"Tell me"
"Nooo~ Miss Herta"
"Tell me"
"Nooo~ Miss Herta!"
Inside Herta's office, a truly bizarre scene was unfolding:
One Herta puppet was hugging another Herta puppet, shaking her violently, whining in a tone suspiciously close to pouting.
One begged.
The other refused.
It was extremely hard to believe this was the legendary super-genius Herta, renowned across the entire universe.
And they were not alone.
Standing by the side, watching with sparkling eyes, was Asta— wearing the most auntie-like pleased smile imaginable.
She was absolutely shipping this scene.
"Damn you! Do you know—if someone asked me to beg, I wouldn't even bother!
But now look at what you're making me do!"
Realizing begging was useless, Herta planted her hands on her hips, staring proudly at the intruding puppet.
Last time she inspected this body, the only abnormality she found was that its first owner had been forcibly changed.
She had tried tracing the signal backward— and received nothing but a big, fat middle finger emoji.
Now that the intruder was back, she would not let him escape.
After the previous update to the Simulated Universe shocked even her fellow geniuses, even Ruan Mei—who usually avoided outside annoyances—had asked about it.
Finally, the four geniuses unanimously agreed:
Su Ran was the ideal collaborator.
Even if he refused to join them formally, he'd still be welcome anytime.
All four gave him unexpectedly high praise.
Even Herta, proud as a peacock, admitted Su Ran surpassed her in this field.
The list of people Herta willingly bows to:
Aeons
(Nobody else… until now?)
But alas— Herta's proud "bullying" held no effect.
To Su Ran, it looked more like a toddler throwing a tantrum.
"Tch. You know what? There are people who beg me to talk to them.
And I don't.
But I'm talking to you right now— that's your honor."
Su Ran—through the puppet—flicked "her" blue hair dramatically.
Herta squinted at him.
After twenty seconds of intense staring, she finally spoke:
"Fine. Tell me— which number of the Genius Society are you?
I don't like guessing games."
"Eighty-five."
Su Ran answered immediately.
"Huh?!"
The first to shout was not Herta— but Asta.
She never imagined that the person the IPC had hunted for so long,
Genius Society #85, was right in front of her—
This was too absurd.
Like that saying:
Seems far away, but is actually right beside you.
She, Asta, was the first one to discover #85.
As for Herta— she didn't even look surprised.
She had clearly guessed it already.
"Just as I thought.
I told the other members—Simulated Universe's latest changes weren't from us.
Anyone interested in collaboration came to check it out.
You weren't among the earlier arrivals, so logically—
you're the last.
I won my bet!"
Herta stood tall with pride.
"Want a lollipop as a reward?"
Su Ran asked, palms up, deadpan.
"Yes. Give it. Now."
Herta reached out her hand.
Seeing Su Ran clearly had nothing on him, she still refused to give him any face.
"Oh, but now I don't feel like giving you one~"
Su Ran said lightly.
"Tch."
After their mutual smack-talking session ended, Herta got to business.
"Nous told me this:
You created a biological form even He cannot analyze.
Got data?
Show me."
She extended her hand, expecting obedience.
Such arrogance was normal.
After all, she was Herta— the super-genius, an existence personally gazed upon by Nous.
If she took something, she'd still give compensation.
She wasn't the type to steal without paying.
"Data? Even if I give you the formula, you wouldn't be able to recreate it.
Even Nous may not."
Su Ran's life form creation methods existed outside the norms of this universe.
Even he made them using the "I think this should work" miracle logic.
He could recreate them—barely.
Others?
Probably impossible.
"So exaggerated?
What traits does it even have?"
Herta wasn't accusing him— if Nous couldn't parse it, it must be real.
Which only made her more interested.
"Lifespan: around two hundred thousand years minimum."
Herta widened her eyes.
Asta inhaled sharply.
"Free movement in outer space, immune to most radiation."
The two women stiffened.
"Can withstand reaction force well enough to travel at light speed."
At this point, the two felt he was making things up.
Straight out of science fiction.
"…Are you messing with me?"
Herta narrowed her eyes.
"If I were lying, why would Nous fail to analyze it?
Of course it's real.
That's exactly why it's absurd."
Su Ran shrugged.
Believe or don't— he didn't care.
Herta, however, was hooked.
"Give it to me to study!"
"Sure—why don't you give me your main body to dissect?"
Su Ran refused on the spot.
Even if Herta was no Ruan Mei, she was still the type to do ethically questionable things for knowledge.
Geniuses differed greatly from normal people in "morals."
"So it's you yourself…"
Herta's interest dipped slightly.
"Though, exchanging research samples isn't impossible…"
But such a unique organism… she really wanted it.
Su Ran ignored her attempt to negotiate.
She didn't press— she knew when to stop.
Still—
"Even I am this interested in your body…
Ruan Mei will be worse.
Be careful not to get dissected.
You're basically a walking treasure specimen."
Herta kindly reminded him.
"Heh. If she really dares try, I'll make her watch herself turn into a little white mouse under my hand.
I don't like performing experiments— but it doesn't mean I can't."
Su Ran's tone toward Ruan Mei was… not friendly.
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Author's NOTE
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