South Third District, Cot City.
Vast streets, towering buildings like mountains, crisscrossing overhead trains—this is the largest city in the South Third District, ho to nearly ten million people.
On the bustling pedestrian street of the business district, a girl in denim shorts and a short jacket walked past the swarming crowd, with a lollipop in her mouth.
She ca to a stop sign and leaned against its sleek surface while waiting, with one foot propped against the sign and the other supporting her, shifting slightly.
Looking up at the overhead trains that shuttle by from ti to ti, she took the lollipop out of her mouth.
"So annoying, too many people."
This ti of year is the tourist high season in Cot City, with the triennial air combat tournant being held here. Competing teams from all over the Four-leaf Crystal Star Domain gather, piloting their own modified small flight crafts to fight in the air, and the victor receives a considerable prize.
The flight crafts in the air combat tournant vary in design, with new styles erging every year. The novelty and fun of it also attract many people, which is why Cot City draws visitors from all over during the event.
After waiting for five minutes, the lights on the sign lit up, and a yellow aerial bus pulled up at the platform.
"Good~"
The girl hopped onto the bus's anti-slip step and walked in to find a seat. Shortly after, the hovering aerial bus rose again and sped forward, leaving the bustling city center in minutes to reach the outer ring area at the edge of Cot City.
This also belonged to Cot City, but the flow of people was significantly less, and many of the buildings along the street showed signs of rust, presumably due to infrequent cleaning.
After getting off the bus, the girl walked down the street and entered an alleyway. High walls flanked both sides, the light was dim, and the air was slightly cooler.
In the alley, several hover motorcycles belonging to residents were parked, along with flower pots, trash bins, disused tal supports, and so on, surrounded by entrances to so old-style apartnts.
Stopping in front of a modestly marked shop, the girl paused and knocked on the door of this hidden neighborhood storefront.
"Is Grandma Fu there?" The tal door fra reverberated with the knocking, echoing clearly in the alley.
After a while, a response ca from inside.
"Coming, wait a mont."
Two more minutes passed before an older woman with a slightly bent fra popped her head out from the shop window.
"Oh, it's Clara, here to buy pastries again today?"
"Yes, please, Grandma Fu, the usual thirty-two pieces."
"Alright, wait a mont."
Having said that, the old woman brought out four white boxes from the shop's refrigerator, each containing eight pastries. Made from special glutinous rice flour and sprinkled with sweet osmanthus and brown sugar powder, these pastries were not only tasty but also filling.
After packaging the four boxes, Grandma Fu handed them to Clara, "Eating these long-term isn't good, you need to include protein and vitamins and such."
"It's just a late-night snack, cooking by myself at night is too much hassle, thank you, Grandma Fu." Clara took the bags and tapped her wrist against the paynt machine to pay. Then, with a wave goodbye to the old lady, she left.
Carrying her favorite pastries, Clara continued down the alley and entered an old-style apartnt building, taking the elevator straight to her floor.
After swiping into her rented apartnt, Clara walked in. The room was disorderly, with scattered belongings including discarded clothes, an unkept gaming console, divination cards, a miniature ritual array to assist in practicing the Transcendent Sequence, blankets on the floor, askew drink bottles, and unfinished snacks.
Slipping off her shoes, Clara stepped into slippers and headed to the bathroom to rinse her feet. Then she quickly washed her face with cold water, sidestepped the various items on the floor, and jumped into bed.
"Ah, ho is the best." After walking most of the day, she felt too lazy to move once she leaned into bed, burying her face in the covers.
A while later, she finally sat up, opened one of the freshly bought boxes of pastries, took out a piece to taste, and began browsing her personal terminal projection.
Moving through various forums, Clara quickly filtered information, dipping in and out of posts that caught her interest but rarely finishing them.
"Boring, just more nonsense from the dia, the sa old trite stuff over and over again."
Shutting off the interface, Clara stuffed the nearly finished pastry into her mouth, then reached for an unfinished drink on the far side of the floor and brought it back to her hand.
'Hiss—'Twisting off the cap, a faint fizz escaped, with bubbles frothing in the liquid.
"This Blue Stone cola gets worse each ti, won't buy the cheap stuff next ti." After downing the drink, Clara tossed the bottle towards the distant trash can, watching it trace an elegant arc and fall right in.
"Perfect."
Having finished her pastry and drink, Clara leaned back in bed, rubbed her belly, and felt a bit sleepy, so she decided to close her eyes for a short nap.
More than ten minutes later, her body stirred, and she woke up.
Checking the ti, Clara muttered, "It's this late already, huh?"
"Ti for the group." She sprang up swiftly, pulled open the imrsion pod next to her bed, and lay down inside.
Soon, the pod closed, lights ca on one by one, and her consciousness gradually entered the deep web.
——————
In the pitch-black interface, lines of text quickly passed by—the startup sequence of the imrsion system.
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