In any case, Bai Luan subconsciously agreed to Herta's request to change the reward, even though he still didn't understand why Herta wanted him to change it.
Actually, changing the reward wasn't a big deal; it just meant Bai Luan himself was transferred from a random laboratory in the Space Station to Herta's office.
It didn't matter. Data input required him to be here anyway. All he had to do was seize the opportunity when Herta wasn't paying attention, copy a set of Nous's data from the simulated universe, and transfer it into the miniature simulated universe.
Bai Luan glanced at Herta, confirmed she was fully engrossed in watching the simulated universe, and prepared to discreetly open a backdoor.
However, as soon as he raised his hand, Herta looked at him.
Bai Luan's hand froze, and he looked at the simulated universe facility with a guilty conscience.
This simulated universe is truly a simulated universe.
While Bai Luan pretended to be busy, Herta was pondering something else.
She found that with Bai Luan standing there, doing nothing, she just felt a sense of rightness.
It seemed her feelings for this assistant weren't just about finding him interesting... As a genius, Herta quickly understood what she was thinking.
What should she do with him?
Facing this situation, there were only two choices.
The first was to let him go early.
The second was to firmly tie him to her side.
Which one should she choose?
Herta looked at Bai Luan, thinking about how to choose, but as soon as her gaze fell upon him, he inexplicably avoided her eyes with a guilty conscience.
?
Was this guy hiding something from her?
Thinking about it, that reward also seemed a bit strange.
Combining this with all the previous events... A series of past events connected in Herta's mind, and she recalled the invitation she hadn't taken seriously at the time.
Perhaps she shouldn't have refused that time... Wait, if he didn't go with her, then who did he go to Logos with?
This guy... could he be having his corner dug out from under him!?
Is that why he acted so strange and guilty earlier?
Herta's eyes suddenly sharpened.
Bai Luan, who was enjoying the simulated universe, suddenly felt a chill.
?
Bai Luan then confirmed the source of the chill was Herta.
Bai Luan's heart skipped a beat.
Had she discovered he was secretly creating a miniature simulated universe?
But even if she did, she wouldn't get angry, would she?
This wasn't such an outrageous thing, was it?
"Are you... in a relationship?"
"Huh?"
Herta's single sentence directly crashed Bai Luan's brain.
No, how did the topic jump to this?
I don't understand.
Bai Luan thought for a moment and decided to tell the truth.
"If you put it that way... I've indeed had some thoughts in that area recently."
Who knew that after his honest confession, the chill emanating from Herta intensified.
Eh!?
Why!?
What did I do wrong again!?
"Who?"
With just that one sentence, Bai Luan felt as if he were in a raging blizzard.
"..."
Why was Herta pressing him about this today?
Had the progress bar reached this point?
Is now a good time to confess?
No, that's not right... Why does the atmosphere feel off... Bai Luan hesitated, but in the end, he raised his hand and pointed at Herta in front of him.
That gesture made the snow stop falling.
"Hmm?"
Now it was Herta who had question marks above her head.
Facing Bai Luan's response, Herta was stunned for a moment.
"The person you like is me?"
A sense of shame welled up, but Bai Luan still bit the bullet and nodded.
"You didn't go to Logos for a date?"
Bai Luan was even more confused. He scratched his head, feeling like his CPU was about to burn out.
From just now until now, he always felt like Herta was having a cross-server chat with him, and he didn't know why.
"What exactly is going on?"
"You answer me first, who did you go to Logos with?"
"Silver Wolf."
"What did you go with her to do?"
"Because I asked you, and you wouldn't go."
"If I wouldn't go, you'd take her?"
"There was something I wanted on Logos, and getting it was a bit troublesome. I needed Silver Wolf to be a tool to help me avoid the trouble."
"Just for that?"
"Otherwise?"
Bai Luan answered openly and honestly, with no hint of guilt in his eyes, even a touch of matter-of-factness.
What's wrong with finding a tool to do things he didn't want to do? Isn't that normal?
"I can show you the transfer records and chat logs."
Aha: Bai Luan used Impeccable, with excellent results.
"Then what have you been feeling guilty about?"
Alright, now the conversation was finally on the same track, but Bai Luan felt that the sense of crisis hadn't decreased much.
No matter what, he still didn't want to be dragged into making a simulated universe DLC.
But he couldn't think of a good explanation for now... Forget it, I'm going all out!
"Well... I had some strange little thoughts in my heart..."
Miniature simulated universe... You'd better really give me a way to counteract Nous.
My sacrifice is truly too great.
After listening, Herta was silent for a moment, then burst out laughing.
"Very good, your answer, I like it."
Now, Herta understood.
She wasn't incapable of keeping Bai Luan, so why would she choose the first option?
Now the question was... should she confirm their relationship with this assistant in front of her now, or maintain the status quo for a while longer?
Herta looked at Bai Luan's expression as shame welled up, and the corners of her mouth curved slightly.
Indeed, maintaining the status quo for a while longer would be more interesting.
After confirming the relationship, teasing this assistant of hers wouldn't be as fun.
At the same time, Bai Luan also breathed a sigh of relief.
No matter what, he felt like he had overcome some kind of difficulty.
Although he didn't know why there was a difficulty, or where it came from.
In any case, he got through it.
Although the method of getting through it was a bit embarrassing.
But at least he desperately saved the miniature simulated universe and wasn't directly dragged by Herta to make a new DLC.
All that was left was to find a time to get the simulated universe program... "Oh, right, we're preparing to develop a new DLC for the simulated universe, Swarm Disaster. Get ready."
"Eh?"
Bai Luan froze in place, looking at Herta in confusion.
It's fake, right?
Didn't I perfectly overcome all difficulties?
Why?
Still being dragged to make a simulated universe DLC?
"Why that look? Didn't you just copy the simulated universe program yourself?"
"How did you know?"
"A glance is all it takes, isn't it? What, did you think I couldn't tell?"
Herta showed a smile and looked at Bai Luan.
"It seems I've been underestimated."
She saw through it in one glance... Then what was I going all out for earlier... Herta's basic attack baited out my ultimate.
The light in Bai Luan's eyes faded.
『The calculating gambler, exhausted, ultimately loses everything』
You damn system.
"This time, the idea to make the Swarm Disaster DLC came thanks to the living Swarm samples you found.
While studying them, Ruan Mei and I chatted a bit.
The simulated universe was originally created to study the Aeons, so recreating important moments related to the Aeons in the simulated universe and observing their reactions is also a method of research."
"Are you saying that if I hadn't gone to Tanalis, you wouldn't have thought of making the Swarm Disaster DLC yet?"
Herta nodded.
"You could say that. Your trip out really brought us quite a few interesting projects."
Fantastic, all the good deeds I did outside have now turned into my own workload!
Woohoo! So happy! Congratulations, truly congratulations... Bai Luan now wanted to dance on the stairs more than a clown.
But when the image genuinely formed in his mind, Bai Luan couldn't help but laugh.
Forget it.
Even if he had to do it again, he would still do it this way, wouldn't he?
Since it has to be done, then do it well!
"Then, let's start developing the DLC!"