Watching the dog, Platinum, it seemed as if it was paused, frozen in place, no longer running around excitedly.

Zoe felt a mix of curiosity and concern.

Her concern stemmed from the fact that Platinum, the dog, appeared to have been affected in some way, standing motionless. It could have been hurt.

Though she didn’t have a deep emotional connection to Platinum, she had been caring for it for several days. While most creatures in front of her were treated equally, her return home had allowed her to develop a stronger sense of personal grounding, enhancing her mindset. She still maintained a certain level of normalcy.

Because of this, she didn’t want her actions to harm Platinum.

Her curiosity, on the other hand, was drawn to the new psychic ability she had gained—the ability to touch emotions.

This was an unprecedented feature.

Previously, she could only vaguely sense the emotions of others. But now, she could directly touch what was supposed to be an intangible emotion.

Zoe could feel her psychic power brushing against Platinum's emotions. It didn’t feel like she was using telekinesis to touch something solid, but more like something ethereal.

If she had to describe it, it felt like touching water, or more accurately, like touching air—an empty, vague sensation, as if she touched it but didn’t quite.

Moreover, her psychic power still couldn’t penetrate living creatures’ bodies. She didn’t understand how she was able to access their emotions.

It almost seemed like emotions didn’t reside within the body but existed on some other plane.

This contradicted what she had been taught.

According to current biological theories, emotions were a state resulting from the distribution of hormones. Different emotions represented various physiological states, and by adjusting hormone levels, one could influence emotions.

Emotions were, in essence, complex physiological and psychological processes that involved the brain’s neural networks, the endocrine system, and the autonomic nervous system working together.

Within the brain’s neural networks, emotional responses were influenced by various neurotransmitters and neuropeptides, such as dopamine, serotonin, glutamate, GABA, and endorphins. These substances transmitted signals between neurons, regulating emotional states.

Essentially, emotions were controlled by hormones and neurotransmitters.

Theoretically, emotions didn’t really exist as tangible entities. They seemed to be the collective result of physiological changes in internal organs that created sensory feedback.

But now, Zoe could truly touch emotions!

It felt as if emotions had taken on a tangible form, an entity of their own.

What should have been a psychological phenomenon, dependent on material changes, seemed to be becoming part of the physical world.

This discovery was at odds with science.

Or perhaps more accurately, it went against current scientific understanding.

Lost in thought, Zoe carefully withdrew her psychic power from Platinum’s emotions.

The next moment, Platinum resumed moving, happily running and jumping as if nothing had happened. It seemed completely unaware of the pause, seamlessly continuing the motion from a moment ago as if it hadn’t been frozen at all.

Zoe blinked, surprised.

This situation felt strangely familiar.

“What’s going on here? Emotional paralysis? Time freeze? Or hypnosis?”

She muttered to herself.

Hypnosis? That was something she knew well.

Shaking herself back to focus, Zoe extended her psychic power toward Platinum’s emotions once again.

Just like hitting the pause button, Platinum froze in place. Its subjective thoughts and emotions seemed to stop entirely.

However, this wasn’t truly a time freeze. The dog didn’t freeze mid-air; it had simply stopped suddenly and then fell.

Its emotions sharply shifted, sending a jolt of psychic energy out of Zoe’s reach, and the dog immediately returned to its normal state.

It shook its head, confused about why it had fallen, and then nonchalantly chased after the toy that Zoe had kicked.

Rubbing her temples, slightly dizzy from the jolt, Zoe’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

From just two brief interactions, she had learned some key things about her new psychic ability.

First, when her psychic power touched a living creature’s emotions, it temporarily stopped that creature’s subjective thoughts, making it motionless, like a vegetable.

This wasn’t truly a time freeze, but rather a mental pause. Even when the creature resumed movement, it felt as though the thoughts during that pause were erased, as if it had no memory of what happened.

Second, the mental pause caused by her psychic power seemed easy to interrupt by external forces, shaking her psychic power loose and causing her to feel dizzy.

Once the psychic power stopped interacting with the creature’s emotions, the creature’s thoughts resumed immediately.

Lastly, using her psychic power on emotions caused noticeable energy depletion. She couldn’t maintain the effect for long. Based on her rough estimation, it lasted about two minutes.

After summarizing these phenomena, Zoe couldn’t help but wonder.

What use did this ability have?

Surely it wasn’t just a weak form of hypnosis, used for something unsavory.

Not that she was interested in such things anyway.

She had conducted an experiment before, testing whether a substance would degrade outside the body, and that had lasted an hour or more. It almost started to generate sparks.

Two minutes wouldn’t even be enough.

In any case, if this was all her psychic ability could do, it wouldn’t be of much use to her aside from petty crimes of stealing items.

She needed to conduct deeper experiments.

And Zoe understood that, since she could touch emotions, there had to be more profound effects she could achieve. It couldn’t just end here.

After all, the ability to touch something itself means a lot.

If the experiment on the characteristic of mental power continues, there will surely be some great discoveries.

However...

Continuing the experiment with Platinum doesn’t seem like a good idea.

Zoe thought about this and couldn’t help but glance at her silly Platinum, feeling reluctant to conduct such an emotional experiment on it.

After all, emotional experiments are still a relatively unfamiliar area.

Not only has Zoe never been involved before, but no scientist in the world had ever conducted direct experiments to affect emotions.

The most they’ve done is influence hormones and various substances, observing the changes in the overall mood of the experimental subjects indirectly.

Directly influencing emotions themselves is a concept so unfamiliar that it’s almost an understatement.

Such experiments are likely to produce some unpredictable effects. Zoe doesn’t want Platinum to be harmed or affected.

As she has grown further and higher, she views all living creatures as mere ants.

But when it comes to those she knows, she can still maintain some level of concern.

So, she seemed to need to find some experimental subjects.

And since she had to look for experimental materials anyway... perhaps humans with more complex emotions would be more suitable?

Or perhaps she should start with some mice and proceed step by step?

But mice...

Do they really have enough complex emotions to conduct further experiments?

After some thought, Zoe decided to buy some mice first.

Starting with simple and convenient experiments before gradually increasing the difficulty would surely be the right approach.

However, before going out...

Zoe extended her mental power to the plants on the balcony, trying to touch their emotions.

But...

Before, she couldn’t even sense the emotions of the plants.

Naturally, now she couldn’t touch their emotions either. Zoe wasn’t too disappointed, as she had expected this outcome.

Seeing that it was already 8:30, Zoe decided not to exercise today and quickly left the house.

Compared to her usual daily exercise routine, she was now more interested in figuring out what else she could do with this new characteristic of her mental power.

So, she made her way to the market, where she had previously been, to purchase some odd purchases for the experiment.

...

It was Tuesday.

The exotic market wasn’t as busy as on holidays, but most of the shops were open.

As soon as Zoe reached the entrance of the market, her enhanced perception abilities covered the area within 200 meters, giving her a clear view of everything.

Some of the shops that sold mice were closed, but a few were still open.

Just as she was about to head toward one of those shops, her steps shifted, and she headed instead toward a pet store that specialized in cats and dogs.

...

“Really, trust me.”

“Look at the fur, the teeth, the energy. Selling this to you for 380 is not unreasonable.”

A middle-aged man, proudly holding a small dog, was introducing it to a customer in front of him.

However, after a brief hesitation, the customer shook his head and turned to leave.

Clearly, the deal didn’t go through.

“Really have no taste,” the man muttered to himself after the customer left.

“If it were before, I could’ve sold it for 8,888.”

If it weren’t for that incident, he would’ve shamelessly quoted 8,888 romanis, since these things rely on connection—not money.

“Alright, little dog. Looks like you’ll be staying with me for a few more days.”

The man smiled at the dog in his hands, ready to turn back into the store.

But as he did, he unexpectedly bumped into someone who had appeared behind him.

The other person was fine, but the middle-aged man stumbled back a few steps as if he hit a wall.

Annoyed, he glared at the person, ready to curse, “Your mother…”

“Hmm?”

The man’s angry tone instantly softened to an unusually gentle one, as if afraid of scaring the person.

The middle-aged man, recognizing the person before him, immediately restrained himself. His words were swallowed up before they even left his mouth.

He had recognized the person—this was the one who had crushed the corner of his solid wood table some time ago.

In a reflex, he stopped himself from shouting.

When the table had been broken, he had dared not make a sound.

So, what if he called the police? He would only have to pay some money.

And then? Wouldn’t this person just crush his bones along with the table?

“My mother? My mom’s fine, no need for you to worry. Just prepare some puppy pads for me. The ones I bought last time are almost used up.”

Zoe glanced at the man indifferently.

Since he was no longer a scammer, she didn’t hold a grudge over his earlier near outburst.

Since she was here at the market anyway, she decided to buy some things for her silly dog, Platinum.

Platinum had already gotten used to the dog food from that pet hospital, so she didn’t consider changing it for now, as that might not be good for the dog’s health.

What she needed was more of the puppy pads, since she had run out of them before.

“Got it!” the middle-aged man said with a forced smile, quickly going inside to prepare the items for Zoe.

He didn’t expect to offer Zoe a freebie, but instead, he wanted to throw in some extras. It seemed more respectful and flattering this way, and it would be hard for her to refuse.

The middle-aged man had no interest in making money off her. He just wanted to get her out of there quickly.

As the man went to gather the items, Zoe casually glanced around.

Her attention was drawn to a notice on the wall.

 

[ Dear tenants: Hello! First, thank you for your continued support and trust in our rental services. We would like to inform you that, starting today, some of our rental properties will experience a slight rent increase. ]

[ In recent years, the real estate market has been heating up nationwide, and rental prices have been on the rise. Meanwhile, the costs of property management and operations are increasing. In order to maintain our high-quality rental services... ]

[ Notice by: Rameses Real Estate ]

 

Zoe didn’t pay much attention to the lengthy details about the rent increase and legal grounds. Instead, she glanced at the signature at the bottom.

The name was familiar to her.

A few nights ago, the organization involved in cleaning up a gang’s reputation seemed to have that same name.

As she thought, an idea began to form in Zoe’s mind.

If the upcoming mouse experiments weren’t enough, and if humans were needed as experimental subjects, but direct emotional experiments turned out to be too unpredictable and harmful...

The scum of Rameses Real Estate should be plenty.

It seemed like a good channel to source experimental materials.