"Shit!"
Feng Xue felt like he'd grown cruder and cruder since crossing over. But was that really his fault? Honestly, if anyone else had gone through what he had, they probably wouldn't have been able to keep their cool either.
He'd finally gotten the [Fate] element. He'd finally gotten the card he wanted. So why had this happened?
As Feng Xue lamented his misfortune, the card in front of him finally stopped changing. The newly formed card still had the traditional design, with an image on the upper half and text on the lower half, though some details made it easy to recognize.
For example, the number 75 sat in the upper-left corner, while A-20 was marked in the upper-right. At the very top of the card was a name—
Lucky Alexandrite Gemstone.
Feng Xue was familiar with this card's design. The False Thing he'd picked up earlier, the Killer Bullet with the [Destruction] element, had been in the same format.
He also remembered this thing quite clearly, because it was a card the protagonists had gone to great lengths to acquire in Hunter × Hunter's classic Greed Island arc!
Of course, he was only familiar with it. In the original story, it was merely a collectible, never actually used as an item.
He picked up the card and looked at the description, intending to check its properties. But the moment he lifted it, it went "pop" and turned into an exquisite ring set with a red gemstone.
"Shit!" Feng Xue blurted out again. Only then did he remember that Phantom Objects could usually inherit an item's original functions. And the common trait of Greed Island cards was that if they weren't put into a card binder within a minute, they turned into real items and took effect!
"This is ridiculous!" Feng Xue immediately activated his Golden Finger, and a line of attribute information appeared before his eyes:
Name: Phantom Object · Lucky Alexandrite Gemstone Elements: [Fate], [Opportunity], [Fortuitous Encounter], [Mystery], [Item] Description: A ruby of mysterious origin. Its owner will experience precious encounters and life experiences beyond the reach of ordinary people, though whether they bring good or bad luck is impossible to say. Note: Misfortune may be a blessing in disguise, and a blessing may conceal misfortune...
"Can I still throw this thing away?" Feng Xue stared at the Phantom Object ring in his hand, feeling as if it were burning him. His first instinct was to toss it.
And that was exactly what he did. Throwing a Phantom Object onto the street could easily cause trouble, but compared to those supposedly "precious experiences"—whether they meant bad luck or good—Feng Xue thought it was better to play it safe.
After all, the Landfill Area's Garbage Dump was so rich in resources that he could gather a whole set of divine-grade manuals before venturing back out. There was no need to gamble.
But just as he got up, went to the door, and reached for the doorknob, someone outside pulled open his Room Door.
"!!!"
"!!!"
In an instant, Feng Xue sprang backward, pulled his hood over his head with one hand, and extended his Sleeve Blade, ready to fire at any moment.
The person who had opened his door stared blankly at the scene inside, falling into a bout of self-doubt along the lines of, Did I open it wrong?
Chen Xiyao was a very typical girl from Yan Country. An only child, she carried all her parents' hopes on her shoulders. She'd been the kind of kid other parents envied since she was young. Her daily life consisted of nothing but school and home, and she'd been signed up for a whole bunch of extracurricular classes.
She didn't have a computer of her own and wasn't allowed to go to internet cafes. It wasn't until she started her first year of high school that she was given a phone.
At seventeen, she'd never worn makeup, and her usual clothes were mostly school uniforms and a few tracksuits. It wasn't because her family was poor, but simply because her parents thought that if a girl dressed too nicely, she'd start dating too young.
In a sense, Chen Xiyao was almost the perfect example of a typical Yan Country girl, representing the lives of a large portion of her peers.
But like any young person, she naturally had a rebellious streak. It was just that her studies had kept it suppressed.
Though she didn't have a computer, she had her own ways of unwinding. She might borrow a manga or novel from the bookstore by the school, or sneakily watch a couple of movies when her parents were out at midday.
But after she started her second year of high school, her rebellious streak finally broke free. She couldn't even say exactly why.
Maybe it was because her parents had stopped giving her pocket money on the grounds that she needed to start preparing for the college entrance exams, leaving her unable to rent books?
Or because simply discussing novels and manga with a male classmate had gotten her accused of dating?
Maybe it was because she'd done poorly on a quiz?
Or maybe she just couldn't take the suffocating life anymore?
Whatever the reason, Chen Xiyao had reached her breaking point. She decided to run away from home.
But she'd been a good girl for so long that she couldn't bring herself to follow through right away. Instead, she bottled it up until winter break, then finally ran away on a chilly, windy morning.
But clearly, it was asking too much of a girl who'd never once talked back to her parents in over a decade to pull off something as bold as running away from home on her first try. Before her parents even noticed she was gone, her conscience started bothering her.
"Will Mom be worried?"
"Will I get scolded if I go back this late?"
"Is it dangerous to stay out all night?"
All sorts of thoughts churned in her mind, eventually driving the girl—who'd been away from home for less than nine hours—back to her own front door.
But the moment she dejectedly opened it, everything before her eyes changed.
The entryway, which should have held a shoe cabinet and some miscellaneous items, had become a spacious Living Room. The elegant décor had been replaced by a minimalist style. What turned her shock into terror was the man standing not far in front of her, dressed in a white robe, his face hidden beneath a hood, a gleaming Sharp blade extended from his right hand. He radiated Killing intent!
"Who are you? What are you doing here? I—Mmmph!"
The girl's loud question immediately triggered Feng Xue's reflexes. He clamped a hand over her mouth, dragged her inside, and shut the door in one fluid motion. Only when the girl began whimpering in terror under his restraint did Feng Xue realize just how outrageous his actions had been.
You should be grateful I didn't instinctively go for a chokehold and a kidney punch... Feng Xue sighed inwardly. He wanted to ask her something, but then a sudden "buzz" rang through his mind. The [Shi] that made up his body began spinning and colliding once more.
With two previous experiences behind him, Feng Xue understood that this was the sign of a Tag being generated.
But...
"What Tag did I trigger this time? Kidnapper or abductor?"
Before you continue