At the 15-minute mark of the game, a prompt rang out in Rita's mind:
[Playtime has reached 2 hours. A new item/curio has been unlocked.]
["Wrathful Moon" has been unlocked.]
["Wrathful Moon" has been deployed.]
As the notification ended, a Block lantern appeared out of thin air in front of her. Hovering above it was a gleaming golden number: "9".
Instantly, all the Dolls in the machine turned their gaze toward her. Rita couldn't even decide whether to feel thrilled or exasperated. She grabbed the lantern and bolted.
At that exact moment, the claw above her moved in, tracking her wherever she ran — clearly targeting her.
Even though she'd racked up 42 Blocks by stealing and killing as a Hot-Selling Doll, her current total didn't even crack the top five. She was barely top ten. Still, the Doll Buyer gave up on their previous target and chose her.
It made sense — if that lantern turned out to be one of the 9-piece item sets, it could sell for at least 500g Block.
