Just as Natsume had everything ready and was about to start her first ten-pull, the three children she had just encountered were talking about her.
"Mitsuhiko, Genta, I just bumped into a really pretty big sister in the restroom," Ayumi shared her special encounter with her friends, unable to contain her excitement.
Genta: "Was it that big sister with golden hair who looked very gentle?"
Ayumi: "Yes! Genta, Mitsuhiko, did you guys see her just now too?"
"Mhm, mhm," Genta and Mitsuhiko nodded in unison.
"The big sister's hair was so pretty, like sunlight, and her eyes were golden too," Ayumi recalled being gently watched by the beautiful big sister in the restroom, her face still flushing slightly.
Genta couldn't help but agree: "Yeah~ it felt just like curry."
Mitsuhiko: "Genta, you only think about food. How could you say that?"
Genta rubbed his head, a bit embarrassed: "I'm just describing how looking at that big sister makes me feel happy, and I feel happy when I see food."
Mitsuhiko: "I wonder if we'll run into that sister again later?"
Ayumi also felt it was a pity: "Sigh, I didn't have time to ask for her name just now."
Genta didn't think too much about it: "Forget it, Ayumi's done with the restroom, where should we go play next?"
"Let's go to the Roller Coaster over there. There are so many people, it looks like a lot of fun," Mitsuhiko suggested.
Upon hearing this, Genta and Ayumi were also very interested and set off toward the Roller Coaster.
At this moment, Natsume was using her consciousness to press the gacha button, performing her first ten-pull in this world.
As she pressed it, Natsume couldn't help but pray in her heart: 'I want the Lord of Geo, I want Zhongli, I want the Geo Archon...' She repeated these few words over and over, hoping to chant Zhongli into existence. After all, Rex Lapis's shield provided such a sense of security; with him, Natsume felt her life would be guaranteed, and she could wander around without worry.
At that moment, a golden light flashed across the gacha interface—she actually got a gold on a ten-pull! Natsume became even more excited.
Ten cards appeared on the interface. Besides one gold card, there was also one purple card, and the rest were blue cards. She needed to flip them over herself. She could flip them one by one or choose to flip them all at once.
Natsume naturally chose to flip them one by one. First were the eight blue cards. Unsurprisingly, they were mostly three-star weapons like "Messenger," "Harbinger of Dawn," and "Magic Guide," as well as two healing foods: "Flaming Red Bolognese" and "Sweet Madame." She hadn't expected that food in this system would be obtained through gacha.
Now only two cards remained. Natsume flipped the purple card first, and it was actually a character card: "Lisa"—one of the starter trio from Genshin Impact. Natsume felt her luck had been quite good so far and looked forward to the golden card even more.
Natsume carefully opened the gold card. After a flash of golden light, she looked and saw it was "Alhaitham." Although she was slightly disappointed it wasn't Zhongli, Alhaitham was also good.
In Teyvat, Alhaitham was the Scribe of the Sumeru Akademiya, possessing extraordinary wisdom and talent. He would definitely be a huge help in this kexue world.
Natsume prepared to try controlling Alhaitham with her consciousness first. She found an inconspicuous corner and had Paimon release the character. Natsume looked at the Alhaitham standing before her. Since he didn't have a consciousness yet, his eyes were closed. He wore a black T-shirt and a dark green coat, with headphones hanging over his head. It wasn't as exaggerated as in the game—it seemed to have been specifically modified to fit the aesthetics of this world, making him look like a college student.
Next, following Paimon's instructions, Natsume separated a portion of her consciousness and projected it onto Alhaitham. She then saw the person in front of her open his eyes.
It was a very strange feeling, as if her consciousness had split into two parts. She could feel a connection between the person in front of her and herself, and she could vaguely sense some emotions, yet he also felt distinct from her.
"Hello, Traveler." Alhaitham quickly grasped the current situation and spoke first: "No need to stare. It's quite obvious: we are the same person. You are me, and I am you."
"The way you speak makes it feel like the real Alhaitham is standing right in front of me," Natsume said, somewhat unaccustomed to it. "Also, don't call me Traveler. Just call me by my name."
"Actually, this is quite normal. I—that is, your consciousness—will be influenced by the character when role-playing. To some extent, I am Alhaitham."
Seeing that the "self" in front of him was fine, Alhaitham looked up at the sun. "Is there nothing else? If not, I'm going to wear my noise-canceling headphones and sleep for a while." After saying that, he prepared to walk around Natsume.
"Wait," Natsume quickly stopped Alhaitham. What a joke! She had brought Alhaitham out to provide help, not to have him come out and sleep.
Just then, Paimon suddenly reminded Natsume that there was a mission.
Natsume used her consciousness to click on the mission log, which displayed:
[World Mission: Roller Coaster Murder Case
A sad accident has occurred in the Amusement Park that brings joy. As the Roller Coaster passes through a pitch-black tunnel, it leaves behind the bitter tears of love and the blood of a sacrifice.
Please prevent the case from happening in advance or identify the murderer in public.]
When Natsume saw this mission description, she realized this was a case from the beginning of the Conan series. If that was the case, then the Amusement Park she was in was Tropical Land, where Shinichi Kudo turned into Conan Edogawa.
Natsume noticed that Alhaitham didn't react to the sudden mission and realized he probably couldn't see the system panel. She quickly informed Alhaitham about the mission, thinking he would give up on sleeping. Instead, she heard: "Natsume, you are someone with very strong self-care abilities. Moreover, you already know the answer to the riddle, so completing the mission should be as easy as turning over your hand. I have no advice to give you, and you shouldn't need my help. I'm leaving first."
Natsume didn't know how to respond for a moment and could only watch helplessly as Alhaitham left the corner.
Left with no choice, Natsume decided to rely on herself first. Besides, Alhaitham was right; she already knew the answer. She just needed to say it before Shinichi Kudo to complete the mission. The current priority was to find the location where the case would occur, so that she might even be able to prevent it.
Natsume stepped out of the corner, looked around, found the location of the Roller Coaster, and prepared to head in that direction.