Yang Yu turned his head with difficulty.
A breathtakingly beautiful face hovered before him, nearly touching his nose.
The woman wore an incomparably bright, exaggerated smile, yet her beautiful phoenix eyes were a frozen wasteland, devoid of even the slightest warmth.
"...Sis?" Yang Yu's voice was hoarse and weak, his eyes full of confusion. "Why... are you back? I... ah... my head hurts so much..."
"What's wrong?" Yang Yan's smile became even sweeter. She extended a slender finger and gently tapped Yang Yu's forehead. "Did our nationally renowned D-Rank little hero lose his memory after one nap? Want Big Sis to personally help you remember?"
"I..."
Fragments of memory suddenly snapped together!
World BOSS! King's Descent! And that sky full of red light!
"My stuff!"
Yang Yu jolted awake and struggled to sit up. The movement was too forceful and tugged at the wounds all over his body, making him suck in a sharp breath.
"Where's the stuff? Where are the drops?!"
He asked anxiously. Those were Legendary quality items!
"Heh."
Yang Yan sneered and slowly straightened up.
With a casual swipe through the air, she opened a faintly glowing rift into her Storage Space.
Then, as though she had just returned from grocery shopping, she began taking things out one by one.
Smack!
A dark-red heart that still faintly pulsed, radiating immense life force, was lightly slapped onto the blanket covering Yang Yu.
The impact made Yang Yu's entire body shudder.
"There, your Spoils of War!" Yang Yan's tone brimmed with "admiration." "Abyss Demon Dragon Heart? Tsk tsk, a Legendary grade item! All attributes +150. So impressive~"
Smack!
Another item was slapped down.
It was a pitch-black longsword with a savage design, its blade seemingly filled with countless wailing souls.
At the crossguard was a lifelike demonic eye, radiating an ominous red glow.
"Abyssal Demon Eye Sword? Wow, another Legendary grade one! Your sister spent three hard years at Imperial Capital University, risking her life, and I don't even own a single Legendary item. My dear little brother, you've really made something of yourself!"
Yang Yu felt as if the things on top of him were not equipment, but two massive mountains pressing down until he could barely breathe.
Smack!
Finally, a scroll gleaming with dazzling golden light was slapped on top.
The energy fluctuations emanating from that scroll even made the air throughout the hospital room turn thick and viscous.
"Abyss Dungeon Difficulty Activation Scroll?! An Epic grade item!!! My dear little brother, last night you really were... quite the sensation. What a haul!"
With every word Yang Yan spoke, her tone grew more sarcastic. By the final few words, she was practically grinding them out through clenched teeth.
Yang Yu ached from her slaps, but what frightened him even more was the icy killing intent around his sister, so intense it seemed almost tangible.
He had no doubt that if looks could kill, he would already have been sliced to pieces.
Only after Yang Yan had returned the entire Wild Boar King Set on Yang Yu's body to him—
Yang Yu shrank back, like a child who had done something wrong, and said quietly, "...Sis, I..."
"D-Rank!"
Yang Yan suddenly bent over, bracing her hands on either side of the hospital bed and trapping Yang Yu between herself and the mattress!
"You, a D-Rank, solo-killed a Level 20 World BOSS across ranks! Yang Yu! You truly have no predecessor and will have no successor, the undisputed strongest person in the world! Want Big Sis to bow down to you right now?"
She was so close that her orchid-like breath brushed across Yang Yu's face, yet it brought only the chill of falling into an ice cellar.
Seeing the rage in his sister's eyes, as well as the lingering fear and exhaustion hidden beneath it, guilt and gratitude surged through Yang Yu's heart at once.
He put on a pained expression and lowered his head. "Sorry... Sis, I made you worry... and even made you come all the way back from the Imperial Capital..."
"Worry?!"
Yang Yan looked as though she had heard the biggest joke in the world, and her anger shot up another three stories.
"I was worried you'd die too fast for me to make it in time to collect your corpse!"
"I... the situation was urgent..." Yang Yu tried to explain.
"Urgent?!" Yang Yan rudely cut him off. "Urgent my ass. You were just in a hurry to get loot!"
Pointing at Yang Yu's nose, she said word by word, "Do you know that you're famous now? The name 'Yang Yu' is probably hanging at the very top of the intelligence boards of every major faction, every country, and even the Alien Races!"
Yang Yu froze. "Famous? What happened?"
Before falling unconscious, he had only heard the system notifications for the kill and level-up. He had no idea what happened afterward.
Yang Yan watched his baffled expression, the corner of her lips lifting slightly.
She had specifically checked those websites, and nothing like that had happened.
It seemed the people of Linhai City were not entirely useless after all.
She said it only to make Yang Yu understand the seriousness of the situation.
After all, this was exactly the kind of danger she was facing now.
So she continued:
"Don't tell me you still think being famous is a good thing? The nature of your fame is far too serious! So serious that those foreign assassins lurking in the human world may already be on their way to Linhai City!"
"Before human geniuses have fully grown, their greatest value is as targets to be hunted! Those geniuses who fell throughout history, how do you think they died?! Killed by monsters? No! Nine and a half out of ten died to assassinations! They died because of the Arrogance of not knowing how to hide their brilliance! Do you think your life is tougher than theirs?!"
Every word Yang Yan spoke was like a heavy hammer smashing fiercely into Yang Yu's heart.
Yang Yu's expression gradually became grave.
For the first time, he truly realized the severity of the problem.
He had only wanted to become stronger, only wanted to fulfill his wager with his sister. He had never considered that such meteoric rise would bring such deadly danger.
The hospital room fell into deathly silence.
Yang Yan took a deep breath, then slowly let it out, her chest rising and falling violently several times.
Looking at her younger brother lying on the bed, pale-faced and covered in bandages, more than half of the overwhelming fury in her heart finally faded away.
Suddenly, she leaned close again. Her cold phoenix eyes stared fixedly into Yang Yu's, as if trying to see through his soul.
But this time, aside from the lingering anger, her voice carried a trace of barely suppressed... excitement?
"Hey, brat... tell me honestly..."
"Did you... use hacks?"
Yang Yu's scalp tingled under her gaze, and he instinctively looked away. "...What hacks? It's just... my awakened talent is a little strong, that's all..."
Yang Yan stared at him for a full five seconds.
Then she suddenly broke into a grin.
It was a brilliant, radiant smile, yet it carried a hint of madness that no one else could understand.
She abruptly raised her hand and heavily slapped Yang Yu's bandaged shoulder!
Bang!
Yang Yu felt as if he had been struck by the Boarman King. His vision went black, and he nearly failed to catch his breath, almost passing out on the spot.
"Hahahahahaha!"
Yang Yan straightened up and burst into hearty laughter.
She reached out with her other hand and roughly tousled Yang Yu's hair.
"Ha! Good! You've got guts! As expected of the Old Yang Family! Crazy enough! Fierce enough!"
"Next time you want to get yourself killed like this... remember to tell your sister in advance!"
"So I can prepare the highest-grade Coffin for you!"
"Or... help you chop down a few more blind idiots!"
Before you continue