Belobog, Upper City — Goethe Hotel.
Evan stood there with a detonator for a timed bomb pinched in one hand, and a freshly appeared admission ticket held between two fingers of the other.
He was very familiar with this thing.
The Genius Society—every newly inducted member received one of these tickets.
Unlimited uses.
A fixed-point teleportation item.
Its destination was a special banquet dimension, prepared exclusively for geniuses.
And sure enough—
The very moment Evan obtained this curio—
Inside a certain Genius Society banquet dimension…
A small girl appeared.
"Hmm?"
"So lively? That's rare."
There was no need to guess who she was.
It was Herta.
Or rather—one of Herta's puppets.
The real Herta would never bother showing up in person. And this space didn't block her consciousness from inhabiting her puppets anyway.
The instant she entered, Herta spotted several familiar faces.
Even a few geniuses she hadn't seen in a long time.
"Screwllum, didn't you say you were busy?"
"Why do you have time to attend the banquet?"
The Herta puppet immediately locked onto the mechanical genius.
This one—
Genius Society Seat #76, someone who had joined long before her.
Also one of the collaborators on the Simulated Universe project.
Standing beside Screwllum was someone far less talkative.
The youngest member of the Society—
At least until one system hour ago.
Seat #84: Stephen Lloyd.
"Stephen, I bet you've got something to say about this new Seat #85."
"This guy doesn't even have a single published paper."
"Who knows what Nous saw in him."
Beyond the familiar faces—
Herta noticed someone especially hard to forget.
An elegant woman.
Someone rarely seen in person.
Yet today, she was here.
That alone was astonishing.
If the later members all had papers or academic achievements backing them—
Then this person's reputation across the universe could only be described as eerie and terrifying.
Emperor Rubert, ring a bell?
Genius Society Seat #27.
Creator of the infamous Scepter System—a universe-shaking construct still being researched by countless factions.
A true weapon of mass disruption.
But Rubert had died long before Elias Salas ever became a genius.
Why?
Rumor had it he was killed.
And the one who killed him—
Was another genius within the Society.
The Silent Lord, Polka Kakamond.
Of course, these were only rumors.
Even Herta—who joined later—didn't know the truth.
(Note: Details to be expanded once the Simulated Universe timeline updates.)
Still…
Herta scanned the banquet dimension again.
Aside from the people she knew, and those she vaguely recognized—
Where was the new genius?
At the same time—
Jarilo-VI.
Evan stored the Genius Society ticket inside his Imaginary Space.
Something every Herrscher could do.
Imaginary Space—an ideal personal vault.
No theft risk whatsoever.
Although the ticket was bound to its owner, Evan had zero interest in interacting with those people right now.
Every single genius was a lunatic.
Talking to lunatics was exhausting.
Painful.
Instead of that—
Why not open a chest and see if it dropped something good?
[Beep—Beep—Beep!]
[Congratulations, Host! You have successfully collected all treasure chests on Jarilo-VI!]
[Profession: Treasure Hunter]
[Unlocked: Appraisal Eye]
[Title Acquired: Appraisal Novice]
[Effect: Low-tier treasure chests have a chance to yield high-tier items!]
[Hidden treasure chests for this region are now unlocked!]
[Open now?]
…
Soon after, on the streets of Belobog—
Evan looked up at the sky with a blank expression.
In the distance, beyond the city, lay the snow-covered mountains—
Everwinter Ridge, where the campaign had just ended.
He exhaled.
A long stream of white mist dissipated into the air.
"Still damn cold."
He pulled out a blueprint and let out a long sigh.
"…Damn it."
Pure, heartfelt profanity.
"Can't this stupid hidden chest give me something like Golden Experience Requiem, or another Herrscher authority, or literally anything else?"
"Why does everything have to be tied to Jarilo-VI?"
The blueprint was clear.
Painfully clear.
It depicted a brand-new world.
Yes—
A world where the sun had gone out.
Before the star died, scientists had poured everything into research.
If the natural sun was gone—
Could an artificial sun be created instead?
Thus, the Artificial Stellar Core Project was born.
If memory served—
That planet was located in the M78 Nebula.
Its original name was long forgotten.
But its people called it—
The Land of Light.
Planet Ultra.
To read advanced Chapters, head over to p@treon:
patreon.com/nani_kaito