Simulated Universe

Bai Luoming changed his clothes and walked out of the hospital room.

The corridor in the medical section was so empty that he could almost hear his own heartbeat. Cold white light shone down from overhead, leaving the identical metal passages to his left and right looking no different from each other.

Bai Luoming stared at the identical passages on either side, a little dumbfounded.

The navigation screen on his terminal was blank. Asta had left in such a hurry that she hadn't mentioned which direction Herta's office was in.

He couldn't even tell which way was north, south, east, or west on this floor.

Bai Luoming was about to stop a passing staff member for directions when soft footsteps began approaching from the far end of the corridor.

A Herta Puppet walked slowly toward him.

The puppet stopped in front of him and looked him over from head to toe, as if confirming his identity and condition.

Bai Luoming felt his skin crawl under her stare. He was just about to greet her when the puppet spoke first, her face expressionless.

"Follow me."

There wasn't a trace of courtesy in her tone. It was crisp and direct.

Bai Luoming froze for a second, then followed her. That aloof way of treating a guest was certainly just like Herta.

Along the way, he tried to liven up the atmosphere.

"What model are you? Do you have a name?"

The puppet was silent.

"What do you do besides lead people around? Can you play chess?"

The puppet remained silent, only turning her head mechanically at the occasional corner to make sure he hadn't fallen behind.

Seeing that she wasn't going to respond, Bai Luoming stopped talking and followed quietly behind her.

As they went farther in, the corridor gradually changed from the pure white of the medical section to the dark gray of the research area.

At last, the puppet stopped in front of a heavy automatic door.

She turned to face Bai Luoming and uttered two words: "We're here."

As soon as she finished speaking, the light in her eyes dimmed, and she entered standby mode right where she stood.

Bai Luoming looked at her motionless figure and forcibly resisted the urge to reach out and give the puppet a squeeze to see how she felt. Then he walked toward the heavy metal doors.

The automatic doors detected the visitor and slid silently apart.

Bai Luoming walked into a huge office. Holographic projection screens covered entire walls, and aside from a Herta standee by the entrance, there was nothing but the lonely Simulated Universe console and a few testing pods.

At the holographic console in the center of the office, Herta had her back to the door and was speaking to Stelle.

"...So that's the basic principle. Got it?"

Stelle sat in a swivel chair across from her, swinging her two fair, smooth legs back and forth. When she heard the doors open, she instinctively looked up to see who it was.

The moment she saw Bai Luoming walk in, her eyes lit up. Completely ignoring Herta, who was still talking, she raised a hand and waved vigorously.

"Hey, you're here too! Over here!"

Interrupted in the middle of her explanation, Herta frowned slightly and clicked her tongue in irritation.

"What a rude brat."

But there was no real anger in her voice. It was more like a teacher's exasperation with a mischievous student.

Stelle ducked her head without a hint of shame, a smile still on her lips.

Herta turned to Bai Luoming, her gaze calm and direct.

"You're just in time. I was about to tell this little one what you'll be doing next. Saves me from having to say it twice."

She swept a finger through the air, and the image on the holographic console changed, projecting a complex model of the universe.

Herta explained the principles of the Simulated Universe in extremely concise terms: it was a virtual world constructed by simulating the rules of the Aeons' Paths, where those who entered could fight, grow, and test the limits of their abilities without any real danger to their lives.

She spoke quickly and chose her words precisely, clearly unwilling to waste a single second on these basic concepts.

Stelle listened from the side, only half understanding, and simply kept nodding. Bai Luoming, meanwhile, silently filled in the details mentioned in the game that Herta couldn't be bothered to explain.

When she finished, Herta switched off the holographic projection and abruptly changed the subject, her tone as casual as if she were mentioning an ordinary matter.

"By the way, you received a glance from Nanook today, didn't you?"

Damn, exposed!

Bai Luoming's heart sank. He had thought he'd kept it well hidden by not releasing any energy in the hospital room.

He reacted quickly. Rather than deny it, he asked her directly, "How did you know?"

Herta smiled with undisguised pride.

"An ordinary person certainly couldn't tell if someone had received an Aeon's glance, but who do you think I am?" Her words were full of matter-of-fact confidence. "An anomaly of that magnitude is several orders of magnitude away from being able to escape my notice."

Stelle listened from the side, her expression changing from curiosity to surprise. She turned to Bai Luoming, raising her voice.

"Wait, Nanook looked at you too? Doesn't that make you just like me?"

Bai Luoming gave her a helpless look. "I have to thank Sister Stelle for saving my life and blocking that hit for me. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have lived long enough for Him to look at me."

Herta made no comment on Stelle's fuss, merely glancing at Bai Luoming again.

"The Simulated Universe happens to be a perfect place for you to test your new power. You won't have to worry about damaging any real facilities."

When she finished, she asked the two of them, "Any more questions?"

Stelle shook her head. After all, she had only been born a few hours ago and couldn't think of any questions on the spot.

Bai Luoming was silent for a second, then spoke up. "I have a question."

Herta raised an eyebrow. "Go on."

Bai Luoming looked serious.

"Why is your hat so pointy?"

A long silence fell over the office.

Stelle stifled her laughter, her shoulders shaking.

She had actually asked the same question before Bai Luoming arrived, but Herta hadn't answered.

Herta's expression changed from surprise to speechlessness. Finally, she reached up to adjust the brim of her hat and explained to Bai Luoming:

"I'm a witch. What's wrong with my hat being pointy?"

Bai Luoming nodded. "Nothing. I was just curious. It looks pretty nice."

Herta's fingers paused on the brim of her hat.

She promptly looked away, speaking noticeably faster. "All right, enough nonsense. Get in the testing pods."

Herta led them to the testing area at the back of the office, where two streamlined pods stood side by side, their interiors lined with soft cushioning.

Bai Luoming was about to lie down in one when Herta suddenly reached out to stop him.

"Your terminal. Take it out."

Bai Luoming was taken aback. "What for?"

Herta explained without a change in expression, "I'm upgrading it for you. The one Asta gave you is just the standard version. Don't you want your terminal to perform better?"

Bai Luoming thought about it. He had only just gotten the terminal and the novelty hadn't worn off yet. Apart from a few people's contact details and those hundred million Credits, there was nothing on it.

He promptly handed the terminal over.

"Here you go."

Herta took the terminal and tapped the screen a few times. After making sure it turned on, she said to the two of them, "Get in. There'll be guidance inside."

Stelle took out her terminal too, grinning at Herta.

"Uh, could you upgrade mine too? I want to see how smooth it feels."

Herta rolled her eyes at Stelle, then took her terminal.

"Fine, fine. I'll upgrade yours while I'm at it. Once you're in the Simulated Universe, remember to test it properly for me. If you don't bring back data that satisfies me, hehe..."

"That's not fair! Why doesn't he have to do that?" Stelle protested, looking at Herta, who had imposed an extra condition.

"Keep nagging and I'll turn your terminal into a brick. If you're ready, lie down and start the test. Stop with this nonsense."

Faced with Stelle's unreasonable pestering, Herta looked visibly impatient as she threatened her.

Stelle felt helpless, but there was nothing she could do. The situation was stronger than she was, so she obediently lay down in the testing pod.

Bai Luoming had been watching the show from the side. Once he saw Stelle get into a testing pod, he hurriedly lay down in his own and peacefully closed his eyes.

The lid slowly closed, and Bai Luoming felt his consciousness being pulled by an invisible force, plunging into a deep space of data.

After confirming that both their brainwave signals were connected and stable, Herta brought up a small puppet to guide them inside the Simulated Universe. She then turned, returned to her desk, and connected Bai Luoming's terminal to the console.

Her fingers flew over the virtual keyboard as she rapidly installed the low-level monitoring module she had written herself.

Halfway through the installation, a system window popped up, warning that a third-party background program had been detected.

Herta raised an eyebrow and opened it.

It was a monitoring plugin disguised as a system service. The code was neatly written, but it wasn't hidden deeply enough. With a single glance, she identified its author from the coding habits.

She gave a soft hum.

"It seems this student of mine isn't all that honest either."

"But unfortunately, this time, I got the upper hand first."

Her fingers swept across the console, executing the commands to delete and thoroughly shred it without hesitation.

With that done, Herta finished installing her own monitoring module without a hitch, then casually added three layers of encryption and disguise. Only after confirming that no trace of it could be seen did she unplug the terminal and set it back on the desk.

She leaned back in her chair, her gaze settling on the Simulated Universe's real-time data stream.