Space Station.
Inside the Honkai Simulated Universe.
After scavenging enough trash to outfit herself head to toe with gear, and feeling that she had cultivated herself to perfection, Stelle eagerly headed toward the location of the final boss.
The place known as Chiba Academy.
It was the source of Honkai energy for this city. Centered around it, the Honkai energy concentration throughout the entire city remained extremely high.
Aside from the large number of enemies.
Stelle did not feel anything particularly unusual.
Gripping the baseball bat she had dug out of a trash can and bringing along a first-aid kit and other supplies she might need later.
She rushed straight toward her destination.
Everything went incredibly smoothly. Today's trash-diving had left Stelle thoroughly satisfied, because the trash cans here truly hid treasures.
You never knew what you might pull out of the next one—that was the thrill of the unknown.
Just like testing the Simulated Universe.
Clear out the enemies here, and it should end. Or perhaps she would enter the next area?
With that thought in mind, Stelle stepped into Chiba Academy—and encountered an enemy she had never expected.
The Herrscher of Thunder whom even Herta had not seen during her own tests.
Kiana had made slight adjustments to the storyline.
"A-Acheron?"
Looking at the Herrscher suspended high above, gazing down at her while commanding lightning, Stelle's mood sank to rock bottom.
I'm fighting Acheron?
Seriously?
Can I even win?
I'm absolutely dead!
She had chosen this map because Acheron was in it. No matter how she thought about it, that should have meant a sense of security. But Herta had never told her.
That Acheron would appear as an enemy.
It was true that she had fought the Starcrusher Swarm King before, but that creature had only existed for a brief moment—and it hadn't even been complete.
But Acheron?
She had personally witnessed her draw her blade.
Stelle did not doubt for a second that if Acheron struck her once, she might go from raw to well-done in an instant.
But things had already come to this. There was no turning back.
Come on. Let me see just how much of Miss Acheron's strength exists inside this Honkai Simulated Universe.
Stelle gripped her bat and charged forward without hesitation. The moment she stepped into the alert radius, the Herrscher of Thunder seated atop the rooftop moved.
Carrying wind and thunder with her, in a flash of lightning she appeared directly in front of Stelle. Floating midair, she looked down at her from above. Behind her extended several translucent violet wings crackling with electricity.
The good news—she did not seem capable of using the power of Nihility. She resembled more the Herrscher Stelle had once seen while fighting Cocolia in Belobog.
Most likely, the person before her could only wield lightning.
The bad news.
Even so, she was still incredibly hard to deal with.
The battle did not last long.
Because Stelle was swiftly kicked out of the instance for being half-baked. After she disengaged from that space, the blank Stigmata on the back of her hand—which had served as decoration for the entire run—vanished.
[Settlement in progress]
[Stigmata: Scavenger ★]
[Stigmata Effect: When rummaging through trash, there is an extremely small chance of obtaining higher-star items]
[Stigmata Rating: E]
[This Stigmata has been recorded in the Codex]
"Oh!"
Snapping out of her frustration over defeat, Stelle stared in surprise at the slightly altered pattern of the once-blank Stigmata, as well as the settlement interface floating before her.
"So it works like this? Can this star rating be increased? If I max it out, will every trash can give me more and better treasures?"
"You really are something else."
Herta's voice carried a mix of helplessness and speechlessness.
The next instant, Stelle felt her vision blur. It was as if she had been tossed into a washing machine and spun around several times before being flung back into reality.
Stelle blinked in confusion.
"Did something happen?"
"You look perfectly healthy."
Herta gave her a once-over and confirmed that she seemed to be in excellent condition. At least at first glance, this test had not produced any obvious side effects.
But just in case.
On the other side, Herta stood beside a device that did not look particularly large and said to her, "Come stand here and place your hand on it."
Stelle obediently did as told. Only after placing her hand on it did she ask, "What is this thing?"
The concave surface, just large enough to fit one hand, emitted a soft green glow once Stelle placed her palm upon it.
"No Honkai energy residue," Herta explained, nodding. "It seems there really aren't any side effects. Alright, you can go back to playing."
Stelle withdrew her right hand and asked curiously, "You still haven't answered my question. What is this?"
"A small device for detecting Honkai energy in the human body," Herta replied. "After each test, remember to check yourself. If it flashes red, notify me immediately."
"And then?"
And then?
She was really standing there asking such an obvious question.
Herta sighed, exasperated. "Then I'll come collect your corpse so you don't contaminate anyone else."
What? That serious?
Stelle stared at the device in disbelief. No attempt to save her—just straight to corpse collection?
No, wait. She had to be bluffing.
If it were truly that dangerous, how could Herta possibly let her test so casually?
"Can the Stigmata level be increased?"
"Yes. I told you before, it depends on your actions and your will," Herta said. "Oh, and if you want to increase the star rating of a specific Stigmata, you can preselect it before starting the test. If you want to try more varieties, choose the blank Stigmata."
It could be upgraded?
Then she definitely had to max out that skill!
Now there was one final question.
"Why was Acheron the enemy at the end?" Stelle could not help asking. "How am I supposed to fight that? I can't win at all!"
"You're mistaken."
"She's not the enemy?"
Herta shook her head, revealing a mischievous smile. "She's not the final enemy. She's the first enemy you have to deal with."
"How is that even playable?!" Stelle panicked instantly. "Even without using the power of Nihility, a Herrscher's power is way over the limit!"
"Maybe you should max out your trash-picking skill. Who knows? You might dig up something from a trash can that can turn the tide of battle."
Herta spoke half-jokingly, half-teasingly. She had said before that Stelle was free to act according to her own will, to do whatever she wanted.
She had also been curious what kind of Stigmata Stelle would end up creating.
She never expected her to become completely obsessed with picking through trash—almost flipping over every single trash can in the entire city of Nagazora, doing nothing else, and heading straight to the enemy once she was done.
She had done absolutely nothing else.
With the scraps she pulled from trash cans—barely passable junk at best—how could she possibly expect to defeat the Herrscher of Thunder?
Herta could not even be bothered to criticize her.
Though a bit absurd, Stelle was actually quite clever. With a few more test runs, she would likely grasp the essence of it.
As for Stelle, she seemed completely oblivious to the teasing in Herta's words. She nodded solemnly.
"You're right. It must be that I haven't picked up enough tra—no, enough treasures!"
Seeing that she was not joking at all, Herta didn't even know what to say. She waved her off and told her to get out of her sight. This brat was just as much of a headache as Kiana.
She calculated the timing in her mind.
By now, Kiana must have already arrived in Penacony. There had not been a single message from her, so she was probably already dazzled by the dreamscape.
Penacony's Charmony Festival...
Rather interesting.
Herta originally had no interest whatsoever in such matters. But after hearing from Kiana that she planned to go there, she had taken the time to look into it whenever she was free.
And that was when she discovered something interesting.
The Clockmaker's Legacy.
Within the invitation letters that had been sent out, there was such a secret hidden inside them. As for how she knew? Of course she had asked Himeko.
She knew that the Astral Express had also received an invitation.
Kiana's urgency in heading to Penacony was likely inseparable from this matter. And behind all of it...
In any case, Acheron would be going as well.
Along with the Nameless of the Astral Express.
There was nothing to worry about.
With Kiana's strength—and Acheron accompanying her—the probability of something happening to her was about the same as the space station disintegrating.
She stopped thinking about it.
After confirming that testing the device would not have any adverse effects on Stelle, Herta promptly left.
She certainly was not going to stand guard the entire time.
In any case, Stelle was already quite familiar with her Simulated Universe. Letting her explore on her own a bit longer might even yield some unexpected gains.
As for her?
Naturally, she was going to research other things that interested her. Her Simulated Universe still required further updates.
There were still some issues she needed to discuss with others.
Penacony.
"This should be fine, right?"
At Aideen Park, after playing several rounds of arcade games with Robin and feeling thoroughly satisfied.
Playing games was fun.
Playing games with a good friend was even more fun!
"At times like this, stop thinking about those troublesome matters. Just pretend they don't exist." Seeing that she still could not help bringing up the problem, Robin could not resist saying, "Today, there is only one thing I plan to do—spend a pleasant day here with you."
She could sense it. Although Kiana looked much the same as when she first knew her, always wearing that warm smile capable of comforting others.
Robin could feel it even more clearly.
Deep within her heart, there was a taut string pulled tight.
She could only conclude that the things Kiana had told her must have omitted many crucial details.
Compared to the last time they met.
The "melody" that belonged to Kiana now carried subtle, nearly imperceptible yet undeniably real impurities.
If it were outside, under ordinary circumstances, it would be very difficult to notice that the "melody" surrounding her had become somewhat "clouded" compared to before.
But this was Penacony.
A world within dreams.
And Robin was not an ordinary person, but a Pathstrider of Harmony.
Robin did not directly ask why such changes had appeared in Kiana's heart. After all, she had found the person she had longed to find.
"By the way, have you heard of Paperfold University?"
After having their fill of fun at Aideen Park, Robin considered where to take Kiana next. She had brought her to most places during their previous visit.
But last time, there had been a third person with them—Kiana's other friend, the woman named Sirin.
This time, it was only the two of them.
So Robin planned to revisit familiar places with her.
"Paperfold... University?"
To Kiana, the name sounded somewhat unfamiliar. This area had not yet been open when she first arrived in this world.
"Yes, Paperfold University." Robin nodded with a smile. "I graduated from there. Would you like to go take a look with me?"
Hearing that, Kiana felt a stir of curiosity. But then she recalled the things Herta had said to her before.
Her expression suddenly turned a little strange.
When Herta had been criticizing her earlier, she had mentioned several times whether she should write her a recommendation letter.
"W-What's wrong?" Seeing that she did not answer and seemed lost in thought, Robin asked, "You don't want to go? We can choose somewhere else."
"No, that's not it." Kiana quickly snapped back to her senses and shook her head. "A university built within a dream? I'm actually quite curious about it."
"Don't force yourself." Robin said gently. "The dream world is vast. There are still several time periods I never showed you before."
"I'm not forcing myself." Kiana looked helpless. "I really am curious about this Paperfold University you mentioned. And it's the school you attended, too."
"Then just now..."
"I was thinking about something else."
Kiana explained, "Not long ago, someone told me they would write me a recommendation letter so I could attend university classes."
"Something like that happened?"
"That's hardly a good thing. She was implying in a roundabout way that I'm not very smart and need to be remade in the furnace for some extra training."
She had not said it outright, but that was clearly what she meant.
Robin frowned slightly. "Isn't that just..."
"I didn't take it to heart. After all, if you gathered the entire galaxy together, you still wouldn't find many people smarter than her."
"Was it Madam Herta from Herta Space Station?"
Kiana stared at Robin in surprise. "How did you guess?"
"You practically laid the answer out in front of me." Robin smiled faintly. "If there are only a handful in the entire galaxy smarter than her, then that undoubtedly refers to the geniuses of the Genius Society. As for Ruan Mei... although I have not formally met her, based on your description, she does not seem like the type of genius who would say something like that to you."
"And you've been staying at Herta Space Station quite often recently. Not long ago, you even collaborated with Madam Herta, didn't you?"
"I've heard her temperament isn't exactly the best."
Her reasoning was sound.
"Come to think of it, Kiana, have you ever attended university?" Robin asked.
That was truly a good question.
"No." She shook her head somewhat awkwardly. "When I woke up, I was already in Izumo. Soon after, a disaster capable of destroying the world erupted there."
Not only did she not have the time.
More importantly, she had no official identity.
"Then would you like to experience what university feels like?" Robin seemed rather delighted. "I can help recommend you to attend classes at Paperfold University."
Attending university in a dream?
Well...
Kiana actually felt a spark of interest. But her understanding of such matters remained rooted in memories from before she crossed over.
Studying required several years.
She still had other things she needed to do.
"If there's an opportunity in the future, I could give it a try," she said.
Robin smiled brightly. "Then I'll take you to tour Paperfold University—and a few of its colleges as well."
She could see that Kiana was indeed curious.
So when she said "if there's an opportunity in the future," it was not a perfunctory reply.
That made Robin genuinely happy.
"If there's an opportunity in the future" was even better.
It meant that Kiana would return to Penacony again.
And if she were to experience university life here, she would have to stay for quite some time.