Speedrunning Worlds Starting with Firefly

She had solved the Gobo Algorithm problem and the Spark Model Conjecture in her youth.

In her prime, she discovered a method for converting Sigma Baryons.

In middle age, she proposed the Herta Sequence and published a paper on rejuvenation. In her old age, she rejuvenated herself, once again unravelled the mysteries of the Imaginary Flow Overflow Phenomenon, captured an Extraterrestrial Star Core, and sealed it away.

She had saved the planet she inhabited from the brink of destruction nineteen times and paid homage to Aeons twice.

A genius like that, even if she was merely a puppet made by the original, surely possessed extraordinary research capabilities.

She admitted that some of Geats' Future People technology was indeed impressive, but before Herta, it was child's play.

"Can't do it."

Yet when Herta heard this, she looked at Firefly, slapped the Fate Card onto the table, and answered with complete confidence.

"Why not? It's just a storage card, and there's even a sample. You can't make something this simple?"

Hearing the Herta Puppet's refusal, Firefly was deeply suspicious. Even if she was not the real Herta, she should not have been this incapable, right?

"Simple?"

"You want something the size of a card to have 3ZB of storage capacity, while also setting exclusive data that perfectly matches the Vision Driver and supports an ultra-high data transfer speed of 0.03 seconds."

"What part of that is simple? I already told you, I'm not the real Madam Herta. I only have basic artificial intelligence."

"And putting all that aside, just look at the requirements you gave me."

Hearing Firefly's words, the Herta Puppet truly wanted to smack her with a hammer. Did Firefly really think a puppet could not get angry?!

She might have been able to create even a multicolored black, but she genuinely could not meet the data specifications Firefly had proposed.

Just the appearance data alone required so much for free!

Did Firefly really think she could simply copy the sample and make a similar reskin?

It was impossible.

She was not one of Madam Herta's puppets designed to assist with her research. She was merely one of hundreds of puppets, a body that made it convenient for Madam Herta to control remotely.

If she were really that capable, why would Herta need remote control? She could have simply let the puppet do the work!

"Uh, sorry."

"I was being too naive. If it can't be done, then forget it."

Seeing the Herta Puppet's reaction, Firefly scratched her head. It seemed she had made things sound far too easy. She had only thought that since they were going to modify it, they might as well make it better.

She had not expected it to be so complicated...

Some of the Future People's technology truly was not as simple as she had imagined.

At any rate, it did not exist in this era.

"It's not completely impossible. Why don't you see whether you can pull another slice of Madam Herta, or someone else from the Genius Society?"

Seeing Firefly apologize to her, the angry Herta Puppet instead felt a little embarrassed.

After all, she was only a robot puppet belonging to Firefly. Firefly had no need to apologize to her at all. After thinking it over, she made the suggestion.

"Huh? You can pull slices too?"

Firefly was surprised.

It had never been explained that character slices could be pulled as well.

If she really could pull slices, that would be far too interesting.

"Of course."

The Herta Puppet answered with absolute certainty.

"Then I'll give it a try?"

But even if character slices really could be pulled, the probability was probably extremely low!

Still, Firefly could not help wanting to try.

She had earned quite a few Points again earlier, especially after obtaining the Vision Driver, which had directly forced the DGP to suspend operations.

That achievement alone, together with Kamen Rider Glare, had earned her 3,000 Points.

Adding the Poker Jyamato from before, she had a total of 3,068 Points.

The task of clearing all the Poker Jyamato had not been completed, but compared to that, the Driver was more important, so there was nothing to regret!

She did not have enough Points for twenty pulls, falling just a little short. But Firefly did not have an obsession with only pulling in neat multiples. She would start with a ten-pull, then use the rest for single pulls.

The difficulty of clearing this world was not as high as she had imagined. She did not necessarily need someone at the Emanator level.

And regardless of her luck with the cards—

At the very least, the rewards could be used in later worlds, so they would never be wasted. She still had six—no, more than a dozen worlds to clear.

After all, Aeon Power was right before her eyes. How could she possibly give it up?

"Ten-pull, activate!"

She invested 1,600 Points, and a burst of purple light flashed brilliantly.

Not good. The guarantee was a single purple item.

She skipped all the blue trash and locked onto the purple item.

(Purple) Fragment of Illusionary Suivian

"..."

"Great Extinction Lord Phantylia?!!"

Why had she pulled something like this?

Not one of the Great Extinction Lords was a good person, and Phantylia was even a Suivian.

Suivians were rare Formless Order lifeforms, energy beings without fixed physical forms that delighted in seizing the fleshly bodies of intelligent life and manipulating them.

Ordinary Suivians were already dangerous enough, but Phantylia was even more terrifying. She was also an Emanator of Destruction.

Then again, while she was dangerous, she was also useful. Firefly would keep her for now. If she encountered any difficult problems concerning Suivians, this should be of great help.

Since even a fragment of Phantylia could be pulled, Firefly believed even more firmly that slices could be pulled as well.

Suivian fragments generally possessed a sense of self. If she took out this fragment, would it become a Little Phantylia, like what had happened after the great Suivian Liaoyuan was shattered?

Probably.

She continued pulling, though she could only do single pulls now.

After skipping several blue-quality items in a row, fortunately, the guarantee had not triggered, and a purple item appeared early.

Unfortunately, it was not the slice she wanted, but it was related to Herta.

(Purple) Four-Star Erudition Light Cone "Portrait of a Girl"

Portrait of a Girl

Light Cone Description: At first, it had exactly the same posture as the figure in the previous portrait.

She looked at the face identical to her own and decided that it was not yet her. "How could there possibly be two identical portraits in the world?" She adjusted its joints, taught it to open its eyes, and taught its fingers to become softer. Satisfied, she stopped.

"Completely different from yesterday. This is who I am today."

Looking at Herta's appearance on the Light Cone, Firefly recalled that this Light Cone had been what first made her like Herta in the past. She was unbearably cute.

"I didn't pull a slice of Madam Herta, only this. Here, take it!"

After admiring the image on the Light Cone and sensing the obvious Power of Destiny of Erudition upon it, along with Herta's aura.

Firefly handed it to the Herta Puppet beside her.

Ace Ukiyo's Troubles

"..."

The Herta Puppet silently accepted the Light Cone and examined it from side to side, though it was unclear what she was looking at.

"Although it isn't a slice of Madam Herta, it's still power related to Herta. And with the help of the Erudition Power of Destiny, copying a storage card shouldn't be difficult, right?"

Watching the Herta Puppet's actions, Firefly sat beside the table, propped her small chin on both hands, and softly asked.

The power of Light Cones was wondrous. Unlike in games, in the real Honkai: Star Rail universe, every Light Cone was a rarity.

It was technology from the Memory of the Past, capable of packaging memories into slices of light to carry around. Once used, they could improve various abilities.

The corporation had channels to acquire them, but their prices were exorbitant, and very few people had actually seen a Light Cone.

In a sense, Light Cones were similar to Fate Cards and buckles, but even more miraculous, to the point of transcending technology.

"I'll give it a try."

Having accepted the Light Cone, the Herta Puppet did not make any guarantees, but the problem probably would not be too great.

"Then sorry for the trouble."

Having received that answer, Firefly relaxed as well.

"Is Nene trapped in the Kurama Family estate and unable to get out?"

Leaving the bedroom and giving the Herta Puppet space.

Firefly looked at the empty house before her and muttered softly.

Earlier, Nene Arakawa had said she was going home for a while, then no further news had come. However, Firefly was certain that nothing had happened to her. She was still at the Kurama Family estate.

With the things Firefly had given her, she should not have been unable to get out.

Even if the guards and bodyguards had likely become more vigilant.

Firefly sent Nene Arakawa a message on her phone, checked the time, and realized it was about time. Without dwelling on it further, she left the house.

The work she had submitted was about to begin serialization. She was heading over this time to confirm the details and receive an advance on her manuscript fees.

Because she was truly out of money.

These past few days, she had not asked Nene Arakawa for money, nor had she used her power to obtain any illegally. As for Herta, Firefly had only asked her to help with other, more important matters.

But now, she could finally ease the situation.

The work she had submitted was not copied at all. It was entirely original!

It was simply that many genres and ideas had never appeared in this world. With the experiences from her previous life, she had casually written something that passed the publishing review immediately and earned her the opportunity to debut through the fastest possible serialization.

She took the train to her destination, and everything went smoothly. There were no setbacks. Likewise, she did not run into any delightfully clichéd fellow beautiful girl writers or gorgeous editors.

Her editor was a middle-aged man who appeared very composed.

Instead, Firefly's arrival had made people's eyes light up. No one had expected the person submitting the work to be such a beautiful girl.

So the beautiful girl writer... was Firefly herself.

Before long, Firefly left the publishing house. That day, she had smoothly confirmed the serialization date and successfully received an advance on part of her manuscript fees and royalties.

Firefly did not hurry home either. It was already noon, and now that she had money in hand, she could not keep treating herself poorly.

After all, she had never advocated excessive frugality. Being broke could not be helped. But once she had money, she definitely could not mistreat her stomach. Food was the most worthwhile and meaningful thing to spend money on.

She searched for nearby food on her phone, then settled on a place that was inexpensive but highly rated.

Not only did it have a pleasant atmosphere, but the food was decent too.

Once she arrived at the restaurant, she found that this was indeed the case. There were not too many people, and it was fairly quiet.

In any case, she liked this kind of dining environment.

But there, Firefly spotted a familiar figure.

Not far away, Ace Ukiyo was sitting alone. The food on his table had barely been touched. He stared blankly out the window with lifeless eyes, lost in thought over something unknown.

Because of Firefly's appearance and interference, Ace Ukiyo in this world had not become a Desire God before. Naturally, he had not fulfilled that wish and become the world-famous superstar, the star among stars.

Even sitting here, he would not attract many lovestruck girls gathering around him.

Thinking about Ace Ukiyo's situation, Firefly did nothing.