The next day
Sixth Street
Hoshimi Aya stood at the entrance of the Video Store, looking somewhat wronged.
Time rewinded a few minutes.
Ling and Zhe were sorting and shelving the newly arrived videotapes in the store. Hoshimi Aya proactively stepped forward to help when she saw them.
However, Hoshimi Aya didn't know where anything should go, so she placed the tapes based on feeling after reading the titles.
And as Ling and Zhe stared blankly at the videotapes placed completely out of order, they both looked toward Hoshimi Aya.
"What's wrong?"
Hoshimi Aya noticed the two of them looking at her curiously, while she placed a comedy film in the horror section.
Ling, Zhe:...
"Um, Aya..."
"How about... you go out and play for a while first?"
"Brother and I will finish up here and then come find you."
Saying this, Ling gently pushed Hoshimi Aya out of the Video Store.
Time returned to the present.
"Forget it, I'll just walk around and look."
Hoshimi Aya said as she looked around, but for a moment, she didn't know which way to go.
She only knew the location of this small area; she wasn't familiar with any other places. Seeing this, Hoshimi Aya walked in the direction of the arcade.
That was the only place she knew where she could play.
Although she didn't understand why she was kicked out, she clearly arranged them according to the cover art. Maybe she had done something wrong.
Suddenly, among a group of people standing at the entrance of the arcade, Hoshimi Aya spotted a familiar figure—Ellen Joe!
But the three people beside her should be her friends. She also knew their names: Ruby, Rin, and Mona.
It was exactly like the plot, only their clothes were a bit different.
"Tsk!"
"Never mind."
Hoshimi Aya finished speaking and walked into the arcade, brushing past the group.
Honestly, she wanted to get to know them, but now that she had somewhere to go, there was no need to deliberately seek them out. There would be plenty of opportunities to meet them later.
Besides, going over to say hello and introduce herself seemed too intentional.
So, after buying some game tokens, Hoshimi Aya started playing on one of the machines.
She had played all these games before, but she was a bit rusty with the actual controls, so she seemed exceptionally bad while playing.
Fortunately, the money Ling and Zhe gave her was enough, so Hoshimi Aya didn't have to feel bad about spending it.
Soul Eater Hound, Snake vs. Snake—Hoshimi Aya experienced them one by one.
It had to be said, they were indeed more fun than playing on her phone (Recommended to play).
...
Time reached noon.
Inside the Video Store
"Aya, what did you do while you were out?"
"You look quite happy."
Ling smiled as she looked at Hoshimi Aya.
"I went to the arcade."
"The games there are interesting, but most of them are two-player games, so I couldn't play them."
Hoshimi Aya also smiled contentedly.
She couldn't find any games on her phone that she could play; most of them were software she didn't understand.
So, Hoshimi Aya's phone could currently only send messages, make calls, and play music.
As for other functions, they hadn't been developed yet.
"Aya, how about we play together later?"
"I'll tell you a little secret."
"I'm actually really good at games,"
Ling whispered to Hoshimi Aya.
"Okay, but is the matter with the Ropeship Network resolved?"
Hoshimi Aya asked.
After all, this was reality, not a game; it must be quite troublesome and surely not as simple as in a game.
"The Ropeship Network account?"
"I've already registered a new account."
"But we are essentially starting from scratch now, needing to rebuild our reputation."
"It will definitely be impossible to reach the height of our previous account in a short time."
"So, we might have to live frugally for the next few months,"
Ling considered.
Most of their financial income came from commissions on the Ropeship Network account.
But the new Ropeship Network account definitely couldn't compare to the previous Phaethon account. The quality of commissions the new account received would certainly drop significantly, and the commission fees would follow suit.
"If you need me for anything, just say the word."
"It's different now from before; my commission fee can be cheaper."
"As long as we can earn money,"
Hoshimi Aya thought.
It wasn't right for her to just eat and live for free; otherwise, she would feel uneasy.
So, she wanted to find something to do, but besides practicing her sword, she had nothing else.
Working at the store only involved sitting at the front desk to collect money; Hoshimi Aya didn't understand anything else.
This was essentially receiving free food and lodging without doing much work.
"Indeed, but there's no need to rush."
"We still have some savings from before; let's take it slow,"
"We don't need to worry about the cash flow problem for the time being,"
Zhe said while leaning against the wall.
Too many things had happened recently; he needed time to think things over properly.
Ling and Hoshimi Aya didn't seem like people concerned with these matters, so he needed to pay extra attention to them.
For example, the Fairy that suddenly appeared in the H.D.D.
However, they were currently within the Fairy's surveillance range. They would discuss it when a suitable opportunity arose.
...
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