— — — — — —
The next morning.
After finishing breakfast, Ryo was lounging on the couch, eyes locked on the familiar interface of the Dimensional Forum.
[Forum upgrading... Please wait...]
He glanced at the notice at the top, then at the unclaimed points still sitting in his account. Out of the corner of his eye, he peeked at Black Rabbit before sneakily opening a private chat with Kanae.
Nearby, Leticia was fully absorbed in her latest hobby—sewing. She was crafting backup outfits for Ryo, following her personal taste in design.
As for Black Rabbit, she was pacing nervously in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, constantly glancing outside.
"Strange… it's already time. Why isn't Lady Shiroyasha here yet?"
"You're being a little too anxious," Leticia commented without looking up. She set down her measuring tape after checking Ryo's arm size, then returned to her seat across from him.
"Knowing Shiroyasha, if she's late, it probably means something important came up."
Despite her unpredictable personality, Shiroyasha took her job as a Floor Master seriously—almost too seriously. She was a workaholic in her own chaotic way.
That's why her being late wasn't something you could just ignore.
"It's because I'm worried something happened to her that I'm saying this," Black Rabbit grumbled, puffing her cheeks.
Ryo, pretending to be casual as he quietly closed the forum window, added, "Instead of worrying about something happening to Shiroyasha, maybe worry about what'll happen to the idiot who tries to mess with her."
He wasn't wrong.
Sure, Shiroyasha had sealed away most of her powers and was currently operating in the four-digit range, taking on a more "accessible" appearance in the lower gates.
But anyone from the upper levels of Little Garden knew—if she ever went berserk, seal or not, this woman could still wipe out entire factions. She wasn't ranked #10 in the Authority list for nothing.
No one in the upper domains dared to poke her, a two-digit powerhouse without the seal.
So why were some Demon Lords still foolish enough to pick a fight with her?
Simple—some of them were just ignorant country bumpkins.
"She's just a four-digit Floor Master with a bit of a flirtation weakness, right? Should be easy to kill!" — said one such Demon Lord… who got obliterated in a single punch.
Little Garden never lacked morons. They just didn't survive long enough to be remembered.
"But still…" Black Rabbit was about to continue when she suddenly froze mid-sentence.
Leticia, already sensing something, put down her sewing and stood up, tidying her skirt as she said calmly, "She's here."
Then she turned toward Ryo, who had clearly noticed much earlier, and raised an eyebrow.
"You're progressing… a bit too fast, don't you think?"
"Flatter me more please," Ryo chuckled.
At that moment, space visibly rippled as if signaling Shiroyasha's arrival.
Black Rabbit flinched and instinctively ducked behind Ryo, her whole body tense.
But instead of stepping out of the rift, Shiroyasha appeared behind Black Rabbit out of nowhere—clinging to her shoulders in a flash.
"Good morning, Buuunny~!" she sang with a grin, her icy hand pressing against Black Rabbit's neck. "Take this! Cold hand sneak attack!"
"YAAAH—!!"
The sudden chill made Black Rabbit scream.
Ryo quickly stood up and grabbed Shiroyasha by the waist, yanking her off Black Rabbit like a sack of potatoes.
"Hey now, Black Rabbit belongs to me!"
Shiroyasha looked up at him and pouted.
"What's this? So now your community members are your property?"
Ryo raised an eyebrow and grinned. "If you join, you can bully Black Rabbit however you want."
Shiroyasha blinked, then gave him a thumbs-up. "You're bold—I like that."
She wriggled free from his grasp, landed lightly to the side, and waved her still-frosty hand.
"Eh, got delayed by a little mishap. Only two minutes late. My bad!"
Leticia eyed the frost on her hand. "That lingering energy… is it Poseidon's authority?"
"Yep." Shiroyasha nodded with a scowl. "Ugh, don't even get me started. It's been a mess."
"What happened?" Black Rabbit handed her a cup of extra-strong tea and sat across from her, curiosity piqued.
Shiroyasha chugged the tea in one go and let out a long, tired sigh.
"The upper levels are at war."
"...What?"
Ryo, Leticia, and Black Rabbit all stared, stunned.
"Yeah, I know. Total chaos," Shiroyasha groaned. "Even I don't know all the details yet. But basically, the situation with the Second World War—just when we thought it was stabilizing—it suddenly took a sharp turn."
"Apparently someone tampered with one of the parallel observation universes. Over in East Asia, a historical shift happened out of nowhere. One of the nations rose to power nearly a century ahead of schedule, and it's been dominating ever since."
"Usually, when something like that happens, everyone just waits to see the fallout before reacting. But Poseidon? That dumb fish-brain got caught in a faith backlash while trying to ascend to three-digit rank. It blew up in his face."
Ryo did his best to stay calm..
Shiroyasha then rolled her eyes and continued, "No idea what he was thinking. Accused the Taoist gods of messing with him, stormed up to the Thousand Eyes' upper headquarters to confront Alpha. I tried to step in and mediate, but that dumbass had already lost it—and took a swing at me instead."
Ryo winced. "Poseidon really lost it this time."
"He's been holding a grudge against Zeus for years," Shiroyasha muttered. "Just wanted to seize the chance to level up and beat him after. But bam! Huge shift."
Then she smirked.
"Still, since he dared to attack me, guess what that means? Compensation time! That sea serpent's got a few pretty daughters too… might make decent maids."
Everyone in the room sweat-dropped in unison.
But Shiroyasha just chuckled wickedly.
"What's even funnier is the ones who lost the most—the Cross-Faith faction."
"Michael got it into his head that the Queen Halloween was trying to revive the Takamagahara gods. So he tried to call her out through Thousand Eyes."
"Back then, when Kusanagi ascended to two-digit, the entire Takamagahara got sacrificed. That blade is now part of Halloween's gift set. And with East Asia's War being the cause of that downfall, I can't really blame them for suspecting her."
"That cheeky witch beat me back then to claim Kusanagi. But look at her now—still neck-deep in crap and no idea who threw it. Hahaha!"
Ryo's eye twitched. He quietly reminded himself to avoid the Queen Halloween at all costs.
She wasn't just anyone—she was the infamous Golden Queen of Little Garden.
Leticia sighed. "The Queen Halloween versus the Cross-Faith faction? This is going to be a nightmare. And that's not even counting the Greek-Taoist fallout."
Shiroyasha shrugged helplessly. "Well, our leaders are already stepping in to mediate. Buddha himself said the main culprit's been dealt with. The damage should be contained."
"So we're probably safe from an all-out war. But as usual, the lower floors will feel it. If they can't fight directly, they'll do it through representatives —just like always."
In Little Garden, conflicts in the upper floors were often resolved by having their vassals fight Gift Games in their stead. It kept things from escalating into full-blown bloodbaths.
"Things are going to get messy for a few years down here," Shiroyasha added. "But the East Side should be relatively stable."
She swirled her teacup, hinting to Black Rabbit for a refill, then smiled slyly as she watched her pour.
"Mmm~ Black Rabbit, you're getting prettier by the day."
Before Black Rabbit could blow a fuse, Shiroyasha smoothly changed the subject.
"Anyway, where's the examiner I sent? She's not here yet?"
Ryo blinked. He glanced at Leticia, who shook her head.
"Huh? Why's she late too?"
Shiroyasha looked genuinely surprised.
And just as the words left her mouth, golden flames suddenly ignited in the air.
From within that blazing light, a petite silhouette began to materialize.
.
.
.