Chapter 19: Why Is No One Stopping Me?
While
gacha fever
swept through the
space station
, something else was happening—
At that same moment,
a holographic projection
moved
freely
through the station’s corridors, completely
unnoticed
.
“Is the space station’s security really this bad? I’ve been here for a while now, and not a single person has acknowledged me. Boring.”
Silver Wolf muttered to herself as she searched for clues about the
[Punklorde Mentality]
game cartridge.
Last time she had
infiltrated
the space station, she had come across many
Curios
, but not the
one she was looking for
.
So, before leaving, she had
left behind electronic graffiti
as
backdoors
—a way to
hack
back in when the time was right.
Now that she had completed
Elio’s script
, she had returned to
resume her search
.
“If it’s not in the Curio Storage, then odds are Herta stashed it away in the [Simulated Universe].”
Silver Wolf pondered.
That
could
explain why she hadn’t found it last time.
The
Simulated Universe
was designed by
multiple geniuses
, making it a
high-risk
area to
enter blindly
.
She didn’t want to
waste her time
.
Just as she was considering her options, she noticed a
familiar space station staff member
walking by—
Leonard, a network security engineer for [Herta].
He was holding
a stack of documents
, mumbling to himself—
“Damn it! Why do I have to do a security check
now
of all times?”
“I just pulled [Herta], and I haven’t even had a chance to look at her yet!”
Pulled?
Herta?
Silver Wolf
froze.
She
recognized
all the words—
But put together, they
made no sense
.
Was this related to the
strange atmosphere
she had noticed on the station?
Had something
new and interesting
popped up?
Her lips
curved into a smirk
.
Time to
investigate.
She
vanished into stealth mode
and headed toward the
busiest part
of the space station—
The main control module.
A Strange Discovery—What’s Everyone Watching?
It didn’t take long before she spotted a
large crowd of staff
gathered in front of a
massive display screen
.
They were
watching something intently
.
Silver Wolf
focused her gaze
—
It was…
A
game livestream.
The
streamer
was playing a game she had
never seen before
.
But the
scenery
—
It looked… oddly familiar.
“Guys! Looks like the space station staff are still recovering after the Antimatter Legion’s invasion.”
“Guess it’ll take them some time to get back to normal!”
“Let’s go report back to Asta!”
The
streamer
spoke excitedly while
controlling a character named Himeko
, running through the map.
Silver Wolf’s
eyes narrowed slightly.
The
game’s setting… matched reality.
The
map
—
It was
the space station itself.
And what did the streamer just say?
“Antimatter Legion invasion”…?
That had happened
not long ago.
“Is this game… based on real events?”
A Shock—The Game’s Uncanny Accuracy
Before she could
process
that thought—
The
in-game story advanced.
As the
player approached Asta
, a
cutscene
triggered.
Suddenly,
red warning symbols
flashed across
Asta’s monitor
—
The room
fell silent
.
Then—
A
metallic claw
descended from the sky
, breaking through the
space station’s defense systems
at alarming speed
.
“You guys take the Express—I’ll stay behind.”
Asta
spoke firmly
.
The
staff watching the stream erupted in excitement
—
—
“Whoa! It’s actually happening!”
—
“I
knew
this boss would appear! This brings back
traumatic
memories.”
—
“Asta really is a responsible leader.”
—
“Now we can finally see how the Trailblazer defeated the Doomsday Beast!”
Meanwhile, Silver Wolf—still
hidden
—felt
a chill run down her spine.
“What kind of game
is
this?”
It had
perfectly recreated
the
Antimatter Legion’s monster.
And the
Doomsday Beast
—
She
knew
it well.
Back when she and Kafka had
infiltrated the station
, they had deliberately
lured the Legion’s forces
in this direction.
Among them—
Was
this very beast.
It had been sent to
stall the Astral Express crew.
“Is this game… reliving the station’s past?”
Turn-Based Combat?
As the
Astral Express crew
arrived at the battle site, the
Doomsday Beast
landed with a
massive shockwave
.
Silver Wolf expected the game to
enter free combat mode
—
But instead—
The
screen shattered
—
And the
characters and monster lined up, facing off in turns.
Silver Wolf
blinked in surprise.
“…Turn-based?”
A flicker of
disappointment
crossed her face.
“Turn-based games were popular several Amber Eras ago.”
“They usually fail to capture the
true tension
of battle.”
“What a shame. This could’ve been a solid action game.”
But soon—
The
battle intensified.
A Strategic Battle Unfolds
The
Doomsday Beast’s attacks were devastating
—
Each hit
severely injured
any character
without a shield
.
The
only reason the team survived
was thanks to
March 7th’s barrier
.
With each turn, the characters
built up energy
.
Finally—
It was
Dan Heng’s turn
.
“Between life and death, the line is thin.”
His
ultimate move activated.
“Illusory realm, an endless dream.”
A
paintbrush-style background
appeared.
Dan Heng’s
eyes snapped open
—
With a powerful
thrust
, he
pierced his spear
straight at the target!
“BREAK!”
The
Left Hand of Dawn
shattered on impact.
Now, it was the
Trailblazer’s turn
.
“Rules? They’re meant to be broken.”
“Decisive Strike!”
As the two
ultimate moves collided
, Silver Wolf’s
eyes lit up.
“So these are the Express crew’s ultimates? Not bad at all.”
“I’ll admit, I underestimated this game.”
She
focused
more intently—
An Intriguing Combat System
Soon, she noticed something—
Each character had different roles and attributes.
The
Doomsday Beast was divided into three parts
, each with
unique weaknesses.
Character speed determined attack order.
Ultimates could be triggered at any time
, allowing
strategic interruptions.
This
wasn’t
just a simple
back-and-forth battle.
Even with
what she had observed so far
, she saw
many potential strategies.
Before she realized it, she had
fully immersed herself in analyzing the game
—
Murmuring to herself, completely
forgetting
she was supposed to be hiding.
“In this fight, ultimates are key.”
“They must break the Doomsday Beast’s weak points before it can charge its massive attack.”
“But… these characters might not have enough damage.”
“Himeko is crucial—her ultimate could change everything.”
A Battle on the Brink
Onscreen, Dan Heng’s
HP hit zero
.
Little Gui panicked—
“Guys, this fight is
way
harder than I expected!”
“Dan Heng is down! Himeko is barely hanging on!”
The chat
reacted immediately
—
—
“Chill, it’s just a game! If you lose, you can retry.”
—
“Raise your characters first!”
But Little Gui
refused to give up
.
“I
don’t
want to lose to the Antimatter Legion!”
“Not even
once
!
Just then—
A
glowing blue message
appeared in chat—
“Streamer, use Himeko’s ultimate—I need to see if it’s strong enough!”