**[Reward settlement complete. The simulated world is completely closed.]**
**[Consciousness returning to the physical body.]**
**[Welcome back, Host.]**
Shen Luolin’s consciousness came crashing down.
The chill of the Frostwolf Castle tower and the sound of the wind and snow flooded back into his five senses.
In reality, less than one day had passed.
But the fifty years of time spent in the simulated world, every frame of every scene, and every ounce of emotion transformed into a surging torrent of memories that slammed violently into his mind.
He saw Aila lying in a coffin surrounded by white roses, her black hair spread out like a waterfall, her blue eyes closed forever, as a hundred bell towers across the empire chimed in unison.
He saw the look in Mo Yin’s eyes in the camp just before her head was pressed into the snowy mud.
Finally, everything froze at the moment just before he turned into a rain of light—her piercing cry that sounded barely human.
“Master—!!!”
His heart felt as if it were being squeezed, followed by a sharp, stinging pain.
“Master Luolin? You… what’s wrong? You look terrible…”
A soft female voice pulled him out of the suffocating grief.
Shen Luolin snapped his eyes open, his chest heaving as a thin layer of cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
He instinctively raised a hand to wipe the dampness from his brow, his blurry vision finally focusing on the person in front of him.
It was the maid, Lia.
She was kneeling by the bed, nervously dabbing his forehead with a towel.
Her jet-black hair slid from her shoulder, hanging over her chest, and her deep blue eyes were filled with worry.
Shen Luolin froze.
Those eyes… that lock of hair… even the slight crease on the bridge of her nose when she frowned…
No, it wasn’t that they were “alike.”
They were identical.
His throat tightened, and he almost called out that name.
But in the next second, his reason returned like a splash of ice water.
That wasn’t right.
Shen Luolin shook his head violently, the sudden movement startling Lia so much that she nearly dropped the towel.
How could it be possible?
It wasn’t that Lia looked like Aila; it was the other way around.
That was a simulated world generated by the system, after all. It was normal for it to use real-world elements as a reference during creation.
Aila didn’t resemble Lia; the system had simply used Lia’s physical data when constructing Aila.
At that thought, the absurd fluttering in Shen Luolin’s heart turned into a silent, bitter smile.
It was nothing but a phantom in the end.
‘I shouldn’t… and don’t deserve to treat a living girl as a mere shadow of a ghost.’
**[Congratulations, Host, for achieving an S-rank Evaluation. You have received a special reward: Soul Resonance.]**
**[Soul Resonance: You can attach a wisp of mental energy to a target to perform minor, non-lethal physical interference. The stronger your mental energy, the stronger the interference effect.]**
This reward…
Before Shen Luolin could think further, the door was kicked open with even more violence than the day before.
Lucius burst in with two elite guards, the contempt on his face thicker than ever.
He had come to show off his power.
The strange aura from yesterday had unnerved him, but today, he had brought true Dragonborn as his backing. He wanted his elder brother to understand that any struggle was meaningless in the face of absolute power.
“Brother Luolin, still sleeping? How leisurely.”
Lucius’s voice was intentionally loud, dripping with boastfulness.
“I’ve invited two distinguished guests for you—true Dragonborn Envoys. They’ve come to inspect the defenses of our Frostwolf Castle.”
“Now that Father is unconscious, you, as the eldest son, should naturally accompany me to have an audience with them.”
He said “audience,” but his commanding tone made it sound like he was summoning a servant.
A wave of irritation rose in Shen Luolin’s heart.
Though it had only been a simulated world, having just stepped out of a tragedy that lasted half a century only to deal with such childish provocation was truly nauseating.
However, “Dragonborn Envoys”?
After experiencing everything in the simulation, Shen Luolin had developed a bit of curiosity toward Mo Yin’s kin.
He actually did want to see them.
Shen Luolin suppressed his internal turmoil and calmly rose from the bed.
“Fine.”
He agreed so readily that Lucius, who had a mouth full of insults ready, choked on his words.
On the way to the main hall, Lucius walked in front, finally finding an opportunity to start his incessant bragging.
“Brother, you have no idea how noble these two Envoys are! If I hadn’t pleaded with them repeatedly and explained the crisis in the North, would they have deigned to visit this bitter, cold land of ours?”
“When you see them later, don’t you dare speak out of turn. Don’t embarrass the Frostwolf family name!”
Shen Luolin didn’t bother responding. The constant chattering was giving him a headache.
He focused his mind and activated his newly acquired **[Soul Resonance]**.
A trace of imperceptible mental energy silently attached itself to Lucius’s polished military boots.
Lucius was right in the middle of his gloating, spit flying everywhere. “I’m telling you, these two Envoys are here because I—”
Before he could finish, he suddenly felt as if his left shoelace had been snagged by something. A split second later, his right foot stepped firmly onto it.
*Thud!*
With a dull, heavy sound, Lucius went down in a perfect face-plant, slamming hard against the cold stone floor.
The two guards following behind flinched. they scrambled to help him up but were too afraid to touch him.
“Damn it!”
Lucius scrambled up, his handsome face turning the color of a beet as his nose reddened from the impact.
He glared at the floor in a rage, but the stone tiles were as smooth as a mirror, without even a stray hair on them.
He could only swallow his anger, blaming it on his own haste.
“What are you looking at! Move!”
He barked at the two guards, straightened his crooked cloak, and continued walking.
But after only a few steps, he felt a sharp numbness behind his right knee. His leg went weak instantly.
He stumbled, nearly kneeling on the spot.
Shen Luolin followed behind with a blank expression, as if he hadn’t seen a thing.
Internally, however, he was rapidly assessing the effectiveness of the new Soul Resonance.
‘Low consumption, precise, and leaves no trace.’
Against someone who only knew how to bark, this was indeed much more convenient than using Dragon Might.
After several more inexplicable blunders, Lucius was both terrified and furious.
He didn’t dare utter another word. With a grimace, he hurried his pace, though his retreating figure looked pathetic no matter how one viewed it.
At the entrance of the main hall, two heavily armored guards stood with solemn expressions.
From the crack in the door, a faint, lingering aura drifted out, causing Shen Luolin’s footsteps to falter slightly.
This aura… he recognized it.
It was exactly like the aura Mo Yin had radiated after her full dragonification in the simulation—a mixture of supreme majesty and eternal loneliness.
Lucius stopped at the door, took a deep breath, and forced the annoyance off his face. He replaced it with a humble, respectful smile and pushed open the heavy oak doors.
In the center of the hall stood two women with vastly different temperaments.
The one leading them was wrapped tightly in an elegant dragon-patterned robe, which only served to emphasize the steady, mountain-like presence she held. It was Shyna.
The younger girl beside her was curiously examining the ancient Frostwolf banners in the hall. That was Lilith.
The faint majesty they radiated made the air in the entire hall feel frozen.
Lucius hurried forward and stopped five steps away, bowing deeply.
“Respected Envoys, I am Lucius Frostwolf. I have brought my incompetent elder brother. He—”
However, Shyna and Lilith acted as if they hadn’t heard him at all.
In fact, they didn’t even spare him a glance from the corners of their eyes.
From the moment Shen Luolin stepped into the hall, their gazes had been locked unblinkingly onto him.
Lilith’s clear eyes widened to their limit. Her small, red mouth opened unconsciously, letting out a jagged gasp.
She instinctively raised her hand, pressing her fingertips against her full lips to keep the gasp from fully escaping.
As for Shyna, the moment she saw Shen Luolin’s face clearly, her breath hitched violently!
‘It’s him… it’s really him! The great hero whom Her Majesty Mo Yin has been searching for so desperately, the savior of the Dragonborn!’
Lucius’s fawning smile froze on his face.
He remained bowed in his respectful stance, yet the two noble guests wouldn’t even look at him.
The entire scene fell into a deathly, awkward silence.
Against the backdrop of Lucius’s face—which was turning from green to white and then to purple in a spectacular display of colors—Shyna ignored everyone else.
She walked quickly to Shen Luolin. Under Lucius’s bulging, wide-eyed stare, she knelt solemnly on one knee before this disheveled, seemingly decadent eldest son of the Frostwolf family.
She gently pressed her forehead against the back of Shen Luolin’s hand.
“Giving you the highest respect of the Dragonborn Clan… Excellency Luolin.”