"Hehehe… Mei! Look! I added a super good player. She has a support character that we don't have! It's that character named Wende, and he's a 5-star! Why is mine only a 4-star…?"
Kiana handed her phone to Mei, who was still fretting over not getting her desired Path in the Simulated Universe, and asked with a puzzled expression.
"A character that hasn't been released?"
Mei frowned in confusion and took Kiana's phone.
This player, named "IAmWendesDog"… actually had a character that wasn't in the game yet! And it was a 5-star Wende!
"But didn't this game just launch? How can there be a 5-star version of one of the starter characters right from the get-go?"
Mei was also quite baffled.
"It's simple. Perhaps the version on our server doesn't match the versions on other servers, but the friend system is shared… It's strange. I don't know what their intention is in doing this."
Bronya shook her head, expressing her confusion. Other than allowing them to communicate across servers… what was the point of this?
---o---
Real World
Sister Guoguo had just finished updating Honkai: Star Rail when she received a friend request from someone named "WantsToDrinkMeisJuice."
"Oh! A new friend request! Looking at this name, they're clearly a qualified Mei stan! Now I'm going to randomly kick a friend and add this newcomer!"
Nodding in approval at the obvious newbie player, Sister Guoguo decisively picked an inactive player from her friends list, kicked them to free up a spot, and added the new person.
"Hehehe! Newbie! Witness the power of my E6S5 Wende!!!"
Sister Guoguo cackled wildly. Then, at the urging of her stream chat, she started the new main story quest for Honkai: Star Rail.
---o---
Honkai World
"Look, look! This 5-star Wende is so strong! He wiped out all the enemies in just a few hits! And he gives a team-wide buff, and lots and lots of other things! Mei, Mei! When can we pull for Wende?"
The little white-haired furball looked at Mei with stars in her eyes. Although she would prefer more cute girl characters, who would refuse such a powerful character on their team!
"Alright, alright, how would I know something like that? Why don't you ask Bronya?"
Gently stroking Kiana's soft hair, Mei looked at the 4-star Wende on her own phone. For the early game, I should probably just use this 4-star for now, right? Although Bronya had offered to whale for her, spending real money on a game… didn't feel quite right.
"Himeko~~~ Just one top-up! Just one! Bailu is so cute! I want her!"
Theresa wailed as she hugged Himeko's well-rounded thigh. She was the Principal, so why was Himeko the one managing the finances?!
"No. You've already bought ten top-ups. You're better off buying Homu manga. At least that's better than whaling in a game."
Himeko rubbed her forehead in frustration. This person throwing a tantrum on the floor… was this really her superior? Didn't she used to at least pretend to have some dignity? She just played a game and turned into this?
"Really? But I feel like Homu manga is so boring now. I want to go on an adventure with little Bailu!"
Theresa wrung her little hands in conflict. Although Homu manga was still good, she just couldn't get into it recently. And for some reason, the author had suddenly announced a hiatus! This was the perfect… oh no, she meant, this was just terrible!
"Sigh… so why didn't you just pick Bailu with your 300-pull selector?"
Himeko wore a "what am I going to do with you" expression. Seeing as Theresa really did buy her a set of her in-game counterpart's outfit… she supposed she could indulge her just this once.
---o---
"Well, look who it is. Decided to come back, have you? Do you have any idea what we've been… never mind. It's good that you're back. If you didn't come back, that old hag Cocolia would have started finding fault with us again."
Tesla sat with her arms and legs crossed on a chair, looking at the late-arriving Welt Yang. She had intended to give him a proper grilling, but seeing the weary look on his face… she couldn't bring herself to do it.
"Yes, I'm back. I was supposed to continue my observation for a while longer, but something came up, so I had no choice but to return."
Looking at the unrestrained Tesla before him, Welt Yang shook his head helplessly.
His future self in the game… and that mysterious blond man in the story text… all of these things had made it impossible for him to continue slacking off… er, continue observing at St. Freya.
"Regarding the 'Simulated Universe' from that Herta person, we've derived a large amount of data and run a series of probability calculations on the concepts of 'Aeons' and 'Paths'…"
Einstein, her eyes heavy with fatigue, handed the calculation results to Welt.
It should have been a complex calculation. Even if it was just calculating probabilities, it should have taken time… but before they could even run it through the simulators in their various labs, the result had already appeared…
"Zero?"
Welt pushed up his glasses, his brow furrowed.
"Yes. Surprising, isn't it? But I'm more curious about what… our future holds. Aren't you curious?"
Looking at the maxed-out Welt on her phone, Tesla's voice was uncharacteristically soft.
In the Name of the World…
---o---
"Which is to say, it's completely impossible. It is just a game, not a reflection of anything, nor is it some little joke played by a god."
Otto looked at the nearly identical experiment reports before him, a faint smile playing on his lips.
The probability was zero for everything? That meant…
"It exists on the boundary of existence and non-existence. Because in this world, no possibility… is ever zero."
This was merely an unscientific calculation regarding so-called "Aeons" and "Paths." But even an unscientific calculation could not result in an absolute.
"The former Sovereign of Anti-Entropy… Saint Fontaine… the Star Gate…"
"'In the Name of the World'… If Welt Joyce knew about this, I imagine he would be quite pleased, wouldn't he?"