The Appeal of a Stat Monster

Herta sat at the console, resting her chin on one hand as her gaze swept over the cascading streams of data.

The Simulated Universe's data was almost unchanged from what she remembered.

She dragged through the data pages, flipping through them at random before losing interest entirely.

The only variable at present came from another set of data.

Bai Luoming's, to be precise.

The data showed that the Path energy in his body was stronger than what she had measured in her previous life, nearly reaching the level of a powerful Pathstrider.

Herta studied Bai Luoming's data carefully, constantly comparing it with what she remembered from her previous life.

After comparing the two, Herta confirmed that Bai Luoming's Path energy was simply a little stronger, and his body had grown stronger along with it. Nothing else had changed.

Herta let out a soft breath and closed the data, raising the access clearance required to view it by one level as she did.

Bored while waiting for the Simulated Universe data to load, Herta left the console and walked silently over to Bai Luoming's test pod.

The young man lay inside with his eyes closed, his short black hair resting against his forehead. His breathing was steady, and he showed no reaction to anything outside.

Herta raised her hand, holding her palm beside his face with the transparent pod cover between them. Her fingertips traced half an inch downward along the curve of the glass, her movements gentle.

Looking at Bai Luoming's face, Herta seemed to recall something. A gentle smile appeared on her face as she spoke to herself.

"This kid really is handsome. Who knows how many girls he'll charm with that face in the future?"

After speaking, she held her hand there for a moment before lowering it unhurriedly and turning her gaze back to the console's enormous projection.

The loading bar in the projection reached the end just then.

"But this time," she murmured, so quietly that only she could hear, "the final victory will be mine alone."

With that, Herta turned and returned to the console. Her usual expression returned as she took control of the guidance program again.

Cold metal pressed against Bai Luoming's feet. He opened his eyes and found himself standing in a space station corridor again.

The damaged hatch, the terminal with its signal cut off, the claw marks the Voidrangers had left on the distant wall—every detail was identical to the scene he had experienced not long ago. It was so real that he momentarily forgot this was only a virtual world of data.

Stelle's figure materialized beside him.

She looked down at her hands, then lifted a foot and stomped hard on the floor. After confirming that everything felt real, she couldn't help exclaiming, "Whoa, it's this realistic?"

With that, her gaze drifted to a familiar cylinder in the corner.

"Say, can we rummage through the trash cans here?"

"...I suggest you show some respect for the test," Bai Luoming said, holding a hand to his forehead. "At least wait until we're done fighting before you Trailblaze the space station's trash cans."

As soon as he finished speaking, a Herta Puppet appeared out of thin air before them, her body of data materializing without the slightest delay.

"Please proceed along the designated corridor and defeat all enemies on the way. The system will automatically record data on the operation of your Path powers. Please note, the simulation..."

Before she could finish, several Voidrangers came shambling around the corner ahead and closed in, their scarlet single eyes locking onto the intruders.

Stelle's gaze sharpened. She tightened her grip on her baseball bat and stepped forward, assuming a textbook fighting stance.

"Let me have a turn first." Bai Luoming reached out to stop her. "I just got a new ability. I can't use it only to improve my sleep."

Hearing that, Stelle swung the bat back onto her shoulder and promptly retreated to a safe distance. She even gave him a solemn reminder: "If you can't handle it, call for Big Sis Stelle. My rates are very reasonable."

Something strange happened.

The Voidranger: Trampler closest to Stelle ignored her, despite her standing in front with a weapon and posing the greater threat. Its head turned mechanically, locking directly onto Bai Luoming behind her.

The other Voidrangers followed suit, changing course one after another as if they had received the same command, surrounding him in the middle.

The guidance puppet's program seemed to freeze for a moment.

In reality, Herta pulled up the aggro calculation data stream in real time. Bai Luoming hadn't used any taunt skills, yet the value representing hostility toward him was inexplicably the highest on the field.

The foxian's spirit lives on in you, kid.

Herta's lips curved upward as she spoke to herself.

"Sure enough, no matter how many times I see this scene, I still find it interesting."

Inside the Simulated Universe, Bai Luoming watched the Voidrangers charging toward him and merely shifted half a step to the side, leaving Stelle a position from which she could step in and help at any time.

He drew a breath and directed the searing power within him through his meridians and into his right arm.

Energy gathered between his bones and muscles, and a layer of dim red light covered his fist. Even the metal floor beneath his feet gave a faint groan, unable to withstand the power steadily gathering.

A Voidranger's arm blade whistled toward him.

Bai Luoming didn't punch early. His gaze remained fixed on the energy structure in its chest. The instant the arm blade brushed the fabric at his shoulder, he dropped low and drove his right fist upward through a gap in its defenses.

"Eat my Shoryuken!"

His fist punched straight through the Voidranger's chest without resistance.

The remaining force sent the mangled body flying backward into the wall behind it, where it slammed heavily before disintegrating completely in a burst of garbled data.

Stelle remained in place with her bat over her shoulder. Two seconds later, she walked over to the damaged wall and poked the dent in it.

She turned back, studying Bai Luoming's fist. "Whoa, did you really awaken at the same time as me? How are your stats so high? Why do I feel like all I got from awakening was some special effects?"

"Maybe Nanook saw you were too young and gave you the underage package," Bai Luoming said, flexing his wrist. He felt good.

Then, perhaps thinking his explanation wasn't very good, he added:

"It's fine. Maybe you'll have your power spike later."

Stelle's eyes widened, and she argued back.

"Come on, bro. If I'm not strong in the early game, how am I supposed to reach the late game?"

The remaining Voidrangers continued closing in on him.

This time, Bai Luoming didn't keep the fight to himself. He willingly stepped back half a pace, leaving the corridor entrance on the flank to Stelle.

"The left side's yours."

"You got it."

Stelle swung her baseball bat and cleanly sealed off the corridor. He handled the several targets charging at them from the front.

Their first time fighting together was far from polished, even somewhat chaotic, but their sheer unreasonable strength and superhuman reaction speed allowed them to suppress the enemy group all the same.

The guidance puppet prepared to offer tactical advice several times, only to silently cancel the queued voice lines when the enemies fell before she could speak.

As they advanced, Bai Luoming gradually confirmed the changes the Path of Destruction had brought him.

The increase in strength was the most pronounced, and his body's ability to withstand the resulting recoil had risen along with it. As for how quickly he recovered from injuries, he hadn't had a chance to test it yet.

He didn't let the ease of the first fight cloud his judgment. With every punch, he deliberately held back thirty percent of his strength to keep it from spiraling out of control and catching Stelle or the simulated facilities nearby.

He might enjoy messing around, but he was never reckless in a fight.

The ordinary Voidrangers were soon cleared out. Access to the sealed-off area ahead opened, and an enormous Voidranger: Trampler charged out with a roar.

Its speed, strength, and attack range all far surpassed the previous fodder.

Stelle rushed forward to meet it first. Her baseball bat blocked its stomps and charges one after another, but the heavy impacts forced her back step by step. She seized several openings to counterattack, but her bat left only a few shallow white marks on its armor.

Bai Luoming didn't join the fight immediately.

He stood to the side, calmly observing how the Trampler applied force with each movement, watching it raise a forelimb, bring it crashing down, and shift its weight again.

Only when one of Stelle's blocks drew out a complete attack sequence did he finally identify the fleeting gap in the defenses around the core on its chest.

Stelle used the force of the collision to slide backward. As she opened the distance, she shouted to him, "Are you done studying it yet? Keep this up and you can ask Herta for my death benefits!"

Before she had finished speaking, Bai Luoming had already closed in from the side.

His first punch wasn't aimed at the core. Instead, it struck one of the forelimbs supporting the Trampler's body, forcibly throwing it off balance.

The Trampler's forelimb snapped outright, and its enormous body toppled to one side.

Stelle immediately followed up, striking the joint on its other side hard with her baseball bat and securing Bai Luoming a precious foothold.

Bai Luoming stepped onto the sloping armor, and his second punch followed close behind, striking the fully exposed core.

He poured the power of Destruction into it without holding anything back.

"Boom."

A muffled sound rang out. The Trampler's enormous body stiffened, and the limbs supporting it cracked under the strain. It finally collapsed with a crash, dissolving into countless motes of data before the two of them.

Stelle leaned on her bat and caught her breath. She looked down at her weapon, then at Bai Luoming, undisguised envy in her eyes.

"Whoa, those stats. I'm so jealous."

Bai Luoming answered with a perfectly straight face, "What stats? It's nothing but persistence and hard work."

"I didn't see any persistence or hard work. All I saw were stats the devs filled in with their feet."

Stelle felt somewhat helpless. They had awakened their Paths at the same time, yet the difference between their stats was like heaven and earth.

The normal test results sequence didn't appear.

An irresistible pull suddenly seized their consciousness, and the scene before their eyes began to distort and peel away.

In reality, in Herta's office, she pressed the red emergency exit button without expression.

Just moments ago, she had detected a stream of abnormal data that couldn't have been more familiar, rapidly approaching along the Simulated Universe's connection channel.

According to how things had unfolded last time, if they stayed any longer, that detestable Data Aha would come over and disrupt her test.

Herta pressed down with her fingertip, cutting off the external connection and barring that annoying Aeon from the test entirely.

Bai Luoming and Stelle exited the Simulated Universe with a strong sense of dizziness.

The test pod's cover had yet to open fully. On the main screen before Herta, a short fragment of a Path signal representing "Elation," whose connection had not been completed, was slowly dissipating.