Lu Zhaoran's apartment.
Cipher watched Lu Zhaoran, who remained shrouded in a heavy silence quite unlike her usual self. For a moment, she didn't know what to say. Based on what she heard in the warehouse, a senior who had been missing for ten years suddenly reappeared as an enemy... anyone would find that hard to swallow.
Having never experienced such a thing herself, Cipher feared that any attempt at comfort might backfire. She decided it was best to leave Lu Zhaoran alone for a while to clear her head.
With a soft sigh, Cipher turned and headed toward her own bedroom. It was the perfect time to investigate the details of the system update.
Once in her room, Cipher collapsed onto the bed and whispered the command for the gacha.
[Current Stellar Jades: 960 (1 Stellar Jade can be exchanged for 1,000 Credits. Current Credits: 2,304,523). Would you like to perform a pull?]
'Eh? Over 2.3 million credits? Where did those come from?'
Cipher stared at the numbers, completely bewildered. She remembered having only about 290,000. How did it jump to over two million?
Driven by curiosity, she pulled out her terminal and checked the transaction history. Sure enough, she found a massive transfer record for over three million credits. The sender was Lu Zhaoran.
'Hiss... Xiao Ran didn't transfer every single cent of her assets to me, did she?'
Looking at the precise amount in the transfer log, Cipher felt her guess was likely correct.
"So, did those two get sold off? Or were they snatched away?" Cipher scratched her head, puzzled. She looked toward the door, debating whether to go ask Lu Zhaoran about it. But recalling the girl's somber state, she ultimately decided not to intrude.
"Wait a minute..."
Suddenly, Cipher spotted a glaring detail.
"If Xiao Ran transferred over three million to me... why is there only 2.3 million in the account? Where did my missing million go?"
The disappearance of such a large sum made Cipher bolt upright. She scoured the transaction history again, but there was no record of a large deduction. It was as if the money had simply vanished into thin air.
"Right! The new system function! How could I forget that!"
After another fruitless search, she remembered the new feature introduced right after she killed Jinchuan. To ensure she had sufficient combat power at the time, she had experimented with the function to manifest the death curse from the Wisp of the Hermit Princess's Aura.
There had been a notification for a one-million-credit deduction back then, but she had been so anxious to check on Xiao Ran that she hadn't paid it much mind.
"One million... I emptied the accounts of three people and still didn't make that much profit."
The realization brought a mask of pain and heartache to Cipher's face. She felt heartache for the lost million, but the true agony came from a different realization.
Though she had spent a fortune to acquire the Hermit Princess's ability, those people had sensed the danger and fled before she could use it. The ability went to waste, which meant she had essentially thrown a million credits into a black hole!
A million credits. How many personal accounts would she have to drain to make that back?
She, Cipher, was depressed!
'Cursed Countercurrent Alliance... This cat will make sure to earn back every cent I lost because of you!' Cipher thought viciously.
After recovering slightly from the grief of her financial loss, she turned back to the gacha interface. She was four pulls away from a ten-pull—exactly 640,000 credits.
Well... maybe I'll just use a little 640,000 to round off the ten-pull? Think of it as testing the new feature!
With that thought, Cipher whispered: "System, ten-pull!"
[Insufficient Stellar Jades detected. Exchange 640,000 Credits for 640 Stellar Jades?]
"Exchange!"
[Understood. Consumed Stellar Jades x1600. Commencing pull...]
The familiar purple light glowed; no early legendary arrivals today.
[Congratulations, Host, you have obtained: Box of Dried Little Fish x5, SoulGlad x1, Trick Snack x3, Divided Silver Coin x1 (Purple).]
"Divided Silver Coin? Trick Snack?"
Curious about the new items, Cipher clicked on their descriptions. In the game, one restored Technique Points while the other was a Curio that doubled current Cosmic Fragments. However, this wasn't the game; she needed to see how they had been modified.
[Trick Snack] (Blue Consumable)
"A pack of processed seeds inspired by cyclonic principles. When eaten, the seeds pop against the roof of the mouth like popping candy (Suggested position: lying face down)."
Effect: Not much use. Just eat it as a snack. After all, your current abilities don't require Technique Points.
"Hm... looks like most blue items remain useless. Let's check the Divided Silver Coin."
[Divided Silver Coin] (Purple Consumable)
"A Curio. While its effect triggered immediately upon acquisition in the game, it has been modified by a mysterious power into an active-use item. Isn't this much better than the game version? (∠・ω＜)⌒☆"
Effect: Upon use, the host immediately receives additional Credits equal to 50% of the Credits currently held in Quantum Storage.
"That is much better," Cipher nodded, agreeing with the system's assessment.
One was an item you could control, the other was automatic—and you never knew when you'd stumble upon it. Given the choice, any sane person would pick the former.
"However... 50% of the Credits in Quantum Storage... that means if I don't store them there, that portion won't be doubled?"
"I'd better move most of my Credits back into Quantum Storage then. Even if I need them urgently, transferring them to my terminal doesn't take much time. If I'm in a rush to use the coin later, I might forget to move the money in the heat of the moment."
Cipher quickly moved the bulk of her funds back into the system's storage. Having finished her chores and seeing nothing else to handle, she let out a long yawn. She sprawled out on the bed in the shape of a star and closed her eyes.
"Time for a nap. It's barely been an hour, but facing two Vice Alliance Leaders of the Countercurrent Alliance at once is exhausting, nyaa."
Muttering to herself, her body followed suit. She rolled over and gradually drifted into a deep sleep...