Just as Ms. Herta was about to lock onto Jarilo-VI, at the moment her consciousness was preparing to descend—
A sense of stagnation, completely incomprehensible by existing science, enveloped her.
It wasn't an attack; it was more like a... mandatory "scene transition."
The scene before her blurred like an oil painting soaked in water, and the familiar soft lights of the Space Station's Master Control Zone instantly receded.
The next second, piercing sirens and noisy human voices abruptly flooded her senses.
Ms. Herta stood on a hard, flat gray ground. She blinked her purple eyes, looking around with a hint of bewilderment.
As far as her eyes could see, there were towering buildings, their surfaces covered with large expanses of glass, reflecting the somewhat dazzling sunlight.
Various cars sped through crisscrossing roads, emitting irritating noise.
People dressed in different attire, hurrying along, walked past her.
She looked down at herself; she was still in her familiar dress, but in this bizarre environment, it seemed completely out of place.
"...So,"
Ms. Herta crossed her arms, a trace of confusion first flitting across her delicate small face, then turning into a cold, offended expression, her lips twitching slightly.
"Where is this?"
One second she was comfortably controlling her system puppet, preparing to go to the ice-bound planet to find the guy who dared to tease her with a puppet, and the next she was thrown into this strange place that seemed to have decent technology but an indescribable aesthetic!
Just as her patience was about to run out, and the immense power of Erudition began to try and analyze the underlying rules of this world, the space before her rippled. A translucent panel, flashing with cheerful, multicolored light, abruptly popped out, accompanied by virtual fireworks exploding and a comical horn sound.
On the panel were several lines of text written in exaggerated artistic fonts:
"Toot toot! Congratulations, little witch, on your deluxe 'World's Quirky Few-Day Tour' package!"
"Your journey has begun. Have a pleasant trip! (Smiling face)"
At the end of the text, there was also an incredibly striking Aha mask logo, grinning widely and winking mischievously at her.
Ms. Herta: "..."
She narrowed her purple eyes, and the vast computational power of an Envoy of Erudition instantly clarified the cause and effect.
Not an attack, not a trap, but... Elation!
That damned Aeon of Elation, Aha, had interfered!
And this time, it also involved the master behind that puppet!
"Heh."
A cold chuckle escaped her lips.
Ms. Herta looked up, surveying the noisy and unfamiliar modern city once more, her gaze penetrating the glass curtain walls of the tall buildings, as if trying to discern the essence of this world.
"To be able to do something like this... to forcibly 'invite' even me over,"
She murmured, her tone devoid of emotion, only an extreme calmness. "That secretive fellow seems... even more interesting than I imagined."
Then, Ms. Herta used the extraordinary power of Erudition to reach a preliminary conclusion within seconds of her arrival—this was definitely not any star system she knew, and might not even belong to her universe.
The underlying rules of space had an unfamiliar "stickiness," and the constants seemed to have subtle differences, as if... a completely different physics engine had been swapped in.
(To achieve cross-universal teleportation... even with Aha's power, the puppet master's methods are quite astonishing. What is the purpose? Is it merely to stop me from going to Jarilo-VI?)
She scoffed inwardly, but more than that, there was a research desire that had been piqued.
Analyzing the rules of a new world was, for an Envoy of Erudition, an inherently tempting challenge.
Just then, a small creature, entirely white, resembling neither a rabbit nor a cat, silently appeared at her feet. Its red eyes, like pure rubies, gazed up at her unblinkingly.
(Oh? A local creature?)
Ms. Herta's attention was drawn. The creature's form and manner of appearance were both strange.
Then, something even stranger happened.
The white creature opened its mouth and spoke in a clear, calm voice: "Hello, girl. Do you want to become a Magical Girl?"
"..."
Ms. Herta ignored the words, which sounded like a street hawker's pitch to her.
Her gaze was instantly drawn to this peculiar creature, not because of what it said, but because of its composition.
Almost out of a researcher's instinct, she bent down, moving with lightning speed, giving Kyubey no time to react. She precisely pinched the creature's long, soft white ear, lifted it entirely, and brought it to eye level.
"Hmm?"
"What are you?"
Ms. Herta's voice carried undisguised curiosity and scrutiny. Her fingertips even glowed with a faint detection aura, attempting to analyze the creature's structure. "The energy circuits are strange... what is the carrier for consciousness transmission? 'Magical Girl'? 'Witch'? These definitions are in your internal information stream..."
Suspended in mid-air in a rather undignified posture, Kyubey's perpetually calm red eyes showed, for the first time, a flicker of emotion akin to "being stunned."
It had processed countless girls' wishes, seen fear, desire, confusion, but this was the first time someone had immediately treated it as a strange specimen for study, with eyes full of pure thirst for knowledge (and behind that thirst for knowledge seemed to lie extremely terrifying power)...
(This individual... abnormal reaction. Energy readings... unable to accurately assess? Significant stealth? Protocol judgment: risk too high, contact not recommended.)
Kyubey's internal decision system instantly blared an alarm.
The scene became somewhat awkward for a moment.
An Envoy of Erudition was holding the universe's famous "Magical Girl Recruitment Director" in the bustling street, conducting an impromptu biological study.
Kyubey tentatively wiggled: "Um... could you please let me go first? We can talk properly about wishes and Magical Girls..."
"Wishes? Magical Girls?"
Ms. Herta scoffed, her other hand even reaching out to poke Kyubey's body to check its material. "Sounds like some inefficient energy utilization and concept-granting ritual. I'm more interested in your form of existence and the fundamental rules of this world."
Kyubey: "..."
It felt its system was somewhat overloaded.
What the heck is this woman?!
[Astral Express · Hidden Compartment]
Madam Herta only belatedly remembered a question after the system puppet sent the confirmation message to Kafka.
"System," she asked, a hint of uncertainty in her tone, "exactly which world did you throw Ms. Herta into?"
The system puppet replied in her eternally flat tone: "Based on random selection and the blessing of That Great One's preference, the target world is determined to be: 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica'."
"Huh?"
Madam Herta's hand, holding the cup, paused. A flicker of genuine astonishment crossed her purplish-black eyes. "...That... very 'classic' world?"
She seemed to recall fragments of memories from a previous life.
"Please rest assured, madam,"
The system puppet added, "The teleportation time is anchored to coordinates and will only last until the estimated end of the Jarilo-VI main thread event. It will not cause permanent impact on the target world or Ms. Herta herself."
She paused, as if stating an objective fact, "In terms of appearance matching, Ms. Herta's image has a certain compatibility with the 'Magical Girl' setting, if actual age factors are not considered."
Madam Herta's lips twitched slightly, and she raised a hand to rub her forehead.
It finally turned into a helpless chuckle: "...Is this intentional or unintentional?"
She could almost imagine Ms. Herta's expression when facing the "peculiarities" of that world.
The fun, she feared, would be even greater than expected.
"Never mind, what's done is done." She sighed softly. "At least... that place should keep her busy for a while."
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