Speedrunning the World Starting from Firefly, Part 13

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

As a sponsor of the Desire Grand Prix and the region's foremost conglomerate, the girl had no doubts about its capabilities. Kurama Neon's father had only been arrested and imprisoned later because the DGP organizers had abandoned this world. This was not that time yet.

"What should we do next?"

Kurama Neon was no fool. She naturally understood the kind of 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 Kurama Neon.

"This is for you!"

"What's this?"

Looking at the item in Firefly's hand, it was a fox mask. Kurama Neon hesitated a little. 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 token 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 difficult for people to recognize you under normal circumstances."

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

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

At the very least, this fox mask, which had originally belonged to Sparkle, possessed a trace of the power of the Path of Elation—enough to blur the perceptions of anyone who saw its wearer.

"Really?"

Firefly's words made her doubtful. Was this fox mask really as amazing as she claimed?

It looked like an entirely ordinary fox mask.

"..."

Faced with Kurama Neon's doubts, Firefly did not explain. She simply took the mask, put it on her face, and Kurama Neon was immediately shocked!

Her impression of Firefly's face suddenly became genuinely vague.

Chapter 17: My Homeland Was Destroyed Long Ago

"You believe me now, right?"

After demonstrating Sparkle's fox mask, Firefly took it off and handed it back to Kurama Neon.

"I believe you."

Kurama Neon hurriedly nodded, still shocked deep down!

It was unbelievable. This fox mask was really that powerful.

Thinking carefully, it did not merely blur the wearer's features. Unless one deliberately thought about it, it was easy to overlook the other person's appearance, yet not find anything strange about that.

It possessed a miraculous ability to blur cognition.

She had never expected there to be something so magical in this world, but that made Kurama Neon even less willing to accept it so easily.

"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 a powerful mask, she could not bring herself to shamelessly accept 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 by her previous card draws, she would definitely draw something like this again.

Sparkle surely had more than one mask. This fox mask was not even the one Sparkle often wore on her head, since the style was somewhat different.

So she definitely had a stockpile, or perhaps it was just a mask she had bought on a whim.

But because she was one of the Masked Fools, the mask had gained a tiny trace of the power of Elation.

That was why Firefly truly could not bring herself to care about an item of blue quality.

Under Firefly's persuasion, and because Kurama Neon truly wanted freedom, she eventually accepted it. She simply became even more grateful to Firefly.

Firefly was just too kind. She had helped her the first time they met, and now, on their second meeting, she had helped her escape pursuit and even given her such an incredible mask.

Kurama Neon did not know how she could ever repay her.

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

What a pity...

"Oh, right, Firefly."

Having shaken off the bodyguards and obtained the magical fox mask, Kurama Neon was completely at ease now. She was like a wild horse freed from its reins, relaxed and carefree.

Even her expression looked much brighter.

Looking at the adorable Miss Firefly before her, Kurama Neon recalled seeing her earlier and felt a little curious.

"By the way, why were you crouching by the roadside alone earlier?"

She hadn't thought much of it before, but now that she recalled it, Firefly standing by the roadside had looked like a homeless girl. It was a little pitiful!

Come to think of it...

"Firefly, you didn't run away from home too, did you?"

Thinking of that possibility, Kurama Neon couldn't help but ask.

"Of course not!"

Firefly hurriedly shook her head.

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

Oh, the girl in front of her would.

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

Lowering her head, Firefly answered in a calm tone.

She wasn't lying. In 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 called an interstellar refugee.

"Huh? How could that be..."

Hearing those words, Kurama Neon felt a little upset.

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 a long time ago."

Though she spoke of such a tragic past, Firefly still wore a beautiful smile. That only made Kurama Neon feel even more heartbroken for her.

Her hometown had been destroyed, and she had no home...

Why did something like that have to happen? She couldn't accept it. And it had happened to the cute and kind Firefly standing right in front of her.

"Waaah..."

Firefly herself hadn't reacted much, but Kurama Neon was the first to lose control. She hugged Firefly, so distressed that she was about to cry.

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

"Compared to what you've been through..."

What she had gone through was nothing at all.

Yet Firefly was still the one saving her.

Honestly...

"..."

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

Firefly gently patted Kurama Neon's back, comforting her instead.

After Kurama Neon finally calmed down, she rubbed her eyes and looked seriously at the girl before her.

Then she made a sincere invitation.

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

"We can find a suitable place to live together."

She wasn't truly some naïve, sheltered heiress who had made no preparations at all. Since she had planned to run away from home, she had naturally prepared for it.

Otherwise, was she supposed to live off the wind?

Even if she planned to find a job and support herself, she needed arrangements for the period before she found one. So she had prepared plenty of spending money—enough to support herself for years without working.

As the only child of the top financial 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 some priceless luxury goods and jewelry.

"Huh?"

Hearing Kurama Neon's invitation, Firefly was a little slow to react.

But before she could say anything, Kurama Neon had already put on the Masked Fools' fox mask and pulled Firefly away to look for housing nearby.

It was getting late. The two girls couldn't sleep outside, could they?

After an hour of running around.

Kurama Neon finally rented a three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment nearby.

Though it was rather small, it was more than enough for two girls to live in.