Chapter 49 : Li Xin

Li Wen removed his VR headset and glanced at the time—it was already 2:21 PM on June 26th.

After spending the past couple of days grinding through the game at full throttle, he had completely lost track of time in the real world.

He picked up his phone and noticed several missed calls—four or five, in fact.

Aside from one from his homeroom teacher, the rest were all from someone named Li Xin.

Li Xin was, of course, Li Wen’s younger sister.

Two years his junior, she was currently a student at Tianhai Fourth High School.

Li Wen had complicated feelings toward his sister.

On one hand, he was desperate to see her again—this was the person he had once sworn to protect.

But on the other hand, memories of his past life weighed heavily on him, filling him with guilt.

He didn’t know how to face her.

After a brief moment of hesitation, worried she might be calling for something urgent, he decided to return her call.

“Bzz… Bzz…”

The busy tone on the other end seemed to echo his own heartbeat—growing louder and more intense with each passing second.

“Hello? Big brother? Why are you calling at this time…?”

That familiar, gentle voice on the other end hit him like a wave of nostalgia.

Li Wen felt a sting in his eyes.

He composed himself before speaking.

“Are you in class, Xin?”

“Mm-hmm. Don’t you have class, too?”

Avoiding her question, Li Wen redirected the conversation.

“Did something happen at home? Sorry, I missed your calls—was busy with something else.”

“No, nothing like that. I just missed you. Is everything okay on your end?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty much all taken care of.”

Li Wen considered telling her about the game and the whole transmigration ordeal, but decided against it.

He didn’t want to worry her unnecessarily.

“Really? Mom called me and said you hadn’t been going to school.”

That made his heart skip a beat.

It was probably because the homeroom teacher had contacted her.

But why did Mom call Li Xin instead of him?

Thinking back, he recalled that he had gotten into a bit of a fight with the family around this time.

That might explain why Li Xin had been calling him repeatedly.

“I already… uh…”

Li Wen paused, trying to remember the name of his teacher, “I already got permission from Mr. Yang to take a few days off.”

“I see.”

A soft chuckle came from the other end.

“If there’s anything you can’t tell Mom, you can always tell me, you know?”

“I will.”

Li Wen couldn’t help but smile.

The pressure of climbing the ranks in Path to the End seemed to lighten a little, replaced by a renewed sense of purpose.

“By the way, I saw your posts—have you been playing that game, World Tree: Origins?”

“Eh?”

Li Xin’s voice suddenly turned flustered.

“Not that much, just a bit at night when I have free time.”

Li Xin had always been a fan of casual games.

Outside of drawing, gaming was her biggest passion, so of course she wouldn’t miss out on a groundbreaking title like World Tree: Origins.

If this had been the old Li Wen—the one who hadn’t been through the grand transmigration—he would’ve immediately scolded her for wasting time, told her to focus on her studies, exercise more, and hang out with friends.

But now that playing the game actually meant preparing for transmigration, those who spent more time leveling up were actually at a distinct advantage.

So all he said was:

“It’s fine to relax and have fun sometimes. Just don’t stress yourself out.”

“Brother? Are you sure you’re okay?”

Li Xin’s skeptical tone came through.

Her brother had never spoken like this before—he’d always been the one pushing her to study harder and stay off games.

“…Just be mindful, alright?”

Li Wen didn’t really know how to explain.

After all, who could’ve guessed that a game could turn into a gateway to another world?

“Wanna play together, Bro? It’s seriously super fun! It feels like a real alternate world!”

Real might be an understatement.

The real part comes later…

Li Wen was at a loss for words.

He didn’t want to reveal that he was already deep into World Tree: Origins.

As the bearer of the Wyrdle Thorn, everything he did might have unforeseen consequences on the future.

So he simply said, “Maybe when I have more time… Anyway, if there’s nothing urgent, I’ll hang up for now?”

“Mm-hmm. Bye-bye!”

“Yeah. Take care.”

After ending the call, Li Wen lay down on the bed, unable to snap himself out of his thoughts.

“M2, what time is it now?”

Silence.

No response.

That’s when he remembered—he’d forced the smart assistant into standby mode a couple of days ago.

He got up, grabbed a ready-to-eat meal from the fridge, heated it quickly, and scarfed it down.

Then he put the VR headset back on.

***

Li Wen exited the nuns’ dormitory and headed straight for the church.

In-game, night had already fallen.

Most of the worshippers had gone home.

The vast cathedral was still illuminated by candlelight.

At the altar, a lone figure knelt in silent prayer.

His shadow stretched long and twisted under the flickering flames, like a monstrous beast lurking in the dark.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, Pastor Mog turned around and saw Li Wen approaching, cloaked and looking even more suspicious than he was.

“Well? Got the goods?”

He got straight to the point.

“The target’s dead. He drank the Moonlight Elixir.”

At the mention of the potion’s name, Mog’s expression relaxed slightly.

He didn’t bother asking how Li Wen had survived a fight with a mage empowered by that kind of potion.

“In that case, let’s consider this matter closed. I’ll report back to them.”

Them… Was he referring to the Moonlight Faction?

Li Wen didn’t ask.

She didn’t know whether Mog’s shady dealings with the Moonlight Faction were an open secret within Deep Dusk, or if this was some covert deal orchestrated by Siswell himself.

Either way, asking too much might expose her status as an outsider—not a true member of Deep Dusk.

That would complicate things significantly.

She glanced at her character sheet.

Her experience pool had risen to 910 points.

Sixty of those were leftovers from before.

Fifty came from killing the mutated creature in the lab.

Three hundred were from completing Mog’s mission.

The remaining five hundred… most likely came as a hidden reward for assisting Moriah in exploring the alchemy lab—an unintentional contribution to a larger world event that had only been credited after she logged in again.

A full 500 experience—equivalent to taking out two fire mages.

Even more than what Mog’s mission had offered. And the wildest part?

Li Wen had no idea what she’d even done to deserve it.

All she could do was assume it had something to do with the unnamed alchemy master.

Moriah Enoch, firstborn of the Temple.

There was no way his visit to the Black Dragon Dominion was just a coincidence.

But right now, Li Wen didn’t have the bandwidth to worry about that.

Her focus had to be on climbing the Path to the End.

Nine hundred and ten experience—enough to level up twice and hit Level 4.

The only question now was:

Should she invest in upgrading her current skills—or learn something entirely new?