While Jiang Yu was already aboard Argenti's spaceship, Stelle was still exploring the mine.
As a veteran who had played the previous Simulated Universe, Stelle had plenty of experience. Since she had chosen a different playstyle from Jiang Yu, however, she was slightly less efficient.
Rather than acting with a clear objective like Jiang Yu, Stelle bypassed some enemies she might encounter and prioritized searching the map as thoroughly as possible for treasure chests, jars, and the like.
Searching these things could yield Blessings and Universe Fragments, both very useful things. After the previous test, Stelle had also judged this map-scouring playstyle to be the safest approach.
Once she finished searching the map, Stelle followed the route she remembered and found an opening. Along the way, she avoided almost every battle, though when she encountered lone enemies that were easy to kill, she would go over and perform an "assassination." This counted as extra Universe Fragment income without taking too much effort, making it all the more beneficial to her exploration of the Simulated Universe.
After walking some distance through the mine and reaching a junction, Stelle saw a floating pillar.
It was a Communing Device, which could be treated as a signpost that provided extra assistance. Seeing it meant the explorer was about to leave the current area and enter the next.
Otherwise, Herta would have had no reason to deliberately place something so out of keeping with its surroundings here. The moment Stelle saw it, she realized its purpose: it was probably the same kind of thing as the portals of light in the previous version of the Simulated Universe.
With that thought in mind, Stelle prepared to take a couple of steps forward and see just what this new thing was about.
Just then, Herta's voice suddenly