"Strange, what in the world is Herta up to?"
Staring at the Simulated Universe, which had devolved into a chaotic mess, Silver Wolf was completely baffled.
"If it's like this, I can't operate either… Am I going to have to fix their bug for them just so I can cause some trouble? Seriously…"
---o---
Successfully revived by Wende's emergency punches, Stelle now followed obediently behind him. Wende, walking in front, was expressionless.
Sigh. In the end, he couldn't bring himself to abandon her. If he had to bring her along, so be it. He'd just treat it as a co-op run of the Simulated Universe.
He looked at Stelle's "good little girl" act behind him. If it weren't for the expression she'd worn just moments ago, which resembled that of a certain "sansei," he would have truly believed his Stelle was an obedient and sensible child… and not an unfilial one who would charge her father!
Still, Stelle's inclusion wasn't entirely a bad thing. He could switch to his four-star mode and slack off.
He had no idea what had happened to the Simulated Universe, but everything felt strange. He'd never heard of this thing having a multiplayer mode…
And so, upon entering the next stage, Wende, under the noble pretext of "letting Stelle grow through combat," switched to his four-star power-saving mode to cheer her on, occasionally tossing her a buff to help with an elite monster or two.
Just like that, the first supply point finally appeared.
Wende stared at the small NPC standing there with an icon over its head, and for a moment, he was lost in thought.
"What's the deal with this Silver Wolf?"
Seeing that the shop NPC, which should have been Herta, had suddenly taken on the appearance of Silver Wolf, Wende's mind went a little fuzzy.
This was Silver Wolf, right? Did the Simulated Universe update with a Stellaron Hunter DLC? Or was Herta so bored that she added a mod to it?
"Hm? What's this?"
Stelle saw the familiar figure of Silver Wolf ahead. She didn't know what was going on, but she walked up to talk to her anyway, and found that the NPC's functions were still normal.
"Galaxy Big Lotto, hmm, I'll take one!"
Stelle directly purchased a Curio, but the Silver Wolf NPC didn't disappear. Meanwhile, Stelle had triggered the Simulated Universe's limit and couldn't purchase any more Blessings or Curios.
"Could it be that…"
Walking forward, Wende also triggered the Silver Wolf NPC's shop system. After casually buying a Curio, the NPC remained standing in the same spot, not disappearing.
"?"
Wende pinched his chin, looking at the motionless Silver Wolf NPC. Was this the cause of the bug in the Simulated Universe? Did the little hacker hack the simulation?
Wende fell into deep thought.
"Pinch…"
Seeing Wende lost in thought, Stelle glanced back at the very cute Silver Wolf NPC. Her hands suddenly started to itch, and she reached out and pinched Silver Wolf's delicate little face.
At the same time, Silver Wolf, who was in the middle of leaving her mark on the Simulated Universe, suddenly felt a sharp pain on her cheek, as if someone had pinched her!
"Ouch! What's happening?"
Silver Wolf touched her face, completely bewildered. Was this a bug in the Simulated Universe? Tch, is the Genius Society this sloppy? The whole simulation is full of bugs…
"Mmm…"
Pinching the Silver Wolf NPC's face, Stelle wore the satisfied, perverted smile of a stalker. Then, seeing that Wende's attention was elsewhere, her gaze on the Silver Wolf NPC grew even bolder.
"Eek! Something is… touching my waist!!"
Silver Wolf suddenly felt an ice-cold sensation on her waist. Although there was nothing there, she could clearly feel a pair of hands sliding back and forth across her waist!
"Who is it? Is this Herta's firewall measure? To think she'd use a method like this…"
Silver Wolf's face flushed red. Enduring the sensation, she continued with the task at hand.
"I never would have thought… that old woman looks so prim and proper, but she plays so dirty behind the scenes…"
Pushing through the feeling, Silver Wolf finished her little prank. Relieved, she tried to exit the Simulated Universe, only to find that her exit button seemed to have been pried off.
"Now what's going on? I can't even leave?"
The previously confident Silver Wolf immediately panicked. She tried to force-quit the Simulated Universe, but a restrictive force held her firmly in place.
"Was I discovered? That can't be right. Shouldn't Herta still be fixing bugs?"
Silver Wolf bit her lip. That feeling… that invisible hand! Why was it starting to touch her thigh now!?
---o---
"Hehe…"
Stelle was playing with the Silver Wolf NPC as if it were a toy, her hands all over it. In the previous simulations, Herta's NPC was no fun at all. You could only look, not touch, and it disappeared after you bought something. How could that compare to how fun this was!
Wende, who had snapped out of his thoughts, saw Stelle on the verge of violating the Silver Wolf NPC and hurriedly rushed forward to stop her outrageous behavior.
This was no joke! If this continued, the Simulated Universe would get banned for failing censorship review!
"Sigh… when will you ever act normal?"
Wende shook his head and sighed. He then picked up the motionless Silver Wolf NPC, carried her back to her original spot, and set her down.
"Let's go. We need to clear this quickly and report to Herta. Her Simulated Universe has a major problem."
"Oh!"
Stelle nodded in understanding. She cast a slightly reluctant glance at the Silver Wolf NPC behind her before entering the next stage with Wende.
---o---
"Nghh!!"
Silver Wolf lay on the ground, feeling the touch on her thigh. Why… why does it keep touching my leg!? Is this some kind of humiliation execution?
Just as she was about to use Prometheus to give herself a quick end, Silver Wolf suddenly realized that the hands "harassing" her had disappeared. She was about to breathe a sigh of relief when she felt another touch on her waist—this one broad and warm.
A force lifted her from the ground, placed her back down completely unharmed, and even straightened her slightly messy clothes and hair before vanishing.
"This is… really strange…"
Feeling the wisp of warmth slip away from the ends of her hair, Silver Wolf was utterly baffled. But soon after, she directed all her resentment toward Herta.
"Damn that old woman! How dare you mess with me! This time, I'm going to the Herta Space Station myself! I'll be sure to make you lose face!"
---o---
"Hahahaha! How interesting! Jie jie jie jie."
A kaleidoscopic mass of masks, like a constellation of LEDs in the night sky, laughed with wild abandon.
"Too interesting! Aha is having a real blast! Haha!"
Suddenly, the mask's movements froze. It seemed to have thought of something else, and its laughter grew even more unrestrained.