In the "real world," I once played a game where characters could learn more powerful skills after reaching a certain level. Skill books were obtained through quests or dungeons, and using a skill book would grant the corresponding skill. Skill books had a success rate; if the attempt failed, the skill book would disappear, requiring a new one to be acquired.
In the game I'm currently in, "Nen" is a powerful skill. As a Nen user, I can dispense skill books an infinite number of times. If it fails, the skill book doesn't disappear; instead, the character account receiving the skill book is deleted.
According to the original setting, the mortality rate for forcibly awakening "Nen" is extremely high. It was only after failing twice in a row that I truly grasped this fact.
The only geniuses capable of easily accepting the forced awakening of "Nen" were the two in the protagonist group, who had a one in ten million chance.
It's normal for ordinary people to have their character accounts deleted.
As an experimental "toy" designated number two, I was initially placed in a solitary confinement cell. The former "toy room" was cleaned and repurposed as a cat café, with the cats cared for by a dedicated staff.
Alas, this time I carefully controlled the output of my "aura" and tried to make the explanation of "Ren" as simple and easy to understand as possible, yet I still failed.
If I recall correctly, the survival rate for the forced awakening of "Nen" is one percent, meaning one out of every hundred people can survive.
It reminds me of a certain mobile game in the "real world." Due to the extremely low probability of drawing a limited-edition character, to prevent angry paying players with bad luck from collectively complaining and quitting, they specifically added a "guaranteed draw within one hundred attempts" mechanism. If a limited-edition character wasn't drawn in the first ninety-nine attempts, the hundredth draw would definitely yield one.
Although, "miracles in a single draw" are my unwavering faith!
Number three "toy" also failed.
Damn it, I'm getting a bit too invested. I want Kiko to give me more "toys" at once to try.
No, no, no. I've finally endured a week-long interval to conduct experiments. If "toys" are broken too frequently, even within the villainous Zoldyck family, it might not be ideal, right?
The financial cost is secondary. The key issue is that buying too many might have some adverse effects on my character's reputation. Not to mention, thinking about how future Alluka would view my character image makes me a little apprehensive.
Be low-key; maintain dignity.
After "toy" number three was broken, I didn't bring up the matter of replenishing "toys," thinking that since I had broken three, Kiko might be satisfied and stop. Little did I expect Kiko to proactively bring it up again, saying, "Moll, why don't you say when a toy is broken? Don't be polite with your mother."
I remember not long ago, Milluki requested the latest computer, and Kiko refused with the reason, "Didn't I update it for you half a year ago?"
A computer alone is insignificant to the Zoldyck family's wealth, and it's much cheaper than the "toys" I've broken. However, Milluki is at the bottom rung of the Zoldycks, so even a computer cannot be freely updated to the latest model. This disparity is too cruel; I must always take it as a warning.
I shook my head and said I was tired of playing with that kind of "toy" and didn't want to play anymore.
"Is one not enough for you?" Kiko asked understandingly. "Don't be shy, Moll. I've said I'll support your hobbies."
"...No, no, really, it's fine."
No matter how much I shook my head like a rattle, Kiko still brought me new "toys," and two of them at that.
Seeing the twins appear in the cell instance, they said in unison that they would bring me joy. They, as twins, cooperated better than others, so the joy would be double the joy.
"..." No, currently I don't want double the joy, and it's a bit funny how you both speak at the same time from left and right channels. It's even made me lose all worldly desires.
Compared to Milluki's treatment when asking for toys, it's truly a case of some having too much while others have too little.
If possible, I'd rather exchange these two "toys" for the latest computer and give it to Milluki, to gain some character favorability.
Speaking of Milluki's character favorability, it's because I suddenly realized that forcibly awakening "Nen" in "toys" is completely unnecessary; it's a roundabout approach. Isn't Milluki already available?!
Opposite sex, possesses "Nen," easy to bully—you're decided, Milluki Zoldyck, my only "Nen"-using younger brother!
Closing the cell door with no emotional fluctuation, I [took out] my phone and sent Milluki a message: Milluki, are you free now?
After a few seconds, I received a reply: Not free.
"..."
As I walked towards Milluki's room, I continued to text him: Are you free now?
After successfully sending it, I followed up with: Are you free now?
Without copying text, I repeatedly typed manually on the phone keyboard: Are you free?
Then sent it.
A long string of sent messages quickly accumulated on the phone screen:
[21:45:57 Sent] Are you free?
[21:45:58 Sent] Are you free?
[21:45:59 Sent] Are you free?
[21:46:00 Sent] Are you free?
[21:46:01 Sent] Are you free?
[21:46:02 Sent] Are you free?
[21:46:03 Sent] Are you free?
[21:46:04 Sent] Are you free?
[21:46:05 Sent] Are you free?
[21:46:06 Sent] Are you free?
[21:46:07 Sent] Are you free?
...
[21:52:13 Sent] Are you free?
[21:52:14 Sent] Are you free?
Milluki's room door was just in front of me. I raised my hand to knock, while continuing to send messages with my other hand.
[21:52:15 Sent] Are you free?
[21:52:16 Sent] Are you free?
[21:52:17 Sent] Are you free?
[21:52:18 Sent] Are you free?
[21:52:19 Sent] Are you free?
[21:52:20 Sent] Are you free?
[21:52:21 Sent] Are you free?
[21:52:22 Sent] Are you free?
After a series of messy footsteps from inside, the door opened. Milluki, with a flushed face, held his phone in one hand, looking exasperated. Upon seeing me, his shoulders instantly slumped, and he mumbled with no energy, "...It's you. Sister."
I nodded and pressed the send button on my phone.
[21:52:48 Sent] Are you free?
"..." Milluki glanced at the message received on his phone, his lips twitching slightly. "...Yes."
As the saying goes, "An elder sister is like a mother," which translates to me being Milluki's half-mother. Roughly speaking, I'm an elder. And elders entering a younger person's room don't need to consider the younger person's feelings. Thus, I naturally pushed Milluki's shoulders and strode into his room.
Computers, figurines, cola, snacks – the classic trifecta of a shut-in otaku was all present.
Wow, snack crumbs were everywhere around the keyboard and also on the chair. I gave up on sitting in Milluki's chair and chose to stand.
If not for the dedicated staff who cleaned the rooms in the Zoldyck household, I imagine this room would spontaneously spawn cockroaches and emit indescribable odors. Fortunately, it wasn't that dirty or run-down. The terms "dirty" and "run-down" can be omitted; it was just a bit messy.
Milluki had locked his computer screen before opening the door. Now, the computer screen displayed the default system wallpaper, making it impossible to know what he was doing on the computer just minutes before.
"To suddenly come over, is there something important?" Milluki asked, frantically tidying up the snack wrappers on the desk and tightening the caps on the cola bottles, looking like a guilty child caught red-handed by a parent.
"Did I disturb you?" I asked.
"No," Milluki said, throwing the snack wrappers into the trash can beside the desk, emphasizing his words. "Not at all!"
Although I was a bit curious about what he was feeling guilty about... never mind, I won't trouble him.
"I came to see you, not for anything too important, just to check your progress in learning 'Nen'." I extended my hand towards him. "Let me see your control over 'aura.' Hold my hand and try to inject a little of your 'aura' into me."
"Oh," Milluki said, relieved, and did as he was told without further questions.
"..."
Seeing me fall into thought, Milluki couldn't help but ask, "How is it?"
"It's okay, I guess." It felt like having a foreign object in my eye.
As expected, other people's life energy is different from my own, and it cannot be easily fused. Exchanging "aura" to replenish Yang energy is not feasible.
There's no other way, I can only...
Hmph, don't underestimate me. There are plenty of ways to exorcise evil. I bought a supposedly effective amulet when I went out on a mission a few days ago, and since then, I haven't encountered any paranormal phenomena. Coming to find Milluki today was merely to conclude a previously unfinished experiment. Now that I have the experimental results, I have no regrets.
"It's alright now," I said, patting Milluki's shoulder. "I'm leaving. Goodnight."
Leaving Milluki's room, I used my phone to check the location of the pet collar. I found a small gray-blue cat wandering around the main residence and brought it back to the cat café.
"Meow~" It offered token resistance but stopped struggling.
When addressing its curiosity about the outside world, I thought of Kiko. By using my phone to track my location, wasn't that an excellent method? It gives pets freedom and provides owners with a sense of security – killing two birds with one stone.
This is... a "love" collar.
The kitten was initially unaccustomed, twisting its body and waving its paws, trying to break free from the collar's restraint. After two or three days, it got used to it. Its behavior returned to normal, and because it could run around, its personality became more lively. It wasn't afraid of strangers either; anyone passing by could pet it.
Legend has it that even Silva has petted it, whether true or not is unknown.
The fluffy furballs crowding around in the cat café were irresistible. I've decided to spend the night at the cat café again tonight!
Men only slow down my drawing speed. The joy of petting cats is unparalleled!
After all, in my single years in the "real world," solving my own needs with visual stimuli was quite good. Why would I need "toys"? Troublesome.
The beds in the cat café have been replaced with the same specifications as my bedroom, with soft beds piled high with soft pillows. Coupled with the soft cats that like soft cushions, I picked up the calico cat sleeping right in the middle of the bed by the scruff of its neck and moved it aside. I, the prettiest cat on Kukuroo Mountain, should be the one sleeping in the middle of the bed!
Reallocating the territory on the bed took several minutes. With the white-haired, blue-eyed cat in my arms, and three other cats sleeping around me.
Placing the amulet under my pillow, I slept very soundly.
Some cats, perhaps not having played enough during the day, fidgeted rustlingly for a while. The territory on the bed changed hands several times, and more cats burrowed under the covers. I remembered vagrants sleeping with dogs for warmth; furry animals are indeed very warm.
Perhaps it was too warm, as I had an extremely terrible dream, the kind that would get me killed if Kiko found out.
"..." I truly am a sinful woman.
Based on my dream experiences, the immersion level of dreams varies. Sometimes I know it's a dream and can consciously change the perspective and direction of the dream. Other times, I don't know it's a dream and treat it as reality, leading to more intense emotional investment.
The dream, interwoven with excitement, fear, and lingering dread, left my mind in a mess. To make matters worse, I experienced sleep paralysis.
In the "real world," I've experienced sleep paralysis several times. After researching it online, I learned it's a scientific phenomenon caused by physical and mental fatigue or poor sleeping posture, so I wasn't anxious.
After waiting for a while, the pressure naturally disappeared, and I sat up.
Hooray, time to start the day's training!
First, I'll take a shower and change my underwear.