“The fact that I was born... was already a mistake.”
“My parents didn’t love each other. I… was just the product of a business marriage.”
“As far back as I can remember, I was mostly raised by a nanny. Even though my parents didn’t love me, they never spared any expense when it came to money—nannies, meals, art classes, piano lessons… they gave me almost everything a child could want, but never have.”
Her voice wavered.
“But none of that… was what I actually wanted.”
“I just wanted them to show up on my birthday once.”
“Even if… it was just picking me up from school after class, just once.”
“But they’d rather hire a driver than come themselves.”
“Not even once.”
“In middle school, things were actually pretty normal. Nobody paid much attention to me, and nothing really happened.”
“But when I got to high school, everything changed.”
“At first, it was because people noticed I was picked up by a driver every day.”
“Some of them started trying to get close to me… to please me.”
“I didn’t like it, but I didn’t refuse either.”
She lowered her head, her voice becoming softer.
“Until one day—”
“A girl in my class decided she couldn’t stand me.”
“She thought I was quiet, out of place… like I was looking down on everyone.”
“She dumped my entire school bag onto the floor.”
“In front of the whole class.”
“I could only kneel down and pick everything up one by one—books, stationery…”
“At that moment… she actually regretted it a little.”
“She probably thought I would get revenge.”
“But I didn’t.”
“I messaged my parents, and they only replied with one sentence—”
“‘Just focus on your studies. Don’t cause trouble at school.’”
“After that, nothing happened.”
“So they escalated.”
“I became… their outlet.”
Her voice started to shake.
“Maybe they thought bullying a rich kid made them feel powerful… like it proved something about themselves.”
“That period… was terrifying.”
“I hated them.
My classmates. My parents.
I even hated the fact that I’d been born at all.”
“And I even hated the teachers—why could they pretend not to see anything…?”
Her voice finally broke.
Xia Jiuwei didn’t say anything. She simply stepped forward and gently pulled Lu Nian’an into an embrace, lightly patting her back.
Lu Nian’an finally broke down crying. She cried for a long time.
“That day…”
“I felt like there was no reason left for me to live.”
“I went up to the rooftop.”
“But halfway there—I saw my classmates.”
“They were walking toward me.”
“So I ran.”
“I kept running… and running…”
“In the end, I hid inside a classroom and locked the door.”
“Someone kept banging on it from outside.”
“Very loudly… it was terrifying.”
“I curled up in the corner and didn’t dare move at all.”
“After a long time—the noise suddenly stopped.”
“When I walked to the window and looked outside…”
“That place was no longer the world I knew.”
She closed her eyes, her voice growing faint.
“I was scared.”
“But at the same time… I felt a little relieved.”
“Because I had finally escaped.”
“After that, I stayed in that classroom.”
“At first, even the slightest disturbance would cause my shadow to go out of control—black shadows would surge out endlessly.”
“But they didn’t attack me.”
“Instead… they made me feel safe.”
“Slowly, I learned to control them.”
“And I started thinking… maybe I would stay there forever.”
“But even if I stayed there forever…”
“It was still better than the outside world.”
“Until that day.”
“The classroom door opened.”
“Someone walked in.”
“I was terrified… I couldn’t even speak, I was just shaking.”
She looked up at Xia Jiuwei.
“And then… you already know what happened after that.”
Xia Jiuwei leaned one hand against the wall behind Lu Nian’an and said softly, “Don’t be afraid. I’ve got you.”
Lu Nian’an looked at her, and for a moment, it almost felt like staying here wasn’t such a bad thing after all.
The next second, Xia Jiuwei suddenly covered her face with both hands and started giggling to herself.
“Ah, I really am beautiful and cool, huh? Look at you—completely stunned by my charisma.”
Lu Nian’an stared at her with a deadpan expression, like she was looking at an idiot.
But somehow… her mood did feel a little lighter.
“Didn’t you ever think about getting revenge?” Xia Jiuwei asked, glancing at her.
Lu Nian’an looked back at her blankly.
She had only ever felt fear. She had never once thought that she could one day take back what was owed from those people.
“Don’t worry,” Xia Jiuwei said. “I’ve never heard of anyone disappearing at my school. Even though you’ve been here for… fifteen years, once I send you back, it’ll probably be the exact moment you entered this place in the first place.”
“Fifteen years!”
Lu Nian’an flinched in shock. “Then… I guess I should go back.”
“Don’t look so reluctant,” Xia Jiuwei said with a grin. “You’re not alone. You’ve got me. And the entire Under-Reality backing you.”
She smirked.
“How’s that? Big enough support?”
“I’ll… trust you this once.”
Lu Nian’an was still nervous, but seeing Xia Jiuwei’s confident smile, she felt a little more grounded than before.
“Lili, if I send Lu Nian’an back to the real world… what time will she return to?”
“Master, she will return to the exact moment she entered the Under-Reality.” Lili answered immediately.
Xia Jiuwei frowned. “Then what about the time in the real world? Won’t it become a mess?”
Lili swayed slightly, as if organizing its thoughts before replying.
“It will be chaotic, but not without order. Time in the Under-Reality was never linear to begin with.”
It paused, making sure she was following, then continued.
“You can think of it as three rules.”
“First rule: everyone who enters the Under-Reality gets anchored to the exact moment they first came in.”
Lili glanced up at her.
“Meaning, no matter how long you stay here, when you return, it will always be the exact moment you came in.”
It swayed again.
“Rule two—the flow of time in the Under-Reality depends on its administrator.”
“When the Master is present in this world, it ‘runs’.”
“When the Master leaves, the Under-Reality enters a state of temporal suspension.”
Lili hesitated.
“Rule three—the Under-Reality possesses a time concept independent from the real world.”
Its tone turned slightly more serious.
“No matter what time someone is from in the real world, once they enter here, they are synchronized to the ‘current time’ of the Under-Reality.”
It looked up at Xia Jiuwei.
“So this is not time being rearranged.”
“It is—different people from different times being pulled into a single shared moment.”
After listening to Lili’s explanation, Xia Jiuwei fell into thought for a moment.
Then she suddenly revealed a sly, almost mischievous smile.
“Heh… this makes things a lot easier.”
She called Lu Nian’an over and whispered something into her ear.
“…Are you sure about this?”
“Yeah.”
“I think it suits you pretty well,” Xia Jiuwei said casually.
Lu Nian’an’s ears turned slightly red at that remark.
“Thank you… Xia Jiuwei.”
“Just call me Mia,” she waved it off. “Full names are too formal.”
“Then you can just call me Nia,” Lu Nian’an replied softly.
“Imprint set.”
Xia Jiuwei gently took Lu Nian’an’s pale hand and tapped it lightly, completing the Imprint.
“Do it like we agreed.”
Lu Nian’an took a deep breath, as if suppressing the last bit of hesitation in her heart, then spoke.
“Lili, I am willing to relinquish ownership of this FDomain and transfer it to Mia.”
Lili froze for a moment, then its eyes lit up with excitement.
“Master, do you accept formally taking over this Domain from Miss Lu Nian’an?”
“I accept.”
The second she spoke—
Xia Jiuwei shifted her thoughts and directly sent Lu Nian’an back to the real world.
“Now, can I claim the A-rank reward?”
Lili was still immersed in the excitement of completing the procedure and nodded at once.
“Yes! Congratulations, Master—your authority over the Under-Reality Management Manual has been fully unlocked!”
But the next second—
The space wavered slightly.
A familiar figure reappeared in the same place.
Lu Nian’an.
Lili’s expression froze instantly.
“…Eh?”
Its tiny head slowly turned toward Xia Jiuwei, brows furrowing bit by bit.
“M-Master… this is…?”
It started frantically reviewing the mission rules in its mind.
Lost One returned.
Domain transfer completed.
Mission settlement.
—There didn’t seem to be any rule stating she couldn’t be brought back again.
Lili opened its mouth.
“…This…”
It had nothing to say.
Completely unable to find any objection.
“Come here.” Xia Jiuwei held out her hand toward Lu Nian’an.
“Are you willing to undergo Under-Reality Synchronization with me?” she asked, looking directly at her.
“I am willing.”
In the next instant, an invisible force surged from the mark on Xia Jiuwei’s right hand, engulfing them both.
When the power finally receded, an indescribable connection had formed between them—like an unseen thread binding them tightly together.
Immediately after, waves of unfamiliar memories and experiences flooded Xia Jiuwei’s mind.
Piano… violin…
English, Japanese, French…
Originally, she had only been worried.
Worried that after returning to the real world, Lu Nian’an would still be unable to face the classmates who had bullied her. And given her personality, she would never dare to use the dangerous black shadows there.
If this synchronization could give her strength—if it could let her control Under-Reality’s power herself—then using this one chance on a girl who had been trapped here for fifteen years wouldn’t be a waste.
And as a bonus… she might even gain the ability to summon shadows herself.
But she had never expected—this much.
Before she could even feel joy, a cold, suffocating emotion suddenly surged up from within her.
An indescribable despair.
Heavy. Freezing.
It rose from the abyss itself and swallowed her whole.
Breath tightened in her chest.
Fear rooted itself deep in her mind.
—If everything ended like this… it might not be so bad.
The thought surfaced.
And in that instant, her shadow moved.
It twisted violently, writhing like something alive as countless black figures burst out from it—far more violent and unstable than anything Lu Nian’an had ever summoned before.
“Mia… Mia…”
A faint voice called out from somewhere far away.
Soft, but steady enough to pull her back.
Xia Jiuwei’s consciousness gradually returned.
She stiffened, then let out a faint smile filled with lingering fear.
Her gaze shifted to Lu Nian’an, now carrying a hint of concern.
【Under-Reality Synchronization (1/1)】
Target: Lu Nian’an Synchronization Rate: 37%
Once the synchronization stabilized, Xia Jiuwei’s expression turned cold again.
“Go. Bring them all in here.”
With a single thought—
Lu Nian’an’s figure vanished from the Under-Reality.
And reappeared in the real world.