The manager quickly returned with a large bag of cash. Three hundred thousand in cash was no small amount, and for someone like him, who hadnât exercised in a long time, it felt heavy. By the time he got back, he was panting like an exhausted dog.
âGood work,â Luna remarked as she accepted the money without counting it.
Afterward, she headed to a shopping mall, knowing she had to change her outfit to stop drawing attention.
Guided by an enthusiastic store assistant who kept praising Luna for her beauty, she ended up purchasing a beige dress, white boots, a sun hat, and large sunglasses that obscured half her face.
Eventually, feeling the assistantâs disapproving gaze, which seemed to say she was wasting her beauty by hiding it, Luna bought a few more sports outfits and sneakers.
She felt that even without using her powers, her strikingly beautiful faceâperhaps enhanced by the right outfitâattracted too much attention. It made her uncomfortable, as everyone she encountered, regardless of gender, seemed to stare for far too long. Given that she couldnât use magic to disguise herself, she opted to cover up for the sake of maintaining a low profile.
After paying, Luna estimated the purchasing power of this world.
âIt seems three hundred thousand wonât last long.â
Entering the restroom, she changed into her new clothes and stowed away all unnecessary jewelry, including the cash, in her storage ring.
She put on her sun hat, which seemed out of place indoors, and the oversized sunglasses, which normally enhanced oneâs appearance but clashed with her current outfit.
Turning around, Luna finally felt she had successfully transformed herself from a kingdom-toppling beauty into an ordinary person.
âUgh, why wonât Master Lilith appreciate my beauty?â she lamented for a moment before stepping out of the mall and picking a random hotel that seemed nice.
âIâd like one of the best rooms, please.â
âSure, your ID card, please.â
âID?â Luna tilted her head, pondering for a moment before recalling that it was a crucial form of identification in this world. âHeh, interesting. So, without an ID card, I am not who I am?â
With a sneer, Luna reached out and waved her hand in front of the receptionistâs eyes.
The receptionistâs eyes suddenly glazed over as Luna casually flicked her finger toward the entrance of the hotel, pulling out the ID card of some unfortunate guest.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
âRegister me,â she instructed.
âRight away,â the glassy-eyed receptionist replied, quickly entering Lunaâs information into the system. Once done, Luna nonchalantly threw the ID card back to its owner. Êà Nоâ¿ÄÈ
Taking the room key handed over by the receptionist, Luna stepped into the hotel and rode the VIP elevator, ascending to the top floor. With a quick glance at her room number, she opened the door and walked in.
âNot bad,â she mused, surveying the room.
It was well-equipped with a TV, a sofa, a double bed, and a balconyâall well-maintained and in a clean condition. At least to her nose, there were no unpleasant odors. However, the pink lighting and the gauzy pink canopy over the double bed didnât sit well with her.
Luna preferred gold, blue, and whiteâcolors reminiscent of Master Lilithâs golden hair, blue eyes, and the delicate white of her attire.
Still, she didnât dwell on her preferences; after all, she wasnât from this world. Aesthetics varied, and perhaps most people here favored softer tones.
After casually crushing and throwing what appeared to be hidden cameras inside the eye of the teddy bear on the bedside table, behind the dresser mirror, and in the toilet bowl, Luna settled down at the pink computer desk and turned on the computer.
The information from the bookstore had been too one-sided; to gain broader knowledge, she needed to tap into the biggest collection of human wisdom in this world through a computer.
As the computer booted up, she ignored the wallpaper featuring a sexy woman posing alluringly and deftly clicked on the search engine, eager to absorb knowledge.
Her slender fingers danced across the keyboard. Initially, she typed slowly, but soon she grew proficient, her fingers moving like shadows as they flew over the keys.
Lunaâs confidence with the computer increased rapidly; to an outsider, she no longer looked like an otherworlder but more like a seasoned veteran in some hair-loss-prone profession.
âStrange,â she murmured, frowning as she browsed the information.
âAll this information is too basic.â
After several hours of searching, Luna found herself frustrated. It wasnât a matter of her computer literacy; it was the sheer strangeness of the content available.
Rather than strange, it was more accurate to say it was too simple. The search engine yielded information that felt almost trivial:
What is a car, and what does it do? What is a TV, and what does it do? What is a cell phone, and what does it do? A basic overview of the year, months, and daysâknowledge akin to kindergarten material.
But what Luna truly wanted to knowâsuch as the principles behind how a car movesâeluded her. No matter how hard she tried, it seemed that this deeper knowledge simply didnât exist online.
âIs it that this world lacks that information, or is it just unavailable to me?â Luna pondered aloud, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. âI think itâs the latter. If this world didnât have relevant knowledge, how would it function? In that caseâ¦â
Luna scanned her surroundings, extending her invisible senses throughout the room. âNo abnormalitiesâ¦â
âBut Iâm guessing that mysterious being who possessed the teenager earlier is watching me through some means. What is he trying to achieve? He probably already has the chance to attack me. Is he merely waiting for me to fulfill my mission of finding someone?â
Luna racked her brain but struggled to come up with any answers.
With so little information, all her speculations felt like empty talk.
âIt seems I canât obtain any more information right now.â
She stared at the screen, which displayed, âThe page you searched for does not exist,â and clicked to close the browser.
âSo, what now?â
Looking out the window, she noticed nightfall approaching. The city lights flickered on, casting a colorful halo over the dark streets, where cars flowed like a glistening river.
Finding a person in a sprawling city of fifteen million was daunting; Luna honestly didnât hold out much hope. It felt far more difficult than searching for a needle in a haystack; it was more like fishing for a grain of sand in the ocean.
As for which grain of sand, well, that would only become clear once it was found.
This wasnât just wishful thinking.
Luna realized her best course of action was to pretend to search for a while, waiting for the mysterious being to grow impatient and kick her out of this world.
After all, she probably wasnât the one he was waiting for; she had just been mistakenly thrown into this situation by a bizarre twist of fate.
Feeling more relaxed as she processed these thoughts, Luna stretched. Unfortunately, there was no one there to appreciate her beautiful curves that were on display.
She moved the mouse, ready to turn off the computer and sleep. However, her attention was drawn to an icon on her desktop featuring a young blonde girl.
âAccording to the books, this is called a gameâa primary form of entertainment in this world. Well, I have time. Maybe I should give it a tryâ¦â
With that thought in mind, Luna clicked the icon.