The translucent screen appeared before his eyes again.
[Beginner's Trial Reward Calculation Complete.]
[Congratulations, Survivor Number 4562!]
[You have successfully survived the Beginner's Trial despite displaying a remarkably high number of questionable survival decisions.]
Zixin stared at the message, the words blurring slightly. He felt a hollow ache in his chest, a remnant of the trial's horrors.
"...What?"
Another line appeared.
[Reward: One Special Item.]
[Item Name: Brother's Protection.]
Zixin's eyes narrowed. The light from the screen flickered, and a tiny object materialized in the air in front of him.
It was a lock of black hair.
For a moment, Zixin simply stared.
His breath hitched.
His heart felt like it had seized in his chest.
He knew that hair. He knew the way it curled at the end, the exact shade of black.
