Starting with the Herrschers, I Cut Down All

The first thing she thought of was that refusing would definitely affect their sibling relationship, so she should agree. But her mental state had been a little unstable lately, so it was best not to have children anytime soon. And if they did have a child, choosing a name would be troublesome too. Then when the child grew up, there'd be the education...

An Yu was silent for a long while. "You need money again? How much?"

Elysia's flushed little face froze. Only after a moment did she react and viciously hurl the cushion beside her at him.

"An Yu, you bastard!"

She no longer had the mood to eat. Her face was red from both embarrassment and anger, completely crimson.

She tried to pounce on An Yu and fight him to the death, but her armed struggle failed once more.

An Yu simply lifted her with both hands and tossed his big sister back onto the sofa like a child.

Elysia sniffled as she watched that heartless man start rummaging through the refrigerator for snacks.

"So, do you need money or not?"

An Yu drank yogurt through a straw. Drinking yogurt after a meal wasn't good, but with a body honed through years of exercise, he didn't need to worry about that.

"If I needed money, would you give me your marriage fund?"

An Yu: ...

"Do you think my marriage fund is still that substantial? The mortgage, modifying the motorcycle, and your recent treatment expenses... They call it a marriage fund, but aside from racing, most of it has been spent on you, Sis."

Still, An Yu didn't care much about it. The purpose of making money was to enjoy life, and he was enjoying his life right now, even if he hadn't saved much.

Are you sure that thing is called a marriage fund? Isn't it just savings...? Though I guess there isn't much difference.

"Oh..."

Elysia didn't know what she was thinking as she subconsciously checked her memo app.

Then, barefoot, she pattered into her room. When she came back out under An Yu's confused gaze, she was brimming with pride.

But a moment later, she seemed to remember something. Her pale thighs shifted steadily as her little face took on a rare hint of charm.

"It's okay, Xiao Yu. Your big sister will support you~"

She took out a bank card co-branded with some anime.

"Save your salary for your own dowry. I only need money because I've been spending a lot recently, not because my salary is low."

An Yu surveyed their home. "This house can be your wedding home when the time comes, too."

Elysia's fingertips kept tightening. For the first time, she had finally realized something.

That sense of distance wasn't only coming from her toward An Yu.

A few minutes later, she listlessly finished eating while An Yu washed the dishes in the kitchen.

[Golden Courtyard (13)]

Elysia: "What should I do if my younger brother is ignoring me? It feels like he's been a little distant lately."

If Xiao Yu knew she was asking here, he'd definitely call this bunch "fair-weather friends" again.

Aponia: "May I ask what this distance is like?"

Elysia: "It just feels like our relationship has grown weaker."

They'd clearly agreed when they were young to always treat each other as they had at the beginning, to let their feelings grow stronger every day, and to always speak gently to one another.

Kevin: "Because he started working. During the first few years after I started working, Mei and I grew distant too."

Sakura: "Because he started working."

Vill-V: "Stop repeating yourselves. Elysia, I'm coming over."

Vill-V, who hadn't logged on in a long time, had dark circles under her eyes. Dreams really shouldn't be treated as real, but she'd been completely shattered.

It was just a dream.

The inferiority buried deep within her personality had been laid bare in that dream. Why had she not dared to move? Her friends had lost their ability to fight trying to save her, offering their necks to be slaughtered. Why was she still crying over the past instead of gathering her resolve?

When Mei questioned her in the dream, why hadn't she dared to loudly answer that she could do it, that she was going to do this, that she was going to bring everyone together again in the future?

In the end, Mobius had even needed to step in as an elder to mediate. She wouldn't forget something that humiliating, not even in a dream.

Aponia: "Praying.jpg"

Aponia could completely understand what was happening between An Yu and Elysia.

Inside the clinic, after switching accounts, she opened An Yu's chat window.

Psychological Counselor: "Mr. An Yu, if your patience runs out, please remember to go out and get some fresh air. At home, please try to act as though nothing has changed, and perhaps encourage your sister to make her daily life fuller."

Aponia was worrying herself sick. She also had to think of how to find Elysia a job. Maybe she could just have her work at her clinic; after all, she really was busy sometimes.

An Yu: "..."

An Yu: "I'll keep that in mind."

He patted his cheeks, his smile bright and refreshing.

Come on, he wasn't a child anymore. How could he not know how to handle something like this?

P.S. I looked back over these plotlines, and they really were too drawn out. Plus, hadn't some people said the dream was too boring? I've briefly condensed the beginning of the Third Honkai. Don't worry, the siblings' relationship will be resolved in a very special way.

I promise, it'll definitely be a very special "romantic" way.

oioi! Kid!

Before going to sleep, An Yu comforted his big sister and, almost out of habit, locked his bedroom door.

Life was hard. An Yu sighed.

"Whatever. Time to cut some grass."

He could also bring along one more skill. Just thinking about it felt great.

Game Life! Activate!

Herrscher: An Yu

Level: 1

Skills: Twin Familiars, Echo, Lightning Control 1

[Echo]

Active: Gain a special shield worth 100% (1000+1000+100) hw. When the shield breaks, it deals massive paralysis damage to the surrounding area. Paralysis can be weakened by resistance.

Passive: Initial magnitude increases by 1000 hw. Gain super armor while the shield exists.

[Lightning Control 1]: Manipulate lightning to attack enemies.

Lightning, huh.

While An Yu was still thinking, the animation slowly entered its cutscene.

Bang!

"Why is there so little allowance today?!"

An Yu curled up in the corner. The NPC in his field of vision reached out a hand, as though making a fist.

Because he had set the pain to the minimum, the shared pain at the start didn't make his expression twist. He briefly adjusted to the game's data and casually checked his familiar this time: a snake.

Then he calmly wiped the cold water running down his forehead. His clothes were soaked through. This cutscene was so boring. Didn't the International Gaming Organization ban school bullying elements long ago?

No wonder this game could only spread through forums.

Suddenly, the barely comprehensible language instantly turned into noisy electronic static. The grating, ear-piercing sound made An Yu cover his ears on instinct.

"Coward! Do you think pretending you can't hear us will make everything okay?"

An Yu stood up, but this time he slowly looked around. After all... in the last instance, he'd skipped over an important plot character and casually killed them.

Killing them was one thing, but they hadn't even dropped an attribute card. What a complete loss.

So he might as well follow the main storyline. Although he'd cleared the last run, he'd been short two attribute cards, so he hadn't maxed out his skills.

"You still dare stand up?!"

"Too noisy."

After getting somewhat used to the lightning described in the text, An Yu lifted the other person with one hand. The Herrscher's additional stats weren't absurdly high, but they were enough for him to handle the current situation.

The reason he didn't use lightning was simple: he needed to figure out whether the human body's reactions in this game were truly realistic.

A moment later, An Yu stood by the window. Under the dumbfounded gazes of all his classmates, a faint burnt smell mixed with a peculiar stench. An Yu let go ahead of time.

"Why did it have to be lightning? This is the one thing you really can't examine too closely."

Besides, there were few ways to use lightning, and electric currents that disrupted the human body would create all kinds of trouble.

"C-classmate, murder is against the law."

He couldn't understand it, and it was noisy.

An Yu swept his gaze around, considering who might be a plot character... It wasn't hard to find one.

He pointed at a familiar boss carrying a book. "Hey, you. Come here."

Mei's body trembled as she pointed at herself. Me?

Heavens, what sin had she committed in her previous life? It was already bad enough that a muscle-bound brute had been chasing her these past few years. Why did she have to get dragged into school bullying too?

"oioi! Kid, being this flashy... are you afraid I won't notice you?"

Kevin rolled his neck, his broad, sturdy shoulders seeming to block the sunlight at the doorway.

It was like dawn had arrived. Although the classroom suddenly had much less sunlight, Mei hurriedly looked over at the voice, only for her expression to freeze again. Why was it that delinquent thug with atrocious grades again?

An Yu narrowed his eyes as well. Muscle bro, who the hell are you?

"Could it be that world bosses are all randomly generated?"

"Then why was that pink-haired girl in both the second stage and the first stage?"

He muttered carelessly to himself. Kevin didn't dare act rashly and merely moved naturally further into the room. This was the Herrscher of Thunder.

Anyone associated with lightning generally wouldn't be slow. He was waiting for someone—for an Elysia to appear.

"Hey, are you coming over or not? If you don't come over, I'm leaving." An Yu called impatiently.

Mei quickly shook her head.

Standing by the window, An Yu frowned slightly. Could it be that this second run's main storyline had no plot characters?

"What a pain. Tsunderes went out of fashion ages ago."

Who are you calling a tsundere?! And we don't even know each other, okay?! Mei frantically complained inwardly, but accompanied by a numbing jolt, she was forcibly brought to the window.

Kevin's outstretched hand froze in midair, his expression visibly darkening.

No one had told him the Herrscher would awaken in Mei's class. That made no sense! And the Great Honkai hadn't even been detected by the Honkai detector.

"Put her down. Whatever it is, we can talk it out."

He couldn't understand him, but the other guy's gibberish was probably a threat.

An Yu wasn't planning to fight the boss head-on yet. He was only level one... The two attribute traits he'd selected were versatile, but leaned more toward leveling speed and the upper limit of control.

Mei's frail body trembled continuously. Not from the electricity—pure fear had made her understand with perfect clarity... that she couldn't suppress her fear.

Just one minute ago, a classmate who loved bullying others had been cleanly electrocuted to death.

"Speaking of which, according to the plot..."

An Yu looked outside. The once-clear sky was gradually covered by dark clouds as he estimated when the lightning above would strike based on his own abilities.

The moment thunder tore through the sky, he glanced sideways.

"Hero, you'd better hurry."

[Among all the heroes under heaven, only you and I. Boom—a clap of thunder.]

[The teaching building collapsed with a roar, and a black swamp devoured everything.]

[Kevin desperately tried to grab something amid the falling rubble in midair, but a massive snake head suddenly emerged from the swamp and swallowed the Herrscher and Mei.]

[Centered on Far Eastern Nagazora City, the Third Honkai erupted with an initial 2100 hw of Honkai energy.]

[Fortunately, this time Elysia had enough time, and Kevin had enough time to grow.]