[Divination Commission]
Fu Xuan had just arrived from home when she saw a subordinate hurrying toward her, face full of panic.
"This is bad, Master Diviner!"
Seeing the person's expression, Fu Xuan frowned slightly. 'As a diviner of the Divination Commission, how can you be so flustered?'
If outsiders saw this, wouldn't they think there was something even her Divination Commission, even she, the Head of the Divination Commission, couldn't divine?
The diviner who had come up to Fu Xuan heard her words and quickly composed their expression.
But even so, the panic was hard to hide.
Watching them, Fu Xuan's brows knit tightly. Before the other party could even explain what had happened, she immediately began divination regarding the situation in the Divination Commission.
Relying on Fu Xuan's abilities, she quickly divined the major incident that had occurred there.
She immediately opened her jade communicator and tapped into the Divination Commission's official website.
"..."
"Old Carp Agency?"
'When did my Divination Commission change its name?!'
Looking at the flashy, gaudy agency page on the jade communicator, Fu Xuan's expression darkened to an extreme degree.
A heavy, oppressive aura radiated from her entire body, as if she might start beating people up at the slightest provocation.
"Don't let me find out who did this… otherwise…"
Fu Xuan let out a series of cold laughs.
'So the tiger doesn't show its claws, and you really think I, Fu Xuan, am made of dough you can knead at will?!'
'The universe has been at ease for too long… you've all forgotten my name!'
She said to the diviner in front of her, "Coordinate with the other Divination Commissions and restore the website as quickly as possible. Don't let outsiders see our Divination Commission becoming a laughingstock!"
"Yes, Master Diviner!"
Watching the diviner leave in quick strides, Fu Xuan turned and walked into the Divination Commission.
At Qingque's home, Qingque, who divined her own fortune as the very first thing she did every morning after waking, looked at the result in front of her, Great Misfortune.
She felt she should find some excuse to ask Fu Xuan for leave, and spend the entire day curled up at home, not going anywhere.
———
"Achoo!"
At St. Freya Academy, Levi, who had his hand pressed on Bronya's neck, suddenly felt his nose itch and turned to sneeze off to the side.
["Did you catch a cold?"] Kiana froze for a moment.
["Don't tell me you brought some kind of otherworldly virus back and infected me!"]
Levi looked at Bronya in front of him, who was puffing out her cheeks with a stubborn, unconvinced expression.
He couldn't help but laugh.
"What? You want to steam buns? And you still won't give in?"
"Bronya refuses to accept this!"
'Damn it!'
'Endure, endure, endure, endure my ass!'
'You're bullying me because I don't have a powerful second personality. Fine, today Bronya's just going to self-destruct right here!'
Staring stubbornly at Levi, Bronya thought for a moment, then added, "I'm targeting Kiana."
She knew very well the difference between someone she could beat and someone she couldn't.
Against Kiana, she could crush her completely. Against Levi, she'd only be the one getting crushed.
Bullying someone weaker than herself was enough. What kind of sane person challenges someone above their level?
She wasn't the protagonist, after all.
Seeing Bronya like this, Levi pinched the bridge of his nose. "You not regretting it makes things a bit difficult for me."
If Bronya didn't regret it, then he wouldn't count as having completed Kiana's request.
Coincidentally, this time he'd drawn Herrscher of the Void Kiana, should he reinforce the barrier between the real world and other worlds a bit?
After a moment, Levi shook his head. There was no need to go that far yet.
Just a small trick would be enough to make Bronya submit obediently.
Crying and wailing.
Seeing the smile reappear on Levi's face, Bronya felt an ominous premonition rise in her heart.
Kiana felt the same way, worried that Levi might do something excessive, and spoke up, "I only asked you to teach her a simple lesson… don't go overboard."
In the end, they were still roommates and friends. Once her anger passed, they'd be sitting together playing games again.
So Kiana was genuinely worried that if Levi's hand slipped, he might really send Bronya off for good.
"Relax," Levi said with a smile. "When I do things, you can rest assured."
———
[Herta Space Station]
"Asta."
"Lady Herta." Awakened by the Herta puppet, Asta, wearing pink pajamas, rubbed her sleepy eyes.
"Yawn, are you looking for me because there's some work you need me to do?"
She glanced at the time. There were still two system hours before the researchers started work.
Calling her up at this hour clearly meant Herta had something she wanted her to handle.
Seeing that Asta was awake, the Herta puppet in the room took a couple of steps back and looked at her.
"Do you remember the Simulated Universe I mentioned to you?"
"Of course I remember."
Asta nodded. That project, created by Lady Herta together with two other members of the Genius Society, was meant to study Aeons.
When Lady Herta first introduced it to her, she'd been extremely, extremely proud.
Unfortunately, when the Trailblazer was testing it, Asta had been busy managing the entire space station and wasn't present, missing that historic moment.
"Lady Herta, are you looking for me because something happened to the Simulated Universe?"
Though she didn't really want to admit it, the Herta puppet still nodded.
Asta immediately got up and changed clothes, then looked at her and asked, "Do you need me to contact Lady Ruan Mei and Mr. Screwllum?"
"I've already contacted them ahead of time. That's about discussing the Simulated Universe's next stage of development, it has nothing to do with the work I need you to do."
Herta didn't waste words and immediately explained what she needed Asta to handle.
———
When Levi appeared on the Luofu again, he looked at the sun slowly rising outside and wore a strange smile on his lips.
———
"Bronya, do you regret it?"
Squatting on the ground, Kiana looked smugly at Bronya, who was kneeling in an ORZ pose.
In front of her were Bronya's own game console and various other gaming devices.
Only, all of them had undergone Levi's "special" treatment.
As if she hadn't heard Kiana's words, Bronya trembled as she picked up the device in front of her.
"It's gone… everything's gone…"
Bronya's game accounts...
Bronya's save files...
Now they were all gone…
If Bronya were an ordinary player, that would be one thing, she could quickly recover by spending money.
After all, Bronya wasn't actually short on money, thanks to her stock-trading skills.
But Bronya was, without question, a hardcore "free-to-play" player.
She rarely spent money in games, never spending even a single cent was the norm.
She wanted to prove with her own skill that even without the power of money, she could still climb to number one on the entire server.
To her, that was a form of validation.
Those zero-spend accounts were proof of her strength.
And now, all of it was gone.
Levi had used an ability he'd gotten from an otherworldly "duck" to torment the "duck" of this world.
He had all her game accounts permanently banned.
All game save data completely wiped.
And he'd reinforced the firewalls of those game databases so that even Bronya herself couldn't hack into the backend to unban herself.
As for going through official channels… Bronya didn't think Levi would leave her any loopholes.
So these game accounts, these save files, this time, they were really gone for good…
Kneeling on the ground, Bronya clutched her devices in both hands, her whole body sinking into a gray, lifeless state.
Her small mouth hung slightly open, and a translucent spirit drifted out from it.
She looked exactly like someone about to ascend to the heavens.
"You two, stop messing around, it's time to go to class!"
"This is the first time the three of us are going to class together. Don't be late."
Standing by the door, Raiden Mei urged the two of them on.
"Coming!"
Kiana quickly slipped on her shoes and stood next to Raiden Mei.
Bronya, eyes dull, followed step by step behind Raiden Mei, heading toward the classroom.
———
[The Xianzhou Luofu]
A man stood, facing the sunlight and gazing toward the distant Ambrosial Arbor, moving his limbs as he warmed up.