Listen to Your Senior Brother

Dawn.

The eastern sky was only a pale, fish-belly white when the boys who had risen early were already running along the beach, splashing in the water and catching fish amid constant laughter and cheers.

Duen leaned against a tree some distance away, calmly watching the commotion by the sea.

As a transmigrator who had lived two lives, and as the eldest among them, it was difficult for him to join in the games of a group of eleven- and twelve-year-old children.

Duen had lived in this world for seventeen years. When he had likely still been an infant, his master, Koushirou, had carried him to the dojo. From then on, life and training at One-Heart Dojo had become the main theme of his existence.

Unlike what he had imagined, even after transmigrating, his talent remained mediocre. He had once trained from dawn till dusk, day and night without rest, even pushing himself until he lost consciousness and all sensation. When he woke up, his muscles had been so badly overstrained that he had needed a full month of bed rest before he could walk again.

No matter how diligently he trained, his skills improved at an unhurried pace, like pouring a kettle of boiling water into a swimming pool—it neither raised the water level nor warmed the pool.

Over the years, even his swordsmanship had been surpassed by one younger fellow disciple after another.

Fortunately, though his strength grew slowly, Master Koushirou had always trusted him. So he had continued doing his best to play the role of senior brother.

If his strength could not keep up, then he could handle logistics, give lectures, and offer a few bowls of motivational soup, right? If nothing else, he still had the advantages of being a transmigrator, didn't he?

As he watched the sea glimmer faintly with ripples, Duen felt sleepy for some reason.

When he closed his eyes, a main interface emitting a faint glow suddenly appeared in his mind without warning.

Three options appeared on the interface: [Abilities and Enhancement], [Lottery Center], and [Illustrated Guide].

Huh? What is this...?

Duen had lived for a full seventeen years without ever encountering anything like this. But after a brief moment of panic, his strong mental fortitude allowed him to calm down.

This was the benefit a normal transmigrator was supposed to have.

He tried opening [Abilities and Enhancement] with a thought.

[Duen Mond]

Overall Assessment: A warrior capable of combat.

Remarks: Years of diligent training have given you the strength to defeat invaders. Though you are not particularly powerful, you have already surpassed most ordinary people.

Primary Skill: Swordsmanship LV1

Devil Fruit Ability: None

Physical Arts: None

Haki: None

Duen looked through it again and again, but he could not find any enhancement button.

After searching fruitlessly for a long time, he exited [Abilities and Enhancement] and opened [Lottery Center].

Before him appeared a roulette wheel that seemed to have stopped working due to a machine malfunction. Beside it was a dull, unlit button.

Duen tried pressing the button with his thoughts, but nothing happened.

"So... how exactly do I activate this?"

Duen tried pressing it once more, but there was still no response. He had no choice but to exit [Lottery Center] and open [Illustrated Guide].

[Illustrated Guide] was completely dark, with nothing inside.

"It must need some kind of condition to activate these..."

Duen decided to find a quiet time and place to study it later. As for now, he still had things to do...

He checked the time on his pocket watch, stood up, and shouted toward the beach, "Hey, come over and gather up!"

The boys playing on the beach heard him and ran over one after another. Before long, they had surrounded Duen.

A freckle-faced boy pleaded, "Senior Brother Duen, we've only been playing for half an hour. Let us play a little longer!"

"Yeah, yeah! The teacher only allows us out to play for an hour a week. Can't we go back to the dojo a little later?"

The boys spoke over one another, whining and begging. They would not dare use such a tone in front of Koushirou, but Duen had always been gentle and approachable, so they had far fewer reservations around him.

At the thought of the dull, tedious sword-swinging practice in the dojo, these energetic little troublemakers practically wanted to glue their eyes to Duen, desperately hoping that their kind senior brother would extend their playtime.

"I know the training at the dojo is rather boring, and it's quite rigid too. I understand how you feel..."

Hearing Duen's words, a glimmer of hope appeared in the boys' eyes.

"But."

Duen changed his tone and put on a stern expression. "Rules are rules. If you do not have the ability to break them, then you must obey them properly."

Their fantasies shattered. The boys immediately lowered their heads and fell silent, and the surroundings became deathly quiet.

"Negative emotion points from Alma +10..."

"Negative emotion points from Masi +1..."

"Negative emotion points from Spike +11..."

"Negative emotion points from..."

A new income log suddenly appeared beside the main interface in his mind, lines of text jumping across it.

"What is this supposed to be?!"

Duen was startled, but he quickly calmed down.

Negative emotions? He seemed to understand.

"Negative emotion points from Dick +110..."

Just as Duen's heart was settling down, his brow twitched. He looked at a junior brother named Dick among the crowd, confused as to why Dick's negative emotions were so much higher than everyone else's.

"Senior Brother Duen!"

Dick suddenly shouted in anger. The companions around him shrank back in fright, and in the brief silence, he roared again, "I challenge you!"

Everyone erupted in an uproar. Dick wanted to challenge Senior Brother Duen?

Because Dick was already fourteen, his bones and muscles had developed two years faster than the others'. He was also naturally strong, making him something of a king among the children.

Because of Duen's earlier reprimand, the boys were more or less dissatisfied. At that moment, they stood united on the same side, secretly hoping Duen would accept Dick's challenge.

If it was Dick, maybe he could defeat Senior Brother Duen... Then he'd know we aren't ignorant little brats!

The youths thought this with mischievous intentions.

"Hmm..."

Duen pondered for a moment and nodded slightly. "As a senior brother, I have a responsibility to regularly assess and understand how far my junior brothers have progressed in their training..."

Hearing this, a trace of delight appeared on the youths' faces. Dick struck a crude and ridiculous ferocious pose, baring all his teeth. "Senior Brother Duen, it seems you've agreed!"

Duen answered decisively, "I refuse."

"Negative emotion points from Dick +89..."

The fat boy's face darkened.

Under normal circumstances, Duen would certainly have been willing to guide Dick through actual combat. But right now, he wanted more to test how these negative emotion points were generated.

As he felt the text flash through his mind, Duen stopped looking at Dick's resentful face. He cleared his throat and said, "All right, today's outdoor time is over. Everyone, go back!"

No one dared object to the words of Duen, their elder senior brother. Thus, amid the boys' sighs and unwillingness, he led them back to One-Heart Dojo.

Koushirou sat cross-legged on the outer veranda, his eyes narrowed. He always wore an expression that revealed neither joy nor anger.

"Master Koushirou."

Duen bowed slightly in respect to Koushirou, who had carried him back to the dojo. The way he addressed him differed slightly from everyone else's. Just as the words implied, Koushirou was both his teacher and something like his father.

"You're back."

Koushirou smiled and nodded. His smile was exceptionally kind, always the same no matter when.

Yet everyone was still afraid of him. Though he was usually amiable, he had always been incredibly strict regarding swordsmanship training.

The youths' voices lowered and gradually ceased as they entered the dojo one after another and began practicing.