"How's that? Does the taste of hard work suit you?"
Herta put on a mocking little expression as she looked at Stelle, who had just finished her deliveries.
"It's actually alright."
Stelle felt the various letters and books she had pilfered during her route today in her pocket and nodded with great satisfaction. While delivering takeout this morning, she had even found a chest she'd missed before!
(Wende: Why am I earning less and less money? scratching head.jpg)
"By the way, that guardian of yours, how about we have him test the Simulated Universe too?" Herta suddenly suggested, a whim striking her as she looked at Stelle.
"Guardian?" Stelle tilted her head.
"Wende. What? Is he not?"
Seeing Stelle's surprised face, Herta's puppet raised its eyebrows in a very lifelike manner.
"He is."
"?"
---o---
"Hello? Stelle? What's up? The Simulated Universe? I think I'll pass… What? You'll clear my debt? I'm on my way!"
Wende decisively hung up the phone, tossed his apron to a nearby logistics staffer, and ran toward Herta's office, leaving the staffer with a look of longing.
"Sigh, Lord Wende…"
The logistics staffer reached out and cried after the departing Wende, but in the end, she could only watch his retreating figure. She gently picked up Wende's apron, and then…
Her face flushing red, the staffer buried her face in Wende's apron and began to inhale deeply!
"Haaaah… haaah… It's Wende's scent!"
From this, one could see… that Herta's employees weren't just thirsty for the food Wende made… they were also thirsty for him.
---o---
"Miss Herta."
Wende nodded to Herta, who was standing next to Stelle, busy debugging something.
"Mhm, you're just in time. The Simulated Universe has been updated, and I've even added some interesting new gadgets this time. Remember to have fun."
Herta glanced up at Wende, spoke in a formulaic manner, and then immediately immersed her consciousness back into the Simulated Universe.
"Er…"
Wende was already used to this. Back when he had first transmigrated, his interactions with Herta were much the same. Although he didn't know what her purpose was in having him test the Simulated Universe, well… who was he to refuse, since he was getting paid?
Placing the device on his head, Wende first checked to see if anything was missing. Then, looking at Stelle, who was already running a simulation beside him, he sighed once more before connecting his consciousness to the Simulated Universe.
---o---
Darkness… like an abyss. And in the deepest part of the darkness, light was being born.
"He has come," a solemn, killing voice spoke.
"But He should not be here," another, ethereal voice said.
"He… is not Him."
"Who is he? Is he Akivili?"
"No… he is not."
"…"
"Haha, who on earth is he, I wonder?"
Within the "World," gazes from massive data entities all turned toward Wende, who had just loaded into the Simulated Universe.
"Then… Who is He?"
"I have no memory of Him."
The universe maintained its equilibrium within chaos, and maintained its chaos within equilibrium.
"Haha, now this is fun."
A series of masks vanished within the universe.
"He must be destroyed."
In the room where Wende was loading into the Simulated Universe, numerous figures from the Antimatter Legion appeared.
"He can be eternal."
Green branches swayed gently, and a blessing full of life was bestowed upon Wende's body.
"He wishes to protect."
"He wishes for harmony…"
"…"
"But…"
---o---
"What's going on? Did the Simulated Universe crash again?"
Herta, who was just about to load Himeko's coffee into the Simulated Universe as a Curio, stared blankly at the flashing red lights in her office. How long has it been since I fixed the last bug?!
"Herta, I've detected a powerful data fluctuation in your Simulated Universe. What happened?"
Genius Society Member #76, the gentlemanly Screwllum, sent a virtual projection to Herta, expressing his confusion.
"How should I know?"
Herta was also at a complete loss. The Simulated Universe was still running; she had to get those two out of there quickly!
"Wait… this… what is this situation?"
Seeing the Simulated Universe running on its own, completely unresponsive to her commands, the doubt in Herta's eyes deepened.
"It seems the Simulated Universe has encountered a major problem. Do you require assistance?"
"Not needed. Wait a minute… why have all the [Aeons] gone on strike? Where's my authority?"
---o---
So this is the Simulated Universe? It looks pretty normal.
Wende remarked with awe, looking at the cabin before him, which was identical to those in the Herta Space Station.
As expected of a project jointly developed by four members of the Genius Society. Just this level of realistic experience is completely different from those immersive games.
He looked at his own hands, felt the instantaneous sensation transmitted to his brain as he rubbed his fingertips together. Everything felt completely real.
"Alright, even though there isn't even a beginner's tutorial, that won't stop me from clearing it."
Wende was an old hand at this; he had already done a lot of research on strategies for the Simulated Universe.
First step upon entering the Simulated Universe!
SMASH!
Wende shattered a marked container beside him with a single punch.
First, get some money…
---o---
SMASH!
Stelle casually shattered a wooden barrel in front of her with her baseball bat.
How strange, why are there so many barrels here?
Looking at the nearly endless sea of breakable objects before her, Stelle's hands suddenly began to itch…
---o---
"Hiss…"
Wende frowned deeply, casually swatting aside an attacking Voidranger from the Antimatter Legion. He looked at the almost endless "legion" before him and couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath.
"What's this, did someone put an extermination order on me?"
Seeing the nearly infinite number of Voidrangers brandishing their blades at him, Wende decisively activated the power of his 5-star template. The black and white longswords instantly appeared in his hands!
"Since this is the Simulated Universe, there shouldn't be a problem with me testing my own abilities, right?"
Wende looked at the approaching legion, smiled lightly, and then charged toward the army of thousands with his swords in hand.
"Yin-Yang Transformation!"
After using this move, the already loose-fitting upper garment of Wende's 5-star outfit instantly became taut and form-fitting.
"Slash!"
Vast sword qi surged from Wende's body. Wherever the sword qi passed, the Voidrangers of the Antimatter Legion fell like harvested wheat, instantly collapsing before dissipating into a sky full of data.
"Manifest!"
Yin and Yang energy pulsed vigorously from Wende's body. Following the dance of his sword tip, a grand Yin-Yang formation enveloped all the Voidrangers before him.
"Convert!"
The Yin-Yang formation instantly crushed all the Voidrangers within it to dust, simultaneously restoring a certain amount of Wende's Yin-Yang energy.
Too lewd.