Starting with the Herrschers, I Cut Down All — Chapter 24

Xiao Yu was very well-behaved. Aside from being a little chuuni as a child and occasionally holding grudges, there was no way he could be a bad person.

Maybe her brain really was broken. It was only a dream, yet it made her feel as though a long, heavy stretch of time had passed. Meanwhile, a clear waking day would turn into night in the blink of an eye.

Perhaps her experiences in reality lately had been too mundane.

"Xiao Yu, did you run into anything interesting again today?"

She spoke softly, her voice gentle.

"Even if it's something small, I still have plenty of time." As if afraid he would refuse, she hurriedly added.

Of course you have time!

An Yu grumbled to himself.

But he had always been quite patient with friends and family.

Still, after only one day, aside from Ling and Sirin, there really wasn't much worth talking about. Fortunately, An Yu was good at rambling. Normally, he could chatter until dawn and talk people dizzy.

Whenever Ling was mentioned, Elysia would think of the girl in her dream, weeping bitterly as she held her sister's corpse.

As for Sirin... she even began to miss Sirin. At least the Herrscher of the Void had been Sirin. The nightmares at night wouldn't have made her feel this miserable.

"It's almost ten without us noticing. Sis, is there anything you want to eat?"

An Yu looked toward the sky, now completely swallowed by night. Perhaps because it had just rained, the stars seemed especially bright.

"Let's just eat something simple. I don't know why, but I just want to sit here and zone out for a while."

Elysia leaned lightly against his shoulder and spoke in a low voice. After listening to An Yu ramble for so long, she had somewhat regained her anchor to reality.

Just as An Yu was about to order takeout, he suddenly froze.

He hesitated before asking, "Sis... are you still going to sleep tonight?"

Elysia looked conflicted. "I don't really want to sleep right now."

For one thing, she wasn't very sleepy. For another, she was simply afraid of dreams now.

At least sitting here in a daze and looking at the stars made her feel much better.

An Yu was stunned.

"Sis, don't tell me you're still having nightmares? And they last all night?"

That couldn't be it, right? Had someone put a curse on you? How could a nightmare last that long? Nothing major had happened recently, either.

Elysia didn't answer. There weren't even faint dark circles beneath her beautiful eyes.

Yeah, she was having nightmares. All night long, and she couldn't wake up. No one would believe a reason like that even if she said it aloud.

The villain inside looked exactly like her own younger brother. The friends inside had been called a bunch of fair-weather friends by that same younger brother in reality. She also had to save the world and change the worldview of those important people.

It was troublesome beyond belief. Sometimes, she really wanted to kill everyone else, but the Professor was still working hard in the dream, Kevin was still full of ideals, and Mei seemed to be improving too...

She didn't want to sleep anymore. Avoidance might be shameful, but it really worked!

Her body was suddenly pulled into a warm embrace. Elysia lowered her head without struggling, allowing her little brother to hold her tightly.

"It's fine, it's fine. I'm okay."

She spoke quietly. Elysia wasn't very willing to accept the reality of becoming a burden.

But something really did seem wrong with her mind. At the very least, her sense of time had become a complete mess. With such dislocation, every night's dream seemed especially long.

An Yu instinctively glanced toward the window.

"Sis, I'm a light sleeper. If you have another nightmare, I'll definitely wake up."

He reached out to comfort his sister, wearing a gentle smile.

Elysia froze, not understanding at first.

But a moment later, she seemed to understand what An Yu meant.

She murmured softly, "We're both adults already..."

Wouldn't sleeping together still be a little too strange?

An Yu didn't care at all. "So what? The first loss I ever suffered after becoming an adult was a marriage registration form."

"That was the first lesson you taught me, Sis."

Though the return on investment had been pretty good, and his sister's side job had flourished, it had still dealt a massive blow to An Yu's worldview.

Elysia's little face reddened. "I was ignorant back then. I only wanted to earn money quickly to solve my college tuition problem..."

"Besides, what was wrong with siblings getting married once? We didn't even register it at the Civil Affairs Bureau, and didn't we get divorced that same day...?"

The more she spoke, the lower her head sank, until she nearly buried it in her chest.

What they had done back then really had been rather absurd. And if she'd known they would just go along with the mistake, she could have taken half of An Yu's wife fund... Wait, if they got married, could she take all of the wife fund?

"Fine, just consider it you letting your little brother take a loss for once. Comfort your light-sleeping brother."

They still ordered takeout for dinner. It was simply too late to cook. Time passed rather quickly as the two of them nestled together and spoke softly; at least, they didn't get too hungry while waiting for the food.

It was just a pity that Elysia's dream continued that night, except An Yu's role had been removed.

Why?

Could it be that, after the two of them became rich, her dissatisfaction with making Xiao Yu sleep in a separate room had subconsciously made her see An Yu as a bad child?

Elysia instinctively reached out to touch the space beside her. The cool bedding was empty.

"Breakfast, Sis. I cooked this morning."

But when the door opened and that familiar voice, carrying the scent of sunshine, reached her, everything seemed to be getting better. Elysia rubbed her eyes, looked at the figure in the doorway, and suddenly smiled brilliantly, her clear eyes sparkling.

Hope

That everything to come

Would be

Just as wonderful!

She held kindness in her heart and prayed devoutly.

As for An Yu... although he hadn't gotten to enjoy mowing down enemies yesterday, and had woken up half an hour early this morning to avoid an awkward physical reaction, things were honestly still fine.

"Sis?"

"I'm coming, I'm coming~ Be more patient with girls, Xiao Yu."

Volume One: Limited Return

At the dining table.

"Xiao Yu."

Elysia's sweet voice made An Yu feel a little dazed. His sister seemed very happy today. Why? Was sleeping with her little brother really that enjoyable?

Could it be that Doctor Faer, that old otaku, hadn't been wrong?

"I'm listening."

An Yu raised his eyes and saw Elysia resting her chin on her hand as she watched him. A few loose strands of hair had fallen across her cheek, swaying lightly as she spoke.

"You need to be careful of bad women outside, especially the kind who are older but small."

Elysia's tone was incomparably sincere. Her little face was stern, as if she truly had his best interests at heart, though two shallow dimples appeared at the corners of her pursed lips.

But older and small... who was Sis talking about?

Sirin? Probably. After all, Sis didn't know Lobster Doctor or Teacher Einstein.

"...Honestly, Sis, I don't think I've ever met a bad woman in my life."

When it came to boundaries, everyone seemed to have them. The few who didn't were an entire generation older than him, so they were elders.

As for classmates, he had always studied hard from childhood to adulthood... Well, actually, being used as a shield had cost him his right to choose a girlfriend.

He rubbed his chin, his gaze falling on his sister. Elysia was wearing a loose white sweater today. It seemed to be his. This girl had been too lazy to return to her room and change clothes!

"That's because they hide it well."

Elysia declared with complete certainty.

Sigh.

An Yu suddenly let out a sigh.

"Sis, this is reality, not a novel."

"Our siblings may not have to worry about food or clothes anymore, but we haven't reached the point where we're worth a villain's attention."

If that day ever came, An Yu would definitely be unable to bear the hardships of life. He would drop to his knees before his teacher and say, "Teacher, if you don't mind, I want to take care of you in your old age."

"Just like how you had so many admirers in the past, Sis. But after you graduated college and lost contact, how many are still left now?"

An Yu shrugged. People had to accept reality. Once you left school, how many close friends could you still know?

"It's precisely because those people are still trying that I'm warning you!"

Elysia stirred her pumpkin porridge until it looked utterly bland and watery, suitable for taking huge gulps. Only then was she satisfied.

An Yu: ...

After a moment of silence, he held out his hand. "Give me your phone."

"Oh." Elysia handed him her phone, not knowing what Xiao Yu wanted to do.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm deleting your friends. Although I hope you won't suffer because of love, Sis, I hope even more that you won't become a player."

An Yu mainly found it strange. Ever since childhood, Elysia had controlled and restrained him in every way, keeping him from becoming a scumbag. Why did she get to become a scumbag herself?!

Elysia: ...

She wanted to say something but stopped herself, her soft pink lips puffing out slightly.

An Yu first entered Golden Courtyard and browsed through the members. His gaze paused briefly on the IDs Su and Sakura before he casually continued scrolling through the others.

No wonder Doctor Faer hadn't found anything before. It turned out he was one of Sis's shady friends' teachers.

A naturally evil old otaku!

Only then did he search for the admirers Elysia had mentioned.

"Never mind. It's just a class group. Pretend I said nothing."

A moment later, An Yu slid the phone back to her.

Though he didn't know what use a college class group had, everyone was in one, so leaving really wouldn't look good.

"See? That's why you need to watch out for bad women."

Especially during this period, when she was lying around at home and didn't want to go out to work, her little brother was completely unsupervised. No one knew what he thought about all day.

"You should watch out for bad men first."

An Yu curled his lips. They had been poor when he was young, but saying An Yu couldn't get a girlfriend would be complete nonsense.

So why hadn't he gotten a girlfriend?

It was all because of you, Elysia!

Because of all those admirers of yours, I was forced to become a shield, making everyone see me as a winner in life before college!

After breakfast, seeing that his sister was obviously in a much brighter mood, her fair cheeks flushed with a healthy glow, An Yu prepared to head straight to work instead of staying behind to wash the dishes.

"Won't you be late after wasting so much time this morning?"

Elysia glanced at her phone, a radiant smile blooming on her snowy face. Even the her in the dream had been so motivated. The real her definitely couldn't fall behind.

Otherwise, with her mental problems, her perception of time would probably become even more chaotic.

She probably really did have a mental illness.

"It's fine. I'll speed there."

Besides, with ninety-nine percent of the world using self-driving cars, An Yu had been enjoying speeding much more lately. Current autonomous driving was far more reliable than old drivers.

But Sis would definitely nag him, since speeding wasn't a good habit... except when it helped ease the atmosphere.

"Take your sister with you. Let's go for a drive together."