The Misty Realm (Part 1)

Ling Ying glanced at the steaming red tea on the tabletop, but had no intention of touching it. The tea had been sitting there for several minutes, and the person who had served it to her had also disappeared for several minutes. The instructor, who had said she had something to discuss with Ling Ying, had merely made small talk, asking a few casual questions before saying she had an urgent matter and leaving the office. Before leaving, she had asked Ling Ying to wait a moment, so Ling Ying waited. Another minute passed, and Ling Ying heard the door behind her open, but it wasn't the middle-aged instructor who entered, but a young man who could be described as quite dashing.

"Hello, student Cecilia Iliana. It's our first formal meeting. I'm Oliver Anderson. Oh, this is a gift for our meeting. I hope you like it."

The young man bowed slightly towards Ling Ying and then... produced a large bouquet of roses adorned with chips and powder from behind his back.

If Ling Ying had felt a trace of curiosity towards the young man at first, her expression instantly turned dark upon seeing the bouquet of roses. Right, she remembered the name Oliver Anderson. It was the name that was invariably printed on the love letters that appeared outside her dorm every day. However, ever since Ling Ying, out of curiosity, had opened the first letter and was disgusted by the cheesy pickup lines filling the page, those love letters had met their fate in the trash can. Ling Ying firmly believed that if every Void Creature was like herself, the man before her would definitely be a great contributor to Valoran's fight against the void.

"Ah, as expected of student Cecilia, even your frown is so captivating."

"Stop disgusting me."

Ling Ying directly showed a look of disgust.

"Where is that instructor? Where is he? I didn't come here to confide in some smooth-talking liar."

"Oh, him? He won't be back. To be precise, he won't be back until we complete this meaningful meeting."

"Heh, being rich really allows you to do whatever you want, even bossing around instructors."

"Sorry, in Piltover, being rich and powerful allows you to do whatever you want."

Oliver pushed up the non-prescription glasses on his nose.

"I used to think so until I met you, student Cecilia. But I realized that my status and wealth couldn't even get you to spare me a glance. So, I suddenly understood: student Cecilia must be waiting for true, pure love! Ah! I know! I read in a novel that girls like you need persistent devotion to be moved. I've never pursued a girl like this before, but that's okay, I like a challenge!"

Ling Ying looked at the man lost in his own self-indulgence, her fists clenched tightly. She really wanted to shut his stinking mouth with a single punch. But then she reconsidered – she was afraid she wouldn't be able to control her strength and would smash his skull. Would she then have to trouble Caitlyn to get her a new identity and perhaps dye her hair a different color?

"Think whatever you want. I have other things to do, I'm leaving."

Having decided not to waste any more time with the man, Ling Ying decisively stood up and pushed the door open. Oliver wanted to stop her, but the large bouquet of roses in his hand was rather cumbersome. By the time he reacted, Ling Ying had already strode out into the hallway.

"Ah, student Cecilia, wait for me."

Oliver scrambled out, following behind Ling Ying. In the empty stairwell...

"Ah! Student Cecilia, you're testing me, I know, I know! It's written in novels, girls act aloof to test a guy's true character. Only by pursuing them with sincerity can you win their hearts..."

Oliver, who had been chattering incessantly, suddenly stopped. He noticed that Ling Ying, who had been striding forward, had suddenly stopped. This initially confused him, then made him overjoyed.

"Student Cecilia? Have you finally been moved by my sincerity and decided to open your heart to me..."

"Shut up."

Ling Ying coldly interrupted Oliver, then asked a completely unrelated question.

"How many floors are there in this building?"

"Huh?"

Oliver froze for a moment.

"Is this some kind of dating test?"

"If you spout any more nonsense, I'll really punch you."

"Uh, okay, okay. This building has five floors. We just came down from the third floor, how..."

Oliver's words abruptly stopped. He seemed to realize something was wrong and looked up at the floors above. Although he hadn't paid attention to the floor numbers while chasing Ling Ying, he felt like they had run up at least seven or eight flights of stairs.

"The third floor, but I walked twenty steps."

Ling Ying looked down through the gap in the stairwell. It still looked like several floors to the ground... No, Ling Ying narrowed her eyes slightly. In an instant, she noticed that the normal scenery around her had suddenly become distorted, and the colors of the space around her rapidly faded. Ling Ying calmly observed the changes in the space. Oliver, however, couldn't help but tremble.

"Holy crap! What's going on? Damn it, I need to find that old man and get some answers."

Oliver muttered to himself as he quickly walked to a room door and reached out to turn the doorknob. In his memory, it should have been the dean's office, but...

"Don't move!"

Ling Ying reacted quickly, shoving Oliver out. However, she was still pulled along by the corner of the door. Opposite the door, a giant, blood-red demonic eye suddenly opened and shot a straight beam forward. The dark red beam was incredibly powerful, instantly destroying and melting the wall of the corridor. Fortunately, Ling Ying had already moved to a safe position and decisively kicked the door shut.

The world instantly returned to peace. That seemingly fragile door had actually nullified the beam from the demonic eye. Ling Ying looked thoughtfully at the wall that was still melting where it had been hit. Suddenly, a light laugh, like a devil's whisper, entered her ears.

"Hehehe. Welcome to hell. You wicked sinners!"

The laughter sounded both near and far, but Ling Ying couldn't see the source of the laughter at all.

"Hehehe, don't bother struggling. This is my domain. I could be anywhere within it, or nowhere at all. Ah, if you're interested, feel free to try opening the doors like you just did. I guarantee there will be plenty more surprises like that."

"So? You've trapped us here, what's your goal?"

Ling Ying's expression didn't show any panic, although the situation was indeed a bit more bizarre than she had anticipated. Hell? Ling Ying didn't think so. This place looked more like a Different Dimension Space created by some spatial magic. She was a little curious, who in this academy would have this kind of magic to attack her? The voice just called her a sinner. Did it know about her bloody past?

"Goal?"

The whisper paused, and Ling Ying seemed to sense a slight fluctuation in the emotions the other party had been hiding so well.

"Of course, it's to eliminate you two wicked sinners! You both deserve to die!"

"Two?"

Ling Ying blinked slightly and looked at Oliver, who was still trembling beside her. If it were just her, Ling Ying wouldn't find it strange at all. She had never denied being a demon. But that guy... besides being a scumbag who had messed with many young girls, he seemed to be quite sinful. But why would that attract the resentment of someone with such extraordinary power? Was the entity behind the creation of this space a justice seeker, a friend to women?

"Enough idle talk. Now, let me enjoy your struggles before you die. I believe it will be a delightful sight."

The whispering voice disappeared, replaced by a clear bell chime. Ling Ying remembered that it was the electronic bell from the academy's clock tower used to signal lunch break and dismissal. But in this space, the bell chime might mean something else entirely. Ling Ying warily watched her surroundings, and then she seemed to hear the sound of dense footsteps echoing from the stairwell.

"Ah, I was wondering if you wanted to grab a drink after class today? I heard a new pub opened on Morvill Street."

"Alright, alright! I haven't had a drink in half a month, I'm really craving it."

Two people who looked like instructors came up the stairs, chatting and laughing, holding large stacks of documents. They walked past as if they hadn't seen Ling Ying and the other person at all, disappearing around the corner of the stairs.

"What is this..."

Oliver's expression turned tense. The usually glib him started to stammer. Ling Ying withdrew her gaze from the stairs and turned it to the playboy.

"It should be an illusion."

"Illusion?"

Oliver's eyes widened. What Ling Ying said was clearly beyond his understanding.

"It's something to confuse the senses. The owner of this space is very cunning. It knows that mixing the real and the illusory puts greater pressure on the mind. So, if you want to survive, follow me. Listen less, look less, and don't rashly touch anything in this space like you just did. Understand?"

"I... I... understand..."

Perhaps it was the oppressive aura Ling Ying exuded when she became serious, but Oliver stammered for a long time before nodding.

"Then hurry up and get up. Let's try to go up now."

Ling Ying stepped onto the ascending stairs. The door in the corridor that Ling Ying had kicked shut earlier suddenly opened from the inside. A middle-aged man with a receding hairline and a potbelly squeezed out. He looked at Ling Ying and the other person in the corridor with a confused expression.

"Huh? Classmate Oliver, Classmate Cecilia, why are you here? Is something wrong?"

"Inst..."

Oliver subconsciously wanted to respond, but he suddenly remembered what Ling Ying had just said and quickly covered his mouth with his hand. Ling Ying, without a word, instantly drew Doran's Blade from her Storage Bag. With a flash of purple flames, she thrust the sword towards the "Head Teacher's" chest.

"Gaaah!"

The "Head Teacher" let out a strange roar. His body rapidly expanded and changed, finally exploding into a mass of black mud, annihilated by Ling Ying's Void Flames.

"Now you know. Those who actively interact with us are real."

Ling Ying flicked her sword and said calmly to the empty space ahead. A moment later, a somewhat gritted voice echoed in the air.

"Don't get carried away. You can't escape from here. I'll be waiting for you to despair. I hope your expressions will be better then."

Full of threats, but Ling Ying remained very calm. If these were all the tricks they had, then making her despair would be quite difficult. However, out of curiosity for this Different Dimension Space, which was called a desperate situation, Ling Ying decided not to flip the table for now and instead follow the opponent's script. She had plenty of time anyway.

"Cecilia... classmate... you... he..."

Oliver's fingers trembled as he pointed at Ling Ying, his mouth agape in surprise, almost wide enough to fit a volleyball. It couldn't be blamed on him. As an ordinary person, he had already seen too many things beyond common sense today. The fact that he could still remain conscious was much better than Ling Ying had expected. However, this also brought a problem: all of Ling Ying's true abilities were exposed to him clearly, and Ling Ying obviously couldn't let outsiders know about these things.

"It seems we need to clarify some things..."

Ling Ying sheathed her sword, then reached up and removed the light red Cosmetic Contact Lenses she was wearing for disguise. A pair of dark purple Vertical Pupils were revealed from behind them. Oliver first froze for a moment, then shouted.

"Aaaah! Don't eat me! Don't eat me!"

"Tch."

Ling Ying sneered and curled her lips. Then, she stepped forward and grabbed him by the collar.

"Listen up. I'll only say this once."

Ling Ying's tone was as cold as frost.

"Everything that happened before you today, concerning me, forget it all. Otherwise, you'll die right here. Understood?"

"Huh? Ahhh... Don't kill me... Don't..."

"Do you understand!!"

"Ah... I... I understand."

"Good."

Ling Ying released Oliver's collar at the opportune moment. She felt that if she maintained this intimidating aura for even a moment longer, he would likely wet himself from fear.

"Remember what I just told you. Now, we're going upstairs. Since that guy wants to play, I'll entertain it for a while."