Watching Pei Guang and Stelle mimic her movements, Firefly opened her mouth but didn't know what to say.
At that moment, she could only feel a strange yet pleasant mix of embarrassment and amusement.
She stayed silent, deep in thought, but Pei Guang, of course, didn't let her off the hook.
"Hey? Come on, do a few more! Your moves are seriously awesome!"
"Haha… better not, it's kind of embarrassing…"
For some reason, just thinking about doing that kind of thing in front of Pei Guang made her feel… mortified.
It was the same kind of embarrassment as if your lover suddenly pulled out your childhood diary and started reading it out loud.
Pei Guang, hugging the armor Firefly had conjured, looked at her pitifully and pleaded, "Firefly~ Fire-baby~ please, please~ If it were me, I could never imagine armor this beautiful in my entire life. Just grant me this tiny little wish, please?"
Stelle joined in from the other side, wrapping her arms around her too. "Yeah, yeah! That fiery-red armor is just way too cool: I can't resist it, please show us again!"
Faced with the two acting like overgrown children, Firefly really didn't know what to say. But seeing their earnest expressions, she pursed her lips and gave in.
"...Alright, alright, since you two like it so much…"
As soon as she agreed, both Pei Guang and Stelle let go of her, and Firefly closed her eyes, preparing to get into the zone.
As she focused, she could feel how extraordinary this armor really was.
The transformation device's effect far exceeded her expectations: this gem-like item could freely change according to her mood, and the sensation of fighting while wearing it was so smooth that it almost didn't feel real.
Pei Guang had said it could last for at least five minutes in battle mode, but judging by her analysis, each device could actually let her go all-out, spamming every special attack for over five minutes—with zero physical strain.
As for feeling embarrassed… she told herself it was just early practice: getting used to the transformation device. At least in the dream, having something like this gave her a real means of fighting back instead of being helpless.
Seeing Firefly still hesitating a little, Pei Guang suddenly pulled out a trash can. "Ah, I get it—you're not feeling it 'cause you don't have a target, right? Need something to hit? How about this?"
He set the trash can upright in the middle of the hallway.
The poor trash can probably never imagined that one day it would serve as a target dummy for players testing their damage output.
Since Pei Guang had already gone this far, Firefly knew she couldn't refuse anymore.
"Alright… I'm ready. Let's just call this… practice."
Even though she'd done these moves countless times before, doing them now made her body stiff with nerves.
"Target sighted. All units on alert. I shall... set the seas ablaze!"
Compared to her earlier poses, this time Firefly leapt into the air with a flying kick, flames roaring around her.
Her kick landed squarely on the trash can, and the moment it connected, the thing shot off like a meteor.
As Firefly landed, flames spread across the entire Memory Zone, setting everything ablaze; the monsters in that room and the surrounding ones were all completely incinerated.
At that moment, Pei Guang and Stelle burst into applause, and even the flaming trash can gave her a thumbs-up as it flew.
The trash can decided, right then and there, that it would no longer be an ordinary trash can: today, it was a burning trash can.
Pei Guang rushed over to Firefly's side first. "Whoa, that was intense! Damn, what a shame: if Stelle and I could transform like that too, the three of us could have an all-out brawl. That'd be peak entertainment! Man, I'm so jealous—you're beautiful, your armor's awesome, and your moves are stylish. How can someone like you even exist?"
Stelle had been about to compliment her too, but when she heard Pei Guang's string of praises, she blinked and looked at him. "Huh, so you can say nice things."
Pei Guang shrugged. "That's all I've got: my lifetime limit of compliments. Still, it's a pity. Armor versus monsters is nothing special: armor versus armor, that's where the fun is."
Firefly blinked. "?"
Stelle laughed. "Who knows, maybe we'll run into an enemy wearing armor later—then it's your time to shine."
As Stelle's gaze fell on her, Firefly opened her mouth to respond, but Pei Guang interrupted her before she could.
"What do you mean just her? She doesn't even have much combat experience—what if something happens? We're a team. When the enemy shows up, we all attack together. Righteous group beatdown."
Stelle nodded seriously. "You've got a point! But what if the one in armor isn't actually our enemy?"
Pei Guang smirked. "Simple. Close your eyes and start swinging. If it turns out we hit the wrong guy, we'll just apologize after."
Firefly: "…"
Watching Pei Guang and Stelle's ridiculous back-and-forth, Firefly's expression froze. At this point, she had only one thought: We need to get out of here.
Staying any longer would be dangerous—or just insane.
"This place isn't safe. Let's move, we can talk later once we're somewhere secure."
But just as she was speaking, she suddenly sensed something off about the environment. Before she could warn them, Pei Guang and Stelle's expressions turned serious as well.
"Be careful," Pei Guang said grimly. "That monster's back—and this time, it's moving fast."
During their first encounter, Pei Guang had marked Something Unto Death. The only reason they'd dared to mess around earlier was because he'd confirmed it wasn't nearby.
But now, maybe because their noise had drawn it, or maybe because it had recovered, the creature was charging straight toward their location again.
Stelle tensed. "What do we do? Do we fight it head-on or what?"
Pei Guang: "No frontal assault—we ambush, then run. I did the math. That gadget lasts around ten minutes, which means after this attack, we'll have about ten minutes to escape. We make our move, then bolt."
The reason Pei Guang hadn't left earlier wasn't because he was wasting time: he had been calculating. Even while teasing Firefly, he'd been keeping an eye on the minimap, tracking the position of Something Unto Death.
Who knew what kind of enemies lay ahead?
If they ran into another foe just as Something Unto Death showed up, that'd be game over, so Pei Guang decided to pause here and observe.
From the time he used the gadget to force it away until it returned, the safe window was about ten minutes. Meaning, after this ambush, they'd have roughly ten minutes to run.
He still had six gadgets left: in total, an hour of safe exploration time. And in an hour, they could do a lot.
As long as they managed their time and didn't encounter enemies at the worst moment, they could explore under relatively safe conditions.
Stelle: "Got it!"
Stelle pulled out a trash can and was about to climb in, but Pei Guang stopped her, taking the trash can back. "Don't bother. It's no use—it already saw us come out of that thing earlier."
Stelle: "Huh? Then what do we do?"
Pei Guang: "No big deal. Trash cans and dumpsters are out, but we've got other options. Let's see… got it."
Pei Guang quickly took out a wardrobe and a bed, placing the bed by the wall and the wardrobe beside it, then stacking a cardboard box on top.
"You two, pick one—under the bed or inside the wardrobe. I'll set up the rest."
Firefly chose the wardrobe, and Stelle went under the bed.
Pei Guang then pulled out building blocks and rapidly partitioned the corridor. In the blink of an eye, the long hallway became a series of small rooms, each furnished with random pieces of furniture.
All of it had been "borrowed" earlier from the Reverie Hotel: now they finally became useful.