Ascending the Demon Realm

Bizarre demonic vehicles soared through cloud-veiled skies.  

Their hoods morphed into shapes - some resembling adorable kittens, others twisted demonic faces with fanged grins.  

Welcome to 2025's Demon Realm, where traffic jams remain universal constants.  

Today marked my enrollment at Eastern Emperor University, the Demon Realm's top institution. Naturally, I found myself gridlocked midair.  

"Crash!" Two vehicles collided behind us.  

My face pressed against the window instantly. Boredom demanded spectacle.  

"Are you blind?!" The front vehicle spun 180 degrees midair.  

The rear driver retaliated with vulgar roars: "Should've moved faster, you @#%$...!"  

"Insult me? I'll incinerate you—"  

"WHOOSH!" Flames erupted.  

"Dad! Fire shield! NOW!" I yanked my father's seatback.  

The silver-haired capybara-man remained unflappable, moving with glacial calm.  

"Dad! DAD!" Only when flames licked our vehicle did the protective barrier activate, deflecting the inferno.  

Haaah—  

My tension released.  

Such was the Demon Realm.  

"Demonic vehicles" meant literal demon-possessed transports. Temperamental ones attacked spontaneously, beyond owners' control.  

Surviving here felt like perpetual mortal peril.  

Because this was the Demon Realm.  

But I, Xiyao, wasn't demonkind. Merely human - "two-legged livestock" in their eyes.  

Here, my fragility meant constant terror.  

That demonic fire? One spark would reduce me to ashes.  

"Sis...stop...spectating...you'll die..." A slow, rustling voice drawled behind me.  

I whirled angrily, but fury dissolved seeing my absurdly adorable brother.  

I crushed him in a hug, chin buried in his velvety fur, fingers compulsively kneading the tiny round ears hidden in his golden-brown locks. Instant serenity...  

My capybara brother continued gaming, unfazed. His amber-hued fur glowed like polished beeswax, his pillowy form radiating tranquility.  

Those miniature ears barely peeked through his hair, their tips adorned with star-shaped studs that pricked my fingertips.  

Our parents mirrored this Zen-like calm.  

While I'd panicked over the fire, they'd remained placid as ever. Father nodded along to mellow tunes, mother hummed rhythmically.  

The traffic nightmare and billowing smoke merely framed their romantic bubble.  

Our family's serenity had simple origins - we were capybaras. Well, except me.  

Yes, my parents and brother's true forms were those legendary paragons of chill: water-dwelling rodents famed for surviving anything.  

Nuzzling my brother, I squinted at our parents. "I'm college-bound now. Still hiding my origins?"  

Father rotated his head marginally faster than a sloth. "Xiyao...you're ours. Stop questioning this."  

"Indeed..." Mother smiled beatifically. "Just know we love you."  

Ridiculous! Two capybaras birthing a human? Not even Darwin would entertain this!  

Besides, my fiery temperament alone proved I didn't belong here!  

I tweaked my brother's furry ear. "You believe this too?"  

He kept gaming silently.  

When younger, they'd fooled him: "Sister's an advanced capybara who manifested human form." Now fully grown, he plays along despite knowing better.  

Me? A capybara? I lack even whiskers!  

I studied them, smiling fixedly.  

This desperation fueled my Eastern University ambitions.  

Only there could I major in Interdimensional Affairs - gateway to the Border Control Bureau.  

Graduates became interdimensional customs officers.  

My ticket home to the human realm!  

I understood my parents' secrecy. Their "delusion" protected us all.  

Humans don't exist legally here. Any found are presumed smuggled goods - not for employment, but consumption.  

Since Pangu cleaved heaven from earth, demons devoured humans. Creatures we ate evolved, then ate us - nature's circle.  

After millennia of bloodshed, Demon Realm officially banned human trafficking...on paper. Underground markets thrive regardless.  

I must've been smuggled here as some noble's delicacy. My capybara parents found and illegally kept me - their calculated crime.  

Hiding a human here challenges even demonic senses. Yet they succeeded.  

"World's darker than you think..." Father recycled his conspiracy speech. "Without insider help...how could smugglers import...er...contraband..."  

He stumbled over "human flesh."  

"...any restricted items!" Triumphant, he avoided the taboo phrase.  

Mother nodded serenely.  

I buried my face in brother's fur, kneading his ears for calm.  

I knew their fears - surrendering me might return me to dinner plates. Infants are considered gourmet fare.  

They also feared retribution. Possessing smuggled "goods" meant crossing powerful syndicates.  

As Father said - without border guards' collusion, how could humans enter Demon Realm?