Starting with Firefly, Speedrunning the World — Part 11

"Wait, what are you doing?"

"Making money!"

Herta answered with complete seriousness.

At the same time, she looked puzzled, unable to understand why Firefly was reacting like this. Hadn't Firefly told her to make money?

"You're making money by doing this?"

"There's money in the bank."

The Herta puppet replied with absolute certainty, as if afraid Firefly wouldn't believe her.

"..."

As if I didn't know there was money in the bank.

But just because there was money in the bank didn't mean she was supposed to rob it.

"I told you to earn money legally, not rob a bank."

"Earn money? Can't do it!"

Hearing that, the Herta puppet planted her hands on her hips and replied righteously.

With nothing at all, how was she supposed to make money?

Was she supposed to beg? Sell herself? Haul bricks? There wasn't enough time for that now.

As for technical work, she had nothing right now. How was she supposed to do that?

Pull a fast one without any capital?

"Forget it. This will do."

Firefly didn't make things difficult for the Herta puppet. It looked like they really would be sleeping on the streets tonight.

After looking around, Firefly found a place that seemed decent enough. It was a small garden with a pavilion that could shelter them from the wind and rain.

There was also a streetlamp beside the pavilion, shining brightly.

They would spend the night here.

Firefly lay down on a bench inside the pavilion, but it felt a little uncomfortable, so she had the Herta puppet lie beside her as well.

That felt much better.

The night passed without incident.

Nothing happened that night, perhaps because public safety here was fairly good.

Still, since Firefly had dared to sleep out in a place like this, she naturally wasn't afraid of danger. Whether it was herself or the Herta puppet beside her, either one was enough to make anyone with ill intentions regret it dearly.

Morning came, and the temperature had turned somewhat chilly.

The cold morning wind in particular was like an invisible blade, silently cutting through the stillness of the night.

It gently swayed the treetops, carrying away the lingering warmth of the night and the dreams people had while asleep.

Yet although that cold wind carried a touch of chill, it also refreshed the mind. As it brushed across her cheeks, it brought a crisp sensation, as though it could wash away a night's exhaustion and dust.

Feeling the cold wind, Firefly instinctively hugged Herta beside her tighter. But after a while, she still had no choice but to open her eyes and sit up from the bench.

She slowly stretched.

She hadn't slept comfortably. It was nothing like her soft bed at home.

It was only bearable because the Herta puppet had kept her company. Otherwise, it would have been even worse—she didn't even have a blanket.

Once Firefly got up, the Herta puppet beside her also sat upright. Her expression remained unchanged.

In fact, the Herta puppet hadn't slept at all during the night. She had remained awake the entire time. As a puppet, she wasn't a living creature but more like a robot, so naturally, she didn't need sleep.

That was also why Firefly had been able to sleep here without worry. She had a Herta puppet keeping watch the whole time.

Daylight arrived, and people gradually began to appear.

When passersby noticed Firefly and the Herta puppet, most of them were briefly stunned. It was clear that these two beautiful girls seemed to have spent the night here.

That was strange.

Why weren't such cute girls going home? Weren't they afraid of staying outside overnight? Or had they run away from home and had no money for lodging?

The latter was quite likely, because such things were not uncommon in this country.

Many girls chose to run away from home because of family problems or rebelliousness. Yet they either couldn't or didn't want to earn money to support themselves, so they could only drift from place to place.

Sleeping on the streets.

Some would soften at that point and call home. But others refused to go back no matter what, gradually becoming what were known as "God-Waiting Girls."

"God-Waiting Girls" sounded rather nice, but it wasn't a positive phenomenon at all.

God-Waiting Girls, also known as "girls waiting for gods," usually had nowhere to live and no stable residence or income. They would post their locations on forums or dating apps, seeking men willing to provide them with free lodging and food. Those men were called "gods" by the girls.

The term "God-Waiting Girl" originated in the period after the collapse of the bubble economy.

At the time, many families fell apart and poverty became severe, leading some minors to run away from home and become God-Waiting Girls.

With the development of the internet, these girls began posting information on various social media platforms in search of so-called "gods."

However, this lifestyle was neither safe nor healthy. Many people might take advantage of their plight to commit illegal acts.

As a result, the lives of girls waiting for gods were filled with danger and misery!

Sleeping out in the open like Firefly was doing now made it easy for others to mistake her for one of them.

The only difference was probably that Firefly and the Herta puppet were far cuter than ordinary girls.

But that only made passersby pay them even more attention.

Aside from people who did not want to meddle in others' business and office workers hurrying to work, who merely glanced at them without stopping, the rest harbored other thoughts.

Before long, a middle-aged man approached Firefly and asked whether she needed help.

Although his attitude sounded friendly, everything he said implied that his home was spacious and that, if she had nowhere to stay, she could live with him.

He also said he could take care of their daily needs.

His meaning could not have been clearer!

Firefly listened with a dark expression and flatly refused him.

However, Firefly had underestimated the appeal of herself and the Herta puppet. No sooner had she driven the middle-aged man away than other men came over.

They all had roughly the same intentions.

The more polite ones left tactfully after being refused.

But not everyone was like that. Some delinquents, seeing that persuasion did not work, decided to use force. They might have let an ordinary target go, but missing out on girls this beautiful would be doing themselves a disservice!

Yet Firefly did not need to act at all. The Herta puppet beside her knocked him unconscious with a single punch.

She also searched him for money, only to find seven thousand yen in his wallet.

"Poor bastard."

If he had no money, he should not imitate other people and become a delinquent. And he wanted to use force? He was a disgrace to delinquents!

Cash was generally used in this area. It was not like Firefly's previous life, where everyone was used to paying by phone and did not carry money.

Seven thousand yen on him was far too little.

By afternoon, the weather had turned unpleasant, and a light rain was falling.

Firefly crouched alone by the roadside to shelter from the rain, holding a loaf of bread in her hands. She looked rather pitiful.

Seven thousand yen was nowhere near enough. It was not even enough for food.

She could only buy cheap bread to last a few days, let alone afford lodging. Sleeping outdoors was manageable on sunny days, but rainy days were truly difficult.

As Firefly crouched there, agonizing over whether to cross that line in her heart and get enough money by any means necessary to survive, or keep going like this, a familiar female voice rang out beside her.

"Are you okay? Do you need help?"

"..."

Hearing the voice, Firefly looked up... and found Kurama Neon, the young lady of the Kurama Conglomerate, standing before her with livestreaming equipment in one hand and an umbrella in the other.

Was this young lady playing her runaway-from-home game again? Even on a rainy day?

Still, it was obvious that she had forgotten everything that had happened during the Desire Grand Prix and returned to normal.

That was not strange. The events of the Desire Grand Prix were not known to the public. Even those who had experienced them could have the relevant memories easily erased by Desire Grand Prix personnel.

Unless they touched the chip ID of a Kamen Rider launcher, only then could they recall those memories.

Come to think of it, the Kurama Conglomerate was also a sponsor of the Desire Grand Prix. Kurama Neon's parents knew quite a lot about the Desire Grand Prix.

Even though becoming a sponsor of the Desire Grand Prix had not been his wish.

"Eh? Eh!! It's you!"

The moment Firefly raised her head, Kurama Neon recognized her. She was the kind person who had helped her fool the bodyguards last time.

"I never properly thanked you for helping me shake their tail last time."

"Though they still caught me in the end."

"But I'm still very grateful to you."

Having run into Firefly, someone she had met once before, Kurama Neon immediately smiled, looking delighted.

"You're... running away from home again?"