After dinner—
Anby had originally wanted to watch some recordings, but remembering that the couch was Sol Mercer's sleeping spot, she reluctantly gave up.
In truth, Sol Mercer didn't mind watching a movie with Anby before bed. He was even looking forward to it.
Lying on the sofa once again, Sol Mercer picked up his phone and started browsing the latest posts on the Inter-Knot.
Nicole had helped him register his Inter-Knot account, and he casually chose the name [Traveler].
Nothing particularly meaningful—just a nod to the infamous Lumine.
After all, he was also a questionable silver.
Sol Mercer casually browsed the Inter-Knot forum. Many posts were… quite something.
[Help! My wife cheated on me with that bastard next door, Old Wang. I need two Proxies—beat him to death for me!]
Proxy A: I get your frustration, but isn't this kind of punishment a little too cruel… for the Proxies?
Proxy B: What a pity. Why isn't the mission about beating the wife to death? Change the request and I'll take it.
Proxy A: You're seriously messed up. But yeah, this mission is probably only for messed-up folks.
Proxy C: I'll take this job! Anyone wanna team up?
Proxy B: Screw it, guys can get it too. I'm in. Let's do this together.
Proxy C: Bro, I'll let you have the first swing.
Proxy A: ???
"Hiss! That's a lot of information all at once..."
Sol Mercer quickly exited the post, genuinely disturbed by the degeneracy. Same characters as Earth, but combined like that? How was anyone supposed to follow?
The Inter-Knot was full of weird and wild commission requests—it blew Sol Mercer's mind.
He then skimmed through a few Hollow-related commissions: finding items, rescues, assassinations. Pretty standard stuff.
Suddenly, a strangely titled post caught his eye.
[Fallen Genius! Hollow Investigative Association, Testing Department. A young man placed his hand on the Ether Aptitude Detector. Onlookers dug their nails into their palms in jealousy and exclaimed, "Ether Aptitude: 90 points!" As the researchers cried out for him to join the Association, he… chose the Cunning Hares! Alas, a genius falls!]
[Attached photo: the youth's test scene]
Encrypted Account 1: This title hits the nail on the head. What a waste. 90-point Ether Aptitude, and he joins the Cunning Hares? He's done for.
Encrypted Account 2: Everyone knows the Cunning Hares are broke. Can't even afford bullets.
Encrypted Account 3: Huh, I didn't know that. I just thought no one wanted to hire them.
Encrypted Account 1: That 90-point aptitude… damn, if I had that…
Encrypted Account 2: Dream on. If anyone's getting that, it's me.
Encrypted Account 3: Dream on +1. It's mine!
Hollow Six Idle Account: Anyone know how to contact him?
Encrypted Account 1: Didn't the post say he joined the Cunning Hares? Should be easy to find him there. If you wanna "rescue" him, better act fast before he's wasted.
Hollow Six Idle Account: Thanks for the heads-up. We'll act quickly.
"Uh… there's a post about me? And it's getting decent traffic?"
Sol Mercer was a bit surprised.
Who would've thought that just a few days after arriving in this world, he'd already become urban legend material?
Still, Fallen Genius?
What was this—trying to force him into Xiao Yan's script?
He really wanted to shout, Don't underestimate a broke young man! Then ascend to become some god emperor.
But no, sorry. He wasn't some underdog-reversal protagonist. He was the walk-in-and-dominate-the-whole-damn-world type. (Helpless shrug face)
And someone wanted to recruit him? As expected—he was hot property.
Sol Mercer smiled happily, closed his phone, and drifted off to sleep.
In the blink of an eye, night passed.
Morning.
A clatter came from the kitchen.
Sol Mercer stirred from sleep, confused. "Who's cooking?"
Ordinarily, he should've been the first one awake.
Turning his head, he spotted Anby in her green outfit, busying herself in the kitchen.
"Why didn't you sleep in a bit today?"
Sol Mercer walked in, smiling as he asked.
"I woke up hungry, so I decided to make breakfast," Anby replied seriously. "Also, since you bought the ingredients, it wouldn't be right to make you cook."
"Fair enough."
Sol Mercer nodded in understanding.
If she was hungry and felt like cooking—no problem.
Although it was odd. Yesterday, Anby had eaten the most. While they were still talking, she'd already wolfed down two bowls. Later, she'd cleared every dish clean.
Eat that much, get hungry that fast… was she storing up calories for hibernation?
Ultimately, Sol Mercer didn't voice that question out loud.
He stepped out of the kitchen, washed his hands, and prepared to roll today's gacha.
With a thought, the card pool shimmered.
A green card materialized.
[Burger Combo Super Pack]: A curated collection of 1,000 premium burger combo meals, 100 of each type. (Warning: Some contain Reaper Sauce!)
"Uh…"
Sol Mercer read the system description with a speechless expression.
This gacha system really did have everything under the sun.
A burger combo super pack as a green-tier item made sense, though. At an average of one kilogram per meal, that was over 100,000 kilograms of high-calorie food.
And since it came from the system, it could be stored in the system space—accessible anytime. Handy if he ever got hungry in a Hollow.
But honestly, if you were hungry in a Hollow… you were probably on the verge of Etherealization already.
Plus, the part about "Reaper Sauce" hidden inside made him nervous.
So yeah, this green card? Totally mid-tier.
Good for daily snacks or feeding Anby, but not much else.
Still, if it could feed Anby… that actually was pretty useful. After all, part of the Cunning Hares' financial crisis was thanks to her.
"Whatever. At least it's not a white-tier card. I'm not that unlucky."
Sol Mercer consoled himself.
Before long, breakfast was ready—a few simple sandwiches. Anby's specialty.
The group had their meal while finalizing the day's plans.
"Anby, Sol Mercer, you two follow the plan and go meet up with Belle to explore the Hollow at Fourteenth Street," Nicole said while chomping on a sandwich. "Billy and I will take care of Sol Mercer's official registration and dig up intel from the Hollow Investigative Association. Should all be done within the day."
Everyone nodded. This matched yesterday's plan exactly.
Sol Mercer looked a bit surprised. "Nicole, your connections go that deep?"
Getting both an identity and Hollow intel sorted in one day? That was insane efficiency.
"Of course." Nicole proudly tilted her chin. "I know lots of big shots in New Eridu. What you're seeing is just the tip of the iceberg."
"With just a small price paid, all of this is easy as pie."
In other areas, she might be lacking. But when it came to getting things done? She was super confident.
After all, nothing builds a stronger relationship than debt.
Just pay back a tiny portion, and those creditors would trip over themselves to help her out.
These days, it was the debtor who held all the power!
"Nicole, you're amazing!"
Sol Mercer, unaware of her inner logic, simply gave her a thumbs-up.
After breakfast—
Nicole took Billy to meet an old contact at the Hollow Investigative Association to fish for internal info.
Sol Mercer and Anby set out toward Sixth Street, on their way to find Belle and explore the Cretan Hollow at Fourteenth Street.