Chapter 48: 48 – Town, Flow of Time, People

Alpha opened her eyes. For a split second, she panicked when she couldn't see or hear anything. But then she noticed her father's protective formations floating around her and she let out a sigh of relief.

Recognizing that she was awake, the formations dissolved on their own, revealing the familiar ceiling of the studio on the top floor of Myth Inc. HQ.

But wait. That was odd... Alpha could swear that she was sleeping on a bed just now. Did the studio have one?

"Eldest Sister? Are you awake?"

A calm and collected female voice. Beta's.

Alpha blinked and then sat up, letting the quilts covering her fall down. As they did, she glanced down and saw that she really was sleeping on a bed. And it seemed like her father had even tucked her in.

That realization caused Alpha to blush in embarrassment considering how childish she acted last night, but she held it back since Beta was staring at her.

Alpha slid out of her bed, adjusting her blouse and skirt, before taking a closer look at her surroundings.

Like she thought, it truly was the studio on the top floor of her father's business building. The place where he had the valuable equipment to allow the streaming for Rin.

And Rin was there as well, currently facing the monitor on the wall and reading the names of Superchats.

"Thank you, Curlykat-san! Thank you Quasetor-san! Thank you Unit099-san! Thank you TheHypocrite-san! Thank you genericuser-san! Thank you Alvonovo2121-san! Thank you- Wah! A red superchat?! Thank you so much markos-san! Thank you... Oh, there's so many Superchats..." Rin let out a sigh but kept soldiering on.

"Did you rest well, Eldest Sister?"

Alpha averted her gaze, shifting it back to her younger sister.

Beta spun around on her chair to face Alpha, staring with a soft smile.

Alpha felt that it was strange seeing that expression on Beta, but she nodded. "Yes. I... slept well. But what time is it?" From the light shining in, it seemed to be at least past morning... "And where's Father?"

"It is approximately noon, Eldest Sister. As for Father, he went into closed door cultivation to sort out his recent accumulation of karma."

Alpha winced at that.

Beta raised an eyebrow. "Did you do something, Eldest Sister?"

"I... may have caused Father some trouble..."

Alpha remembered the high speed race last night and the local clans being involved as well as that young woman who seemed to be their leader.

Beta sighed. "Well, I suppose I should have expected something of the sort. You do take after Father the most."

Alpha blinked and then narrowed her eyes. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"That you are as troublesome as Father himself. And I am glad."

Alpha frowned. "You're... glad that I'm as troublesome as Father?"

Beta's smile widened and she shook her head. "No. I am glad that you stopped imitating me and have returned to being yourself, Eldest Sister."

"That... " Alpha froze and then she shifted in place. "So you noticed."

Beta's smile faded and she nodded. "How could I not? My brash and rambunctious Eldest Sister who was as troublesome as our father suddenly became prim and proper. Even an idiot would notice."

Alpha lowered her gaze, feeling guilty. "That's... Sorry."

"There is nothing to apologize for, Eldest Sister." Beta let out a soft smile and said, "I understand. Furthermore, I wish to apologize as well."

"You?" Alpha blinked. "For what?"

Beta sighed. "For seemingly taking your place at Father's side. It has never been my intention. All that I wish is-"

"Finally finished!" The surroundings displayed on the wall monitor changed back from the warehouse to mirror the office, signaling the end of the stream. Hana was still standing there in the monitor, but now an Anime version of Alpha and Beta were present as well. "Oh! Miss Alpha!" Rin spun around with a smile on her face. "You're awake! Good morning!" She paused. "Or well... I guess it's afternoon now..."

Beta glanced at Rin before turning to Alpha and saying, "We can continue this conversation another time, Eldest Sister."

Alpha nodded. "If that's what you want."

Rin ran around the desk towards Alpha.

The black-haired beauty smiled at Rin and said, "Good morning-"

Before Alpha could finish talking, Rin pulled her into a hug.

Alpha froze.

"I was worried, Miss Alpha!" Rin looked up and said, "Mister John called late last night and said you didn't go home!"

"A-Ah. That's..." Alpha averted her gaze.

"Did something happen?" Rin tilted her head, frowning. "Did a bad guy try to kidnap you? Mister John said that I shouldn't worry, but then Beta came to pick me up today and you were unconscious and I-"

Beta cleared her throat and said, "Miss Rin. Some personal space, if you would."

"Huh? Ah!" Rin's eyes widened and she quickly stepped back. Looking at Alpha, she bowed and said, "Sorry, Miss Alpha!"

Alpha didn't respond.

Since she didn't, Rin raised her head. "Miss Alpha?"

Alpha shook her head. "Nothing. I'm just... a bit overwhelmed at the moment, Rin."

Genuine concern for her. Clear worry and then relief from Rin after seeing that Alpha was fine.

It was one thing to experience that from her father, but then to experience Beta's concern and happiness, and now Rin's reaction...

"E-Eh?!" Rin's eyes widened. "Miss Alpha?! Why are you crying? Did something really happen last night?"

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"N-No." Alpha shook her head. "I-I'm just... I-It's complicated..."

She blamed her father. After what happened yesterday night, her heart was a mess.

Seeing her vision blur, Alpha sniffed and then said, "S-Stupid Father. Making me cry like this..."

"What? Mister John did that?" Rin crossed her arms. "Where is he? I'm going to give him a piece of my mind!"

Alpha laughed and said, "Thank you, Rin. But it's alright. I'm fine."

Rin paused and then looked at Alpha.

Alpha noticed and said, "W-What? I'm fine! Really!"

Rin gasped and then clapped her hands together, smiling. "It finally happened!"

"E-Eh? What're you talking about?"

Rin stepped forward and grabbed Alpha's hands. "That! You're finally talking informally with me!"

Alpha blinked and then flushed. "T-That's... well..."

"Is it alright if I call you Alpha nee-chan then? Miss Beta won't let me since she says it's not proper because she's handling my work information and everything, but it's fine with you, right?"

"I-I guess that's fine-"

"Thanks, nee-chan!" She let go of Alpha's hands and ran back to the monitor. "We did it, Hana! We have a big sister now!"

Alpha blinked, watching Rin in a daze. Then she shifted her gaze to Beta. "...Is she always like that, Beta? You've been with her longer, haven't you?"

Beta sighed, staring at Rin excitedly chat with Hana on the monitor. "You will get used to it. Miss Rin is a bundle of sunshine and energy."

"I... see." Alpha watched Rin talk with Hana, and then quietly placed her hand over her chest, feeling a strange warmth in her heart.

'Big sister, was it?'

That... Alpha didn't mind if Rin called her that. But...

Alpha shifted her gaze over to Beta.

Beta noticed and immediately said, "I refuse."

"E-Eh?" Alpha blinked and said, "But I didn't ask anything?"

Beta nodded. "I understand. But Eldest Sister is Eldest Sister. This is something that I will not yield. Never."

That... was a strange line to draw. But seeing Beta refuse to back down on the matter, Alpha just slowly nodded her head.

-----AI|IA-----

John's Heavenly Realm.

After hours of reading and casting all sorts sutras, ranging from the esoteric Buddhist chants to the Daoist incantations, John let out a long sigh, finally getting a handle on the karma that he had accumulated since arriving on Earth.

Not completely, of course. After all, he wasn't an expert in karma or a natural prodigy at it like his wife appeared to be. But he knew enough about what was going on to sort things out.

First off, the reason why he kept getting dragged into events and raising flags everywhere.

That had always been the case back in the Three Realms and had been exacerbated once he made his Dao 'Accumulation'. Although his path was useful in letting him get and master whatever he wanted... it also arranged things so that he would accumulate affections points with women wherever he went too.

He blamed it on the fact that he played too many visual novels in the past.

But that was settled. Now that he realized it was happening, John could create some tailored defensive amulets and formations to prevent those events.

However, that was only the first problem.

The second problem was that his wife was apparently really mad at him.

Obviously, she didn't intend for him to get wrapped up in events with other women. No matter how mad she got, that was definitely something she wouldn't do considering how jealous she could get.

Unfortunately, it seemed like she underestimated the variables that occurred when trying to cast karmic spells of misfortune across multiple realms, dimensions, and in a world without a natural repulsive force towards immortals.

Some of the threads that should have stuck to John bounced off or missed him. Others connected but snapped, leaving the ends that should have connected to his wife drifting in the wind and latching onto whatever came closest.

In short, it was a mess that circulated around John but one that he couldn't untangle without deadly consequences.

It would be easy for John to just sever the accumulated karma. But that would mean that the mortals he had come across would bear the brunt of the misfortune for defying cause and effect, likely resulting in a swift and untimely demise.

So that was out.

Not to mention that his wife would definitely chew him out for that... and then subsequently feel immensely guilty since she would be the cause of all those deaths.

Which meant that John had to settle things the usual way: accepting the karma and the consequences that came about as a result.

Of course, he would be making damn sure that nothing else attached to him. But for the dozen or so threads already established, it was better to just let things happen as they arrived and deal with them then... As well as to use the appropriate formations and protective devices in handling those events to forestall sowing further karma.

Like that, he could peacefully enjoy his time back on Earth and live out a somewhat normal life.

What could go wrong-

"Ah, dammit. I just had to jinx it."

John groaned and then opened his book back up, combing through for good luck spells and sutras.

This world might not have as many laws of existence holding it together as the Three Realms, but if there was one thing John had learned since he got back home, and from living on Earth in general, it was that Murphy's law was definitely real... and something that had a terribly synergistic effect with his own 'law' of accumulation.

Hopefully his past self was thoughtful enough to have appropriate countermeasures written down...

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