“What? Lost it? You young people are always so careless. It’s fine if you lost it—just go to the community office to get a residence certificate, then head to the police station to get a replacement.” Before leaving, the landlady reminded, “You should get out in the sun more. Your face is so pale.”

After the landlady left, Laura Hayes thought for a long time, guessing that it was probably because he survived seven days in the dark room and completed the beginner task that the landlady came to issue the next mission.

“Luckily, I resisted the urge to go out. Otherwise, I’d be dead by now.” Laura Hayes secretly felt grateful that his laid-back attitude had saved his life.

He left his room, got familiar with the area, and found the community office to get the certificate.

After getting the certificate, no one gave him the next stage of the mission, and Laura Hayes was hungry again, so he went to the mall next door to eat.

He spent some time getting used to using the phone, confirmed there was still plenty of money in his account, and then started eating his way through the mall.

In his previous world, Laura Hayes lived in the apocalypse and never had a full meal. After starving for seven days in the basement, now he wanted to eat everything he saw.

So he used points to exchange for an interdimensional stomach that could only store food, and began to gorge himself in the mall.

Finally, when he felt psychologically full, he passed by the arcade and heard a staff member say there was a special event today: if you collected ten thousand game tickets, you could enter a lottery, and there was a hidden grand prize.

With his keen sense for missions, Laura Hayes figured this was probably the second mission hint after getting the residence certificate. As long as he could win the hidden grand prize, the reward would definitely be a clue about the ultimate boss.

This world really was dangerous—good thing he was careful and cautious.

Laura Hayes, dressed in flashy and eye-catching clothes, played whack-a-mole in the arcade for a while. He was pretty good at games, but whack-a-mole didn’t give many tickets, and he was getting bored, so he got up and left the whack-a-mole machine, casually following a local to the basketball area.

“Basketball, huh…” Laura Hayes took out a game token. “I’m pretty good at throwing. I’ll play this next!”

-

Brian Clark was torn, unsure whether to keep an eye on the mission target or follow Helen Grant, when he saw Laura Hayes get up and follow Helen Grant to the basketball game area.

Helen Grant picked a basketball machine, carefully picked up a basketball, looked at the hoop hesitantly, and slowly tossed the ball. The basketball went straight up about a meter before dropping back down. It didn’t even make it into the shooting area, let alone the hoop.

Meanwhile, Laura Hayes, standing next to him, had already sunk dozens of basketballs. Laura Hayes clenched his fist—yes! He really was a sharpshooter!

Helen Grant threw a second basketball. This time, the ball made it to the shooting area but dropped without touching the hoop.

Laura Hayes noticed the local playing next to him, stopped, and watched Helen Grant shoot for a while, then couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

Helen Grant knew he wasn’t in good shape right now. Since coming to this world, he’d been in a good mood and never argued with anyone. Hearing someone laugh at him, Helen Grant turned to glance at the person. Seeing he looked very young, probably just a student, he decided not to take it to heart.

Young people always have to show off a little. Helen Grant remembered when Brian Clark had just started dating him, he was the same way—joking around with friends in the car, teasing each other.

That day, after their blind date, the two parted ways, but Helen Grant actually secretly followed Brian Clark. When they split up, he’d offered to walk Brian Clark home, but Brian Clark refused, saying it would be embarrassing for a grown man to be escorted. Helen Grant considerately didn’t insist, but after Brian Clark left, he quietly followed.

After all, Brian Clark was so delicate—even a pair of ordinary scissors made of iron and carbon could cut his skin. Helen Grant had never seen such a soft and adorable kindred spirit. He worried about Brian Clark going home alone.

He watched from a distance as Brian Clark walked to the SUV, where Eric Webb and the others got out, took off Brian Clark’s wig, and burst out laughing at his rainbow-colored hair.

Brian Clark wasn’t to be outdone—he grabbed a few of his buddies, gave them a beating, then snatched the colored spray and sprayed everyone’s hair. Now everyone had rainbow hair, so no one could laugh at anyone else.

Eric Webb was extremely vain… that is, he cared a lot about his looks. Even though he couldn’t beat Helen Grant, he was furious about his hair being messed up. He immediately pulled out a small knife, and with the help of a few friends, shaved Brian Clark’s hair into a patchy mess.

In the end, no one got the upper hand. They all went to the barbershop together and shaved their heads bald, waiting for their hair to grow back.

Helen Grant watched their relaxed smiles and the easy, affectionate way they joked around, feeling very envious. Surrounded by friends (being held down for a shave), Brian Clark seemed to shine. Helen Grant longed for the friendship Brian Clark had with his friends. He knew he could never truly fit in, but that was okay—he could protect Brian Clark, protect their friendship, and that way, it felt like he had it too.

Snapping out of his brief memories, Helen Grant nodded at Laura Hayes, who had laughed at him, and picked up a third basketball to work on his strength, completely unfazed.