Freya glanced down at the plain gray trousers she was wearing.
After only a moment’s hesitation, she walked over to the display and began choosing clothes.
Why should she refuse to wear something pretty?
She did not have to dress up for anyone else. She was cute enough that admiring herself was already enjoyable.
The original Freya had never bought clothes like these, and Freya’s memories from her previous life offered no useful experience either.
Choosing the right outfits took longer than she expected.
Fortunately, the store had fitting rooms and a tall oval mirror large enough to show her entire reflection.
Freya tried on several outfits.
She seemed to have been born to wear beautiful clothes. Almost everything looked as though it had been made specifically for her.
Freya stared at the cute girl reflected in the mirror.
“I really am adorable…”
Even the sales clerk could not resist praising her.
“That looks perfect on you. So does this one, and this one too.”
The praise was sincere, though it also served as a subtle sales pitch.
Freya continued trying on outfits and eventually bought five complete sets.
The final outfit resembled the sailor-style school uniforms she remembered from her old world.
Most of it was black.
A broad square collar rested neatly against the sides of her neck, drawing attention to her pale, slender throat. The fabric fit closely around her waist without feeling tight, outlining her slim figure.
A matching pleated skirt ended above her knees.
Black thigh-high stockings covered her legs, and she wore a pair of sneakers with slightly raised soles.
The complete outfit made her look youthful and energetic.
Not that Freya was anything other than young already.
This was the last outfit she tried on.
She had planned to buy it and wear it home.
Then she glanced toward the people passing outside the store and suddenly lost her nerve.
Her cheeks turned pink.
Freya hurried back into the fitting room and changed into the plain, unfashionable clothes she had arrived in.
Only then did she approach the counter to pay.
The five outfits cost eight thousand ducats in total.
That was not outrageously expensive, but it was far from cheap. Most working-class families would never spend that much on clothing.
The store mainly catered to the middle class.
Freya did not hesitate.
After paying, she took the wrapped clothes and continued shopping.
She bought a mirror, several pretty hair clips and ties, and a collection of other household necessities.
By the time Freya realized how long she had been out, several hours had passed.
She ate lunch, then returned home carrying bags in both hands.
That afternoon, Freya put on her schoolbag and went to the academy.
She explained to her teacher that something had come up that morning.
The teacher did not ask for details.
“The material we covered today wasn’t difficult. Ask one of your classmates for their notes.”
The teacher smiled reassuringly.
“With your ability, catching up should be easy.”
Freya nodded obediently.
“All right.”
She no longer cared much about her grades or scholarship, but she still needed to maintain the image the original Freya had built.
As far as everyone else was concerned, she remained a hardworking model student.
Freya also spoke with Amy and assured her that there was no need to worry.
That would prevent Amy from visiting her apartment that evening.
After spending the afternoon at school, Freya left at the usual time and headed to the restaurant where the original Freya had worked.
Her job there had been to serve customers in a maid-style uniform.
She also stood near the entrance with a pleasant smile and encouraged passersby to come inside.
Freya was undeniably cute.
Some customers really had chosen the restaurant simply because they saw her outside.
The original Freya had also encountered unpleasant men who tried to touch her.
Whenever that happened, the owner sent Freya to help in the kitchen.
Then he replaced her with a six-foot-tall server built like a prizefighter and assigned him to the troublesome customer’s table.
The restaurant was a respectable business.
Its owner had always treated the original Freya well.
But Freya no longer needed the money.
There was no reason for her to continue working there.
“Faye, you can always come back if you need work,” the owner told her. “I’ll keep a place open for you.”
Why did everyone like calling her Faye?
Freya wondered about it as she gave the owner a small bow.
“I understand. Thank you so much for everything.”
After quitting, Freya quickly returned home.
She cooked dinner and made a halfhearted attempt at completing her schoolwork.
By the time she finished, the sky had grown dark.
Freya made a point of not looking outside.
She behaved as naturally as possible and went to bed early.
Unlike usual, however, she placed the revolver beneath her pillow, where she could reach it immediately.
The fatal crisis was still two days away.
Even so, there was no reason to let her guard down.
Freya lay awake until well past midnight.
Eventually, exhaustion overcame her and she drifted to sleep.
At the same time, somewhere far away, a white tower rose nearly three hundred feet into the air.
Mist surrounded the structure on every side.
Inside the tower, a figure suddenly looked up in surprise.
“What happened?”
Its voice was light and almost musical.
“The course of fate has shifted…”
The figure began to move.
Its upper body was human, but everything below the waist formed the long body of a serpent.
It glided through the tower with incredible speed and soon reached the highest floor.
The chamber at the top resembled an altar.
The moment the figure entered, its expression changed from confusion to horror.
A brass pocket watch should have been resting at the center of the altar.
It was gone.
“How…?”
The next morning, Freya woke before sunrise.
She washed, ate breakfast, and prepared for school.
As she stepped outside, she could not help muttering to herself.
“It’s hard to believe this is only my second day in this world.”
From her perspective, she felt as though she had already lived here for a long time.
Freya attended her classes as usual.
She understood very little of what the teachers explained, but she maintained the appearance of someone listening carefully and studying with complete attention.
She nearly fell asleep several times.
Through sheer determination, she somehow kept her eyes open.
At last, the clock reached twelve thirty in the afternoon.
The thirty-hour cooldown on Future Simulation finally reached zero.
Freya began her third simulation without hesitation.
The moment the simulation started, she turned to Amy, who was eating lunch beside her.
“I just remembered something important at home. Amy, could you tell the teachers I had to leave?”
Before Amy could ask any questions, Freya hurried out of the academy.
She returned to her apartment and armed herself with both handguns.
She also brought spare ammunition and emergency bandages.
Once she was prepared, Freya left the apartment and began wandering around the surrounding streets.
To anyone watching, she probably looked like someone with nothing better to do.
In truth, she was patrolling.
During her second simulation, Freya had spent a month working with the Special Affairs Division.
She had done more than exercise.
She had also learned as much as she could about the supernatural world.
Humanity had thoroughly studied twelve supernatural Paths.
They included the Law Path followed by Nolan and Miles, Rena’s Mind Path, and the Fate Path that Freya had narrowly failed to obtain.
Drinking a potion associated with a particular Path granted abilities belonging to that Path.
Those powers developed gradually.
The first and most basic potion was a Rank One potion, which turned the drinker into a Rank One practitioner.
Higher levels followed.
There were Rank Two and Rank Three potions, all the way to the highest known level, Rank Eight.
Each increase in Rank brought greater power.
All twelve Paths also offered a major specialization when advancing from Rank Three to Rank Four.
For the Law Path, the known branches included Punisher, Arbiter, and Listener.
A practitioner had to choose their specialization in advance, then drink the corresponding advancement potion.
Those were the Paths humanity had already studied.
Naturally, other Paths remained incomplete or entirely unexplored.
Freya thought of supernatural Paths as laws of nature.
Potion formulas were like chemical equations discovered through long periods of research.
A correct equation produced a stable and safe compound.
That finished compound was what people called a potion.
An incomplete understanding of nature produced an unreliable formula.
Such a formula was dangerous.
It was like an explosive that appeared harmless inside its container, but could detonate from a single careless impact.
Even so, incomplete potions could still grant supernatural abilities.
The resulting powers might be flawed.
The drinker might lose control easily, or the ability itself might carry a serious defect.
But it was still supernatural power.
The watcher who had been stalking Freya belonged to one such unexplored Path.
It was known as the Demon Path.
Most of the potions distributed during the Obsidian Incident belonged to this Path.
Based on the Special Affairs Division’s investigation, Demon Path practitioners gained a general increase in physical strength.
They also developed visible mutations.
Some grew sharp tails from their lower backs.
Others developed barbs around the joints of their hands, or nails that became hard and sharp enough to function like claws.
Even at Rank One, these practitioners could overpower and kill an ordinary person with ease.
But they were still human.
And humans died when they were killed.
The watcher was far stronger than Freya in a direct fight.
Freya, however, had guns.
Firearms were weapons created through human ingenuity for the sole purpose of killing.
If she could put a bullet through the watcher’s heart or head, she could kill him.
Freya continued wandering without any obvious destination.
Her attention never left the people around her.
She carefully watched everyone moving toward her apartment.
One side effect of the Demon Path was a decline in rational thought.
The people who drank its potions often seemed slow or confused.
More accurately, their animal instincts could easily overwhelm their reason.
They tended to obey whatever urges rose inside them.
And one of the strongest instincts shared by all living creatures was simple.
When they were hungry, they ate.