Before leaving Mount Pk, Mers went to Mitzuki's room.
Before she knocked, Mitzuki was at his computer, conversing with netizens about "the experience of having a beautiful older sister."
One netizen wrote a lengthy passage praising their sister, describing her in extravagant terms. However, without evidence, netizens flocked to comment, turning the answer into the most popular pinned post. The netizens' comments were divided into two categories.
Supporters commented: [My brother wants to see your sister's photos] [My friend wants a glimpse of your sister's photos]
Opponents commented: [A sister by marriage is not as good as a stepsister] [Would anyone really be interested in their own sister?]
Mitzuki, considering himself highly qualified to comment, scoffed at the pinned popular answer and his plump fingers flew across the keyboard: [This person clearly doesn't have a sister. Someone who truly has a sister wouldn't think this way. My sister is like that; the whole family indulges her, and I have to watch her moods too. Sisters are terrifying creatures.]
Immediately, a netizen commented: [Is your sister fierce?] [Don't worry, leave her to me. I'll be your brother-in-law from now on.]
Hmph, they were all ignorant humans.
Mitzuki replied to each one: [Not fierce, terrifying!] [Get lost!]
Ding!
The sound of his phone receiving a text message.
His hand, holding a potato chip, paused mid-air. Mitzuki glanced at the text message content pop-up on the illuminated phone screen. It was from his beautiful yet terrifying older sister, Mers: I'm at your door.
Whoa, she's here already, right at the door? What kind of horror movie development is this?!
He quickly closed some web pages and locked his computer screen. The wheels of his computer chair frantically rolled over the scattered crumbs of some puffed snack on the floor. The portly teenager hurried over and opened the door.
The doll with silver-white hair, dressed in a dress, stood at the doorway. In a bright, open space, she would likely be welcomed by girls. However, in the gloomy and ice-cold stone corridor of the Zoldyck residence, with insufficient light, her eyes, which looked both simulated and like those of a real human, seemed to exist between doll and human, making the uncanny valley effect more pronounced.
A drop of cold sweat appeared on Mitzuki's forehead.
After her brain surgery, Mers was constantly expressionless. Her dead-looking eyes were too similar to his feared older brother, Illumi. No, his brother was still better; at least his brother's mind was sound, whereas Mers had been deemed problematic by their father, which led to her brain being operated on.
Did it become normal after the operation?
Mitzuki wasn't entirely sure. Before the operation, he could still observe her moods and prepare accordingly. Currently, her complete lack of displayed emotion made her even more unfathomable, which didn't seem like a good thing either.
Mers, equipped with a voice-generating device, said she needed help and walked into the room without waiting for Mitzuki's response.
My brothers, sisters, and that brat Killua, none of them take me seriously; they come and go as they please, what do they take this place for! Mitzuki felt resentful, but as usual, being at the bottom of the Zoldyck food chain, he dared not express his anger or speak his mind.
The aerospace technology in this world is inferior to that of the "real world," but network development predates and progresses faster than in the "real world." In an environment with widespread internet access, numerous online games have emerged. However, lightweight casual social online games have gradually failed to keep up with the growing demands of players. Recently, a well-known game company released the largest-scale online game in history, "Genesis." As the first game allowing real-time battles and simultaneous multiplayer combat with players worldwide, it caused a huge sensation upon its release.
The game sold out, and the game company's servers were overloaded. After emergency maintenance, the game company set a limit on the number of concurrent players. Countless players were blocked from entering the game by the "server is full" notification, forced to wait for players already in the game to log out and free up a slot.
The lucky players who had already logged into the game were naturally reluctant to exit. However, if they didn't exit, any behavior of idling in the game for more than ten minutes would be detected by the system, and players would be forcibly logged out. Therefore, a large number of students and office workers were unable to access the game during the daytime. In other words, players who could log into "Genesis" during their study or work hours were either unemployed, had special professions, or were skipping class or work.
For example, Mers' target, the special profession member Phinks.
The incident began a few days ago when Mers, to ease interpersonal relations, pondered deeply and finally came up with what she considered a good text message: sending Phinks an event invitation code for "Genesis."
During the event, each "Genesis" player could obtain a unique invitation code within the game. If another logged-in player entered another player's invitation code on a designated page, both players would receive game rewards. An invitation code could be used up to six times, with the reward redemption limit being the same.
However, with Mers' limited social circle, reaching the limit was about as difficult as in the "real world," and she had long given up on getting all rewards that required the help of "friends." httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
Choosing to send the invitation code to Phinks was a gesture of goodwill.
Thinking about it, Mers had missed an appointment with Phinks a total of... hmm? Twice or three times?
It is said that even Buddha can only tolerate three times, let alone a bandit? After all, they were both in the Phantom Troupe and would have future dealings, so Mers couldn't help but feel a sense of crisis.
The remaining usable count of the invitation code had not changed. The reason Phinks hadn't used the invitation code was either he didn't want to, or he had already maximized the rewards.
If it was the latter... could someone like Phinks gather six player friends to help?!
The former seemed more in line with Phinks' character, but...
The sense of crisis was just a little bit, only a little bit. Since the relationship couldn't be mended, so be it.
"It's time for you to show your prowess." Mers pointed at a player's name on the in-game player leaderboard. The mechanical voice of the voice-generating device, surprisingly consistent with the voices of villains in many works, said, "Mitzuki, go beat him."
"Roger that!" Mitzuki, having received his payment, was full of fighting spirit and sent a challenge invitation to the player.
Mitzuki's own combat power was mediocre, but his gaming skill was top-notch, truly born in the wrong era. If he had been reborn in a net-game-themed work like "Sword Art Online" or "Accel World," he might have made a name for himself, perhaps even accumulated a harem? (Laughs)
... Praised too early.
After a fierce battle, Mitzuki's computer screen began to display a three-minute countdown to resurrection.
"Oh dear, I was careless just now," Mitzuki said with a sheepish smile, looking up. "It's okay, I can challenge him again! If not, I..."
Gritting his teeth, Mitzuki decided to reluctantly part with the money. "If I lose again, I'll refund you! Sister, give me another chance!"
"..." It couldn't be helped, Mitzuki was already the best gamer on Mount Pk, and if not him, then whom could they count on?
Shalnark wasn't good. Shalnark's greatest skill wasn't playing games; his gaming skills weren't as good as Phinks, who liked to play games all night.
So Mers nodded and gave Mitzuki a thumbs-up as encouragement.
Mitzuki, as if granted amnesty, meticulously prepared a spare new keyboard, stating that his previous loss was due to foreign matter in the keyboard keys, affecting his grip. Based on the puffed snack debris swept from his desk, his explanation had some validity.
Though defeated, he was still glorious. Mitzuki's gaming skills likely earned the opponent's approval, as they immediately accepted Mitzuki's rematch invitation.
In the game, sword flashes and combat sound effects were constant. Outside the screen, keyboards clacked away.
The battle was a stalemate for a while.
Mitzuki, unleashing his full power, stared intently at the screen, unconsciously hunching his back as he typed, his face getting closer and closer to the screen, as if he wished he could jump into the game and have a real-life duel with the opponent.
The game screen turned gray, and the computer screen displayed a three-minute countdown to resurrection.
Slumping back into his chair, Mitzuki, enraged, ran his hands through his hair. "Damn it, damn it! So close!"
"..." Perhaps Mitzuki was still too young. Compared to middle schoolers being protagonists, the second dimension had more high school student protagonists.
"Next time, next time I definitely will!" Mitzuki pleaded with a contorted face, looking like a useless subordinate in the hands of a villainous boss. "Give me one more chance, and I will definitely teach that guy a lesson!"
"Refund." The villainous boss extended his hand towards him, clearly having lost hope in him.
Mitzuki wasn't unwilling to refund, but he was indignant! Moreover, losing battles resulted in the loss of experience points. After two losses, Mitzuki's game character's level dropped by 1, his stats decreased, making it even harder to achieve victory.
"Wait, he sent a party invitation." Mitzuki's peripheral vision caught a pop-up window on the computer screen. "Sister, what should I do?"
"You have no chance of winning today." Mers crossed her arms and thought for a moment. "If you can't beat him, join him first. Befriend him, then find an opportunity to backstab him, or have him start an online relationship with you, and then dump him cruelly."
"Having an online relationship with a man is too disgusting!" Mitzuki's expression was as if he had swallowed a fly.
"... Then why are you playing a female character?"
"Th-that's because it looks good!" Mitzuki's face turned red. "If I don't play a beautiful girl in a game, should I play a man?!"
"..." At this point, Mers found it difficult to make things difficult for him. "Then team up with him, and at the crucial moment after he defeats the boss, backstab him."
"No. This violates the basic etiquette of players!" Mitzuki actually argued back. "I can't do such a despicable thing! My game account will become infamous!"
What is he even talking about? You're already infamous as a Zoldyck, why are you afraid of this?
"... How about this." Mers reconsidered. "Make him disconnect from the game the moment he finishes defeating the boss, can you do that?"
"Ah?" Mitzuki's tone was uncertain. "I don't know if there will be enough time..."
"It's okay if there isn't enough time," Mers said, placing her hand on Mitzuki's shoulder. "After hacking into the system, designate his game account as 'abnormal data account,' give him a seven-day ban gift package, and roll back his game data to a week ago. Do it cleanly."
The three-minute countdown for resurrection was left with only 10 seconds.
"Sister, how did that guy provoke you?"
"Mind your own business."
"Oh."
So why admire the creature that is an older sister?! Brothers and younger siblings aren't friendly either!
Mitzuki: ... Regrets not being an only child.
Successfully sending the seven-day ban gift package, and with Mers' "game backpack" filled with a batch of new clothes (given by Kikyo), Mers left Mount Pk contentedly.
There are few occasions where the Phantom Troupe needs to gather all members. Other events are more frequent than Mers expected.
Mers didn't want to attend this Troupe event. Firstly, returning to the dirty and messy Meteor City was not to her liking. Secondly, this event was not about making money at all; rather, it was a charity event that required spending money. Although the money would definitely come from the Troupe's funds and was unrelated to Mers, she had no interest in charity work. She would rather earn money by taking on more bounty missions if she had the free time for charity.
She attended every Troupe event, but only skipped out when she heard it wasn't about making money. This might make her seem too greedy, and if something went wrong with a future Troupe mission, they might suspect her. To maintain her image of actively integrating into the group, it was better to participate.
Most importantly, this time it was Machi who notified the Troupe about the event, and she came in person. Machi faithfully kept her promise of "we can do it privately later."
Before Machi arrived, Mers, who was carefully selecting clothes, did not forget to restore the spider tattoo on her tongue. Everything was ready.
The prolonged kiss caused both of their cheeks to redden slightly from lack of oxygen.
"Mers, your technique has improved a lot." Machi, pinned to the sofa by Mers, was somewhat breathless. "Shalnark? No, did you practice with someone else?"
Machi's intuition was as terrifyingly accurate as always.
However, Machi didn't care about such things. After all, it was just mutual satisfaction. Moreover, Shalnark wasn't taking it too seriously; he had never considered a future of spending his life with a particular woman. If he didn't discover it, it should be fine. Everyone in the Troupe was a desperado; no one knew if they would die tomorrow. If one didn't seize opportunities to fulfill their desires while alive, when would they? It was meaningless.
It was all just fleeting pleasure.
Besides, who didn't like playing with beautiful girls.
Finding a suitable playmate wasn't that easy.
The fluffy and smooth silver-white hair moved under Machi's hands. The soft body of the cat, with its tongue, stirred her pleasure. She couldn't help but bite her finger joint, suppressing the sounds escaping her throat.
A bell hung around the cat's neck, jingling merrily as it moved, looking quite adorable.
Machi didn't have the heart to use Nen threads.
Mmm—
Nen threads weren't necessary.
It was good to enjoy it like this.
Machi released her fingers and hugged the cat in her arms.
The soft carpet beneath the bed caught their moistened bodies.