Around two in the afternoon
Ling, Zhe, and Hoshimi Aya sat on the sofa, watching the news.
Ling sat in the middle, with Zhe and Hoshimi Aya on either side, watching the news about the Old Capital Subway.
Proxys generally need to pay attention to recent news. If there's special news, they might even get a commission.
So it's quite necessary to pay attention.
The TV was showing an interview with Charles Perlman, the chief representative of Vision Company.
He was a significant character in the game's 1.0 storyline, the short guy connected to a very large part of the plot.
Everything proceeded according to the original plot during the interview.
Just as the interview was nearing its end, Fairy suddenly issued an alert.
"Camera detected an unknown person rapidly approaching the store."
"Preliminary assessment: he needs to use the restroom, his rented video tape is about to expire, and he harbors ill intentions towards this store."
Fairy listed a series of conjectures.
"It's probably just a customer coming. I'll get the door."
With that, Zhe walked towards the door.
The moment Zhe opened the door, a figure with a green Bangboo rushed in, falling directly to the ground for a close encounter due to inertia.
"Dual-wielding weapons?"
"Nekomata?"
Hoshimi Aya looked at these characteristics and the familiar Bangboo, immediately guessing who the person was: Nekomata!
The top physical damage dealer below Jane Doe. Unfortunately, she always wanted to pull her but never did, nor did she wait for Jane Doe's rerun.
The first thing Nekomata did after getting up was point at the TV screen.
"Don't believe this shorty uncle!"
"Everything he says is a lie!"
Nekomata pointed at the TV screen.
The others silently watched Nekomata, not responding.
"You should have meowed before opening the door!"
"You made me fall, and my nose hurts so much!"
Nekomata said, a little aggrieved.
"Meow!"
"Welcome to Sixth Street's best Video Store!"
"Would you like one of our membership cards?"
"It's a great deal; you'll break even after renting three tapes."
Hoshimi Aya chimed in.
Zhe, Ling:...
"Sounds like a good deal."
"But where I live now, there's no projection equip..."
Nekomata suddenly realized halfway through her sentence that she wasn't there to rent video tapes.
"No!"
"Now is not the time for this."
"I know who you are, Phaethon!"
"I have a Proxy commission for you."
Nekomata said seriously.
"Guest, you must have misunderstood something."
"We are just an ordinary Video Store."
"We don't sell sauce!"
Zhe retorted, unwilling to admit their identity as Proxys.
After all, their Inter-Knot account had just been deleted, and now an unknown person knew their identity. It seemed suspicious no matter how you looked at it.
"Wait, I'm not a bad guy."
"My name is..."
Nekomata explained somewhat flustered, but Hoshimi Aya interrupted her halfway through.
"That's what all bad guys say."
"Bad guys don't admit who they are either."
Hoshimi Aya said with a serious expression.
After all, opportunities to tease people like this don't come often.
Zhe and Ling immediately understood Hoshimi Aya's meaning; they had recognized the Bangboo Nekomata brought, which was the one Belle always carried.
"It does seem very suspicious indeed~"
"Perhaps we should call a Security Officer."
Saying this, Zhe and Ling adopted a scrutinizing attitude.
Seeing this, Nekomata immediately panicked and hastily explained.
"Wait, I'm really not a bad guy!"
"Belle told me to come!"
"My name is Nekomata! I'm really not a bad guy!"
"This is Belle's Bangboo, you recognize this, right?"
With that, Nekomata quickly held the Bangboo up in front of her, letting the others get a good look at it.
"This Bangboo... it is indeed the one Belle always carries."
"Did Belle really send you? Where are they now?"
Zhe brought the conversation back to the main topic.
Teasing was enough; there was serious business to attend to.
"It's where the news just mentioned, Yuanjing's blast zone."
"That uncle said there was no one inside, but that's not true at all!"
Nekomata said indignantly.
There were clearly people inside that blast zone! Yet they claimed there weren't! They simply didn't value human lives!
"It seems we just said we hoped they wouldn't get into any trouble."
"I didn't expect trouble to arrive so quickly."
Ling said without surprise.
After all, this wasn't the first or second time such a thing had happened.
"What are Belle and the others doing there?"
Zhe asked.
"Looking for something! My commission, the Red Fang Gang is causing trouble!"
"There are so, so many people, like canned fish..."
Nekomata hastily explained, but didn't make it clear.
However, Nekomata's description was a bit strange, and few present understood it.
Except for Hoshimi Aya, who knew the plot.
"Quiet, no one here can understand you like that."
"Let's just watch the Bangboo's recording."
"Fairy, it's your time to shine."
"I know you can do it."
Saying this, Hoshimi Aya placed Belle's Bangboo in front of Fairy, letting Fairy operate it.
After all, this was how the plot progressed, so skipping the dialogue like this would save some time.
Zhe and Ling, however, looked at Hoshimi Aya with some surprise. They hadn't expected Hoshimi Aya's mind to work so quickly; it was truly abnormal.
Usually, Hoshimi Aya gave them the impression of being dull and a little clumsy.
This situation was completely abnormal!
...
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