"Auntie, I've come to bother you again."
Before Nathan could even finish his sentence, the sound of the front door opening interrupted him. Lily stepped inside, greeting them casually as if it were his own home.
What followed immediately taught Nathan a painful lesson in contrast: it truly only takes a single second to fall from heaven into hell.
Just a moment ago, his parents had been proudly praising him without end. But as soon as they heard Lily's voice, they both turned their heads in unison, got up from their seats, and hurried to the door to welcome her.
They took her bag. They brought her slippers. Their warm and affectionate greetings could melt stone.
"…Am I even their biological child?"
Nathan couldn't help but silently question himself in his heart.
Sitting in the living room, Lily was chatting comfortably with Nathan's parents, while Nathan sat awkwardly off to the side like some outsider, completely out of place in the warm, happy atmosphere.
Lily noticed Nathan's expression and mischievously stuck her tongue out at him.
As expected, his parents' treatment of Lily seemed to follow a set rule: under six years old—just a child; under sixteen—just a classmate; over eighteen—direct upgrade to beloved daughter.
And he, Nathan, was simply the outsider.
When it came time for dinner, Nathan looked at the mountain of food piled high in Lily's bowl… then looked at the pitiful white rice in his own.
This world was indeed filled with darkness.
"Mom, maybe you should recharge your phone balance and get me a little sister while you're at it?"
After finally enduring until dinner was over, Nathan said in a sorrowful tone.
"What are you saying, you little brat? Lily's come to visit and you can't even talk to her properly? Look at yourself!"
His words instantly opened the floodgates of his mother's nagging, as if she had been waiting for this exact moment to unleash her complaints.
Ding-a-ling-a-ling~
Just then, her phone rang.
"What? Auntie is sick? Okay, I'll head over right now."
After hanging up the call, she grabbed Nathan's father and started packing their luggage.
"Nathan, take good care of Lily, okay? Your great-aunt is sick, so your dad and I are heading over for a few days."
In just two or three minutes, both of his parents had their suitcases ready and were already heading out the door.
However, as Nathan watched this scene unfold, something about it felt… off.
Also, since when did he have a great-aunt? In over ten years, he had never heard of one.
Just now, out of the blue, one appeared?
"Want me to arrange a plane for you?"
Nathan asked with some concern.
Regardless of how strange the situation was, seeing his parents so anxious, he still wanted to help however he could.
"No need, just stay home and take good care of Lily."
His father patted his hand reassuringly—but as he did so, Nathan clearly felt something being stealthily slipped into his palm.
The sound of rolling luggage slowly faded into the distance.
When he looked down, he finally saw what had been placed in his hand—and couldn't help but admire his dad's impeccable timing.
He really knew how to deliver protection at just the right moment.
-------------------
Thanks to the sudden illness of the so-called "great-aunt," Nathan successfully took his first step into manhood.
As he looked at the peacefully sleeping beauty nestled in his arms, Nathan wished time could pause, just for a while, so he could fully savor this perfect moment.
"Oh! That's right—I brought a gift for you. Hold on a sec."
Suddenly remembering, Nathan reached for his bag near the bed and pulled out a Pokémon egg.
"Aww~ what a tiny little Pokémon egg!"
Lily carefully took it from his hands, marveling at it. It was the smallest Pokémon egg she had ever seen.
Seeing her eyes sparkle with joy, Nathan smiled as he began putting on his clothes.
-------------------------------
Over the next few days, the two of them mostly stayed at home. Occasionally, when something needed to be bought, it was always Lily who went out.
It wasn't that Nathan didn't want to go—he had tried once. But just one outing, and someone recognized him.
He ended up being surrounded for quite a while before he managed to escape.
After that experience, he didn't even want to think about stepping outside again.
As for his parents, they came back after only two days.
After spending nearly a full week at home, Nathan finally decided it was time to leave.
Before he left, he specifically reminded Lily to wait for him—he would take her his mystic realm soon.
----------------------
Sitting in the car with Kelly, Nathan didn't speak until they were far from home.
"Alright, now tell me about the matter I asked you to investigate."
Even though he'd spent the past week mostly at home, that didn't mean he had been idle.
On the way home, he had already instructed Kelly to investigate Chiyou.
Nathan hadn't forgotten what he'd said during the World Tournament.
He and Chiyou—it was time to settle things once and for all.
This group had already disrupted him multiple times, trying to sabotage plans and cause chaos. Before, he had been too busy—or just didn't care enough—to deal with them.
But now that they'd gotten bolder, there was no reason to tolerate them anymore.
"I did find out some things. Their base of operations is currently in Valar. But ever since you participated in the World Tournament, they've gone quiet, like they've washed their hands clean and gone into retirement."
Kelly explained as he drove.
With national resources backing the investigation, even if they couldn't dig up every single secret about the organization, finding their main base was relatively easy.
"Gone clean?"
Nathan scoffed in disbelief.
He'd sooner believe pigs could climb trees than believe Chiyou had truly retired.
With their track record, their so-called "silence" was almost certainly a sign they were planning something big behind the scenes.
"If those guys really washed their hands of evil, I might as well drink the entire ocean."
Nathan said disdainfully.
"As for other info, I don't know much more. After all, they've gone abroad—no longer within our borders."
"Do you know the exact address of their base?"
For Nathan, nothing else mattered as long as he knew where their base was. Once that was taken care of, the rest would naturally follow.
After all, if you destroy the hive, there's no need to worry about individual bees.
But to truly take out Chiyou, he couldn't rely on just himself.
As much as he didn't fear the fight, what worried him was the possibility of letting too many of them slip away.
These guys were like cockroaches—each one a disaster waiting to happen.
"Kelly, can you coordinate with some strong Trainers? I just need them to help block off escape routes for the remaining members."
For this kind of task, Nathan trusted Kelly more than anyone. After all, Kelly had been assigned by the state as his personal assistant.
He knew this wasn't too much to ask.
"Don't worry. When the time comes, it won't just be me—plenty of people will be backing you up. You just focus on doing what you do best."
Kelly replied with a grin.
In fact, once Nathan shared his plan, Kelly had already reported it to the higher-ups.
And the response?
Full support. Total approval.
Turns out, quite a few people had long wanted to see Chiyou eliminated for good.
Clearly, this organization had been wreaking havoc for years.
"Now that you've said that, I feel a lot more at ease."
Nathan closed his eyes, pretending to rest.
But in his mind, he was still focused on the reward he'd received from the system—a mysterious map.
During his days at home, he had finally pieced the map together.
But the result left him baffled.
The location? The Far North.
More specifically—Frostline Region.
That was nearly 5,000 kilometers away!
Just getting there would be a journey in itself, let alone finding the mysterious item marked on the map.
Even stranger—the map had no writing. Just a simple drawing of… a leaf.
A leaf.
That was it.
No explanation. No name. No hint.
If the map had pointed to a Legendary Pokémon egg or something equally valuable, Nathan might've been eager to set off right away.
But for a leaf?
Could it be a Grass-type Pokémon?
Maybe something rare—or maybe nothing important at all.
The unknown held both promise and risk.
"Kelly, what do you think a leaf represents?"
The more Nathan thought about it, the more his head hurt.
Couldn't the person who drew the map have given a little more information?
Why just a plain, ordinary leaf?
"A leaf? Hmm… trees, greenery, Grass-type Pokémon… a lot of things really. Why do you ask?"
Kelly replied, still focused on the road ahead, unaware of the mental headache plaguing Nathan.
(End of Chapter)