couldn't help but ask, “You said earlier you wanted to give me some love. Is this the kind of love?”

“Mmm, paternal love,” Lin Luo nodded.

“So… so that’s what it’s like.” Alice’s expression faltered. She felt inexplicably disappointed, yet simultaneously relieved. After a moment of silence, she said, “Although it is indeed a bit strange, it’s not an unpleasant thing. Because becoming father and daughter will allow us to be closer, and I won’t have to struggle over my relationship with Marisa…”

“Uh, you agreed?” Hearing her self-muttering words, Lin Luo was momentarily stunned. Even though his previous barrage of words had slightly upended Alice’s worldview, he hadn't expected her to be so calm, showing no sign of refusal.

“Because there was no need to refuse in the first place,” Alice smiled faintly and said, “And this way, I won’t have to choose between the boy I like and the girl I like. I can pursue Marisa naturally.”

Perhaps because of what Lin Luo had said earlier, Alice was no longer shy when talking about pursuing Marisa.

Looking at her appearance as a maiden in love, Lin Luo suddenly felt an urge to tease her. He scratched his head and said, “Um… Alice, actually, Marisa has already agreed to become my mistress, so Alice… Huh? What’s wrong with you?”

Before he could finish speaking, Lin Luo noticed something odd about the girl opposite him. Upon closer inspection, he saw that the smile on Alice’s face had completely frozen, like a fossil, and then she slowly tipped backward… She had fainted!

“Hey! I was joking!” Lin Luo quickly caught her, but she couldn't be woken up. He couldn’t help but be greatly embarrassed. “I think I’ve broken her now…”

…

Just as Lin Luo was over-stimulating Alice to the point of her breaking down, within the Thirteenth Dimension, Kazami Yuuka and the other two were engaged in a fierce battle with the Thirteenth Dimension itself.

“How many times has this been? Is it not over yet?” Lilith stood atop the Lion King, wielding the Sword in the Stone like a Sword Immortal, but sweat was beading on her brow. This was her first time confronting a dimensional upheaval. Although her strength was sufficient, her experience was slightly lacking, resulting in immense pressure. Even the Lion King beneath her showed signs of fatigue.

“We’re far from done. This is only the tenth wave; the real fight is just beginning!” Evangelin was more experienced and fared slightly better than Lilith. The Dark God continuously devoured the sky, shrinking the pressure on the trio, though judging by her attack intensity, she wasn't having an easy time either.

Only Yuuka still looked completely composed. As green grass and flowers continuously erupted from the ground, completely suppressing the dimensional upheaval. However, this wasn't a battle she could win alone; if she acted too self-centeredly, failure was inevitable!

Seeing the strained expressions of the two around her, Yuuka unconsciously recalled a past scene. The only difference was that back then, she had fought side-by-side with someone else, whereas now there were three of them.

Yuuka instinctively placed a hand over her face. “I didn’t expect I would still be shackled by memories. But the me of today won't let such a thing happen again!”

She dropped her hand, her face set with a determined and unwavering expression, and she soared upward, spreading both arms wide.

“Come forth! World of Green!”