"I'll ask you one last time: are you buying or not? If not, please step aside and stop interfering with our business."
Acheron stuffed a handful of snacks into her mouth, mumbling indistinctly, "Is your noodle stew brand legit?"
Skott frowned. "Our company runs such a big operation—do you think we'd sell you a fake brand?"
Acheron: "I'm just asking if your noodle stew brand is legit."
Skott let out a "Hmph!" "Legit, of course it's legit. If my brand is fake, I'll swallow all this inventory, packaging included, right here and now. How's that?"
Acheron: "Alright, you said it."
—"Gray-haired friend, look, that blue-haired boy over there is my friend, Micah."
Clockie Daddy squeezed next to Stelle and said, "Here's the deal: Micah is a hotel doorman. 'Their' task today was to accompany Penacony's brand partners on a tour, but this company's people maliciously passed off counterfeit noodle stew as the brand's product, smearing their reputation, which led to this conflict."
Stelle asked, puzzled, "Huh? What does that have to do with Micah being in danger?"
"And their conversation sounds like a script I've heard somewhere before. If I'm not mistaken, that purple-haired lady is about to draw her sword soon, right? The one in danger is someone else, isn't it?"
"Tick-tock! In the dreamworld, 'death' is hardly the scariest thing!"
Clockie Daddy said with a serious expression, "The company and the Annihilation Gang are both Penacony's partners. If their representatives actually start fighting… Micah's salary this month and year-end bonus will be completely docked by their precious bosses!"
"Without that money, Micah won't be able to pay off their room fee loan, and they'll be kicked out of the dreamworld, saddled with a huge debt!"
Stelle: …That's very Penacony.
"So, what do you expect me to do? Don't tell me you want me to break up the fight?" Stelle said helplessly. "If that's the case, you're really overestimating me. I'm not that tough."
"Tick-tock! What are you thinking? Clockie Daddy would never ask you to do something so unreasonable!"
Clockie Daddy bounced in place. "Tick-tock! So, we're going to rely on the 'Clock Trick' next!"
"The 'Clock Trick' is my signature move! With it, you can hypnotize others and influence their emotions!"
"I've already uploaded the method to your memory. Give it a try!"
As soon as the words fell, Stelle felt a foreign memory appear in her mind—the instructions for using the "Clock Trick."
Clockie Daddy pointed at Skott. "For Micah's sake, use the Clock Trick on him!"
"What a wild line…" Stelle extended her hand toward Skott, and a dial-like object appeared out of thin air. This was the "Emotion Dial," which could adjust a person's inner emotions by turning it.
Stelle turned the dial, moving the pointer to the "Joy" section.
…
Just as Acheron was about to draw her sword, Skott suddenly burst out laughing, his eyes brimming with uncontainable excitement. "Wahahaha—I can't help but laugh just thinking about what you're about to buy!"
Acheron: ? (Confused)
The employees behind Skott were equally baffled, clearly not understanding what was happening.
"…Hahahaha, little lady, I'll just come clean. The noodle stew I'm selling? It's not Annihilation Gang brand at all—it's pure, unadulterated counterfeit junk! Hahaha!"
"That's right, you hit the nail on the head. I am disrupting the market, and I am smearing the Annihilation Gang's name! There's a saying: 'Kick them when they're down, rob them when the house is on fire!'"
"The Annihilation Gang's noodle stew deal with Penacony has already fallen apart. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our company!"
"With a little scheming, we'll ruin the Annihilation Gang's reputation first, then swoop in with our company's noodle stew. The Penacony noodle stew market will be ours! Hahaha!"
"Ugh, just imagining the looks on your faces when you eat this junk stew… Tsk tsk tsk, that's exactly the expression I want to see! Wahahaha!"
"…!"
Hearing this, though Acheron's face remained expressionless, she had already drawn her tachi, looking ready to mourn for the departed at any moment.
"Tick-tock! Oh no, the conflict's getting worse!" Clockie Daddy shouted in a panic.
Stelle: "Uh…"
This was indeed her oversight.
From a normal person's perspective, resolving the deadlock would involve both sides taking a step back to de-escalate the conflict. That's why Stelle chose the "Joy" emotion, hoping to lighten the tense atmosphere with laughter.
But she forgot that for someone like Skott, his joy was entirely built on other people's suffering and anger!
"Clock Trick, activate!"
Seeing Skott's life hanging by a thread, Stelle used the Clock Trick again, this time turning the emotion dial to the "Sadness" section.
…
Thud!
Without warning, Skott's laughter stopped. Not only that, he dropped to his knees right in front of Acheron's boots.
Acheron's hand, poised to draw her sword, froze—
"…I-I'm truly a rotten person, a failure, a useless lone wolf."
Skott's voice suddenly grew heavy, laced with endless pain. "My entire life so far has been a giant failure, but that hasn't stopped me from failing even more."
"I've been betrayed three times."
"The first time, my father instigated me to frame a colleague, only to turn around and report me in the name of justice to secure his own promotion."
"The second time, a colleague confessed her feelings to me. When I rejected her, she slashed me with a fruit knife she'd prepared in advance, and she didn't even face proper judgment afterward."
"The third time, my boss, to pad Ms. Numby's resume, put me on her team. They gave me the title of 'deputy leader,' but the real purpose was to make me take the fall for the team leader. So, I was demoted and had my salary cut."
His storytelling was simple, yet in just a few sentences, it tugged at the crowd's sympathy.
Everyone couldn't help but think, This guy's had it rough.
Acheron sighed softly and sheathed her tachi. "…You have your hardships, but that's no excuse for selling counterfeit noodle stew and smearing the Annihilation Gang's reputation… Fine, as long as you repent, there's still time."
"Besides, you haven't sold a single bowl of noodle stew yet."
Skott: "…But what are those betrayals compared to this? If we're talking real suffering, today takes the cake… Ugh, what misery."
Skott: "…Running into a bunch of stingy freeloaders like you—my plan to smear the Annihilation Gang is going to fail again, isn't it?"