Bai Luan followed behind the Herta Puppet. Since his body had shrunk, his current height was about the same as a small Herta.
It seemed it would take some time for him to grow back to his original size.
He knew nothing about this maze belonging to a genius, so he could only follow the Herta Puppet step by step.
He wondered if there were any men's clothes in Herta's Home.
Wait, why would there be men's clothes in Herta's Home?
Bai Luan suddenly realized this terrifying fact.
Apart from Herta and her puppets, almost no one else lived here permanently.
If he were to ask the Herta Puppet, she would definitely say:
"Why would Ms. Herta's Home need such superfluous things?"
Hmm, it was perfectly reasonable for Herta's Home to have no men's clothes.
Then, what should I do?
Surely they wouldn't make me wear women's clothes, right?
No... it can't be...
Bai Luan suddenly realized that there was a possibility he would be forced to wear the Herta Puppet's clothes.
Their heights were similar, and their figures... their figures seemed to be...
Bai Luan roughly compared himself to the Herta Puppet leading the way.
They were indeed quite similar.
The more Bai Luan thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.
So much so that he felt a bit of despair.
Why are they so similar!?
Is miHoYo's universal character modeling working its magic!?
Why is Ms. Herta flat-chested!!!
Bai Luan had never, like now, wished for a certain part of Herta to be larger.
Where is the Zenless Zone Zero development team?
Where is the Great Thunderclap Temple?
Help me out here...
I... I don't want to wear women's clothes!!!
Just as Bai Luan was about to fall into despair, the Herta Puppets brought out a pile of weaving tools and began to work on the spot.
In an instant, several Hertas each took on a role, busying themselves with selecting fabric, cutting, sewing...
In the blink of an eye, an assembly line was quickly set up and running in front of Bai Luan.
I hereby solemnly declare that I have never slandered Ms. Herta; all previous remarks and slanders were spoken by my second personality, which has now been summarily executed. Ms. Herta is perfect. (Even if her chest is small, she is still perfect!)
No, who am I swearing to?
My own conscience?
Looking at the rapidly operating assembly line, Bai Luan exclaimed:
The versatility of the Herta Puppets is simply too high.
While the Herta Puppets were rushing to make Bai Luan's clothes, another Herta Puppet appeared from somewhere, holding a tablet glowing with a cerulean light.
"As per Ms. Herta's request, we need to test your IQ. Please complete the questions on this."
Bai Luan took the tablet.
IQ Test Question Bank 13.3.
This version had quite a few iterations, even with decimals.
Bai Luan began to answer the questions in the order they appeared.
From the simplest 1+1=2 to more difficult equations, then to more challenging functions, and finally, he couldn't do any more.
No, what kind of insane questions are these at the end!
How to calculate the optimal angle for rocket launch? The airtight principle of non-full coverage spacesuits? How to reverse aging? All of these were here?
Even if I had ten more heads, I wouldn't be able to write the answers.
Even if you brought that old man with his tongue sticking out to do these questions, he'd be stumped.
And this damned question bank still had a ninety-two percent progress bar!
Is this what you geniuses usually do?
At this moment, Bai Luan was like an innocent Tibetan boy who had never been exposed to knowledge.
Oh my, I won't be kicked out tomorrow, will I?
With a hint of despair, Bai Luan skipped the questions he couldn't understand again and again, trying to find more questions he could answer at his current level.
He finally found a calculation problem that he could barely understand, and just as he was racking his brain to solve it, he found that time was up.
The answer was terminated.
Heh, now I'm screwed.
After all, he wasn't a genius, so doing these kinds of questions was no different from seeking his own death.
Without waiting for the result, the Herta Puppet snatched the tablet from Bai Luan's hand.
Under Bai Luan's nervous gaze, the Herta Puppet read out the result:
"A smart person in the eyes of the public? Barely passable."
It seems... it's acceptable.
Bai Luan breathed a sigh of relief. He swore that after this, if anyone said that studying hard was useless, he would explode at them.
Just as Bai Luan was still lamenting, the Herta Puppet had already walked over with the finished clothes and handed them to him.
Then, a distant wall suddenly opened, revealing a small changing room.
"Go in there and change into the clothes to test the size."
"Can they really make them that fast?"
Bai Luan picked up the freshly made clothes and walked into the changing room.
The clothes he was wearing, created by the system, were very simple, so changing out of them was easy. Putting on the clothes Herta made for him, however, was a bit difficult.
Overall, this set of clothes matched Herta's preferred colors, mainly purple and black.
The set given to him was a tailcoat.
Dress pants, a shirt, a vest, a jacket, a purple bow tie...
Bai Luan adjusted the position of his purple bow tie, secretly feeling fortunate.
Fortunately, he had worked as a high-end waiter for a while and knew how to wear these clothes. Wearing them messily would have been disastrous.
Smoothing out the wrinkles, he finally put on the exquisite tailcoat.
In this changing room, there was a mirror, and Bai Luan could finally see his own face.
"Oh my, what a magnificent face!"
Gilded eyes, short black hair, an absolutely youthful look, and a flawless, impeccable face.
His figure was well-proportioned and tall, and the slimming effect of the vest was perfectly showcased by his body.
The system had truly crafted an excellent face, and it was even modified and optimized from his face in his previous life.
This successfully gave Bai Luan a sense of participation.
But honestly, if this face was expressionless, it was too easy for it to exude an aura of 'do not approach strangers'.
This face naturally carried a cool and aloof feeling.
Fortunately, I am a peaceful person.
Bai Luan seriously admired his face for a moment, then stared into the mirror for a while.
Just thinking about having to make abstract expressions with this handsome face made him want to laugh.
Hehehe...
System, guess what I'll do with this handsome face in the future?
I want to... I want to...
"『 Accompany the Stellaron to rummage through trash cans? 』"
"Damn it! System! Your IQ must be damn 114514..."
Bai Luan swore he would do it at least once.
Although this face was really handsome, now was not the time for admiration.
Bai Luan walked out of the changing room.
The Herta Puppet glanced at Bai Luan.
"It's quite presentable."
"I'm actually quite curious, are you currently being remotely controlled by Ms. Herta, or are you in intelligent robot mode?"
"Of course, it's intelligent mode. Ms. Herta is busy with a myriad of tasks; you are not valuable enough for Ms. Herta to constantly stare at you."
At this moment, another Herta Puppet walked over and handed Bai Luan a phone.
Bai Luan looked at the brand new phone, feeling a little overwhelmed:
"For me?"
"Of course, it's for you. You'll be working here; you can't not even have a phone. Consider it an investment from Ms. Herta."
"Then I'll accept it."
There was even a phone case.
With this, Bai Luan's beginner's gift package was complete.
A finely crafted tailcoat, a brand new phone, a handsome face, and most importantly...
A brand new identity in the Honkai: Star Rail world.
No matter what kind of life it was, it would be infinitely more exciting than waiting to die from late-stage liver cancer.
Just then, Bai Luan's newly acquired phone suddenly received a message.
[Herta invites you to join Herta's Home.]
[You have joined Herta's Home.]
[Herta sent you a file: Ms. Herta's Home Map.]
[You have received the file.]
"As a newcomer, let's start by memorizing the map of Ms. Herta's Home."
It's just a home, and it even has a map.
Bai Luan opened the Herta Puppet's file, and an overhead structural diagram immediately appeared.
"Oh? It doesn't look particularly exaggerated..."
Bai Luan muttered, extending two fingers and habitually making a pinch-to-zoom gesture on the screen.
The map's scale changed, and more details flooded in, with dense markers and passages spreading out like a spiderweb... However, it wasn't over yet.
"?"
Bai Luan began to realize something was wrong, so he trembled and continued to adjust the map's scale.
Once, twice...
It reached its limit.
Including the first time, he adjusted it three times in total before seeing the entire map of Herta's Home.
Bai Luan used to think that driving to the restroom was just a joke, but now it seems...
It's not a joke.
Bai Luan looked at the map on his phone, feeling immense pressure. He looked at the Herta Puppet with a troubled expression and asked:
"Do I have to memorize all of it?"
"Of course."
"..."
A new life has begun.
It's not that bad.
But it seems... not that good either?