Chapter 1: The Academy of Dimensions

“My head hurts… it’s so hot…”
“I just took a nap, that’s all…”
“How could something like this…”
In the darkness, Sikong Xu gritted his teeth tightly. More than once, he tried with all his might to open his eyes, but his eyelids, as heavy as if weighed down by a thousand pounds, refused to cooperate.
Judging by the sensation against his body, Sikong Xu realized he was lying on something soft—perhaps a bed, or maybe a sofa.
“Ugh!” Sikong Xu summoned every last ounce of strength he had left, attempting to open his eyes and sit up, but his body was so feeble that he couldn’t do as he wished.
With a dull thump, it seemed he’d used up all his energy; Sikong Xu lost consciousness.

…

The person described above, who appeared to be blessed with luck but was in fact perennially unfortunate, was none other than Sikong Xu himself.
In short, Sikong Xu was a homebody, though not entirely shut-in, since he still attended school. His life was unremarkable; he’d been alone since he could remember, and after leaving the orphanage, he scraped by through social subsidies and earning a little from writing online novels—enough to make it to high school.
But today, after coming home from school for a midday nap, his ordinary life was abruptly changed.

Sikong Xu couldn’t quite find words to describe his current predicament. He was sitting on an unfamiliar bed, staring blankly at his surroundings, lost in thought.
“This kind of situation… really…” Sikong Xu wasn’t sure whether he should be happy or dejected.
Because everything around him had changed… He had no idea what exactly had happened to him, only that he seemed to have transmigrated; in any case, the world was no longer the “Earth” he once knew. If anything, it felt more like a parallel world similar to Earth.
Having spent years on his own, Sikong Xu was far more composed than most his age. Calming his nerves, he began to observe his surroundings.

The room wasn’t large, but it had a bed, a desk, a wardrobe—the furnishings were complete. Judging by the miscellaneous items and everyday objects scattered about, this was clearly a boy’s room.
Could this be my room in this world? Once Sikong Xu was sure he wasn’t in any immediate danger, he closed his eyes, sifting through the memories in his mind—memories that did not belong to his original self.
How to describe it? The world Sikong Xu now found himself in was incredibly strange—strange enough to make him want to scream.
First, in this world, his name was still Sikong Xu, and even his appearance hadn’t changed; his face remained as youthful and slightly gaunt as before.
But though his appearance was unchanged, the world was utterly different! Technology here was far more advanced than on his previous Earth.
Just thirty years ago, an experiment involving particle collisions at light speed proved the existence of wormholes, but in doing so unleashed a global catastrophe. From that day, humanity suddenly realized that Earth wasn’t the only plane in the infinite expanse of three-dimensional space—there were countless others, each isolated by barriers.
Thus began a great disaster! When Earth discovered the existence of another plane, the inhabitants of that plane likewise became aware of Earth. On the third day after the two planes connected, a war born of greed erupted—what would become known as the Dimensional War.
Although Earth’s technological prowess was formidable, the other plane wielded mysterious, supernatural powers. Against such forces, Earth could barely hold its own. At that critical moment, a hero emerged…

Having digested these memories, Sikong Xu, a devoted fan of anime and gaming, couldn’t help but feel excited. He learned that residents of this parallel Earth completed in nine years all the educational content from elementary through high school of his previous world.
After these nine years of compulsory education, fifteen- or sixteen-year-olds would proceed to advanced high school—the so-called Dimensional Academy.
The Dimensional Academy, as Sikong Xu recalled, was founded to cultivate exceptional talents capable of resisting threats from the other plane. Every student admitted was sent to worlds born of fantasy for training.
These fantasy worlds were utterly foreign to the people of this parallel Earth, but to Sikong Xu’s astonishment, every one of them was based on anime, novels, and games from his former Earth! It was, without question, a tremendous advantage for him. He was convinced that, armed with his memories of those stories, he could thrive in the Dimensional Academy.
As for the academy’s origins, Sikong Xu only knew it was the brainchild of the hero who had stepped forward during the Dimensional War.
With the existence of the Dimensional Academy, Earth was no longer forced into passive defense. When the first graduates entered the battlefield, the tide of war was instantly reversed; Earth shifted from barely holding on to launching a counterattack. This state of affairs persisted until the war concluded.

Eager and exhilarated, Sikong Xu rose from the soft bed. He’d already been a student at the Dimensional Academy for a month, and had only returned home now because of the holiday.

Just as Sikong Xu reached for his door, a thought struck him: in this world, he was no longer alone. Though he was still without parents, he now had a cute yet aloof younger sister—Ye Xi.
And—crucially—she wasn’t his biological sister! Not his biological sister! Not his biological sister! Some things bear repeating.
Ahem, that’s a bit inappropriate… To get back on track: Sikong Xu’s new sister was nothing like the sweet, gentle girls who softly call “big brother.” Instead, she was the quintessential stoic beauty, her lovely features always set in a cold expression—a charm of its own, though Sikong Xu found it somewhat unsettling.
In fact, from a certain perspective, his sister probably resented him deeply.

In short, when Sikong Xu was a child, he had a complete family—a father, a mother, and himself. Not only that, but his parents were not ordinary people; they were among the first graduates of the Dimensional Academy.
At the time, thanks to these graduates, Earth had seized the initiative in the war, and the enemy was left reeling by these almost godlike warriors.
To uncover the origins of these graduates, the enemy sent spies to Earth, and Sikong Xu’s parents were tasked with eliminating them.
However, the power his parents wielded was so overwhelming that, in the process of killing the spies, many innocent people on Earth were accidentally harmed. Among those who perished were Ye Xi’s parents…
Though Sikong Xu’s parents, out of guilt, adopted Ye Xi, they would always remain her enemies. He could never forget the look of hatred, grief, and despair in Ye Xi’s eyes when she first arrived.
In the end, Sikong Xu’s parents also lost their lives on the battlefield, leaving behind two children—thirteen-year-old Sikong Xu and twelve-year-old Ye Xi. Over the years, the siblings survived through Sikong Xu’s part-time jobs and the compensation granted to their parents as honored martyrs.

After a brief hesitation, Sikong Xu opened the door to his room. Today was the last day of the holiday; after dinner, he would have to return to the Dimensional Academy.