Larissa woke to reverberant booms, and bangs, and whistles— drilling all the way down from the upper floor. Ugh… What time… is it?

“Master! It’s been three hours and seventeen minutes since you've submerged to sleep!”

So… around six in the morning…? Larissa telepathically voiced to her AI Assistant in an inquiring manner as she nudged her eyes and hesitantly parted her eyelids.

“Woof!” Douglas affirmed the clock.

The girl couldn’t help but yawn instantaneously, her mind adrift of concrete thoughts. Her long, unkempt hair stashed behind her pajamas as she turned, rejecting reality. Just one… five more minutes…

Even with all the augmentations and genetic enhancements in her body, such as cellular repair, neural optimization, energy regulation and backup system, and integrated nanotechnology, she still required a bare minimum of five hours of sleep each night for a functional day. Millions of nanobots performing routine detoxification and regulating hormones while repairing any minor damage wouldn’t help defy the mortality.

At least, besides becoming a bonafide meatshield, being raised to become an operator held many advantages.

Larissa absentmindedly glanced at the mass of white fur mantled in black spots. With his posture straight and head held high and a flowery bow tie wrapped around his neck, his wise amber eyes calmly plastered on her through the historical monocle atop his snout. The Dalmatian looked all classy, like a dog surpassing humans in intelligence. He was, one could argue.

More slam-bangs struck.

What in the world is— The ceiling shook so incredibly she felt her body shiver. She strained her ears, unenthusiastic to take any further action.

“—Break my bitch into bits

Raped by life since it began

Question everything

Everyday got it all within me

Energy, pain, hard over the gain

Pullin strings lowers the pain

Strengthens the gang—”

Music, rap, hip-hop, or whatever that apocalyptic melody was, flowed through her ears and drummed her eardrums. Larissa knew of music — one of her four specialized rooms was, in fact, wholly dedicated to music. She played piano semi-professionally and had a grasp over the violin, even. Yet she couldn’t and wouldn't ponder what kind of aforementioned procedure created the abovementioned music. Hard metal was an understatement.

Wasn't she more into classical stuff and jazz… Larissa felt betrayed. There weren't many similarities between her and her sister other than looks— looks being her sister looking like a better version of her— but taste in music was also among those few commonalities. Just why… Last day of peace, and I can’t even get proper sleep…

“Master, would you like for me to engage the soundproofing system?” Douglas asked tactfully as his tail stood. “That girl, just as usual… a complete disregard to others and her surroundings,” the dog grrred.

Come to think of it, I might've been overly harsh yesterday. Larissa scratched her head, furrowing her brows. Not like she's petite either. The awful words she spat at me yesterday… and even at one point threatened to murder me… Yeah, let's just ignore her.

Fatigue gnawed at her just as much as guilt did. She sighed, half a sigh half a yawn.

“It’s fine,” she drawled, patting the Dalmatian's head as the dog grunted. The girl grudgingly rose to her feet. Her spine hurt. The stinge wasn't a surprise to her, surely not after a back-breaking night procedure of carrying scraps of a bloody mattress — painstakingly slowly cutting it to many pieces before burning it to crisps for complete disposal. “I'll go pay her another visit. To see if she's doing alright… if she's more or less alive. You can rest.”

“Woof! You’re too good for her, Master,” Douglas growled before reluctantly nodding his head. His form began to dissipate into thin air.

Larissa left the room, passing between the two pairs of doors to the right and two to the left. Those served as entryways to a reclusive library where she spent her best time sunk into her favorite literature, a composition ground where she played her instruments and sang, a tech lab where she destroyed the poor mattress the day before, and a bathroom, respectively. She stepped through the opposite door, which led her to a grander hall.

Antique sconces livened the rich wood, panels, and carvings of lilies with luminance. An upward staircase domineered the center, its banisters embellished with luxuriance as Larissa’s hands swept past them. Did she suddenly lose her mind due to the influx of trauma? Or… No. I don’t believe in the improbable. To this day, there have been no precedents of possessions. Even if Yana indeed got possessed by an otherworldly demon of sorts, what am I to do anyway? My survival is a concern, considering the future… She headed up to her sister’s chambers.

Sunlight peered through the domed glass, basking her skin in blue. During these times, the sun persisted on both days and nights in Antarctica. Even auroras, though rare in the month of Aquarius, traced the walls in greens and purples.

Ha… I’ve been reading too much fiction, especially those ‘reincarnated in the body of a villainess in a fictional story, now I build a harem of hot boys, which, oh well, formerly despised my guts but now fell head over heels for me.’ stories with a plot-twist of ‘the real villainess was the main heroine all along!’

At least these are better than infinite dungeon grinds most of the bookshelves are now trashed with. The plush of the crimson carpet muffled with each step of hers. Though, rather than going to the military, I’d be happy to read another ‘Oh, the main heroine wants to live a peaceful life… but she’s suddenly, somehow, in the epicenter of a life and death battle to obtain more godly powers with her third potential love interest hundreds of chapters after…’

Despite her thoughts, deep inside, Larissa wondered whether Laura would pick Dante or Virgil in chapter two thousand, three hundred thirty-four after the author finally returns from their decades-long hiatus. …At least don’t leave it on a cliffhanger… It's always the revered stories that never see an end! Insanity!

Before stepping into her sister’s chambers, Larissa hesitated. It’s not too late to go back. My day will inevitably be ruined…

She yawned, watching the sun through the glasses above. It came across as ugly compared to what historians had told of its appearance before the apocalypse. Dark, bluish, hollow, sinister, barely any of its former orange closing in on its corners — painful to the eyes.

Yet without its death, there’d be no mana on Earth and, consequently, no magic. No way to resist the monsters.

The sunlight that once bathed the world with its shine and helped life prosper now supplemented its inhabitants with mana to withstand the onslaught of monsters.

The moon, on the other hand, was crimson, emitting miasma.

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In the month of Pisces, the moon would further redden, signifying the coming of the Blood Moon, a period of a full moon during which monsters become especially dangerous. Fittingly, blood would flow everywhere.

Many individuals and even whole families would unceremoniously die under the horde of unscrupulous abominations piled into a mountain of corpses. Death. Dread. Despair— What followed was an ungiving despair up until the moon spared the undergrowth from its bloody gaze.

Come to think of it, it’s not long before the next Blood Moon, she pondered momentarily, stepping in and following the music. I hope Father won't get into trouble.

She waltzed inside the meditation room, “What the hell have you been up to early in the mornin—” yet her voice drowned in the loudness of the chords. Neither did Yana spare her existence a glance.

The bass dug through her skull.

“—And a fucking fury, born in a wrong century

Tryna catch my eye, your sight goes right through me

Bitch I'm burning all my life, heat keeps me burning out

Girl hang up the ambulance and call the fucking vatican—”

Is she exercising?! Larissa looked down at her. Her sister, who had barely ever run since childhood, was doing push-ups. Her sister, who had never worn a tank top, was not only in a beige tank top but also tiger shorts…

“Twenty-six… twenty-seven…”

“LOUDER MOTHERFUCKER! BE A MAN FOR FUCK’S SAKE!”

“Twe e-e- e-nty-eight-t…!”

“NO! I DID IT WRONG YOU SHITHEAD! NOW IS TWENTY-EIGHT! MORONIC IMBECILE!”

Larissa’s eye twitched. She glanced at Romeo, the flirty, lovable fairy from yesterday— who now looked utterly devastated. Traumatized. Just what did she do to him in the four hours I was gone?

“Twen-twenty-ei- ei-ei—”

“IT'S TWENTY-NINE YOU USELESS FUCK! JUST DID TWENTY-EIGHT! FUCK IT— START FROM ONE!”

Enough. Larissa closed her eyes, clenching her fists. Like a thread in the back of her mind pulling taut whenever a need arose, a mental command outrushed through her neural pathways and connected with the room’s sound system.

The music cut off as Yana froze mid-push-up and snapped her head high.

“What’s your problem?” she asked, clearly annoyed.

“What’s YOUR problem?!” Larissa asked, clearly more annoyed.

Her lips quivered. She wanted to ask more, yet there were so many ridiculous, obvious questions that she couldn’t quite figure out which one should be inquired first. Why are you listening to this? Why is the volume so high? Why are you not sleeping? Why are you training like a maniac after so much blood loss yesterday—

Her hands shaking and body vibrating, Yana stood, stumbling left and tumbling right before supporting her body by leaning on a wall.

“Are you on drugs?!” Larissa finally spat. This was mostly a figurative question rather than a literal one, but her sister begged to surprise her as per usual.

“Not drugs,” Yana tsked, fixing her oracleyes and raising a finger. “But steroids.”

Steroids?!— Larissa’s mouth fell open.

“Ehem—” Yana coughed, correcting her oracleyes once more. “Enhancers, hah, I, hah, mean,” she said with pauses, heavily breathing in between. Her skin was redder than the Blood Moon, and her eyes were redder than her skin. Her hands pressed hard against her bladder.

“Some, hah, good, hah, shit,” she wheezed.

“Shit,” she gasped, her legs giving out as she collapsed to the creamy carpet. “The effect, hah, is wearing off, hah.”

Larissa watched in disbelief as her sister crawled — dragged herself — toward the meditation capsule in the center of the room. A starved beast who hadn’t eaten for months. A tree craving for the first drop of rain. A broken clock yearning to tick once more. A moth chasing a dying flame in the dark—

“Stop this instant!” Larissa shouted as she ran to the capsule before her sister could replicate yesterday’s accident.

To her surprise, what she saw weren’t pills, drugs, or needles. “Potions?! How did you get this? It’s not just a regular potion either… A rank one? Rank two? Strength potions… healing potions… even stamina?!”

Yana’s fingertips grazed against the capsule’s surface as she pressed her palms and hoisted herself up to a kneeling position like a zombie, her arms wobbling. She craned her neck. With bloodshot eyes, she glared at the potions maniacally, licking the gallons of sweat flowing down her cheeks. Her breaths hitched. Her body teetered.

Larissa watched, stupefied, as Yana reached for the green vial containing the healing potion. She unplugged it and poured it in one go, not missing a single drop as the viscous liquid slid down her throat. After a short while, her breaths steadied, her hands stopped shaking, and the pain visibly dulled.

This can’t just be a rank one potion…

Yana immediately grabbed the red stamina potion. Her fingers trembled less as she plucked it from its place, uncorked it, and devoured its contents. The exhaustion in her muscles not only washed away, but a wave of vitality seemed to course through her as her chest rose and fell with reignited ardor.

So this is the power of a rank two potion… Larissa gulped, turning her head toward Romeo, who shivered at her piercing gaze. “How much did she spend…?”

Romeo closed his eyes, refusing an answer.

All the while, Yana reached for the final container. With a firm and decisive hold, she raised the yellow strength potion close to her parted lips, drinking ravenously. Her posture straightened, and her hands clenched into a fist.

Suddenly, she felt her sister nudge her shoulder.

“Yana,” Larissa asked smilingly. “How much did you spend?”

Yana raised three fingers. Innocently.

“Three million? Do you realize how expensive that is, hmm? You can buy a hovercraft for that,” she said, lowering her hand and helping her sister rise.

“Everything,” Yana said.

“Everything?” Larissa asked.

“Everything.”

Larissa tilted her head, confused. “What do you mean by everything?”

“You really have that smart face of yours for show, huh,” Yana tsked, wiping her mouth to clear the colory remnants. “It’s thirty million, of course. After learning about the world via my AI slave, I found the price quite reasonable for a batch of rank three potions. The delivery was quick too. Why would I need money when we’re heading to the military tomorrow morning? Better put it to good use—”

“That’s it!” Larissa shouted, storming to the door. “You can’t keep getting away with it! I’m telling Father everything!”

Yet she fell head-first onto the carpet, feeling a rugged grip around her knee.

“Did you sleep on your face? You look fucking ridiculous, Ris.” Yana pulled the weak girl back, pinching her sister’s nose. “Don’t be a snitch.”

“Oh, I know,” Yana said, adjusting the bridge of her oracleyes. “We’re to head out at twelve to have a lunch with the old man, yes? I’ve bought too many potions. Why don’t you become my training partner? Hah! How generous of me!”

Larissa shuddered. All the anger suddenly dissipated. A terrible premonition clawed at her. Fear. Terror. Her instincts screamed—

Run.

Without a second thought, she gazed at Yana and projected blinding beams of light, flooding the whole meditation room, and dashed—

She ran with everything she had—

The door was in her reach—

Please! Please! Please! Yet the door, dismissive of her heartfelt pleas, slammed shut. Her hands smacked against its surface as she did her best to force the door open with her mind.

ACCESS DENIED. LOCKDOWN ENGAGED.

“We’ll start by doing one hundred push-ups. Then one hundred sit-ups. Then one hundred— Oh, I forgot. I first have to teach you the proper way of doing push-ups to engage every needed muscle in your body. Such a waste of time…” A voice came from behind her, closing in, creeping in. “But we’re sisters, no? You’re my responsibility. Yes, right. I’ll beat the lessons into you. But first—”

Something, someone grabbed Larissa by her shoulder. Some demon. Some evil incarnate.

“Let go!” Larissa wailed. “Let go of me! Let go!”

Yana caught her jaw with one hand and jammed the red vial against her sister’s lips with the other. “Don’t gag. If you as much as vomit, I’ll force you to lick the damn floor. Do you have any idea how much your caring sister has spent on these just to get you into shape?”

The girl had never tasted anything this terrible before. She choked. “Mmph! Mmph—”

“Shut the fuck up. You have one more to go,” the demon said. “Here comes the airplane~”

Larissa tearfully gazed at Romeo, yet Romeo looked like he would go as far as to give up on his Juliet just for a chance to leave the room of horrors.