Upon arriving aboard the Splendida, Mushoku Kika located Aisha's position through the friend chat channel and found the corresponding room number.
The door opened automatically.
"Kika, you're here."
Aisha was sitting on the edge of the bed.
Mushoku Kika stepped inside, scanning the room—it contained only a single white soft bed.
"Your baptism ceremony, is it done?"
"Of course it's done."
As roommates, Mushoku Kika naturally climbed onto the bed and lay down, turning her head toward the window where a vast white sea of clouds could be seen.
Just then, Kiana Kaslana also returned.
"Aisha-sis, Kika shot me with a cannon!"
She dove into Aisha's arms, tattling.
"You deserved it. If you're not happy, we'll fight. If you win, you can do whatever you want—but if you lose, you'll behave and stop pretending."
Mushoku Kika wasn't as tolerant as Aisha. Today, she intended to teach this girl a lesson right in front of Aisha.
"Kika, don't be impulsive," Aisha said wearily. Mushoku Kika's long-range shooting skills were exceptional, but Kiana was an all-rounder—strong in every aspect.
"You said it yourself."
Kiana's eyes lit up as she readily agreed to the duel.
Their data consciousness transferred into a virtual world duel arena.
A dense forest.
Both were given equal amounts of nanomaterial to construct their weapons and gear.
Mushoku Kika created a sniper-type beam cannon, three stealth reconnaissance-attack drones, and a sofa-like flight platform.
Kiana Kaslana, knowing she wasn't a natural genius, had developed a combat assistance system.
It collected all combat data and ran tens of billions of simulated battles—Mushoku Kika's battle data included.
The duel began.
Neither knew the other's location.
"Let's see how I blow you up," Mushoku Kika muttered, holding a lollipop between her lips as she sat on her floating sofa. She ascended into the sky, positioned her beam cannon, and dispatched her three stealth drones in separate directions to search.
Before long, she found her.
Or rather, the opponent revealed her position intentionally.
What's that supposed to mean?
Looking down on me? Or a trap?
Mushoku Kika frowned at the light screen. The white-haired girl stood openly in a clearing. She ordered a drone to fire a missile.
As soon as the hidden drone launched its missile, Kiana Kaslana pinpointed its position.
Lifting her sniper rifle, she fired two quick shots—one detonated the missile midair, the second pierced through the drone.
Not bad aim!
Mushoku Kika didn't mind losing one drone—it was merely her eyes to locate the target.
She adjusted her cannon's aim and sent another drone to reconfirm. The girl still stood there.
A bit arrogant, aren't you?
"Eat this!" Mushoku Kika pulled the trigger, firing a blazing beam toward Kiana Kaslana.
Kiana leapt gracefully, easily dodging. At the same time, her combat assistance system analyzed the beam trajectory, identifying Mushoku Kika's approximate position.
She raised her rifle and fired several rounds toward the predicted spot.
However, Mushoku Kika piloted her flying platform skillfully, evading every shot.
She was startled—this girl was definitely not easy to deal with.
"Switch to solid rounds."
She quickly pulled back, switching her sniper beam cannon from energy to physical ammunition.
Locking onto Kiana Kaslana's position, she prepared to deliver a fatal shot.
But as if anticipating it, Kiana's figure vanished.
The next second, Mushoku Kika's radar detected multiple high-speed objects rapidly closing in.
Decoys?!
Frowning, she sent her drones to intercept.
One drone was kicked out of the sky by Kiana Kaslana, who appeared midair and shot down the last drone over fifteen kilometers away.
A red beam streaked across the sky, striking true.
All three drones—destroyed.
Wasn't this girl's fighting style supposed to be dual-wielding pistols—kicking enemies and smacking them with her gunstocks?
When did she start sniping?!
Instantly shooting down a fast-moving drone fifteen kilometers away in midair—
There was no time to think. Relying purely on instinct, Mushoku Kika fired. Her ultra-long-range sniping required only an approximate target position—the rest was guided entirely by intuition.
However, after switching to solid rounds, her projectile speed was slower than a beam.
Kiana Kaslana, holding her sniper rifle, continuously shot down the incoming shells midair.
Her rifle's power couldn't match Mushoku Kika's sniper cannon, but her firing speed was much faster.
"What…?"
Mushoku Kika was stunned.
This was ridiculous!
Kiana Kaslana ascended rapidly toward her, firing nonstop as she closed the distance.
Mushoku Kika could only pilot her flying platform to dodge while launching return fire.
But Kiana's speed was astonishing—she could easily shoot down every shell aimed at her.
As Kiana drew closer, Mushoku Kika switched back to beam mode.
Before she could even fire, Kiana Kaslana shot the weapon right out of her hands and appeared before her, hovering above the flying sofa.
"Do you still want to continue?"
Kiana Kaslana had perfectly displayed both skill and technology in unison.
"Damn it!" Mushoku Kika gritted her teeth. She hadn't expected Kiana Kaslana to be this powerful—to intercept her shells with nothing but a rifle.
"Convinced now?" Kiana Kaslana smiled.
Mushoku Kika glared at her for a moment, then sighed helplessly. "I lost…"
The two exited the duel.
"I won. As promised—since I can do whatever I want, let me hug you."
Kiana Kaslana climbed onto the bed and wrapped her arms around Mushoku Kika. This time, she didn't resist.
"Hmph, next time, I'll definitely win!" Mushoku Kika muttered, though deep down, she had to admit—her opponent's strength was undeniable.
"Alright, alright, you two stop fooling around already," Aisha said, smiling helplessly at the pair.
"Kika, perfect timing—you just logged in. There's something I need to tell you."
"What is it?" Mushoku Kika asked curiously.
"It's about the next new world. Our squad's been selected as an elite vanguard team—we get to go there first."
"What did you guys even do to earn that?" Mushoku Kika asked, puzzled.
"Just… playing around every day," Aisha shrugged, still baffled at how their lazy, carefree squad had been chosen as an elite vanguard unit.
After spending some time in the Highschool of the Dead world, Kiana Kaslana began selecting capable and active Honkai squads to deploy early to the next world.
This world had already lost its fun.
The zombies were brainless and easy to kill.
After a few fights, the surviving humans realized the Honkai squads resurrected like game players—and simply gave up, choosing to lie flat and stop resisting under the crimson skies of nuclear winter.
Thinking of Metro Exodus—maybe next time, when the frost buries the last warmth of this world, it will be a different kind of experience.