The next day.

Just like any other day, the first thing Sheila did when she wakes up early in the morning was to go outside and do a routine running. When she came home, she immediately went to the bathroom, and before taking a bath, she does the usual pushups and squats. Only when she finished it with sweats all over her body did she submerge herself in the bathtub filled with warm water.

Even though it was hard to get used to such routine for a girl like her but she couldn't do anything about it. If she didn't do it, she would get the punishment of being sent to the Penalty Dungeon.

She doesn't want to be chased around by a massive scorpion in a hot desert, after all.1 Although she could gain tons of experience there if she could kill it, now it is not possible for the current her.

That is if her enemy there was only a gigantic scorpion, what if there was another huge monster there? Or rather, does the penalty dungeon followed that notion? What if she would get tortured in there instead? Please, I am not a masochist.

No matter how tempting it is, she could only hold it back for now. Once she has enough strength, she would take up the challenge.

***

At school cafeteria during lunch.

"Hey, did you hear the rumor about a goddess in the sophomore year?"

"You mean, the girl who got a high score in academics and also good at sport?"

"I also heard that her beauty rival that of the Top 10 Belle in this school!"

"Man, seriously?! When did we get such a unique junior in our school?"

Boys of the same culture club would always have a topic for them to talk. One of them tried to tone down his voice into a whisper, but the other guy gives no poo about it and speaks out loud.

But they are not the only group that was talking about the 'unique junior'. The other tables were also whispering about it to one another. But only one table was quietly eating their lunch while disregarding the surrounding.

"You really didn't care about such rumor, aren't you?"

"..."

Sheila quietly eats her lunch. She doesn't need to give her response to her childhood friend since she already knew the answer to that. While she didn't say anything, she was still staring at the girl in front of her.

Should she give the key to her? If she did, she doesn't need to keep her secret anymore. The person she trusts the most is her, after all. They had gone through hell and dirt together ever since they were still a small little toddler.

She even feels guilty for keeping a secret from her, but her rational thought stopped her. Even if Ria doesn't betray her or anything like that, she won't have a normal life anymore the moment the key was in her hands.

Although Sheila doesn't mind herself, she doesn't want to expose her childhood friend toward such a dangerous future. She had already lost her normal life the moments the app was on her phone, after all.

Sheila didn't have a choice, but Ria does, and it was for her to make the decision. If, and only if in the future that her secret was exposed, only then would she tell everything.

She was also not too confident of having enough strength to protect her closed one. At the end of it, power is everything. Only by becoming so powerful would she able to proudly walk on her own two feet without worrying about her family and others getting hurt on her back.

"Why are you staring at me while eating?"

"...nothing."

Sheila resumed back to her lunch, and Ria just shrugged off her shoulders at her friend before joining in. Neither of the two notice that someone was actually starting at them somewhere in the distance. Sheila could actually feel the gaze but decide to ignore it since she was used to it. The gaze moved to Ria for a while before it went back and stayed at Sheila.

"That is... the girl that I saw in the park."

The girl gasps in surprise before quickly covering her mouth with her hands and look on her surrounding. Thankfully, no one heard her. She usually spent her time in the class even at lunch since she bought a bento made by herself. But for the first time, she decides to visit the cafeteria secretly so that no one will notice since she was pretty famous at the moment. She was not being narcissistic here.

The reason for her visited was to look out for a specific individual. She was not hoping to find that person in her school but merely trying to look for her. But what she didn't expect was for the person to be also in the same school! Precisely, the person was actually her senior! Indeed, the world we live in is a small world for sure.

And right now, she was secretly sneaking a peek at her while hiding in the corner like some sort of stalker. If one didn't know of her gender, they would have thought and misunderstood that she was interested in her senior with her glancing toward the senior from time to times.

"Hm? Is that the 'unique junior' we were talking about?"

"She does resemble her— no, wait. That's her, alright!"

The girl panicked when she heard the people's remark at the table closer to her. Without waiting further, she immediately runs away without looking back.

"Wow, look at that girl running, she's fast."

Sheila just simply nodded her head at her friend's words. Even though the girl ran was indeed fast, she could see it in slow motion, the junior uniform that the girl wore. Because of her sense has been sharpened, Sheila could hear the exclaim from the table close to the corner exit before the girl ran.

She wonders what was that 'unique junior' doing in the cafeteria since she doesn't seem to be eating her lunch here. Was she looking for someone? Her friends, perhaps? Well, who cares. The girl's business is her own; she won't bother any of it. She could agree to the people's remark when they said the junior was absolutely beautiful.

She had seen a lot of models, and even plenty some who does plastic surgery to become pretty. She didn't have any problem against them or anything, and in fact, they are actually nicer than those who have natural beauty. The latter was arrogant and have contempt in their eyes when they looked at the one who did plastic surgery.

If she had to say, that junior's beauty is comparable to the top model of her mother's company. Basically, she could hit a successful career if she decides to become a model in the future. But beauty usually comes with poison, especially in the entertainment circle. She hopes that the junior won't join in the entertainment world, and if she did, she would use her mother's influence to help her if she gets in trouble.

She doesn't want to see the same tragedy happens again.

I Alone Level Up reference