Soon, Maruti and Brenna arrived at her apartment. Brenna took out the keys and opened the door quickly. Without wasting any time, the two of them got busy cleaning the house and setting everything in place.
Though Maruti wasn't great at cooking or things like that, her experience of living alone had made her good at housework. And with a little help from magic, she worked much faster than Brenna.
They moved furniture, arranged dishes, folded blankets, and dusted the shelves. Maruti even found an apron and tied it around her waist to protect her clothes while washing the dishes in the kitchen.
After a while, neither of them said anything. The room was quiet except for the sounds of plates clinking and footsteps. The silence started to feel awkward.
"We're both alone in this apartment… It's getting weirder by the second," Brenna thought nervously, glancing at Maruti from time to time. Maruti, on the other hand, looked calm and focused as she washed dishes, her face serious and quiet.
"What should I say? What should I do?!" Brenna panicked in her mind, her hands freezing mid-motion.
But then—
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Someone knocked on the door.
Brenna's eyes lit up with relief. "Ethan must be here!" she said quickly and rushed to open the door.
"Great… Just what I needed—unnecessary drama," Maruti muttered under her breath with disappointment. She looked at the dishes in her hand. "I'm almost done. The moment I finish, I'm out of here."
Brenna opened the door with a big smile, only to find Ethan standing outside. He looked exhausted. His shoulders drooped a little, and his face looked pale.
"Why do you look so down?" Brenna asked with concern.
Ethan let out a dry chuckle. "Just had a rough day," he said tiredly as he stepped inside and looked around.
The place looked completely different—clean, organized, and fresh, like a brand-new house.
"You should've waited for me," he sighed. "I would've helped."
"Oh no, Maruti helped me out," Brenna replied cheerfully. "If she hadn't, I probably would still be dragging boxes up the stairs! She lives next door to us, Great isn't it?"
"Maruti?" Ethan blinked in surprise. His eyes slowly shifted toward the kitchen.
There she was.
Maruti, still wearing an apron, holding a dish in one hand, was glaring at him like he was some enemy. Her sharp gaze cut through the air like a knife.
Ethan immediately tensed up.
Brenna stood between them, feeling the thick silence. A drop of sweat rolled down her temple.
"They really don't like each other… This is too awkward!" she screamed internally, trying to think of any way to break the tension before it got worse.
But then Ethan gave a small bow and looked at Maruti with a soft smile.
"I really owe you for helping my mother. If you ever need help in the future, just tell me, okay?" he said politely.
Maruti stared at him for a second, her expression flat.
"I'd rather die," she muttered under her breath. She didn't say it aloud, not wanting to be rude since Ethan was being kind and respectful.
Then Ethan turned to his mother with a teasing look.
"You used to lift heavy fruit baskets like they were nothing when I was a kid. I guess you're getting old now," he said, laughing lightly.
Brenna's face turned red in an instant. She quickly covered her mouth with her hand, flicked her middle finger at Ethan playfully, and gave Maruti a nervous side glance.
"Shhh! I'm not that old! I'm only thirty-one!" she shouted with a red face. Then she looked away and mumbled, "Besides… I'm still pretty…"
Ethan didn't hear her last words. He chuckled and started walking into his room, waving lazily.
"Lying about your age now? You're thirty-three," he said with a smirk.
Brenna's eyes widened, and her entire face turned crimson.
"I'm not! There was a government scheme back then—every woman aged 21 or older would get a monthly allowance. I was just 19 at the time, okay?, Since I was from a no-name village with no birth certificate, I just forged one with mad myself two year older" she yelled, clearly flustered. Then she turned to Maruti with pleading eyes. "Maruti, I swear! I'm only thirty-one!"
Maruti blinked, caught off guard by the sudden confession.
"Why are you telling me this? I don't even care…" she thought, but gave a forced smile and said, "I believe you."
Brenna let out a big sigh of relief, smiling as if a heavy burden had been lifted.
Meanwhile, inside the room, Ethan opened the door and walked in slowly.
"Didn't she always say things like, 'I'm too old for this' or 'I'm too old for that'? What's with the sudden change in tone now?" he wondered. But before he could think too much about it, exhaustion hit him like a wave. Without even shutting the door properly, he collapsed onto his bed and fell asleep right away.
Back in the living room, Maruti untied her apron and walked toward the door.
"I'm done," she said simply, getting ready to leave.
"Thank you so much! You were such a big help today!" Brenna called out cheerfully, waving her hand in farewell.
But just as Maruti stepped outside, Brenna suddenly gasped and slapped her forehead.
"Oh no! How rude of me—I didn't even offer you tea or dinner after you worked so hard!"
Maruti raised her hand and shook her head.
"No need, really. But…" she paused with a light smile, "You can send me some dinner. I'm terrible at cooking, but you seem like you've got real skills in the kitchen."
"It would be my pleasure!" Brenna replied with bright eyes
The door closed gently behind Maruti, and the house finally became quiet again.
---------------
The next day, all students from Class B and Class A had gathered together in the academy garden. A large number of them stood in neat lines, chatting or adjusting their clothes nervously. Among them were Esdeath and Maruti, standing side by side.
Even though students were allowed to wear anything they were comfortable in—including armor—Esdeath chose to wear the same outfit she had been wearing for the past few days. Her clothes were neat, and her long hair was tied into a clean braid that hung down her back.
Maruti, on the other hand, wore the same outfit she had worn on her outing with Alice and Kaelith. Because of that, she stood out quite a bit, and many boys nearby kept glancing at her with dreamy expressions.
"Tsk... spoiled as always," Sasha muttered under her breath from nearby, glaring at Maruti like a strict older sister. "Someone needs to teach her how to act like a proper lady."
Everyone's attention slowly turned to the front, where a huge crystal-clear mirror stood tall, glowing faintly with magical light. It looked like a portal, and while it gave the impression of a teleportation gate, everyone knew it was the entrance to the Illusory Dungeon.
A serious-looking teacher stood next to the portal and spoke in a firm voice, "Only Class A and B will enter together today. Class C won't be joining this time. They'll enter some other day."
Maruti looked at the portal and muttered in her mind, "Dang… you are racist." But of course, she didn't say it out loud.
The teacher continued, "You're allowed to form teams. But keep in mind, the inheritance inside will go to only one person. So you can either work things out peacefully… or be ready to get stabbed in the back." He paused briefly, his eyes scanning the students. "You have five minutes. Prepare yourselves."
Esdeath and Maruti glanced at each other and gave a small nod. No words were needed.
Maruti casually looked around. "Hmm… looks like that nerd Valen didn't show up. Probably knew he'd lose," she snickered.
"Well, it's better than getting embarrassed inside," Esdeath added quietly, her voice calm and emotionless.
Maruti pretended not to hear and kept looking through the crowd. Suddenly, her eyes caught someone familiar—Alice, jumping and waving her hands excitedly while trying to push through the crowd toward her.
"No! Please no!" Maruti gasped. She quickly grabbed Esdeath's arm and pulled her deeper into the sea of students. "Okay, I think we're safe now," she whispered with a sigh of relief.
Esdeath raised an eyebrow, a small smirk appearing on her face. "I'm actually surprised you came. I thought you'd be hiding in a corner somewhere, trying to avoid them."
"I did a little divination this morning. Kaelith's not coming today either, so I thought, why not?" Maruti said casually, brushing her hair back.
But Esdeath's expression shifted. Her brows furrowed. "She's been skipping a lot of classes lately, hasn't she? Do you think something's wrong?"
"You're the one who knows about the future, not me," Maruti said, giving her a look.
Esdeath frowned even more, her eyes thoughtful. "In FLF, she was very serious about classes. I remember she rarely skipped even one. This feels off."
Maruti rolled her eyes. "Maybe it's because she's been having headaches constantly. I even went to check on her this morning."
Esdeath turned toward Maruti, surprised. "You went to check on her?"
Maruti immediately looked away, her face slightly red. In a high-pitched voice, she snapped, "W-What?! Even though fake, I'm still her friend too, okay?! I was just doing my part! Not like a cold person like you would understand!"
Esdeath didn't argue and simply nodded. "So, what did she say?"
Maruti sighed and shook her head. "She didn't open the door. She said she had just finished bathing and couldn't come out."
Esdeath blinked, confused. "Wait, isn't she the same girl you once said would do anything just to sleep with you? And now she's too shy to show herself naked?"
"Yeah! That's exactly what I thought too!" Maruti said, throwing her arms in the air. "But then, she asked if I wore the stockings she gave me. So I ran away. Full speed."
The way Maruti said it, so casually and without a hint of shame, made the whole situation even more ridiculous.
-------
Alice was struggling to make her way through the thick crowd of students, squeezing between bodies, trying her best to reach Maruti. She was waving her hands and calling out—but then suddenly, something unexpected happened.
A hand reached out from the crowd and grabbed her soft purple tail.
"Wha—?!" Alice gasped as she was suddenly lifted into the air like a kitten.
She looked up in surprise and confusion. Standing before her was a tall, strong girl with defined muscles but graceful posture. Her sharp eyes and serious expression made her look both powerful and elegant. It was Sasha—Maruti's older sister.
"Who are you?!" Alice blinked, completely baffled.
"I'm Maruti's elder sister. Sasha," she said in a calm, casual tone, as if lifting someone by the tail was perfectly normal.
Alice's eyes widened. "Sister-in-law?" she almost blurted out without thinking, but quickly covered her mouth with both hands before the words slipped out completely.
"You seem to know her pretty well. How close are you two?" Sasha asked, raising an eyebrow.
Still dangling in the air like a small animal, Alice quickly nodded with a huge grin. "Very close! Super close~!" she replied in an excited tone, her tail swaying with joy even while being held.
"Good," Sasha nodded firmly. "You're coming with me. Tell me everything you know about Maruti—from your perspective."
She didn't ask, didn't wait for permission. She just turned around, still holding Alice like a bag of rice.
"Okay! But I'm really weak, so I probably won't be much help,"
------
Back at the front, the teacher lifted his hand and spoke loudly.
"Now, everyone will enter one by one. There's no need to rush. You'll all start at the same point no matter what. And listen carefully—if you die inside, you'll be forcefully teleported out and disqualified. So don't take this lightly."
He then stepped aside, motioning for the first students to go in.
Maruti leaned closer to Esdeath and asked, "Do you know what kind of trials are going to be inside?"
Esdeath gave a confident nod. "Of course. I have a clear advantage over Ethan when it comes to these kind of things," she said, her lips curling into a faint smirk.
Even though Ethan was a regressor, in his past life, he never made it this far. On the night when the academy was attacked by demons and monsters, he had run away in fear. That night had been a nightmare—most students were killed, and even Violet, his childhood friend, had died.
But Esdeath was different. She wasn't just any student. She had played as Ethan in the Free Life Fantasy, and had learned many secrets—secrets that Ethan himself wouldn't discover until much later.
---
One by one, students stepped into the crystal mirror, their bodies disappearing in a flash of light as they entered the Illusory Dungeon.
Soon, it was Esdeath and Maruti's turn.
Maruti's eyes sparkled with excitement. She jumped slightly in place, pumped up.
"Let's go, baby!"