"It's you!" The bunny Thiren exclaims in surprise. "Wait, why are you here?"
"Um, I rent this room," Caelus says with a raised eyebrow. "I mean, it's kinda obvious when I come out of this room."
"Um, true," The bunny says while rubbing the back of his head. "To be fair, this is quite the coincidence."
"Yeah, I wasn't expecting to meet someone who just served food for me not long ago," Caelus says before glancing at the bunny. "By the way, are you the employee who left without notice?"
"...how do you know that?" The bunny asks stiffly, looking like a deer caught in headlights.
"The man in the cashier's express displeasure when I paid for my food, and you just happen to be here, trying to enter your home," Caelus says in a dry tone. "It didn't take a genius to figure out why."
"Why do you even care?" The bunny asks with narrowed eyes.
"Curiousity, but other than that, nothing," Caelus says while shrugging.
"..." The Thiren says nothing before attempting to open the door. But his short body didn't let him reach the door handle. Caelus bit the bottom of his lips, holding himself from laughter.
"L-let me help," Caelus says as he reaches the handle for him. The bunny Thiren glances at him before nodding.
"T-thanks..." The bunny said while trying to hide his embarrassment. "I-I'm Phil..."
"Call me Caelus," Caelus nods. "Oh, by the way, do you happen to know a place where I can sell some Ether Fragments?"
"Um, yeah, why do you ask?" Phil asks curiously, only to be met with Caelus' deadpan expression. "...right, stupid question." Phil paused before looking at Caelus. "...you're a Hollow Raider?"
"No, just a guy who miraculously survived and escaped Hollows, beating some Ethereals on the way," Caelus says, earning a disbelief look from Phil. "...don't ask for details, I'd rather not talk about it."
"Okay..." Phil merely nods. "Well, if you're looking to sell fragments, the black markets might be your best bet because they won't question you about where you get the items." Phil pulls out a notebook, drawing something on it before tearing off the page and giving it to Caelus. "Here's the location. Just follow the path."
"Any advice I should know?" Caelus asks as Phil pauses.
"...usually, they love to scam people by offering you a low price while exaggerating things about how your item's qualities are terrible and won't get them any profits." Phil muses before looking at Caelus. "May I take a look at your fragments?"
"Sure," Caelus says as he puts his hand into his pocket, while summoning the fragment through the system. He pulls his hand out and shows Phil the fragment.
When Caelus puts his hand into a pocket, Phil immediately assumes that he has low-quality shards, especially when he remembers that Phil admitted he got lucky to survive in Hollows and beat some Ethereal. But, upon looking at the fragment on Caelus' hand, let's just say Phil is grateful he didn't drink anything, or else he might spit them out of shock.
"This...this is clearly a fragment belonging to low-level Ethereal, but...the quality matches a medium level one!" Phil exclaims in shock, glancing at the fragments in disbelief before looking at Caelus. "These kinds of fragments might fetch an average price of 5 thousand Dennies per ounce! Do you have more!?!?"
"Um, yeah," Caelus says while patting his pocket.
"....why are you not preserving them to keep their quality intact!?!!" Phil asks in panic, startling Caelus. "If you carelessly keep those fragments like putting them in a pocket, of all things, the quality might drop!!!!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Calm down," Caelus waves his hands up.
"S-sorry," Phil realizes he might've gone a bit too far and calmed down. "B-but please, make sure you preserve it or you'll lose a lot of dennies."
"Thanks for the advice, it's really useful," Caelus says before pausing at Phil's beaming expression. "You really know this stuff. Where did you learn it?"
"Um...here and there..." Phil says vaguely. "Also, having big ears let me hear people better." Caelus nods, but he knows Phil must be involved with this kind of stuff in some ways, perhaps being a client for Inter-Knot commissions or an illegal informant. But, it ain't Caelus' business.
"Well, thanks for the info anyway," Caelus says with a smile before opening his room's door wider, letting Slyboo walk out. Phil glances at the Bangboo curiously, while showing a sign of...envy? But Caelus didn't notice this as he glanced at Slyboo.
"Hey, buddy, wanna come with me to sell some stuff?" Caelus asks. "We can pick up some Electrolytes while on the way."
"Na! (Yeah!)" Slyboo exclaims before looking at Phil, tilting his head curiously. "Na? (Who's that?)"
"He's our neighbor, Phil," Caelus introduces his Bangboo to the bunny, who waves his hand in greeting. Slyboo did the same, albeit with more enthusiasm.
"Anyways, we'll take our leave. Take care of yourself, kid," Caelus says, waving at the bunny before running off.
"I'm not a kid!" Phil exclaims with slight frustration. "...I'm already 18."
"I'm 23! To me, you're still a kid," Caelus hears this and shouts back, causing Phil to stammer, unable to respond as Caelus already walks down the stairs. All Phil could do was huff in annoyance.
"Our age gap wasn't that big..." Phil mutters before entering his room. Upon entering the room, he immediately approached the bag lying on the bed, filled with various tools.
"Alright...It's time to show them..." Phil says as he picks up the bag, pulling out his phone to show news of the new Hollow at Fourteenth Street. "I'll show them..."
As Caelus reaches the ground floor, he runs past Meilian and greets her. The old lady was startled but simply shook her head in amusement, muttering 'youngster these days' before minding her own business.
Unknown to her, another person had walked out of the apartment building.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Later
"Ehn-nu! (I can't believe you haggle those fragments for such high costs!)" Slyboo exclaims in disbelief.
"That merchant asks for it," Caelus huffs, holding a bag of groceries. "First, he mocks me for being a newbie and saying anything I sell is not worth buying, which causes every 'merchant' to give me cold shoulders. When I pull out my products, they still had the gall to offer me prices lower than what Phil says."
"Ehn-na? (Don't you think you may have gone too far?)" Slyboo asks. "Nu, Ehn-na ehn-na, ehn-na na. (Sure, they may have gone too far, but you destroyed one of their stalls.)"
"You forget they subtly threaten to kill me, saying they will 'make me disappear'." Caelus deadpans.
"...Na (...fair)" Slyboo grumbles. He knows Caelus had to threaten them since they're all scums, but he still didn't like it.
"...you know that I had tried the peaceful way, right?" Caelus says.
"...ehn, (...yeah)" Slyboo nods as they walk back to the apartment building. They were greeted by Meilian, glancing at the clock while anxiously pacing around the lobby.
"Miss Meilian, are you okay?" Caelus asks in concern, getting her attention.
"Oh, Caelus," The old lady greets. "...sorry, young man. I was simply concerned."
"...I know I shouldn't stick my nose into other people's business, but may I ask what happened?" Caelus asks with a hint of concern.
"...have you met your neighbor Phil?" Meilian asks, earning a nod from Caelus.
"Yes...Did something happen to him?" Caelus asks.
"...I'm not really sure," Meilian says with worry and guilt, earning a confused look from Caelus. "You see...Phil is...a runaway. I let him stay in my apartment due to...issues."
"..." Caelus didn't say a word, letting Meilian continue.
"...Phil's life hadn't been easy, his... colleagues are all from successful families." Meilian takes a deep breath. "Unlike them, Phil doesn't have anyone to support him, financially or emotionally, and they love to rub it in his face. He...was clearly affected by this, so he tends to enter Hollow illegally as a Hollow Raider, earning as much money as possible. But...he always returns injured and only earns less than a usual Hollow Raider."
"..." Caelus looks at her in realization, understanding what she's implying. "He might be going to another Hollow for money again."
'And that explains why he knows quite a lot of information...' Caelus thought.
"I try to talk some sense to him, but he always brushes me off with a smile that hides so much pain..." Meilian mutters before looking at Caelus.
"..." Caelus lets out a sigh. "Did he have a contact number? There's a chance he might not be in a Hollow."
"I did, but he won't answer the call..." Meilian lowers her head.
'...I know I shouldn't be involved...' Caelus thought. 'I...have been surviving for almost a day thanks to luck. I don't think I'm going to be as lucky as before...but....'
Out of nowhere, the system displays a screen right in Caelus's face. Caelus was taken aback by this before reading its content, which caused him to turn pale.
[Emergency Mission: Rescue the Wabbit]
[Info: Your neighbor, Phil, had entered the Hollow on Fourteenth Street without anyone helping him. The poor wabbit had zero combat experience and skills to survive a horde of Ethereals. Rescue him before he loses his life and fades into the background, forgotten by anyone.]
[Rewards:???]
'...' Caelus' hands tremble with this information. Phil is fated not to survive, and if he's really a part of ZZZ's world, he'll be a complete nobody that no one mentions. A tragedy that might not even be worth mentioning in detail.
Caelus silently glances at Slyboo, who shares concern for Phil after hearing his story. Now that Slyboo is here, it's possible to save him and safely escape the Hollow. During Slyboo's registration, Zhu Yuan had mentioned how the Bangboo had some modifications, including Ether-resistant plating and the Carrot program installed into its system.
Taking a deep breath, Caelus made his decision.
To be Continued