She spread her arms wide, as if embracing the entire world.
Shu's hand was also pulled up along with hers, forced to share the entire world with her.
"Do you know how long it's been since I've seen this—this normal world?
"There's nothing in the apocalypse. Only ruins, zombies, Honkai beasts, and Herrschers that could appear at any moment.
"There are commercial streets, sure. Ov Otto designated a living area and built a small street on the ninth underground level.
"But you could finish walking that little street in two steps! They sold fewer things than you have in your wardrobe!"
She took a deep breath, a look of yearning in her eyes.
"But it's different here."
She looked at the mall in front of them, at the children running in the plaza, at the couples walking hand-in-hand, at the young parents pushing strollers.
"There are so many people here, so many shops, so much delicious food, fun things, beautiful things... This is...
"This is what a normal world should look like..."
Shu didn't speak.
He just stared blankly at the light in her eyes.
"So today!"
Kiana withdrew her gaze and looked back at him, her smile as radiant as the midsummer sun.
"I'm going to properly enjoy this prosperous age! I'm going to take you to enjoy this prosperous age with me! So you'll know that besides staying at home, there are so many—so many things in this world worth being happy about!"
She held his hand tightly. From the moment they left the house, she hadn't let go once.
"Let's go!"
Shu was dragged forward by her.
"Let's go enjoy this world worth loving!"
Pulled along for two steps, Shu suddenly asked: "So about the money for buying clothes..."
"Ah, it's enough, it's enough, it really is enough!"
"Clothes here are very expensive. Weren't you going to buy a hundred outfits?"
"Oh please, I wouldn't even be able to carry a hundred outfits. Are you an idiot? How could I actually buy a hundred outfits?"
"Then you were just scaring me earlier?"
"What if you actually could afford it? What if you're actually some super-rich guy who can have people wrap the clothes up and deliver them to your house?"
"Then I'm really stubborn, refusing to admit I'm a millionaire even then."
"It's fine. You pay, I enjoy. It's a win-win!"
"How is that a win-win?!"
"I'm happy, and you're happy seeing me happy. Isn't that a win-win?"
"How am I happy?!"
"The corners of your mouth are smiling!"
"No, they aren't!"
"Yes, they are! I just saw it!"
"You saw wrong!"
"Kiana Kaslana is never wrong!"
"What kind of twisted logic is that?!"
"The truth of the Kaslana family!"
"The Kaslanas are doomed!"
Bickering back and forth like this, the two of them noisily ran through the mall's main entrance.
Cold air hit their faces.
Sunlight spilled down from the glass dome, illuminating the entire atrium.
Kiana stopped in her tracks, tilting her head up to look at this bizarre, dazzling world.
People bustled about the mall. The overall style was luxurious golden Roman, with each floor boasting a different thematic design.
Cosmetics and jewelry counters sparkled. Electronics stores were decorated with a highly futuristic sci-fi vibe. Various brand boutiques bloomed like a hundred flowers, and the sheer variety of goods was dazzling.
Further up, there was an electronics city, a billiards hall, escape rooms...
And all sorts of dining options—BBQ buffets, hot pot, Japanese cuisine... There were even special themed streets and unique venues within the mall.
Youthful, beautiful girls crowded together confidently, chattering about their favorite products.
Enthusiastic boys walked together in high spirits, waiting for an Idea King to emerge from the group.
Parents held their children's hands, couples snuggled close. Foreign faces flashed by occasionally, and people holding up their phones flashed brilliant smiles at the screen...
This was the normal world.
Ordinary daily life.
The way humanity was supposed to be.
Looking at all this, Kiana suddenly grew quiet.
Shu stood beside her, watching her.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Kiana didn't answer.
She just looked at those people, those shops, at the ordinary people living the ordinary daily lives she had once fought with everything she had to protect.
Then she took a deep breath, her grip on Shu's hand gradually tightening.
"Shu."
"Yeah?"
"I'm so happy." Standing beside him, her smile easily outshone everything before them.
Shu froze.
He looked into Kiana's eyes, at the completely unconcealed emotion within those pure blue depths, and suddenly felt his throat tighten.
He silently raised his head and looked at the world before him again...
The messily placed signboards, the visibly worn handrails of the escalators, the arrogant huffs of toddlers that sounded exceptionally jarring amidst the noise and laughter, and the ugly storefronts of the scattered shops undergoing renovation...
It wasn't that he couldn't see the beauty; he saw it more profoundly than anyone else.
But precisely because he saw too profoundly, he couldn't even filter out these flaws.
Beautiful... is it?
"Let's go."
Without waiting for his answer, Kiana tightened her grip on his hand again and pulled him toward the escalator.
"We'll start from the first floor and work our way up, floor by floor!
"Hmm... cosmetics and jewelry... even though I don't use them, it doesn't hurt to look, right?
"Then the second floor is all women's clothing! The mission of a hundred outfits starts there! Then the third floor—the third floor is men's clothing, right? We'll buy you a few outfits too! Even though you look good in whatever you wear, it's better to have a few more to change into!
"Then the fourth floor... ooh, the fourth floor has children's clothing! Maybe we can find styles that suit Bronya! Oh! And Aunt Theresa!"
"Wait, why is it a hundred outfits again? Didn't you say..."
"Well, if you add up everyone's clothes, it'll definitely be more than a hundred! There are so many of us!"
"Then how am I supposed to buy for them too?"
"Just memorize them! You can do anything!"
"Anyone else, sure, but not you guys!"
"Eh? Why not?"
"No reason. Didn't you play the story? Do you still not know what an account and password are?"
"I don't know... what is it, what is it? Tell me!"
"I'm not telling. Go play the story yourself."
"Wah! Are you trying to laugh at me again!?"
Kiana spoke rapidly as she ran, her words firing like a machine gun.
Dragged by her, Shu stumbled across the atrium.
Sunlight spilled from above, falling onto the two running figures.
One wore a white long skirt, her hair in a high ponytail, like a moving ball of sunshine.
The other wore a black suit, dragged along by that ball of sunshine.
The two of them entering the mall was like two drops of water falling into the ocean—it didn't stir up any waves, only momentarily drawing the gazes of those around them as they flowed past.
Yeah...
It truly is beautiful...