The black shadows born from the Domain’s resentment stirred restlessly beneath Xia Jiuwei’s feet.
“But those things…” she said softly, tapping the ground with her shoe, “aren’t what you should really be afraid of.”
The shadows that had been on the verge of overflowing suddenly flattened again, as though some invisible force had pressed them back into the floor.
“What exactly are you planning to do to us?”
One of the parents stepped forward, pointing at her with a hard expression.
“You don’t want a lawsuit on your hands, do you?”
The students nearby visibly relaxed at those words. Some even started smirking again.
After all, no matter what happened, she was still just a student.
The adults seemed to realize the same thing. The fear on their faces gradually faded, replaced by the confidence that came from believing they still held power here.
The atmosphere slowly turned mocking.
Xia Jiuwei glanced down at the shadows beneath her feet and let out a small sigh.
Too many.
But not vicious enough.
Then, slowly, she began pouring her own resentment into her shadow.
Bit by bit.
The darkness swelled.
The flat silhouette beneath her twisted upward, bulging unnaturally—
—and a gigantic, grotesque creature rose from behind her.
It split apart.
One became two.
Two became four.
Each shadow creature stood over half a body taller than Xia Jiuwei herself.
The smiles in the room didn’t disappear.
They simply moved onto Xia Jiuwei’s face instead.
“Everyone,” she said calmly, almost politely, “does anyone still have something they’d like to say?”
The air turned ice-cold.
“L-Little Xia…” the principal forced out a trembling smile.
“Our teachers… we’ve always been on your side…”
“You see, we never expelled you. We never punished you…”
“We’ve been helping you handle the pressure from the parents this whole time…”
“You can’t repay kindness with hostility, right?”
As he spoke, he unconsciously stepped backward.
Xia Jiuwei looked at him quietly.
Tilted her head slightly.
“Really?”
“When I was cornered in the bathroom—where were you?”
“When I got pushed down the stairs—did you see that too?”
“Or maybe…”
Her voice softened.
“The only thing you people can see is donations?”
No one answered.
Her gaze slowly swept across everyone present—parents, students, teachers.
“Relax. I’m very fair.”
She raised one finger.
“Half of you can leave.”
The room froze.
“As for who stays behind…”
“You can decide that yourselves.”
Then she turned and walked toward the door.
Bang.
The rotten wooden door slammed shut.
A second later, violent pounding erupted from the other side.
“OPEN THE DOOR!!”
“LET ME OUT!!”
“YOU SAID WE COULD CHOOSE!!”
The voices outside quickly devolved into screaming, panic, and hysteria.
But the door never moved.
Meanwhile, elsewhere within the Domain—
The students who had been dragged into the Under-Reality, along with Lu Nian’an’s homeroom teacher, found themselves transported into a vast white enclosed space.
“W-Where is this…? Teacher, I’m scared…”
One of the girls clung nervously to the homeroom teacher beside her.
“Damn it,” a male student muttered irritably, rolling his neck. “That bitch Lu Nian’an knocked me down, and then suddenly I ended up here.”
“Could this… be something Lu Nian’an did?” someone asked hesitantly.
“Impossible,” the homeroom teacher said immediately, his tone firm.
“A student like Lu Nian’an? Quiet, repressed, terrified of causing trouble for her family?”
“She’s exactly the kind of obedient girl people can push around. Someone like her could never pull off something like this.”
After speaking, he even tried calming the students around him.
“Oh?”
A playful voice suddenly echoed through the white space.
Everyone flinched.
At some point, a girl was already standing among them.
“Who are you?” someone blurted out instinctively.
The girl tilted her head slightly.
“That’s not important.”
A faintly amused smile curved across her lips.
“But…”
“I’m Lu Nian’an’s friend.”
Xia Jiuwei slowly spread her arms, as though welcoming guests—or declaring judgment.
“My dear friends,” she said softly.
“Welcome to my world.”
The moment they saw the strange smile on her face, chills crawled down their spines.
“S-Student, let’s talk this through calmly…” Lu Nian’an’s homeroom teacher forced out a professional smile, though the tension in his voice was impossible to hide.
Xia Jiuwei recalled the freezing despair she had felt during Synchronization.
And then she looked at these people—the ones who had kept pushing Lu Nian’an further and further toward the edge.
She shook her head softly.
“There’s no need for me to repeat what you’ve done.”
“Reflect on it yourselves.”
As she spoke, the white space began expanding.
Walls formed.
Hallways stretched outward.
Little by little, the empty void transformed into the shape of a school—
a sealed execution ground.
Countless black shadows poured out beneath Xia Jiuwei’s feet.
They were manifestations of the Domain’s resentment.
Individually, they weren’t particularly lethal.
But there were too many.
Far too many.
“Now,” Xia Jiuwei said softly,
“pay for your sins properly.”
With a single thought, her figure vanished.
The next instant, she reappeared inside the snow-covered manor.
The Domain had been divided into three separate spaces.
Two were for judgment.
The last one—
was here.
Time in the Under-Reality stopped whenever she left, so Lu Nian’an hadn’t been waiting long.
Warm firelight flickered quietly inside the small manor.
Xia Jiuwei appeared.
“You’re back,” Lu Nian’an said softly.
“Didn’t keep you waiting too long, right?” Xia Jiuwei replied with her usual grin.
She casually waved a hand.
An old-fashioned projector materialized out of thin air.
Light spilled across the room.
The image it projected—
was the ongoing judgment.
People running.
Screaming.
Begging.
Breaking down.
Lu Nian’an watched quietly without looking away.
She didn’t feel uncomfortable.
And she didn’t pity them either.
Instead she slowly reached out her hand.
And gently held Xia Jiuwei’s.
This time—
she was no longer the one being abandoned.
The next day in the Under-Reality—
The rotten wooden door creaked open once more.
The classroom inside was a complete mess.
Teachers and several students lay collapsed on the floor, their expressions broken, their minds seemingly shattered beyond repair.
The only ones still standing were the parents—
and a handful of students whose faces had gone frighteningly numb.
“So,” Xia Jiuwei said lazily from the doorway, “have you decided?”
They nodded.
Exactly half.
Xia Jiuwei stepped aside.
One by one, they rushed for the exit in panic, stumbling over each other in desperation.
The moment the final person crossed the doorway—
Bang.
The wooden door slammed shut behind them.
Outside was no longer the familiar school-like scenery of the false reality.
Waiting for them instead—
were four towering shadow monsters.
An execution ground.
Inside the room, the classroom returned to normal.
Xia Jiuwei glanced once at the people collapsed on the floor.
Then turned away.
“You people aren’t worth any more of my time.”
And she left.
The next moment, her figure returned to the warm little manor once more.
For the next two years, the two of them lived together inside that manor.
Nothing dramatic happened within the Under-Reality after that.
Time itself seemed to slow deliberately, flowing forward in quiet stillness.
Xia Jiuwei stayed by Lu Nian’an’s side, helping her reclaim all the wishes no one had ever been there to fulfill for her before.
There was no grand reason behind it.
No need to leave any record.
The emptiness in Lu Nian’an’s childhood was never truly repaired.
But slowly—
it stopped hurting.
Sometimes she still thought about the past.
But she no longer lingered there for very long.
Because the life she had now felt far more real than those memories ever did.
And through all of it—
Xia Jiuwei was always there.
One perfectly ordinary afternoon, Lili finally emerged once again from the Under-Reality Management Manual.
“Master, congratulations. You have completed the S-Rank mission and fully purified this Domain.”
Its tiny body floated excitedly in the air as it spoke.
“You now possess complete authority over the Under-Reality. You may also choose to fully merge with it and further elevate your power.”
It paused.
“Would you like to proceed with the fusion?”
Xia Jiuwei didn’t answer immediately.
She simply looked out at the world that now belonged entirely to her.
After a moment of silence—
she nodded softly.
The instant she did, the entire Under-Reality seemed to awaken.
Power surged toward her from every direction, pouring soundlessly into her body.
Because of the bond between them, Lu Nian’an received part of that power as well.
But along with it—
something cold came too.
Not power.
More like—
voices.
Countless whispers exploded through Xia Jiuwei’s mind, each one saturated with resentment so heavy it felt almost tangible.
Pain spread instantly through her consciousness.
Lu Nian’an felt the impact as well, her expression changing slightly.
“What is this?” Xia Jiuwei frowned.
Lili lowered its head, nervously intertwining its fingers.
“Master… the Under-Reality of this world is, by nature, a gigantic Domain.”
“These voices are leftover resentment.”
“If left untreated, they will gradually affect your thoughts.”
It paused before adding seriously:
“As long as you seal them away with sufficient mental strength, it’ll be manageable.”
“Otherwise… your emotions will eventually become unstable.”
Xia Jiuwei paused for a second.
She asked quietly:
“How affected does someone have to become before they lose control?”
Lili immediately pulled out a chart and handed it to her.
00–20% — Normal functionality.
20–40% — Mild exhaustion and reduced focus.
40–60% — Severe fatigue and mental disarray.
60–80% — Impaired judgment and difficulty functioning normally.
80–90% — Near psychological collapse. External support required.
90–100% — Complete mental breakdown.
As Xia Jiuwei read through the chart, Lu Nian’an suddenly stared at her in shock.
“Your hair…”
“Hm? What about my hair?”
Xia Jiuwei turned toward a mirror.
Then froze.
Her black hair—
had turned completely white.
“…I’m doomed,” she muttered softly.
“No, you’re not,” Lu Nian’an said gently. “I think it looks beautiful.”
“…Really?”
Xia Jiuwei stared directly into her eyes, as though trying to verify whether she meant it.
“Really.” Lu Nian’an nodded.
Only then did Xia Jiuwei finally relax.
A grin slowly spread across her face.
“Well then, I guess there’s no problem.”
“Hehe… time to welcome my very first customers with my brand-new look.”