Growth

The note seemed to be torn from a notebook. Ye Chuan lowered his gaze to read it.

【1. Your sister is adorable, but don’t make her angry】

【2. Family members are trustworthy】

【3. Don’t trust Mom】

【4. Don’t trust Dad】

Just four simple lines, with more content seemingly torn off and now illegible.

“Hah.” Ye Chuan placed the diary’s contents alongside the academy’s rules.

“I don’t get it. Not at all. Can’t we just skip to fighting the boss?” All Ye Chuan wanted was the thrill of battle.

All this talk about trusting family but not Mom or Dad—

Nonsense.

But then Ye Chuan reopened the log. Before entering this adventure world, he’d seen the obtainable items list.

【Obtainable Items: ??, ???, ????Red】

Red

Meaning…

This adventure world has a legendary-tier item?

At this realization, Ye Chuan could hardly sit still.

A Chaos Undying Body, a Holy Grail—both were game-breakingly powerful.

And now another one?

Lilith’s essence no longer mattered. He wanted this.

“I’m not asking for much. Just give me an invincible physique or something.” Ye Chuan neatly arranged the two pieces of paper and was about to leave when a knock sounded at the door—

“Brother~ Are you awake~?” The voice was soft and sweet, likely belonging to the “adorable sister” mentioned in the note.

“Yeah, coming.” Ye Chuan responded immediately, slipping effortlessly into character.

His face remained expressionless, but as his hand touched the doorknob, a thought crossed his mind—what if his sister was a ghost? Or some hideous monster that still called him “brother” in a cutesy voice?

A rotting corpse, perhaps?

Seemed like the kind of twisted joke this world would play.

Please don’t jump-scare me.

Click. The door opened, revealing a girl about five feet tall, with ash-white shoulder-length hair and gentle crimson eyes.

A white-haired, red-eyed loli?

Nice, very nice.

“Good morning, Brother,” she said softly.

Seeing the cute girl, Ye Chuan rubbed his chin. “Huh? Surprisingly adorable?”

At the word “adorable,” the girl froze for a moment before blushing. “Hehe… Brother, what’s gotten into you? Hurry, or we’ll miss the opening ceremony.”

“Oh, right.” Ye Chuan snapped out of it and surveyed the surroundings.

Just an ordinary living room. Nothing unusual.

If not for his phone confirming he’d entered a supernatural world, Ye Chuan would’ve thought this was completely normal.

Like he was just visiting someone else’s house.

With a cute little sister.

“Brother, breakfast first.” The sister reached out and took Ye Chuan’s hand.

“……?”

A flicker of surprise crossed Ye Chuan’s face. Her hand looked soft and delicate, but it felt oddly slimy, as if coated in mucus.

Before he could dwell on it, she’d already pulled him to the dining table, where breakfast was laid out.

“You’re up! Eat quickly,” a woman in the kitchen said with a smile.

“It’s your first day of school. Don’t be late,” added a middle-aged man reading a newspaper, his face obscured.

Ye Chuan glanced at the food, then at “Mom and Dad,” before sitting down to eat.

The moment he picked up his chopsticks, all three pairs of eyes locked onto him.

“……” Though unnerved, Ye Chuan said nothing and dug in.

His backpack was stocked with antidotes, and his Chaos Undying Body offered some protection. Poisoning was the least of his worries.

“Not bad,” he remarked after finishing. Noticing his sister staring blankly, he asked, “What?”

“Was breakfast… good?”

“Decent.” The taste was slightly off, but he couldn’t pinpoint why.

His sister simply smiled sweetly. “Brother, let’s go to school now.”

“Sure.”

They stood up. “Mom and Dad” stopped what they were doing, their gazes fixed on the two until they reached the door.

Outside, the sister naturally looped her arm around Ye Chuan’s, but the slimy sensation persisted—more like being wrapped in tentacles now.

Ye Chuan stayed composed, his mind racing.

Was there a disconnect between what he saw and what he felt?

But for the sake of that legendary item, he pushed the thought aside. The main setting of this dungeon was likely the school anyway.

The sun shone brightly as they boarded the bus, eventually arriving at the school gates.

【Muteness Academy】

The sign loomed overhead. Not a single student was in sight, but a massive stone plaque at the entrance bore two words:

【Growth】

What did that mean?

“Brother, what are you looking at?” His sister’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

“Nothing.” Ye Chuan turned to her. “Where is everyone? Just us?”

“That’s because you’re so slow. Everyone’s already gathered at the gymnasium.”

“Ah, got it…”

Inside the school, the air felt unnaturally cold, but otherwise, nothing seemed amiss. Walking side by side with his sister, they passed a classroom where she suddenly stopped.

“Brother, you go to the gym alone. We’re in different grades.”

“Alone?” Ye Chuan asked.

“Mhm!” She flashed a sweet smile.

“Fine.” He patted her head before walking away.

His sister watched him leave, her crimson eyes tracking him until he vanished around the corner.

……

“Gymnasium, gymnasium… at least there are signs.” Ye Chuan strolled down the empty hallway, boredom creeping in.

“An adventure world without combat? And not even an enemy in sight? How lame.” Just as his interest waned, a middle-aged man approached.

Bald and bespectacled, the man scowled at Ye Chuan. “The opening ceremony’s started! Why aren’t you at the gym? Get moving!”

【2. Teachers’ words are absolute. Students must never disobey.】

Recalling this academy rule, Ye Chuan pondered for a moment.

Bang! A bullet hole appeared in the man’s forehead, and he collapsed.

Ye Chuan twirled his revolver. “Huh… not a monster? Feels like a regular person.”

He tilted his head. “So if I go to the gym now, I’m still following the rules, right? I’m being obedient.”

“It never said I couldn’t kill.”

At that very moment, Ye Chuan seemed to sense something—the bald man lying on the ground was shrinking rapidly, like a deflating balloon.