Chapter 3: The Girl Arlan

Following the staff member to the designated cleaning area, Chen quickly completed his rinse. The warm water felt like a blessing, washing away three days' worth of accumulated dust and bone-deep fatigue. After changing into the clean, simple casual wear provided by the Space Station, he finally looked somewhat presentable, though the psychological whiplash was far from over.

He walked with his head hung low, lost in thought as he trailed the staff member toward a temporary lounge. His mind was a broken record, the baffling titles "Ms. Welt" and "Mr. Herta" echoing in an endless, sanity-shredding loop.

Just as he was about to turn a corner in the pristine white corridor, a petite figure suddenly darted out from the side, moving at an incredible speed!

"Watch out!"

Chen barely had time to register the crisp exclamation before a solid impact sent him staggering, his feet tangling as he nearly toppled over.

The figure that had collided with him also let out a surprised "Ouch!" and stumbled back two steps.

He refocused his gaze and found himself looking at a girl with healthy, wheat-colored skin. She had a shock of neat white hair that faded into a subtle blue gradient at the tips, and her wide eyes were filled with a mixture of apology and frantic urgency.

"Sorry, sorry! I didn't see anyone there!" the girl apologized, her words spilling out in a rapid-fire burst. "Are you okay?"

"I'm… I'm fine," Chen managed, rubbing his now-sore shoulder as he answered on pure instinct.

He took a better look at the energetic girl before him. That strange, nagging sense of familiarity surfaced again, a phantom memory he couldn't quite place.

And just then…

[Ding!]

A crisp notification chimed in the quiet of his mind.

Instantly, the game interface that had been grayed out automatically flickered to life, its light hovering over a specific character icon: "Arlan (4-Star • Lightning • Destruction)." A faint light pulsed from the portrait, and the icon itself transitioned from a dull, inactive gray to a vibrant, selectable state!

Chen's pupils contracted. 'My golden finger… it's reacting! Is it because of this girl?'

Seeing him just staring blankly at her without a word, the girl assumed he was still angry. She snapped to attention, her posture suddenly rigid as if she were giving an official report.

"I am truly sorry! My name is Arlan, and I'm a member of the Herta Space Station's Security Department!" she declared clearly. "I was in pursuit of an escaped Dimensional Praevaricator and was running too fast without watching my surroundings! Are you injured? Do you require a visit to the Medical Room for a check-up?"

'Ar… lan…'

Chen stared at the girl who called herself Arlan, the energetic Security Department staff member—loli version. Then his mind's eye drifted to the character icon that had just lit up, the one depicting a steady and reliable young man… He opened his mouth, a thousand absurd retorts dying on his lips, the feeling ultimately coalescing into a deep sense of helplessness.

"It's fine. Really, I'm fine," he said, waving a weak, dismissive hand. "You… go on. Get back to your work."

"Thank you so much for your understanding!"

Seeing that he was indeed unharmed, Arlan visibly relaxed. After offering one more quick apology, she took off like a gust of wind, vanishing down the corridor to continue her Dimensional Praevaricator pursuit mission.

Chen stood frozen in place, his gaze fixed on the spot where the girl had disappeared. He then glanced down, or rather, inward, at the now-illuminated Arlan icon in his mind.

Numb. He was completely and utterly numb.

'This world,'he thought with grim finality,'is fucking toxic.'

Forcing his leaden feet to move, he trudged after the expressionless staff member who had been waiting patiently. The guide led him to a simple, unadorned temporary lounge. After issuing a few brief instructions—namely that someone would be by later to ask him some questions and that he was not to wander around—the staff member departed.

The moment the door slid shut, Chen eagerly plunged his consciousness fully into the game interface.

The icon for Arlan was still emitting a faint, steady glow, making it stand out dramatically among the sea of grayed-out avatars.

'So, making physical contact with the corresponding person unlocks their icon,'he concluded, confirming his primary hypothesis.'The real question is, what happens when I click on it?'

He mentally prepared himself, his focus narrowing as he reached out with his will, ready to touch the glowing Arlan icon and see what kind of power this ridiculous golden finger actually possessed.

Wooo—!!! Wooo—!!!

The piercing shriek of alarm sirens blared without warning, shattering the silence. Red warning lights began to flash frantically throughout the small lounge.

"Warning! Large-scale high-energy reactions detected on approach!"

"Warning! The Space Station's external barrier is under impact!"

"Antimatter Legion invasion! All non-combat personnel, proceed to the designated Shelters immediately! Repeat, all non-combat personnel…"

The dispassionate electronic female voice from the broadcast system mixed with the urgent wail of the sirens, making Chen's head buzz. He froze, his mental hand still poised to "click" the icon, his expression locked in a rigid mask of disbelief.

'Antimatter Legion… invasion… Space Station…' The familiar plot points clicked into place with horrifying speed.

"Holy shit…" Chen couldn't help but breathe the words aloud. "Is this fucking… the very first episode of the story?!"

He remembered it with crystal clarity—the game's opening was the Herta Space Station being raided by the Antimatter Legion, which was immediately followed by the arrival of the Astral Express Crew…

BOOM!!!

A deafening roar erupted from just outside, shaking the entire lounge so violently that the floor vibrated beneath his feet. Before Chen could even process the sound, the metal door to his room bulged inward with a grotesque screech of stressed metal.

"Holy shit!!!"

His pupils contracted into pinpricks as he watched the supposedly sturdy door get forcibly smashed open from the outside by an overwhelming, brutal force! The twisted, warped door panel flew past his head with a lethal whistle and slammed into the wall behind him with a deafening crash.

Through the swirling dust and debris, a massive figure radiating an aura of pure destruction and malice blocked the shattered doorway. Its body was a horrifying amalgamation of dark metal and twisted energy, its single crimson eye gleaming with murderous intent. In its hand, it clutched a giant blade that burned with eerie, purple flames.

A Void Ranger: Trampler.

And it wasn't alone.

Through the mangled door frame, he could see more shadowy figures surging through the corridor—an entire squad of Void Rangers.

The lead Trampler let out an inhuman, metallic roar, its crimson optic instantly locking onto the only living target in the room—Chen.

An immense, primal sense of crisis snapped Chen out of his shock.

'Run! I have to run!'

Acting on pure instinct, he lunged backward and to the side, scrambling toward a corner of the room in a desperate, clumsy attempt to find some form of cover.

But the Void Ranger was faster. It had already raised its burning greatsword, destructive energy gathering at the blade's edge once more. This time, it was closer. There was no escape.

The shadow of death had never felt so cold, so absolute.

'Damn it! I just activated my golden finger, and I'm going to die before I even get to warm it up?!'

An intense, desperate will to survive overrode all other thoughts. He focused every last scrap of his mental energy and slammed it down, with all the force he could muster, onto the newly lit, faintly glowing Arlan icon in his mind.