They claimed it was a study of Ena the Order.
But trying to simulate a highly authentic slice of history within the Simulated Universe wasn't as simple as 'Little Herta' just popping in for a casual run like before.
Granted, it would be easier than building the original Simulated Universe from scratch, but it still required meticulous debugging and a careful, phased rollout of the simulation.
Fortunately, while Screwllum was preoccupied with his own affairs, he was at least able to provide remote assistance, helping with the coding and data analysis.
As for Ruan Mei... just as it was in the original game, she remained hyper-focused on her research into Propagation and hadn't laid a finger on the development of the Simulated Universe DLCs.
"Gopher Wood's intel is pretty thin. He says Order chose to end THEIR own existence, but doesn't mention the specifics," Herta grumbled as she debugged the simulation, setting the temporal coordinates to the era of the Swarm Disaster.
She had been more or less coerced into staying behind to help, and she couldn't resist complaining about the letter Gopher Wood had sent.
He'd provided some leads, but the crucial details were nowhere to be found.
If they had them, they wouldn't have to retread the entire Swarm Disaster just to find an answer they already supposedly had.
'Little Herta,' however, felt Herta's standards were a bit too high.
"It's a miracle he found anything at all. Information regarding Aeons is never easy to come by."
"And you're not even a little worried it might be fake?" Herta shot a glance at the person beside her.
'Little Herta' simply offered a small smile in explanation. "It doesn't really matter. Mostly, I just want to clear out the minefield surrounding the Eighth Lord Ravager as soon as possible."
Researching Order was one thing, but having that eighth Lord Ravager finally step into the light would bring some peace of mind. Waiting around forever wasn't an option.
"If that's how you feel, the simplest way is to just split your Swarm in half and be done with it."
"...Let's not be quite that blunt about it."
'Little Herta' looked at Herta, who clearly enjoyed stirring the pot.
Then, as if a thought had just struck them, they asked, "By the way, what's your take on the Stellaron's wish-granting ability?"
Herta's brows knit together slightly at the question.
"What, you want to try it? Don't say I didn't warn you—every person or faction that has ever tried to use a Stellaron has ended up devoured by the backlash."
"I know that, obviously. But aren't you curious why the Family calls the Stellaron the 'Cancer of Harmony'?"
"...Curious? Yes. But that's not a reason for me to let you go around playing with Stellarons." Herta glanced at her again.
"For all we know, the Stellarons are just Xipe performing some self-detox and dumping the waste all over the cosmos."
"That's a bit too much of a conspiracy theory, even for me. I won't take any risks."
'Little Herta' laughed, not taking Herta's remark to heart. It wasn't that the theory was completely nonsensical, but it felt like things probably weren't quite that simple.
The first major DLC for the Simulated Universe was coming together rapidly with the help of Herta and Screwllum.
Meanwhile, Divine Herta provided a wealth of critical data extracted from the Simulated Universe runs in her own memory.
With that data in hand, the development of the entire DLC moved at a pace that defied imagination.
It was enough to make Herta reflect that 'Little Herta's' decision to find a way to fish out Divine Herta had been remarkably astute.
Without her help, the entire project would likely still be stuck in early development.
It certainly wouldn't be moving at this lightning speed.
After some time had passed, the clock of the Simulated Universe was wound back to the era of the Swarm Disaster.
'Little Herta' took a quick look at their own panel:
--+--
[Roleplay System]
[Name: Bai Ming (Young Herta)]
[Lifespan: 1200 years (Paused) + 1 Day (Roleplaying)]
[Transformable Characters: Big Herta (Available), Acheron (Available), Celenova (Available), Jingliu (Available), Ruan Mei (Available), Sparkle (Charge: 96.8%), Hertatomb (Charge: 56.5%), Cyrene · Fuli (Charge: 2.7%), Lord Ravager · Jingliu (Charge: 17.2%), Young Herta (Roleplaying)]
[Available Pulls: 1 (35.7%)]
--+--
Since they hadn't been out causing trouble lately and had stayed focused on the Simulated Universe's development, the overall gain in Mood Points wasn't exceptionally high, but it was decent enough.
Ruan Mei's character card was fully charged, and Sparkle's was nearly there.
Only the upgraded Cyrene card had a charging speed that was borderline hopeless...
Though, it wasn't exactly hard to understand why. After all, even if it finished charging right this second, Bai Ming wouldn't dare use it lightly.
Fuli was supposed to be born at the end of time; for one to quietly pop up now? Heaven only knows what kind of consequences that would trigger.
Anyway, the Aeon character card could stay on the back burner for now. The roleplay as 'Little Herta' was nearing its end, and it was time for someone new.
Bai Ming glanced at the Simulated Universe, which was finally debugged and ready for entry at any moment.
Time for a test pull.
The results of the last few pulls had been... chaotic, to say the least. Those bizarre characters drew attention just by standing there, even if they didn't lift a finger.
But now! Bai Ming wanted a character related to Order to stir things up.
If another heavy hitter showed up—like Ena the Order resurrected within a dream, or perhaps Robin in her ascended state after accepting the Dreammaster's plan—it would not only be incredibly interesting but also immensely helpful for the research Bai Ming wanted to conduct.
With those daydreams in mind, Bai Ming initiated the pull!
The Astral Express sped past, and a golden radiance spilled from the cabin doors.
Just as Bai Ming was hoping the system would throw another curveball, the gacha pool decided to play it straight.
A pleasant melody echoed in their ears. Then, pale blue hair and white wings appeared before Bai Ming.
Robin, dressed in a stunning formal gown, stood there.
Well, it was related to Order, but only just barely. Moreover, it was simply the standard Robin from the game, clearly not a version from some strange, divergent timeline.
"Honestly... when I actually want to cause a scene, it stops giving me the weird cards," Bai Ming tutted.
Still, it was a satisfactory result.
While Robin was a steadfast Pathstrider of Harmony, she was indeed one of the "Twins of Order," born with an innate talent for it.
And since Herta had mentioned it wouldn't be wise to enter as Fuli, why not use Robin's card?
Entering the Swarm Disaster as a "Child of Order" to sense the shifts in that Path might be even better.
They might even be able to perceive the subtle leanings within Harmony and try a few different things—like attempting to log in with the identity of Ena to experience the process of being subsumed by the Harmony firsthand...
Well, if it worked. It felt like a long shot.
Down the line, they could even try releasing some songs.
With Robin's talent and a few resources borrowed from the IPC via Sparkle, they could easily rake in enough Mood Points to create a steady, long-term income.
Plus, they could use the power of the Chorus to research the Path of Harmony itself.
If a human will could truly influence the Path, that would be a monumental harvest.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL