Speedrunning the World Starting with Firefly

As long as she needed housing, bought tickets, or appeared in public, there was a chance she would be discovered.

As the sponsor of the DGP Grand Prix and the region's leading conglomerate, the girl had no doubts about its influence. Nene Arakawa's father had only been arrested later because the DGP organizers had abandoned this world. This was not that time yet.

"What should we do next?"

Nene Arakawa was no fool. She naturally understood just how much power her family possessed, and her earlier excitement immediately faded.

"..."

Firefly thought for a few seconds, then seemed to remember something. She took out an item and handed it to Nene Arakawa.

"This is for you!"

"What is it?"

The item in Firefly's hand was a Fox Mask. Nene Arakawa hesitated slightly. Could this really hide her identity?

But since it was a gift from Firefly, she happily accepted it.

Whether it worked or not, it was still a rare gesture of kindness.

However, Firefly's next words left her stunned.

"Put it on. As long as you don't take it off yourself, it'll be very difficult for people to recognize you under normal circumstances."

This Fox Mask was no ordinary mask. It was a reward she had drawn before: Sparkle's Mask.

While blue-quality rewards were almost all useless, that was not entirely true!

At the very least, this Fox Mask that had originally belonged to Sparkle carried a trace of the Path of Elation's power, enough to blur the perceptions of anyone looking at its wearer.

"Really?"

Firefly's words made her somewhat doubtful. Was this Fox Mask really as amazing as she claimed?

It looked like an entirely ordinary Fox Mask.

"..."

Facing Nene Arakawa's suspicion, Firefly offered no explanation. She merely took the mask, put it on her own face, and Nene Arakawa was immediately stunned!

Her impression of Firefly's face actually began to blur.

My Hometown Was Destroyed Long Ago

"Do you believe me now?"

After demonstrating Sparkle's Mask, Firefly took it off and handed it back to Nene Arakawa.

"I believe you."

Nene Arakawa nodded repeatedly, still shocked inside!

It was unbelievable. This Fox Mask was really that powerful.

Thinking about it carefully, it did not merely blur her impression of the wearer's face. Unless she deliberately thought about it, it was easy to overlook what the other person looked like without finding anything strange about it.

It had a miraculous ability to blur cognition.

She had never expected this world to contain something so incredible, but that only made Nene Arakawa more reluctant to accept it so casually.

"Firefly, this mask is too precious! I can't take it."

If it had merely been an ordinary mask, she would have accepted it without hesitation. But since it was such an incredible mask, she did not have the nerve to take it.

"It's fine. It's not as precious as you think."

"And don't you want freedom? With it, you can have the freedom you want."

Judging from her previous draws, she would definitely get something like this again.

Sparkle definitely had more than one mask. This Fox Mask was not even the one Sparkle often wore on her head, since the style was different.

So Sparkle either had some in stock, or it was simply a mask she had casually bought.

But because she was a Masked Fool, the mask had gained a tiny trace of Elation's power.

That was why she really could not bring herself to care much about an item of blue quality.

Under Firefly's persuasion, and because Nene Arakawa truly wanted freedom, she accepted it in the end. She only became even more grateful to Firefly.

Firefly was far too kind. She had helped her when they first met, and now, the second time they met, she had helped her escape pursuit and even given her such an amazing mask.

She did not know how she could ever repay her.

If Firefly had not been a girl—and an even cuter girl than herself—she might have thought she had met the person destined for her.

What a shame...

"By the way, Firefly."

Having shaken off the bodyguards and obtained the miraculous Fox Mask, Nene Arakawa finally relaxed completely. She was like a wild horse freed from its reins, carefree and at ease.

Both her expression and her spirits looked much better.

Looking at the cute Firefly before her, Nene Arakawa recalled seeing her earlier and felt a little curious.

"Why were you crouching by the roadside all alone earlier?"

She had not thought much of it before, but now that she recalled it, Firefly had looked like a homeless girl by the roadside. It had been a little pitiful!

Wait...

"Firefly, don't tell me you ran away from home too?"

Thinking of that possibility, Nene Arakawa could not help asking.

"Of course not!"

Firefly quickly shook her head.

How could she have run away from home? Who would do something that foolish?

Oh. The girl right in front of her would.

"In this world, I... no longer have a home."

Lowering her head, Firefly answered in a calm tone.

She was not lying. To this world, she was an outsider, and the original Firefly... had long since lost her home. Before joining the Stellaron Hunters, she could even be considered an interstellar refugee.

"Huh? How could that..."

Hearing that, Nene Arakawa felt a pang in her heart.

She instinctively covered her mouth, not knowing what to say for a moment.

"You could probably tell, right? I'm not from here. I'm an outsider."

"In fact, my hometown was... destroyed long ago."

Although she was speaking of such a tragic past, Firefly still wore a beautiful smile. That only made Nene Arakawa feel even more heartbroken for her.

Her hometown had been destroyed. She had no home...

Why did something like that have to happen? She could not accept it. And it had happened to the cute, kind Firefly standing before her.

"Waaah..."

Firefly herself had not reacted much, but Nene Arakawa was the first to lose control. She hugged Firefly and nearly burst into tears.

"I'm sorry, Firefly-chan. I didn't know about any of this..."

"Compared to you..."

Compared to what Firefly-chan had gone through, her own troubles did not amount to anything.

Yet Firefly was the one saving her.

Seriously...

"..."

There was no need to react that strongly, was there?

Firefly gently patted Nene Arakawa's back and comforted her instead.

After Nene Arakawa calmed down, she rubbed her eyes and looked seriously at the girl before her.

Then she made an earnest invitation.

"Since you have nowhere to go, Firefly-chan, why don't you come with me?"

"Let's find a suitable place to live together."

She was not truly some naive, sheltered heiress who had prepared nothing. Since she had planned to run away from home, she had naturally made preparations.

Otherwise, was she supposed to live on air?

Even if she intended to find a job and support herself, she needed arrangements before finding work. So she had prepared quite a bit of spending money, enough to support herself for many years even without working.

As the only child of the region's leading conglomerate, her allowance was an amount ordinary people could hardly imagine.

Most of it was in her bank card, but she also had quite a bit of cash, along with priceless luxury goods, jewelry, and the like.

"Huh?"

Hearing Nene Arakawa's invitation, Firefly was a little slow to react.

But before she could say anything, Nene Arakawa had already put on the Masked Fool's Fox Mask and pulled Firefly off to look for a place nearby.

It was getting late. The two girls could not sleep outside, could they?

After running around for an hour,

Nene Arakawa finally rented a three-bedroom apartment nearby.

Though the place could be considered quite small, it was more than enough for two girls.

And Nene Arakawa, a young lady born into wealth who had lived in top-class mansions all her life, truly did not seem to mind a place like this.

She really was different from ordinary conglomerate heiresses.

Then again, Nene Arakawa's dream was to become an ordinary person.

Compared with facing her mother every day in that top-class mansion—a mother with an extremely twisted need to control her—this little apartment made her feel much more at ease.

Firefly lay on the bed. It seemed she would not have to sleep on the streets tonight.

Still, she had not expected to find lodging this way.

"Firefly-chan, are you hungry?"

"It's getting late. How about we go out for dinner?"

Nene Arakawa's voice came from the doorway. They had been busy until now and had not eaten anything yet.

"Sure."

The girl rubbed her stomach, looked at the uneaten bread she had bought earlier, and decisively tossed it aside.

Who would eat bread when there was good food to eat?

Still, she needed to earn some money herself.

Thinking about that, Firefly got up, left the room, and headed to a nearby restaurant with Nene Arakawa.

So Hard to Make Money!

"Making money is so hard!"

Firefly sprawled across the table, staring at the computer screen displaying all kinds of job listings, only to find that there were not many suitable for her...