Chapter 634: Mapping

[Yo.]

...That was not Tingyun’s voice, that was for sure. Sunny frowned, then, with a furrow of his brow indicative of extreme focus, tried to project his thoughts in the direction of the voice. Which... he didn’t actually know. In any case, it was all about intent.

’...Silver Wolf?’

[That’s me. I put you in a private voice chat with me since... uh, Firefly’s not really supposed to talk to you. Script reasons, and such.]

Sunny scowled at the mention of that hideous name, and yet, he could not muster any real malice. Once more, it was all about intent.

He didn’t need to hate something to know he had to be rid of it.

’Yeah, that’s fine. I’m guessing you’re all on the Space Station?’

[Mhm. The three of us should appear on your map.]

Sunny blinked in half-confusion and half-realization. He had been so distracted by Silver Wolf’s dry voice that he hadn’t noticed the oddity before him.

His vision was completely clear, as always. There was zero doubt about that, and Sunny found no reason to assume otherwise. And yet, in some paradoxical optical illusion, he found himself looking at another layer. It didn’t interfere with his actual sight, but it was still... there?

Naturally, Sunny recognized it as a HUD — a heads-up display. A general summary of information for him to glance at no matter the situation. In the top left corner of what was not really his vision, he saw a red bar. If his beginner-level knowledge told him anything, that was his health bar.

Below that was a black meter, which he wasn’t too sure of. Though, assuming that it was some kind of energy source like those commonly seen in games, then that was likely a visual representation of his Shadow Essence.

The top right of the screen, however, showed him what seemed to be a minimap of his surroundings. Its role was simply to show him where he was and what was around him, so what it was currently displaying was a black icon representing himself moving along with the elevator.

Sunny, utterly baffled by everything happening around him, focused on the minimap in expectation.

’If I do this...’

Just as he had hoped, a full, three-dimensional map of the entirety of the Herta Space Station appeared before him. It...

It kind of looked like an orbital laser? Like a massive energy railgun just waiting to fire itself at The Blue.

Of course, Sunny was aware that it wasn’t actually anything of the sort...

...Or was it?

Looking at the map, Sunny quickly found his actual location. Assuming that the Herta Space Station was like a sniper rifle, with a barrel and a scope, then the are that Sunny was in could be considered the scope. The Master Control Zone, the dormitories, the docking bay, and plenty of other facilities could be considered to be a part of this scope.

The Master Control Zone was the front of the scope, while the docking bay was the back of the scope.

...So, what about the barrel of the sniper?

Sunny has only been within the scope of the Herta Space Station.

The barrel, an area far larger than the scope, was something he hadn’t even knew to exist!

That was because it was jamming his shadow sense!

...No, perhaps it wasn’t a matter of the barrel being a secret area. After all, it could likely be seen from the outside, though Sunny would need to check to be sure. That, and it was likely that the researchers knew about it.

But... it was a restricted area? Restricted enough for Herta to install methods capable of blocking his shadow sense?

Probably not a coincidence... well, he might as well ask Asta before he went into the Simulated Universe. Still, it was astonishing to think about.

The scope of the space station was about ninety kilometers in length, and that was excluding the verticality. From the ground floor to the top, it was about five kilometers.

However, based on the map provided by Silver Wolf, the barrel seemed to easily be more than triple the length of the scope. Sunny shivered in envy.

’This... this has got to be the wealth of a Sovereign!’

As Sunny checked the map, he found three dots near the back of the barrel, right below where the docking bay would be in the scope. They were grey, magenta, and emerald. They seemed almost stacked on top of each other, implying that they were probably within each other’s sights.

Eventually, Sunny decided to voice his thoughts to Silver Wolf.

’My shadow sense doesn’t extend into the barrel.’

There was a moment of silence, causing Sunny to worry that she had cut off the ’voice chat,’ as she called it. Fortunately, that did not seem to be the case, as her vaguely perplexed voice echoed in his mind.

[...The barrel?]

Sunny slowly nodded.

’Yeah. Because it looks like a sniper.’

Silver Wolf went silent again.

[...Huh. And the area you’re in?]

’The scope.’

There was definitely a snort coming from the other side.

[You really don’t know your gun parts, dude. The actual names are the Research Center and Herta’s Gallery.]

Sunny raised a brow in curiosity as he focused on the map of the long stretch of complex and advanced infrastructure the three Stellaron Hunters were hiding in.

’Gallery?

Silver Wolf hummed in acknowledgement.

[That Witch keeps her more dangerous projects here. Not the most dangerous, though. Generally, she has those spread across super secret locations. The kind of stuff that not even a Supreme should mess around with.]

Sunny heard her sigh.

[Not that I have any idea where those could be. Just that they exist. That’s where you come in.]

’Huh. Alright... so, what’s the plan?’

The elevator finally halted its movements, the transparent doors opening to allow Sunny to walk out. Nearby researchers sent the elevator strange glances, none of them perceiving Sunny walking past them.

Silver Wolf coughed, putting on a sophisticated tone that was very much unlike her.

[That program you’ve got is a one-time use. Once Herta’s AIs get the chance to adapt to it, it will never work again on any of her systems. Plus, Screwllum’s here, and he’s a pain in the ass to deal with when it comes to tech. Only tech, though, since he’s pretty half-assed in every other department.]

’Uh-huh.’

[So, what we need you to do is to explore Herta’s Gallery and find her core data repository. I’d guess that you’ll have about six minutes before it shuts down on you, so use your Aspect to speed up your reading. Your main priority is to grab the locations of her other projects. Anything else is for you to use as you please.]

’Uh-huh.’

[Your second priority is to build relations with the Song Princess, but, uh... I’m looking at something right now, and I’m not really sure if you even need to bother with that. Go ahead, though.]

’Uh-huh.’

[Actually, you have a Title that should help with that, so make sure to equip it. Also, I know that this is going to sound surprising, but don’t try anything perverted! Turns out, she’ll have a negative reaction to those kinds of things.]

’Uh-huh.’

[By the way, this is my Awakened Ability. It gives people inferior versions of my Innate and Dormant Ability. Gamer’s Mind lets you see life as a game, while Gamer’s Body makes it so the world interacts with you as if you were a video game character.]

’Uh-huh.’

[You can’t use most of the System’s functions, though. Besides a basic HUD, a way to see your Passive Skills, and being able to use Titles, you don’t get much. You also don’t get any dismemberment protection from Gamer’s Body, and can still accumulate wounds. At least you don’t have to eat or sleep as much, I guess.]

’Uh-huh.’

[Basically, if you just think the word ’menu,’ your Menu will pop up. The only thing you can really do with it is to change your equipped Title and look at your Skills. You don’t even get a settings tab.]

’Uh-huh.’

[...Were you listening to a thing I said?]

Sunny scoffed.

’Of course I was!’

[Hmph. Whatever you say. Just don’t screw up. And don’t die.]

Sunny sighed in dejection at her harsh tone.

’And if I do?’

Silver Wolf clicked her tongue.

[You won’t.]

Then, she was gone.

...Right. No biggie. He was just risking six years of Silver Wolf’s hard work right now. Nothing he needed to worry about.

Sunny reached the door to the room housing the Simulated Universe.

’Nothing at all...’