After enjoying Herta’s lap for an entire system hour, Kai finally sat up with obvious reluctance.
She followed Herta out of the room and toward her office.
Once inside, Herta pointed toward a large device glowing with pale blue light.
“This is the Simulated Universe.”
“Ruan Mei, Screwllum, Stephen, and I developed it together.”
Kai immediately began applauding.
“Wow.”
“Herta is incredible.”
She stared at Herta with open admiration.
“Of course I am.”
Herta lifted her chin proudly.
Confidence filled her violet eyes.
Kai had outmaneuvered her before and teased her twice.
During nearly every interaction, Kai had taken control of the situation and forced Herta to follow her pace.
Herta had not forgotten that humiliation.
Now, however, they had entered Herta’s territory.
This was her chance to regain the advantage.
Kai smiled when she saw Herta’s confident expression.
How unfortunate, Herta.
Kai knew far more about the Simulated Universe than Herta could possibly imagine.
The only question was what kind of game she should play once she entered.
An idea appeared in her mind.
Perfect.
It was time to introduce Herta to the true meaning of Elation.
Hehe.
Kai pretended to understand nothing and looked at Herta curiously.
“What should Kai do?”
“Sit in that chair and relax.”
“All right.”
Kai obediently sat down and turned toward Herta.
Herta was working at an incredibly complicated control panel.
Kai could not understand a single thing appearing across its displays.
“Are you ready?”
“Kai is ready.”
“Then the first official test of the Simulated Universe begins now.”
Kai’s vision gradually faded into darkness.
When light returned, she found herself standing inside a recreation of Herta Space Station.
Kai looked around with feigned confusion.
“Herta, are we still on the space station?”
“Did something go wrong?”
“Nothing went wrong.”
“You are currently inside the Simulated Universe.”
Herta’s voice came through the communication system.
“The test itself is straightforward.”
“Defeat every hostile entity in your path.”
“Along the way, collect Curios and Blessings to strengthen yourself.”
Kai nodded thoughtfully.
“What should I do first?”
“You need to select a Path.”
“You may be an Emanator of Elation, but this is your first time using the system.”
“I recommend Destruction or the Hunt.”
“Either should provide a relatively simple route through the test.”
“All right.”
Kai selected the Path of Elation.
Herta fell silent.
“Fine.”
“Choose whatever makes you happy.”
Kai looked toward the approaching Voidrangers and nervously stepped backward.
“Herta, how does combat work in here?”
“It functions almost identically to combat in reality.”
“However, your real-world power is not directly connected to your simulated body.”
“You should wait while I assign you a few Blessings and Curios.”
“Then you can.”
Herta abruptly stopped speaking.
“What in the universe?”
She stared at the display in disbelief.
Every hostile entity within sight had already been defeated.
Kai had eliminated all of them before receiving a single Blessing or Curio.
That should not have been possible.
Under normal conditions, Kai’s current simulated body should have possessed the strength of someone who had only just begun walking a Path.
Of course, the Simulated Universe was still experimental.
Unexpected errors were inevitable.
That was not the strangest part.
On the screen, Kai stood before the fallen enemies and apologized with complete sincerity.
“I am so sorry.”
“Kai became frightened and accidentally used too much force.”
“Please forgive her.”
Herta stared blankly at the display.
Who was supposed to be frightened here?
Kai had been bold enough to trap Herta against a wall earlier.
Now she was pretending to be a helpless woman.
The performance was disturbingly convincing.
Had Herta not already discovered Kai’s true personality, she might have believed every word.
“That is enough.”
“Stop performing for an audience that does not exist.”
…
Herta sounded exhausted.
“You might fool someone as trusting as Asta with that act.”
“You are not fooling me.”
“You certainly were not this timid when you trapped me against the wall.”
Kai stuck out her tongue at the observation camera.
“Hehe.”
“What do I do next?”
Two portals appeared in front of her.
One was red.
The other was blue.
Herta studied the data on her screen.
Kai had defeated several enemies, yet the system had shown no sign of attracting an Aeon’s attention.
Even using an Emanator as the test participant did not guarantee that an Aeon would appear.
Still, the test had only just begun.
There was no reason to rush.
“Take the blue portal on the right.”
“It has a better chance of triggering an event connected to an Aeon.”
“All right.”
Kai nodded and walked toward the red portal on the left.
Herta stared at the screen.
She had recommended Destruction or the Hunt.
Kai had selected Elation.
Now, Herta had told her to go right, and Kai was deliberately going left.
Did this woman have a personal grudge against following instructions?
Just before Kai entered the red portal, she abruptly turned ninety degrees and walked toward the blue one instead.
Before stepping through, she looked directly at the camera and winked.
She had only wanted to tease Herta.
It had been worth it.
Herta remained silent.
A vein nearly appeared on her forehead.
For reasons she could not explain, she suddenly wanted to drag Kai out of the Simulated Universe and knock some sense into her.
Kai listened to the silence for several moments.
Then she began pretending to panic.
“Herta.”
“Why are you not saying anything?”
“You are not angry, are you?”
“Kai only thought you seemed tense.”
“She wanted to make the atmosphere less serious.”
“I am sorry.”
Inside the simulation, Kai lowered her head and pouted.
She lightly tapped the tips of her index fingers together in front of her chest.
Herta hesitated.
She did feel less nervous.
This was the first official test of the Simulated Universe.
More importantly, an Emanator was personally participating.
The experiment could produce an enormous amount of valuable data relating to the Aeons.
Herta had been more anxious than she wanted to admit.
Kai’s ridiculous behavior had genuinely helped her relax.
Had Kai been acting with that intention all along?
Herta looked at the innocent face on the screen.
After a brief pause, she spoke.
“Thank you.”
Whatever Kai’s true motivation had been, she had eased Herta’s nerves.
Acknowledging that was only reasonable.
Kai scratched the side of her head with a bashful smile.
“It was nothing.”
“As long as Herta is happy.”
“Hehe.”
She believed it.
She actually believed it.
Kai desperately fought to stop her grin from spreading across her entire face.
She continued walking.
A strange purple object floated in the distance.
It resembled a framed painting, but its surface displayed an enormous question mark.
A random event.
Perfect.
Everyone knew that random events were rarely truly random.
Especially when certain individuals were involved.
Kai silently produced an orange-red mask.
Aha.
You are watching, right?
Give Kai the event she wants, and she will give you entertainment on a cosmic scale.
What do you say?
Are you willing to invest in this project?
The mask trembled almost imperceptibly.
Excellent.
The deal was complete.
Now it was time to give Herta a small taste of Elation.
Hehe.
◉◉◉◉◉
Save to library!