The next morning, a small-scale battle broke out in the Su household.
"I'm not going! I'd rather die than go!"
Su Li clung tightly to the bedroom doorframe, her knuckles white from gripping it so hard.
"Bro! Can you be reasonable for once?"
Su Lin Yue stood in the doorway, looking exasperated. "Look at what you're wearing! My old T-shirt! And you're not wearing anything underneath! Doesn't that feel uncomfortable?!"
"I'm still not going!" Su Li refused to budge.
Seeing her brother like this, Su Lin Yue sighed, but then her eyes sharpened.
"Fine, you don't have to go out. But you still need clothes, right? You still need underwear, right? Those are necessities."
Su Lin Yue took a yellow, flexible measuring tape out of her bag, wearing a faint smile that seemed to say "professional." "Since you don't want to go, I'll just have to buy it for you. Come on, raise your arms. I'll take your measurements."
Su Li looked at the measuring tape and instinctively tried to back away, but Su Lin Yue pinned her in place.
"Don't move! We're both girls, so what's there to be shy about?"
What do you mean, "both girls"?! Su Li wailed inwardly, but her body had already gone stiff.
"Raise your arms."
"...Okay."
The tape went around her chest, and she felt it tighten slightly.
As she took the measurements, Su Lin Yue clicked her tongue in amazement. "Well, well. I didn't know you had so much potential, Bro... These measurements put you at a B? No, wait, you might need something bigger..."
"Shut up! Just take the measurements. No commentary!" Su Li gritted her teeth.
To get an accurate reading, a little contact was unavoidable.
"Ah..." The unfamiliar sensation made Su Li go rigid, and a strange feeling welled up inside her.
"Are you done yet, Yueyue?" Su Li's voice trembled.
The sensation was so strange! It was as if every feeling in her body had been amplified tenfold.
"All done, all done. Honestly, you're such a wimp."
Su Lin Yue put away the measuring tape, then patted Su Li on the butt. "All right, you stay home and behave. I'll go buy some for you at the mall. I've arranged to meet up with my best friend there."
"Just don't tell her you're buying them for me!" Su Li leaned weakly against the wall, reminding her again and again.
Su Lin Yue reassured Su Li. "Don't worry, Bro. Our measurements are about the same. I'll just say they're for me."
"I'm off!"
The security door slammed shut, and the apartment fell silent.
Su Li let out a long sigh and collapsed onto the sofa, as if all the bones had been pulled from her body.
"What a mess..." She irritably ran a hand through her hair.
Her long hair was as smooth as silk, but it was also a huge hassle. Just moving around a little had made her scalp itch faintly.
And... Su Li lowered her gaze without thinking.
Her clothes were loose, and she'd never worn anything so soft before. It was hard to avoid brushing against herself...
The unfamiliar sensations kept reminding her of the drastic changes her body had undergone.
"No, I need to calm down."
"I, Su Li, am a real man! This is just a body, just a body!"
Trying to hypnotize herself, Su Li got up and shuffled toward the sink in her slippers. She wanted to splash some water on her face and clear her head.
Standing in front of the mirror, Su Li took a deep breath and looked up.
She hadn't had the courage to look in the mirror yesterday. Now, seeing herself in it, she couldn't help holding her breath.
The girl in the mirror had a cascade of black hair and skin as fair as the finest white jade.
Her features were exquisite, her brows and eyes like a painting. She had a girl's innocence, along with a bewitching charm that could captivate the soul.
"Is this really me?" Su Li reached out in a daze and pinched her cheek.
It was soft and springy.
Then her gaze slowly drifted downward, settling on the unmistakable curves.
As if possessed—or perhaps out of instinctive curiosity, or just to confirm it was all real...
Su Li closed her eyes, then reached out with her wicked hand...
"Huh?" Su Li's eyes flew open.
"Th-this is way too much!"
This was a whole new experience, unlike anything she'd ever known.
As someone who used to be a guy, she'd certainly fantasized about it...
She'd also wondered how being a girl felt different from being a guy.
And now...
For a moment, Su Li's eyes grew hazy, and she instinctively wanted to keep going...
"Smack!" The sharp sound of a slap rang through the bathroom.
Su Li clutched her burning cheek, her eyes instantly clearing.
"Su Li! What are you doing?!"
"You're a man! A man! You may have lost your little brother, but your soul is straight! You're not into girls!"
Su Li berated herself furiously, trying to defend her dangerously shaken sense of gender identity.
Only after the flush in her cheeks slowly faded did she trudge back to the living room like a defeated rooster.
Sitting at the table, Su Li forced herself to focus on something else and began thinking about her plans for the future.
"Mom and Dad left us a decent amount in savings and compensation money. With this house, as long as we don't spend carelessly, Yueyue and I can live on it for quite a while."
Su Li took out a notebook and started doing the math.
She used to take jobs leveling up other people's game accounts. It was hard work, but it brought in some money.
But ever since she started playing Eternal Realm, she hadn't taken any of those regular boosting jobs.
"I can't just live off my savings forever." Su Li spun her pen and sighed.
"If only I could livestream. With my skills now, I'd be hugely popular."
"Or if I could cash out the Gold Coins in the game."
She was practically a millionaire in the game. The Gold Coins alone were worth a fortune.
The moment the thought crossed her mind—
"Ding." The sound of metal striking something rang out abruptly in the quiet room.
Su Li froze, then looked down.
A Gold Coin lay quietly on the table in front of her.
"I... Holy crap?"
Su Li swore, then shakily reached out and picked up the Gold Coin.
"This is..." Su Li's pupils trembled. "This is a freaking Gold Coin from the game!!"
Game items could actually be brought into the real world? Su Li's heart began to pound wildly.
"If I can bring out Gold Coins, what about equipment?" Su Li sprang to her feet, her gaze sharpening.
She closed her eyes and tried to summon her bound weapon.
"Come forth, Revered Corrupted Dragon Sword!" Su Li cried dramatically, holding out her right hand.
"Bzzz—" The air quivered faintly.
Su Li could clearly feel an immense force responding to her call.
The Revered Corrupted Dragon Sword was eager to descend into this world.
But the very next moment—
"Ugh..." A violent wave of dizziness washed over her, and Su Li's legs gave way. She nearly fell to her knees.
"Cough, cough..." Su Li grabbed the table and panted heavily, a sheen of cold sweat beading on her forehead.
"I failed..." But she wasn't disappointed. Her eyes were even brighter than before.
"I didn't bring it out, but I could feel it just now. It's real! My body in the real world is just too weak to withstand its arrival."
"So if I keep getting stronger, maybe I'll gain the powers I have in the game, even in real life?"
The discovery left Su Li both excited and afraid. The exciting part was that maybe she wouldn't have to eat beef anymore.
The frightening part was...
"I've already turned into a girl. What if I turn into a skeleton next?"
At the thought of becoming a skeleton that clacked as she walked around in women's clothes, Su Li felt her scalp crawl.
"Should I keep playing this game or not?"
Just as Su Li was mired in deep indecision—
"Congratulations on your good fortune..." The phone on the table suddenly began vibrating wildly.
Caller ID: [Stupid Little Sister].
Su Li hurriedly answered. Yueyue had been gone for less than half an hour. Why was she calling already?
"Hello, Yueyue?..."
"Bro!!! Help!!!" Su Lin Yue's terrified scream came through the phone.
"There's a monster in the mall!"
Before you continue