Platinum had been distracted all day, her thoughts constantly drifting back to Neo Universe.
Logically speaking, with the crucial Yayoi Sho approaching, she should be firing on all cylinders, training with every ounce of her strength…
But her mind kept wandering back to Neo Universe, unbidden. It wasn't love, of course, but a deep-seated puzzlement over her sudden appearance.
I mean, just maybe, right? Even the slimmest possibility?
What if her own memory was fine, and it was everyone else's memories that were the problem?
If Agnes Tachyon heard her say that, she'd definitely mock her for watching too many movies and overthinking things. Yet, Platinum couldn't shake this nagging unease in her heart.
Because she felt a sense of familiarity around Neo Universe. They had met before, she was sure of it, but definitely not just as classmates…
So, the moment Platinum returned to her dorm that evening, she began tearing the place apart, rummaging through everything, searching for any clue.
Her main focus was the diary she kept herself. Other things might lie to her, but her own diary wouldn't, right?
She flipped through that diary from cover to cover, but frustratingly, couldn't find a single entry about her classmates.
It was all about how much she'd eaten, how much she'd slept, how long she'd played, and how annoying Agnes Tachyon was. If you covered the name, you'd think it was some farm's production log.
For heaven's sake, why.jpg
No, this absolutely couldn't be her fault—
Platinum clenched her fist and threw a punch at the empty air.
This was Agnes Tachyon's fault! It was all because she kept barging into her room, leaving Platinum with no privacy, too scared to write anything real in her diary!
Shifting the blame onto Agnes Tachyon made Platinum feel much better instantly.
Hah, see? There couldn't possibly be anything wrong with her.jpg
Even if she had one percent of the fault, didn't Agnes Tachyon deserve the other ninety-nine?.jpg
"This time, I absolutely must fortify against Agnes Tachyon… Let me think…" Platinum's train of thought had completely derailed, now fully focused on countering Agnes Tachyon.
No matter how many times she changed the lock, Agnes Tachyon always found some miraculous way to open it… Looks like she needed to bring out some serious tech and cunning…
Platinum pulled up the system's shop interface and started searching directly.
[Anti-Terrorism Door Lock]
[Anti-Terrorism Diary]
True to its nature of stuffing in every useless thing imaginable, the shop listed hundreds of pages of products. But one look at the prices below made Platinum gasp; she couldn't afford any of it.
This stuff was still way too advanced for a middle schooler like her.
Left with no choice, Platinum changed the sort order to price, low to high. The products that appeared before her were finally within her budget.
It's just… the stuff being sold looked a bit familiar.
[Platinum's Diary] ×1 Price: 50 Carrots
[Platinum's Diary] ×5 Price: 260 Carrots (Special Offer!)
Platinum frantically ruffled her own hair, on the verge of a breakdown.
Why was her own diary in here?!
And why were there five volumes of her diary?!
Come to think of it, where did all the stuff this shop sold even come from?!
And this 'Special Offer!'—what kind of discount was that?! Bundling them together made it more expensive! Why?!
"Huff… huff… huff…"
Calm down. Calm down.
Platinum, you're someone who's seen big storms. Don't lose your composure over something like this.
Sitting back down, Platinum thought about it and felt this might also be an opportunity.
A chance to see how the system shop actually operated.
She'd actually been wondering for a long time: how did the things she bought from the system end up in her hands? Were they generated out of thin air, or taken directly from somewhere else?
And now, her own diary was right here beside her. If she bought it again from the shop… wouldn't that allow her to figure it out?
This was important to Platinum. Because the world definitely didn't have the suppressant medicine for Soul Dissolution Syndrome.
If her medicine was taken from another world instead of being generated from nothing…
Then maybe, just maybe, she could still have some connection to her original world?
Besides, 50 carrots wasn't that much; it wasn't terribly expensive.
After wrestling with it for a moment, Platinum finally clicked the purchase button. She clutched the diary she'd been writing in all along, her heart filled with hesitation, excitement, and a complicated mix of emotions.
Even she couldn't say whether she hoped for a diary to appear out of thin air or for the one in her hand to suddenly vanish.
After waiting a few seconds, Platinum felt a strange sensation near her feet. Looking down, she saw a travel bag had appeared. The diary she was holding hadn't disappeared.
…So that's how it is. Platinum let out a sigh, unsure if it was disappointment or relief.
It seems the shop generates items out of thin air… Thinking this, Platinum unzipped the travel bag, pulled out the diary inside, and placed the two diaries side by side.
"Anyway, no use thinking too much about it now…" Platinum reached out and touched both notebooks, about to get up and wash up for bed. Suddenly, she froze.
Something was wrong. Very wrong.
These two notebooks… felt different. The one she'd just exchanged from the shop… its cover was wrinkled, as if it had been soaked in water and then dried.
They weren't the same notebook!
This… this couldn't be…
Platinum's breathing suddenly grew heavy. She picked up the newly purchased diary and opened it.
It definitely wasn't the same diary… Flipping through it roughly, Platinum found this one was much more worn, with many missing pages, and even the handwriting was in different colored inks, as if she'd just used whatever pen was available to jot things down.
Platinum turned back to the front of the diary and started reading from the beginning.
--+--
Some Month, Some Day
Symboli Rudolf is being so persistent, it's really annoying.
Saw some police officers. Did they call the cops? They're way too nosy.
Stayed in the park overnight. The bench made my spine ache.
I shouldn't have run in that race. It's caused nothing but a string of troubles.
But thanks to that race, at least I know my goal now. I guess I just need to keep running on the track.
This body is much stronger than I thought. Maybe I can actually do it.
But the shop doesn't sell ID documents. Damn it, you can even buy military hardware, but no forged documents? Are they trying to preach about being anti-forgery? How laughable.
No ID, so I can't collect the prize money from the race. My situation hasn't improved one bit. No one wants to hire someone for under-the-table work if they can't even show ID and have no references.
Tough spot. Had to use carrots to buy some compressed biscuits and a set of thermal underwear. Thirsty. Tried drinking tap water. Stomach feels okay for now; probably won't die.
How am I going to get through today…
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.