"How did the Origin Realm get connected to the outside internet?"
At the time, Su Qi had been preoccupied with analyzing other details and hadn't noticed this anomaly.
But now, seeing it again sent a chill down his spine.
"Has this Origin Realm descended?"
Guardian Jiang nodded grimly. "It descended without a sound..."
Su Qi's pupils constricted sharply.
Descended without a sound...
The weight of those words struck harder than the possibility of Descendants attacking the martial exam.
Origin Realms—special spaces existing independently of the real world—were dangerous but at least controllable and observable.
Their emergence, stabilization, expansion, and eventual "descent" (complete fusion with reality) were always accompanied by violent energy fluctuations and spatial distortions.
They were predictable, preventable, and stoppable.
There had never been a precedent for a "silent" descent.
Su Qi grasped the severity immediately. "The monitoring network detected no spatial disturbances? What about energy signatures?"
"Nothing." Guardian Jiang's expression darkened. "It's as if... it had always been part of Jiangxia."
"Or perhaps its method of descent surpassed our current understanding and detection capabilities."
He rubbed his temples, exhaustion evident. "Ironically, we only noticed this because of that post while evaluating your stance."
It sounded absurd.
But it was the truth.
Like how everyone assumes water must boil at 100°C—no one would ever put it in a freezer to "heat" it.
Few had visited that Origin Realm recently—mostly veterans or students under supervision.
With only a few hundred people, the odds of outliers were slim.
Su Qi was literally the only one who'd tried contacting the outside world directly via the internet.
"By the time we reacted and sent scouts, the Origin Realm... had already fully merged with real-world coordinates."
"The entrance vanished—or rather, the entire area became the entrance."
Su Qi steadied himself, focusing on the critical question. "Impact assessment?"
"Initial surveys show it covers about 15 square kilometers of Jiangxia's western outskirts," Guardian Jiang replied. "Luckily, it's sparsely populated. No reports of mass casualties yet."
"Thankfully, we caught it early. If Origin creatures had spread, containment would've been a nightmare."
"But this is temporary. No one knows what changes might follow."
Guardian Jiang's gaze sharpened as he locked eyes with Su Qi. "What if they replicate this? Make the martial exam's Origin Realm descend next?"
"Or worse—plotting to drop a high-tier Origin Realm?"
Su Qi didn't answer immediately.
He connected the dots in his mind:
Descendants reducing activity, possibly internal selection.
An Origin Realm descending undetected.
"You know this—Great Xia is our territory, but Origin Realms? They're half the Descendants' domain."
Agitated, Su Qi absentmindedly swiped Guardian Jiang's phone screen.
The image changed—now showing a white-stockinged anime loli.
Guardian Jiang snatched his phone back in 0.1 seconds: "Human nature. Basic instincts."
"Focus on business. No snooping."
...
Meanwhile, at Su Qi's home, a different scene unfolded.
Liu Yuan had just seen off two assistants.
The door clicked shut.
She turned back to the kitchen, eyeing the plate of barely-passable scrambled eggs with tomatoes—her "masterpiece" under the assistants' guidance.
The more complex chicken soup and steamed fish? Wisely abandoned.
The chaotic cooking session had confirmed her lack of culinary talent.
Picking up chopsticks, she tentatively tasted a bite.
Hmm.
Surprisingly... decent?
Wait, why "surprisingly"?
Never mind!
At least it wasn't the "dark cuisine" she'd feared.
Balanced sweet-sour tang, eggs reasonably tender.
A tiny spark of pride warmed her chest.
Should be enough for Su Qi to devour tonight!
And she could improve.
Rome wasn't built in a day.
Her lips curved slightly.
If Brother sees me trying so hard, improving bit by bit... wouldn't that itself be happiness?
But the fleeting joy faded as she remembered her original mission—
The card evolution task!
Wiping her hands, she headed to Su Qi's room.
What exactly are Brother's preferences?
The question looped in her mind.
Power on.
Familiar boot screen, then the password prompt.
'xbllzj'
("Xian bu liao le zai jian"—"Can't chat now, bye.")
Easy to remember.
Enter.
The desktop loaded.
But Liu Yuan suspected Su Qi hadn't meant it literally.
What then...?
So hard to guess...
Then she recalled someone saying boys panic most when their cloud drives or D/E disks are checked.
So... Brother's secrets are hidden there?
Clicking into the D drive, she spotted a folder named "Study Materials" inside "BaiduNetdiskDownload."
Her pulse quickened. Important notes must be here!
She double-clicked.
Ready to witness Su Qi's hard work and dedication.
...The folder was empty.
Frowning, her brain raced.
No problem—ask the internet!
Netizens might suck at making money, but they knew everything.
Soon, advice poured in:
[View → Show hidden items]
Liu Yuan tried it.
Submenus exploded on-screen. Her eyes darted until—
Show hidden items?
Check.
Instantly, dozens of folders materialized.
Their names were bizarre: random alphanumerics, some resembling script from a defunct island nation, and very few in Great Xia's language.
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
ither go to a cultivation world where a single sword strike can defeat ten thousand enemies. Or they travel back to historical dynasties to alter history and wield imperial power. At the very least, they'd go back a few decades to get rich using their future knowledge and build a harem. Who the hell would transmigrate here!
reezy rom-com) Good news: Jiang Liu is quite the ladies' man. Bad news: He’s lost his memory. Lying in a hospital bed, Jiang Liu listens to a parade of goddesses spouting "absurd claims," feeling like the world is one giant game of Werewolf. "Jiang Liu, I’m your first love." "Jiang Liu, you’re my boyfriend—she’s your ex." "Jiang Liu, we’re close friends who’ve shared a bed, remember?" "Jiang Liu, I want to have your baby." The now-lucid Jiang Liu is convinced this must be some elaborate scam... until someone drops the bombshell: "The day before you lost your memory, you confessed your feelings—and got into a relationship." Jiang Liu is utterly baffled. So... who the hell is his actual girlfriend?! ... Before recovering his memories, Jiang Liu must navigate this minefield of lies and sincerity, fighting to protect himself from these women’s schemes. But things spiral even further out of control as more people show up at his doorstep—each with increasingly unhinged antics. On the bright side, the memories he lost due to overwhelming trauma seem to be resurfacing. Great news, right? So why are they all panicking now?
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
