Night slowly spread into the bedroom, the moonlight leaving only a cold streak across the floor.

At this moment, Rane was staring fixedly at the girl in front of him, her wrist tightly gripped in his hand, her slightly heavy breathing and stunned expression only deepening the obsession in Rane’s eyes.

However, the obsession in Rane’s eyes was quickly replaced by confusion.

“Hiss—”

‘Where the hell did I just get dropped? I was just a bit away from finishing my thesis! My eyes closed and opened once and the graduation thesis in front of me turned into a beautiful girl with tears at the corners of her eyes.’

Rane wouldn’t dare dream of something like this!

‘Don’t mess with me, if you transmigrate me at a time like this, wasn’t my thesis written for nothing?’

“Brother Rane? You… what are you trying to do?”

There was a hint of trembling in the girl’s voice, instantly snapping Rane back to his senses.

‘Brother Rane? I’m Rane? That unlucky Rane who got slapped to death by his enraged younger sister after she awakened her magic source? The girl in front of me is my sister’s childhood sweetheart, Miriya? Isn’t this the opening plot of that yuri game I played before?’

Rane’s heart couldn’t help sinking.

Phoenix Overlord Growth Plan, an explosively popular yuri game from his previous life.

The female lead, Rita, was born as the eldest daughter of a great magician family, yet from birth her magic source was discovered to be dormant and unable to awaken, leaving her unable to use magic for sixteen years.

Until today, when she witnessed her brother trying to make a move on her beloved childhood sweetheart Miriya and in her fury awakened her power and slapped this source of all evil to death on the spot.

After awakening her magic source, she gained exceptionally powerful strength and from then on began her path as a domineering heroine who grew stronger and collected a yuri harem along the way.

As his thoughts gradually became clear, Rane suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, his pupils shaking violently in an instant.

‘This is bad! I became the stepping stone?’

If he remembered correctly, in about ten seconds, no, five or six seconds, his younger sister Rita would kick the door open and rush in!

‘Damn it! There’s no time!’

Rane had planned to withdraw his hand immediately, but because he hadn’t yet adapted to the height difference caused by transmigration, his foot slipped and just like in the original work, he directly pushed Miriya to the ground.

“Careful—”

Completely out of instinct, at the moment they fell, Rane used his hand to protect Miriya.

This instinctive action caused the shock in Miriya’s eyes to be replaced by confusion instead.

She was a smart girl and she quickly realized that Rane had no malicious intent toward her at all.

That act of pretending to attack her just now had indeed looked very convincing and at first Miriya had even truly thought she was about to be attacked.

But the accident that followed made her realize something.

Brother Rane was still the same Brother Rane as before.

Though taciturn and difficult to approach, he was a brother who knew how to care for others.

But what on earth had driven the usually calm Brother Rane to do something like this?

Thud—

The two fell to the ground, their eyes meeting.

Rane’s clear gaze, devoid of even a trace of desire, caused Miriya’s heart to tremble for no reason, her heartbeat starting to speed up in spite of herself.

Thinking of the developments that should not possibly appear afterward, her small face instantly flushed red.

At this moment, the bedroom door was suddenly slammed open and a blonde girl in pajamas stood in the doorway, her pupils sharply contracting from extreme shock.

Her gaze first landed on Miriya, who was pressed to the ground with disheveled clothes, then followed that forcefully pressing arm straight to Rane’s face.

The originally calm eyes instantly ignited with raging fury, like dry grass set alight, burning fiercely and urgently.

“Rane!”

Her voice trembled sharply, carrying a shattered disbelief.

“What are you doing?!”

Rita clenched her fists, her nails digging deeply into her palms, her knuckles turning pale to the point of near transparency.

She advanced step by step, the hem of her nightdress swaying slightly with her hurried steps, the air around her seeming to freeze from her anger.

“Miriya is my best friend… how could you do something like this to her?”

“It’s not that, Rita, Brother Rane he—”

Miriya, who had reacted quickly, tried to explain the situation, but Rita at this moment seemed unable to listen to anyone else’s words.

Disappointment flooded her like a tide, more piercing than anger.

In Rita’s eyes as she looked at Rane, there was only lacerating pain and contempt, the last trace of familial affection she once held completely collapsing.

“I thought you were just unsociable. I thought all your coldness was simply because you weren’t good at expressing yourself. But I never imagined you were this kind of beast in human skin!”

Her voice suddenly rose, sharp despite the sobbing tone.

“Let go of her! Now!”

Along with Rita’s roar, the airflow in the room instantly changed, violent winds howling out from within Rita’s body.

The entire bedroom was instantly filled with raging magic power.

In her extreme fury, Rita indeed, just like in the original work, directly broke through the magic source that had lain dormant in her body for ten years and fully activated it.

Yet Rita herself was completely unaware, her eyes holding only the ‘brother’ who had hurt her so deeply.

In the blink of an eye, Rane understood that Rita’s mind had already been overwhelmed by intense emotion.

The next sentence would determine his life or death.

Rane’s brain spun at top speed and he let out a somewhat strained breath.

“Do you like it? This is the sixteenth birthday gift I prepared for you.”

‘Just keep making something up then, what else can I do?’

Rita’s face was full of shock.

“You’re saying that you attacking Miriya was a birthday gift for me?”

All of a sudden, Rita laughed, laughing with an air of disbelief.

She could no longer understand the brother she had lived with day and night for ten years, feeling only that the person before her was like a beast wearing human skin.

As if sensing its master’s thoughts, the wind blades surrounding Rita suddenly erupted, shooting straight toward Rane.

‘Sigh, so it still won’t work?’

Rane felt a bit despairing.

He thought his reaction had already been fast enough, but the timing of the transmigration was simply too awful, leaving him with almost no room to maneuver.

He could only hope that after death he could transmigrate back and continue writing his thesis.

It couldn’t really be written for nothing, right?

“Rita! Stop!”

Just as Rane was despairing and waiting for death, a loud, resonant shout came from outside the door.

A tall, sturdy figure flashed inside, shielding Rane behind him.

He then raised his hand and swept it aside, dispersing the wind blades produced by Rita’s magic riot.

“Father… why…”

Rita murmured softly, then collapsed unconscious to the ground.

Rane, who had narrowly survived, immediately sank down in relief.

The dramatic ups and downs of life had come too quickly.

For someone sickly like him, this kind of stimulation was really too much to bear.

After calming down, Rane felt an itch in his throat and couldn’t help covering his mouth as he coughed a few times.

Immediately afterward, his throat sweetened and thin traces of blood spilled from his mouth.

This instantly made Rane’s heart sink.

This time he had survived by luck, but only temporarily.

An even greater crisis was still waiting for him.

Time waits for no one.

The original owner’s ‘weak and sickly’ condition was definitely not something normal.

The one who arrived in time to save the situation was Rita’s father and also Rane’s nominal adoptive father, Claude.

He picked up the unconscious Rita, then turned to Miriya, who was still in a state of confusion on the bed and bowed slightly.

“Miss Miriya, tonight my son and beloved daughter have disturbed your rest. I am deeply sorry. Servants will later come to clean the room for you again. If you are still troubled by what just happened, I will have the butler prepare another bedroom for you.”

As his words fell, the butler and maids who had long been waiting outside hurried into the bedroom.

“Wait for me in the study.”

Claude did not turn back to look at Rane.

Holding Rita, he slowly walked out of the bedroom.

Rane took a deep breath, understanding that what awaited him next would be his true trial.