Kinsey shook her head. "I don't have the TM for Swords Dance. But I do have something else you might find useful."
"What is it?" Armin asked.
She rummaged through her backpack for a moment before pulling out a sharp, fang-shaped item.
"Dragon Fang," she explained. "When held, it boosts the power of Dragon-type moves by 20%. Perfect for your green fatty."
"Deal."
They exchanged items immediately.
Armin opened his inventory panel, selected Dragonite, and chose Hold Item.
A small fang icon appeared at the bottom-right corner of Dragonite's portrait.
"Nice!" Kinsey grinned. "Add me as a friend?"
Armin blinked. A notification popped up.
[Player Kinsey requests to add you as a friend. Accept?]
[Friend feature unlocked.]
[Note: Friend feature is only usable in Infinite Space. Disabled in instances.]
He tapped Accept.
She closed her panel and flashed a wide smile. "Wanna stroll around? As a friend bonus, I'll give you some very useful rookie tips."
So they began walking down the commercial street together.
After a while, she asked, "You saw the giant Pikachu statue in the plaza, right?"
Armin nodded.
"That's actually the entrance and exit for all instances. Pikachu symbolizes the beginning of Pokémon—like Ash in the anime, or Pokémon Yellow."
She paused, lips curving upward.
"But aside from being a portal, that statue has another extremely practical function."
"Oh?"
"All players can spend Points there to exchange for Trainer Skills. Things like Appraisal, which lets you see a Pokémon's level. Or Viridian Power, which heals Pokémon."
"Appraisal is cheap enough that most players can afford it. But Viridian Power?" She snorted. "Five hundred thousand Points. As far as I know, fewer than a hundred players in all of Infinite Space have it."
Armin thought of the 999,999-point ticket and nodded slowly.
"This really does feel like a pay-to-win mobile game."
She laughed. "Yeah. I felt that way too when I first arrived."
Something about her wording made Armin pause.
"How long have you been here?"
She counted on her fingers. "Fifty, sixty years? I've kind of lost track."
Armin.exe has stopped working.
"Then how do you know modern internet memes?"
She rolled her eyes. "What are you imagining? We're from the same era, okay? And time flows differently here compared to the outside world."
"…Fair enough."
He'd already accepted transmigration. What was weird about time dilation?
Still, he couldn't help asking, "If you've been here that long, haven't you saved up enough Points?"
She sighed deeply.
"You think Points are easy to get? I earn maybe twenty-something Points per instance. If I'm lucky and clear a hidden mission, maybe fifty or sixty. And everything here costs Points. If I didn't own a few shops, I'd have starved by now."
Armin, who earned 200 Points in his first instance, wisely chose silence.
The more she talked, the angrier she became.
"Damn it! Food costs Points. Raising Pokémon costs Points. Breathing probably costs Points. I worked my entire life before dying, and now I'm still working for some unknown cosmic entity!"
Armin: …
Her flat chest heaved dramatically as she tried to calm herself.
She waved him off. "Forget it. I'm going back to my shop for some health tea. You explore."
And she teleported away.
…
Armin wandered the Commercial Zone for a while.
No stall sold the Swords Dance TM.
With mild disappointment, he teleported to the plaza.
Beneath the massive Pikachu statue, players constantly blinked in and out of existence.
Armin opened the exchange panel.
Appraisal: View a target Pokémon's level. 50 Points.
Viridian Power: Communicate with Pokémon and heal them. 500,000 Points.
Psychic Ability: Use simple psychic powers like Teleport or Telekinesis. 500,000 Points.
Draconic Power: Boost Dragon-type Pokémon's strength. 500,000 Points.
…
(Aura, Bond Phenomenon, etc. — all 500,000 Points.)
Ridiculous.
Armin glanced at his humble 200 Points and expressionlessly purchased the cheapest option.
Appraisal acquired.
Points remaining: 150.
"Home."
He had no intention of lingering.
Back in his bare white room, he realized something.
There was no way he was spending seven days in this empty box.
So—
He decided to splurge.
Pikachu-themed bed: 5 Points. Bought.
Eevee blanket: 5 Points. Bought.
Sunny sky wallpaper: 3 Points. Bought.
Limited-edition Animal Crossing Switch: 1 Point. Bought.
Giant TV: 1 Point. Bought.
As the sterile white space slowly transformed into something cozy and colorful, Armin felt deeply satisfied.
So this…
This was the joy of spending money.
It felt amazing.
After finishing, he released Mimikyu and Dragonite.
He turned on the TV for them.
Mimikyu adapted easily.
Dragonite, however—over two meters tall—looked painfully cramped.
Watching Dragonite curl up awkwardly, head lowered to avoid the ceiling, Armin felt a twinge in his chest.
He needed to earn more Points.
No way was he letting his dragon live like this.
It couldn't even spread its wings freely like it had in the Dragon's Den.
Seven days passed in the blink of an eye.
On the third day, Kinsey sent a message reminding him to watch his remaining Points—failure in an instance meant heavy deductions, and going into negative would get you "sent away."
Armin tried replying with a thank you.
But the panel showed:
[Player is currently inside an instance. Unable to receive messages.]
He closed the panel.
Finally—
Day Seven arrived.
Armin stood once more beneath the Pikachu statue.
Darkness swallowed his vision.
Everything disappeared.
A cold, emotionless voice echoed.
…
"Welcome, player."
"You have entered a large-scale role-playing instance."
"Your identity is—"
"Bug Catcher."
…
Armin opened his eyes.
And somewhere nearby—
A Caterpie wriggled in the grass.
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T/N:
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