The Girl Who Looted Tomorrow

The instant the stranger looked at her, every hair on Freya’s body stood on end.

A primal fear rose from somewhere deep inside her, screaming the same warning over and over.

Run.

Run now.

It was the terror a mouse felt before a cat, or a rabbit before a snake. The fear of a predator was carved into the deepest part of every living creature.

That instinct gave smaller animals a chance to flee before it was too late.

Human beings, however, had learned to suppress instinct with reason.

Freya swallowed hard and forced herself to keep walking.

This was only a simulation. The worst that could happen was an early death, and that would hardly be the end of the world.

“Hey. What are you doing outside my apartment?”

She lowered her voice as much as she could.

Unfortunately, her natural tone ruined any chance of sounding threatening. Instead, she sounded like a frightened kitten trying its best to hiss.

The watcher showed no sign that he had heard her.

He began shambling toward her, swaying from side to side like a drunk. His lips moved as he muttered something under his breath.

He was still too far away, and his voice was too quiet for Freya to make out the words.

She frowned.

Sweat gathered in the palm of her right hand as she gripped the revolver, but she did not stop walking.

Neither did he.

The two of them continued straight toward each other.

When they were only two steps apart, the watcher reached out with his right hand as though he intended to grab her.

Freya moved at once.

She drew the revolver, held it with both hands, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

She had never fired a gun before, nor had she received any training.

Her aim would have been terrible at a distance.

At this range, she did not need to aim.

Bang!

The gunshot cracked through the empty street.

Even though Freya had braced herself, her ears rang and both wrists went numb from the recoil.

The shopkeeper had not exaggerated. The revolver packed a serious punch.

A dark red stain spread across the watcher’s stomach.

A normal person would have collapsed, clutching the wound and screaming in pain.

This man did not even flinch.

His hand continued forward and clamped down on Freya’s shoulder.

Freya sucked in a sharp breath.

It felt as though her shoulder had been caught in an iron vise.

“How is he this strong?”

She raised the revolver, intending to fire into his head.

At that exact moment, something white flashed past her eyes.

A spike of agony tore through her wrist.

A long, skeletal tail had emerged from behind the watcher. Its segmented length was thin and knotted, and a curved bone spike protruded from its tip.

That spike had pierced straight through Freya’s wrist.

She finally understood what the creature had been muttering.

“So sweet…”

“So hungry…”

“What kind of monster is this?”

Freya’s eyes widened.

No human being could take a bullet to the stomach without reacting.

No human being had a bone tail growing from his back.

Until now, Freya had assumed this world was ordinary aside from its older technology.

Clearly, she had been wrong.

While she stood frozen in shock, the tail ripped free from her wrist with a wet tear.

It struck again before she could react.

The bone spike punched through her chest.

It was too fast.

Freya could not follow the movement, much less avoid it.

She clenched her teeth and screamed the command inside her mind.

“End simulation!”

The entire world froze.

Freya felt as though she had finally broken the surface after being held underwater for far too long.

She jerked her head up and gasped for air.

“Hah… Hah…”

The nighttime street was gone.

So was the creature with the red eyes.

The notebook lay on the desk before her, and morning sunlight streamed through the window.

She had returned to the moment she first arrived in this world, the exact point where the simulation had begun.

Everything that had happened felt like a nightmare.

After taking a moment to calm herself, Freya looked at the system interface and knew it had been real.

[Simulation complete.]

[Duration, fifteen hours.]

[Save this simulation file?]

A small window appeared in front of her.

Inside stood a three-dimensional model of Freya wrapped in her new coat, goggles, face covering, and gloves.

The model had a hole through its wrist and another through its chest.

Blood continued to drip from both wounds.

It was obviously a terrible save file.

Even if she saved and summoned this version of herself, the injuries would kill it without immediate medical treatment.

And how was she supposed to walk into a hospital with another version of herself?

Freya’s gaze moved toward [Do Not Save].

Then she noticed something.

Her eyes sharpened, and she immediately chose [Save].

[Select destination save slot.]

[00]

[01]

Slot 01 was the obvious choice.

Overwriting Slot 00 would be the same as deleting her healthy starting point.

That would practically be suicide.

Freya stood and walked into the bathroom.

She looked at the interface and issued a silent command.

“Summon Save Slot 01.”

A black-clad figure appeared out of thin air three feet in front of her.

At the same moment, Freya’s vision split in two.

One soul and one mind now controlled two bodies at once.

The sensation was strange and fascinating.

It remained fascinating for less than a second.

Both Freyas cried out at the same time.

“Ah, that hurts!”

The Freya from Slot 01 quickly dropped the revolver.

She placed the boxes of ammunition on the floor, followed by the satchel of money hanging from her shoulder.

Once everything was down, the original Freya spoke quickly.

“Recall the save file. Hurry!”

The other Freya vanished.

Only the gun, the money, and a few drops of blood remained on the bathroom floor.

When Freya had examined the three-dimensional model, she had noticed that all of its equipment was still present.

That gave her an idea.

Could she bring those items out of the simulation?

The answer, apparently, was yes.

Freya cleaned the blood from the bathroom, put away the revolver, then opened the satchel.

During the simulation, she had borrowed one hundred thousand ducats from Scar.

The revolver and ammunition had cost fifty-four thousand.

That left her with forty-six thousand ducats.

Compared to the three thousand she had started with, her wealth had multiplied many times over.

“Does this mean I’ll never have to worry about money again?”

Whenever she needed cash, she could enter a simulation, borrow money from Scar, then bring it back into reality.

Scar truly was a wonderful man.

With that discovery settled, Freya turned her attention back to the strange watcher.

She returned to the bedroom and sat on the edge of her bed, resting one ankle over the opposite knee.

Her slippered foot tapped against the floor in a steady rhythm.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The watcher was almost certainly the fatal crisis the system had warned her about.

Perhaps he had been observing her from outside for days. Three days from now, he might finally lose control, break into her apartment, and eat her.

In this case, “eat” was not a figure of speech.

“That thing definitely wasn’t human.”

Freya’s fear slowly gave way to excitement.

“Does this world have supernatural powers?”

She had been transported to another world.

Who would not dream of gaining incredible powers, becoming overwhelmingly strong, and doing whatever they wanted?

“I need to find out how these powers work.”

Freya glanced at the system interface.

A countdown of fifty-nine minutes had appeared beside [Begin Future Simulation].

The system had a cooldown period.

That part was not surprising.

What surprised her was how short it was.

Was it because the simulation itself had only lasted fifteen hours?

With an hour to spare, Freya washed up and tidied her hair.

Then she hesitated.

The original Freya had devoted all her energy to studying and working. Staying alive had taken everything she had, leaving no time or money for personal care.

According to her memories, she had either worn her hair loose or tied it into a simple ponytail.

That was about it.

Freya had no useful memories of her previous self, so she certainly did not remember how to style hair.

Still, her new body was this cute.

Would it not be a waste to make no effort at all?

Once she survived the fatal crisis, the system and her new source of money would allow her to enjoy life.

She wanted to live comfortably and find a way to be happy.

Freya searched the small apartment, only to discover that she did not own a single mirror.

Without one, she could not even practice.

“I’ll have to leave it like this for now. I can buy a mirror later and figure it out then.”

After finishing her morning routine, Freya went out and ordered the same breakfast she had eaten during the simulation.

She had enjoyed it the first time.

While eating, she spotted Scar’s two bleach-blond punks again.

This time, she ignored them and continued with her day.

By the time she returned home, exactly one hour had passed.

In truth, she had checked the system countdown every few minutes to make sure.

Freya stopped outside her door and issued another silent command.

“Begin Future Simulation. Select Save Slot 00.”

The familiar sensation of sinking beneath water washed over her.

The moment Freya opened her eyes, she put her new plan into action.

This world had supernatural creatures.

If those monsters existed, then it was reasonable to assume that some official organization existed to fight them.

Otherwise, creatures like the watcher could wander the streets eating people as though the whole city were an open buffet.

Freya’s plan was simple.

She would go to the police.

With their help, she might avoid the fatal crisis and learn something about the hidden supernatural side of this world.

Using the original Freya’s memories, she soon found the nearest police station.

Much like her meeting with Scar, she did not need to put on much of an act.

All she had to do was lower her head and speak softly. Her appearance made her seem like a timid girl who had been frightened half to death.

As expected, the two officers in the station lobby approached her as soon as she entered.

“Is something wrong?”

“I… I think someone has been watching me.”

Freya kept her head down.

“For the past few days, I’ve heard strange noises outside my apartment. Then, at around ten last night, I looked through the window and saw a man standing outside.”

The two officers exchanged a look.

Reports of strangers watching women through their windows were not especially rare.

Unfortunately, they were difficult to deal with.

Even if the police found the suspect, the man could simply claim he had been passing through.

There were no security cameras in this era, and without evidence, the officers could not hold him.

Most of these men only watched from a distance.

They did not break into homes, rob anyone, or commit murder.

Since no serious harm had occurred, the police rarely devoted much attention to such cases.

One of the officers gave Freya a reassuring smile.

“You’ll be all right. Ask your father to lock the doors and windows at night, and make sure you close the curtains.”

He continued gently.

“Men like that are usually cowards. They like to watch, but they rarely dare to do anything worse.”

Freya shook her head.

“I don’t have a father.”

The officer froze.

“Oh.”

He recovered after a moment.

“What about your mother? She could invite a few friends to stay with you for a while. You’ll feel safer with more people in the house.”

“I don’t have a mother either.”

That was true.

The original Freya had grown up in an orphanage and had never known who her parents were.

The officer opened his mouth, then closed it again.

Freya had kept her head lowered the entire time, making her look even more dejected.

He muttered under his breath.

“I’m an awful person.”

The second officer nodded.

“You really are.”

A man watching a family home would probably think twice before going any further.

If a young girl lived alone, however, the situation was far more dangerous.

While the officers considered what to do, Freya continued.

“And… I don’t think he was human.”

Both men went still.

“He looked terrifying. His eyes glowed red in the dark, and there was a white bone tail growing from his back.”

The officers stared at her.

One of them lowered his voice.

“Freya… are you certain you saw that correctly?”

“I’m sure.”

Freya looked up at them.

“You can come to my apartment tonight if you don’t believe me. He’ll be there again.”