Chapter 6: Material

*Street corner.*

The old, used car didn't start on the first try. The intermittent arguing and escalating curses coming from inside suggested a heated dispute.

This undoubtedly gave Allen some time to think.

His gaze fell on the system prompt, particularly lingering on the words "material" for a few seconds.

Clearly, the system's "scenario evolution" wasn't conjured out of thin air as he initially thought. Instead, it seemed to require some necessary medium.

But where did the medium come from?

Staring at the flashing prompts on the data panel, Allen couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

The system, which he had repaired by chance, was still mostly in a half-dead state. It was fortunate that it no longer crashed, so naturally, there were no other user-friendly introductory features.

As a result, the prompt about the plot material appeared abruptly, leaving him clueless.

*Under the streetlight.*

The intense arguing from the old car began to subside, reminding Allen of the urgency of time.

With a buzzing engine starting sound, the used car parked on the side of the street began to move, and the arguing inside became faint.

Apparently, the argument had reached a conclusion.

It seemed that his first attempt with the system was about to end anticlimactically, and the "escape" drama of the runaway lovers would proceed as normal.

Allen's brows furrowed tightly, and a feeling of unwillingness surged in his heart.

"Where can I find the material the system is asking for? It can't be just anything, right?" he muttered to himself, picking up a ballpoint pen.

At this moment, he was actually ready to give up.

However, at that very moment...

As he watched, a new line of text appeared crookedly under the "scenario evolution" page of the system.

"Ding! Material mismatch! Please input material that matches the plot!"

"It really can be anything!"

The new content that appeared in the system made Allen freeze.

If it weren't for this unintentional action, he might have racked his brains and never figured out that the material prompted by the system could be obtained so simply.

It seems I was overthinking it before.

Although various thoughts surged in his mind, time did not allow Allen to hesitate any longer.

"Material mismatch?!"

His eyes scanned the prompt that reappeared in the system, focusing on the words "match the plot." He pondered them for a moment, and the content of the script he had previously created in the system flashed through his mind, finally settling on a short paragraph.

"If all my guesses are correct!"

Recalling the description in his script, Allen rushed to the worn-out desk in the living room of his apartment and pulled open a drawer.

Inside the drawer was an old, scratched music box.

As mentioned before, Allen was not the first tenant of this cheap apartment in Compton. Countless tenants had lived here before him.

And what they left behind, besides the indelible graffiti and holes on the walls and the mold and grease on the floor, were some small objects scattered throughout the room.

For example, this music box in the desk drawer. If Allen hadn't discovered it while randomly opening the drawer one day, he might never have known that such a childlike item existed in his room.

And, under normal circumstances...

This music box in the drawer would most likely have continued to sit quietly in its place, like in the past, until it was eventually thrown into the trash by a future tenant.

However, the situation seemed to be different now.

Taking the music box out of the drawer, Allen blew the dust off it.

He held the music box in one hand, his eyes fixed on the broken data panel of the system.

"Ding! Material matches. Plot generation requires 200 [Plot Points]. Please select the location for plot evolution!"

The flashing prompt on the data panel changed from the mismatch message to new content.

"I have to choose the evolution location too!"

Seeing that the system required him to choose the location for evolution after confirming the material, Allen almost spat out blood.

The system protagonists he had read about in novels in the past all had systems that were straightforward and didn't require the host to spend much effort. Why did his system have so many steps, requiring both material and an evolution location?

No wonder the system was broken like this; there was a reason.

This operation was too clunky; it really affected the user experience.

Although he was dissatisfied with the process of using the system's "scenario evolution" function...

But, having come this far, and having even solved the crucial material problem, Allen naturally had no intention of giving up at the last moment.

Without much hesitation, he immediately chose the evolution location according to the description in the script.

"Select evolution location - car!"

"Ding! Evolution location confirmed. This scenario evolution requires a total of 300 [Plot Points]. Do you want to proceed with the evolution?"

As Allen had guessed, choosing the evolution location was the last step of the system's "scenario evolution" function. After he made his selection, the entire "scenario evolution" was finally ready to start.

"Of course I want to proceed! What else is there to consider?"

After going through so many ups and downs, as long as Allen was still sane, it was impossible for him to say no.

And the moment he gave his firm answer...

An invisible force surged from the system's data panel. Under the influence of this force, the music box in his hand quickly turned into a ray of light and dissipated into the panel.

[Evolution begins]

Seeing the words that appeared on the system's data panel, Allen, who had been tense the whole time, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

As he watched, the image on the panel switched to a cramped car interior.

Undoubtedly, this was the real-time evolution of the system's scenario.

However, looking at the screen full of cracks...

Allen felt speechless again.

The cracks all over the screen really affected the viewing experience.

...

Click—

While Allen was watching the scenario evolution through the system...

Inside the used car parked on the side of the street, under the influence of an invisible force, the tightly fastened buckle of the suitcase thrown in the back seat suddenly loosened, and a black music box abruptly appeared among the clothes crammed inside.

(End of chapter)