It was a very girly room, decorated with stars.
Lin Nai had come here often and was already very familiar with Asta's room.
Unfortunately, there was no time to admire the girl's room now.
He made his way to Asta's bedside with practiced ease.
"Asta? Asta?" Lin Nai stepped forward and gently shook her.
There was no response.
"Something really is wrong."
Normally, she should have woken up by now.
Either she had stayed up too late, or something had happened to her.
Considering the surveillance footage he had seen, the latter was more likely.
Lin Nai grabbed Asta's wrist and sent pale blue energy into her.
This was the energy Lin Nai usually used to treat others.
After a while.
Asta still had her eyes closed, showing no reaction.
Lin Nai frowned. The Gauss Force, which had never failed him in healing, was actually useless...
Could it be poison?
With that thought, Lin Nai took a purple ring engraved with dolphins from System Space.
The Dolphin Magician Ring from a certain magical-girl Kamen Rider could cast detoxification and healing magic. Modified by the system, Lin Nai could use it now.
He did not even need a belt or anything.
Though he really wanted a belt. Transformations were cool, after all.
He clenched his fist.
Blue radiance poured over Asta, yet her eyes remained tightly shut, and she did not move.
Great. Things had completely blown up.
This was troublesome.
Medical Bay.
Asta was carried into a ward and lay quietly on the hospital bed like a vegetable.
Lin Nai could only sit in a chair, lost in despondency.
There was nothing he could do.
He had no power...
Even Peppy, who had followed him here, was no longer as lively as before. The dog lay weakly on the floor.
Those large eyes stared at the unconscious Asta, letting out soft calls from time to time.
Unfortunately, it was useless.
"Lin Nai."
"Joan, have you figured out the diagnosis? Huh... what happened to your face?"
Lin Nai looked up in surprise and asked the medical staff member who had come over.
Why did she look like a giant panda? Had she been staying up late?
"Not yet. Most of the medical staff can't figure out what's wrong. More tests are needed."
Joan yawned. "As for my face... since the day before yesterday, quite a few people have developed the same condition as Station Master Asta."
"And I have been helping out in various medical departments, so..."
"So you haven't been getting much proper rest lately?"
Joan nodded.
Over the past few days, she had been running between different medical departments to help out.
"By the way, why didn't I know about this?"
Lin Nai was a little curious. He was, more or less, a staff member here too, wasn't he?
After all, they always called for him whenever they were too busy.
And Asta had not mentioned it to him these past few days either...
Oh.
He forgot.
Asta had been looking at him strangely lately, so he had not stayed around for long.
He had basically been coming and going in a hurry.
Come to think of it...
Hadn't Asta's gaze toward him started becoming increasingly complicated three days ago?
Joan also explained why they had not informed Lin Nai.
Simply put, it was probably because...
Due to the habits of Herta Space Station staff, fainting and the like were fairly common occurrences.
So at first, no one had been too worried.
It was not until the next day, when another group of staff had been sent in due to unconsciousness.
That they remembered the group from yesterday who were still in the Medical Bay and had not woken up.
They spent a day researching it with no results.
Then today, another batch had arrived. Even the Space Station's station master had been hospitalized.
They were probably completely overwhelmed by now.
As for why Lin Nai had not been notified?
In the eyes of the Medical Bay staff, they had the Space Station's most advanced and pride-worthy medical equipment here. As long as someone still had a breath left, there would always be a way to save them.
If all of those machines were helpless, then Lin Nai probably would not have any solution either.
Though that was indeed true.
Lin Nai still felt as if they had underestimated him somewhat.
Sigh...
"Then it looks like we can only wait for them to figure out what exactly the symptoms are..."
Not necessarily.
Come to think of it, wasn't someone on the Space Station researching dreams?
After some thought, Lin Nai decided to check on Arlan first, then head to the Curio Storage Room to see whether there were any hidden problems.
After that, Lin Nai would also have to temporarily handle some of the Space Station's official business for Asta.
The paperwork was simple. He could do it while walking.
After sending Asta to the Medical Bay, Lin Nai had also gone to Arlan's room.
As expected, Arlan had developed the same condition as Asta.
He had fallen into a deep sleep.
The Space Station's station master and the head of the Security Department had both gone down. Who knew whether the heads of other departments were also lying unconscious somewhere.
Still, at least no one in the Medical Bay had fallen unconscious.
After visiting Arlan, Lin Nai did not linger. He immediately headed to where the Curios were stored.
It was not that he did not want to stay longer.
But the moment he entered.
He was greeted by a group of Security Department staff wailing and crying their hearts out.
Like:
Big brother! Big brother!!!
Brother Arlan, how could you just collapse like this?!
Brother Arlan! The Security Department can't survive without you!
And so on.
Seriously, anyone unaware of the situation might have thought Arlan was about to die.
It was headache-inducing.
So after visiting Arlan for a while, Lin Nai left first.
PS: The 1.6 preview was the happiest episode. Yay!!
He had never imagined that one day, Honkai: Star Rail would give away a limited five-star character for free.
That was so freaking cool!!
It Was You Who Was Watching Me, Right? Mask of the Fool!
After leaving the Medical Bay, Lin Nai once again arrived at the place where Curios were stored.
The last time he had come here was four days ago, when he returned the Alien Water Sprite.
After checking everything one by one, Lin Nai confirmed there were no signs that anyone had entered.
Just like last time, Lin Nai walked through the entire Curio room again, feeling as though he was being watched as always.
"So... it was you who was watching me, right? Mask of the Fool!!"
Lin Nai stopped before the red mask again, turned around, and pointed at it.
The smiling face on the mask seemed to be mocking him, teasing him, or perhaps provoking him?
It was infuriating to look at...
The mask did not respond to Lin Nai's words.
After all, the mask could not speak. How was it supposed to reply to the person standing before it?
That only made Lin Nai look like an idiot.
Lin Nai stroked his chin, leaned closer to the Mask of the Fool, and examined it.
Could this Curio's trait simply be staring at people?
Honestly, he had a terrible impression of this thing.
Especially before he had transmigrated, when he was playing Simulated Universe and wanted to collect Curios in exchange for Stellar Jade.
He had also been tempted by that so-called blessing with a chance of being replaced by one of higher rarity.
He had gone in with the mindset of gambling on it, hoping a bicycle would turn into a motorcycle.
Well then.
He chose the Mask of the Fool, all his Paths got replaced, and not a single one was usable. He broke down on the spot while playing Swarm Disaster.
Before you continue