Nikke, something’s seriously wrong with this evacuation point! Chapter 67 67: Return

"Shitin Box"

Charon was staring at the tablet that had never once successfully powered on since he obtained it.

Every red-rarity item so far had possessed absurd, ga-breaking power, including the "Panacea," the "Crystal Shoes," and the "River Styx Coin."

But among all the items he owned, this thing called the "Shitin Box" was the only one whose purpose he completely failed to understand.

It couldn't be powered on, couldn't be destroyed, and couldn't even be "repaired" in any conventional sense.

The bullet hole hadn't penetrated it, but it had clearly damaged the screen. Yet when Charon tried damaging it further to test its reaction, he discovered that even the cracked screen was as hard as steel, as if the Shittim Chest had been manufactured in exactly this state.

The item description also bothered him greatly.

"From a destroyed world."

And who exactly were "they"?

In short, every ti Charon looked at it, he felt completely lost.

"Mr. Charon?"

At that mont, silver twin-tails peeked into the room. Little Ana wore a small backpack and looked just like an elentary school girl ready for class.

"Ready?" Charon snapped out of his thoughts, smiled faintly, casually plugged the Shitin Box into a charger, and stood up.

Even though he knew it probably wouldn't work… what if?

What if it simply required an absurd amount of electricity to boot up? If he kept it plugged in forever, eventually it should charge, right? Probably.

At this point, he had no better ideas anyway.

A red-rarity item was guaranteed to be useful if activated. Charon had no intention of giving up any possibility of fixing it.

But now, it was ti to depart.

Today, he would send Ana back to where she belonged.

For Ana, life in the hideout had truly been happy–almost unbelievably so.

But she didn't want to remain forever beneath Charon's wings.

Her experiences in Zone One made her realize how weak she really was.

Even the tis she managed to help Charon had only been thanks to items acquired from that world, not because of her own strength.

At the very least… she wanted to gain the power to protect him.

And when that day ca, she would return here and live together with Charon in the hideout.

Running raids together. Adventuring together. Playing together. Reading together. Eating together…

She didn't want to be a canary in a cage.

She wanted to stand beside him as a comrade.

So even though parting hurt unbearably, she still had to leave.

As for whether she would et Charon again soday, she wasn't worried at all.

NIKKEs lived for a very long ti–long enough for her to firmly believe she would eventually find him again.

Even if that confidence had no real basis, if she didn't believe it, she would never be able to take this step.

In Cinderella, miracles and magic eventually disappear.

But even so, Cinderella still has the possibility of returning to the prince's side.

Ana believed in that completely.

Charon stepped out of the room.

Unfortunately, he still had no choice but to use Disguise Mode this ti; otherwise he wouldn't be able to enter the NIKKE world.

Every single ti he told himself that next ti he'd finally go in fully geared… yet sohow every single ti he ended up doing scavenger runs instead.

When the hell would he finally get to go full loadout?!

I want to unleash my six-piece gear and gold ammo so badly!

But he couldn't. Damn it.

As the sighing Charon left the room together with Ana, the living area suddenly fell silent.

At that mont–

Despite not being connected to any electronic device, the screen of the Shitin Box suddenly lit up.

...

> [> System reboot sequence initiated…]

[> Checking hardware integrity… [Critical damage detected]…]

[> Attempting to load operating system: A.R.O.N.A…]

[> Error: Partial personality data corrupted…]

[> Attempting data recovery… Missing personality data…]

[> Error: Recovery failed…]

...

Then the screen went dark again, as though it had never lit up at all.

…

[Confirming current mode. Selected mode: Disguise Mode. Generating legal identity.]

[Generation complete. Identity confird.]

[Operator Na: Charon]

[Identity: Commander Candidate]

[Mission Objective: None]

[Reward: "Anchor"]

[Extraction Point: Unlocks with exploration progress]

[Consciousness transfer beginning…]

...

When his awareness returned, Charon found himself… standing on a city street.

The reward for this mission was sothing resembling a gigantic wooden nail. Its effect was completely unknown, but after his experience with the Shitin Box, he had a rough idea.

It had to be another red-rarity item!

This was exactly why Disguise Mode was so addictive–every run guaranteed a red-tier reward.

Naturally, he would continue fighting for it tirelessly.

As expected, he entered with basically no equipnt.

Aside from the River Styx Coin.

That item wasn't classified like armor, guns, rigs, or backpacks. It was a bound item and therefore impossible to lose. Anything with a "bound" property could apparently be carried into any map.

anwhile, items without that property–like the gold pocket watch and the Mirror of Truth–had automatically been returned to storage, which disappointed him a little.

People passed by constantly around them.

Most cast respectful or envious glances toward him, but nobody approached to speak.

Charon didn't care about strangers' opinions.

Instead, he looked beside him.

The silver twin-tailed girl stood there quietly with the backpack he prepared for her, looking like a tiny fairy fallen into the mortal world.

The only problem was–

The crystal shoes on her feet had been forcibly replaced with ordinary Mary Jane shoes.

Because if she wore the Crystal Shoes, Charon would be unable to select Disguise Mode.

She had to abandon the shoes to enter the mode, and the system's explanation was simple:

The shoes were too powerful and violated the requirents of Disguise Mode.

So the system really showed no rcy, huh? Entering the NIKKE world automatically confiscated them.

Was that what "exclusive equipnt" ant?

After all, Ana technically wasn't a "player" belonging to the Zero Zone.

It truly mirrored the story of Cinderella:

When she returned to the world where she belonged, she lost her magic.

But both Charon and Ana had already prepared themselves ntally for this.

And honestly, it might even be a good thing.

Treasures invite disaster.

Until Ana gained enough strength to protect herself, it was safer for her not to possess sothing like the Crystal Shoes.

At this mont, the Crystal Shoes rested quietly inside the hideout's collection room—

Waiting for the day she returned and wore them again.

...

Back to reality.

"Mr. Charon… where is this…?"

Looking at the surroundings, Ana could hardly believe she had truly returned to the human world.

But almost imdiately, reality struck her.

She no longer had a ho.

It felt as though this world no longer had a place for her.

Her tears over her parents' deaths had long since dried up.

What remained inside her now was only confusion and faint fear.

Even though she wished to beco a NIKKE, before she grew up, she had no idea what she could actually do.

Disguise Mode only disguised Charon.

The little girl beside him technically had no identity at all–she was basically an undocunted person who got dragged in alongside him.

Though in this kind of world, as long as you were human, you could still register as a citizen–even with unclear origins.

Humanity was simply too short on people.

Still, it was too early to think about that.

First, he needed to determine exactly which point in the tiline they had arrived in.

...

Half an hour later.

The two sat inside a small restaurant and ordered simple food.

Even though it was just ordinary ho cooking, the prices were noticeably higher–around thirty percent more expensive than the last ti Charon had entered this world.

He didn't react much.

The identity he wore right now wasn't suited for showing unusual reactions.

Of course, he had money.

Disguise Mode provided clothing complete with a wallet and identification docunts.

This ti, his na was:

Ron.