The white shawl was very eye-catching. Even from the back, it was obvious that the woman before her had a graceful figure.
But that wasn't important. After all, the average appearance level in this universe was quite high. Who knew what had caused that.
Still, her companion Nero's situation made Stelle wonder if it might have something to do with the missing Idrila.
Stelle didn't dwell on the matter. She noticed the woman ahead holding up a hand, seemingly carrying something.
It looked like a plate.
Combined with the information she had gotten from Asta earlier, this person was probably eating pastries.
Though she was only seeing her from behind, Stelle was already certain.
This beautiful older sister in front of her was probably Ruan Mei.
After all, while the average appearance level in this universe was strangely high, there were still some people who stood out exceptionally. At least, that had been Stelle's experience.
Sometimes this strange phenomenon made people suspect that this universe might actually be the world of a comic, anime, or game.
But if she returned to her earlier idea, then it wasn't strange.
Under the influence of certain things, people became better-looking. At the same time, those who were already attractive became even more attractive.
In short, based on her unique presence and appearance... or, in other words, how completely different her style felt from everyone around her... Stelle concluded that the woman before her was Ruan Mei.
As a tester of the Simulated Universe, she could be considered one of the partners in the project no matter what. Stelle planned to go over and greet her.
However, Stelle had only raised her hand and had not yet spoken when Ruan Mei turned around. This expressionless woman had apparently already noticed her.
And very suddenly, she reached out and lifted Stelle's chin with a finger.
Stelle was startled by the action and froze in place.
Her gaze first landed on Ruan Mei's snow-white neck and pearl necklace, then she noticed the pastry crumbs at the corner of Ruan Mei's mouth.
Ruan Mei did not speak. Only the fingertip touching Stelle's skin seemed to have something lingering around it.
At first meeting, the impression she gave Stelle was that of an older sister who wasn't good at interacting with people, so she rarely showed expressions and seemed slightly airheaded.
But now, recalling what Herta had said, Stelle felt that first impression was not reliable.
Even so, the helpful little Stellaron baby thoughtfully pointed out the food crumbs at the corner of Ruan Mei's mouth.
After wiping away the crumbs, Ruan Mei smiled and spoke.
"Hello. I hope I didn't scare you."
Ruan Mei's voice was very pleasant. It was gentle but carried a cool sense of distance. There was also a soft rustling quality to it, like the warm palm of a hand gently stroking a small animal. Her tone gave the impression that her emotions were very stable.
Then Ruan Mei explained her sudden contact.
"It's a habit from my work. Through touch, I open my senses and let the details of life flow into my mind. It helps me understand your biological structure.
"This is the foundation of deconstruction and reconstruction. Don't be nervous. You're very healthy... a perfect experimental sample. I like perfect experimental samples."
Stelle blinked where she stood and showed a faint smile.
What Ruan Mei said was pleasant to hear, but wasn't there something a little strange about it?
Then again, Herta and Screwllum also said things that sounded a little strange. Perhaps this was a shared quirk among geniuses?
Stelle sensed something subtle in Ruan Mei's words.
And while she was thinking about whether that subtle thing was actually normal, two barks suddenly sounded out.
"Woof! Woof!"
"What are you two doing here?"
It wasn't Arlan's voice.
Stelle paused for a moment, then looked down and found Nero walking Peppy.
Peppy still liked Nero quite a bit. Whenever Nero came back and had time, he would take over dog-walking duty.
"We're..." Stelle thought for a moment, unsure how to describe the scene, and answered, "Meeting for the first time. This is Ms. Ruan Mei, one of the developers of the Simulated Universe."
"Oh~"
Nero made a meaningless sound and then looked up at Ruan Mei.
Seeing her in person in this universe, she seemed even prettier than her game model and somehow felt gentler as well.
At that moment, Ruan Mei was also looking at Nero with curiosity.
She had long heard about Nero from Herta. During the Swarm Disaster test, he had also caused quite a stir.
She was very interested in this boy whom Herta had judged to be "the revived Aeon of Beauty."
It was her first time seeing him from such a close distance.
Ruan Mei narrowed her eyes and admitted inwardly that the boy before her was unbelievably beautiful. He also seemed to emit some kind of inexplicable influence that made her think of the times she ate pastries as a child.
Was this special biological field-like effect caused by the Fragment of Beauty?
And that white hair looked very smooth. His eyelashes were beautiful as well. His face appeared fair, tender, and smooth.
Among everyone she had ever met, she could not find skin with a texture comparable to this. Those gray eyes were beautiful too, exceptionally clear, and she could almost clearly see her own reflection in them.
They were practically like mirrors...
The information gathered through observation and the data produced by instinctive analysis gradually filled Ruan Mei's mind.
After thinking for a moment, she reached out a hand.
This child looked completely unguarded.
Why not take this opportunity to understand what kind of life structure this body possessed?
Just as Ruan Mei expected, when she reached out and placed her hand on the boy's head, she encountered no resistance.
He obediently stood still, as if waiting for her to place her hand there.
Putting everything else aside, the feeling was really quite good.
Soft and fluffy.
'It feels like osmanthus cake...'
'No, wait, what am I doing...!?'
Seeing Ruan Mei suddenly reach out and rub Nero's head, Stelle couldn't help curling her lips upward into a strangely proud smile.
As expected, Nero's charm was greater.
Even a genius like this couldn't resist rubbing his head.
Even though the matter had absolutely nothing to do with Stelle, she smiled as though it were her own achievement.
But in the next moment, as she watched the interaction between the two, Stelle froze.
Because she suddenly saw Ruan Mei's expression change.
On that usually expressionless face, emotions like "self-doubt" and "panic" appeared for an instant.
Then, in the next moment, the expression turned into "excitement" for 0.02 seconds before rapidly returning to its usual cold look.
But in the following instant, Ruan Mei's expression suddenly went blank.
Her body also froze at that moment.
Then Ruan Mei quickly pulled back her hand and stared at Nero in shock.
Nero looked at Ruan Mei in confusion.
As someone who had played through this part of the story, he naturally knew what kind of person Ruan Mei was inside.
Because of that, he was very curious about what had caused such a reaction from her.
If nothing unexpected had happened, Ruan Mei had probably used her ability just now to investigate his life structure.
So...
What exactly had this genius seen to make such an expression appear?
In Nero's view, making Ruan Mei's expression waver like this was about as shocking as seeing Screwllum curse someone out with extremely filthy language.