"..." by Herta.
"..." by Chen Li.
"Chen Li, I really thought you were going to pull out all the stops this time..." Herta began, looking at the newly forged Curio, but trailed off, at a loss for words.
"Never mind the side effect. Just tell me, can this Curio get you a meeting with the person you want to see or not?" Chen Li retorted, a little defensively, but also a little guiltily.
"In that case, Chen Li, I dare you to say what the price is one more time," Herta said, planting her hands on her hips, her aura menacing.
"Er..."
[Key of Fateful Invitation]To meet is fate, to forget is the end.
Effect: Imagine the name and appearance of the person you wish to see in your mind (regardless of whether they are living, dead, or even a fictional character). Insert the key into the keyhole of any door and turn it. A separate space will be generated behind the door, forcibly "pulling" the target into that space to meet with you. (If the target is deceased, a projection of their soul will be summoned. If the target is a fictional character, an illusion with a perfectly matching personality will be generated.) Upon entering the space, the flow of real-world time is frozen. The meeting can last for a maximum of 30 minutes.
Side Effect 1: After each use, the user will gradually forget a key memory from the meeting (e.g., conversation content, the other's expression), eventually retaining only the vague impression of having "met."
Side Effect 2: Attempting to summon a highly resistant or powerful entity has a chance to fail. After a failure, subsequent attempts will increase the success chance by 1%. When the chance reaches 100%, the summon is guaranteed. (The more 'fated' you are to meet the person, the higher the initial success rate.)
PS: Care for... a date?
A palm-sized, antique bronze key, its surface covered in fine cracks from which a faint blue light emanated. This was the Curio Chen Li had forged for Herta.
"You used five Curios and this is what you came up with? Fine, I admit this Curio is quite miraculous, but this price... was this on purpose or an accident?" Herta stared intently at Chen Li.
When Chen Li first described the Curio's effect after forging it, Herta had been ecstatic. But when he mentioned the side effect, her face froze instantly.
Herta: I wanted to forge this Curio to use the [Then I Ask You] Miracle Card to ask the Aeon of Erudition something important, and you're telling me the side effect is forgetting a key memory. So... let me ask you! Did you create this side effect on purpose or by accident? Let me ask you! If it was on purpose, what the hell are you planning? Let me ask you! If it was an accident... you're way too careless!
"Well, Curios often come with a price. Besides, this was only forged with 20 Crystals, so... forget the side effect for a moment. Just tell me, isn't this Curio miraculous? Doesn't its value far exceed the total value of the five Curios I spent and the ten Curios I promised you as payment?" A sheepish smile appeared on Chen Li's face.
After all, since it was only a 20-Crystal creation, Chen Li had to sacrifice something to maintain its power.
As for the second side effect, the "hard pity" system, did she think it was purely a negative? No, it was precisely what guaranteed she could absolutely summon the person she wanted to see. Although, since the key could only be used once a day, it might take a while...
A Curio forged with 20 Crystals might help Herta summon the Aeon of Erudition, but what if she wanted to meet someone of an even higher level? Chen Li had to consider that possibility.
"That's true... No, wait, that's not the point of my request!" Herta retorted after a moment of distraction.
The Curio's value was extremely high. One could use it to say goodbye to deceased relatives or converse with historical figures. One could even meet one's own waifu! And forcibly meeting an Aeon in the Honkai: Star Rail world might lead to a huge surprise.
But as it happened, Herta needed none of the above. After all, Chen Li already had a resurrection-type Curio.
"I know you're anxious, but don't be. Doesn't the Curio say you'll gradually forget the key memory? Can't you just tell me what happened before you forget it?"
"...This Curio's memory-erasing property isn't conceptual, is it? Like the kind that makes the records and memories themselves disappear?"
"The description doesn't say so," Chen Li said after looking at the description again.
"Are you sure?"
"Probably... Or you could use one of your [Then I Ask You] charges to get the detailed instruction manual for this Curio."
"Forget it. I have a plan!"
"You're stealing my lines! But I'll hear you out."
"Can't you just join me when I meet the Aeon of Erudition? Don't you have Miracle Cards? The things they record won't disappear, right?" Herta said smugly.
"...Herta, are you by any chance a genius?"
"I've always been a genius!"
"But my Miracle Cards don't record just anything."
"It's fine. I'll just ask a 'bigger' question, won't I?"
"But don't forget, you promised Ruan Mei you'd ask how to make a cake for her."
"..." Herta fell silent.
"Can I borrow that Miracle Card of yours two more times?" Herta asked after a long pause.
"I can lend it to you one more time, but you'll have to trade something else for it. Besides, Screwllum also has the right to use it once. You can have Screwllum transfer his question to you, and you can ask on his behalf. Who knows, maybe continuously forcing the Aeon of Erudition to speak might actually fulfill the requirements for another Miracle Card to appear," Chen Li said.
"Fine. Name your price," Herta nodded.
"How about you give me one of your puppets?"
"...What are you planning to do with it?"
"It would look nice as a decoration in my house."
"You have good taste. I can agree to that... but you have to install a Friends Circle terminal on that puppet so I can use my consciousness to log into it from across worlds at any time and check its status, to prevent you from doing anything weird," Herta said.
"If you want to travel to other worlds, just say so. No need to be so roundabout," Chen Li shot her a sidelong glance.
"I'm just concerned about the status of my puppet. Don't make wild accusations if you don't know what you're talking about," Herta said, annoyed.
"Right, right..." You use up 20 puppets just to cook a single meal. If I believe a single word you say, I'll eat my hat!
"Forget it, I'm not going to argue with an unreasonable man like you. Should I try using this key right now?" Herta asked, tossing the antique bronze key in her hand.
"Go ahead. You're not going to succeed on the first try anyway. Just think of it as stacking your success rate."
"I don't believe you. Want to bet? If I succeed on the first try, I get to use your Miracle Card three times to ask three questions," Herta proposed.
Once for the cake recipe, once for the puppet trade, and once for the bet. Why was she so obsessed with making a cake? The answer: a genius's whim! Herta, who was passionate about baking pastries, had used 42 different spells and still failed to create a cake whose aroma alone could make people happy and smile involuntarily. She was convinced this was an unplumbed scientific theory! Since it was a difficult problem, it had to be conquered!
Although Chen Li felt Herta should perhaps reflect on whether this was due to her own disastrous cooking skills, he didn't bother saying it, because he was sure she wouldn't listen.
"You're on. But if you don't succeed on the first try, you have to give me three Herta puppets to spin in my living room continuously!"
"Deal!"
"It's a deal!"
"Heh. Chen Li, don't you dare underestimate the bond between me and Nous! I am an Emanator of Erudition, after all!" After sealing the bet, Herta flashed a smug smile.
"I'll be waiting. Do you need me to send this key to your main body?"
"Send it," the Herta puppet nodded.
Chen Li took the key and used the Friends Circle to transport it to the real Herta. After seeing the puppet before him enter an idle state, Chen Li unhurriedly sipped his chrysanthemum-flavored All the World's Evil milk tea.
Ten seconds later, the real Herta came back online.
And this time, as Chen Li had predicted, Herta was not wearing a triumphant smile.
"So? You lost, didn't you?"
"How were you so certain I wouldn't succeed?" Herta knew Chen Li could tell the outcome from her expression, but she didn't understand why he had been so sure.
"Laughs. While I don't have proof, I believe the Aeon of Erudition spies on me every time I forge a Curio in this world. We were just plotting how to summon him right after we finished forging the Curio. What's the difference between that and plotting loudly right in his face?"
"You knew, and you still plotted loudly with me?"
"I said, I don't have proof. Besides, while the Aeon of Erudition can't deduce what I'll do next, he can know everything I've done up to this point. Do you think he didn't know the purpose of the Curio I was forging? Overall, your idea to forge this Curio was just too targeted," Chen Li explained.
One should not underestimate that big machine head, the Aeon of Erudition. Compared to that old woman Kal'tsit who claimed to be omniscient, Nous was truly omniscient. The only reason Nous couldn't deduce what Chen Li would do next was purely because of the Friends Circle, a Curio that connected to other worlds and introduced too many variables. It was possible that just as Nous finished calculating Chen Li's likely actions based on half a day's worth of data, Chen Li would suddenly be called away to another world.
"..." by Herta.
Heaven wishes for my demise; it is not a fault of my wisdom! Herta didn't feel she had been outsmarted, only that Chen Li was excessively cunning.
"Alright, don't be depressed. I'll lend you another Key of Fateful Invitation. I still don't think you'll succeed, but you can stack the success rate," Chen Li said, handing Herta a copy of the key he had summoned for one Star Stone.
"What's this?"
"The real Key of Fateful Invitation is in your hands, but I can use Star Stones to temporarily summon a copy. I summoned this one before you used yours, so its use is still preserved."
"Can your Miracle Cards be glitched like that?"
"No, stop dreaming and use it. After you're done, remember to give me the three puppets. I'm taking them home."
"It probably won't work this time either, so I'm not going to try summoning the Aeon of Erudition... Do you think if I use this Curio to summon the Aeon of Beauty, She will respond?" Herta asked casually. She remembered that even deceased beings could be invited.
"Who knows? I only know that if you send an invitation to the Aeon of Elation, he'll definitely come take a look to see what's going on."
"I'll try..." Since it was the Aeon of Elation, Herta didn't bother using her main body at all, instead using the puppet to try and open a door.
And then... it failed.
"Liar."
"Is it possible that I'm not the liar, but that you're just not good enough? If you're bad, practice more."
"If you're so good, you do it!"
"Ahem, if it weren't for the fact that I'm out of uses..."
"Don't you have that Fiction Value? Can't you just use it to impose the key's unused state from 10 minutes ago onto its current state?"
"Hiss... Herta, you're a genius!"
"Of course I am!"
"But Fiction Value is expensive too."
"You just can't do it!"
"Don't tell a man he can't!"
"Then show me what you've got! If you can summon the Aeon of Elation in one try, I'll go to your house right now, with my main consciousness logged in, and do 3,000 spins!"
"It's a deal."
"It's a—"
Herta hadn't even finished her sentence when she saw Chen Li jam the key into the door, give it a light twist, and push it open.
And within that space, which Herta had never seen before, a shadow hidden beneath a pile of masks was waving at her.
"There. The Aeon of Elation you ordered," Chen Li said, pointing into the room.
"...Damn it!"
---o---