"Lys, who gave you the courage to challenge me?"

"Insignificant sand. You're not worth half my attention."

"You're courting death!"

Iger watched as the words The Winner Has Been Decided appeared on the screen. He recorded the result on the sideboard. "5:2. I declare Lys the winner—"

"Wait!" Ashe grabbed the fraudster's pant leg, eyes pleading. "Make it eleven rounds, six wins! Continue the match! I can still turn this around! I finally know how to play! My turn is next!"

Harvey, hiding by the window and puffing on his Catnip, chuckled. "Ashe, stop embarrassing yourself. You can't even beat a little girl..."

Ashe gritted his teeth. "It's the game controller I'm not used to, the cushion is too soft, and Iger keeps interfering. That's why—"

Iger, mortified, covered his face and muttered to Pankey beside him, "I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Ashe is an exception. Don't generalize one person's behavior to the entire kingdom."

Even the usually impassive young butler couldn't hide his amusement. His eyes nearly squinted with a smile. "Mr. Ashe, why not let me take a round with Lys? Let's see how I handle this character—"

"No!"

Lys shouted back, "Let him play all he wants! I will make him submit!"

"Hmph, you'll pay for your arrogance soon enough!" Ashe yelled, diving straight into the next round of the sorcerer duel.

During the meal, Lys had inexplicably insisted on challenging Ashe. Everyone found it odd but didn't interfere. Pankey even volunteered to set up the battle, choosing a classic, legendary game titled Sorcerer Duel 14.

The Sorcerer Duel series had been the kingdom's signature competitive game for the past thirty years. Players controlled legendary sorcerers in battle. The game was popular not only among ordinary people but even among sorcerers themselves. Almost every combat sorcerer under thirty had been influenced by it, dreaming of wielding the powers of their favorite characters. The game even shaped the distribution of sorcerer classes across the kingdom.

The most popular characters were the Alchemy Overlord and the Earth Empress. The Overlord could create mechanisms with bare hands, summon thousands of swords, and command water, fire, wind, and lightning. Through the Alchemy Class alone, he could command the powers of any other sorcery class. With every move, the Empress could reshape the battlefield. Her attacks were dazzling in both power and style, and her striking beauty only added to her popularity among players.

Consequently, the kingdom saw an abundance of Alchemy and Earth Class sorcerers. But players soon realized the deception. The Alchemy Class was primarily crafting-focused with limited combat ability, while Earth Class sorcerers often ended up doing engineering work. Most of them ended up supervising engineering projects in remote mountains, far from anything resembling royal glory. Still, the large populations in these classes fueled city growth, allowing the kingdom to urbanize rapidly over thirty years and even build multi-layered cities.

Now Ashe and Lys faced off in Sorcerer Duel 14. Neither chose a popular character. Lys played as the Time Witch, a balanced fighter relying on throws and close-range punches. Her attacks were powerful, but they lacked flashy effects.

Ashe picked the Wandering Sword Saint. Swordmasters were a minority class in the Gospel Kingdom. The character was fairly strong, but his combat effects were unremarkable, so few players chose him.

Iger wasn't interested in the duel itself. He'd come because of Pankey. Observing the young butler closely, he noticed Pankey's focus on Ashe and Lys. He asked, "Do you really like this game?"

"Not exactly," Pankey admitted, unusually bashful. "I just... enjoy it a bit."

"Why enjoy it?"

"Because I've kept it in my 'to play with my kids someday' collection."

How are you going to have children...

Iger glanced at Pankey's still-developing teenage frame and decided to save that question for later, perhaps to use it to humiliate him if they ever became rivals. Compared to Pankey, Iger was more focused on Lys.

The white-haired girl fixed her eyes on the screen, with her fingers moving deftly across the joystick and buttons. She mastered throws, counters, and break techniques, punishing Ashe's Wandering Sword Saint with growing precision.

Iger could tell it was her first time. Her first match was rough. Ashe, with some prior gaming skill, easily dominated her. But by the second match, she adapted. Ashe could only rely on repetitive break techniques to push her toward defeat. By the third match, she had learned counters and swiftly crushed him.

Iger had expected her to stop after winning a round and play cute to lose, but she didn't give him any leeway. Instead, she struck relentlessly.

Ashe deserved a harsh defeat, but this wasn't Lys's usual style. Like Iger, she was driven solely by results. Beating Ashe offered little practical gain beyond the satisfaction of winning.

Before this, she had carefully played the innocent role to charm everyone. Everyone could see through it, but she was irresistibly cute. Her success in deceiving Ashe into becoming her ridicule-follower was 99% thanks to her white-haired child appeal, and 1% to Ashe's stupidity.

Iger thought. Even soggy toilet paper has value. She wouldn't discard Ashe so easily... or would she?

Perhaps because she had already defeated him, or because she acted so authentically, he found her oddly endearing.

[The winner has been decided!]

"It's 6:2 now. Ashe, will you challenge ten consecutive losses?"

"I've let six rounds slide. Now it's time to show my true skill..."

"Just enjoy yourself."

***

By 10 p.m., Dia had finished her bath and collapsed onto the bed in pajamas. Her hair was long and would take time to dry, so she couldn't fall asleep right away. Sleep wasn't her responsibility anyway; that was Lys's job.

Had Lys not accidentally hit her head and fainted the night before, Dia would already be exploring the Virtual World. Annan had given them enough freedom, and with Lys covering for her in the real world, Dia wasn't afraid anyone would discover her as a Two-Winged sorcerer. Even in the tower, she could freely explore behind the backs of the Legendary and Sacred Realm sorcerers. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Dia sat at her mirror, combing her hair. "Sleep later, obediently. No reading, no wandering off. If anything goes wrong, find a way to contact me in the Virtual World."

Lys pouted at her reflection in the mirror. "I want to play Sorcerer Duel with Daddy too..."

"He's terrible. You'd be better off playing with Pankey."

"I like beating weaker opponents! Isn't bullying the weak fun? Pankey looks strong, so playing him would just be boring."

"Ugh, you're so naughty... By the way, Ashe still has some points left. Tomorrow, why not gamble with him and take all his points?"

A familiar yet terrifying voice came from behind. "Little Witch, don't encourage children to gamble. If there's no worthy opponent, why not play with me next time?"

Dia spun around to find no one behind her. When she turned back, however, she saw him. Sitting on the bed behind Lys's reflection in the mirror was the man she both feared and hated, the Watcher.

"Good evening, witches," he said lazily, arms folded across his chest. "Did you have a good day?"

"Not good!" Lys declared, feigning anger. "Don't do that tomorrow! Or I'll hate you!"

The Watcher pretended to glare. "Little Witch, how dare you speak so insolently! Tomorrow, I'll make sure you have no time for study, only for play—"

"Alright, both of you," Dia said, exasperated, turning to him. "I already completed your task. I fought Ashe and won. You're not going to deny me a single moment of personal time, are you?"

"The battle I mentioned wasn't exactly like that... but as long as you learn something, I don't mind," the Watcher shrugged. "See? I'm actually quite reasonable."

Dia silently grumbled. Did he just say reasonable!? He just barged into a girl's room late at night without permission and forced a child to play a game instead of studying. If this counts as reasonable, even Ashe, who ignored orders, could be considered a genuinely loving father!

Realizing the Watcher could hear her thoughts, she quickly changed the topic. "What could I possibly learn by playing a game with Ashe?"

"By experiencing the Time Witch's combat style, don't you think you could apply it to your own fighting system?"

"That's just a game..." Dia trailed off, then began mimicking a few moves in the empty space, her expression growing serious.

"The Sorcerer Duel series became the most widely played game in the Gospel Kingdom for a reason," the Watcher said calmly. "It inspired countless people to become sorcerers."

Dia nodded eagerly. "You're right! I'll try it in the Virtual World—"

"That's exactly why I came to find you."

Dia froze. The Watcher was perched on the windowsill, overlooking the bustling city below.

"Did you forget? The reason I've been teasing you is that I need you as my companion, to explore the Virtual World together."

"Did you just say you were teasing me?"

"You misheard. I said I'm guiding you," he replied, his tone unchanged. "Since everyone has free time tonight, we can officially begin exploring the Virtual World. But you'll need to wait a moment. We have to prepare."

Could it be true? He really wanted to invite me to explore the Virtual World with them? But isn't the Virtual World exploration supposed to be solo...

Dia wanted to question him, but the Watcher's actions over the past two days had left little room for doubt. When he told Lys to play, she couldn't pause even for a second. When he ordered Dia to battle Ashe, he kept her hands glued to the controller until the match ended. There was no reason for him to lie about something that would be revealed soon enough.

Dia paused. "So... what do you need me to do?"

"Nothing."

The Watcher gradually faded away. Before disappearing completely, he left one final sentence.

"Divine fate connects you and me. We will meet soon in the Virtual World."

***

Elsewhere, Ashe had just stepped out of the shower. He lay in bed, engrossed in a book titled Sorcerer Duel Series Strategy Guide.

While fantasizing about using a combo tomorrow to crush Lys, his Book of Gospel suddenly popped open on its own.

A red exclamation mark appeared in the top-right corner of the My Tab selection. Any self-respecting person with even a hint of OCD would click it. Three notifications popped up.

[Aurora's Sorcerer Handbook has completed device binding and data transfer! Players can now log in from this device with ultra-high resolution and dynamic CG character animations.]

[Operator Watcher of Doomsday soul integrity restored to 100%.]

[Operator Death Maniac Swordswoman soul integrity restored to 100%.]

Ashe blinked. What? The game migrated itself to the new device, the Book of Gospel, and even added dynamic CG? This isn't progress. This is evolution. A pay-to-win mobile game has become... a slightly more considerate pay-to-win game.

More than the upgrade, Ashe focused on the last two notifications.

Soul integrity fully restored meant they could finally explore the Virtual World tonight. In other words...

We can finally meet again.