Following after Kafka and Silver Wolf, Xu Zixuan curiously took in his surroundings.
Herta Space Station.
It was so much larger than it appeared in the game.
Experiencing Herta Space Station in person, versus controlling a character inside it in the game, gave it an entirely different feeling altogether.
“Mama Kafka, do you Stellaron Hunters get paid for missions?
How much does Elio give you?”
“Wolfie, if Elio saw the script diverging, would he scratch himself bald with his cat claws and turn into a hairless cat?”
“Wolfie, I heard that if you can’t beat the other side in a game, you just straight up hack.
Is that true?”
Silver Wolf heard Xu Zixuan’s words and her footsteps came to a halt.
What the heck?
My hacking?
Even the Masked Fools know about that?
“I, Silver Wolf, do not cheat.”
“And what’s with this ‘Wolfie’ business!”
Hearing Xu Zixuan call her “Wolfie,” Silver Wolf felt like she was about to get goosebumps.
As expected of a Masked Fool, utterly shameless.
This guy’s a total social terrorist!
“That’s because Wolfie, where we come from, you’re super popular.”
“Back home, everyone affectionately calls you Wolfie.”
“And of course, there are also names like Beloved Wolf Lord and Little Bronya.”
Seeing that Silver Wolf was actually responding to him, Xu Zixuan launched into an unstoppable monologue.
Shy?
Reserved?
Not a chance!
If I were shy and reserved, how would I ever form a connection with the characters I love from the original story!
If my skin isn’t thick enough, how am I supposed to sync brainwaves with the not-yet-born Trailblazer!
As long as I’m not embarrassed, then it’s wouldn’t be me who’s embarrassed!
Silver Wolf: ᗜ‸ᗜ
What the heck?
I’m super popular at the Tavern?
And the people over at the Tavern call me Wolfie?
Beloved Wolf Lord?
Little Bronya?
What’s the deal with Little Bronya?!
“I’m very popular over at the Tavern?”
Hold on!
The Tavern people have their eyes on her?
The thought of a whole bunch of Masked Fools targeting her for their amusement sent a shiver down Silver Wolf’s spine.
But…
a challenge like this is what makes things fun!
“The Tavern?
What Tavern?”
Xu Zixuan blinked, then realized Silver Wolf had misunderstood.
“No, I’m really not a Masked Fool.”
“That mask was definitely planted on me by Aha.
Think about it.
How could my mask have coincidentally fallen onto the floor at exactly that moment?”
“How embarrassing would that be!”
Aha: Ah ha ha ha ha ha, that’s right, Aha did it!
“Who knows if you’re deliberately stirring up entertainment!”
Silver Wolf was speechless.
What he said made sense, but Masked Fools were inherently unreasonable.
Who knew if that awkward scene was just entertainment he deliberately orchestrated?
“No, really.
You should know, the very reason I ended up on Herta Space Station is because Aha sent me flying here with a single slap.”
Hearing Xu Zixuan’s words, Kafka’s steps also paused.
“Aha sent you here?”
Kafka became thoughtful.
It sounded absurd, but precisely because it was so absurd, it felt like it could be true.
And Aha really was the type to pull something like that.
This, right here, is what you call a reputation!
“That’s right, Mama Kafka.
It was Aha who sent me here.”
“I was half asleep and totally groggy, and Aha sent me here with one slap.”
Xu Zixuan nodded, his words brimming with disdain for Aha.
Of course, deep down, Xu Zixuan didn’t disdain Aha one bit.
If not for Aha, wouldn’t he have missed the legendary scene of Stelle or Caelus being born?
That would have been such a pity!
Aha: Wuwuwu, Aha’s been scorned.
Aha is so sad…
ah ha ha ha ha.
“That doesn’t sound true, but for some reason it makes perfect sense.”
“Forget it.
Since you’re not a Masked Fool, can you introduce yourself?”
“I’m very curious.
On which planet are we, the infamous Stellaron Hunters, supposedly so popular?”
“And why is Kafka called Mama?”
As they chatted, the three of them arrived at the Storage Zone.
This was the core research area of the space station, housing the curios Herta had collected from all corners of the universe.
While searching for the Stellaron’s location, Silver Wolf kept the conversation going.
She was genuinely curious.
If Xu Zixuan truly wasn’t from the Tavern, could she, as a Stellaron Hunter, really be popular on some planet?
That didn’t seem likely.
After all, under the IPC’s propaganda, the Stellaron Hunters were notorious, each one painted as someone guilty of every crime under the sun.
Many charges completely unrelated to the Stellaron Hunters had been pinned on them.
Otherwise, the Stellaron Hunters wouldn’t have such a widespread terrible reputation.
“My name is Xu Zixuan.
I come from a planet very, very far away.”
“But you really are very popular on our planet.
Lots of people really like you.”
“As for why Kafka is called Mama Kafka…
maybe they were just thirsty.
You know how it’s on the net.”
Xu Zixuan rubbed his chin.
Of course, the real reason Kafka is called Mama Kafka comes from the game’s opening storyline.
Kafka and Silver Wolf find the vessel that carries the main character.
Kafka personally chooses the main character’s gender and embeds the Stellaron into our body, thereby “creating” Stelle or Caelus, the Stellaron vessel.
At the time, Silver Wolf said to Kafka: “You have to be the one to make this choice!”
This made Kafka seem like our “birth mother.”
After completing the “creation,” Kafka asked Silver Wolf: “How much does he/she remember?”
Silver Wolf replied: “At least, she will remember you.”
This key line of dialogue spread widely through the player community, reinforcing Kafka’s role as the initial and most important anchor of memory for the main character upon arriving in this world, much like a mother’s place in her child’s heart.
Finally, there is the portrayal of Kafka’s “maternal radiance.”
Kafka’s calmness, elegance, and concern for the main character’s fate throughout the story gave players a sense of her unique “maternal radiance.”
Thus, many players jokingly said things like “I thought she was my wife, turns out she’s my real mom,” and so the affectionate nickname “Mama Kafka” spread far and wide.
Of course, since none of that had happened yet, Xu Zixuan needed a different explanation.
That was easy enough.
Just refer to another demographic’s reason for calling someone “mommy” and that was that.
They just wanted some milk, obviously!
Kafka: …
Silver Wolf: ᗜ‸ᗜ
“Are the people on your planet all perverts?!”
Silver Wolf couldn’t help but blurt out her criticism.
She felt goosebumps rising all over.
She suddenly had an inkling of why she was popular on Xu Zixuan’s planet.
This was something Silver Wolf had never considered before.
Silver Wolf was the Uncrowned Ruler of Punklorde, a legend in the hacker world, worshipped by countless hackers.
She was a notoriously infamous Stellaron Hunter, a name that struck terror into hearts.
But on Xu Zixuan’s planet, she was popular just because she was good-looking?!