"Rejected," Rent answered shortly while shoving a spoonful of rice into his mouth. "I refuse to believe in your ridiculous prophecy."

  Rent swallowed his food, then stared sharply at the girl in front of him.

  "And I don't want you to be involved with me any further. Let's just consider this our st meeting, Miss Kaensista."

  Kaen put down her spoon for a moment, snorting in amusement. "Hey, Mr. Mirror. Who exactly wants to be involved with you? Hah... this is also forced because of that Old Philosopher. At least for now."

  "Sigh… whatever. Just don't drag me into that silly prophecy."

  On the other side of the debate between the two humans.

  In the seat next to Rent, Moro the fur ball was performing an act of existential devouring. He devoured the fried rice with a floating spoon, moving it into his "mouth". However, since that mouth was not visible or his facial anatomy was basically bnk, the floating spoonful of fried rice seemed to vanish behind his round body.

  "Nom! Nom! Not bad for a free meal package!" Moro said with food smeared on his furry cheeks.

  Rent gnced briefly at Moro, watching the spoonful of fried rice disappear the moment it touched the blue fur.

  This creature, where exactly does he eat from? And every time the food floats closer to that round body...

  It vanishes without a trace? Rent thought, still eyeing Moro from the corner of his eye.

  However, Rent immediately shook his head quickly, refusing to think about things that made no sense to his logical brain.

  Fifteen minutes ter…

  "Excuse me, Boss!"

  The stall owner—a middle-aged man with a greasy apron—suddenly approached their table while wiping his hands on his cloth.

  "The coupon only covers the pin Fried Rice. And the portion is also only for 2 people, it is stated in the fine print. Now, the drinks and the extra jumbo meat ordered by this Lady... the total comes to 50 Copper Coins."

  Silence.

  The cool morning breeze suddenly felt like it was choking Rent's neck.

  Rent stared at the stall owner. Then stared at Kaensista's empty pte which was shiny clean without leftovers. Then shifted his gaze to Kaensista.

  The girl looked away, whistling innocently while staring at the tent's ceiling, as if the tarpaulin pattern up there was a masterpiece painting.

  Rent's temple twitched slightly, then he looked back at the stall owner in front of him.

  "Two… people?" Rent asked with a hoarse voice.

  "Correct, Boss. The total order is 3 portions because your pet also ate."

  Rent gnced at Moro, then gnced at the fur ball's pte which was also shiny clean without a trace of stains.

  Rent reached into his trouser pocket. Empty. Only threads and the dust of poverty.

  Cold sweat the size of corn kernels began to slide down Rent's temple.

  Damn. I'm dead. Just one day in another world, and I've already become a criminal because of fried rice.

  "Ahem," Rent cleared his throat, trying to remain calm even though his heart was beating fast. "Mr. Boss... look. There is a slight technical error in my current financial asset management."

  The stall owner narrowed his eyes, his hand shifting to his waist, close to the rge cleaver hanging there.

  "You mean... you don't have money?" The owner's temple began to twitch as well.

  "Technically, correct," Rent answered honestly with a ft face. "My wallet was stolen by a raccoon earlier."

  Pfft!

  Kaensista's shoulders immediately shook violently. The girl covered her own mouth with both hands.

  That ridiculous alibi. The exact same excuse she used 5 minutes ago in that quiet alley.

  It instantly made Kaensista in front of him hold back ughter for the exact same reason as him.

  Scapegoating the same innocent, trash-scavenging raccoon.

  "Pufft… raccoon… he copied my excuse…" Kaen muttered between her fingers, her eyes watering from holding back ughter. "That amateur copycat..."

  "HAH?!" The stall owner gred instantly. "No money but ordered extra meat?! Are you trying to scam me?!"

  "I wasn't the one who ordered," Rent pointed at Kaensista with his thumb. "But the main suspect over there."

  "Hey!" Kaensista gred, not accepting it. "Mr. Mirror! Are you trying to run from responsibility?!"

  The atmosphere heated up. Some other adventurers began to turn their heads. Rent knew he had to settle this immediately before he ended up washing dishes.

  "I will pay. But not now," Rent said quickly. "I just arrived in this city yesterday. I don't have a job yet. Give me time."

  The stall owner snorted roughly. "Cssic excuse. In that case, leave a colteral!"

  "Colteral?" Rent was confused. He didn't have any valuables.

  "Identity Card! Lumeria Pass!" the Owner snapped. "Here, let me record your ID number in the Debt Book. If it's not paid within 3 days, I'll report it to the Guild!"

  Rent sighed in resignation. "Fine."

  With slow movements, Rent reached into his inner pocket and took out the small silver pte he just got yesterday.

  [Lumeria Pass]

  He pced it on the sticky wooden table. The morning sunlight reflected the engraved name clearly there.

  Kaensista, who had been pretending not to care, gnced from the corner of her eye. Initially, she just wanted to know how pathetic this "Mr. Mirror's" status was.

  However, when her eyes caught the row of letters on the card, her eyes widened.

  Name: Rent Kaenda Status: Outnd Adventurer

  Kaensista froze. Her mouth opened slightly.

  "Ka... en... da?" the girl spelled slowly.

  Rent turned his head. "What?"

  Kaensista looked at Rent with a gaze that was hard to interpret. Surprised? Amused? Or amazed?

  "Your name..." Kaen pointed at the card with a trembling finger. "Rent... Kaenda?"

  "Yes. That's my name. Is there a problem?" Rent asked curtly.

  Suddenly, the corner of Kaensista's lips twitched. The girl was holding back ughter. Her shoulders shook.

  "Pfft... Hahahaha!"

  Her ughter exploded again. This time louder than before.

  "Kaenda? Seriously? KAEN-DA?"

  Kaensista ughed while holding her stomach. "Oh my gosh! This is so ridiculous! Even the universe is too zy to give a creative name!"

  Rent frowned, confused about why the girl was ughing.

  "What's so funny?"

  "You don't realize?" Kaensista wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. She leaned her face forward, staring at Rent with a wide grin.

  "My name is Kaensista. Your name is Kaenda."

  She pointed at her own chest, then pointed at Rent's chest.

  "My name... is inside your family name, Mr. Mirror."

  Rent fell silent. His brain processed the information. Kaen... Kaenda.

  "Ah..." Rent just realized it.

  Kaensista grinned triumphantly, as if she had just discovered the biggest secret of the century.

  "See? I told you, didn't I? You really belong to me. Even your name already 'contains' me inside it."

  Rent's face felt hot instantly. Not because of anger. But because the implication of that sentence sounded very... wrong.

  "That's just a phonetic coincidence, Stupid," Rent refuted quickly while snatching his card back from the stall owner's hand who had finished recording.

  "It's recorded, right? Let's go."

  Rent immediately stood up and walked quickly out of the stall, his ears turning red.

  Behind him, Kaensista was still chuckling while walking to catch up with light steps. The ahoge on her head swayed happily.

  "Wait for me, Mr. Kaen-da~!"

  The atmosphere of Lumeria city was getting busier. Many merchants and children were running around on this bright morning. However…

  The morning that was supposed to be bright was inversely proportional for Rent.

  The young man in the white shirt walked through the crowd. His eyes stared bnkly ahead, like someone who had just lost a gamble. He had just entered debt into the list of his own life.

  Which shouldn't have been a burden for him. But the universe once again said otherwise regarding Rent's fate.

  Moro, who had been floating beside Rent, turned his head. Seeing his own Master looking like a mute living corpse without purpose.

  "Umm… Master Rent?"

  No budge. Still walking straight.

  "Hello? Is Master still… here?" Moro nudged Rent's cheek slightly with his round body. Making Rent instantly snap out of his daydream.

  "What is it, fur ball?" he answered while gncing.

  "What is Master daydreaming about? I thought you had… left your own body and went to heaven."

  Rent stopped walking for a moment, letting out a long sigh. "If I could, I would have done it from the very beginning I arrived here, Moro," he sneered.

  He continued walking again. However… his ears caught the voice of someone else right behind him.

  Hmm~ hmm~ hmm~ hmm~

  The sound of humming from a girl. The same girl who caused him to get his first debt in this world.

  Rent didn't need to turn his head to know who the owner of that voice was.

  There was only one person in this world—no, perhaps in all dimensions—who could hum cheerfully right after causing someone else to be 50 copper coins in debt.

  Rent accelerated his steps. Tap tap tap. The sound of footsteps behind him followed, roaring fast. The humming got louder.

  Rent slowed down. Slide... The steps behind also slowed down. The humming turned into a casual whistle.

  Rent stopped abruptly. Silence. The sound behind also stopped completely.

  A vein of annoyance appeared on Rent's temple. He turned on his heel 180 degrees, facing directly the source of his life's problems.

  "Why..." Rent stared sharply at the purple-haired girl. "...Are you still following me?"

  Kaensista stood about two meters behind him. Both her hands were folded casually behind her back, her body leaning forward slightly with a feigned innocent pose.

  "Following?"

  Kaen tilted her head. The ahoge on top of her head tilted along, forming a mocking question mark.

  "Don't be too confident, Mr. Mirror. This road is the main street of Lumeria. It just so happens that my way home is also through here."

  "Coincidence?" Rent narrowed his eyes. "You mean to say that out of the many roads in this city, you have to stick to my back like a curious ghost?"

  "Curious ghost?" Kaensista chuckled, a crisp yet annoying ugh. "Please. Ghosts aren't this pretty. And ghosts didn't just finish a Jumbo Fried Rice."

  The girl stepped forward, passing Rent just like that. As their shoulders brushed, Kaen gnced with a crooked smile.

  "Besides... who knows you might need help counting your debt again? Your math is bad, after all."

  Rent clenched his hand in his trouser pocket. Patience, Rent. Is killing another version of yourself from another dimension considered homicide or suicide?

  "Moro," Rent called softly. "Yes, Master?" "Remind me to buy earplugs ter."

  Rent walked again, this time deliberately keeping a distance of five steps behind the girl. At least, looking at the girl's back was better than hearing her chatter next to his ear.

  They passed the bakery. The girl was still there. They passed the bcksmith's workshop. The girl was still in the same direction. They turned into the gate of the Arvia inn district. The girl still turned the same way.

  Rent's bad premonition started to light up like a fire arm.

  "Wait," Rent muttered, his steps stopping in front of the wooden gate of Arvia House.

  In front of him, Kaensista didn't stop. The girl continued walking straight, passing the Arvia House gate, then turning into the red brick building right next to it.

  [Luna Manor]

  Rent froze. His eyes blinked twice seeing the girl disappear behind the door of the building next door.

  "She... lives next door?" Moro squeaked.

  Rent's shoulders instantly slumped in relief. Oxygen returned to his lungs.

  "Thank goodness," Rent sighed long. "Turns out she's just a neighbor in a different building. Different management. Different walls."

  He stared at the entrance of Luna Manor with a gaze of victory.

  "At least the dividing wall between these buildings is thick enough to block her existence from my life."