Souls Online: Mythic Ascension
Chapter 168: Blink Twice

Chapter 168: Blink Twice

Leo’s jaw went slack.

"Twenty... gold?"

he repeated, his voice almost cracking.

He glanced at the rest of the group as if silently begging for someone to tell him this was a joke. Rachel raised her hands into the air as if to say she had nothing...which was very true. Luna crossed her arms but was averting her gaze, attempting to act tough while trying to hide the fact that she was broke after buying the ingredients from their feast last night. Aria fidgeted with the edge of her sleeve and tried not to meet anyone’s eyes.

Lily blinked. Then she tilted her head, her green hair swaying lazily as she shifted Moku back into her arms.

"Wait, is that all?" she asked with a slight yawn. "I thought it’d be, like, a hundred or something."

Leo stared at her, stunned.

"Wait, what do you mean ’is that all’?"

"Well I found out there was a real money converter so I played around with it for a bit. I ended up with a bit of money."

Leo could literally feel his sanity flowing out of his body as he asked

"And how much is...’a bit’?"

Lily adjusted her grip on Moku so he was held up by one hand while she used her other hand to place a finger on her lips as she thought.

"If I recall correctly...it was 411 Gold, 95 Silver and 30 Copper coins. So essentially the equivalent of 4,119,530 copper coins or so?"

Aria’s eyes went wide at that revelation while Luna facepalmed.

’Of course she would drop money on this game! If there is a way to spend money. She will find it!’

Luna grumbled internally but she couldn’t bring herself to say it out loud.

Leo stared at Lily like she’d spoken in an alien tongue.

"You’re telling me,"

he said slowly,

"You have four million copper coins. Just... sitting there."

Lily gave a lazy blink. "Well, yeah. I was curious, so I tested out the converter. It was kind of fun. The numbers kept going up."

He opened his mouth. Closed it again. Then finally asked,

"And you didn’t think to mention this until just now?"

She shrugged, shifting Moku slightly in her arms. "It didn’t seem important. I wasn’t planning to spend it or anything."

Leo felt his blood pressure spiking from the insane answer Lily had given him. He waved to his sister, taking a step aside.

"Sis you deal with this. I’m ready to just keel over here."

Luna nodded her head and stepped forward, glaring into Lily’s eyes which had began to falter.

"So....Ms. Lily. What money did you use to ’invest’ in this gamee hmm~?"

Lily gulped as Luna only used that title and tone with her when she was teasing or interrogating her and judging by the look in her eyes, she definitely wasn’t joking.

Lily glanced around like a cornered cat, her arms tightening just slightly around Moku. "Well... I didn’t actually use real money," she said with a forced chuckle. "That’d be ridiculous, right?"

Luna tilted her head, smile sweet but eyes sharp. "So you didn’t exchange anything at all?"

Lily nodded quickly. "Exactly. I just, you know, looked. Played around. For fun."

Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Then how did you get an exact amount like four hundred eleven gold, ninety-five silver, and thirty copper?"

Lily froze for a split second.

"I... guessed?"

"You guessed down to thirty copper?"

Aria asked, unimpressed.

"It was a very good guess,"

Lily replied weakly.

Luna took a step closer, her voice dropping to that fake-sweet tone she always used when hunting down the truth.

"Lily."

"Mmhmm?"

"What card did you use?"

"...My debit card..."

Lily looked down when Luna pressed for an answer but she immediately tried to defend her actions.

"B-But it was all money from investments I made! My bank balance hasn’t changed!"

Luna raised an eyebrow.

"Investments, huh?"

Lily nodded, just a little too fast.

"Yup! Super responsible ones! No reckless spending here!"

Leo narrowed his eyes.

"What kind of investments exactly?"

Lily waved her free hand vaguely.

"You know... stocks. Bonds. Crypto."

Luna looked back at her friends who were all eyeing Lily suspiciously as sweat began to form on her forehead while she refused to look anyone in the eye.

"Anyone believe her?"

"""Nope"""

The answer was simultaneous. Yet Lily puffed her cheeks and growled back

"Are you guys going to keep interrogating me about the money or are we gonna create our Guild!"

Leo slowly turned his head.

"...You’re changing the subject."

Lily held Moku a little higher, as if the tiny creature could shield her from judgment.

"I’m pivoting. It’s strategic."

Luna crossed her arms and tilted her head.

"Strategic for someone who just got cornered."

"I didn’t get cornered,"

Lily said quickly.

"I simply... redirected the narrative flow."

"You mean panicked and tried to deflect," Aria said with a look of bafflement on her face, clearly not capable of understanding how Lily’s mind worked.

Leo sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"You can’t just throw a bomb like that and then pretend it didn’t happen."

Lily gave a sheepish smile.

"Would it help if I said I regret nothing?"

Luna stepped forward again, expression unreadable.

"Lily."

The green-haired girl straightened a little.

"Yes?"

"Do you have any other surprises you’d like to drop on us? Anything else that might make Leo scream into a pillow later?"

Lily opened her mouth, paused, then seemed to genuinely consider it.

"Define ’surprise.’"

"That’s a big time yes."

Rachel muttered with a bemused expression,

"I’m not saying I have more,"

Lily protested,

"I’m just saying your definition might differ from mine. Like, if I had a pet squirrel hiding in my inventory, would that count?"

Leo squinted.

"Do you?"

"No,"

Lily said quickly, then looked uncertain.

"Wait... I don’t think so?"

Luna gave her a flat stare. "That’s not reassuring."

Aria sighed, her own motivation taking a nosedive after swimming in the chaos of her friends for so long.

"Why do we even bother asking? It’s always like this."

"Because it’s becoming a tradition," Rachel replied, sounding amused. "We poke. She squirms. Leo dies a little inside."

Leo groaned. "I’m right here, you know."

Lily reached out and patted his head with her free hand, tone far too chipper. "There, there. You’re doing amazing, sweetie."

"I am two seconds from falling over," Leo said, voice barely above a whisper.

Luna clapped her hands once. "Okay, enough chaos. Guild time."

Aria blinked. "Really?"

Luna nodded. "Really. We’re doing it now before Lily says something else weird and we all spiral again."

Lily beamed. "I vote we name it Moku’s Harem."

"No,"

said everyone instantly.

Moku let out a tiny noise of confusion.

Leo looked at the creature in her arms and sighed.

"Moku, blink twice if you need help."

Moku blinked. Twice.