Graduate dormitory, Shinhai University.
The bathroom door opened quietly, and warm steam—carrying the scent of cedar—drifted into the room.
Lin Xue stepped barefoot onto the temperature-controlled wooden floor, wrapped loosely in a bath towel.
Rising heat left faint rosy patches on her pale skin, making her look even more delicate.
In the unseen shadows of the room—
Although she couldn’t compare to a certain magicallyâgifted girl, her body—nourished well from childhood—still had enough charm to rival anyone her age.
“Mmm~ hm hm~”
Humming an unknown little tune, she walked to the mini-fridge in the corner and skillfully took out a cold bottle of milk.
Tilting back her graceful swan-like neck, she brought the bottle to her lips.
She chugged half of it in big gulps.
The cold, sweet liquid slid down her throat, washing away all fatigue. Her eyes narrowed with comfort—like a cat that had just stolen a fish snack.
“Ah— nothing beats a bottle of milk after a hot bath~”
She sighed in satisfaction. A small ring of milk clung adorably to her upper lip; she stuck out her pink tongue and playfully licked it away.
Holding the remaining half bottle, she walked to the window.
Outside, the V-District Research Center buildings shone brightly.
Seeing those lights, Lin Xue’s relaxed expression faded slightly, replaced by something more complex.
She thought of her advisor—Dr. Evelyn Reed.
After the V-District incident, a distance had opened between them.
The warm bond of teacher and friend had vanished, replaced by polite, icy formality.
Her advisor no longer joked with her off hours; even in meetings, their conversations were reduced to cold exchanges strictly about work.
Lin Xue knew why.
Because that day, with her own hands, she had destroyed her advisor’s—no, the entire team’s—years of effort.
Those precious samples, treated as “assets” and “keys,” had been thrown into the Genesis furnace by her command—burned into primordial chaos.
The loss was astronomical.
The blow devastating.
But she did not regret it.
Leaning against the cold glass, Lin Xue finished the rest of her milk in one breath.
What flashed in her mind was not genetic sequence charts, nor her advisor’s disappointed blue eyes.
It was her idiot older brother…
After all, to become a “perfect scientist” whose name would be etched in history, one had to abandon too much.
So in that moment of choice, she decided to be something else.
A normal person.
A normal little sister.
“Speaking of which… what is that idiot brother doing right now?”
She picked up her phone.
The screen lit up—revealing her lock screen.
It was a rather ridiculous photo.
In it, a gray-haired girl had a dead-inside expression while making a peace sign.
That awkward, helpless face was so cute it made Lin Xue laugh every time she saw it.
It was her favorite shot from when she “forced” her brother to try on various outfits.
“Let’s ask how things are going over there…”
She unlocked the phone, ready to send a message.
But as the notification panel dropped down, her expression froze in surprise.
Rows of glaring red dots filled the screen.
[Missed Calls]
[Unread Messages]
All from the same contact.
Her heart sank violently.
Something’s happened!
And right then—
Her phone buzzed again.
The avatar of a slumped stick figure flashed on screen, labeled—
“Idiot Brother.”
Lin Xue answered.
“Hello?”
“Xiao Xue! You finally picked up! I thought you fell into the toilet or—”
Lin Yu’s anxious voice blasted through the speaker.
In the background—
violent rain, screeching metal collisions,
and some kind of beastlike roaring—
all blending together like molten steel boiling in a cauldron.
“Luo Shaotian— he… he lost control! He’s fighting a monster! I couldn’t reach you earlier! Do something!”
Lin Xue frowned slightly.
“Don’t panic. Turn on the wristband camera. Let me see.”
“O-okay… it’s on!”
The video feed came through quickly.
The shaky camera showed muddy ground, rusted scaffolding, and two black-and-red blurs colliding violently in the rain mist.
Every impact shook the microphone with a deep, resonant boom.
Lin Xue mirrored the feed to her computer and began typing with slender fingers.
“Stabilize image… filter background noise… enhance motion tracking…”
Under her commands, the chaotic footage became miraculously clear and steady.
In it, two beings who could no longer be called “human” were locked in a death battle.
Luo Shaotian was using a near self-destructive style, his flesh and blood taking the brunt of steel-crushing blows.
“Wait… what is this?”
Something was wrong.
Every time he was knocked back, Luo Shaotian’s wounds writhed and healed at a speed visible to the eye!
And each time, his attacks grew stronger, faster!
As if the longer he fought—
the more powerful he became.
Lin Xue’s brows knit tightly. Her face slowly drained of color.
“No… the inhibitor shouldn’t be this weak.”
She murmured, confusion and unease in her voice.
It was formulated specifically to suppress psionic activity—
yet now…
The energy inside him wasn’t calming.
It was blazing—
like a furnace fed with fuel.
“What could cause Luo Shaotian to manifest such intense psionic phenomena…?”
He was blasted back again, but in the next second, he launched forward with even greater ferocity.
The black aura rising from him—born of pain and rage—made Lin Xue reach a conclusion.
“So that’s it…”
She took a deep breath.
“Brother, listen carefully! The contamination affecting Luo Shaotian— it’s definitely not ordinary!”
“This is a malignant corruption that feeds on violence! He’s converting pain and rage into power! Do you get it? This battle is accelerating his descent!”
“The more damage he takes, the more anger he releases— the stronger the corruption grows!”
“And at the end of it— it will devour the last of his sanity!”
“I won’t waste time. I’m driving there now with a newly-developed inhibitor.”
As she spoke, Lin Xue grabbed a coat from the hanger and slipped it on while simultaneously opening the autonomous car reservation screen.
“The straight-line distance from District D to your location is twenty-three kilometers. Even with emergency clearance, the fastest I can get there is fifteen minutes.”
“Until then, brother— you must hold him off!”
Silence for one second.
“H-Hold him off? Me?!”
Ah. That idiot brother really had zero confidence in himself.
Hmph. He’d always been like that.
“Of course you. Who else?”
“But—”
That familiar self-doubt again.
Honestly…
At times like this, the “genius little sister” had to step in.
“No buts. Brother, that’s an order. And if you can’t hold him off— I’ll send Mom your crossdressing photos!”
“WHAT— y-you—you—!!”
“But you’ll manage. Because…”
Just before hanging up, Lin Xue reminded him:
“After all— you’re a magical girl.”