Ever since Illumi was born, the Zoldyck family, in order to help me, his sister, accept the new family member more quickly, forcibly added a daily activity of "visiting my brother" for me, and tried their best to instill in me the idea that "sisters should love and protect their brothers."
Hmph, don't underestimate me. I'm the kind of veteran office worker who, even under the brainwashing of a corporate culture with "small meetings every three days and big meetings every five days," couldn't be swayed to have even half a shred of company honor.
As for company team-building activities, those might fool fresh graduates, but veteran office workers just want to go home and catch up on sleep, remaining unmoved.
What kind of "sisters should love and protect their brothers" is this? You don't know how terrifying a controlling pervert, a legendary Sadako, an acupuncture enthusiast, a punk-style disguise artist, and a psychological trauma for Killua this brother will become. He's a ferocious creature whose only redeeming quality is his face.
At this moment, this future mid-boss is sleeping in his crib.
Look, his skin is as white as snow, and his hair is as black as ebony. Except for the slight discoloration of his lips, he's as beautiful as a girl. Was he perhaps molded according to Snow White's character?
I reluctantly admit, he looks like an angel... Tsk, I can't think of any more creative adjectives.
No wonder my fanfiction writing back then was such a failure.
They say "you can't judge a book by its cover," and don't underestimate infants. Isn't there an infant who served as a teacher to a future mafia boss? Plus, there's me, with an appearance of a toddler but the intelligence of an adult... an unexpected character.
Although baby Illumi is cute, after looking in the mirror, I think my own character design is cuter.
Plump apple cheeks, a chubby face, fluffy silver-white curly hair, beautiful blue eyes, long and thick eyelashes. This ethereal, otherworldly, snow-country elf-like extreme beauty makes even Barbie dolls pale in comparison. I'm completely infatuated with myself. The only regret is that my eyes seem like stagnant water, very dim. Otherwise, I would definitely be the cutest child in the Zoldyck family's history!
According to the original setting, the Zoldyck family has five sons, four of whom have black hair and black eyes and resemble their mother. Only the third son, Killua, has silver hair and blue eyes. Killua is also the most talented child among the five brothers, and even in the Zoldyck family's history. Therefore, early fan settings often called "silver hair a symbol of talent, and only those with silver hair can become the head of the family," greatly increasing the prestige of silver hair within the Zoldyck family.
I don't bother with speculations that lack official confirmation. However, not long after I arrived in this world, I heard my father, Silva, comment on how much I resemble him, which made me deeply worried.
Oh, Silva is not that kind of sharp-chinned, handsome male character from a shojo manga!
His features are rugged, his physique is robust, like a silver-haired lion.
He's a hundred percent pure hunk, full of muscle.
"..." So, am I, a female character, supposed to think it's a good thing to look like him?
Fortunately, after looking in the mirror, I found that I only share the same hair and eye color as Silva; in other aspects, I am a normal female character.
However, a toddler's appearance cannot guarantee future attractiveness one hundred percent. I hope I don't turn out like Silva in the future.
Imagine becoming a "King Kong Barbie" like Bisky... No, that goes against my aesthetics!
It shouldn't happen, right? According to the original setting, the Zoldyck family is supposed to have everyone with good looks. Even one of their least popular characters, a胖子 (fat person), is commonly acknowledged: he is indeed a handsome guy, and it's his obesity that hides his good looks.
After visiting the future controlling pervert, living Sadako, acupuncture enthusiast, punk-style disguise artist, and Killua's psychological trauma, Illumi Zoldyck, my next new daily activity is learning to "speak."
It was probably suggested by the white-coated doctor who came last time.
To increase my means of expression, they hired a special teacher to teach me basic lip reading and sign language.
The shift intervals of my caregivers have also become shorter, as they too have to find time to receive corresponding lessons to coordinate with my learning.
Originally, I intended to be a happy mute, focusing entirely on my inner monologues. But since they've gone to such great lengths, they must expect results, which makes me too embarrassed to slack off, so I can only honestly accept the lessons.
Poor office worker, not even death brings an end. I've experienced the semi-paralyzed life of an infant, and now I have to relive the painful student life.
Who would have thought that even a mute has to learn to "speak"?!
When the teacher asked me to observe and imitate his mouth movements, my mind was filled with inspirational stories of Helen Keller overcoming her disabilities... Oh, no, teacher, I'm not doing this voluntarily. I don't want to work hard; I'm willing to be mute!
Despite this, facing various reasonable and unreasonable work tasks thrown at me every day is something that a veteran office worker is quite experienced with.
Though my heart aches, my body honestly and diligently executes the tasks.
It's over. The subservient nature of an office worker has permeated my soul.
The worst part is that Illumi is currently an infant and sleeps most of the time, unable to help me divert the elders' attention. Therefore, my new "special curriculum for disabled children" has attracted considerable attention from them, and they often come to observe the progress of the lessons.
It's too tough. It's too tough to be the first child. Being cared for by everyone regarding my studies puts immense pressure on me.
Come on, I'm just a child over one year old!
I remember how shameful it was when I was first guided to say "Mama," "Papa," and "Grandpa" using lip reading.
No, it wasn't shameful at first. It was because "my" birth mother covered her face and screamed, and "my" father and grandfather wore strange smiles. It was their reactions that made me feel inexplicably ashamed, as if I had lost something incredibly precious.
In other words, my old face turned red. Sigh, as a veteran office worker who has struggled for so many years, my skin was already as thick as a cement wall. Now, I'm actually blushing! How embarrassing!
There's no other way. Addressing fictional characters as family members one by one in an异世界 (otherworldly) game is indeed a bit strange. It gives me a feeling of "ruined reputation" and I can't be at ease about it.
My cheeks burned fiercely. I turned my face away, almost wanting to abandon all reason and make a tactical retreat.
"Mill." Silva called me.
Just like in the original setting, members of the Zoldyck family sometimes use abbreviated names to refer to each other. For example, they call "Illumi" "Illu," and "Killua" "Allu." As for me, it's "Mill."
What is "Mill"?
Let's return to physics class.
Mole is abbreviated as mol. It was formerly called gram-molecule or gram-atom, symbol mol. It is the unit of the amount of substance and one of the seven base units of the International System of Units.
No, I'm joking. The abbreviation for "Milluis" is of course "Mill." The dialogue box in front of me also writes it this way.
The text in the dialogue box uses the unique script of this world. Since these characters have a corresponding relationship with a foreign language in my "real world," with my not-so-reliable memory and flawed linguistics knowledge, I can now barely understand three to four tenths of the characters in the dialogue boxes, considering it self-taught. From illiterate to semi-literate.
When I officially start literacy classes later and display my literacy talent, astonishing them, I can proudly "say" to them: It was the dialogue box! My literacy enlightenment teacher is the dialogue box! (laughs)
"Mill." Silva Zoldyck, one of the three major bosses of the Zoldyck family dungeon, is calling my name, so of course, I dare not ignore him.
Looking up at them again, I opened my mouth and, with great hesitation, replied "Papa" with lip reading.
I lowered my head and tugged at the hem of my skirt, which had traces of soil and grass leaves. I got them while chasing small animals in the back mountain to investigate whether they truly had no health bars.
After running around the territory and tearing several kimonos, "my" birth mother, Kikyo, reluctantly let me switch to Western-style clothing.
Actually, I'd prefer to wear pants, which are more convenient for movement. But Kikyo has already made a concession, and I can't be too greedy, right?
Silva, who usually doesn't show much emotion, walks around the territory like a strong lion on patrol, often reminding me of "King Simba." Rather, Simba is more amiable than him. After all, Simba is produced by Disney and needs to be liked by children... Uh, I mean, he has the dignity of the current head of the Zoldyck family, and has nothing to do with songs like "Hakuna Matata."
So when Silva squatted in front of me and showed me a slight upward curve at the corner of his mouth, oh, I felt like an unfortunate, lost little rabbit bravely facing an adult lion baring its teeth.
"You've learned very well. You should receive a reward." he said.
He took something out and put it around my neck. It was cool to the touch, a silver whistle. It was cylindrical, with a small dragon head connecting the whistle to a thin chain.
This dragon head looked somewhat familiar, as if it resembled the dragon-shaped decoration on their mansion's gate, also known as the "Testing Gate" or "Gate of Hades."
Oh wow, this design looks quite cool on a whistle.
"It's cool, right?" said "my" grandfather, Zeno, the former head of the Zoldyck family and another of the three major bosses of the Zoldyck family dungeon. His smile was gentler than Silva's, even benevolent, yet it held a shrewdness that could penetrate people's hearts. In a sense, it was a more fearsome smile.
"…This was added by Dad." Silva supported my hand holding the whistle. "It's good that the result is good. Do you know how to use it, Mill?"
The survival instincts of a veteran office worker at work caused my mind to instantly go blank, making me appear bewildered and helpless.
With two major bosses of the Zoldyck dungeon gathered, I, an ordinary person, know that my temperament and skills are far inferior to theirs. When faced with their questions, instead of trying to act cute and being easily seen through, it's better to be a bit foolish. Weakness is also a weapon for the weak. By leveraging my "not smart" and "honest" strengths, I can at least appear genuinely cute.
Besides, my current face is truly adorable!
Give the two bosses some face!
Look how cute the child is!
As if seeking help, I looked past Silva towards Kikyo behind him. Inevitably, under the powerful aura of the two bosses, even Kikyo, who almost strangled "me" shortly after "I" was born, appeared exceptionally cute and approachable.
And the exceptionally cute and approachable Kikyo was immersed in the happy picture of "family reunion" before her, her face filled with an "auntie smile"... Sorry, I couldn't think of any other words to describe her smile.
So, the next activity was naturally taking photos. Even the sleeping baby Illumi was brought over to participate in the group photo.
After the group photo, as the butlers in black uniforms who were responsible for taking the photos were packing up their equipment, baby Illumi also woke up and started crying loudly. Kikyo immediately got busy trying to soothe him.
Silva finally had a chance to continue their previous conversation and tell me how to use the whistle.
From the masters to the servants, the Zoldyck family has always been quiet, fitting the chilling atmosphere of a killer family. It's rare to have such a noisy moment as background noise.
I suddenly feel that as a person, I need to have some conscience. In the future, if I find that I can't defeat all the bosses in this world and try to end the game through death, I should die somewhere far away, die discreetly, so as not to affect the Zoldyck family's reputation.
I silently crossed out three planned popular death spots from my mind.
Goodbye, top of the World Tree.
Goodbye, summit of Kukuroo Mountain.
Goodbye, rooftop of the Heavens Arena.
Alas, the original plan is completely overturned. I need to choose a new location.