“What’s up with your little brother? What’s his deal?” Filo asked, eyeing the room.
It was super creepy—dust caked around the door, with the outer handle buried in grime, like nobody’s touched it in forever. But the dust stopped a bit away from the door, meaning it had been opened. If it were always shut, dust would be right up against it.
Opened from the inside, but the handle’s untouched. Whoever’s in there can open the door but never leaves.
Wait… a shut-in otaku?
Filo figured it out in a snap—not because of her True Ancestor powers but her past-life skills. How? Binge-watching all 1,000+ episodes of Detective Conan like, a dozen times. You’d crack cases like this too. (Why so much Conan? She’s a salted fish—lazy to the core. Plus, it’s better than sleeping pills—those episodes knock you out like a boring math class.)
“Is your brother, like, a total shut-in… I mean, glued to his room?” Filo rephrased, knowing Chiyan might not get “otaku.”
Chiyan let out a huge sigh.
Chiyan, the hyper gremlin, sighing? Holy crap, is the sky falling?
Filo blinked, stunned. She’d never seen Chiyan this down—things must be bad.
“He hasn’t left that room in over a thousand years. We tried everything to yank him out, but he always crawls back. Eventually, we just… gave up,” Chiyan said.
That hardcore of a shut-in? “What happened?” Filo wasn’t buying that someone just locks themselves away for no reason. There’s always a spark. Like her—back in her old life, her family ignored her, so she got bored and went full salted fish, mastering the art of doing nothing.
Born a shut-in? Nah, not a chance.
Chiyan sighed again—double sigh! Man, live long enough to see it all—this was worse than the apocalypse.
“Master, here’s the story…”
Chiyan tried to keep it short, but she got hyped, rambling into tiny details. The more she rambled, the longer it took—twenty minutes later, she was done.
“That’s the gist… Master? You there?” Chiyan waved a hand in front of Filo’s zoned-out face. Filo blinked slowly, then facepalmed, head drooping.
Sheesh. Filo mentally trimmed Chiyan’s novel into a tweet: Chiyan’s brother, a Red Dragon like her, had their mom’s old fiery vibe. Their dad once peed on the Dragon King’s head as a kid, got punched, and his IQ went from “dumb” to “kinda normal”—like, two negatives make a positive. The brother pulled the same stunt, but instead of a reset, the Dragon King’s punch scared him so bad he wet himself, ran home, and became a total recluse.
Scared shut-in by the Dragon King’s aura? Rough. Filo had no quick fix. Blast him with [King’s Dominance] to snap him out? Maybe, but he’d probably end up a veggie dragon instead.
“Your family’s nuts. Peeing on the Dragon King? Mad respect,” Filo teased, throwing a martial arts salute. But Chiyan, giggling, scratched her head and waved shyly. “Aw, stop, you’ll make me blush~ Hehe~”
“…”
Filo froze. So many roastable moments, she couldn’t pick one.
Screw it—too many jokes, no roasting.
Filo glanced at the room. A thousand-year shut-in? No pity here—she’s the Salted-Fish King, not some bedroom camper. Still, for Bingpo and Chiyan, she’d try dragging him out if she could.
As she looked away, the door creaked open, snail-slow. Seconds later, a tiny gap. A crusty plate slid out.
Filo tilted her head. Chiyan clapped, getting it. “Lunchtime!”
Oh—food gets dropped at the door, he grabs it, then swaps plates at the next meal.
This feels like… some anime. Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible?
Before Filo could pin it down, dark hair poked through the gap, then a head. Thick bangs hid a third of the face, but the rest—round cheeks, big watery eyes, tiny cherry lips—got Filo pumped.
Wait… hold up…
Filo’s eyes popped. That’s a girl’s face! How’s this a brother?!
Pointing at the head that ducked back, Filo spun to Chiyan. “You sure that’s a brother, not a sister?”
“Master! I’m not dumb! He’s my brother—he’s got a **!” Chiyan puffed.
“…”
“Holy crap! (The grassy kind)”
***
[T/N: If you’re familiar with Chinese or even Japanese, well, I didn’t know how to translate the last line well but 草 can mean both “shit!” or just grass lol]