After putting down my phone, I immediately prepared to go outside. Even though I don't wanna go, it cant be help since my brother may be in some kind of danger. While I was doing all that, I was also organizing my thoughts. For some reason, the word creepypasta popped in my mind. To be honest, even though I enjoy listening to creepypasta, I never once believed in those kind of shit. Except for being a goodnight story, it has really no use for me. But even so, I learned many things because of those stories.

One of them is, "don't follow your new and awkwardly suspicious friend, to their fcking houses".

Anyway, after taking the key, I went downstairs. And when I was about halfway through, I heard a couple knocking sound on my door. Tok-tok! I paused and the whole house suddenly went silent.

We rarely get a guest. And when we do, they're mostly our relatives. The thing is, even though they sometime visit us, we're not really that close. To be honest, I don't even remember the names of my cousins. Its also quite unusual to have a guest at this time of the hour. Its almost nine, who would visit at this time? If they're my family, they won't knock, they would just directly enter the house without caring about anything.

After a while, the knocking sound came again. But this time it was much louder than before.

Slowly, I went to the door and looked at the peephole. There, in the darkness of the night, two silhouette of kids are standing in front of the door. One of them is my brother, the youngest, who is frowning and impatiently muttering words that I couldn't hear. And the other, is a kid that I don't have any kind of recollection with. He appears pale, dirty, skinny, and with long hair covering his face. As I focused my eyes on his face, my heart almost stop and my breathing seized. His eyes are red and glaring at the door like he knows that I'm watching them through the peephole.

Suddenly, the youngest banged the door so loud that it sounds like it would almost break! Bam-bam-bam! Because of that, my head thats looking at the peephole also incurred damage. So, grudgingly, I opened the door and forgot about all the things that my mom said earlier. I glared at the youngest while waiting for him to explain his shit.

The youngest also glared at me.

"What took you so long to open the freakin door?!" he shouted. "I've been knocking for a while now!"

What's with that tone?

"What are you standing there for?! Move!"

Seeing him acting like piece of shit, I frowned and my body immediately reacted on its own. With my body that was strengthen to its limit by cultivation, a single smack from me would be dangerous. Even though I never used all my strength, the force I used would still be considered strong! Unfortunately I only realized that when my hand is just few centimeters away from his face.

Bam! His body didn't flew far away like in the movies, but his eyes turned white as his body slumped down losing consciousness. I didn't even feel sorry at all. Bending over, I checked his pulse, and with my almost nonexistence knowledge about medication, I then concluded that he's fine.

Breathing a sigh, I couldn't help but be a little bit pissed.

Since I became shut-in neet, my social standings in this house became lower. And it continued decreasing and decreasing until I became the lowest. My mom started this by treating me special. When everyone has a food, only me wont get any. Ignoring my opinions and prioritizing my brothers'. And when she's leaving for a trip, all the money and responsibility would be left to one of my brothers, clearly showing the difference between my status and them. Since then, my brothers started doing the same. I didn't mind of course.

I don't see any point to be sensitive and psychologically prepared to keep my social standings in a group formed by five people from the same family. Because of this, my brothers would usually tease and laugh at me since they think that I'm at the bottom. But I don't really care. As long as they don't step on my pride, I would also laugh and tease them back.

And the youngest clearly stepped on it, hard.

Shouting at me and treating me like a piece of shit, who the fck does this kid think he was? Even if i didn't finish college, and don't have any job, that doesn't mean he could treat me like I'm lower than a fckin dog. After all, I'm still the eldest son of this fcking family!

Sighing and shaking my head, I slowly looked at the other kid. Surprisingly he didn't run, looked scared, or turned transparent like those in scary movies.

"Hey." I called. "Wanna come in?"

The kid alternately looked at me and my youngest brother, then slowly nodded his head.

Holding one leg, I dragged my youngest brother's body while entering the house. This little shit needs some punishment so I wont treat him like normal human until my anger subside.

-------

In the living room, I tossed the body of my youngest brother on the floor and looked at the other kid. The kid is quiet but curious. He keeps looking around but never voiced anything, or showed any interests in his surrounding. Since he behaved well, I let him look around for couple more minutes before telling him to take a bath. I said that I'll let him use Rico's clothes for tonight. And while at that, I'll wash his clothes so he could use it tomorrow.

He looks hesitant at first, but eventually he still went and took a bath.

Coming out of bathroom, the kid saw me walking down the stairs with pillows and blankets. From the looks in his face he must have thought these are for him.

"Don't look at me like that." I said while looking at him. "These aren't yours."

I walked to the unconscious body of the youngest, put the pillow under his head and laid the blankets on top of him. That should be enough to keep him alive 'till tomorrow, I thought.

Standing up, I look at the kid and decided to ask the question that's bugging me since earlier.

"You're the Jeremy, right?"

He nodded.

"But Jeremy isn't your real name right?"

He paused a little and bowed his head.

From his reaction, its obvious that my assumption is correct.

My mom is quite weird. She knows mostly everything about us. She knows who are friends, where we are, what we were doing, and the kind of problems that bothers us. The thing is, even though she knows most of it, she won't help, won't talk to us about it, and pretend like she knows nothing. Thinking about it now as an adult, I found that kinda creepy and cute at same time. That just means she cares about us, right?

Anyway, since my mother knows all, the thought of a kid bypassing her security like that, means only one thing. And that is, his using a fake name. I also thought that maybe he's just new here, but I never heard of a new family in this neighborhood. His not a ghost, nor anything remotely connected to the word 'supernatural', so the only conclusion I came to is--- his name is fake, his address is also probably fake, and my youngest brother only knows all the fake information this kid gave.

Should I be wary of a kid? Probably not. The best thing he could do is steal something in this house and ran away. That's not dangerous at all.

As I was walking towards him and was about to invite him for dinner, I notice something weird. To be honest, I didn't notice it at first. Even though not that obvious, I can easily see that his chest is slightly bulging. And there are two small dots poking in his thin and fitted shirt, which I can only assume they're nipples. Seeing this I couldn't help but look at the kid again. He has an average face, hair that's too long for boys but too short for girls, and a skinny body. Because of this, its normal for people to misunderstand.

"Are you a girl?" I asked.

She tremble slightly and stayed quiet. After a couple of seconds, she slowly nodded her head.

I sighed and shook my head slightly. I just gave a girl brief to wear as a substitute for her own underwear. Well, its not bad I guess. She's just a kid after all. There's no need to differentiate between briefs and panties as a child.

"I see." I nodded, went back upstairs and took a slightly big long sleeve shirt. I then gave it to her. "Change with this."

She looked baffled at first, but still obeyed me.

The shirt I gave her earlier is small and way too thin, making her chest obvious. This is something those sick perverts would probably enjoy, but I'm not. And even though I wanna give her a baby bra as well, I couldn't. Since all of us siblings are boys, there's nothing here that a young girl could use. So I can only give her a a long sleeve shirt that would be comfortable and easy to move with.

After she came out, I told her to go to the kitchen. And when she arrived, I just also finished reheating the dish I cooked earlier.

"You're hungry, right?"

She just looked at me for a couple of seconds, before slowly nodding her head.

"Here." I handed her the plate. "Don't worry, you can eat all you want. Its just the two of us anyway."

Taking a piece of chicken and putting it on her mouth, she became wide eyes and started devouring the food like a a hungry hyena. Seeing this, I giggled and started eating as well. Even though I know I may not be as good as those world class chef out there, I'm hell sure that most of the housewives would look like a fcking baby compared to me.

We ate in silence and fill ourselves with food. After that, I told her to wait a little bit because I need to wash the dishes, but she shook her head. Then, for the first time since we met, she spoke and said, "I'll help." I smiled and let her help me. We did the dishes quietly without anyone speaking. This kind of atmosphere is quite relaxing.

When we're done, I led her to my youngest brother's room. While we were walking, I noticed her furtively taking a glance at me and looking troubled. I didn't say anything though, I just continued walking until we approach the stairs. When I was about to step on it, she immediately grabbed the corner of my shirt and asked.

"You won't ask me anything?"

I look at her and smiled.

"It's not that I don't wanna ask." I said. "To be honest I'm quite curious right now. Its just, I think its not good to pry on something that other people don't wanna talk about. You might be a kid, but kids also need privacy."

"I'm not a kid anymore." she said while avoiding my eyes.

I giggled and asked her.

"Oh yeah? Then, how old are you?"

".. eleven."

Hearing this, I was quite surprise. My youngest brother is only nine and his body is appropriate for his age. Meanwhile, this kid is eleven, but she's even a little bit smaller than my brother. I thought she would be younger. Maybe their family is having some kind of trouble. If not, they would not let their daughter be like this.

With a grin, I looked at her and answer back.

"Eleven is still a kid."

Continuing my walk towards the second floor, she followed me while holding a corner of my shirt. After a couple of steps, I could feel her trembling slightly. But I didn't look back, I just continued walking. When we reached the second floor, with her voice cracking a little bit, she finally said what's troubling her.

".. my parents are splitting up."

I stopped and looked at her.

"I know they always fight, shout and insult each other, sometimes they would even become physical." she continued. "But I always thought that everything's going to be fine. That they still love each other, and.."

Tears started rolling down her face and she's started crying quietly.

"... Is it my fault? Its just, maybe, maybe if they don't have me, they wont have to fight." she sniffed and tried to wipe her tears, but it just keep falling. "... do they even love me? Do they even care? I feel like I'm the only one worrying about these.. they just.."

So she had red eyes because she was crying. I sighed slowly and reach out my hand to her.

"Don't cry silly." I softly said while wiping her tears. For some reason, when I saw her crying face, I couldn't help but see myself in her. Except she's much more open than me. Remembering it now, maybe if I cried and asked for help, then things would have been easier and I wouldn't have tried hanging myself.

She looked at me and tried to stop her crying, but she still continued sniffing and her tears rolling.

"I don't know what kind of family you have, nor understand your circumstances. But I think, most of the times parents tended to care and love their child. So the answer to your problem is quite simple."

".. most of the time?"

"Yeah.." I smiled.

Most of the time, parents are like what everyone describes. Loving, caring, and responsible. They're like the best thing a child could have, and its the same for the parents as well. But, assuming that "every" or "all" parents are like that, then that's wrong. There are parents out there who would do indescribable things to their children and wouldn't even feel anything about it. These piece of shits aren't even worthy to be called parents.

I wont tell her that though.

"Anyway," I smiled and looked at her crying face. "Instead of crying alone, worrying about things that you don't understand, why not go and talk to them."

Carrying all the burdens and suffering alone, that's one of the choices I picked that led me to hell. Seeing an innocent child that was about to walk the same path, I cant help but try and stop her.

Gently wiping her tears, I continued.

"You see, if they really love you, they would tell and explain you everything. And if they care, they would take responsibility of everything, so you wont have to worry and could grow up happy."

Seeing that her tears stopped falling, I smiled.

"But, but what if... they don't care? What.. would I do?" she asked with a troubled look.

"Its easy." I laughed. "Then you can just come here and talk to me. I don't really have anything to do most of the times, so you can just come here and I'll listen to you."

I patted her head and grinned slightly.

"Talking to a cute girl is a lot better than being alone after all."

Both of us sat on the staircase and had fun talking. Well, its mostly the kid that's actually do the talking. I mostly just sat there and listen to her stories. About her father who likes fishing, her mother who's clumsy and also bad at cooking, the night when she was surprised that santa was actually her father--- she's adorable. Every time she talks about her family, she always smile and looks genuinely happy. Compared to what she looks like when she was crying, I prefer her to smile and enjoy life as a child.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"You really know a lot." she said while giggling.

"Its because I'm an adult and have more experience in life." I said while pretending to be more older. Earning me of another round of giggle from her. "That's why.."

Seeing her innocent and genuine smile made me feel happy. Remembering the night I committed suicide, the darkness that enveloped my whole world as I slowly fell down in the sea of all the negative emotions I hid in the deepest part of me, and feeling of something snapping inside me and losing all of it as I walked mechanically to my own downfall--- She probably wont recover if she experience that torture.

"I don't want you to become like me." I said softly with a hint of seriousness.

"I don't get it.." she said looking confused.

I laughed and looked at her while smiling.

"You don't have to." I whispered. "And to be honest, I don't want you to."

Because empathizing with a broken person needs someone who was broken as well.

We talked for hours and laughed while teasing each other. After releasing all her negative emotions and telling someone what she really feels, she calmed down and looked more refreshed. When it was about midnight and I saw her yawning, I told her that she should rest for now. She agreed fast. Right now, we're like brother and sister, quite close.

Opening the door of my youngest brother's room, I told her she could sleep here for tonight. Then, as I was walking out of the room, she suddenly called. So I looked back and waited for what she wants to say.

".. Thank you." she smiled.

I laughed and said, "it's fine". When I was about to turn back, she called again.

"I, I still don't know your name yet.." she said while avoiding my eyes and looking shy.

"Before asking someone's name, you should tell yours first."

".. Jenny." she whispered and looked at my eyes. "My name's Jenny. You?"

"I'm..."

After I told her my name, I went downstairs and washed Jenny's clothes. Then, I walked back to my room and continued cultivating. Since there are only two kids here, I didn't bother going to the empty lot and decided to just popped the balloon in my room. Then I continued cultivating repeatedly until sunrise.

-------

5:46am, wednesday.

I decided to make fried rice for breakfast. I know its quite heavy to start the morning, but I cant help it. My cultivation is going really well and at the same time my metabolism is getting more wilder. Right now, I don't think a couple slice of bread would satisfy my ever growing hunger.

Using butter, I cooked the garlic and onions until it turned golden or yellow-brown. Then I put the rice and mix them together. While doing that, I also beat the eggs until no white could be seen before pouring it to the rice. Because of the eggs, the rice turned from white to golden color. I added some salt and ground black pepper to deepen its flavor. Mixing them together took a couple more minutes before I was satisfied that it was mixed and cooked properly.

At the same time I finished cooking, I noticed that the youngest is standing in the corner of the kitchen while watching me cook. Glaring at me like a fcking creep. If he's not my brother I would have smash his head with a frying pan for that look.

"What?" I asked while putting down the fried rice on the table.

"... Where's Jeremy?" he asked, looking troubled.

"Who's Jeremoy?"

"Fuck! I'm being serious here!"

"Did you just cursed me?" I glared at him. "Want me smack you in the head again?"

He shut-up and stepped back, but continued glaring at me. I didn't bother though. I took out the leftover chicken I cooked last night and was planning to reheat it again, when suddenly the youngest started speaking.

".. His parents are about to divorce."

I didn't look back and continued cooking. That didn't stop the youngest for speaking though.

"Not even caring about the feelings of their child.. they're useless." he said with a voice filled with absolute anger. "He was crying in the back alley when I first met him the other night. Then when I was about to go home, I asked him where his home is, so I could escort him back since it was already late. He told me its fine and he could go home on he's own. He said we could meet yesterday. But yesterday, when I met him, the clothes he was wearing the other day was still the same. This means he didn't go home, and from the looks of it, no one looked for him. What kind of family is that?"

So that's what happened.

After I finished reheating the chicken, I put it on the table, then looked at the youngest.

"What were you planning then?" I smirked. "Help him? How? Do you think a kid like you can help him?"

Frowning, he looked at me and shouted.

"I was planning on building a house and letting him stay there. Then I would visit him everyday, hangout together, so he wouldn't be lonely."

Hearing that, I couldn't help but laugh my ass out. This kid is quite smart and a little bit mature for his age, but sometimes I cant help but doubt if its actually the case.

"Build a house? Who the fck you think you are? Bob the builder?"

"At least I'm helping!"

Seeing that I'm walking towards him, he shut his mouth and started backing out. But when his back hit the wall, his expression changed with the look of utter despair. Standing in front of him, I lifted my hand and I can see his eyes closing like he's preparing to die. Then I slightly flick his forehead. For him though, it would still hurt. Puk! Then I flicked him again. Puk! And again. Puk!

To be honest, I quite like how this kid treasure friendship. Helping one's friend is an easy way to see the character of person. And what he's doing is, kinda correct in a way. The only problem is how he wanted to help. Well, I guess its fine? Like what he said, at least he's helping.

Sighing slowly, I looked at him and decided to talk to him seriously.

"You can't help him like that. Taking him away from his family and building a house? That's stupid." I said and gently patted his head. "The truth is, both us cant do anything about the divorce or about their family. Its their problem, so if they wanna fix that, they would have to fix that on their own. So you cant do anything."

"But..."

Flicking his forehead again and seeing that he's feeling pain, I continued.

"You see, helping people doesn't always mean changing, fixing, or doing something. Sometimes, just by staying at their side in their worst times, talking to them when they don't have anyone to talk to, and encouraging them when they're feeling down--- are enough to make them happy."

Patting his head gently, I added.

"Remember, the value of something is dependent and different for every people. It may be just a small thing for you, but its definitely a priceless treasure for those who needed it."

-------

When Jenny came down, the youngest and I are already sitting and preparing the table. Seeing Jenny, the youngest smiled and immediately stood up to talk to her. While letting the two kids talk, I finished preparing the table so I urged them to eat. As we were eating the youngest asked Jenny on what happened after he blacked out, mostly because of how different she is now compared to what she was last night. Jenny just smiled told him that I just gave her an advice and she felt good after.

Jenny would furtively take some glances at me while the two of them are talking. Seeing this, I smiled and sometimes joins in their talk as well. Almost half an hour later, while we were about to finish our breakfast, we suddenly heard the door slammed open! Bam! At the same time, I could hear hurried footsteps walking closer towards the kitchen. I didn't bother standing up though. My reason is very simple, one of them is from someone I'm really familiar with.

As I gulped the last drop of my coffee, three silhouette of adults entered the kitchen. One of them is my mom who's smiling like a fcking retard and looking at the three of us. The other two, are middle age looking couple with a huge eyebags below their eyes. They also looked at the three of us with the look of desperation. And when their eyes landed on Jenny they immediately ran towards her and started crying. Muttering words like, "I'm glad you're fine." and "we were looking for you".

While I was looking amazed and baffled at the same time, I looked at my mom waiting for explanations.

"I was having a walk last night when I accidentally met them, so I invited them over."

Does she really think all of us in this room are fools? Who the fck would accidentally meet someone in the middle of the night? And why the fck was she even walking in the middle of the night alone?

Seeing the doubt display on my face, my Mom didn't even bother explaining. She just looked at the middle aged couple and said with a fake smile, "see, I told you she would be fine. My youngest and your child has been friends for like forever, so of course we'd take care of her. We're like family after all."

I could feel my very soul cringing hard from all the bullshit that's spouting from her mouth.

Also, the two of them just met for like two or three days ago. What the fck is this forever you're talking about?

Maybe the couple didn't notice my mom's fake smile, or maybe they deliberately just ignore it, or maybe they really just don't care--- but they look genuinely happy and thankful for her.

"Thank you.. really." said Jenny's mom. "Since she ran away home, we tried find her for days now.. we were so worried. So, thank you."

"The both of us will always remember this. Thank you." said Jenny's father.

My mom smiled and shook her head slightly. I could feel a powerful aura of hypocrisy surrounding her.

"Its fine." she said with a gentle voice. "I'm also a parent so I know what you feel. I also care for my children after all."

You never care for me though, I thought.

"I'm just glad that all of you could be together now." Mom added.

Well duh, you probably planned all of this, I again thought.

We invited Jenny's parents to sit and eat. Since they look like they haven't eaten a proper food for days, I gave them a lot of food. Its good that I cook for at least dozen of people. Actually I was planning on eating those for lunch, but its fine since they look like they're enjoying the food I cooked.

While eating, Jenny apologized for running away and said that she'd be more behave and listen to them in the future. Likewise, the parents also apologized for not thinking about her feelings, and decided to tell her that they won't divorce. Even though sometimes they fight, its not really up to the point that they hate each other to the bones. So they thought it would be fine to have one more chance and try to fix their relationships.

The table was filled with noises and laughter as everyone was having fun talking. The topic went from their family, about their small business thats actually not small based from their description, to my family, and my brother's, to me. When the couple learned that I still don't have a job, they smiled and offer me to work in their small business company. They said they're also lacking some manpower so hiring someone who's at least college undergraduate would be amazing. Of course I know they're just being polite. But I still accepted their business card with a smile.

Surprisingly though, my mom didn't urge or forced me to accept the offer. She just smiled like its not really her problem.

Half an hour later, everyone stood up and started packing up. Jenny's family also said that they're leaving and thanked us for our hospitality and everything. Before leaving, Jenny and the youngest talked and said they have to meet often. Jenny agreed happily. Then, Jenny looked at me and went to my side.

"Can I visit you again?" she asked shyly.

"Of course." I laughed. "Anytime you like."

"Okay." she giggled and added, "thank you."

I smiled and saw their family out. While they were walking away, Jenny would occasionally looked back and waved like and adorable and cutie she was. I couldn't help but smile seeing that. Sighing softly, I murmured in my heart, I wish I had a younger sister like her.

When they're gone, my mom looked at me with a poker face and said, "you're irresponsible as always".

"What?" I looked at her confused.

"Visit you?" she smirked. "Remember? You're leaving the day after tomorrow. So what do you mean by anytime? Are you retard?"

Now that she mentioned it, I almost forgot about that. Seeing that I suddenly became quiet, she snorted and went inside.

-------

For the next two days, except sleeping for two to four hours a day, I mostly focused myself in cultivating. Absorbing, compressing, and purifying the Qi to its utmost limit, then using all of it to practice Martial arts, losing all my strength, then absorb Qi again to repeat the cycle. I only stop this cycle when I feel that my body needed some kind of rest, or when I'm hungry, or when my family is home. When midnight arrives, I would always go to empty lot and pop the balloon like film in my mind. This would release some kind of ferocious energy that would advance my cultivation speed by a lot. The effect is also visible.

The sad thing is, I can only pop the balloon like film once a day.

Anyway, after three days of continuous cultivation, my body changed and is no longer the same as before. My flabby or kinda chubby body is no more. I'm actually amazed at how fast it changed. Right now, my body is almost comparable to those models in magazine. My body is a little bit skinnier, maybe because the nutrients I get from the food I ate isn't enough. But even with this, my body is already something many men would kill to have.

8:27pm, Thursday.

The whole family is eating dinner in the same table for the first time in a while. For some reason my mom bought a lot of food tonight. Three huge boxes of pizza, two huge buckets of the most crispiest chicken I've ever had, and ten huge burgers with the most juciest beef I've ever tasted. These foods are like gift from the gods.

While we were eating, my whole family keep on looking at me even though they're busy munching their pizza. I can feel my mom's piercing gaze as she look at my young and smooth looking skin. At the same time, my brothers are looking at my skinny body like I'm someone with some kind of rare disease.

"Did mom forget to vaxinnate you as child?" the youngest asked while frowning backing away from me.

"Fck you." I said. Earning me another round of curses from mom.

Well, I cant really blame them for looking at me like that. Since I was always at my room and rarely go out, we really don't see each other much even if we're in the same house. For them, I look like someone who was fat and suddenly went skinny in just few days. That would really be fcking weird for them. But I didn't really bother. I just rolled my eyes and continued eating.

Then, while the youngest was backing away, the chicken leg in his hands fell down. Seeing this, my body automatically moved and caught the chicken halfway like a pro. I then gave it back to the youngest who's mouth is wide open and looking at the chicken leg like it was a fcking miracle.

Its not really that surprising. Since I started cultivation, my body kept on changing, not just the appearance but also its capabilities. Compared to three days ago, my reflexes, strength, agility, and the speed my brain processes, are like waves of a pond compared to the waves of a fcking waterfall.

To be honest, I'm quite happy and excited to see my body improving leaps and bound. But that happiness vanished earlier this evening. Before I eat my dinner with my family, I was trying my best to cultivate, but nothing's happening! The feeling was quite frustrating. Its like trying to drive forward but your wheel's stuck in a mud, and there's a fcking wall in front.

The reason I actually joined to eat dinner with them is because I wanted to calm my mind.

From what I know, this should not have happened. Right now, I'm only at starting line, I barely started walking forward, but then a hurdle appeared. If this was a tournament race, the organizers would be cursed to death. So I'm thinking, its not the cultivation method that is wrong. I must have done something. But what is? I followed everything without deviating anything. Did I miss something?

-------

As I was sitting on my bed and thinking about what to do, I heard my phone ringing. I first thought, did mom call me? But, it cant be her, if she needs me for something she'd just shout it like a fcking mad woman she was. While confused, I realized something. Isn't it quite sad that the first thing that entered my mind when I heard my phone ringing was my mom?

Answering it with a slightly depressed mind, I suddenly heard a familiar voice on the other line.

"Congratulations."

Then everything went black.

"Coming here the third time means, you reached the required body to open your first meridian. This also means that you did all this within the first five days after you received the cultivation method. For that, you'll receive 100 points. Additional points will be given after calculating your ranking."

Before I even had a time to react, a screen like thing appeared in front of me and started playing a video. There, a woman with a body that would make any men feel hard, appeared. She's sitting on a table, cross legs, while wearing a uniform that teachers usually wears. Her back is facing the black board with words written on it.

"Hello." She smiled. "If you're watching this, that means you already reach the limit. Or should I say, a bottleneck. You must be wondering why, no matter what you do, you cant advance or improve. I'm here to tell you why's that."

Before she started, she gave some backgrounds or 'common sense' that I should know.

Refinement Stage, thats what 'common people' refer to the first step of cultivation. This 'Stage' has only one purpose. And that is, to open more meridians than the others.

"You see, for common people, unlocking three to four meridians is already amazing. If the Kings of common people learned that, they would immediately invite that person to give him some kind of benefits to stay loyal to their kingdoms. But that's only for common people of common kingdoms."

She stopped and slowly stood up. While walking towards the black board, I can see her plump butt swaying so sexy that I'm having a hard time to stay focus on what she's saying.

"The strongest kingdoms of the mortal realm, wont give a damn if you have unlocked three to four meridians. For them, one would only be consider a 'genius' if they could unlocked six meridians. And if one unlocked seven, they would be deemed as heaven defying."

She giggled when she said that. How can someone be cute and sexy at the same time? This is almost like crime!

She turned around and look at me, her face now is serious.

"For us though, we would only consider you as 'not bad' if you managed to unlock all the fifteen meridians."

What? The numbers doubled.

"Listen. We didn't give the highest standard cultivation for mortals just let you feel good. We also didn't waste our resources just for you. What we want you is to work hard, and reach the apex to help your world and our realm.

I cant explain the details. But because you're one of the very few who reached this stage within five days, I think you should know some important informations."

She looked at me for a moment and said something that made the situation a lot more weirder.

"Your world is going to be invaded. At most it'll happen in ten years, and five years in the latest."

After a couple of warnings and reminders, a minute of silence happened and she started telling me everything I need to know about cultivation. How to find the hidden meridians, how to unlock it, and how to nurture and strengthen it.

Even though my mind is kinda hazy because of some revelations, I still made sure to listen and remember everything. Before the end, she reminded that everything that I heard and saw in this place should be kept secret from everyone outside. Except, of course, to those people who experienced the same thing as I did, and entered this place.

"Once you disobey, you will die. And everyone who knows will also die."

A very simple and straightforward warning.

-------

When I 'woke up', I noticed that I'm still sitting on my bed while holding my phone in my ear.

I set aside my phone laid my body to calm my mind.

"... invasion.." I muttered.

To be honest, my mind became a little bit complicated after hearing this. As someone who grew up in a normal and peaceful world (or at least it look peaceful), the word invasion doesn't really affect me that much. But things change when it was mentioned that the whole world would be involved.

Imagining the whole earth becoming chaotic, and normal lives becomes dangerous, feels like a nightmare looking shit. If someone ask me, what would I feel if a massacre happens and millions of people die--- I would say, 'nothing'. I don't think I would care if half of the world got destroyed. As long as those who I cared about remains safe. The problem is, would our life still be the same if that actually happened? I don't know.

Laying my body and slowly calming my mind, I tried to relax. Being agitated wont do anything good. Being calm and collected is always the answer. So that's what I did. Slowly, my mind entered a state of feeling high. Should I call it 'Sage state'? I don't really know what to call this feeling. Anyway, every time I entered this state, my mind would always become more active and more reasonable. This is a thing I learned when I was still a kid because I don't have many toys. So I usually play using my imagination. At this state, thinking and solving solutions become more easier.

Then a thought popped up in mind, and I couldn't help but smiled. "Wow, I'm quite stupid for only realizing that now."

Suddenly my mind became more clearer and everything seems to come back to normal.

Invasion? That would not happen immediately. She even said, the latest would be five years. It also didn't matter if its the truth or not. The only thing I need to think of is making use of this power.

From the looks of it, even though she said it like 'they're' giving charity, I'm sure they have some ulterior motives. Most likely, 'they're' using us, to do something. So why not let them use me, then I'll use 'them'.

I don't really need 'their' acceptance.

I'll do everything I can to reach higher and higher. If I could do that, then I wouldn't mind helping. If I could not, then I'll just do my best to improve my life.

It doesn't really have to be me. From the looks of it, there are others who experienced everything I did. I'm not a chosen one. So if I cant do it, then I'm sure others will. If the so called invasion really happened, those people will stop it. At that time, I'll do my best cheer for them.

"I just need to do my best, and only care about everything that's happening at the present."

Using this as a basis, my thinking process and my whole perspective of things became more easy.

"For now, I need to unlock my first meridian."