When Valerius returned once more to the Goethe Hotel, he stood there dazed for a moment.
Although less than a full day had passed in the outside world, he had truly spent six whole months inside.
"Heeheehee, you're finally back."
The moment he looked up, he saw Aha, sitting leisurely not far away.
"I say," Valerius frowned,
"you're an Aeon. Is it really okay for you to wander in front of me every single day?"
"But… I want to participate in the game~"
"No. And stop acting cute."
Valerius seriously wanted to grab Aha and ask—
Where did you even learn this stuff?
"I knew you wouldn't agree."
Aha didn't mind being rejected at all. Instead, it tilted its head and said:
"I think your game is missing something."
"Missing what?"
That caught Valerius's attention.
My game is missing something?
"Your game only has rewards, but no punishment at all. That's not balanced."
"Oh, right—this was IX's suggestion."
…That's right!
That single sentence woke Valerius up.
He couldn't just let everyone profit every time with zero cost, could he?
Aha's words actually made sense.
As for the part about it being IX's idea—
Valerius didn't believe that even one word.
You just want to watch the chaos.
Dragging 'balance' into it like that.
Still, the point itself was valid.
"You're right. I'll think about it."
"That's great, that's great~ Heeheehee."
Aha looked completely satisfied.
"Then I'll take my leave."
With that, it vanished happily—clearly eager for even more entertainment.
Once Aha was gone, Valerius communicated with the system in his mind.
"System, does the game currently have punishments?"
[Host, everything is determined by your will.]
"Then add some."
[Acknowledged. Reconfiguring rules.]
Lines of data scrolled rapidly across the system interface.
New rules began to form.
[New Rule: In each game, losing players will receive punishment. Punishments are selected from the punishment pool.]
A long list of punishment options popped up.
Even Valerius felt uneasy just looking at them.
"System, remove the ones that go too far."
Some of those punishments were downright terrifying.
After thinking about it, Valerius decided to delete them.
After all, this was still a game.
Pranks were fine—but giving people psychological trauma wasn't.
He wasn't the type who enjoyed stirring trouble everywhere.
Harmony mattered.
[Acknowledged. Excessive punishment options removed.]
"Good."
Satisfied, Valerius nodded and entered the livestream.
[Valerius]: Announcement… emergency announcement… game rules updated.
[Jing Yuan]: Oh? Rules changed? What kind of rule?
[Valerius]: From today onward, all games will be ranked. The bottom three players will receive punishment.
[Silver Wolf]: Huh??? Punishment too? What kind of punishment?
[Sparkle]: Nice. I like this.
[Sampo]: I, Sampo Koski, fully support this!
[Seele]: Are you idiots? This just screws yourselves over.
[Yukong]: What exactly are the punishments? Can we not have them?
[Zhongli]: Reward and punishment—this is fairness.
[Hu Tao]: Fair my ass. Shut up.
[Raiden Ei]: Bring it on. Whatever the punishment is, I'll take it.
[Kujou Sara]: The Shogun is correct. Inazuma fears no punishment.
[Kamisato Ayaka]: I… I think… yes… Inazuma fears no punishment…
Ayaka originally wanted to object.
But with her Shogun being that confident, the words got stuck in her throat.
[Yae Miko]: Everyone saw that, right? Ei said it. Direct all punishments to her.
[Gepard]: I also think it's fair. Bring on the punishment! A soldier must have backbone!
[Feixiao]: Bear Two, shut up.
[Herta]: Why add this now? Who came up with this idea?
[Valerius]: Aha suggested it. Take it up with Them.
[Himeko]: Uh… well…
[March 7th]: Ahahaha… yeah… let's forget about arguing…
Instantly, those who wanted to protest fell silent.
Who knew what would happen if Aha decided to "play" with them afterward?
Even if Valerius kept them alive, being pranked by Aha was absolutely not something anyone wanted.
[Aha]: Heeheehee~ Not me, not me. I was just relaying IX's idea.
[Ruan Mei]: The Aeon of Equilibrium?
[Ningguang]: Another one?
[Yelan]: Why do I feel like another Aeon is about to show up here…
[Kaeya]: Group status –1.
After learning it was the Aeon of Equilibrium, even fewer people dared speak up.
After all, if an Aeon of balance wanted to balance things—wasn't that… reasonable?
The rules were already changed anyway.
What could they do?
[Argenti]: Another Aeon has learned of this game? I wonder if Mister Valerius could invite Idrila as well.
[Valerius]: Find Her yourself. Search for Idrila's whereabouts and admire the scenery along the way—that is also a form of beauty.
[Argenti]: Oh~~~ Mister Valerius speaks with such insight! You truly possess the spirit of a Knight of Beauty!
[Valerius]: I… I'll pass.
Valerius curled his lips.
He had no intention of becoming a Knight of Beauty.
The Aeon of Beauty was missing anyway—no one even knew what They looked like.
And even if They were beautiful—
Could you marry Them?
If not, what was the point?
After closing the livestream, Valerius lay back on the bed.
He decided to rest properly today.
Tomorrow, he planned to ask Bronya out for a walk.
The next morning, Valerius headed for Cocolia Palace.
"Oh? Busy again?"
The moment he arrived, he saw Bronya bent over her desk, drowning in paperwork.
"Valerius!"
Bronya's eyes lit up when she saw him—then she glanced at the mountain of documents.
"Uh… you see…"
"You're going to collapse sooner or later."
Valerius really couldn't stand her work style.
She was basically Keqing 2.0.
He walked over and said:
"Have you ever thought about delegating some of this to your subordinates?"
"Hm… these are already processed. I'm just reviewing them."
That surprised Valerius.
He had thought Bronya handled everything herself.
Turns out she wasn't that extreme.
"…Sigh. I was planning to take you to the Xianzhou for a stroll."
"The Xianzhou?"
Bronya was surprised.
"Why the Xianzhou all of a sudden?"
"Yeah. Things are lively there lately. I was planning to take a look."
From the intel he'd seen from the Luofu—
A Stellaron outbreak had occurred.
"This time, I won't go with you."
Bronya shook her head.
"A Stellaron crisis isn't something to spectate lightly."
"And my position is… sensitive."
They had just established a trade alliance with the Luofu.
The negotiating party hadn't even arrived yet.
Going there now would feel like pressuring them.
"…Alright."
Valerius nodded.
If she wasn't going, there was no forcing it.
But he was definitely going.
After all—
He still wanted to see whether Yanqing really had "five people, and I'll fight three of them."
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