Li Xin

Li Wen took off his VR headset and checked the time. It was already 2:21 PM on June 26th.

He had been intensely focused on progressing in the game for the past two days, completely losing track of real-world time.

He opened his phone and found four or five missed calls on his messaging app.

One was from his homeroom teacher, and the rest were from someone named Li Xin.

Li Xin was, of course, Li Wen's younger sister, two years his junior and a student at Tianhai High School No. 4.

Li Wen had complicated feelings about his sister. On one hand, he desperately wanted to see her, the family member he had sworn to protect. On the other hand, he felt immense guilt due to past events, and he didn't know how to face her.

After a moment of hesitation, Li Wen, fearing his sister might have something important to tell him, dialed her number.

"Beep... Beep..."

The busy signal on the phone was like Li Wen's heartbeat, each pulse louder than the last.

"Hello? Brother, why are you calling at this hour..."

A familiar, gentle female voice came from the other end of the phone. Li Wen felt a stinging sensation in his eyes. He composed himself before speaking.

"Are you in class, Ah Xin?"

"Mhm, don't you have class, Brother?"

Hearing his sister's question, Li Wen changed the subject.

"Is there something going on at home that you called about? I was busy with other things and didn't see your calls."

"No, I just missed you. Is everything okay on your end?"

"Yeah, I'm almost done with what I was doing."

Li Wen considered whether to tell Li Xin about the game and the transmigration, but then he thought about not wanting to worry his sister too much, so he held back.

"Really? Mom called me and said you weren't at school."

Li Wen's heart skipped a beat. It was probably because his homeroom teacher had notified them. But why would his mother call Li Xin instead of him?

He recalled that he had had a bit of a falling out with his family around this time. Perhaps that was why Li Xin had called multiple times.

"I... " Li Wen paused before remembering his homeroom teacher's name. "I already got permission from Teacher Yang."

"Oh, I see." A light chuckle came from the other end of the phone. "Well, if there's anything you can't tell Mom, you can tell me."

"I will." Li Wen's face involuntarily broke into a smile. The pressure from his advancement on the End Path had suddenly lessened, and his resolve grew stronger. "Oh, right. I saw your social media post. Have you been playing a game called 'World Tree: Origins' recently?"

"Ah?" Li Xin's voice suddenly became flustered. "I haven't been playing for too long, just when I have free time in the evenings."

Li Xin was a bit of a gaming enthusiast. Besides drawing, her favorite hobby was playing games, so naturally, she wouldn't miss out on a groundbreaking game like 'World Tree: Origins'.

If Li Wen hadn't experienced the great transmigration, he would have sternly lectured his sister about not getting addicted to games, encouraging her to read more, exercise, and hang out with friends. However, because players would inevitably experience transmigration, those who spent more time in the game and had higher levels would have a greater advantage. Thus, Li Wen only mentioned it briefly.

"Yeah, it's fine to play for entertainment, just don't put too much pressure on yourself."

"Brother? Are you sure everything is okay?"

Li Xin's voice sounded suspicious. Her brother usually didn't talk like this; he'd rather she focused all her energy on her studies.

"...Just be careful yourself, okay."

Li Wen found it difficult to explain. After all, who would have thought playing a game could lead to transmigration?

"Brother, do you want to play together? This game is really, really fun. It's like a real, existing other world."

It couldn't be more real, Li Wen thought, and even more real things are waiting ahead...

Li Wen was speechless. He didn't want to reveal to Li Xin that he was already playing 'World Tree: Origins' yet. As the wielder of Urd's Thorn, every action he took could have unpredictable consequences on the future.

So, Li Wen said, "Maybe when I have time... If there's nothing else on your end, I'll hang up now?"

"Okay, bye-bye."

"Mhm, be safe."

After hanging up with Li Xin, Li Wen lay on his bed, unable to snap out of his thoughts for a long time.

"m2, what time is it?"

He waited for a while, but there was no reply. Li Wen then remembered that he had forced the smart assistant into standby mode a couple of days ago.

So, Li Wen got up, opened the refrigerator, took out a ready-made meal, quickly heated it up, ate it, and then put on his VR headset again.

Li Wen left the nun's dormitory and headed straight for the church.

It was already night in the game. As the darkness deepened, most of the believers had already left.

The large church was brightly lit by candles. Only one person was praying before the altar, their shadow stretched long and distorted by the candlelight, resembling a monstrous shadow beast ready to devour.

Hearing the movement, Pastor Mog turned around and saw Li Wen, who was cloaked and looked even more suspicious than he did.

"The item?"

He asked directly.

"The person is dead, and he drank the Moonlight Potion."

Upon hearing Li Wen speak the name of the magic potion, Pastor Mog's expression softened slightly. He didn't care at all why Li Wen had managed to survive an encounter with a mage who had used a Moonlight Potion.

"Since that's the case, this matter is considered settled. I'll smooth things over on that end."

"That end..." Did he mean the Moon Worshippers faction?

Li Wen didn't ask further. She was unaware of any secret dealings between Pastor Mog and those individuals from the Moon Worshippers faction. Was it common knowledge within Dark Dawn, or was this a transaction authorized by Siswell? If she inquired carelessly, the fact that Li Wen wasn't a member of Dark Dawn would be revealed, and she would be the one in trouble.

She glanced at her character status. Her experience pool had increased to 910.

Of this, 60 experience points were from before and unused, and another 50 experience points came from killing that monster in the laboratory. 300 experience points were from Pastor Mog's quest, and the final 500 was very likely a reward for Li Wen's unwitting participation in some world event, specifically for exploring the Alchemy Master's laboratory with Moria. This reward was issued when Li Wen first logged in.

A full five hundred experience points, equivalent to the heads of two Fire Mages, was even more than Pastor Mog's quest. Li Wen didn't even know what she had done, only speculating that it must have been related to that unnamed Alchemy Master.

Moriah Enoch, the Firstborn of the Temple, his purpose for coming to the Black Dragon Territory was far from simple. However, Li Wen currently couldn't spare the attention to concern herself with that situation. For her, the most important matter now was advancing on the End Path.

910 experience points were enough for her to level up twice, straight to Lv4.

So, the question now was, should she upgrade her skills or learn new abilities?