The Potent Potion and a Sister’s Revenge

“Mhm… I’ll do my best.”

Qing Zixi nodded.

‘She hadn’t expected her sister, who usually showed no interest in games, to be concerned about her competition. Qing Zixi certainly couldn’t let her down.’

Qing Zixi suddenly felt immense pressure.

“Oh, right! If you feel like you can’t win, I happen to have a potion here that can make you stronger~”

Xia Mengying playfully pulled a small bottle filled with red liquid from within her ample chest.

‘Uh… isn’t this cheating?!’

Qing Zixi quickly waved her hands in refusal. Even if the Manager hadn’t explicitly stated that she must compete fairly and honorably, she had no intention of resorting to such methods.

Still, she was quite curious about the potion’s effects. Could it really enhance her gaming abilities?

“What exactly does this potion do?”

“Hmm? It’s just a potion that doubles one’s sensory perception. So, it’ll boost your reaction time and concentration. Want to give it a try?”

Xia Mengying leaned in close, pressing against Qing Zixi. Her prominent chest flattened against Qing Zixi’s comparatively ‘flat airport,’ causing Qing Zixi’s face to darken into a line.

‘To be mocked by someone’s anatomy… how annoying!’

“Come on, just try it, try it! Experience is the best teacher. Even though I don’t play games, my computer has 8848 mini-games, you know.”

‘Single-player browser games?’

“Come on, let’s go, come with me into the room.”

“Hey, don’t pull…”

After Xia Mengying pressed Qing Zixi into a chair, she pulled up another one and sat beside her.

Since their heights were quite similar, Qing Zixi found the chair remarkably comfortable, not needing to exert herself to climb onto it.

Click-clack, Xia Mengying opened her browser, then clicked on the first bookmark in her favorites.

“I feel a bit nostalgic. I used to play these for a little while with Lan Mengyao occasionally.”

Xia Mengying opened several two-player games. As Qing Zixi gazed at the dazzling page, seeing the little blue figure spouting water and the little red figure spewing fire on the screen, she wondered:

‘Playing a single-player, two-person game isn’t considered cheating or using hacks, right?’

“Cheers~!”

Without Qing Zixi noticing, Xia Mengying had already poured the potion into two small cups. Qing Zixi smiled, clinked glasses with Xia Mengying, and drained hers in one gulp.

It was sweet, reminiscent of strawberry juice, yet it offered a more refreshing sensation, as if a hint of mint had been added.

Even if the potion had no other effects, Qing Zixi felt she could easily drink a whole bottle of it like a beverage without growing tired of the taste.

After drinking it, Qing Zixi noticed her reaction speed seemed to have improved, and she could immerse herself in tasks with greater focus.

However… was the room’s heating turned up too high?

Qing Zixi tugged at the collar of her shirt. She decided that if she had the time, she absolutely needed to buy some casual shirts for lounging at home.

‘Wait, why is my body getting hotter and hotter…?’

‘Haah…’

Qing Zixi’s eyes blinked rapidly. The air around her felt stifling, and she found herself beginning to pant. Moreover, certain parts of her body felt… itchy.

‘Was it a mosquito bite? No, no, how could there be mosquitoes in winter? Besides, I shower every day.’

Qing Zixi turned to ask Xia Mengying what was happening, only to meet a pair of beautiful eyes shimmering with hearts. The pink-haired girl was in the exact same state as her, panting hot breaths that misted Qing Zixi’s nose at such close proximity as she lowered her head slightly.

Qing Zixi thought of the strawberries she had just eaten. She quite liked how firm those frozen strawberries were, offering a satisfying texture when bitten.

‘Th-this, this is… this is *that* p-potion, isn’t it?!’

It was only then that a belated realization dawned on Qing Zixi’s ‘meager little brain.’ There seemed to be a type of potion designed to make people twice as sensitive, with improved reaction time and concentration merely being side effects!

“Mengying-jie, y-you, please act normal! And also, is there an antidote for this potion!?”

Xia Mengying was already holding her tightly, clinging to her. Looking at Xia Mengying’s prominent chest pressed against her, Qing Zixi frantically scanned her surroundings, hoping to spot a bottle labeled ‘antidote’ among the various jars and containers.

“Ehehe~ Ant-antidote? What’s that, little sister Xi? You’re so cute~”

“Sis, Mengying-jie, stop! You’re going to strangle me…”

Qing Zixi’s face flushed crimson, partly from being squeezed too tightly and partly from the potion’s effects.

‘How on earth could she make her let go?!’

‘Her figure didn’t seem that different from her own, apart from *that* particular area, yet how could this person be so incredibly strong?!’

Unable to break free and on the verge of suffocating, Qing Zixi suddenly blurted out:

“Hmph! Useless, good-for-nothing sister! You invent potions but don’t even know the antidote? And you, *cough, cough*, you call yourself a genius pharmacist? You only churn out these useless pieces of junk! Stay far away from this young lady!”

****

It actually worked. At the very least, the ‘prominent chest’ that had been relentlessly pressing against her own had retreated by several inches.

Qing Zixi quickly scrambled off the chair, kicked off her slippers, and clambered onto the bed, searching for an antidote among the myriad bottles and jars scattered across the covers.

‘D-damn it, why are they all so colorful and flashy?!’

None of them had any labels, so Qing Zixi had no idea what each one was for.

‘My head, my head feels so dizzy… my vision’s blurry, and I’m so hot.’

After another frantic bout of searching, Qing Zixi simply unbuttoned all her clothes. Fanning herself with one hand, she impatiently picked up the bottles and jars and began to question Xia Mengying.

“Mengying-jie, what are the effects of all these? Why would anyone not put labels on them? When doctors prescribe medicine, there’s always an instruction leaflet in the box, and they even give verbal warnings! What kind of pharmacist are you?”

“And they’re scattered everywhere! Even with a carpet, aren’t you afraid of stepping on and breaking the bottles? You’re not some giant baby who can’t do any housework, are you? And, and these, these, *these* clothes are thrown all over the place too! Some are even covering the bottles—are you playing Minesweeper here?!”

Staring…

Xia Mengying had also climbed onto the bed, her beautiful eyes, still shimmering with hearts, fixed intently on Qing Zixi. The stare sent a shiver down Qing Zixi’s spine.

“H-hey, sis, j-just say s-something~”

Qing Zixi grew anxious. Then, she felt a gaze as predatory as a wild beast’s.

‘Danger, danger! Warning, warning! ⚠️’

The alarm radar atop Qing Zixi’s head shot up. She frantically scrambled backward on the bed, putting distance between herself and Xia Mengying.

“You’ve… mocked me a second time already, saying my potion is useless…”

“Ha, haha… W-where? Where did I say that…?”

‘Help! My sister is super—vengeful. What do I do?’

Qing Zixi almost imagined a flurry of ‘Grudge +1, Grudge +1’ symbols erupting above Xia Mengying’s head.

“Uwah! I-I’m just a child, I didn’t know any better, I was just kidding!”

After being pinned to the bed by a pair of small, scorching hands, Qing Zixi’s previous arrogance vanished. She immediately meekly pleaded for mercy, enduring the situation.

“Let me show you my masterpiece. It hasn’t been put into practice yet.”

After pinning Qing Zixi firmly, Xia Mengying reached out, grabbed a bottle from the bed, bit off its cap with her teeth, and then poured the liquid inside towards Qing Zixi.