Starting with Firefly, Speedrunning Worlds

Nene Arakawa had no idea how much time had passed, but she still wasn't satisfied. It had been a long time since she'd had this much fun.

Especially...

Nene turned to look at the beautiful silver-haired girl beside her. Being with Firefly felt so comfortable. How should she put it...

Although Firefly looked like a younger sister, she always seemed to be thinking of her.

Whenever they saw something or a stall had something on display, Firefly would look to her when it came time to decide or choose. In short, being with Firefly made her feel incredibly relaxed.

It was like having a little girlfriend who listened to everything you said and always thought of you.

That comparison was naturally wrong. They weren't a couple or anything, but it really did feel wonderful.

At that moment, Nene even found herself thinking about why she hadn't been born a boy. If she were a boy and had such a cute girlfriend as Firefly, her life would be complete!

"Firefly-chan, I'm so jealous of whoever gets to marry you someday."

Firefly was so wonderful that Nene couldn't help voicing her envy.

"There won't be anyone."

Upon hearing that, Firefly's originally sweet and obedient expression stiffened. She let out a breath and spoke softly.

She had no interest in that!

In the future, she was going to become an Aeon. And according to the system's grand promise, after seven worlds... the characters she transformed into and their abilities would permanently belong to her.

So Future Firefly would be her own wife. How could she possibly let her wife marry someone else?

"Huh? Why?"

Nene didn't quite understand Firefly's answer.

What girl didn't dream of her prince or Guardian Knight? For example, she herself had always looked forward to meeting the person destined for her.

But with Firefly's help now, she no longer seemed as fixated on that destined person as before.

Though deep down, she still yearned to receive true "love."

"There's no reason."

Firefly offered no explanation. Then, when her gaze landed on a stall not far ahead, she rubbed her little belly.

"Oh, right. We've been walking for so long... Nene, do you want something to eat? There's a dessert stall up ahead, and it looks pretty good!"

"I'll treat you to dessert, okay? Consider it my thanks for letting me stay with you and for showing me around all this time!"

After wandering around for so long without eating, she really was getting hungry.

Come to think of it, she'd been so pitiful ever since arriving in this world. She couldn't even fulfill her basic wish of having one Oak Cake Roll a day. Although this world didn't have Oak Cake Rolls, it did have other similar cake rolls.

But she simply couldn't afford the luxury of having one every day.

She had to save wherever she could.

Even now, despite working for two days and earning a little money, after her previous expenses, she only had a few thousand Japanese Yen left.

Still, it was enough to buy some dessert.

"Sure! Now that you mention it, Firefly-chan, I'm getting a little hungry too."

"Then let's go buy some dessert!"

Hearing Firefly's words, Nene started craving something sweet too. She immediately walked with the girl beside her toward the stall ahead.

Looking at the desserts on display, she found every single one exquisitely made.

"They all look so pretty!"

As she admired the desserts at the stall, Nene was captivated by how cute they looked. Every portion was tiny, but each one was incredibly delicate.

For a moment, she actually found it hard to choose.

But the portions were all so small that she could easily pick several.

So Nene quickly made up her mind.

"Boss, I'll have this one, this one, this one, and that one..."

"Also, Boss, this one is so cute too, and this one!"

Nene selected the little desserts she liked. The smallest ones could be eaten in half a bite, and since they were all so adorable, she unconsciously ordered quite a few more.

Only after she finished choosing did she turn to Firefly beside her.

"Firefly-chan, take a look and see what you want. The portions are tiny, so you can order a few."

Nene never asked about the price. As a wealthy young lady, she generally didn't care about such things.

She completely failed to notice that Firefly's expression had already frozen as she touched the little money on her, at a complete loss.

"Um... I suddenly don't feel hungry anymore. I don't want any."

Firefly looked a little unnatural. After glancing over the desserts at the stall, she tried her best not to look at them any longer and turned her gaze toward the owner.

"Boss, how much is all of hers?"

"I've calculated it. The total is 7,280 yen."

The owner did the math and gave her the number.

"..."

Hearing that number, Firefly fell even quieter.

Wasn't that one hell of a coincidence? The money she had on her was neither more nor less than exactly 7,280 yen.

It felt as if Nene had chosen those desserts while looking at the money in her pocket. Fortunately, Firefly herself hadn't ordered anything, or she wouldn't have had enough to pay.

Was this what prices were like in Japan?!

The wages were high, the prices were high, and the portions were tiny. At least they looked good!

"Here. It's exactly enough."

With a pained expression, Firefly handed over the only money she had. She'd said she was treating Nene, so naturally she couldn't go back on her word.

After leaving the stall, Nene ate her desserts while looking at Firefly hesitantly.

"Firefly-chan, you... really don't want any?"

"...Mm."

Did she really not want any? Was she really not hungry?

She had no money!!

And then, this innocent, carefree young lady Nene, who knew nothing of the hardships of the world... or how hard it was to earn money, truly believed that Firefly simply didn't want to eat.

It never crossed her mind that Firefly had no money.

After all, money was the least important thing in the world to her.

Born into a wealthy family, she might not have lived happily, but she had never lacked food or clothing growing up. Even without her family's support, her Nene TV still had tens of millions of followers.

Making money was far too easy for her. How could someone like her think earning money was difficult?

Even if someone was desperately short on cash, they would still have money for a meal or some pastries, right?

Though she didn't think much further in that direction, she felt a little embarrassed eating alone. So she took out a pastry and fed it to Firefly.

After they had wandered around the festival enough, Nene and Firefly left together and came to a small roadside restaurant.

Firefly wasn't picky about what she ate, and this wealthy young lady, Nene, apparently wasn't either.

She didn't look down on the place for being too low-class.

Quite unusual, wasn't it?

They happened to pass by, and seeing that business seemed fairly good, the two went inside together.

They were truly a little hungry. The desserts from earlier weren't filling, and even if they had been, some time had already passed.

"I wonder when the next DGP Grand Prix will begin."

Sitting in her seat, Firefly watched the girl across from her seriously studying the menu and fell into thought.

So many days had passed, yet there had been no movement from the DGP Grand Prix, leaving her with no choice but to wait. After all, she hadn't been in this world for long and didn't really understand many things.

She knew some of the plot, but the specifics were another matter entirely.

The DGP was a massive reality show unknown to the general public. Only after the Future People's Game Master's Vision Launcher was stolen and DGP operations could no longer freely recreate the world did it gradually come into the open.

Although she had previously changed the outcome of Ace Ukiyo becoming the Desire God, all she had really changed was Ace's consecutive championship record. It merely took away some of Ace's glory and couldn't affect much.

Ace had two thousand years of memories. He continuously reincarnated... yet retained every memory from his past lives. Calling him an old monster who had lived for two thousand years wouldn't be wrong.

Moreover, he had participated in the DGP Grand Prix in most of his lives, becoming the Desire God time and time again over the past two thousand years and making countless wishes as contingencies.

Whenever the critical moment came, he could always unleash power beyond imagination.

Yes, the DGP had existed in this world for a very long time. The DGP Grand Prix had been held throughout every era.

And the DGP's power to alter the world was, in fact, reliant on the power of the Creation Goddess statue.

When someone possessed both the Game Master's Vision Launcher and the Game Producer's Launcher, they could have the Creation Goddess fulfill their wishes and create whatever they wanted.

Though not every wish could be granted, and as Creation Power was consumed, the Creation Goddess's strength couldn't last for long.

At that point, a new Creation Goddess would be needed.

The Creation Goddess had originally been born because of the game known as the DGP...

The current Creation Goddess was actually the first DGP Game Navigator.

Interestingly, she was also Ace Ukiyo's mother from two thousand years ago.

If she wanted to change or destroy the DGP Grand Prix, the Vision Launcher, the Game Master, the Creation Goddess, and the Jyamato Garden were the key factors.

Especially the Creation Goddess and the garden that cultivated Jyamato.

"Firefly-chan, what are you thinking about?"

After Nene finished ordering, she noticed that Firefly was spacing out and didn't know what she was thinking about, so she couldn't help asking.

"Huh? N-No, nothing."

Firefly hurriedly replied.

But then she thought of something else. Come to think of it, it was inevitable that Nene Arakawa would be chosen to become a Kamen Rider.

Not only because the Arakawa Zaibatsu was a sponsor of the DGP Grand Prix; she was a life created by the Goddess, and she had also been chosen by a Future People Top Supporter.

But if she kept wearing the Fool's mask, would that cause the DGP to miss her because it couldn't find her?

Though Nene Arakawa didn't seem to be as tightly tied to the main plot as the other three.

Geats, Buffa, and Tycoon were the real key figures.

Forget it. There was no point thinking so much.

Even if things changed, it didn't matter. With Sam's power, there would hardly be any great difficulty in this world, unless some Rider with absurd abilities suddenly intervened.

Otherwise, this world's Creation Power sounded impressive, but in reality, it was somewhat lacking.

Without thinking further, she decided to eat first.

All she needed to do next was wait for a new round of the DGP Grand Prix to begin, then find a way to make the Game Master or Game Producer enter the fray while earning Points.

That way, she could obtain their Launchers. That was one of the keys to clearing this world!

Oh, right. And there was also the Game Navigator, Tsumuri.