A Maiden's Mortification

A night of thrilling, bizarre, and tumultuous adventure had finally come to an end. Her consciousness returned from the Void Realm, her soul reviving inside the young girl's body. Sonia opened her eyes, looking around the small meditation room before her, suddenly struck by a strange sense of familiarity. It felt as if the last time she had returned to reality was a lifetime ago. Of course, that was the more poetic way to put it. In truth, Sonia felt like someone who had taken a nap that lasted far too long, waking to find the sky washed in pale blue, unable to tell for a moment whether it was dawn or dusk, the world feeling hazy and ambiguous, like a dream. Yet the moment Sonia stepped out of the Meditation Building and saw the brilliance of three radiant stars dancing among specks of dust, with pristine golden musical notes humming softly in her ears, her Void Realm syndrome was completely cured. Void Realm syndrome was a condition that, by all rights, should have only afflicted Sanctuary Sorcerers. It was caused by a sorcerer spending more time in the Void Realm than in reality, reversing their cognitive perception of what was "real" and what was "illusory." Over time, the distinction between reality and the Void Realm blurred; in severe cases, afflicted sorcerers might even treat real living people like monsters to farm. The cure was simple enough: just cut back on time spent in the Void Realm. This was why every university established a Meditation Building. For one, it greatly aided sorcerers in their Void Realm exploration; for another, the building allowed the schools to log and track the sorcerers' online hours in the Void Realm. If a sorcerer's time began creeping toward the anti-addiction danger threshold, mandatory measures would be taken to force them out on blind dates, picnics, or balls, reminding them that reality was far crueler than the Void Realm. For someone with mild symptoms like Sonia, soaking in some sunlight was enough. In truth, this particular Void Realm exploration hadn't been any longer than the ones over the past few days. However, the experience in the cabin of lost memories had been like a dollop of cream shoved forcefully into the plain slice of bread that was Sonia's life. While the slice was still a slice of bread for now, the addition of that cream meant it was well on its way to turning into a sandwich. Now, looking back on what had transpired in the cabin, it felt like a vivid yet distant dream, fragile and unreal as a bubble waiting to pop. Sonia trudged back to her dorm in a daze, bumping right into Ingrid, who was heading out for her morning workout just as she opened the door. Caught off guard, she actually lost the collision to the sword-wielding girl, ending up flat on her backside. This wasn't the Void Realm; the concrete floor packed a painful punch. Watching the President of the Paw-Stretching Club reach out with her paws to rub her battered rear, Ingrid found it utterly hilarious. She extended a hand to pull her up. "Is this the first time I've ever managed to hurt you?" Sonia's combat talent went without saying, but what astonished people most was that she seemed to possess a Mind's Eye capable of perceiving the flow of all things. Whether an attack was within her field of vision or not, she would unerringly detect any trajectory aimed at her. Unless someone overwhelmed her completely in speed, strength, or some other aspect—leaving her physically incapable of dodging or blocking—she could always use her transcendent perception and reflexes to neutralize any sneak attack in the nick of time. Having sparred with Sonia so many times, Ingrid had never come close to defeating her, let alone landing a scratch. Furthermore, beyond combat, Sonia was normally exceedingly vigilant. Although her relationship with her roommates had improved lately, a month ago they had been in a state of open hostility, like water and fire. While Lois wouldn't resort to petty tricks like planting thumbtacks or soaking clothes—well, she had tried that last semester, but Sonia had seized the opportunity to blow it up until the entire campus knew, and given that Sonia's grades made her a tournament powerhouse worthy of scholarships, Sword and Rose Sorcerer University, which valued campus decorum above all else, had severely penalized Lois—Lois had never ceased scheming against Sonia from the shadows, leaping at every chance to make the village girl look foolish. In theory, Lois possessed every advantage in wealth, resources, and connections; she ought to have crushed Sonia effortlessly, showing the village girl who truly ran the dorm. Instead, Sonia came out on top every single time. Lois would end up bullied so badly she had to hide in the restroom and post anonymous questions on the forum, only to be humiliated all over again in the replies by "Paw-Stretching Club President." Back then, Sonia hadn't revealed her swordsmanship talent; she had been nothing more than an ordinary test-grinding village girl. Yet she repeatedly wielded the rules to suppress the privileged local, all thanks to that miraculous, almost fully automated Mind's Eye. Seeing Sonia as dazed and spacey as Adele was a first for Ingrid. Sonia didn't seem to register Ingrid's teasing. She returned to her seat and sat down. She didn't read, nor did she scroll through the forum; she simply crossed her legs and stared blankly at the wall, where her poster of Daidalos was taped. By this time, Lois was already up and reading. Noting that Sonia hadn't greeted her when she walked in, Lois made a silent mental note: the next time she returned to the dorm, she wouldn't bother greeting the village girl either. Before long, the alarm went off for Adele, the president of the Sword Princess fan club. Yawning, she climbed out of bed, brushed her teeth, washed her face, and took a hot shower to wake herself up. Then she returned to her desk, blew her hair dry, went through her daily skincare routine, and applied the simplest light makeup. Aside from Ingrid, Adele put the least effort into makeup in the dorm. However, she was the type blessed with beauty to squander recklessly. She indulged in rich and spicy food, pulled all-nighters binge-watching dramas, lazed in bed without exercising, and never exerted a muscle unless she was taking a dump; yet she somehow maintained her status as a pale, wealthy beauty, her skin as tender and smooth as vanilla ice cream. Only when compared to Sonia and Lois did Adele fade into the background. If she were placed among the rest of the Water Sorcery Department... well, she would still be unremarkable, as the department was renowned for its beauties. Still, other girls relied on meticulous makeup and beauty sleep to keep pace with the crowd, whereas Adele squandered her natural gifts. If she actually put in the effort to doll herself up, even if she couldn't catch up to Sonia and Lois—the two juggernauts locked in an aesthetic arms race—she could at least snatch fifth place on rankings like the "Four Great Beauties of Sword and Rose." "Do we have general history today?" "Yeah, today's supposed to cover the final unit of the semester: the Star Aristocracy System and the Birth of the Nobility Act." "So annoying. I hate history class the most. As long as the toilet flushes, why do we need to study the history of its invention?" "...That statement shows an unexpectedly keen political sensibility." Once Adele was ready for class, she noticed Sonia still sitting frozen in her chair, staring blankly. She nudged the village girl. "Class time! Or are you planning to exercise your top student privileges and skip openly again today?" "When the top student skips, it isn't called skipping," Lois remarked coolly. "How could the top student ever do something wrong? Obviously, the top student submitted a leave request to the professor, but the professor carelessly misplaced it. When the professor realizes the top student isn't there, he should take the initiative to fill out a leave slip on her behalf." "Damn it, is this the kind of power that comes with standing at the apex of the academy?" Adele gritted her teeth. "How can I let the professor know that I'm Sonia's lackey, and that offending me means offending Sonia, the top student?" "Ah, is it time for class?" Sonia snapped out of her reverie. She grabbed a bag at random and got ready to head out with them. Yet neither of the other two moved. Sonia looked at them curiously. "Why aren't you going?" Adele pointed at Sonia's sword bag. "Are you planning to bash the history professor's dog head in for me so he won't get the chance to check our homework? Sonia, my savior!" Only then did Sonia realize she had accidentally grabbed her sword bag, and hurriedly swapped it for her schoolbag. As they left the dorm, Lois kept glancing sideways at Sonia along the way. Soon, Adele also noticed something amiss: "Miss Red-Haired Sword Princess, your 'no-makeup' look today... isn't it a bit too bare?" Adele shoved Lois right next to Sonia, then pulled out a hand mirror to compare the two of them side by side. At a glance, Sonia and Lois seemed identical—both natural, fresh-faced beauties. But a closer look revealed a world of difference. Lois had applied lip primer, giving her lips a glossy, lustrous shine, whereas Sonia's lips only had their natural flush; Lois had curled her lashes and applied mascara primer, lending depth and definition to her gaze, while Sonia's lashes remained untouched; Lois had put on toning cream so her skin truly glowed with fair radiance, while Sonia lacked that glistening sparkle; and Lois, the crafty coquette, had even dabbed a beauty mark at the corner of her eye, embodying the ultimate pure-yet-sultry natural look, while Sonia visibly wore nothing at all. Those were just the things visible at a glance, to say nothing of pore-blurring and other fine details. Every clue pointed to a single, shocking conclusion: Sonia had actually stepped out without any makeup on. For Sonia, this was practically unheard of. Both she and Lois were appearance purists for whom "going bare-faced equals streaking." They would rather skip class and stay locked indoors than fail to maintain their immaculate presentation. Sometimes Sonia would intentionally play up a flustered, rushed entrance into the classroom so onlookers would marvel that she looked so gorgeous right after rolling out of bed, never suspecting that this "hurried beauty" was a calculated deception crafted over half an hour. By contrast, a five-minute rush job like Adele's was far easier for people to spot. "Is there no one left at the academy that you care about?" Adele guessed. "Did something happen in the Void Realm?" Lois was more perceptive, realizing that Sonia had only grown so strange after returning from the Void Realm. "If you're in a bad mood, just don't go to class." Sonia shook her head, said nothing, and made no move to return to the dorm, heading straight for the lecture hall. Her two roommates exchanged a look, falling in on either side of Sonia like guardian protectors. General history was a large lecture, naturally held in a tiered lecture hall with the highest seating capacity. When Sonia and her roommates arrived at a corner in the back row, a sneer suddenly sounded from nearby: "Ugh, why does it reek of mud here? Let's move somewhere else." Looking over, they saw several smartly dressed noble students gathering their books, preparing to leave. They didn't seem to be addressing Sonia directly, but the contempt in their eyes was plain as day. Sword and Rose Sorcerer University strictly cracked down on overt insults and bullying in reality, but this kind of passive-aggressive snidery fell outside their purview. Sonia's background had long ceased to be a secret. Unable to challenge her academic standing, those hostile toward her naturally attacked the flaws she could never change. *Oh my, oh my, oh my...* Adele could already picture how Sonia would fire back: *"What a stench, who's spewing shit this early in the morning?" "As expected of Sword and Rose, even the asses here can talk." "With a nose that sharp, ever considered becoming a police dog?"* ...In forum flame wars, Sonia was a peerless warrior capable of taking on a thousand foes single-handedly. Anyone who dared use snide barbs against her would be provoked into cursing until their accounts got banned. Yet Sonia didn't say a word. She didn't even offer a rebuttal, instead sliding straight into the seats those noble students had just vacated. After a moment, noticing they were still standing nearby, she gave a slight nod and said, "Thank you." As though they had graciously offered their seats to her. Yet it was precisely this utterly indifferent attitude that left the noble students flushing red and turning pale with fury. Pointing at Sonia without a word to say, under the mocking gazes of the students around them, they could only flee with their tails between their legs. No doubt rumors would soon circulate on the school forum about "noble students stepping aside to yield seats to the Red-Haired Sword Princess." Everyone would assume Sonia had reached a state of mastery where formlessness transcended form—disdaining to stoop to arguing with trash, yet still forcing them to bow their heads. Yet Lois and Adele both knew that wasn't the case at all. Sonia hadn't heard their provocation in the first place; she was still entirely immersed in her own realm of thought. This could not help but make the two girls wonder: just what had captured every shred of Sonia's attention, leaving her unable to spare even a sliver for reality? * * * … *"I'm still your lover right now, aren't I?"* *"Let's break up."* *"We lost our memories, so we need to properly rekindle our feelings~"* *"What a coincidence! I just love bad boys!"* *"So you don't want to get back together with me?"* A tempest seemed to be raging inside Sonia's mind. Countless raindrops of memory rained down like gun bullets, creating rhythmic ripples upon the ocean of her heart. Every inch of surging waves mirrored the coquettish, affected manner she had displayed last night; every spray of foam reflected the teasing, tender affection shining in her eyes. *Why on earth did I say things like that to the Watcher after losing my memories, aaaaah! Sob... I want to die! I want to drown in a pile of gold coins! I want the Watcher to trip right this second and smash his head open and die on the spot...* The maiden was mortified.