Sylvia shot her a fierce glare.
"You little..."
And here she was, thinking Stelle was pondering something serious. Turns out she was just fixated on that sort of thing.
Honestly, did March 7th show you some strange illusion dramas or movies?
No, this won't do. Can't be careless about a child's education. Gotta find a chance to have a proper talk with March 7th—tell her not to let Stelle watch that weird stuff.
And besides, you went to test the Simulated Universe all by yourself without even calling me!
"Sorry, my bad! Next time I go, I'll definitely take you along!"
Stelle pressed her palms together in immediate surrender. Seeing Sylvia wasn't genuinely angry, she let out a sheepish chuckle and launched into an explanation.
But the more Sylvia listened, the more something felt off.
Because Stelle said she just went over to play.
After the Xianzhou, the Express needed some supplies restocked, so they asked Stelle to make a trip. Herta happened to spot her and dragged her off for a Simulated Universe test.
She even ran into another big shot from the Genius Society—an Intellitron called Screwllum.
And then, in the middle of it all, Silver Wolf invaded the station.
Long story short, a bunch of unexpected events happened.
--+--
As Sylvia listened, it all started sounding more and more familiar.
Wasn't this a bit of story from the original game?
Silver Wolf was trying to steal some Punklorde cartridge, invaded the station, and just happened to bump into Screwllum visiting Herta Space Station. And then...
Well, she got the item.
But Herta sacrificed a whole bunch of Silver Wolf's game accounts to the heavens.
How many was it again? Dozens? Or a hundred?
Sylvia couldn't remember the exact number, but it was a lot.
Then, it clicked.
"Oh—no wonder!"
"No wonder what?"
Stelle, who had been enthusiastically telling the story, perked up at the exclamation and asked curiously.
Sylvia, stifling a laugh, said, "I was wondering why Silver Wolf was gaming all day today, not even having a moment to reply to messages. Turns out she's re-grinding her accounts."
"...You sound pretty pleased about it."
Stelle scratched her head, watching Sylvia cover her mouth to hide her giggles. This person was definitely a little evil.
"Aiyah~ Must be your imagination."
Sylvia chuckled for a bit before suddenly remembering:
Didn't Silver Wolf say she went to the IPC headquarters to restore her accounts?
Why does she need to re-grind?
Did the restoration fail?
Did the IPC go scorched-earth and delete even the server data?
Hmm... hard to say.
Knowing Herta's 'I don't let grievances wait till morning' personality... That woman probably cooked up something to stop Silver Wolf from using Punklorde methods to recover the data.
Oh well, I'll just ask in the game later. Help grind the new accounts while I'm at it.
She is a good friend, after all. Can't just not check in on her when something happens.
Thinking this, Sylvia and Stelle happened to board a starskiff heading towards the Starskiff Haven together.
She looked at Stelle and asked, "So, where are you heading next?"
Once on the starskiff, Stelle very proactively snuggled right up next to Sylvia, practically burying herself in Sylvia's arms.
"Mmm... Back to the Express first, I guess. Better tell everyone what I heard from Kafka."
Stelle decided she should share the intel Kafka revealed. Share it with everyone on the Express.
After all this time together, Stelle really did trust the crew. She didn't mind asking their opinion about meeting Kafka, and she was willing to share any info she got.
"What about you, Sylvia?"
"I'll head home first. If nothing else comes up, I plan to go straight to Penacony."
"The Planet of Festivities! I really want to go play there early too."
Stelle seemed full of enthusiasm, but from the less-than-half of the storyline Sylvia could remember, the Express crew—especially Stelle—hardly got to have any proper fun there.
Thinking of this, Sylvia let out a soft sigh and patted Stelle's shoulder.
Hope she can hang in there.
--+--
Finally back home.
Sylvia lay on her bed, leaving all the household chores to the Herta puppet to handle, while she herself logged straight into the game Silver Wolf was playing.
She couldn't wait to get online and mock—ahem, to get online and show her concern for Silver Wolf.
After the initial rush of a new game, Sylvia hadn't invested too much time in it.
Mainly because Silver Wolf recommended too many games; Sylvia wanted to try them all, which meant she never played any one game particularly deeply.
She opened the friends list and took a look.
The characters linked to Silver Wolf's account had undergone a massive change. Not only was the level lower than Sylvia's now, but the combat power and gear had all reverted to a very ordinary state.
"Tsk tsk... No wonder she was all weepy and whiny."
"Who are you calling weepy and whiny?!"
"Wah—?!"
Silver Wolf's voice suddenly ringing in her ear gave Sylvia a huge fright. Turning around, she found Silver Wolf had appeared behind her at some point, staring daggers at her.
"Ahem—Care to repeat what you just said? I don't think I heard you clearly."
Silver Wolf wore a 'friendly' smile on her face, her longsword already drawn, her posture clearly locking onto Sylvia.
"I have no idea what you're talking about—I was just about to look for you."
Sylvia averted her gaze, pretending nothing happened.
"So, why the new account? I heard from Stelle. Didn't you recover your account data?"
"Tch—Should've just blocked you from the start."
Silver Wolf clicked her tongue, glaring at Sylvia.
This woman claimed to be concerned, but the smile never left her face. Kafka's script had wrapped up not long ago.
This jerk must have heard about her troubles and rushed straight into the game to find her and have a laugh!
"Heheh... Ahem—How can you say that? The moment I heard, I came straight into the game to check on you. You weren't even replying to my messages."
"Because I muted your notifications. Don't think I can't tell—your stupid grin hasn't stopped since you got here!"
Silver Wolf's retort was merciless, directly calling Sylvia out.
"Now that's not very friendly. Am I that kind of person? I came here first thing to help you grind the new account!"
"Bull! You totally are!"
Silver Wolf knew Sylvia all too well. The part about helping grind the new account was probably true, but the part about coming to mock her was absolutely guaranteed.
Sylvia was absolutely capable of grinding for her while relentlessly making fun of her misfortune.
So Silver Wolf would rather grind alone than deal with Sylvia. She'd even specifically told Kafka not to tell Sylvia about what happened earlier at Herta Space Station.
Who knew it would all leak out through Stelle in the end.
Dammit, Stelle, huh! Just you wait!
Silver Wolf secretly noted down this grievance.
Meanwhile, Sylvia had already grabbed Silver Wolf's arm and was pulling her towards the town gates.
"Come on, come on, I'll grind with you!"
Silver Wolf gritted her teeth, muttering several complaints under her breath. But in the end, she didn't kick Sylvia out.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.