"By the way, Phaga… did we forget something?"
In the dead of night, Ellen dragged her exhausted body as she glanced at her phone, realizing it was already well past midnight. She turned the screen off and rested her head against Phaga's shoulder.
Then, as if struck by a delayed thought, she suddenly remembered there might still be something left undone, mumbling groggily.
"Did we?"
After driving since morning and staying busy all night, Phaga felt utterly drained. His head swam, his eyes barely able to stay open as a wave of fatigue washed over him.
He grabbed the nearest soft pillow and was ready to fall asleep.
The pillow let out a faint protesting hum when he hugged it, shifting on its own a few times before settling more comfortably.
"Was it the off-road vehicle? Burnice and the others haven't returned it yet, right?"
Ellen tilted her head, unconsciously rubbing against Phaga's chest, her tail looping around his waist.
A heavy weight pressed against his side. Half-asleep, Phaga reached out to pat it and murmured, drowsy:
"Let's deal with it tomorrow. That car belongs to the class president—don't let it get damaged. Hopefully there's a repair spot in the Outer Ring."
With that, Phaga tilted his head, breathing in the scent of Ellen's hair, and promptly fell asleep.
Ellen fell asleep even faster than Phaga. In reality, as she drifted off, she unconsciously gave a light bite to Phaga's chest, a satisfied smile curling at the corner of her lips.
She seemed to be having a sweet dream—though who knows how many sardines she caught in it.
But one thing was certain.
The two of them had completely forgotten that the class president and Ruby were still inside the Hollow.
...
Inside the Hollow.
"Pah, pah, pah! Damn it—sand in my mouth! Hey, tell me this: one of us is an Ethereal, the other's an Investigator. How did we manage to get lost in the Hollow?!"
The class president was utterly exhausted. He could no longer drag his legs, which felt as heavy as lead.
Spotting a place that looked relatively sand-free, he collapsed straight down—only to plant his face right into another mouthful of grit.
After a while, he finally caught his breath. Bracing both hands against the ground, he used every ounce of strength to push his upper body up, then flung himself to the side and rolled over.
"This isn't my fault!"
Ruby complained as she flopped down as well, muttering,
"You were the one who said we should get closer to admire the Inferno Ride in the Hollow. Who knew that lake of fire would suddenly erupt like it had diarrhea?"
"We had to dodge meteorites, dodge Ethereals—and in the end, the Hollow itself warped its spatial structure from the massive impact. All the data had to be recalculated. Taking such a long detour is just us re-mapping the data, isn't it?"
"So?"
The class president asked,
"Have you finished re-mapping it?"
"Not yet… If we could find a data pillar, it'd be a lot easier."
Ruby turned her back to him, her voice growing quieter as she poked at her fingers, clearly embarrassed.
Hearing her mosquito-buzz-soft voice, the class president's mouth twitched.
He muttered dryly,
"In a place like this fire lake, Miss Ruby, you're still dreaming about finding a data pillar?"
"I'm sorry…"
Ruby apologized in a small voice. Even she knew it would be absurd to expect one here.
Still, Ruby was Ruby. Even when it came to someone like Nineveh, whom she'd dare complain about behind their back, her mentality was solid if nothing else.
Somehow, she found a burst of strength. She suddenly pushed herself up and said encouragingly,
"But don't worry, class president! With my talent and hard work, I'm sure it won't be long before we find someone who can help us get out of here!"
"And it's exactly because of your 'talent and hard work' that we ran into a whole swarm of Ethereals just a few steps into the Hollow and almost got surrounded to death!"
Ruby's passion had barely left her mouth before it was drenched in cold water.
Her spirits instantly sank, and she collapsed onto the sand, sniffling as she started drawing circles on the ground.
Seeing this, the class president felt a headache coming on. Unable to quite bear it, he put on an impatient front and tried to comfort her,
"Alright, stop crying. It's not like we have no hope of getting out… But say, isn't your stamina recovering a bit too fast?"
As he spoke, the class president suddenly sat upright, staring at his own hands.
As he opened and closed his fingers, he felt a steady stream of strength pouring into his body. His stamina was recovering far faster than normal—even the soreness in his muscles had eased significantly.
He froze, stunned.
He'd expected the soreness to last for days, to take a long time to recover.
Yet it was already almost gone.
Hearing this, Ruby finally realized that her own stamina had recovered quite a bit as well. She hadn't even noticed when she'd suddenly propped herself up earlier.
Ruby exclaimed in surprise,
"How could this be? That's amazing… Is it—"
[That's right. It's me, the great Black-and-White Doll—]
The Black-and-White Doll stood proudly with its hands on its hips, tiny face tilted skyward.
"...Little Black-and-White, was this your doing?"
The next instant, a vein popped on the doll's forehead. Its smile stiffened.
Moments later, its mood plunged, and it snapped angrily,
[You're the 'little' one! Your whole family's 'little'! Call me Lord Black-and-White Doll!]
The doll puffed out its cheeks, floating in front of Ruby, its crimson eyes wide as it glared at her.
"Hehe."
Ruby scratched her cheek awkwardly, then tentatively reached out a hand.
Seeing that the Black-and-White Doll didn't seem to resist, she extended her other hand too, skillfully scratching the top of its head and its chin—just like she was taming a stray Bangboo on the street.
"Oh come on, Lord Black-and-White Doll, please don't hold it against me! I was momentarily distracted and made a little slip. I'm sure a great doll like you wouldn't mind. Hehe!"
"Really?"
The Black-and-White Doll opened one eye suspiciously, then turned its head away with a huff, its mouth twisting.
"But you don't sound very sincere."
"Hehe, I am, I am! Once we're out of the Hollow, I'll treat Lord Black-and-White Doll to a big meal, alright?"
Laughing, Ruby pulled the doll into her arms.
The Black-and-White Doll snuggled closer, letting out a comfortable hum thanks to the overwhelming softness.
But soon, it seemed to realize this looked undignified.
Reluctantly, it pulled itself out of Ruby's embrace, cleared its throat twice, and put on a serious face as it opened one eye.
"Ahem. Since you put it that way, fine. Lead on. The sooner we get out, the sooner we can eat—cough, I mean, the Hollow isn't very friendly to you humans. The sooner you leave, the less you'll be eroded."
"Hehe, then let's hurry! Keep up—we'll get over that sand dune first!"
Ruby hugged the Black-and-White Doll and took off running, not forgetting to turn back and urge the class president—who'd been watching the whole thing—to follow.
The class president sighed.
"Coming."
He followed after her, then asked,
"Is there a reason we're heading this way? You didn't just guess randomly, did you?"
"Of course not! I'm a future legendary Investigator. How could I pick a direction without thinking? Ha… ha ha ha!"
Amid her stiff laughter, Ruby's eyes darted away. She turned her head, unable to meet the class president's gaze, beads of sweat sliding down her temple.
She suddenly felt that if she admitted she was going by intuition, the class president would be rolling his eyes at her the entire way.
"Really?"
Her laughter was highly suspicious, and the class president eyed her skeptically.
"Really! How could the world's number-one legendary Investigator lie to you?"
He stared at her for a long moment, making her scalp tingle. She forced herself to sound resolute.
Then suddenly, a faint glimmer caught the edge of her vision.
Ruby instinctively looked over and immediately spotted a chair in the vast wasteland—with a ball-shaped figure sitting on it.
"What's that? Should we go take a look?"
Though phrased as a suggestion, Ruby had already scooped up the Black-and-White Doll and run off the instant the words left her mouth.
The class president was more cautious, frowning as he carefully examined the figure.
For some reason, the ball-shaped man felt familiar.
Where had he seen him before?
On the streets? Online? In the papers?
But he never read newspapers. As for the streets—there was no way he'd remember random passersby.
As he ran after Ruby, he kept thinking.
Eliminating the streets and newspapers left only the internet.
But there was far too much information online—nothing minor ever stuck.
So who was it?
With lingering doubt, the class president lifted his head, his gaze settling hesitantly on the man's face.
The moment he saw it clearly, his eyes flew wide open.
"Holy shit—Vision Industries' CEO, Perlman!"
Ruby's "talent and hard work" had actually led them to this!
This was a fugitive, with a bounty absurdly high. Just bringing him back to the city would earn a hefty sum of pocket money!
But then, the class president hesitated.
This was something Ruby found.
Could it really go this smoothly?
Had their luck finally turned?
[Hey! You two brats—heads down!]
Suddenly, the Black-and-White Doll shouted as if facing a mortal threat.
At once, the class president felt relieved, a wide smile spreading across his face.
Knew it.