Rina disappeared into the bathroom and did not return for nearly twenty minutes. During that time, Jinyo explained the mysterious system to his younger sister. Naho believed only half of it. Her brother was intelligent, but he was not exactly trustworthy. The suspicious look in her eyes swept over Jinyo from head to toe, as though she were trying to swallow him whole with her gaze. It was only after Rina confirmed everything that Naho finally realized her brother had not lost his mind from stress.
"So that's why you helped massage Rina—to treat a chronic illness."
"Yeah. Even though it was my first time, I think it worked pretty well. Right, Rina?" Jinyo turned to ask the test subject for her opinion, but what he received in return was a glare that looked like an order for him to go die.
"My body does feel a lot better. Other than that, I refuse to comment."
"So comfortable you practically ascended to heaven, huh? What a shame I didn't take a picture of your embarrassing expression and frame it in Erindel. My floor would've risen into a mountain." Naho smiled mockingly at the woman she had not seen in years. She never imagined their reunion would be so unforgettable. Naho, who had always lived in Rina's shadow, now felt as though she were standing above her instead.
Rina's face flushed bright red. She shot Jinyo a glare, throwing all the blame onto him. Jinyo did not understand what he had done wrong. He had only done his best to treat her carefully, making sure not to cause any mistakes that could affect her life. When he opened the system window, he saw the report.
[You have acquired the skill: God-Seizing Hands (Epic) Level 1 (Basic Stage): Once per person per day. Duration 30-120 minutes. Uses hands to massage and stimulate meridian pathways, releasing planar into energy transfer points. Cleanses meridians and grants relaxation to body and mind. Skill effectiveness = (planar Quality + Intelligence) × (Skill Proficiency). The higher the massage quality, the greater the beneficial buffs granted.]
[You massaged Rina Erindel, your concubine, for 30 minutes. Buffs gained for 6 hours: planar cultivation speed +20%, External injury recovery +20%, Stamina recovery +40%, Mental relaxation +25%, Fertility +45%, +1 Chronic meridian treatment (1/100), +2 planar toxin treatment (2/60), +1 Muscle injury treatment (1/30)]
[God-Seizing Hands Level 1 has advanced to Level 4.]
"There's progress. If the skill level gets higher, the healing should speed up." Jinyo placed high expectations on his newly acquired technique. Unfortunately, his planar reserves were extremely low, making the massage inefficient. After just thirty minutes, he was nearly exhausted. He needed to accelerate his planar cultivation as soon as possible.
"I'm really glad you can use your power again. Mom up in heaven must be so happy." Naho smiled brightly at her brother. The feeling was like having a massive weight lifted from her chest, something she had not felt in years.
"Yeah. But we still have problems to deal with. Naho, what do you think if I put the mansion up as collateral at the bank?"
"What? Why? Isn't our debt already bad enough?" Naho sprang to her feet, glaring at him. Her reaction was exactly what Jinyo had expected. The Southerncross family had nothing left except the land and the mansion. They still carried bank debts that would take years to repay. If the mansion were seized, they would have nowhere left to live.
"I need a large sum of money to develop the garden. Fertilizer ingredients and rituals are very expensive. We're talking tens of millions."
"Tens of millions? For just ten acres of land? You've completely lost it."
"We've already proven the system's power is real. Even its secondary functions are incredibly useful. But its core function is garden development. If we want to make full use of it, we need to make the garden grow." Jinyo explained his reasoning.
"I still can't cure our children's genetic illness yet. But if we keep developing the system's power, there must be a solution. Otherwise, it wouldn't have shown itself to me in the first place. If this system was designed by something beyond our understanding, then its endpoint must hold a satisfying answer. That's how I see it."
"...Don't ask me. I'm dumber than you. If you're okay with it, I have no objections. But if you can use your power again, you need to take restoring the family seriously. There are only two of us left. I'm counting on you." Naho ruffled her hair into a mess. The mansion and land were decisions for the head of the family. Jinyo did not need her permission. Their eyes met, understanding each other's thoughts with only a few words, as though their minds were connected by the bond of twins.
"I'll do my best. About restoring the family." Jinyo glanced at Rina, but she turned her face away, ignoring him. He sighed in disappointment, until her voice rang out.
"The amount you need is ten million, right?"
"That's the minimum. It might take more."
"I see. Don't use the mansion as collateral. I'll lend you the money myself, interest-free."
"Really?!" The siblings shouted in unison.
"The master's mansion. If it ends up in the bank's hands, I won't feel at ease. That's all there is to it. Don't get the wrong idea."
"Not at all. This helps immensely. Thank you so much, Rina." Jinyo moved closer and clasped her hand. Rina wanted to pull away, but when he suddenly closed the distance, she did not realize their faces were separated by only a thin boundary. She shut her eyes and turned away, only to catch Naho's mocking grin. Rina yanked her hand free and flicked his forehead.
"I told you not to get carried away. If you want to repay me, heal my meridians faster."
"I will. I'll do my best."
Rina was a hunter directly affiliated with a special division of the World Government. Her income was lower than private-sector hunters, but she enjoyed numerous privileges that ordinary people could only dream of. In the past, she had assets worth tens of millions from bonuses and material sales. However, it seemed she had poured everything into an investment project that had yet to yield returns. Now she was calling friends one by one, trying to convert her assets into liquid cash.
Large assets such as funds, real estate, and government bonds were not easy to liquidate. Rina had to accept lower returns in exchange for immediate liquidity. Jinyo felt guilty, but it was still better than mortgaging the mansion. Owing Rina at worst meant giving her the mansion someday. Eventually, it would pass to Gretel, Jinyo's son, anyway. Even if Gretel did not carry the Southerncross surname, the blood still flowed. If the bank seized it, there was no guarantee the next owner would value the family's history.
"Whoa!!" Naho's eyes widened. What she saw were a god and goddess descending from the heavens. A doll-like girl with chubby cheeks, and a boy who looked exactly like her brother. She could not restrain herself and lunged forward, crushing their small heads into her chest.
"So cute!! My niece and nephew are real!"
"You're overreacting," Rina frowned.
"They're adorable! Someone like you who gets to cuddle Ryse and Gretel all the time wouldn't understand how I feel. So cute! Mom in heaven, I lived long enough to hug my niece and nephew. My life has been worth it. Even if I die now, I have no regrets."
"It'd be great if you didn't die," Jinyo said flatly.
"Ryse, Gretel, this annoying woman is Naho. She's your father's younger sister." Rina introduced her reluctantly.
"Naho Southerncross, age twenty-seven! You can call me Aunt Naho, or Big Sister Naho." She stretched her smile as wide as possible. Ryse blinked and turned to her half-brother.
"Dad's sister should be called Aunt, right? Why Big Sister?"
"No idea. You call Dad 'Brother Yo' instead of Father anyway," Gretel replied indifferently.
"Aunt Naho brought gifts. Delicious snacks and toys kids in the city play with." She handed out expensive boxed sweets and toys she bought downtown. Ryse received a dress-up doll. Gretel got a popular electric spinning top. Their eyes sparkled.
"Can Ryse eat the snacks?"
"Of course. I'd appreciate it even more if Big Sister feeds you."
"I like being fed." Ryse opened her mouth obediently. Naho opened a red box of cookies more expensive than her entire day's meals. A yellow sugar-dusted cookie was held between her long, floral-painted nails. Her heart pounded violently as it neared the small mouth. Ryse bit down on the cookie—and her finger.
"Gah! These tiny creatures are enjoying the money I saved up. Even if my wallet ends up in the ICU, it's worth it. Thank you, my wallet. Your sacrifice is meaningful." Naho began playing with the children. Whether dolls or spinning tops, she played with everything.
Rina returned to her room, shut the door tightly, and locked it. She collapsed face-down on the bed.
Jinyo's planar still circulated inside her body, refusing to dissipate. Tingling sensations assaulted her consciousness. If she did not suppress it, the power he left behind would overwhelm her.
She had lied when she said she felt nothing but lightness. All her senses were wide open—hearing, smell, taste, and every sensitive point. She gasped as her body temperature rose, turning her pale skin a soft pink.
"What kind of demonic technique is this? How am I supposed to live like this? It's all your fault. I never should have come back to you."
Naho visited the Garden of the Nameless God. The spiritual pressure she felt was denser and more violent than what Rina, Ryse, or Gretel perceived. Perhaps it was because she was the twin sister of the domain's owner. Even someone who favored muscle over brains could cultivate with astonishing speed just by closing her eyes.
Jinyo meditated beneath a tree, reciting Nature Synthesis Technique, absorbing sunlight, moisture, the power of the earth, and all living things. planar formed slowly but steadily.
"So you really can use your power again."
"And why would I lie?"
"It's just hard to believe. You were crippled for years. I thought our family was finished. I can't have children, and you were powerless trash. Two worthless heirs. If a thousand-year history ends with us, Grandma in the afterlife would beat us straight into hell."
"That does sound like her."
"So, Brother Yo, you have no excuse left."
"Excuse for what?"
"Marriage and having children. You have Ryse and Gretel, but they aren't in our family. If you die, the family collapses. Unless heaven forces Rina to change Gretel's surname. Gold falling from the sky has better odds."
"I understand. But there's no need to rush. I want to focus on restoring my power and developing the garden. Let things take their natural course."
Naho knew the burden well. The Southerncross family had only two members left. Restoring the family's glory was their duty from birth. Tragically, one was infertile, and the other had once been powerless.
Naho had a genetic defect. She could not conceive. Otherwise, leadership would never have passed to Jinyo. Southerncross was a matriarchal family. Only when the main bloodline dwindled were men pushed to inherit, marry, and produce as many descendants as possible—even with multiple partners.
"How do you feel about Rina now? The same as before?"
"Not the same."
"So you gave up?"
"I had. Now I have a little hope again."
"Oh. So the system does more than cure diseases and grow vegetables, huh? My cowardly brother finally found courage."
"I really can't hide anything from you." Jinyo smiled faintly. On the character window, Rina's numbers surged far beyond Ryse and Gretel's. He knew it was unfair to use the system, but if it helped him understand Rina even slightly, he would use it fully.
"I've regretted things many times. I won't regret it again. Naho, cooperate with me."
"Fine. If it's her, I can accept it. We grew up together, after all."
The next day, Jinyo took Ryse and Gretel into the city. Annual health checkups, school uniforms, supplies, textbooks. Rina had planned to come but suddenly declined, leaving Jinyo alone with the children.
After bathing them, Rina led them outside, revealing an old three-wheeled motorcycle with a rusted frame barely fit to ride. Two adult helmets lay beside wilted vegetable scraps. Jinyo felt the strange, pitying looks directed at them.
"Amazing! I've never seen a tricycle before!" Ryse ran around it cheerfully.
"Please don't praise it."
"No car?" Gretel asked.
"I can't drive anymore. And I can't afford one."
[Gretel Erindel, your son, feels pity toward you. Affection -5.]
Jinyo screamed silently. The message stabbed straight through his heart. Who wanted to show such a pitiful side to their son? He wanted Gretel to see him as cool, too.
Jinyo reached to lift Gretel up, but the boy ignored him and climbed in himself. It left Jinyo feeling lonely. Gretel noticed an old wooden sword beside the seat, carved with ancient letters reading "Yo."
"You carry a wooden sword?"
"Yeah. This area is far from the city, and the roads don't even have electricity. Bandits roam at night. I keep it for protection."
"That's not enough. Someone like you should carry a gun."
Gretel narrowed his eyes at Jinyo, sensing no planar at all. Someone this weak surviving bandits? Impossible. A bat, knife, stun gun, even an air gun would be better. A man this frail fighting real swords with a wooden one? No way.
"This is enough." Jinyo smiled. Gretel turned away. Fine. If he got robbed and failed to survive, don't blame the child for warning him.