Lady Herta pinched the impostor's cheek, her fingers gliding over that delicate skin as if testing its texture.
"Why wouldn't I? I'm looking forward to watching you keep running—while I catch you, again and again, until you finally admit defeat. Then, I'll lock you up in the Clock Tower and teach you properly what respect means."
"Mhm~ If your emotions get too heavy, you'll scare people off, you know. My dear other half~"
'Herta' hummed lightly, seizing the moment to toss out some teasing remarks. Then, with brute force, she shattered most of the restraints, and the Phase Flames instantly erupted.
But this time, those flames didn't land on her.
'Herta' winked playfully at the original!
"Darling, before worrying about me, you forgot to lock yourself down too, didn't you? Bye-bye~"
"You—!"
The flames swallowed 'Herta' whole—she managed only a single syllable before being consumed, forcibly hurled back to the space station.
As for 'Herta'? She took the chance to make a quick escape, ready to find a spot and swap into a new character card.
So long as she vanished without a trace, just where would Lady Herta chase after?
Thinking this, 'Herta' activated phase shift once more.
But just as it engaged, the staff lying on the ground—as if pre-planned—suddenly released a shockwave that struck the phase-shifting flames!
"Warning: Phase shift interference detected. Landing coordinates have been deviated."
"Huh?!"
'Herta' whipped her head around to look at the staff, still humming on the ground. Before fully departing, she let out a soft, resigned laugh.
Whatever.
Wherever I end up, it's fine.
With a full day still left, saving myself is more than enough time.
--+--
Meanwhile, back in the space station, Lady Herta didn't personally resume the chase. Instead, she summoned a mirror and retrieved the staff that had been intentionally left behind.
"Hmph... I bet you thought I only messed with your landing point, didn't you, impostor? Go on, run~ I can't wait for the day I finally catch you."
Lady Herta gripped the staff, not only reading the impostor's landing coordinates but also pinpointing her exact location.
After their brief encounter, one thing became clear to Lady Herta: that impostor's knowledge and abilities were far from ordinary—perhaps even a match for her own.
But only in knowledge and ability.
"That little fish doesn't seem to have noticed I've tagged her."
The trap had been set during their earlier physical contact, and the impostor appeared completely unaware.
A faint, triumphant smile touched Lady Herta's lips.
As she had said before, even if this impostor lacked polish in other areas, given her wits, catching her wouldn't be a quick task.
But no matter how intrigued she was, Lady Herta had no intention of spending all her time on a game of tag.
Since she couldn't catch that slippery trickster anytime soon, why not leave a deliberate opening?
Lady Herta didn't mind playing a long, drawn-out game of fishing.
"Mmm, and while I'm at it, let's see what you're really up to, little fish. But now… it's time to deal with this acting station chief who's nothing like Herta!"
Setting aside the impostor situation for the moment, since she was back at the space station, Herta was going to thoroughly handle this self-styled "AI Herta"!
--+--
At the same time, 'Herta' emerged from the flames only to find herself flung into the vacuum of space.
Not a big deal, though.
The auto-activated life support mode was enough to maintain healthy physiological functions.
'Herta' pursed her lips and brushed the ring on her middle finger.
A small silver snake materialized along her fingertip and whined pitifully,
"Master, we've deviated from the original destination by over twenty thousand light-years. However, I've detected large-scale ship jump traces in the nearest star system."
"Not blaming you. It was 'Herta' who interfered, after all."
'Herta' soothed the little snake, then glanced at her status panel:
--+--
[Role-Playing System]
[Name: Bai Ming (Big Herta)]
[Lifespan: 85:00:26 (Paused) + 1 Day (Role-Playing)]
[Transformable Roles: Big Herta, Acheron]
[Available Draws: 0 (13.5%)]
--+--
"Huh? That's not right. That last stunt only gave me this little? No, no… something's off. That last move from Herta…"
Seeing the minimal changes in her lifespan and draw progress bar, 'Herta' grew suspicious.
Compared to the previous boosts of over twenty—or at least ten—percentage points, this time she'd gained only an hour and a single percent.
Clearly, something was wrong.
It meant that during that final phase shift, 'Herta' herself had barely had any emotional fluctuation.
"Hmm… I wonder if Herta left some countermeasure I didn't notice. But she didn't give chase—probably couldn't be bothered with a long chase."
'Herta' wasn't particularly panicked, especially since Lady Herta hadn't immediately pursued.
Given Herta's capricious nature, she'd likely lost interest in a prolonged game of cat and mouse.
Yeah, that was one reason 'Herta' felt she still had a chance to escape.
And reality seemed to confirm it—Herta had grown bored even sooner than expected.
"Ah, well. So be it. Who cares? 'Enjoy the moment while you can'—no time to dwell on what tricks Herta might have left."
For now, she needed to find a suitable stage for Acheron to make her entrance.
She also had to devise equipment capable of resisting the erosion of Nihility—and see if it could hold.
Too bad there was no chance to directly reach that second draw now.
At this point, it wasn't about how to accumulate draws over the next thirty days—it was about whether she could withstand Nihility's corrosion at all.
Even more frightening: there was no escape.
The only silver lining was that her remaining time as Lady Herta lasted one more day.
Drifting in the vacuum, 'Herta' didn't waste time on anything else. Relying on her genius intellect, she focused entirely on solving the problem.
A few system hours later, 'Herta'—who had been meditating with closed eyes—snapped them open, a satisfied smile spreading across her face.
"As expected—genius still comes through."
The issue of Nihility erosion that had troubled Bai Ming actually had a viable solution now.
Truly, only a genius could pull that off.
"Time is short, tasks are heavy—gotta move quickly."
Muttering to herself, 'Herta' began pulling equipment from her ring, setting up a makeshift lab on the spot.
She started handcrafting the medicine she would need for the next thirty days.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.