"From my observation, he should be in the final stage of grief. Not only has he accepted his circumstances, but he's also very depressed."
Jerry leaned to the edge of the bed, playing games while thinking about Jack.
It was midnight, and tomorrow would mark the beginning of a new week since Dina's arrival, and the meter had yet to move.
After the week's interaction with Jack and every other thing that happened, she thought it wise to ruminate and find a more stable path to adapt—she was no therapist, but she was trying her best.
"I feel like the rank of this world has been grossly misinterpreted…. Or did I perhaps underestimate F-ranks a bit too much?"
Dina grumbled lightly, "And why didn't I get a pain reduction package! It's not fair, I can still feel the aches all over me…"
"Usually newbies aren't given any pain package because almost no first mission needs them. However, you can rest assured that you will not experience anything beyond your pain threshold."
….How was that comforting?!
"Is this really an F-rank world?!" Dina huffed.
"Yes."
"Why so?"
"The calculations are complex, but they're generally based on how dangerous the world is and loosely based on the mission's difficulty. This is because the former affects the Transmigrator more than the latter."
Dina sighed in frustration, "This world is plenty dangerous, that kid was more than ready to choke me to death."
"Anyway, put in your suggestion. What other ways do you recommend I approach the mission target? I need to get in his good graces before the next plot point."
"I think you're doing good. Exercise patience. You've gone from being ignored to being tolerated in a span of a week. I say that's good progress."
Dina was silent for a while, and then she replied, "You're right. I just hope it does work…"
"It should," Zero continued, "Continuous presence breeds familiarity. For now, learn to be extremely patient with him and worm into his world before any other thing can be done… Didn't you learn this in your program?"
Dina pouted, "Well yes, but I just needed consolation. You would too if the meter haven't coughed even a bit."
"You've taken too much from those faux transmigrators in those stories of yours. Transmigration is not a one-way business. Sometimes your job is done within six months in that world, and sometimes it takes years."
Zero elaborated, "There's no need to panic when the meter doesn't move unless your AIT tells you to—then you can confirm that you're doing a terrible job."
"...So how am I doing?"
"We'll see."
"Hey! What does that even mean!"
***
Within the Beastmen society, one thing everyone had mastered was the Act of Pretense.
In a world where hierarchy reigned, there were certain critical rules one was to observe to live a peaceful life. One of the most important was the rule of pretense.
And like all things deeply rooted in society, its branches tended to stretch forth to homes as well.
It became something taught to every Beastman at an early age—knowing when to act in a certain way or otherwise face heavy punishment.
This was even more so within most families of Rankers. They were the peak of society, and beyond material and glory—they also peaked in every superficiality within society.
If one were to truly know the core of the Beastmen society, the best way would be to step into a Ranked Beastman Family.
They were the elites of society, one of the major influencers of societal values, and thus it was understandable that as the heart of the values perpetuated within society, they were the exact embodiment.
For example, The Act of Pretense.
Clicking glasses with your enemy, then ruthlessly tearing them apart the very next minute. Being known as a benevolent individual who tolerated low-tier Beastmen, yet never sullying your robes with the lowlifes.
Helping a friend, then pushing them deeper into despair if need be. Loving with all your being, yet never making the ignorant mistake of giving away your heart.
Equality was greater than love. Brutality was better than kindness. Everything was earned and never given, even the right to a good living.
Everyone was to prove themselves worthy of existing—or else they'd pay a hefty price, which was a miserable existence.
That was the first thing the Jacksons taught their children. From the very conception of their intelligence, that critical rule was drilled into their minds, along with the Rule of Pretense.
Which was why during dinner, when Mrs. Jackson had yet to see her oldest daughter, a subtle frown braced her beautiful face, and a heavy pressure fell upon the table, leaving the two children present trembling.
"Where is your sister, Jessica?" Mr. Jackson spoke while lovingly patting his wife's back.
Jessica instantly regretted ever holding company with the red-haired nuisance. Now she was in the midst of something she'd rather not be!
The blue-eyed boy beside her, who looked much older than her, with blue-green hair and faded edges, chuckled silently, garnering a resentful glare from her.
"She's studying, Mother and Father. I tried to—"
Mrs. Jackson sighed impatiently. "She has always been quite the stubborn child. Leave it be. But I will be taking no such excuses next time. I expect you to have that drilled into her head. Understood?"
Jessica swallowed the food in her mouth with much difficulty before responding with a strained smile, "Yes, Mother."
"Good girl." Mr. Jackson's praise lessened Jessica's terror. Within the family, no one wanted to be spoken to by either Father or Mother, but everyone preferred to be spoken to by Father if need be.
Mother was simply too terrifying.
The rest of the dinner lost its appeal to Jessica, and all through it she felt like she was eating rubber and drinking petrol.
Luckily, Mother had recently established an eating routine for her, demanding she eat as little as possible to avoid bloating like a pig and to maintain her daintiness—especially with the recent onset of her puberty.
But even then, a crucial rule was that the children were to finish only after the parents, and thus she had to endure for a while longer.
***
After dinner, an infuriated Jessica barged into Jennifer's room and glared at her with madness.
"Do you know the amount of trouble you put me in today?!" Jessica's eyes were red and her breathing was heavy. "You set me up with Mother!"
Jennifer groaned, "Geez, Jess, it's fine, isn't it? I knew Mother wouldn't do anything. It's not like this is or will be a constant thing…"
Jessica's eyes reddened, and she gripped her hair and let out a silent shriek before kicking Jennifer's door with a hard kick.
Silence followed, and only the heavy panting of the blushing child could be heard. A green snake tail had popped out from her back in sheer agitation, and her eyes turned into slits.
Jennifer rolled her eyes before moving deeper into the bed to continue with her studies.
"Wow, Mummy's little angel isn't so dainty after all," an annoying tone chirped. "I mean, look at that dent!"
Before Jason could stroll into the room, Jessica's pupils turned into slits once more, and with a spin, she slammed the heart of the door with a heavy kick.
A loud bang was heard, and as the dust cleared, Jason could be seen standing outside with a teasing smile and a bleeding knuckle.
A crumbled door skidded behind him, and a loud groan escaped from Jennifer, who covered herself with a large blanket, reluctant to be involved in whatever nonsense that was happening.
"Jason," Jessica spat hatefully, as a pair of fangs peeked out of her mouth along with her now elongated forked tongue. Her beast features were swiftly revealed.
If Jack had their mother's looks, then she had her temper.
"Calm down, sis." Jason raised his hands in surrender while taking a step back. "Isn't it too much for you to expect me to stand there and let the door hit me?"
"Hmph!" Jessica huffed coldly, retreating her beast features for the most part.
Her hands curled up to her chest in a defensive posture as she glared at Jason. "What is it you want?!"
Jason sighed, "I was just curious about the real reason why Jenny didn't attend dinner. It's not because of her studies, is it?"
"None of your business," a lone voice muttered from under the blanket. "Fuck off and make sure to fix that damn door by tomorrow."
"Hey, it wasn't—"
The blanket slid down and Jennifer glared at the male with glowing red eyes.
"Did I ask?"
Jason gulped, and with a light frown, reached out to the unsuspecting Jessica and scurried off after tossing a silent approval to Jennifer.
"Hey!" Jessica was dragged into Jason's mess of a room and forced to insult her eyes with the adult magazines showcasing her fellow primary and secondary genders in not-so-innocent situations.
"Yuck! Can you not?! I'm not fucking gay!"
Jason chuckled while packing the magazines. "Staring at other omegas doesn't make you gay."
Jessica rolled her eyes. "Really? Then why don't I gift you my magazines? Though I prefer male alphas, there are some female alpha magazines among them—since you like boobs so much."
Jason gagged reflexively. "No thanks. I can already smell the repulsive pheromones from just imagining it."
"Oh, the double standards!"
"But omegas tend to be more tolerant…"
"It also smells like shit for us. Keep those fetishist thoughts to yourself, you incel."
Jason glared at her. "I'm not an incel, I'm just devoted."
"Yeah, sure," Jessica stared back at him with disgust.
He wasn't an incel, but his mind was more repulsive than all of them. She had even glanced at an incest one… this disgusting bastard.
After packing up all his magazines, Jason could finally get Jessica to notice him—albeit with an incredibly displeased gaze.
"So," he blatantly ignored her glare, "what happened to Jennifer?"
"Why do you—"
"Davince," Jason winked at Jessica. "I'll hook you up with him."
"...."
Jessica coughed lightly, and her body language softened drastically.
"I want his sister."
Jason stared at her in shock. "I thought you weren't into girls?"
"I'm curious."
"Yeah, could never be me."
"Not everything is about you, retard. So will you or not?"
Jason faltered. "Sis, she's like way older than you…"
"Is that a no?"
"I'm worried Brother Jean will tear me to shreds."
"Well, if you don't keep your big mouth shut, then he will," Jessica frowned. "I see you're not serious."
"Fine!" Jason groaned. "Just… don't play too hard, sis."
Jessica beamed. "Sure thing. Now, about Jennifer—I'm not sure what happened, but it's the new caretaker they got for that thing."
"Oho?" Jason smirked. "Tell me more."
"He's a Normal, yet I've yet to see any omega prettier than him. It pisses me off, to be honest. His looks are somehow on par with a Pure! If I hadn't gotten close enough to know he gives off zero pheromones, I would've doubted his identity."
Looking at the peeved-off girl, Jason became even more curious. Someone who could make this egotistical brat willingly admit to their beauty? How interesting.
"Anyways," Jessica continued, "you know how mad Jennifer can get sometimes, so she somehow went from beating him up to wanting to choke him to death for whatever reason, and that's when it happened."
Jessica paused for effect. "This freak gripped her hand and kept asking for more!"
"Huh?!"
Jason was stunned beyond belief. Asking for more?!
"She probably wasn't using her beast—"
"From the very beginning she was! You know how Jennifer fights. I was shocked he could survive being beaten up for so long, and then he pulled whatever the heck that was… it was kinda hot, not gonna lie. Too bad Jennifer would've punched me if I took a picture."
Jason fell silent. He was too shocked to say anything.
His sister, Jennifer, despite being only fifteen, was a maniac. And despite being two years older than her, Jason was yet to escape being brutalized in their fights—talk more of winning.
In a way, it was kinda his fault. Years back, he had gone from a loving brother to heavily bullying her once he found out she was an Alpha, to establish dominance—and then the script got flipped as soon as her beast features fully developed.
Since then, he had always been on the losing end of every battle. Genetics were just like that. It was never fair.
He knew how heavy her punches were, how mad her battle fury was, and even if she probably did restrain her power to some extent to avoid permanently harming the Normal, the caretaker surviving her punches without passing out was ridiculous!
Jason refused to believe it.
"You're doubting me, ain't you?" Jessica snickered, bringing Jason back to reality. "Then how about this?"
"What?"
"I'm really stressed with all this dainty nonsense Mother recently bugged me with," Jessica sighed. She was forced to change her entire wardrobe and makeover to appeal to a more dainty aesthetic.
She was yet to understand why everyone was so obsessed with the dainty omega bullshit or why she was being forced into it so young.
'At least let me experiment for a bit more to find my own aesthetics!' Jessica huffed.
"Don't be too bothered with that. I think Mother is in her 'playing doll with her omega child' phase. It's something most omega mothers go through. Even our fierce mother couldn't resist. Once the excitement wanes, she'll let you be—as long as you keep the family rules."
"Whatever," Jessica muttered, hoping it would be so.
"Anyways, I plan to go there to 'relieve' some stress. You can come along with me and confirm… You still have the key to that thing's room, right?"
Jason nodded his head excitedly. "Yup."
"Good," Jessica grinned. "Let's have some stress-relieving fun!"