It was night.
Suddenly, a sapphire-blue pupil, like a gemstone, emerged from the darkness.
"I can't sleep, no matter what, I just can't sleep!"
Cipher sat up, a little agitated. She didn't know why, but she didn't feel sleepy at all; instead, a surge of excitement had taken over.
After staring blankly at the ceiling for a while, her mind empty, Cipher threw off the covers and stood on the floor.
"Since I can't sleep, I might as well go out and take a look. It's a good chance to explore this place."
Cipher said, dressing herself in clothes and boots. In a short while, she was fully dressed.
"Let's go!"
After getting dressed, Cipher tidied her hair, then put on her hood, ready to leave.
But just as she placed her hand on the doorknob, Cipher paused, then withdrew her hand.
"I remember Cipher's secret technique, isn't it invisibility? I should try it now."
With that, Cipher's thoughts stirred, and she immediately saw a purple glow emanate from her body.
"Emmm... Did it work? Why do I feel like it's unreliable?"
Honestly, she felt that with all this purple on her, was it really invisibility? Didn't it just make her more conspicuous?
Forget it, Divinity Speed was already activated. She couldn't possibly mess up something as simple as invisibility, right? This would have to do.
Cipher didn't dwell too much on this ability. She opened the room door and walked out.
The living room was pitch black, and from the other rooms, she could only hear the sound of snoring. After confirming everyone was asleep, Cipher opened the main door and arrived in front of the dog hole... the entrance to the underground parking lot.
"I'm here!"
A muffled girl's voice came from the ruins.
Immediately, a steel plate resting quietly against the ruins was directly lifted, revealing an opening.
At this moment, a cat-eared girl emerged from that opening.
And this cat-eared girl was Cipher herself.
"Finally out!"
Cipher stood up and stretched.
Then she turned and covered the opening with the steel plate again.
After doing all this, she looked outside the hole, gazing at the dark sky, lost in thought.
So, where should she go now?
After reviewing everything that had happened that day in her mind, Cipher decided where she should go first.
Of course, she should go check out the Mercenary Association first; she still remembered the way!
Because of her secret technique, Cipher felt it was unlikely anyone could discover her.
So, she wondered if she could try something she used to see in TV shows or anime: wall-running and roof-jumping?
Thinking of this, Cipher lightly tapped her toes and silently landed above the opening.
Looking at the buildings of varying heights before her, Cipher's yearning grew stronger.
"I already have such powerful strength, and I'm still hesitating so much over such a small thing. How can this be? When did I become so indecisive!"
With this thought, Cipher's eyes sharpened, and she immediately made up her mind.
After observing the various buildings in front of her, she quickly found that a route map naturally generated in her mind.
Having determined her target, Cipher lightly tapped her toes and landed on the balcony of the first building. This was followed by several consecutive leaps—she landed on eaves, glided over rooftops, or grabbed onto a spot to steady herself, then pushed off a wall for leverage, soaring into the air again.
During her jumps, Cipher experienced sensations she had never known in her previous life.
The wind whispered in her ears, lifting her body, filling her with an unprecedented lightness.
However, although her dynamic vision had reached its max level, this was her first time doing something like this, and the rapidly passing scenery was temporarily a bit too much for her to process.
So, Cipher simply closed her eyes, relying solely on her hearing and body's instinct to guide her forward.
At this moment, she felt as if she had become a bird freed from its restraints; the wind became her wings, and sound became her eyes, allowing her to soar freely in the sky.
After a while, Cipher stopped when she jumped onto the rooftop of a building.
"Mmm~"
Stretching on the rooftop, Cipher slowly opened her eyes.
She looked at the building in front of her, which displayed the four large characters "Mercenary Association," and nodded with satisfaction.
"It seems quite fast. A journey that would take over ten minutes, I completed in just over a minute."
She jumped down from the rooftop. Seeing that it was still open for business, she walked inside.
Of course, her secret technique was still active.
Upon entering the building, the familiar smell of alcohol permeated the air. Cipher frowned but didn't leave.
She had given the mask back to Jasmine when she was scolding that mercenary earlier, so she had already somewhat adapted to the smell here.
"Huh? That mercenary is here too?"
Speaking of which, Cipher had just thought of that mercenary, and then she saw him nearby, bruised and swollen, mopping the floor.
"Did he not have enough money to pay, and was forced to stay and work?"
Thinking this, Cipher slowly approached the mercenary. Once she was beside him and confirmed that he indeed couldn't see her, she slowly began to feel around his clothes.
Soon, she felt a cold object.
'Hey, this should be it, right? System inventory, collect!'
Feeling the item in her hand disappear, Cipher knew she had succeeded.
Leaving the Association and going outside, she opened her system inventory and saw something that looked like a cell phone.
[XXX's Personal Terminal] (White Item)]
[A former member of the Wolf Fang Squad, who got into serious trouble, resulting in massive debt. He has been kicked out of the Wolf Fang Squad and is currently working hard to repay his debts.]
[credit points: -527]
"credit points... negative 527?"
Looking at the "Effect" description replaced by "credit points," Cipher stroked her chin and began to ponder.
'So, I can check the assets in a personal terminal directly through the panel? That means I don't need to figure out how to check his balance. That's quite convenient!'
After praising one of the system's user-friendly features, Cipher looked at the item's description.
Reading the description above and combining it with the "-527 credit points" below, Cipher immediately pieced together the subsequent events.
She had defeated him, and all the repair costs needed to be paid by him, but he couldn't afford it. So, the manager here wanted his squad to bear the responsibility.
But the Wolf Fang Squad wasn't foolish. Seeing that their member had caused such a huge disaster, they quickly cut ties with him and kicked him out of the squad.
Thus, the only path left for this mercenary was to borrow money or work to repay his debt.
It seemed he chose the latter option, or perhaps he couldn't get a loan.
In any case! Did this mean that every time she came to this place in the future, she would encounter this unlucky fellow?
Thinking this, Cipher leaned back slightly, her eyes filled with disdain.
According to novel tropes, at this moment, this person must hate her to death, after all, she ruined his life.
Then, every time she came here, would she be stared at by him with resentful eyes, and would he try every means to get rid of her, even joining some evil cult or something, sacrificing his life to attack her?
Although she wasn't afraid of these things, just thinking that every time she came with the Spark Team to submit/receive missions, she would be scrutinized from head to toe by someone, made her feel uncomfortable all over.