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"Ahem!"
Lucian cleared his throat twice.
He quickly walked to the bed and yanked off the utterly wrecked bedsheet, bunching it up and tossing it into the laundry basket in the corner. Then he opened the wardrobe, pulled out a clean ocean-blue spare sheet, and neatly spread it over the bed.
But when he reached for the blanket, he froze.
There was only one.
"Uh… Yukinoshita," Lucian said, turning back with an awkward expression, scratching his cheek. He laid the blanket out as he spoke. "There's something I need to explain."
"This apartment only has two bedrooms. One is Sora's, and the other is mine. Sora's very territorial—no one gets into her room except me. And right now… this is the only blanket we have."
He hesitated, then asked cautiously, "So tonight, we might have to… share the same bed. And the same blanket. What do you think…?"
The moment she heard that, the faint color that had just returned to Yukino's face instantly deepened into a vivid blush, spreading all the way down to her delicate collarbone.
Sleep in the same bed as the man who had just taken her virginity? And under the same blanket?!
But her sharp mind and rational nature quickly kicked in despite the overwhelming embarrassment.
First, in her current condition, there was no way she could go home. She could barely stand for long without her legs trembling.
Second, her underwear was already in the washing machine, and the clothes she ordered hadn't arrived yet. Right now, the only thing she had on was a loose men's shirt that barely covered her thighs. Early spring nights weren't exactly warm.
Third… they'd already done everything—gone far beyond what was "proper," even endured hours of madness together. Compared to that, simply lying on the same bed under one blanket didn't seem like such a big deal anymore… right?
"I… I understand."
Yukino took a deep breath, forcing down the chaotic pounding in her chest, and gave a small nod.
"As long as you don't do anything irrational tonight, I agree to share the bed."
After saying that, she carefully climbed onto the bed, her steps slightly unsteady.
Since she wasn't wearing anything underneath, the oversized shirt shifted with her movements, exposing glimpses of skin. Feeling Lucian's gaze, she bit her lip in embarrassment and, like a startled kitten, slipped under the blanket in one swift motion.
She curled up tightly into a small ball, pulling the blanket up to her nose, leaving only her deep blue eyes and messy black hair visible.
Grabbing her phone from the bedside, she pretended to scroll through it to hide the fact that her heart felt like it was about to leap out of her throat.
Seeing her like this, Lucian couldn't help but chuckle.
"If anything, you're the one who shouldn't be doing anything out of line. You were the more proactive one, after all…"
"Don't say it…!"
After tucking the blanket snugly around her, Lucian turned and left the bedroom, thoughtfully closing the door behind him.
He sat down on the sofa in the living room, poured himself a glass of water, and let his consciousness sink into the [Myriad Worlds Chat Group] in his mind.
The moment he checked it, he froze.
With his arrival as a new member, the once plain and simple interface had just undergone a system upgrade minutes ago.
[Ding! Detected that the number of group members has reached 5. Update complete!]
[New Feature 1: Myriad Worlds Marketplace / Member Trading Panel (Members can use points or barter to obtain items from across the multiverse)]
[New Feature 2: Member Combat Power Evaluation (A numerical rating based on overall strength)]
The chat was already in chaos because of these new features.
Lucian opened the member list, his eyes landing on the new level indicators next to each name:
[Half-Elf of the Frozen Forest (Emilia)]: LV.3
[Elegant Jewel Mage (Tohsaka Rin)]: LV.4
[Magic-Collecting Elf (Frieren)]: LV.6
[Ice General (Esdeath)]: LV.7
His gaze moved downward. But when he saw his own name, the suffix wasn't a number.
[Part-Time Ghost-Hunting Genius Teacher (Lucian)]: LV.?
"A question mark?" Lucian raised an eyebrow.
Before he could think further, the chat interface suddenly flashed with a blinding red light. A never-before-seen [Highest-Level Global Announcement] filled the entire screen, forcibly appearing in front of every member!
[Global Announcement: Conducting in-depth evaluation of new member 'Part-Time Ghost-Hunting Genius Teacher'…]
[Warning! Warning! Scan failed!]
[System Notice: Target contains unknown transcendent supreme laws beyond dimensional comprehension. Intelligence and soul potential exceed calculable limits! Overall strength surpasses the current system's detection and rating capacity. To prevent system collapse, this member's level will be permanently masked as '?'!]
The announcement made Lucian pause.
But when he saw the words "supreme laws," he had a rough guess.
It seemed his summoning system was on an entirely higher level than this chat group.
When the chat group tried to analyze him, his own system had simply blocked it like trash.
Meanwhile, inside the chat, the members who had been discussing the marketplace fell into a dead silence.
Then—
The entire group exploded.
[Elegant Jewel Mage]: "Hey, hey, hey… is this a joke?! A warning about 'system collapse' from a cross-dimensional rule itself? That's not something a human can reach! Even legendary magicians couldn't do that!"
[Elegant Jewel Mage]: "And you actually told us you were just an ordinary math teacher?! What kind of math teacher casually breaks dimensional systems while ghost-hunting?! Boss, I might've been a bit loud earlier… If I can't win the Holy Grail War, can you come save me across worlds?"
[Magic-Collecting Elf]: "Hmm… what an astonishing evaluation. Ever since my master Flamme passed away, I've wandered alone for centuries. I've never seen a being that can block even the laws of the world."
[Magic-Collecting Elf]: "@Part-Time Ghost-Hunting Genius Teacher, someone beyond the limits of evaluation… you must know many lost magics from the mythical era, right? For example… magic that can instantly turn stones into dorayaki? Would you trade for grimoires?"
[Half-Elf of the Frozen Forest]: "Oh my… Mr. Lucian is actually such a great and sacred existence? Puck is still asleep. When he wakes up and learns there's someone who controls supreme laws in the group, he'll definitely be shocked."
[Half-Elf of the Frozen Forest]: "Someone like me, only LV.3, being in the same group as Mr. Lucian… it feels like a miracle. Lord Lucian, please take care of me from now on!"
"....."