In addition to the [Gold Coin Store], the new module also includes [Public Funds Allocation].

This latter was unlocked after the completion of the tour mission, allowing the use of 1.5 million gold coins obtained through loans… though now it had decreased to 1,495,000 gold.

She first opened the latter, scanning it casually, and found it to be something akin to an investment panel.

Because the city hall was currently in debt, after deducting the funds distributed for monthly salaries, the remaining funds could be invested by Vivi in three categories: “Charitable Sponsorship,” “Commercial Investment,” and “City Renovation.”

The investment options were all enterprises within Gotham City. Apart from commercial investments, the other options didn’t seem profitable — Vivi was a bit puzzled, doesn’t Gotham City collect taxes?

Unable to find where to view tax information, Vivi closed the panel. She decided not to spend recklessly and would try commercial investment only after thoroughly investigating the city.

[Opening the “Gold Coin Store”]

[Rule 1: Three new items are automatically updated daily.]

[Rule 2: Unique attribute items cannot be repurchased.]

[Rule 3: Items not purchased that day will refresh at 00:00 that night.]

[Rule 4: For just 20 diamonds, you can refresh the item purchase list.]

[Congratulations player, you have received a newcomer’s benefit. [Diamond Gift Pack (including 2000 diamonds, 100,000 gold coins)] is currently at a 75% discount, hurry and purchase it~]

[Discount countdown 23:59:50]

Vivi reluctantly closed the pop-up window for the newcomer’s gift pack.

She didn’t plan to purchase the gift pack. So, with only 400 gold coins in hand, what could she buy?

[Autumn Leaves Trash Can, Price: 150 gold coins]

[Once placed, it cannot be moved or destroyed. It can collect all leaf-related garbage within a 200-meter radius.]

[Make your city cleaner and more orderly.]

[Handy Hammer, Price: 300 gold coins]

[Nothing is indestructible, especially when it comes to breaking walls. It has a [Special Attack Against Walls] attribute, but when used on people, it’s just an ordinary hammer.]

[Your renovation workers might need this.]

[Red Patterned Floor Spray Paint (700l), Price: 700 gold coins]

[Creates unique, variable patterns, perfect for decorating floors. Just working on floors sprayed with this paint will boost your employees’ work motivation.]

[There’s always someone looking to slack off, and you’ll need this for those times.]

With just the 400 gold coins she extorted, and game time ticking towards the end of the day (April 1st), she thought it over and bought the hammer.

Compared to a trash can, the small and innocent her, who had just been assassinated, needed a hammer more — for self-defense.

A reddish-brown hammer appeared in her inventory, light enough to be held in one hand, Vivi swung it around in her hand.

“Let’s get going.”

The current mission required her to contact Black Mask, who was related to the Gotham gangs. To improve Gotham’s terrible security and with a frightening one-third enemy rate, she couldn’t just travel around openly using her mayor identity.

She took off her glasses, and her [Mayor] title above her head disappeared, along with her appearance changing.

The unapproachable noblewoman with golden hair became a chestnut-haired, green-eyed ordinary girl, with slightly pale skin.

— Just like the corpse under the desk.

Her green eyes seemed to reflect a forest-hidden lake, and her chestnut hair had a slight curl at the ends, looking so obedient. Her age also seemed to decrease.

Her clothes were still the thin white robe, which seemed out of place running around outside.

Holding the hammer in one hand and the confiscated M1911 on her waist, Vivi rummaged through the rest of the room and found a brown jacket, blue jeans, and black Martin boots, seemingly for men and oversized. But once equipped, the free appearance automatically adjusted to fit Vivi’s size.

She climbed out the window of the room, quickly blending into the night.

With a detailed map and enough patience, it was easy to leave the city hall unnoticed.

But standing on the street, Vivi was momentarily speechless.

Gotham was huge, and it was only after leaving the city hall that she realized this wasn’t like the other games she’d played. Players couldn’t teleport. Was the esteemed mayor supposed to walk twenty kilometres to confront Black Mask?

Is there really such a destitute mayor in this world?

Thus, having just left the city hall, Vivi circled back, deciding to just steal a car.

— A city hall vehicle.

But as Vivi was trying to scale the fence (she followed a straight line from the exterior to the underground parking garage, as per the map), a green dot representing a pedestrian rapidly converged with her and then passed her by. Then — perhaps noticing something, it returned to the spot.

Vivi: “……”

Judging by the speed of the construction team that came to repair the walls, the person might actually be able to fly!

Now, this “person” dropped down from the sky.

“Uh… what are you doing?” The guy actually asked her first!

On the map, the stranger’s profession also appeared —

【Spider-Man (Spideran)】

Wait, is there a punctuation error in there? If Vivi wasn’t wrong, this guy should be a “High-altitude Construction Worker (Spideran),” right? Not some Spider-Man? What kind of odd job is Spider-Man? Another game bug? Even the spelling could be wrong? Considering the corpse under the desk, the likelihood of a game bug seemed not low.

But Vivi didn’t voice her speculation yet; she decided to wait and see how things unfolded.

Peter felt… very awkward.

Peter Parker, AKA Spider-Man, currently 16 years old, a junior at Midtown High School — which is in New York.

However, he now stood on the land of Gotham.

Of course, he came to Gotham as a regular exchange student, for a term of study, having just arrived yesterday.

…But in Gotham, wearing his headgear made his actions seem a bit over the line.

Because Gotham City has its own homegrown hero, Batman, who has been fighting crime in the shadows for over ten years.

As the “Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” from New York, Peter certainly didn’t accidentally bring his New York habits to Gotham — he didn’t even wear his full costume, just his mask, and tried to cover it with a hood as much as possible.

If anyone happened to look up, they would just see someone swiftly moving through the air. Peter was fast enough that probably no one… would notice, right? Hopefully.

He really needed to get his wallet back, which contained all his identification. Without it, he might not even be able to enter his school… Why are Gotham Academy’s rules so strict?

He dumped the guy who stole his wallet at the back door of the GCPD — the front door is exclusively for Batman — and now, clutching his retrieved wallet, he found himself in a staring contest with a girl.

A girl perched on a wall.

Wrapped in a men’s coat, her face seemed very small — she didn’t look like she should be here.

“I think I should be asking you,” she said, “are you a thief?”

Peter: !?

“I’m not—”

Vivi: “…”

Sigh.

[City Security Level -10][City Security Level -10][City Security Level -10]… Stay calm, stay calm, stay calm…

She couldn’t help it; this was Gotham. Vivi consoled herself, she couldn’t just switch cities, right?

Citizens could move away, but she was the mayor.

Even though Gotham is a city where “you encounter assassination attempts as soon as you take office,” “the Chief of Staff colludes with gangs to kill the mayor,” and “thieves visit the city hall at night,” she was the mayor. Everyone else might not love it, but as the mayor, how could she despise it?

Still… there was a bit of disdain…

Could this city ever improve?

Vivi calmly advised, “You’re a green name, so you’re not a bad person, right? Being a thief is not a promising career. It’s better to work hard, being a construction worker is dangerous, but the salary is still decent, right?”

Why would anyone choose to be a thief?

In a city where most citizens were hostile red names to the mayor, this thief was still a green name. Was he stealing because he was struggling to get by? Did a spelling bug glitch out his wages? Other workers got paid, but only “Spider-Man” didn’t?

Right, considering if all NPCs around him were “Spideran” and only this guy was “Spider-Man,” he might face discrimination in his job… And this is Gotham!

Considering it’s Gotham with a security level of -10, the possibility of “struggling to get by” was not low.

— Even the mayor herself was barely getting by!

“No, I really am not…” Peter was extremely awkward, but looking at the girl perched on the wall, he suddenly realized something, “Aren’t you more suspicious?”

The city hall of Gotham was originally a mansion of a wealthy family, even after its transformation into city hall, most of the original architecture was preserved—

Meaning just the maintenance of this almost artistic building costs the city hall a significant amount every year. And places like the wall tops usually didn’t have anti-theft devices that would damage the structure.

The girl in front of him might be a local from Gotham, Peter guessed. She knew these details, which is why she managed to slip here, almost to the center of the building complex.

Choosing to climb the wall, an unconventional approach, she might actually be the thief.

Vivi: “…”

She sighed again at the intelligence of the NPC, seeing she couldn’t persuade him, glanced at the map, and decided to try another method to make Spider-Man realize that thievery wasn’t a viable career.

Timing it right, she quickly leaped down from the wall, landing in the bushes the next second.

Peter was startled, and then—

“Hey, who are you!”

Of course, there were patrols at the city hall at night. The security lights quickly swept over, but thankfully, Peter covered his face (mainly the mask) in time and ran off with his extraordinary speed.

As he ran, he noticed that while the guards were distracted by him, the girl quietly slipped away, crouching low.

The thief who was a Spider-Man was just a bizarre interlude. Vivi suspected he refreshed every night with a special skill [Very Fast Speed]. If she had worn the [Mayor’s Glasses], she would have immediately called the guards to capture him.

“Hey?”

Right.

Since she was going back to her own territory, why didn’t she wear the [Mayor’s Glasses]?

Brushing off the grass from her clothes, Vivi stood up straight and quickly put on her glasses, walking openly towards the garage—

Her high heels tapped against the stone, the surroundings were eerily quiet, the dim light barely illuminating, and the sounds of patrolling staff were approaching. Soon, they would come before Vivi and call out, “Mayor.”

That’s how it should have been.

“Bang——”

A bullet whizzed through the night, leaving a trail too fast to catch.

The scene turned to black and white again.

A blonde woman fell to the ground.

This time, the bullet was aimed at her heart.

Vivi: “…”

Don’t these assassins have a · day · off!?

This time, Vivi didn’t choose [Resurrect Immediately], but [Wait a Moment], letting time flow again—she wanted to see if the assassin would come to check the situation.

However, on the map, the red dot named [Assassin] didn’t come close to check at all. Instead, he fired three shots, each hitting vital parts of the body.