Inside the room, Clara lay sprawled across her large, soft bed, her fingers swiping constantly across her phone screen while soft giggles escaped her lips.
Seemed she was scrolling through short videos.
Suddenly, the phone buzzed once, and a notification popped up at the top of the screen.
'The Herta requests to add you as a friend.'
Message: It's Herta. Accept the friend request.
"Herta?" Seeing this message, a flicker of confusion passed through Clara's eyes. What would Herta want with her at this hour? Lifting a finger, she accepted the friend request.
The moment the request was approved, a message from Herta came through.
The Herta: Are you angry?
Cutest in the Universe: ?
Looking at the message from Herta, Clara lay on her bed, puzzled, and gave a couple of idle kicks with her feet.
Cutest in the Universe: What's this about? Why would I be angry?
The Herta: You're not angry?
Cutest in in the Universe: Angry about what?
The Herta: Oh, never mind then.
Cutest in the Universe: ?
Watching Herta's inexplicable messages, Clara's cheek twitched slightly.
Cutest in the Universe: Very well, woman. If those words of yours were meant to make me angry, then congratulations, you've succeeded.
The Herta: ?
On the other end, Herta looked at the message from Clara and couldn't help but feel a wave of speechlessness. After a moment's thought, she typed out a passage and sent it.
The Herta: I gave you a fake address. Seeing you hadn't returned after so long, I thought you were angry and wanted to apologize.
The Herta: Since you're not angry, I don't need to apologize.
Cutest in the Universe: I am angry now. Apologize.
Cutest in the Universe: Friendly reminder: a proper apology requires baring your belly.
The Herta: [picking_nose.png]
In response to Clara's words, Herta simply sent a sticker with flat indifference.
Cutest in the Universe: [spanking.png]
To that, Clara replied with a sticker of a father spanking a child's bottom.
The Herta: [i_am_your_daddy.png]
Cutest in the Universe: [reverse_card.png]
And so, the two embarked on a brief sticker battle.
The Herta: Alright, let's stop here.
The Herta: Since you're not angry, I'm relieved.
The Herta: When I have time in the future, I'll introduce you to my true self.
The Herta: Well then, see you later.
The Herta has gone offline.
Cutest in the Universe: Nice.
The Herta: [Auto-reply] Hello, I'm currently unavailable and won't be contacting you later either.
Watching Herta fire off that string of messages only to go offline immediately afterwards, Clara didn't pay it much mind.
Little Herta, merely a defeated rival beneath me, no longer worthy of fear.
Clara swiped away the chat interface and checked the time.
"Hmm… I'll just scroll for ten more minutes before sleeping."
Clara reopened the short video app and began scrolling again.
...
"Huh? Why is the sky light already?"
Clara was sprawled on her bed scrolling through videos when suddenly, a beam of sunlight fell right before her eyes. She looked up to find the previously dark sky had turned bright in an instant.
"Did I time-travel?" Clara glanced at the weather outside the window, then at the time on her phone, and finally understood.
"I said I'd only scroll for ten minutes… how did I end up scrolling all night?"
Clara slowly pushed herself up from the bed, let out a yawn, and stretched.
A perfect stretch… well… actually, there wasn't much of a curve to speak of.
Clara: (* ￣︿￣)
Clara picked up her phone and deleted the short video app she'd been glued to all night.
"Byte Short Videos app, is it? So you're the one who kept me up all night. Behold, I pass judgment upon you!"
"A harmful thing like you has no place in my phone."
After deleting the app, Clara got out of bed, found the charger, and plugged her phone in.
Then she pushed open her bedroom door and walked out.
...
"Huh? Silver Wolf, are you heading out on a mission?"
Stepping out of her room, Clara saw Silver Wolf already fully geared up and asked curiously.
This point in the timeline… could it be the [Crying and Tantrum Incident]? (T/N: Lmao)
"Hey, I get the feeling you're thinking something rude…" Seeing the look of pity and sympathy in Clara's eyes, Silver Wolf felt rather bewildered.
Then she shook her head lightly.
"This isn't really related to a mission, so there's no harm in telling you."
Silver Wolf's face immediately lit up with excitement.
"Two members of the Genius Society sent me an invitation—a challenge, really. I'm going to accept gladly and go meet them."
"I lost last time. This time, I'll clear it without taking a single point of damage."
A confident smile spread across Silver Wolf's face.
"You're that sure?" Seeing Silver Wolf's confident demeanor, Clara didn't have the heart to discourage her.
Clear without taking damage? Did she take damage? Nope.
Did she clear it? Well… technically, she did.
So, 'cleared without taking damage'… wasn't exactly wrong?
"Hah." Silver Wolf let out a soft laugh.
"Reality is a game, and I am the king of games."
"As long as it's a game, it's impossible for me to lose!"
"Alright, alright, alright." Clara responded perfunctorily, already prepared to record Silver Wolf's impending crying and tantrum with a Memory Crystal.
"What's with that utterly disbelieving look on your face?" Seeing Clara's reaction, Silver Wolf felt a bit annoyed.
It was as if Clara was certain she would lose, and lose embarrassingly at that.
"Not at all, I have complete faith in you, Sister Silver Wolf."
"Humph, I know you don't believe me, but it's fine. When the game is over, I'll show you the results!" Silver Wolf snorted coldly, then stopped paying attention to Clara, opened the door, and left.
Sensing Silver Wolf's aura growing increasingly distant, Clara let out another yawn, unconcerned, before turning her gaze in a certain direction.
"If you're so worried about her, why not follow her?"
"Kafka."
"I can't get away. My role comes up in the next part of the [Script]." Hearing Clara's words, Kafka didn't bother hiding any longer and stepped out slowly.
Spotting the unfinished watermelon on the table, she picked up a slice and took a bite.
"And you? Why are you so certain Silver Wolf will fail?"
"Because from the moment Silver Wolf received that invitation, she fell into the trap set by those two geniuses."
"The moment she accepted the invitation, she had already lost."
Clara offered a simple explanation.
"I see." Kafka nodded. Seeing how unconcerned Clara seemed, she figured that even if Silver Wolf failed, there wouldn't be any real danger.
"So, if you were in Silver Wolf's place facing this situation, what would you do?"
Kafka asked, her curiosity piqued for once.
"Ah, if it were me…" Clara thought for a moment, then said.
"I'd decline the invitation. Then, after a dozen months or so, I'd circle back and strike when they least expect it."
"I might not necessarily win, but I'd definitely manage to annoy them thoroughly."
"That does sound like you." Hearing Clara's words, Kafka also revealed a smile.
"But it's a pity. I am Clara, not Silver Wolf."
"If Clara received an invitation, she'd probably just slap those two geniuses into oblivion in an instant."
"Clara's dignity brooks no disrespect!"
Kafka: …
…
T/N: The raw chinese for "Memory Crystal" is 留影石, which translates to "Photo Stone" (Ie, what they call cameras in amorphous) which makes no sense in this context, so I am going with Memory Crystal like I did before.
…
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