The frozen wasteland with a big shining Christmas tree. The mannequins are everywhere and dancing. This lonely world of snow and ice is the dream world of Renata Yevgenia Chicherina Razumovskaya Romanova now known as Zero. She was there standing and staring at the field of arctic flowers.

"Your mind is still as boring as ever, my little Zero," Ming·Z·Lu· appeared and said while looking at the Christmas tree.

"Hello Z," Zero greeted her brat of a best friend.

"Hello to you too," Z greeted her back. He then smiled mischievously. "Do you know who I met at Cassell College?" He said.

"Who?" Zero asked.

"Ariel," Z said as Zero froze in her tracks.

Z smiled and said, "Indeed, it seemed that our little friend wasn't as dead as we had thought. In fact, she is stronger than ever, even approaching the raw strength only royal dragons could possess".

"How? I saw her get shot and fell into the water," Zero said in disbelief and hope.

"Well, it seems that her claims of immortality were not as random as they seemed," Z replied before taking on a thoughtful expression as he said, "no wonder she survived Herzog".

Zero gritted her teeth at the name of the former director of the Black Swan Bay Orphanage. Ever since the incident 20 years ago, she had been searching for Herzog but sadly, she couldn't find him and the trails went cold five years ago.

Z looked at Zero in confusion as she began to leave the dream world.

"Hey, where are you going?" he asked before Zero faded out.

"I have to prepare to go back to Cassell," Zero replied.

"Wait, you don't need to go! She will come. Anjou just sent them to Japan on a SS grade mission," Z hurriedly warned the impatience Zero. He then chuckled and said, "eager to see your girlfriend huh?"

Zero's face blossomed in red at his teasing but she really couldn't deny that statement as she was indeed eager to meet Ariel. It's been 20 years after all. When they finally confessed, they were already separated by life and death. At least that was what she believed. Now that she was back, Zero wanted to meet her right away. There were so many things to talk about.

Ariel stared at the accursed game in front of her in distress, she had been trying to pass the stage for hours now. However, the boss was vicious and did not let her pass or she was just bad at this. After her awakening into the future, she had found that the world had changed a lot. Technology had progressed leap and bound. So much so that she almost thought she had travelled to another world. However, if there was one thing she was glad about in this new world then it was games and anime. She came into contact with them when she was learning about this new world and she fell in love with them soon after.

As she was about to try again, she heard a soft knock at the door. She frowned as she wondered who knocked on the door. There weren't many people who knew her here after all. She paused the game and stored the console back into the inventory. She opened the door and found Luminous was there looking at her with a nervous smile. She raised her eyebrows and sent a questioning look his way.

He chuckled nervously and said, "hello there".

"Hello to you too, do you need something?" Ariel greeted back. In fact, she was quite curious about this guy who looked quite a lot like Z too. If it was possible, she wanted to know about Z from him.

"Do you know Ming Z Lu?" Luminous asked, his face taking the serious expression. Ariel's face settled into a thoughtful frown as she pondered the name.

'Ming Z Lu, Ming Z Lu,' something about that name and the feeling that came with it was really familiar to her. Then, she remembered. It was the name Renata gave to Z when they were five. Though, they just call him Z, it was his full name.

"As I thought, you are related to him. Tell me how is he? Is he okay?" Ariel asked in a relieved voice.

"So, you really know him. You don't need to worry about him, he is having the time of his life, swindling my life out of me," Luminous said in a disgruntled voice.

Ariel snorted and said, "yes, he tends to do that but if you give him a chance you will know that he is good at heart".

"You are different from what he said," Luminous said as he sighed in relief.

Ariel got a bad feeling so she asked, "What did he say about me?"

"He said you are an abomination of nature," Luminous said as he rubbed his head. Then, he looked back at Ariel. Instead of being angry, Ariel smiled good-naturedly.

"That is all?" Ariel asked and Luminous nodded. "Well, that was a surprise. He usually said a lot worse about me, it seemed he had mellowed," Ariel said and chuckled a little. She was just happy that at least one of her friends was still alive and she was not alone. Luminous looked at her quizzically before deciding not to ask.

"So, how did you two meet?" Luminous asked her.

"We were childhood friends," Ariel answered simply.

"Wait? He had a childhood?" Luminous said in shock.

"Of course! Everyone has one," Ariel answered exasperatedly.

"Wow, I thought he just crawled out from hell," Luminous said sheepishly. At his answer, Ariel nodded in understanding.

"Yes, I can see why. It was little wonder why he was called The Devil In The Room. So, what did he take from you?" Ariel asked.

"¼ of my life," Luminous replied in a resigned voice before he continued, "and he kept barging into my mind! Please he said you are very strong, could you stop him from doing that?" Luminous asked for help in a desperate tone. He was really tired of this. Z just kept getting into his mind, stripping down all of his memories, acting like he knew all about him which was more horrible because that would most likely be the truth.

Ariel eyed him in pity. She knew Z had that kind of power because he also tried to do this with her. But due to her Gamer Mind, she was able to intercept his attempts and gave him a little lesson. After that day, Z stopped trying to do that and they don't talk about that anymore. It seemed that her lessons weren't enough.

"I am sorry for his behaviour. Here let me make this up," Ariel said as she pulled out a ring and a package of potion. Then she explained their function. "This ring was draconic gear with a special ability to protect your mind. With this gear, next time he wants to enter your mind, he would have to knock first," then she flashed him the potions in exquisite bottles, "they are called Rainbow Potions. They have the ability to restore your lifeforce. I hope this potion will make you up for your lost years," she said with a smile.

Luminous grabbed the ring and potions as his eyes started to water. Then, he hugged Ariel in a tight hug and said, "thank you".

Ariel just sighed and patted his head while whispering, "there there".