A full two and a half years had passed since Luo Ge transmigrated into this other world.
Luo Ge had learned this world's language and gradually figured out the details of his family.
Including himself, this household had five members.
His father, Paul.
His mother, Zenith.
The maid, Lilia.
And his ready-made older brother, Rudeus, who seemed to be a reincarnator.
After spending two and a half years together day and night, Luo Ge had gone from his initial suspicions to being quite certain.
This guy was one hundred percent a reincarnator.
After all, what baby would make such a sleazy, lecherous face upon seeing a woman with big breasts? That sight practically reminded Luo Ge of his best buddy from his previous life.
"Master Rudeus, Master Luo Ge! Breakfast is ready!"
The person knocking outside was the maid, Lilia, who normally handled the cooking and cleaning.
Luo Ge glanced at his ready-made older brother, who was still lazing in bed, and flicked his...
"Aaah! Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!"
Rudeus, who had been making a sleazy face in his sleep as though having an erotic dream, woke from the pain on the spot and sprang up off the bed.
He covered his crotch with both hands, furious. "Hey, what are you doing?!"
"Waking you up, obviously. Besides, yours is way too small, isn't it?"
"No kidding! I'm only a little over two! Of course it's small! Why don't you pinch your own?"
"Hehe, because I'm scared of pain, obviously."
"And you think it doesn't hurt me? Damn it, you're gambling with my lifelong happiness! You evil little brother, you're asking for a beating!"
Seeing his little brother being bullied by his little brother, Rudeus naturally refused to take it lying down. In a word, he charged in to fight.
Evil little brother, let's battle!
Rudeus shouted his extremely chuuni battle cry and charged in to get even, only for Luo Ge to quickly pin him down with one hand and give him a thorough thrashing.
Although Luo Ge was the younger brother, his physical abilities utterly outclassed those of his useless older brother, Rudeus.
Watching the two children who wrestled together in their room all day, Lilia pushed up her glasses outside the door, long since used to the sight.
Yet she still felt confused and afraid...
These two children were far too strange. One wore disgusting, sleazy smiles and crawled around all day, disappearing out of sight.
The other deliberately played pranks and teased people. Even Paul and Lady Zenith could do nothing about that child.
She knocked on the door and reminded them once more to come eat.
Only then did Luo Ge and Rudeus tidy themselves up and leave the room one after the other.
Fresh milk and toast were already laid out on the dining table in the living room.
Their mother, Zenith, waved gently to the two children. "Rudeus... Luo Ge, come over here. It's time for breakfast."
"Wait, you two haven't been fighting again, have you? I've told you... brothers have to get along." Paul addressed them both with a stern expression.
"Rudeus, no picking on your little brother. You're the older brother, so you'll have to protect him in the future," Zenith added.
Hearing this, Rudeus couldn't help rolling his eyes.
Me, picking on him?
That guy has the constitution of a monster.
We came from the same womb, yet our physical abilities are so different.
I'm the older brother, but I can't even beat my little brother. It's such a blow to my pride.
After the family finished breakfast, Zenith told Paul to be careful on the road, and he took his weapon and left for work.
He was Buena Village's resident knight, normally responsible for patrols and regularly clearing out the monsters around the village.
Although this world was still unfamiliar to him, Luo Ge understood that his family was no ordinary one.
After all, they had never worried about food, and their house was large.
Even though they lived in the countryside, Luo Ge felt that his family was at least upper-middle class in this other world.
Just as Luo Ge finished eating and was about to return to his room to rest, Rudeus suddenly tugged at him discreetly, wearing a mysterious smile. "Come on, little brother... I found a really interesting place."
Luo Ge knew this guy was restless and liked crawling all over the place all day, practically turning the house upside down.
And so.
With Rudeus leading the way, the two sneaked into the second-floor storage room together.
There was a window here with a very broad view, and despite being a storage room, it didn't seem dim.
Rudeus suddenly stepped in front of Luo Ge, doing his best to maintain the air of an older brother. "Watch this!"
With that, he raised his palm.
Just as Luo Ge was wondering what he intended to do.
Plop!
A small ball of water soon shot from his palm.
Pew!
Pew!
Pew!
Like firing a water gun, he unleashed a machine-gun barrage of water balls in front of himself.
"Huh? What?!"
At this sight, Luo Ge was filled with shock. Although he had already vaguely guessed from Paul and Zenith that supernatural powers existed in this world.
It was very likely another world of swords and magic.
But seeing it for real for the first time still left him quite shocked.
Holy shit!
Good heavens, Rudeus, my dear big brother!
Having successfully shown off in front of Luo Ge, Rudeus was especially happy and excited. "Foolish little brother, did you see that?! This is magic! Awesome, right?!"
Just as Rudeus thought that showing off this trick would earn him a face full of admiration from his foolish little brother.
Luo Ge merely asked casually, "Um, where did you learn that?"
"This?"
Rudeus didn't keep it to himself. He tiptoed straight over to the large black trunk in the corner and took out a thick book.
"This has some simple magic recorded in it. I tried practicing a few times, and to my surprise, I got it right away."
Luo Ge took the magic book and began earnestly trying to cast magic according to its instructions.
After preparing for a moment, he began chanting, "May the great blessing of water descend upon the place you seek, may a cool, shallow stream manifest here-Water Ball."
???
Nothing happened at all.
Refusing to accept it, Luo Ge tried again.
Failure after failure, still without the slightest reaction.
Luo Ge gradually began to feel disappointed.
Why, when we were born to the same mother, did this guy start off with Voiceless Magic, while I can't manage anything no matter how long I try?
Seriously, isn't this way too strange?
Could this sleazy-looking ready-made older brother be the true protagonist of this other world, while I'm just the supporting character who makes him look good?
Huh?
Seriously?!
Why?!
They spent the entire afternoon at it afterward.
Still refusing to give up, Luo Ge continued studying how to cast magic, but even with Rudeus's help, it was no use.
Without exception, every attempt ended in failure.
Luo Ge looked utterly deflated.
As the older brother, Rudeus finally regained a tiny bit of confidence from this.
Nice! So I was the genius all along?!
Seeing the smug look all over Rudeus's face, Luo Ge nearly couldn't resist smacking him across the face. He was really asking for a beating.
"Rudeus! Luo Ge! Where have you two gone?" Just then, their mother Zenith's voice came from downstairs.
Oh no.
The brothers exchanged a glance, put the magic book back in perfect unison, and sneaked downstairs together.
Then their mother Zenith scooped them up, one in each arm, carried them back to their room, and even shut the door.
That night.
When all was quiet in the dead of night.
The two brothers squeezed onto one bed.
Rudeus lay on his stomach beside Luo Ge, looking smug as he said, "It's okay if you can't learn magic... your big brother will have your back. You'll be flying high in no time."
"Speaking of which, you're actually a reincarnator too, aren't you?" Luo Ge simply dropped the act and cut straight to the point.
"Huh?"
Rudeus's smile froze.
"What are you talking about? What's a reincarnator?"
"Heh, at this point, stop playing dumb in front of me."
"What baby makes that kind of lustful, sleazy, lecherous face when he sees a woman's big breasts?"
"Or even puts panties over his head?"
Luo Ge sneered and continued with a hint of disdain, "Rudeus, put your hand on your heart and tell me, aren't you a reincarnator?"
Rudeus deflated and looked at Luo Ge. "So it really is true... were you reincarnated here from Japan too?"
"No."
"I'm Chinese."
After saying this, Luo Ge noticed Rudeus's expression instantly relax.
"Why are you so nervous? You weren't some heinous murderer in your previous life, were you?"
"Of course not! In my previous life..."
Rudeus was about to say something, only to realize that there was truly nothing about his previous life he could bring himself to say.
Although he hadn't been a murderer, he had been an utter piece of scum. A shut-in, he had not only failed to attend his own parents' funeral after they died, but had instead jerked off in his bedroom to his niece bathing on his computer screen...
Then his older brother had caught him red-handed, beaten him up, and thrown him out of the house.
Just thinking about something like that was humiliating. He truly couldn't say it out loud.
Seeing this, Luo Ge didn't press him aggressively. After all, everyone had their own little secrets.
Luo Ge had only chosen to come clean after considering it. After all, he and Rudeus lived under the same roof.
It actually wasn't difficult to discover this from the details of their daily lives.
Luo Ge had merely brought it out into the open.
"Right, leaving aside my experiences in my previous life, Luo Ge... what sort of person were you in yours?" Rudeus asked curiously.
"It's a long story, so I'll keep it short." Compared with Rudeus's evasiveness, Luo Ge was much more open.
After all, there was nothing to hide about this sort of thing. It wasn't some earth-shattering secret.
So Luo Ge kept it short and briefly told him a few things about his previous life.
For instance, he had five older sisters and was the only boy, and he had excelled academically since childhood.
He had basically been the sort of child other parents held up as an example.
The type who received praise wherever he went.
After hearing about Luo Ge's experiences, Rudeus nearly shed tears of envy.
Aside from their one shared trait of never having had a girlfriend, Luo Ge had practically lived the life he had always dreamed of.
Thinking of his own painful life.
The more Rudeus dwelled on it, the more sensitive and inferior he felt, and he gradually grew gloomy.
Although Luo Ge didn't know what had happened to Rudeus, he still noticed his low spirits.
Luo Ge grinned, showing his white teeth. "Whatever happened in our previous lives, let's do our best together now. Even in another world, we should live life to the fullest."
With Luo Ge speaking to him so sincerely.
Rudeus finally shared a few things about his previous life, though only his cause of death. He said almost nothing about anything else.
"Huh?"
"You were killed by a dump truck too? And while saving someone?" Now Luo Ge was surprised.
He hadn't expected his ready-made older brother to actually be the kind of good person who bravely helped others, and this changed his view of Rudeus somewhat.
Although he was a little sleazy and lecherous.
His nature didn't seem bad.
Listening to Luo Ge's praise, Rudeus forced a smile, while inwardly he was so embarrassed he wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
If he found out I was actually a piece of scum...
Rudeus couldn't help thinking of the people who had bullied him in his previous life, and fear spread through his entire body.
Would Luo Ge look disgusted too, or even show hatred?
He didn't even dare imagine what would happen next...
Just as Rudeus was preparing to make up some excuse to brush Luo Ge off if he kept asking questions.
Luo Ge didn't ask any more. He seemed to have noticed something and only said, "Good night, Rudeus."
"Y-you're not going to ask any more?" Rudeus was somewhat stunned.
Luo Ge glanced at Rudeus, then leaned back against his little bed with his hands behind his head and one leg crossed over the other.
"Everyone in this world has their own secrets. You have yours, Rudeus, and I have mine..."
"If you don't want to talk about it, I certainly won't pry. After all, I'd rather you tell me yourself one day."
After saying that, Luo Ge lay down and fell asleep.
An unknown amount of time passed before Rudeus felt a sense of ease unlike anything he had ever experienced.
His gaze slowly settled on Luo Ge's face, and he murmured, "Good night, Luo Ge..."
Before they knew it, another half a month had passed.
During that time, Luo Ge secretly studied magic with Rudeus, and they often discussed their results under the covers in the middle of the night.
The two reached an astonishing conclusion.
The total amount of mana people had in this world was not fixed at birth, as the books claimed.
Instead, it could be increased little by little by exhausting it every day.
But compared to Rudeus...
Luo Ge always fell just a little short in magical talent.
A lack of magical talent was a lack of magical talent...
Sometimes, talent really wasn't something hard work could make up for.
After that, it took Luo Ge roughly another week in total to learn to cast water magic without chanting.
Watching Rudeus grow stronger day by day at an astonishing rate...
Luo Ge had mixed feelings, too.
It wasn't out of jealousy. After all, as the saying went, you feared your bro would live in poverty, but you also feared he'd drive a Land Rover.
After spending these two and a half years together, Luo Ge increasingly felt that Rudeus had been given the template of an isekai protagonist.
When it came to magical talent...
He couldn't compete. What else could Luo Ge do?
He couldn't out-grind him... so he could only start slacking off.
With that thought in mind...
One morning a few days later, Luo Ge came to the window and idly stared out with nothing to do.
He happened to see Paul in the yard again, swinging his longsword as he basked in the golden sunlight.
At that very moment...
The scene seemed to freeze.
Luo Ge's heart suddenly skipped a beat as well, and he couldn't help fixing his gaze entirely on Paul's back. He saw a world different from the one others saw.
As long as he focused, he could see straight into Paul's body: his contracting muscles, the blood flowing through his vessels, his breathing lungs, his bones and joints.
Even feints and fake moves... he could directly predict the next movement.
And although Paul's movements were clearly very fast, to Luo Ge, they seemed to have slowed countless times over, as though he were observing them through a magnifying glass.
In that instant...
Luo Ge's heart trembled, as though he had finally understood something.
He had found the answer. So that was it. He finally knew... what exactly the Transparent World left behind by the system was.
From that day on...
Luo Ge no longer obsessed over magic. Instead, he seemed to have truly found the meaning of his life in this other world: striving to become a swordsman.