Chapter 19: Why Is No One Stopping ?
While gacha fever swept through the space station, sothing else was happening—
At that sa mont, a holographic projection moved freely through the station’s corridors, completely unnoticed.
“Is the space station’s security really this bad? I’ve been here for a while now, and not a single person has acknowledged . Boring.”
Silver Wolf muttered to herself as she searched for clues about the [Punklorde ntality] ga cartridge.
Last ti she had infiltrated the space station, she had co across many Curios, but not the one she was looking for.
So, before leaving, she had left behind electronic graffiti as backdoors—a way to hack back in when the ti was right.
Now that she had completed Elio’s script, she had returned to resu her search.
“If it’s not in the Curio Storage, then odds are Herta stashed it away in the [Simulated Universe].”
Silver Wolf pondered.
That could explain why she hadn’t found it last ti.
The Simulated Universe was designed by multiple geniuses, making it a high-risk area to enter blindly.
She didn’t want to waste her ti.
Just as she was considering her options, she noticed a familiar space station staff mber walking by—
Leonard, a network security engineer for [Herta].
He was holding a stack of docunts, mumbling to himself—
“Damn it! Why do I have to do a security check now of all tis?”
“I just pulled [Herta], and I haven’t even had a chance to look at her yet!”
Pulled?
Herta?
Silver Wolf froze.
She recognized all the words—
But put together, they made no sense.
Was this related to the strange atmosphere she had noticed on the station?
Had sothing new and interesting popped up?
Her lips curved into a smirk.
Ti to investigate.
She vanished into stealth mode and headed toward the busiest part of the space station—
The main control module.
A Strange Discovery—What’s Everyone Watching?
It didn’t take long before she spotted a large crowd of staff gathered in front of a massive display screen.
They were watching sothing intently.
Silver Wolf focused her gaze—
It was…
A ga livestream.
The strear was playing a ga she had never seen before.
But the scenery—
It looked… oddly familiar.
“Guys! Looks like the space station staff are still recovering after the Antimatter Legion’s invasion.”
“Guess it’ll take them so ti to get back to normal!”
“Let’s go report back to Asta!”
The strear spoke excitedly while controlling a character nad Hiko, running through the map.
Silver Wolf’s eyes narrowed slightly.
The ga’s setting… matched reality.
The map—
It was the space station itself.
And what did the strear just say?
“Antimatter Legion invasion”…?
That had happened not long ago.
“Is this ga… based on real events?”
A Shock—The Ga’s Uncanny Accuracy
Before she could process that thought—
The in-ga story advanced.
As the player approached Asta, a cutscene triggered.
Suddenly, red warning symbols flashed across Asta’s monitor—
The room fell silent.
Then—
A tallic claw descended from the sky, breaking through the space station’s defense systems at alarming speed.
“You guys take the Express—I’ll stay behind.”
Asta spoke firmly.
The staff watching the stream erupted in excitent—
— “Whoa! It’s actually happening!”
— “I knew this boss would appear! This brings back traumatic mories.”
— “Asta really is a responsible leader.”
— “Now we can finally see how the Trailblazer defeated the Doomsday Beast!”
anwhile, Silver Wolf—still hidden—felt a chill run down her spine.
“What kind of ga is this?”
It had perfectly recreated the Antimatter Legion’s monster.
And the Doomsday Beast—
She knew it well.
Back when she and Kafka had infiltrated the station, they had deliberately lured the Legion’s forces in this direction.
Among them—
Was this very beast.
It had been sent to stall the Astral Express crew.
“Is this ga… reliving the station’s past?”
Turn-Based Combat?
As the Astral Express crew arrived at the battle site, the Doomsday Beast landed with a massive shockwave.
Silver Wolf expected the ga to enter free combat mode—
But instead—
The screen shattered—
And the characters and monster lined up, facing off in turns.
Silver Wolf blinked in surprise.
“…Turn-based?”
A flicker of disappointnt crossed her face.
“Turn-based gas were popular several Amber Eras ago.”
“They usually fail to capture the true tension of battle.”
“What a sha. This could’ve been a solid action ga.”
But soon—
The battle intensified.
A Strategic Battle Unfolds
The Doomsday Beast’s attacks were devastating—
Each hit severely injured any character without a shield.
The only reason the team survived was thanks to March 7th’s barrier.
With each turn, the characters built up energy.
Finally—
It was Dan Heng’s turn.
“Between life and death, the line is thin.”
His ultimate move activated.
“Illusory realm, an endless dream.”
A paintbrush-style background appeared.
Dan Heng’s eyes snapped open—
With a powerful thrust, he pierced his spear straight at the target!
“BREAK!”
The Left Hand of Dawn shattered on impact.
Now, it was the Trailblazer’s turn.
“Rules? They’re ant to be broken.”
“Decisive Strike!”
As the two ultimate moves collided, Silver Wolf’s eyes lit up.
“So these are the Express crew’s ultimates? Not bad at all.”
“I’ll admit, I underestimated this ga.”
She focused more intently—
An Intriguing Combat System
Soon, she noticed sothing—
Each character had different roles and attributes.The Doomsday Beast was divided into three parts, each with unique weaknesses.Character speed determined attack order.Ultimates could be triggered at any ti, allowing strategic interruptions.
This wasn’t just a simple back-and-forth battle.
Even with what she had observed so far, she saw many potential strategies.
Before she realized it, she had fully imrsed herself in analyzing the ga—
Murmuring to herself, completely forgetting she was supposed to be hiding.
“In this fight, ultimates are key.”
“They must break the Doomsday Beast’s weak points before it can charge its massive attack.”
“But… these characters might not have enough damage.”
“Hiko is crucial—her ultimate could change everything.”
A Battle on the Brink
Onscreen, Dan Heng’s HP hit zero.
Little Gui panicked—
“Guys, this fight is way harder than I expected!”
“Dan Heng is down! Hiko is barely hanging on!”
The chat reacted imdiately—
— “Chill, it’s just a ga! If you lose, you can retry.”
— “Raise your characters first!”
But Little Gui refused to give up.
“I don’t want to lose to the Antimatter Legion!”
“Not even once!
Just then—
A glowing blue ssage appeared in chat—
“Strear, use Hiko’s ultimate—I need to see if it’s strong enough!”
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