"Forget it," Sparkle muttered, pursing her lips. She crooked her index finger, and the man before her immediately pulled out his phone, removed the SIM card, and handed over all the cash he had on him.
Sparkle tilted her head slightly, scrutinizing him for a moment. In the blink of an eye, the young girl vanished, and two identical figures stood in the middle of the street.
See? Sparkle thought. How easy is it to get a temporary identity?
But before leaving, she suddenly remembered something. She counted the cash in her hand, returned some to the man, and said, "Go pay for the phone I just got for free."
I'm such a law-abiding citizen! she thought. I only took the phone for free because I was completely broke. Now that I have money, I'll naturally pay up.
Sparkle's situation was different from Firefly's. Firefly could freely use Robin's account without worry, as she appeared to be an ordinary European. Even if the financial transactions were traced, she could easily explain them away. But Sparkle was an unregistered Outsider.
No sooner had Sparkle shaken off the stalker than his phone rang. More precisely, someone was calling the stalker, and the caller ID displayed "Owes Me a Meal."
"The stalker's friend?" Sparkle murmured to herself. Her first instinct was to hang up, but then she suddenly remembered the System.
Sparkle's Identity objective was "Elation," which seemed straightforward enough: she needed to stir up trouble and have fun.
With this in mind, her cute thumb, adorned with red nail polish, lifted from the hang-up button and tapped the answer icon instead.
"Hello? Hello?!" an anxious voice crackled through the line. "Takashi-san, I heard the Dimensional Rift in Nawajima closed! Are you alright?"
The caller's concern suggested a close relationship with the stalker.
Sparkle pondered briefly. Instead of using a disguised voice, she spoke in her own voice, adding a touch of childish affectation. "Um... I'm fine, but... something happened. You know how unpredictable things can be inside a Dimensional Rift, right?"
"For some reason, when I came back, I'd turned into a girl..."
"Where are you right now? Can you come find me? I'm a little scared..."
Sparkle, who had been staring intently at the System interface, clearly saw the Elation percentage jump from 0.01 to 0.02 immediately after she spoke.
It was obvious: pranking someone definitely aligned with the definition of Elation.
Her friend on the other end of the line responded with a puzzled, "???"
After a brief pause, they continued, "Don't worry! Just wait there, I'm coming right now!"
Hmm, maybe it's just my imagination, but why does their tone sound so excited and rushed?
Just as she was thinking this, she watched the Elation percentage jump again, this time to 0.03.
At first, her expression was puzzled. But as realization dawned, it gradually shifted to shock, and finally to speechless disbelief.
Huh? Wait... is this even possible?
Staring blankly at the disconnected phone, she concluded that this was likely no illusion. Her stalker-friend was genuinely excited, rushed, and even... pleased!
Although Sparkle didn't fully understand the twisted relationship between those two people, the outcome seemed clear: the Elation wasn't limited to her alone. Her actions brought pleasure to others, which in turn amplified her own Elation.
The definition of "Elation," it seemed, was far broader than she had imagined.
After a brief experiment, Sparkle continued on her way. As time passed, she began to see disheveled pedestrians hurrying along the streets.
It appeared the city still had foot traffic. The deserted street she had been on earlier had been lined with electronics stores, while this street was mostly food vendors.
She glanced at a supermarket by the roadside. In stark contrast to the pristine digital store she had seen earlier, the supermarket's doors and windows had been smashed, and a group of seven or eight people were clustered at the entrance, seemingly engaged in a heated argument.
This was perfectly normal. The city's social order was on the verge of collapse, and in such a situation, food was undoubtedly far more valuable than electronics.
"Get out of here!" Two towering men shoved aside a woman trying to enter the supermarket. "We were here first! Everything in here is ours!"
"I have money! I'll pay you! Just give me a few loaves of bread and some water!" the woman pleaded hoarsely from the ground. "My son is home alone. He's only eight years old, and he hasn't eaten in three days! Please, I'm begging you!"
At first glance, the scene seemed straight out of a post-apocalyptic novel: the strong bullying the weak, a classic trope.
"No way! Get lost!" the men snapped back instantly.
Yet Sparkle noticed a flicker of hesitation in their expressions. Perhaps they had momentarily wavered, but... beyond this woman, many others were watching.
These two were currently maintaining order through their imposing physiques and menacing demeanor. If they made an exception now, the crowd would likely swarm them.
"Please... please..." the woman continued to beg on her knees, her voice cracking with desperation.
Three days ago, she had a happy family: a hardworking husband and a lovely, obedient son. But after the Dimensional Rift appeared, everything changed.
Her family inexplicably found themselves in a strange, unfamiliar place. Their money was useless, they had no shelter, and no food.
After spending their first night huddled in a corner, watching his wife and son grow increasingly gaunt, the husband gritted his teeth and decided to take a desperate risk.
After all, he thought, those people in the Dimensional Rift are just NPCs from the news. What's wrong with stealing some food from NPCs?
But shortly after he left, chaos erupted across the Capital, and he never returned.
Perhaps he died in a fight with those "NPCs." Or maybe someone ambushed him on his way back with the stolen food. Whatever the reason, the outcome was the same: only the wife and son remained.