Herta furrowed her brows. "What's going on? Why is the Aeon of Propagation so excited? No—wait. All the Aeons look agitated.
"They're supposed to be socially maxed out, content with just watching—but now they're suddenly acting.
"Wait—why isn't the Aeon of Elation moving? Something's wrong!"
As Herta tried to make sense of it, a message suddenly appeared in their system logs.
The message wasn't accompanied by an image, but all four geniuses instantly visualized Him in their minds.
A faceless entity cradling a mask.
He waved at them and then sent an invitation.
Despite being mere text, the four of them could feel the emotions behind the words— grief, longing, and despair.
"I share in your sadness. Though I exist as equations within a computer, I can still feel the joy you are denied.
"How tragic that you cannot join in such an exhilarating experience~"
The message was written as if dripping with sorrow, but the four geniuses felt anything but sadness.
In fact, it felt… wrong.
The more they thought about it, the clearer the unease became. And considering who had sent the message, the group fell into complete silence.
Herta immediately contacted Screwllum.
"Did the program glitch?"
Screwllum replied, "Unknown. The Simulated Universe is completely out of control. "
They had designed the Aeon of Elation to be self-aware—to know it was nothing more than a program inside the simulation.
But this time, the response felt different: it wasn't just words—it carried a presence.
And that presence felt oppressive.
Before Herta could process the situation further, she suddenly felt a chill and instinctively looked up.
There, on the ceiling, was a comedic mask staring down at her.
It had no body, yet its presence weighed heavily on her; despite having no eyes, the mask's gaze shifted, and Herta's grip on her console tightened.
The mask didn't speak, but she somehow understood its meaning.
"Go ahead. Don't mind me. I won't interfere~"
Even though the situation was tense, Herta wasn't exactly afraid. Nervous, yes—but not afraid.
Instead, she continued her work, recognizing that this could be a rare opportunity.
It was a chance to observe a real Aeon up close—one that wasn't Nous, the Aeon of Erudition.
Yet she couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't a coincidence.
Had the Aeon of Elation been drawn to the simulation by its own nature? Or had it been watching Pei Guang the entire time?
No matter the answer, one thing was certain—this simulation was no longer something they could stop.
While Herta was distracted looking up, she suddenly received urgent messages from the other three collaborators. She instinctively shifted her focus back to the Simulated Universe—and what she saw left her completely speechless.
Something big had just happened inside the simulation.
Inside the Simulated Universe, Pei Guang had also noticed the swarm of insects outside the space station. To him, the densely packed bugs actually looked… kind of cute?
Leaning against the glass and staring at the massive swarm, Pei Guang muttered, "If I'm not mistaken, we were supposed to be fighting the antimatter legion, right? Why is it bugs this time?"
March 7th glanced nervously at the approaching swarm. "These bugs? Are we even supposed to be able to fight them?"
Pei Guang smirked. "Of course we can! I've got cheats enabled—we'll wipe the floor with them.
"But going straight into a fight sounds boring. Since we've got this perfect map for some fun, let me set you guys up with something special."
Pei Guang handed both March 7th and Stelle access to the console—though unfortunately, CE and mod tools were tied to his system and couldn't be shared.
"This is the console," Pei Guang explained. "You can use it to summon anything available on this map. Just type in what you need, and boom, you've got it.
"But don't overdo it. Remember, we're here to test the Simulated Universe for Herta. If we insta-kill everything, she won't get any usable data, and we'll fail the mission."
March 7th's eyes sparkled. "Awesome! But wait… this console? Is this part of the game?"
She turned to Stelle, the supposed "experienced tester," hoping for clarification.
Stelle shrugged. "I have no idea. My version of the Simulated Universe was just turn-based combat. And sometimes the art style would shift for no reason. But this?
"This feels… way more fun."
Despite her confusion, Stelle quickly embraced the chaos. If it was fun, why not enjoy it?
Pei Guang grinned. "Of course it's the Simulated Universe! Otherwise, I wouldn't have access to all these settings.
"Man, I was worried this would turn into another trapped-in-a-game scenario, but it's just a timed sandbox mode. Now come here, let me show you how to use the console properly."
March 7th, still uneasy, asked, "But these bugs—what kind of army could even handle them? Wouldn't we need an Aeon or at least a high-ranking Emanator?"
Pei Guang waved her off. "Nah, no need. They're just bugs. Give me fifty years, and I'll use the tech in this Simulated Universe to wipe out all the Abundance faction and even take down Nanook while I'm at it."
March 7th gasped. "Fifty years?!"
Pei Guang chuckled. "Relax. I already adjusted the time dilation with the console.
"Since Herta wants us to test this, I figure we might as well change up the gameplay.
"How about we turn this into a real-time strategy game? I'll give each of you a main base, and we'll see who builds the strongest faction by the end.
"This Simulated Universe… I have to hand it to Herta—it's incredible. I mean, yeah, it freaked me out at first, but this? This is exactly the kind of freedom I've always wanted in a game."
Pei Guang was practically glowing with excitement now.
Once this was over, he swore he'd cling to Herta's leg and beg to use the Simulated Universe whenever he wanted.
Even if he couldn't access the console, CE, or mods outside of events , having just one of those tools would be enough to keep him entertained for ages.
With a few more tweaks, he finalized the console setup.
Sure, he could have just wiped out the entire bug swarm instantly, but where was the fun in that?
Instead, he decided to experiment with the fleets and units available in the simulation—just to see what kinds of weapons of war he could summon.
As Pei Guang gleefully customized his sandbox, the game's internal progression sped up dramatically.
Instead of forcing them to wait for things to unfold naturally, the console skipped ahead, generating outcomes instantly—just like a video game fast-forwarding through cutscenes.
This sudden acceleration was exactly why Herta and the others outside were so shocked.
Because despite the simulation being filled with Aeons, she knew for a fact that there should have been no traces of the Aeon of Finality.
But then, she noticed something new inside the Simulated Universe—an ominous message displayed at the Herta Space Station where Pei Guang and his group were located.
"Life lasts but fifty years, fleeting like a dream or illusion."
The simulation marked the Herta Space Station by "The Finality", and Herta immediately received a system update.
According to the simulation's feedback, the station would be destroyed in fifty years of simulated time.
Was this Finality related to the Aeon of Finality, or was it something else entirely?
The problem was that Finality wasn't even included in the simulation's design—there were no settings for it. Yet somehow, the simulation had triggered an Endgame scenario all on its own.
Despite the unsettling development, she felt a wave of excitement.
The others—Screwllum, Ruan Mei, and Stephen—shared her enthusiasm.
This could be the breakthrough they'd been waiting for.
A chance to peek behind the curtain of the Aeons.
But before they could celebrate, the system threw another alert, instantly dousing their excitement.
"Aeon of Propagation Tayzzyronth—Captured."
Four question marks might as well have popped up above each of their heads.
They had watched everything happening in the simulation.
So how the hell had the Aeon of Propagation—one of the most active and uncontrollable entities in the simulation—been captured without them even noticing?