Such Upright Values!

Inside the game room, Yaxiu and Diya were locked in an intense battle. "Backwave, Oboro, light attack, Floating Boat, heavy attack, Twin-Headed Dragon Slash, crouching heavy attack, Night Drizzle..." The Wandering Sword Saint executed an intricate combo of miracles, pinning the Time Witch against the edge of the screen and pummeling her so relentlessly that she couldn't fight back at all. Seeing that this single combo was about to finish off his nemesis, Yaxiu excitedly input the command for the Wandering Sword Saint's super finisher miracle, "Polar Day, Eternal Night, Mist Spin," intending to bring the match to a magnificent, flawless conclusion with this move! Yet that infinitesimal pause required to buffer the super finisher miracle was keenly seized upon by Diya. She decisively executed an evasion miracle, "In Search of Lost Time," slipping past the Wandering Sword Saint's super finisher before following up with a throw miracle, "Zero Hour Echo," turning the tables and pinning the Wandering Sword Saint to the corner instead. The situation reversed completely. Although the Time Witch had only a sliver of health left, her blessing talent was "all miracle attacks increase enemy hitstun by 5 frames." As long as her combo rhythm remained flawless, she could lock her opponent down until they had zero chance of fighting back—unable to even run away. Yaxiu had found himself in this situation multiple times: the moment Diya landed a single hit, he could basically take his hands off the controller and admire the Wandering Sword Saint being juggled to death by the Time Witch's infinite combo. By contrast, the Wandering Sword Saint's blessing talent was "starts the battle with four times attack power, which decays over time." If he failed to seize the opening at the start and wipe out the enemy in a single burst, there would be practically no chance left later on. Watching the Wandering Sword Saint pinned helplessly in place, Yaxiu burned with anxiety. If he had been thoroughly battered from start to finish as usual, that would have been one thing, but this time the Time Witch had only a sliver of health remaining. Yaxiu was a hair's breadth away from avenging his previous defeats. It was like watching a download progress bar reach 99.9%—he simply could not accept falling short right here! Yaxiu cast a sharp glance around the room. Only he and Lisi were inside; Harvey and Igola had no interest in watching them play games, while Banjie was interested, but Annan seemed to have given him other tasks, leaving him no free time to act as a gaming coach for Yaxiu and Lisi. In other words, whatever he did to Lisi, no one would see it, and even less could anyone stop him. *Lisi, you forced my hand.* *I didn't want to resort to this move.* *To have come to this... it is all fate's cruel joke.* Yaxiu kicked Lisi's stool away. Taking advantage of Lisi tumbling to the floor and nearly cracking her tailbone, he decisively unleashed a miracle combo to finish off the Time Witch. "Game in moderation avoid excessive indulgence minors can only play for an hour at most it's time to take a bath let's call it a night goodnight!" Before Diya could even process what had happened, Yaxiu had already dashed out of the game room, fleeing the scene of the crime at top speed. The little girl rubbed her bruised backside, staring at the slightly ajar door. Hearing the voice from the light screen announce "Winner Decided," she whimpered twice and set down the controller, her pout deep enough to hang a kettle on. Endure! She couldn't endure it any longer! "Aaaahhhh!" Diya rolled directly across the carpet, her throat choking with rage. "Damn it, damn it, damn it! Don't hold me back, I'm going to beat him to death! I swear I'll beat him to death, not even the Bronze Dragon can stop me!" Only after a long while did she compose her emotions. Resentfully getting to her feet, she turned off the light screen, gave Yaxiu's controller a vicious punch, and returned to her room to take a bath. Past eleven o'clock, as her consciousness connected to the Void Realm, Diya left the body in Lisi's care and descended into the Void Realm with an utterly displeased expression. Lisi stretched lazily on the bed. Though drowsy, she didn't want to sleep just yet. She was at an age bursting with energy. Today, she had also happily been "forced" by the Watcher to play hide-and-seek with Big Brother Banjie all afternoon. Amusingly, Aunt Bogin and Uncle Harvey had even joined in for several rounds before leaving. Big Brother Banjie was formidable, though. No matter how thoroughly Aunt Bogin and Uncle Harvey concealed themselves, Big Brother Banjie ferreted them out with ease, leaving Aunt Bogin with quite a sour look on his face from losing. Lisi had originally wanted to drag her father into playing along, and Yaxiu, sitting in the gaming pod, had agreed cheerfully. Yet after Lisi searched a round, she discovered that Yaxiu had been hiding inside the virtual gaming pod the entire time without moving an inch, brazenly asserting, "This is called 'the most dangerous place is the safest place.'" At that moment, Lisi understood that this hypocritical adult was undeniably a master of slacking off and stealing company time. She had heard that adults all had to go to work, and her father was definitely the type who would find any excuse to openly play video games during work hours. Though she had enjoyed herself immensely, Lisi felt she hadn't played nearly enough. But at this hour, there was no one else to play with her, and her older sisters had all gone to the Void Realm, which meant... ...She was free? Lisi leapt to her feet, pumping her little fists in excitement, all traces of sleepiness vanishing. That was right—since her big sisters weren't around, couldn't she do whatever she wanted? Still, what should she do? Suddenly, Lisi looked down at the newly acquired wristband. Inside were ten thousand copper coins. Big Sister White Queen, Big Sister Secret Princess, and Big Sister Black Butler had spent the whole afternoon discussing how to spend that money without reaching an agreement. Shopping... Lisi wanted to buy things too! She twisted the wristband to bring up the light screen. As if sensing her thoughts, the first page displayed in the Curtain was the shopping store. *I'll just look at what's for sale,* she thought. ... Upon entering the Void Realm, Diya found herself seated in the back of the sports car with the Watcher beside her, while the Sword Princess sat in the front. In her foul mood, she didn't realize that this seating arrangement would put another young lady in an equally sour mood. Folding her arms, she said, "Can we find a sorcerer projection to fight first tonight? Preferably a male one. I need to vent." Yaxiu instinctively wanted to say, *"Tell us what misfortune you ran into so we can all share a laugh,"* but he suddenly remembered his promise to the Witch not to pry into her personal life, so he swallowed the schadenfreude back down. He was a man who placed great value on promises. Perhaps this stemmed from the time in elementary school when his father kept his word and bought him a game console after he scored a pair of perfect hundreds on his exams. Or perhaps it was because he had seen his father shield his beloved older brother from the homeroom teacher's pressure and allow him to date early just because his brother had kept his word and ranked in the top ten of their grade. Yaxiu's father was not a good father in the conventional sense. He lacked ambition, remaining in the same post his entire life, loved having a couple of drinks every evening, disliked caring for children, and was obsessed all his life with forging swords—he even had a forge back in their hometown, where the clanging of iron on Saturday mornings was shriller than any alarm clock. While other kids had wet dreams, Yaxiu only dreamed of being hammered with iron. His brother had it even worse: halfway through a wet dream, right as he pulled down his pants, he dreamed of a hammer crashing down. Despite his myriad flaws, neither of the two brothers could find it in their hearts to speak ill of their father. Beyond the bragging rights they earned in childhood by showing off their father's unsharpened swords to their playmates, it was because their father respected them. He beat them when they deserved a beating, scolded them when they deserved a scolding, delivered on his promises, and neither coddled them nor compromised. He seemed to hold no grand expectations for the two brothers, just as he never expected the swords he forged to serve any purpose other than hanging on a wall. Yet he faithfully used his hammer to smooth away the rough edges of the brothers' adolescence; if the two brothers managed to display genuine backbone, he was never stingy with his respect. As a child, Yaxiu didn't think there was anything special about having a father one could respect. Only when he grew up and met all kinds of people did he realize that not everyone had a father. Yet compared to their father, their mother was an eccentric of truly legendary proportions—though that had nothing to do with the present. Just as Yaxiu decided against inquiring about the Witch's bad mood, the Sword Princess turned around of her own accord and asked, "Tell us what misfortune you ran into so we can all share a laugh?" Yaxiu refused to admit that he had corrupted the Sword Princess. Diya seemed bursting with the urge to vent, but none of the other sisters cared about such trivial matters. Even though the Sword Princess's tone sounded odd, Diya still poured it out readily: "I met an utterly despicable man today. In an open and fair duel, when he knew he was about to lose, he actually resorted to outside-the-game interference to throw me off, causing me to lose in the end. And without the slightest remorse, he humiliated me with outrageous arrogance before running away!" Since admitting she had been playing video games would also sound strange, Diya decided to use the term "duel." After all, the game they played was indeed called *Sorcerer Duel 14*. "How completely despicable!" Yaxiu fumed with indignation. "To think there are sore losers like that in this world! I look down on him!" "Indeed." Even Sonia couldn't help but chime in. It wasn't that she disliked underhanded methods, but given her current social status, she was destined to be the victim affected by outside interference. Thus, her stance was firmly planted on the side of justice: "A fair and just duel should never be sabotaged." "Exactly, exactly!" Having finally found kindred spirits to join her in denouncing the culprit, Diya grew excited, as if she had made a new friend. "That man is truly too abominable..." Sonia hadn't actually held much desire to foster a close relationship with the Witch, but in this state, Diya was like a can of fruit that opened with the slightest tug. Sonia's instincts for "network management" prompted her to chime in smoothly—after all, a woman understood best how to please another woman. Before long, any bad impression Diya had harbored toward Sonia vanished completely. She even felt that Sonia understood her better than her own sisters, and that her moral compass was remarkably upright. So upright, in fact, that it aligned perfectly with her own. As Yaxiu drove the sports car in pursuit of the Ox of the Sky Carriage, Diya lightly adjusted her spectacles and conversed with her sisters within. White Queen: "Do you truly not need me to handle communication and information gathering this time? You were strongly resistant to contacting them last night." Diya: "I can't rely on you forever. Besides, it's just the Watcher and the Sword Princess; I can manage. Tonight will be like usual—leave the Void Realm to me." Black Butler: "Last night you hated the Sword Princess, and now after the briefest interaction you're chatting with her about everything under the sun. You actually think you can manage? Give it a bit more time and you'll have sold us out completely... If it weren't for the Little Witch's arrival, Princess, you would without question be the social idiot among us." Red Apostle: "Even including our little sister witch, the Princess still ranks dead last in social competence." Diya: "Little Red, you have the nerve to talk about me?" Black Butler: "Little Red simply doesn't socialize, which is not the same as lacking social skill. It's like the difference between not playing games and being terrible at games—they aren't in the same dimension. Therefore, she is qualified to judge you." Diya: "White Queen, look at them!" White Queen: "Since the Princess desires it, let us respect her wishes. After all, it was agreed from the beginning: the Princess handles Void Realm adventures, I handle negotiation and diplomacy, Butler handles plots and wicked deeds, and Apostle handles combat and slaughter... An occasional guest appearance is fine, of course, but whenever possible, tasks should be left to the appropriate person. After all, we all wish to feel needed." Black Butler: "Speaking of which, it's been ages since I had any work. Are you truly not going to let me take the stage? The bond between the Watcher and the Sword Princess happens to be in a delicate state. That coddling, baby-stroking approach of yours, White Queen, won't strip away their masks. Let me step in instead. I can trigger a qualitative shift in their relationship—perhaps for the better, though I'll do my best to steer it toward the worse. While there isn't much we can do in the Void Realm, our body itself is already a very sharp weapon." "No, I don't like that!" "No. The Watcher and the Sword Princess are our vital allies at present." Diya and the White Queen objected simultaneously. "Sigh, another day shelved away, as expected. Still, I am in no hurry," the Black Butler remarked. "The fact that I exist means... we need me." "I shall await with great anticipation the day I make my debut." Despite some contention, Diya reclaimed the role of spokesperson for the Void Realm exploration. The White Queen offered her a piece of advice: right now, the primary focus of Void Realm exploration was no longer mere exploration, but raising her standing within the team. Since she could now converse amicably with the Sword Princess, the Watcher was next. The Watcher had also agreed with her views just now, which proved that although he was a bad person, his values were actually very upright. Getting along with him shouldn't be a problem! "Watcher!" Reacting faster than Yaxiu, Sonia turned her head to see what this "new sister" was up to. Diya racked her brains, trying to recall her social skills: supposedly, the best way to draw closer to someone was to compliment their appearance. However, the Watcher's face was shrouded in a mass of mist, entirely obscuring his features, and he was wrapped head-to-toe in a trench coat. In a picture book, he would look like the kind of self-sabotaging, comedic villain. Therefore... "Your hands are so pretty. May I touch them?" Yaxiu blinked. Sonia was dumbfounded. *Was she really being this direct? Shouldn't the standard routine be saying she applied too much hand cream and offering to share some?*