When the boys returned to playing with Zarc, the little Folk was standing outside his house in his formal outfit. Yuri glanced at the household funds and frowned. "He only has 3 ByteCoin, and he needs to eat. What are we gonna do?"

"Well, we still have a bit of clay, limestone, and gravel from the quarry," Yuto pointed out. "Could we sell that for a little cash to buy food?"

"Oh, yeah, we can definitely do that!" Yuya replied. "I think the hardware store isn't something you can just go to, it's just something Folks travel to on their own if you use the phone to send them. I think."

"Well, let's find out!" Yugo said eagerly. Yuya grinned and opened Zarc's phone, selecting the option to travel to the hardware store. As the boys watched, Zarc walked to the sidewalk and then disappeared, with the game's clock going into QuickMode. After a moment, a popup appeared for shopping.

"Okay, so it says we can buy and sell stuff," Yuto noticed. "So we just select what we wanna sell, and we can sell it?"

"Yeah, I think so!" Yuya replied. Yuto selected the option to sell Zarc's clay, gravel, and limestone, and the boys' jaws dropped at the price offered. "140 ByteCoin for a little bit of stuff?!" Yugo asked, stunned. "How much did Zarc collect?!"

"Not that much," Yuri replied. "Maybe collecting will be a good way to earn extra money!"

"Guys, we can buy food now!" Yuya said eagerly. "You know what I think we should do?"

"What?" Yuto asked, tilting his head. Yuya smiled, "We should make a cake and invite that girl from the park over for cake! Everybody loves cake!"

"Especially your cake!" Yuri agreed. Yugo nodded, "Yeah, Yuya makes the best cake!"

"Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt," Yuto mused. "What was her name again?"

Yuri, Yuya, and Yugo blinked. "Ah, I don't think any of us caught her name..." Yuri realized. Yuya checked Zarc's social panel, then said, "Ah, it was Lily. Lily Akers."

"Well, let's make a cake for Lily, then!" Yuri said as Zarc reappeared. Yuya clicked on the oven and selected the bake option, which opened a menu of baked goods that Zarc could make. "So Zarc can make a chocolate cake, white cake, funfetti cake, or devil's food cake. Which one should he make?"

"Funfetti!" Yugo said immediately. "We wanna show Lily we're fun!"

"Oh, yes!" Yuri agreed. "Maybe this could be Zarc's first date!"

"Yes!" Yugo said excitedly as Zarc got to work making the cake. Yuto raised an eyebrow. "Didn't she reject Zarc in a horrible way?"

"Oh yeah..." Yugo remembered, pouting. Yuri shrugged. "I mean, she was so exhausted that she'd passed out at the park. We should give her a second chance."

"Aright, but if she rejects us again, we should just look for someone else," Yuto said. His counterparts all nodded in agreement. As soon as Zarc's cake was finished, they had him call up Lily and invite her over.

Lily arrived a few minutes later, running up to the front door. Yuri grinned, "Looks like someone's eager for this date!"

"That's a pretty good sign, right?" Yuya asked, then blinked when Lily walked into the house without even knocking. "Huh, reminds me of Mieru..."

"The fortune teller who has a crush on you?" Yugo asked. Yuya nodded, "Yeah, she's come into the house a few times uninvited, usually trying to take care of me when I'm sick or injured..."

Yuri snickered and Yuya glared at him. Before he could say anything though, Lily walked up to Zarc and began yelling at him completely unprovoked. The four counterparts' jaws dropped in shock, and Yugo yelped, "What is she so mad for? We haven't even said anything to her!"

"Yuya, what is she saying?!" Yuto exclaimed. Yuya's eyes widened, "She's just insulting him, calling him all sorts of names..."

"Why is she being so mean?!" Yugo asked. Yuri scowled and took the mouse, directing Zarc to yell back. Yuya stared at the computer screen, shaking his head. "I think she's got some kind of Flaw that makes her mean or something... I know there are a few flaws like Bully and Evil."

"Maybe she'll be nice when she tastes Yuya's... I mean Zarc's baking..." Yuto said, taking the mouse and directing Zarc to invite Lily to eat some cake. Unfortunately, the plan didn't work out the way he intended and instead of calming down, Lily continued to yell at Zarc. Yuya made an offended sound and yelled, "You take that back!"

"What? What did she say?!" Yuri asked. Yuya scowled, "She said that Zarc's cake tastes like sewage!"

"And she would know that how?" Yuri sneered. Yuto sighed, "Guys I think Lily just isn't the right girl for Zarc. There's just too many red flags."

"Agreed," his counterparts said, watching the two Folks bicker. Yugo scowled. "Okay, she needs to leave. Send her home!"

Yuri made Zarc ask Lily to leave, and she stomped out of the house and down the street. Yuya blinked in surprise. "Uhm, did she just take the plate of cake with her?" he asked. Yuto frowned, "I think she did! She stole Zarc's plate!"

Yuri was about to respond, when suddenly Zarc's phone got a text message. From Lily. Inviting him to the nightclub. The boys blinked in surprise, and Yuri said, "Why would we say yes? Rejected, ya lunatic!"

He went to click the decline button, but suddenly Core ran into the room with the zoomies. He jumped onto the desk and ran across the keyboard, knocking against Yuri's hand and causing him to accidentally click the accept button before jumping off the desk and zooming back out the room. The boys stared in shock as the loading screen popped up, and Yuri exclaimed, "Oh my god, did that REALLY just happen?!"

"I guess Core wants to see some drama!" Yuya said, laughing a little. As if to confirm Yuya's theory, Core zoomed back into the room and leaped onto Yuya's lap, meowing happily at him.

The loading screen cleared and Zarc appeared outside the nightclub with Lily. As soon as the game unpaused, Lily stomped over to Zarc and shoved him, yelling at him. Yuri clicked on Lily, then laughed. "Oh my god, there's an option to fight her?!"

"DO IT!" Yugo yelled. Core meowed as if agreeing, and Yuri clicked on the fight interaction. The boys watched as Zarc jumped onto Lily, and a cartoon-like fight cloud appeared over them.

"Uhm, that might not've been the best decision," Yuya said, eyes wide. Yuto looked at him, "Why not?"

"Well two reasons," Yuya said. "One, the outcome of a fight relies on the Sparring skill, with the higher skilled Folk typically being the winner. And two, Folks can actually get arrested for fighting in public."

"Oh no!" Yugo yelped. "No, stop the fight!" But before anyone could stop the fight, it ended on its own, with Zarc being the clear winner. The boys let out a collective sigh of relief, chuckling at the sound of smug satisfaction Zarc made. Lily had stars around her head as she stumbled off, seemingly leaving.

"Well, when do we find out if Zarc gets arrested for fighting?" Yuto asked worriedly. Yuya checked his duel disc before responding, "It says here that the police will come if a Folk that witnesses the fight calls them or if they're patrolling the area at the time of the fight."

Yugo zoomed out, looking for witnesses and police. Luckily, there didn't seem to be anyone around. "Looks like we're in the clear!" he said with a grin. "We should celebrate with a drink!"

"Ooh, yeah, let's get a drink!" Yuya said happily, directing Zarc to go order a drink at the bar in the nightclub. "Let's see... There's lots of things he can drink. What should he order?"

The boys checked out the menu, blinking at the names. "Why is that drink called Grape Cheer? It's obviously wine?"

"Oh, they call alcoholic drinks different things in Reality Bytes to maintain their family-friendly rating," Yuya explained. "Wine is called Cheer, beer is called Brew, whisky is called Elixir, cocktails are called Concoctions, margarita is Slush, vodka is Splash, champagne is Sparkler, tequila is Zing, rum is Breeze, and hard cider is Delight."

"Why is rum called Breeze?" Yuto asked, raising his eyebrow. Yuya smiled, "Well it used to be called Tropical Breeze, but by the time the third game came out, people were calling things by shorter versions of their original names, and the shorter versions just stuck. If I recall correctly, Spice actually used to be called Spicy Bed Romp, heh."

Yuri snickered at that, and Yugo and Yuto both chuckled. "Well, what kind of drink would Zarc like?" Yuto asked. "I mean, I don't think Zarc or any of us have ever tried alcohol..."

"I mean, Mom says wine and pina colada taste okay," Yuya said. "And Dad likes sake. Which is kinda like a rice-based wine? Hmm..."

Yuya's duel disc rang a tune for Reiji's texts, and he immediately checked the message. Then he grinned. "Okay, thanks Reiji!" he said happily, before looking at his counterparts. "Reiji and Shingo suggest a champagne drink. They say it's classy, and perfect for Zarc if he wants to live the high life as an A-List Actor."

Yugo immediately looked around, pouting furiously. "You're not allowed to see us play until the video comes out, Reiji!" he said. Yuya just giggled, looking at the bar menu. "Let's go with Minty Sparkler! That's a champagne mojito, I think."

"Very classy!" Yuri agreed, nodding in approval as Yuya selected the drink. "Oh, hey! We can order drinks for everyone at the venue?"

"Ooh, Zarc could make some friends if he does that!" Yuto said. "Let's do that!"

As soon as the option was selected, people started filing into the nightclub and heading straight for the bar. Most of the Folks appeared to be women, who Zarc wasted no time chatting up. The Folks seemed to be getting along quite well with him.

"He's just like, 'Hey, I just beat up someone, wanna be my friend?'" Yugo said with a giggle. Yuya chuckled, "I mean, I'm pretty sure if he's able to get away with fighting in public without being arrested, AND win his fight, he's gonna be pretty popular. I hear the bad boy persona is considered pretty attractive."

"You hear that, huh?" Yuri asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "Don't you mean you know the bad boy persona is attractive?"

"Huh?" Yuya blinked at him. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean you're literally dating a bad boy," Yuri pointed out. "Your boyfriend Sawatari is a bad boy."

Yuya blushed brightly, looking away with a flustered huff. "Okay, fine. He kinda is..."

Yuri snickered, turning his attention back onto the screen. "Yeah, Zarc does appear to be getting pretty popular. But it's starting to get late, and he's exhausted. Get everyone's number, and then let's send him back home to bed."

"Oh, Folks automatically share contact info as soon as they meet," Yuya replied. "Remember, we never had Zarc exchange numbers with Lily, but they were still able to call each other."

"Oh, huh, I guess you're right," Yuto said. "Well, Zarc does need sleep. Let's go ahead and send him home."

It seemed Zarc had the same idea, because he made a beeline for his bed as soon as he arrived home. As he fell asleep, the boys smiled. "Well, this was fun!" Yugo said with a grin. "Zarc got his first interview, he got into his first fight and didn't get arrested, and he met a lot of pretty ladies at the bar!"

"Yeah, I can't wait to see what happens next!" Yuto said.