"Aha!"
An unknown entity composed of countless masks materialized at the very center of the Simulated Universe.
"Hahahahaha!"
The moment He appeared, everyone in the Simulated Universe burst into laughter, as if they had just witnessed something truly spectacular.
Well, for Herta and the others, that was indeed the case.
Aha's arrival even managed to alter some of Herta's previous impressions of Him, making Him seem far more agreeable to her now.
"Aha, I really missed you!" Stelle's eyes lit up at the sight of Aha. She waved her hand and shouted, "I missed you so much!"
"Ahahaha, I missed you too! So much that..." Aha paused, then His form suddenly split in two. "So much that I lost my head!!!"
"Hmm..." Polka Kakamond watched the unexpected scene unfold. Though her face was wreathed in a smile, it was clear she had grown somewhat silent. The scalpel in her hand glinted sharply, yet she couldn't bring herself to strike the entity that had suddenly appeared before her.
"Ahahahahaha!" Aha's laughter echoed like a madman's jest—foolish, yet utterly incomprehensible.
"The Knowable Domain is hereby renamed—The Unknowable Domain!!!"
Aha proclaimed His oath to the entire cosmos, His laughter echoing throughout the Simulated Universe.
"Hahahahaha!"
"Hahahahaha!"
"Hahahahaha!"
Once everything was complete, He roared once more—"There must be laughter!"
With those final words, the madman-like, unknown entity composed of countless masks vanished.
As He disappeared, the cosmos fell silent once more.
Only the Unknowable Domain remained, a testament to His fleeting presence.
"Hmm..."
Outside the Simulated Universe Device, Lumina, who had watched the entire spectacle unfold, yawned again. The word "bored" was practically etched onto her brow.
She had long since pinpointed Polka Kakamond's location.
With her sole objective achieved, Lumina now found herself with nothing to do.
Watching the game inside the Simulated Universe—which felt like children playing house—she wished she could fast-forward time and end this charade.
Then she could track Polka Kakamond down through the network and take her out herself.
"Just give me a shout if you need me to step in, okay?"
Bored out of her mind, Lumina whispered another reminder into Herta's ear.
"Why are you nagging like an old woman?" Herta retorted from within the Simulated Universe, clearly exasperated by Lumina's repeated reminders.
"Because I care about you," Lumina replied with a smile, her eyes darting playfully.
"..."
"Who needs your concern? Just stay put and mind your own business."
Herta was momentarily stunned by Lumina's words. A faint smile tugged at the corners of her lips, but she quickly masked it with a light scoff, signaling that she didn't need anyone's concern.
"Alright, alright~ You do your best, then. I'll just watch the show." Outside the Simulated Universe Device, Lumina had a crystal-clear view of everything happening inside.
Seeing the slight smile on Herta's face, Lumina's boredom was replaced by a flicker of amusement.
"The Lord of Silence's goal is to prevent us from stepping outside the circle of knowledge... Does her appearance mean we've already reached the edge of that circle?"
Snapping back to attention from Lumina's words, Herta refocused on Polka Kakamond.
"Herta, like all geniuses, you will never know the answer to that question." Polka Kakamond elegantly adjusted her candy-colored robes. She seemed completely unfazed by Aha's sudden appearance and the transformation of the Knowable Domain into the Unknowable Domain.
"We'd have so much in common, wouldn't we?"
After Aha's appearance, Herta realized that Polka Kakamond currently posed no threat to anyone.
So, Herta once again extended an olive branch. "How about it, Polka? Care to join us?"
"I refuse." Polka Kakamond rejected Herta's offer the moment it was made. "We are both convinced that our own conjectures are the one true Answer."
"That is something that will never change, no matter what."
Polka Kakamond gazed up at the sky, her stare like a specimen pin piercing a butterfly, nailing a specific outcome to the Scepter floating in the Cosmos.
The next moment, the constantly rotating Scepter began to malfunction and shut down...
"And that's precisely why we became geniuses, isn't it?" Herta persisted, still determined to recruit Polka Kakamond for the Simulated Universe Project.
Her abilities were simply too perfect for the Simulated Universe.
Herta's eyes fixed on Polka Kakamond with a fanatical gleam, like a hunter spotting their most prized prey.
"Heh..."
Polka Kakamond ignored Herta, raising her scalpel and slashing it down at the Cosmos before them.
Amidst a chaotic cosmic wind, the duel between the two geniuses concluded in an instant.
"The Scepters! My Scepters!"
Though Polka Kakamond could no longer threaten Herta's life, it was still simple enough for her to thwart Herta's next move.
By disabling all the Scepters and ensuring Herta could not step outside the circle of knowledge, Polka Kakamond retracted her scalpel.
"You presented me with a magnificent spectacle, so I'll repay you with the remainder of your life as a tip." Polka Kakamond paid no mind to Herta's emotions or expression.
She smoothed the wrinkles on her candy-colored robes once more and said coolly to Herta, "Farewell, little one."
"You should be thankful that you're still confined within the circle of knowledge."
"Heh heh heh... I think you're the one who should be thankful." Snapping out of her shock at the disabled Scepters, Herta crossed her arms and sneered at Polka Kakamond.
"You should be thankful I haven't stepped outside the circle of knowledge. Otherwise, the mystery surrounding you, Polka Kakamond, would spread throughout the entire Cosmos."
"...Heh heh, interesting."
"You wouldn't want to know what happens after stepping outside the circle of knowledge..."
Polka Kakamond's voice held a faint chuckle as she dismissed Herta's threat.
As her words faded, the cosmic wind ceased, and her candy-colored figure disintegrated into motes of light.
"Hmph," Herta snorted.
She hadn't been bluffing.
If she had stepped outside the circle of knowledge, Polka Kakamond—driven to protect her own Knowable Domain—would have relentlessly tried to kill her by any means necessary.
And that would have been the end of Polka Kakamond.
Because Lumina would have intervened and beaten her to a pulp...
"Did we defeat Polka Kakamond?" Stelle asked, assuming Polka Kakamond's departure meant she had been beaten.
"...As expected of a genius assassin."
At Stelle's words, Herta snapped out of her reverie about Lumina defeating Polka Kakamond. Instead of answering Stelle's question, she began muttering to herself.
"Just one appearance... and she nearly crippled the entire project..."
Herta's tone was laced with resentment, clearly furious at Polka Kakamond's actions.
"At least it wasn't a total loss."
"We successfully invited a fifth genius to join the Simulated Universe Project."
"Unfortunately, she refused."
"Still, just knowing that answer is enough."
Herta shook her head and sighed.
"I'd love to rip off that facial recognition filter of hers and plaster her photo on the most prominent section of the IPC's network."
Completely forgetting she was in her doll form, Herta stretched languidly, looking rather comical.
"Let's go. The simulation is over."
-
In the real world, on Bilibili, inside Little Bear's livestream...
"Aha is the best, after all! I'm going to start believing in [The Elation]!"
"Praise Aha!"
Although Little Bear missed some of the finer details, he clearly saw Aha manifest and put Polka Kakamond in her place.
[Praise Aha!]
[Praise Aha!]
[Praise Lumina!]
[Praise Lum... Huh? Is that a little weird? Whatever, praise Lumina!]
[Praise Lumina!]
[Aha: ? Hahaha, Aha gets no respect, no respect at all!]
As soon as Little Bear's voice faded, the comment section erupted in a wave of praise for the Aeon of Elation. But this wave of praise suddenly shifted, transforming into a wave of praise for Lumina...
This change of heart, faster than a change of expression, perfectly embodied the Path of Elation.
"Speaking of which, why didn't Lumina do anything just now?"
"If Lumina had made a move, I refuse to believe Polka Kakamond could have been so arrogant."
Recalling the recent in-game text, Little Bear realized there hadn't been any mention of Lumina at all.
It was as if Lumina had simply made a brief appearance and then left without getting involved...
An appearance is good enough... A cameo is good enough.
Little Bear wasn't too bothered by Lumina's lack of story involvement. As long as she showed up, that was all that mattered.
Putting the thought aside, he controlled his game character, exited the Simulated Universe, and completed the current simulation.
"The Unknowable Domain has completely dissipated."
"According to Madam Herta's plan, we originally intended to invite Rubert II's data entity here as the sixth genius."
"Unexpectedly, what arrived was a living data manifestation of the Lord of Silence..."
"That venom-soaked butterfly broke free from the Simulated Universe. Not only did it refuse to cooperate with us, but it also left a complete mess for us to clean up."
After concluding the simulation of The Unknowable Domain, Herta and Screwllum began their discussion.
"Sigh... The more I think about it, the more I regret it. Her ability to manipulate probability is practically tailor-made for the Simulated Universe."
"I should have had Lumina capture her back then. Then I could have threatened to broadcast her face across the entire cosmos to make her cooperate."
Herta's face twisted with regret as she thought about Polka Kakamond's abilities. She wished she had ordered Lumina to act sooner...
Sometimes, Herta found Lumina's methods truly brilliant. Once you had leverage over someone, you could manipulate them at will, saving yourself countless headaches...
Shaking off the thought, Herta glanced around but couldn't find the person she was looking for. Temporarily setting aside her concerns about Polka Kakamond and the Simulated Universe, she turned to Screwllum. "Screwllum, where's Lumina?"
"She said: 'I'm going to track Polka Kakamond down through the network. Just wait for my good news, Herta.'"
"Those were Miss Lumina's exact words."
Screwllum repeated what Lumina had told him before Herta and Stelle exited the Simulated Universe.
"Huh? She can actually track Polka Kakamond down through the network?" Herta's mouth twitched at his words.
She had only been speaking hypothetically earlier. After all, the Polka Kakamond in the Simulated Universe was merely a data avatar. Tracing the real person's location from that avatar should have been utterly impossible.
But to think Lumina could actually do it...
"Forget it. Let's not worry about her."
"Whether Lumina finds Polka Kakamond or not, it won't affect our plans."
Pushing aside thoughts of Lumina, Herta refocused her attention on Screwllum.
"Regarding this external intrusion event, I believe it's necessary to strengthen the Simulated Universe's firewall measures," Screwllum proposed.
"Of course," Herta nodded, still unwilling to give up. "But we should leave a small opening—a message for Polka Kakamond: 'Feel free to drop by anytime.'"
She still wanted Polka Kakamond to join.
"Query: If Madam Polka has no desire to join the Simulated Universe, then why did she willingly walk into our trap?" Screwllum asked.
The main mission of this Simulated Universe run had nothing to do with Polka Kakamond. If she didn't want to join, there was absolutely no need for her to deliberately fall into the trap. After all, based on her recent use of the [Scepter], it was clear that even without her intervention, knowledge beyond the [Knowable Domain] would not have emerged.
"Who knows? Is anyone in this Society actually normal?" Herta shrugged, completely unconcerned with Polka Kakamond's motives. "Besides, while we set the trap, we were the ones who ended up caught in it."
"As for the sixth Genius... let's see if Ruan Mei can pull Yu Qingtu in."
With Herta's final words, the conversation ended.
But the mission wasn't over. The screen faded to black, transitioning into a short cutscene...