"That's impossible!"
To Cipher's surprise, Bartholos didn't believe a word she said. Instead, he crossed his arms and spoke with absolute certainty.
"I might fail to recognize Great Ancestor Zagreus, but there is no way I wouldn't recognize you, Big Sis! That familiar aura, that identical look, and most, most, most importantly—the divine power of the God of Trickery!"
Cipher opened her mouth to argue further, but before she could speak, a subtitle floated before her eyes.
[Spirithief Bartholos (Zagreus)]
[Although Bartholos was originally a piece of data from the Emperor's Scepter's simulation, this system has replicated that data through a mysterious power and endowed it with life. Therefore, the Cipher existing in Bartholos's memories is indeed the host. He is an independent living entity separate from the original Amphoreus.]
[Effect: A Cipher without Bartholos is not a complete Cipher. That is his effect!]
'So that's how it is?'
Looking at the introduction, Cipher fell into deep thought.
'Does this mean I didn't actually steal Cipher's companion? This Bartholos was originally meant to be mine?'
'But... if his memories are technically fabricated, should I still tell him the truth?'
She shifted her gaze to Bartholos, who was still noisy at her feet, and a slight smile tugged at the corner of her lips.
Since she wasn't stealing "Cipher's" friend after all...
'Then please allow me to be a little selfish... Bartholos, I'm sorry. But I promise that every memory you make from this point forward will be real.'
"Stop yelling, Bartholos. Do you really not even recognize yourself?"
Pulling her thoughts back to the present, Cipher crossed her arms and rolled her eyes at him.
"Er... how could I! If someone had told me back then, 'The Great Ancestor Zagreus will turn into this Spirithief form in the future!' I wouldn't have believed it, let alone recognized it!"
"Heh, nice way to dodge the point."
Cipher chuckled softly before shifting her focus back to the gacha interface.
"Alright, go find somewhere to play for now. Oh, and don't scare the people in this house. They are my friends."
"Big Sis actually made new friends?!"
Upon hearing this, Bartholos reacted as if he had just discovered some world-shattering secret. He drifted into the mid-air, clutching his face in a mask of pure disbelief.
"What? Is it that strange for me to have friends? Are you afraid your position is being snatched away?"
Cipher spent 160,000 Credits on a single pull, then looked up at the floating Spirithief and asked teasingly.
She glanced down at the interface. Yep, blue.
"No, no, no! Who could possibly snatch this Great One's position by Big Sis Cipher's side?" Floating in the air, Bartholos shook his head with his arms crossed, looking quite punchable. "But of course it's strange! Big Sis, you haven't made a single friend in hundreds of years. Why start making them now?"
"Isn't it because we've come to a new world? There's no erosion from the Black Tide here, so there's no need to maintain that Kephale lie anymore. Isn't it normal to relax and make some new friends?"
After explaining, Cipher consumed another 160,000 Credits. Still blue.
"I guess that makes sense..." Bartholos drifted down from the ceiling, looking thoughtful.
"So, go play." Cipher threw another 160,000 Credits into the pit. "Also, just to be safe, if you happen to get caught by one of the people in this house, just give them my name to avoid any misunderstandings."
Still blue.
"Impossible!" Bartholos felt looked down upon. "A mere bunch of mortals? How could they possibly discover this Great One's tracks!"
"It's just a precaution. Their strength is actually decent; they aren't the mortals you're thinking of. Don't go failing in some gutter."
Cipher pulled again... still blue.
She only had enough Credits left for one last pull.
"Then just watch, Big Sis! I'm going to see exactly how capable they are right now!"
Before the words had even finished, a portal appeared in front of Bartholos. The purple figure "whooshed" into the portal and vanished.
At that exact moment, Cipher threw her final pull in.
Then, her eyes gradually widened.
The gacha interface began to radiate a brilliant golden light.
She! Cipher! Was finally getting a Gold!
As the golden light flashed, Cipher suddenly felt her vision shrink significantly, while an entirely different perspective rapidly expanded until it filled her entire sight.
Looking at the lush trees and forest before her, she was dazed. A second ago, she was in the bedroom at Lu Zhaoran's place. How did she end up in a forest like this the next second?
'What's going on? Where am I?'
'Wait, my voice? Why has it changed again?'
Just by speaking two sentences, she noticed the abnormality. This voice clearly did not belong to Cipher. Did this prove that she was no longer Cipher?
The familiar mechanical system voice appeared along with subtitles. As she read the description, she finally understood the current situation.
[The host has successfully pulled the first Gold. Character Unlocked: Firefly.]
[The host has obtained all of this character's power. To ensure the host's safety, the negative status "Entropy Loss Syndrome" has been cleared.]
[The host can switch perspectives through thought. After switching, the other character will enter a dormant state.]
[However, the host can also perform a partial perspective switch, allowing for the simultaneous viewing and control of multiple characters. You can understand this as split-screen or opening a small window.]
[Please rest assured, host. You have already obtained all of Cipher's power, including her mental strength, so you do not need to worry about being unable to multitask.]
[Please continue to earn more Stellar Jades and unlock more characters!]