"Phew, all done."
Pom-Pom stood on tiptoe, wiped away non-existent sweat with a small handkerchief, and looked at the masterpiece with satisfaction—
A simple but sturdy single bed and a small table were placed in the corner of the storage room that was originally filled with clutter.
The original boxes were stacked neatly (or rather, as neatly as possible) on the other side of the room, finally making the space look somewhat livable.
It turned to look at the gray-haired girl standing quietly behind, a smile full of responsibility appearing on its face: "You can rest here for now, Pa! When I have time, I'll definitely renovate this into a beautiful room, Passenger Stella!"
Stella nodded gently upon hearing this.
Stella—this was the name she had chosen for herself.
When she woke up from the box, her mind was a complete blank. The past had been thoroughly erased as if by an eraser, along with her own name.
The only thing accompanying her was that initial vessel named "Stelle."
Thus, she took "Stelle" as the base and added "a" at the end to replace the "e"
Clear and pure, starting from zero; it suited her current state quite well.
Watching Conductor Pom-Pom's fluffy back waddle away, Stella stepped into this "home" that temporarily belonged to her.
Though called a storage room, the space was actually quite spacious, but most of the area was currently occupied by those silent boxes, making it look a bit empty and... wasteful.
"What a waste."
Stella thought, her gaze sweeping over the boxes.
"Such a large space, and only a bed and a table are in it."
An inexplicable urge to fill it up grew in her heart.
"In the future, I must fill my huge room with all kinds of furniture!"
She secretly made up her mind.
After a simple wash, Stella lay on the slightly hard bed.
Her eyes stared at the undecorated ceiling, her gaze seemingly unfocused.
To an outsider, she just seemed to be staring blankly, but in reality...
"What is this?"
Deep in her consciousness, a translucent, shimmering interface emerged silently.
The interface design was so simple it was almost crude, with only three eye-catching icon buttons arranged like the starting screen of some low-quality mobile game:
[Team Setup] [Cultivation] [Warp]
With deep curiosity, Stella's consciousness gently touched [Team Setup].
The interface switched instantly. In the center was a 3D image of "Stelle," holding that familiar baseball bat, looking ready to smash something at any moment.
Next to the image of "Stelle," there were three obvious "+" slots, seemingly suggesting that more members could be added.
"Can I put others there?"
With a slight thought, Stella tried to connect the impressions of "Dan Heng" and "March 7th" in her mind to those two empty slots.
Buzz—!
As if gears had clicked into place, the two empty slots immediately lit up, displaying the lifelike images of "Dan Heng" and "March 7th." One could even see Dan Heng's signature cold expression and March 7th's vibrant smile.
At the same time, a strange feeling welled up in Stella's heart—she seemed to be able to... "summon" them?
On a whim, Stella sat up abruptly from the bed and muttered in her heart: "Summon!"
Shua! Shua!
Two pale blue halos appeared out of thin air in front of her, quickly condensing into form—it was "Dan Heng" and "March 7th"!
They were almost identical to the real people, except their eyes lacked that unique spark of life, making them look more like precisely programmed AIs.
Looking at these two "clones" created by her own ability, Stella felt incredibly novel.
Her gaze was unconsciously drawn to "Dan Heng," mainly developing a "research" interest in his seemingly thin but smooth muscle structure. Her hand, as if having a mind of its own, reached toward his chest...
"Original, please behave yourself."
"Dan Heng" suddenly took a step back, his movements smooth and natural, while giving a warning in a cold voice identical to the original's.
A trace of subtle helplessness even appeared on his face in coordination.
Beside him, "March 7th" immediately covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes wide, her face written with the shocked expression of "What did I just see!"
Stella's hand froze in mid-air, and she awkwardly pulled it back, rubbing her nose: "Uh... sorry, just curious, purely curious."
She quickly changed the subject, pointing her hand at the system panel that only she could see.
"Um... can you guys introduce this thing?"
"Alright! Let this young lady introduce it to you!"
"March 7th" immediately regained her energy, a bright smile blooming on her face as she patted her chest with a "leave it to me" attitude.
"The name of this system panel is... uh... what was it called again?"
"March 7th's" enthusiasm only lasted three seconds before she got stuck. She tilted her head, thinking hard, and then looked at "Dan Heng" for help.
"Dan Heng" helplessly pressed his forehead (he did this movement quite vividly): "It has no name."
"Ah, right! No name! It's just a nameless system panel!"
"March 7th" immediately followed suit.
"But don't worry, Original, only we can see this system panel, so you don't have to worry about being discovered by others and treated like a weirdo!"
"What about the functions?"
"Dan Heng" reminded her succinctly.
"Oh right! Functions!"
"March 7th" cleared her throat and began her explanation.
"This [Team Setup] can set up four people at once! But well, you definitely have to take up one slot, Original! And the best part is, you can use characters outside of the team at any time, just like... well... as convenient as changing clothes!"
Stella nodded and then opened the [Cultivation] panel with her mind.
The system panel clearly listed the data of the four currently available units:
[Stelle: Lv.1/80]
[March 7th: Lv.1/60]
[Dan Heng: Lv.1/70]
Well, all of them were a pitiful Level 1.
Stella had no doubt that if they were to face their real counterparts now, they would probably all be knocked back into the system panel with a single swing of a baseball bat.
The numbers following should be the maximum level they can be upgraded to.
"And [Cultivation], as the name suggests, is for raising us!"
"March 7th" leaned in to look at the system panel.
"Leveling up, ascending, putting on equipment, and so on... but we have nothing right now, we're dirt poor."
Finally, Stella turned her gaze toward the most exciting [Warp] button.
"And the Warp is very easy to understand!"
"March 7th's" eyes sparkled.
"New character companions, and materials to raise us, most of them have to be pulled from here! I heard that if you're lucky, you can even pull super powerful guys!"
Stella opened the [Warp] panel. What met her eyes was a very classic [Novice Warp], with eye-catching font stating: "20% off for a 10-pull! Limit 50 times! A 4-star character is guaranteed on the 50th pull!"
And below, it showed that she happened to have the resources for one ten-pull—1,280 shiny little stones called "stellar jade."
With a hint of anticipation and a "it's free anyway" mindset, Stella pressed the tempting, glowing ten-pull button with her mind.
Buzz—!
The system panel burst with brilliant light, and ten streaks of light with different colored trails streaked across the interface like meteors!
The first one, gray, stopped steadily—[1-Star Material: adventure logs x1]
The second one, gray—[1-Star Material: adventure logs x1]
The third one, green—[2-Star Material: Travelers Guide x1]
The fourth one, gray—[adventure logs x1]
The fifth one, gray—[adventure logs x1] (Stella's mouth twitched slightly.)
The sixth one, green—[Travelers Guide x1]
The seventh one, gray—[adventure logs x1] ("This drop rate..." Stella was speechless.)
The eighth one, green—[2-Star Light Cone: Chorus] (Note: Better than nothing)
The ninth one, gray!
But this time it was no longer material, but a small figure—[1-Star Character: Hook (Lv.1/50)]!
"Wow! A new companion!"
"March 7th" cheered.
The tenth one, blue light!
A brighter blue light bloomed, and the image of a small white-haired, red-eyed girl wearing a cute dress with a giant robot phantom behind her emerged—[3-Star Character: Clara (Lv.1/70)]!
"It's Clara! And Mr. Svarog!"
"March 7th" looked even more excited than Stella.
Looking at the two newly obtained characters, Stella checked their level caps. Hook was level 50, and Clara was level 70.
She casually replaced the last slot in her team with Clara, who seemed more reliable (or rather, the robot beside her seemed more reliable).
Just as Clara's avatar lit up in the team slot, two more flashes of light appeared before Stella.
The blue light condensed, and the white-haired, red-eyed Clara appeared timidly. She hid slightly behind the phantom of the robot Svarog, which hadn't fully solidified yet, and said softly, "Um... h-hello... I'm Clara. Mr. Svarog said I should listen to you..."
The giant robot phantom beside her emitted a low, protective hum.
For a moment, the corner that was originally quite spacious felt a bit crowded and... bustling with the sudden addition of four "passengers."
Stella looked at the "team members" with their various styles, then at the "stellar jade" that was almost cleared on the system panel, and the pile of gray "adventure logs," falling into deep thought.
This system seems a bit of a scam... but the future doesn't seem like it will be boring anymore.