BEEP.
"Thank you so much for your payment. A total of 2 Credits was deducted. Please take the order of Sizzling Beef with Rice."
"Wow... Brother, it looks yum-yum. Me, me, next." Little Carlos excitedly rushed to the counter, ignoring the fact that a mascot doll could talk.
"Let me get that, Lucas. Wait, Carlos, let me take this to your brother first." Aria said as she took the food from the counter.
The bowl of sizzling beef with rice was still steaming hot, and she was afraid Lucas might get burned.
Lucas did not dare to sit on the chair, but Aria gently pushed him down and placed a steaming plate of food in front of him.
He could not believe it. Food that he had only seen in picture books was now right before his eyes.
Lucas worries for his younger brother faded for a moment. Hunger filled his mind, yet he forced himself not to be carried away.
Just as Lucas turned to check on his little brother, he saw Carlos already climbing up and struggling to sit on the chair.
From behind, Aria came carrying another plate. It was not the same as Lucas's, but a different flavor, sizzling chicken with shrimp and rice.
It looked delicious too! But Lucas did not feel any jealousy toward it, only comfort.
Knowing that his younger brother would taste something so good made his heart ease.
Aria placed two cups of ice-cold cola on the table, which she had just taken from the counter. They came together with the sizzling meals.
The sight of it made the children look up at her with wide, curious eyes.
"These are colas," Aria explained with a small smile. "A kind of drink that teases your tongue with a hmmm… and mmm, all from the coldness. Go on, touch it. See? It's really cold."
Lucas nodded, feeling the chill on his fingertip as he saw the small ice cubes floating inside the cup.
It was the first time he had ever touched a cold drink.
The only memory he had was of once seeing the leader of the bad guys drop a big chunk of ice into a glass of water.
Lucas couldn't help but take a sip, eager to taste it already.
Little Carlos quickly followed, watching his older brother closely.
Together, they felt the chilling sweetness rush down their throats, leaving behind a craving for more.
"Hey, hey, take it easy. Don't drink too much, you still have to eat." Aria quickly stopped the two children. Cold on an empty stomach wasn't good.
Hearing her voice, the brothers obediently put down their cups, knowing that listening to the gentle sister was the right thing.
They were afraid that if they disobeyed, they might not be able to have food again.
Back then, they saw a bad guy punished and beaten by the leader, left without food that night.
Afterward, that same bad guy scolded them, blaming them and saying it was their fault for being disobedient.
The next day, the brothers received neither food nor water.
Aria felt the two were really good kids, and she liked them even more.
Grinning as if she had just hit the jackpot, she went back to the counter to order her own food.
According to the Fluff Ball system, Aria also had credits with the stationmaster card, and inside it were six digits worth of credits she could use for the Heavenly Mall Stops.
Just seeing so much money on her card was enough to make her mood brighten.
With that, when Aria returned to the table, the three of them ate together.
The two brothers, who were used to scraps, leftovers, wild vegetables, and expired food, felt so happy that ugly tears ran down their cheeks as they ate.
The food was incredibly delicious, far better than what the adults with superpowers ate at the base cafeteria.
They were overjoyed to see the premium card tickets and deeply thankful to the gentle sister sitting beside them.
They just wished their little mother were still with them, so they could share this food together with her.
Soon after, Lucas tried another kind of food called French fries and a burger, while Little Carlos bought milk tea and ice cream one after another.
But when Lucas saw the credits on their card being deducted, he stopped his younger brother.
As the older brother, he understood that these premium card tickets were their own money, or what the base called mutantcrystals, and could be used to buy food.
Lucas worried the credits would run out, and after explaining the importance of his own premium card ticket, Little Carlos nodded, fully understanding.
Going back to the Wishing Stop Station, the two brothers were now sleepy but had full stomachs, and they felt that happiness could be so simple.
Aria, however, didn't know where to let the two brothers sleep, since the train station waiting area wasn't really meant for sleeping at all.
"What about me? Where's my sleeping quarters?"
"Stationmaster Office." Fluff Ball replied.
"The Host can use it, just go to the staff's rest area."
"Eh, this is so small! Not even a bed, just a few chairs and some lockers." Aria staring at the tiny room she had opened next to the cashier booth.
How could anyone sleep without a pillow or a proper bed?
"Is there really no other place?" Aria asked, knowing she wouldn't be able to rest properly in such a cramped space.
"Host can buy a house outside the station using the stationmaster credits." Fluff Ball explained. " However, the next stations are still not opened. It is the Host's skill to explore and find locations where the next stations can be purchased."
Aria almost made a face at Fluff Ball.
She just sank onto a chair near the two little brothers, who huddled together like beggars on the streets.
Aria only felt more pity as she watched them drift off.
Sighing softly, she glanced at the clock on the wall.
It was almost 7 p.m., and the train station would remain open until 9 p.m., so she couldn't sleep yet.
Even though Arial wanted to go outside, she couldn't guarantee that the monsters she had written about weren't roaming around causing chaos.
Aria decided to open the system interface instead, access the storage space, having heard that this was where the rewards were kept.
1 Mystery Bronze Card Draw.
It made her eyebrow raise, making her forget all her annoyance at having no soft bed for the night.
Aria clicked on it, and a mystery card box appeared on the screen with no instructions, waiting for her to open it like a gacha.
Hmm...she wondered what it could be.