"Crap." Feeling the weightlessness, Sampo realized things had gone south. It felt as if an invisible hand had seized his throat of fate.
"What deceptive scheme are you up to now?" A purple-haired girl – no, a purple butterfly – yes, hooked Sampo up with the side of the massive scythe in her hand.
"Big Sis! I've been framed! This was a fair trade, a fair trade, ah!" Sampo struggled violently, but unfortunately, it was utterly useless.
His clothes were pretty good quality, though.
Isn't this Seele?
Tian An looked at the iconic hair and features. She hadn't expected to run into Seele so quickly, but she certainly seemed quite fierce.
Compared to that Seele over there, though, this Seele had a certain charm (not really).
"Girl over there, what did he want from you just now?" Seele called out towards her.
"Me? A part of my body?" Suddenly addressed, Tian An answered, completely bewildered.
Isn't Originium already a part of her body?
"Alright, you damn Sampo, running your scams and tricks right onto my turf!" Hearing the reply, Seele became even more agitated.
"No! Heaven and Earth are my witness! I just wanted a small stone from this lady, just one small stone!" Sampo wailed, his tone tragic, like a lamb being led to the slaughter.
"Still making excuses." Seele was already immune to such pleading tactics.
"How about this, how about this, I won't take her stuff anymore, and I'll even give her back what she was looking for. Big Sis, what do you think?"
Seele didn't answer, instead looking towards Tian An, seemingly seeking a response.
Tian An nodded.
Seeing Tian An agree, Seele let Sampo down but remained vigilant, ready for him to flee.
Sampo obediently handed over the small white trinket from before. Seeing him still hesitate, Seele impatiently snatched the item and tossed it directly to Tian An.
"Can I go now?" Sampo smiled slyly.
"Get lost Ծ‸Ծ " Seele kicked him twice and said with disgust.
"Alright, alright, see you customers next time!" Hearing Big Sis give the word, Sampo took off like he'd activated Sprint, vanishing from their sight in the blink of an eye.
Tian An carefully wiped the figure in her hand. Just as she was about to examine it closely for any damage, a puff of mist rose from the previously exquisite figurine, and the character's face actually transformed into Sampo's.
"?" Tian An rubbed her eyes in disbelief. After confirming she wasn't hallucinating, she realized she'd been tricked.
"What's wrong? Is there a problem?" Seele walked up to her. Seeing her expression wasn't quite right, she asked.
Tian An showed the Sampo "figure," face fixed in an incredibly punchable expression, to Seele. The crucial part was, the figure still had its original outfit.
Sampo.... unforgivable.
"Pfft..." Seele saw the state of the figure and almost couldn't hold back her laughter (ᗜ ˰ ᗜ).
"Ahem.... Sorry, I should have kept him here to confirm things," Seele said awkwardly.
"Ah, forget it, it's fine." Tian An waved her hand. Sampo wasn't Sparkle; since he already knew such an item existed, he wouldn't do anything drastic to it.
"Did he take anything of yours?" Seele began to observe Tian An.
"No, I lost a model. While I was looking for it, he suddenly ran over saying he had my thing and wanted me to trade a stone from my body for it." Tian An noticed Seele's scrutinizing gaze and shifted into her "gentle" persona.
"You... Ugh, forget it. I'll settle the score with him next time." Seele felt helpless too.
"But... how come I've never seen you before? And your outfit..." Seele changed the subject and began interrogating Tian An.
Uh oh, Big Sis is paying attention to me.
"I am.... uh...."
"Are you from the Overworld?" Seele watched her warily. After all, such fine clothing, she had only ever seen in the Overworld she visited as a child.
"No, no, no, I'm not," Tian An quickly denied. She absolutely did not want to be labeled an 'Overworld master'; that would be very troublesome.
"Really not?" Seele stared intently into Tian An's eyes, trying to detect any hint of falsehood.
"Really not. I came from the sky." Tian An possessed Teacher Te's mental fortitude; how could she let a flaw be seen so easily?
"Isn't that the Overworld then? Where did you sneak down from?" Seele's scythe began to stir restlessly.
The sky above the Underworld is the Overworld, so 'sky' equals 'Overworld'. Makes sense.
"No, I'm really from the Underworld," Tian An insisted, waving her hands.
"Then take me to your home. I want to see your parents."
"They passed away."
"Relatives?"
"Gone."
"Friends, you must have friends, right?"
"In the sky."
....
Hey, why are you looking at me like that? My friends really are in the sky! It's the absolute truth!
Tian An couldn't even meet Seele's burning gaze anymore.
Tian An felt her answers were perfectly fine. She had no relatives. Parents.... as good as dead in her eyes.
The Express crew were probably still up in the sky, anxious to come down.
Sampo probably went to that pit above to wait for them too.
If she really had to split hairs.... did A'po count....?
Thinking of her past relative for the first time in this world, Tian An inevitably felt a pang of sadness.
"Seeing your expression.... it doesn't look fake... But you must have a home, otherwise you couldn't survive. Take me there; I just need to see your home."
Caring was one thing, but duty was duty.
Tian An paused for half a second, then gently closed her eyes and exhaled, as if facing an incredibly difficult challenge.
"?"
"I don't have one of those either."
"..."
"Then did you make these clothes yourself? And these horns too?"
"Born with them," Tian An replied without batting an eye or blushing.
Makes sense. I woke up in this world with these clothes and appearance.
Right now, Seele really wanted to knock on the girl's head and continue the questioning, but seeing Tian An's utterly flawless expression, she began to doubt her own assumptions.
"But you have no home, no relatives... you can't possibly say you live in a trash can, right?"
"..."
Seele had barely finished speaking when a trash can with legs suddenly dashed in front of Tian An.
"It's you! You took liberties with my body and even knocked my lid onto the ground!"
Tian An suspected she might be seeing things. A moving trash can?
"You made it so I can't hold my head high in front of everyone! It's all your fault!" The trash can jumped up and down in agitation.
"Now I must avenge my innocence!" the trash can shrieked, charging towards Tian An.
However, before it even got halfway, the trash can tripped over its own left foot with its right foot and fell flat on the ground.
"Wuwuwu.... I have no face left to show anyone," the trash can cried aggrievedly as it scrambled up from the ground and then ran off in the opposite direction.
...
I didn't even eat any weird mushrooms.
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Life, ah, it's like gi-gi-gi-gi-give me an interface.