"Ssshing!"
The longsword cut a path through the dark ranks of the Antimatter Legion like a bolt of white silk. Wende's figure flashed rapidly, each strike felling a large swath of Voidrangers.
What is going on? I know this is how the Simulated Universe is, but you don't have to throw this many Voidrangers at me. Did I steal business from Herta or something?
Sidestepping an arrow from a Voidranger: Trampler behind him, Wende formed a Taiji Seal with his hands without even looking back.
The purest Yang energy instantly erupted into white flames, incinerating the ambushing Trampler and several other Voidrangers near it into nothing but ash.
"Seal."
Wende gave a detached glance at the Voidrangers swarming him once more. He uttered a single, soft word before continuing deeper into the simulated space station.
…For some reason, the more I mobilize my Yin-Yang energy, the more emotionally detached I become…
Sensing the changes in his body and mind, Wende frowned slightly.
"Crack…"
The coldest Yin energy completely froze the Voidrangers in their tracks, turning them into solid ice.
I should find the anchor to the next level first. Maybe all these Voidrangers are a normal phenomenon, and it's just that the in-game representation is only a couple of kittens.
Wende speculated as much. Seeing one orange and one blue portal-like anchor ahead, he figured his guess couldn't be wrong, right?
---o---
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Stelle was excitedly smashing every box in sight. Seemingly finding her baseball bat too inefficient, she simply summoned her lance and aimed it at the densest cluster of boxes with a grin.
[Fire Lance! Charge!]
A torrent of flames followed Stelle's unstoppable charge, shattering all the wooden barrels in her path. A massive amount of Cosmic Fragments flooded into Stelle's simulated wallet, causing the corners of her mouth to curl up uncontrollably.
"Hah… time to go…"
Seeing the anchor portal not far away, Stelle was about to walk over, but she couldn't help but look back at the many boxes she hadn't yet broken. For a moment, she was caught in a dilemma… was what no one would ever think. She decisively chose to smash every last box before moving on.
---o---
"This second one… are you serious?"
Wende stared numbly at Svarog standing before him. Big boss? Do you really need to be waiting for me on the second floor?
Svarog didn't respond to Wende's complaint. A pair of iron fists came whistling toward Wende's face!
"Clang!"
Wende swiftly dodged, and Svarog's attack slammed viciously into the rock wall behind him.
Having reached the second level, the Simulated Universe's environment had changed to a world of ice and snow.
The blizzard battered Wende's body. A menacing red light pierced through the curtains of snow, locking onto him, before dozens of missiles came screaming toward his position!
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The continuous explosions scorched the ground black. Vast blankets of snow melted under the searing heat, only to quickly condense and freeze back into ice in the extreme cold.
"Target lost… requesting renewed search…"
Svarog's sensors and radar could not find any trace of Wende, so he initiated his automatic patrol mode, beginning to search for Wende using infrared sensors.
"This just proves that I wasn't unable to beat you before; it's just that my lightning needles had no attack power."
Wende's voice came from Svarog's side. A spark flew, and the light in Svarog's electronic eyes instantly faded.
Sheathing the longsword he had just pulled from Svarog's chassis, Wende thought to himself, As expected of the Simulated Universe… even Svarog is this faithfully recreated.
After marveling at the realism of the simulation, Wende walked toward the next anchor.
Meanwhile, Stelle was still on her quest to smash boxes…
This time, Wende chose a blue anchor, which represented an Event. Seeing the beacon symbolizing the event floating before him, Wende walked over and reached out to touch it.
Event
"Himeko's coffee, Akivili, are you serious? Are you sure you want to bring this thing in? Alright… I respect your opinion."
"......"
"Hahahaha, let me try it!"
"Hmph… It suits me."
"A departure from the Path."
"I think it suits you well."
"Can I choose not to remember this?"
Please Choose
[Option 1: Delete the Path of [Elation]. You will no longer obtain blessings related to the Path of [Elation].]
[Option 2: Delete the Path of [Destruction].]
[Option 3: Delete the Path of [Preservation]…]
"…"
Wende stared at the seven options before him with dead fish eyes. So, Sister Himeko hadn't been bragging; Herta really did put her coffee into the Simulated Universe. But did Himeko actually know what Herta had done? And wasn't it supposed to be a Curio at first?
To this day, we still don't know what interesting interaction took place between Herta and Himeko at Asta's tea party, but Wende suddenly felt that the Express's expenses were about to increase again…
He could only hope that Mr. Yang, currently on the Xianzhou, could earn a few more credits. Cooking on the space station these past two days had nearly exhausted him.
After his mind wandered, Wende focused his attention back on the choice at hand.
Wait a minute… had he even received any blessings?
Frowning, Wende recalled how he saw Stelle summon her menu after entering the Simulated Universe and called up his own panel.
"Hiss… What is this?"
Wende's eyes widened in utter disbelief, as if he had seen something horrifying. He stood frozen in the world of ice and snow.
How could he possibly have blessings from all seven Paths currently available in the Simulated Universe, the blessings of all seven Aeons?
Wende was completely bewildered. Could it be that in the game, killing a single enemy granted you the blessing of an Aeon? In that case, after slaughtering so many Voidrangers from the Antimatter Legion…
"So either that wasn't normal… or this isn't normal?" Wende muttered to himself, staring at his seven fully blessed Paths.
Looking back at the seven choices, he suddenly realized that no matter which one he picked… he was getting ripped off…
After a moment of thought, Wende reviewed his own skill set and looked resolutely at Aha's Path.
Sorry, Lord of Joy, but I really don't have any follow-up attacks…
And so, Wende chose to feed the coffee to Aha.
---o---
"HAHAHAHAHA!!! IT'S ME!!!"
Behind a kaleidoscope of masks came a peal of uninhibited laughter, a mixture of diverse emotions—maniacal laughter, wild laughter, and bitter laughter.
In that instant, the universe was short one mask, but it had gained a pile of masks that looked like they had LED lights installed.
"..."
"So this is… Destruction?"
"To explain it in terms of memory… this behavior would be called… [Social Death]."