Levi

Deep within the ocean, a golden light flickered from time to time. It slowly drifted out of a dark cave, and its full body emerged into the open. Its eyes blinked again as it turned to look at the strange building that had appeared just outside its cave. It stood still, uncertain of what to do.

Driven by curiosity, it swam toward the structure like a cautious child. As it drew closer, it tried to examine the building using its spiritual powers, but everything it attempted failed, which surprised it.

The building was barely one-fifth its height. Seeing this, it chose to shrink its body so that it could enter.

After shrinking, it looked inside and saw someone, a woman with silver hair, still slightly wet from a recent bath, running her fingers through her hair with a gentle smile. Watching her, the creature transformed its appearance to match hers. The only differences were the color of her hair, eyebrows, and eyes, which were all pure sky blue. Her clothes also mirrored the woman's: a white shirt and black trousers similar to Evangeline's.

She walked toward the door, and to her surprise, it opened on its own, increasing her curiosity. She stepped inside and heard the woman speaking to herself.

"It's my right to take a bath whenever I want. Who the hell are you to criticize me? And honestly, aside from humans and elves, no one even bothers to come here. I don't even know where the store is anymore, this is already my sixth shift."

A panda stood nearby, one hand resting on its belly and the other pointing toward her.

"How the heck should I know, you stupid woman? Like I said, everything is random. Who would've thought the store would appear right on the sun or the core of a planet?"

Evangeline clenched the same fist she had just used to comb her hair and scolded him with a face that was clearly trying to look angry.

"Then try adjusting the store's location to somewhere populated. And why the hell would you even allow it to land on the sun? I'm already sick of this."

She imagined her scolding to be frightening, but in truth, there was nothing scary about her appearance. It was actually a little cute. If the one she was arguing with weren't a panda, they would have already given up and tried to calm her down instead.

"Do you even understand what you're saying?" the panda said. "Do you know how many panda bills that would take? If you're willing to cut a bit of your share, maybe I could do something about the store's appearance."

Evangeline's expression darkened. "So now you're eyeing my bills? And you dare call yourself a respectable system? You're no better than those black-hearted merchants."

The panda opened its mouth to argue but fell silent when a woman stepped into the store. The moment it caught sight of her face, its eyes widened in disbelief.

It glanced between the woman and Evangeline. "Do you have a twin sister or some relative I don't know about? That woman looks exactly like you... only more elegant."

Evangeline didn't reply. She simply pouted and turned toward the approaching figure, stunned to see a woman who mirrored her appearance, except for the distinct sky-blue color of her hair and eyes.

"You are...?" she asked.

The woman paused, then responded with a hint of hesitation. "Ah... I am what you humans refer to as a Leviathan. I don't possess a name of my own, but you're welcome to address me by whatever title humans usually assign."

Evangeline tilted her head. "Leviathan? You mean those mythical sea dragons who claim to be water connoisseurs, tasting water from every source, even bathwater?"

The woman appeared puzzled by the description, but eventually gave a slow nod.

Evangeline studied her carefully. It didn't take long to piece everything together. The creature must have seen her, used some power to take a human form, and then copied my appearance.

"Then from today onward," Evangeline said, "I'll call you Levi."

Levi nodded without any change in expression and glanced around the interior. "Is this your residence? It feels quite pleasant inside."

Evangeline gave a light chuckle. "No, this is the Convenience Store I manage. It's currently open, so if you'd like to make a purchase, feel free to look around, Levi."

Levi appeared confused for a moment. "Apologies, human, but I do not possess any form of your currency, can I use this instead."

As she spoke, she retrieved a dark blue scale from a spatial storage and placed it on the counter to show Evangeline.

"Just call me Evangeline," she replied calmly. "And yes, we have a conversion system. Once you're registered as a customer of the Panda Convenience Store, you can exchange any valuable item into Panda Bills, which can be used for purchases here."

Levi's interest visibly grew as she listened closely to the explanation. "Then, please, would you register me?"

Evangeline nodded in agreement, though a thought passed silently through her mind: A fully loaded cashbag acquired.

She took a black card from the drawer, marked with the Panda Convenience Store logo, and placed it on the desk. Then she pulled out a lancet from another drawer and briefly explained the process.

Levi nodded without asking questions. When told to prick her finger, she followed the instruction. Normally, it wouldn't have worked, but since the lancet came from the Panda Convenience Store, even something like that was possible.

A clear liquid, so transparent it was barely visible, fell from her fingertip and landed on the card.

The card shimmered faintly for a moment before returning to its normal appearance. However, only Levi could perceive the change. A panel had appeared before her eyes, displaying various features and information tied to the card. She studied it briefly, then gave a small, satisfied smile.

She turned to Evangeline.

"So, when can we proceed with the conversion?"