“What is it, KC?” Chengxiao began, noticing the silence in our transmission channel. “Got something to say?”

“…Ah, never mind.” I reply, “It’s nothing.”

I realize that without enough information of my own, I’ll probably only get in the way of the girls in the future.

On the way to Chao, I’ll take some time to look around and learn more about this world.

Turning off the mic, I laid back on my seat and asked Uzzu a question.

“What kind of place is Hub Influx-3A? Also, put your answer on the group chat, if you can.”

Bringing up the conversation window,

Uzzu: Hub Influx-3A is a Gate Space Station orbiting the gas planet Xetune, and one of the only two GSSs in Turi-Nur for public use.

Uzzu: It is a medium-sized metropolitan colony with a population of 31% Human, 19% Gray, 15% Shaen, and the remaining 35% comprising other sentient species.

Uzzu: The station oversees and regulates the trade of Xetune’s food manufacture industry, as well as the tourism of its nutrient-rich atmosphere.

You: ‘Tourism of its nutrient-rich atmosphere’, huh.

It was in the middle of the afternoon, according to my ship’s systems. As expected, I was starting to feel a little hungry.

Exy: Maybe I should drop by there sometime, once my shift is done.

Yeonjung: Do they sift the nutrients out of the atmosphere and turn it into food? I’d like to see that 😮

Yeoreum: We’ll send a pic if we get the time to.

Luda: I’d like some proper food for once, the energy bars that came with my ship were terrible. 😫

Luda: Also, Uzzu, how does the flow in quantum-entangled remote circuits work? Do I need special consideration for the power source?

Uzzu: In quantum-entangled sets, the only special components are the packets to seal the paired electrons, and the connectors that bridge them to…

Uzzu proceeded to spam several paragraphs of technical jargon into the group chat. Luda must have forgotten that she was typing her question here.

Uzzu: …However, assembling quantum sets beyond the scale of powering simple technology depends on many more spatial variables than I can explain.

Uzzu: I recommend that you refer to the energy transport industry for further information. Contact the relevant people to access a copy to read.

Luda: Okay, thanks.

Bona: Just looking at the walls of text is already hurting my head 😵

Xuanyi: Maybe leave the difficult questions out of the group next time, Luda 😅

Luda: My bad, unnies 🙏

I closed the chat window and moved over into the crew quarters.

So Uzzu will hint to where we can get more detailed information on our own. That certainly helps.

My train of thought continued as I began cleaning up the room. Sorting my things into the storage room next door, I also looked for those energy bars Luda had in her ship.

I found a couple of them, packed in a flat foil and white plastic cover. Unwrapping one revealed a chunk of cocoa and a selection of nuts and oats, covered in what looked like honey.

It’s not that different from real life, is it?

I finished eating the ration in two or three minutes. It was alright, not unlike the brands you could find in a convenience store.

I looked out of the window and saw Meiqi’s Indomitable 10 and Yeoreum’s Indignant 11 cruising with my own ship.

The slender red spacecraft soared above the sleeker, silver-grey one, both ships gentle yet valiant in their flight.

I could tell that they were on autopilot, and I believe Xiao’s ship should be as well.

What were the three of them doing right now?

We chose to stay in our ships this trip to give ourselves time to rest… but it gets a little lonely by myself after all.

WJSN was in the middle of promotions right now, so I could still see them in events even if this chance to play HF with them didn't happen.

It's only the first day and I already had so many moments with the girls: Meeting up with Xiao in Point Galileo, saving Yeoreum from the Daecigas, even fighting alongside Meiqi to get a broken ship flying again before we got overwhelmed by a horde of scary monsters.

Still, even as the three of them were beside me and the others just a message away, I still find myself missing them, wanting to meet them again.

I want to experience everything in this world with them, my favourite people. Go through good and bad times together, make wonderful memories, get closer to them through the times we spent together.

I guess that makes me an Ujung, if nothing else.

Looks like I'll have to work harder to make the most of this moment.

I opened the chat window and fiddled with some settings, and—

System: Group ‘Untitled’ created.

System: Group ‘Untitled’ renamed ‘The Icy Four’

You: Hi guys~

Meiqi: Oh, KC. What’s up?

Yeoreum: A group with just the four of us? Is something happening?

You: Nah, nothing serious.

You: Just wanted to know what you think about your own ship.

Chengxiao: Well, all three of you were on mine, so I think everyone knows what it’s like.

Yeoreum: KC and Meiqi’s been on mine as well.

You: I see… I mean, your personal thoughts, or wishes? IDK

Meiqi: Are you feeling lonely, KC?

You: …Yeah, sorry.

Meiqi: Don’t be. I know what it’s like myself.

The girls didn’t have a problem tagging along with me as we chatted the rest of the trip.

Maybe I should get the voice upgrade to my comms plugin, so I can make voice calls in the future…

---

The bright clouds of Xetune appeared brighter and more vivid, alternating bands of brown, orange and green grazing our view as we approached the gas planet hosting the Gate Space Station.

The installations that kept Hub Influx-3A operational also came into view, the massive extensions ashen with fuel and cosmic dust slowly turning to keep the space station in rotation.

I the transmission and confirmed our plans.

“Chengxiao and Meiqi, you two are going straight for the portal, right?”

“Yeah,” Xiao answered, “It’s been great riding with you two, but I’m sure we’ll meet again soon.”

I can’t help thinking that the last few words were directed at me.

“Hope you meet up with Eunseo soon, KC.” Meiqi added, “Send her my regards.”

“Mine too,” Xiao chimed in.

“The group chat’s right there… Nevermind, I will.”

We decided to part ways here, me and Yeoreum setting foot on Influx-3A while the other two girls move on to their next destination.

Separation is always a little painful, but it’s part of the cycle of life.

We said our farewells, and I steered the Wandering 14 towards the nearest landing point in the space station.

Yeoreum followed behind me as we entered the wispy blue atmosphere of the city closest to us.

The cityscape looked more futuristic and brighter than the grungy, neon Erinome Epsilon.

Blimps and other floating ships floated across its skies in a carefree manner as our ships gradually descended.

As we approached what looked like an airport in the middle of a clearing, the introductory message of the city appeared on my HUD.

‘Welcome to Tranquil Lakes, Residential Sector of Hub Influx-3A!’

“I don’t think we’ll find much trouble here.” I spoke to Yeoreum through the channel.

“Hope we’ll find what we need.” She answered.

We touched down in a well-kept hangar and went out of our ships, a breeze of what felt like spring air touching our cheeks.

The process to grant entry to Tranquil Lakes went smoothly and we were at the arrival terminal before long.

“If there’s a place as modern as this in real life, I won’t mind staying there for a few days.” Yeoreum commented.

I nodded to her words, myself basking in the scenery of the place around us.

As a ‘residential’ area, there weren’t as many high-rise buildings around, but the few there were had a cutting-edge architecture made with building materials that could alter their properties to adapt to the situation. Most of them were white and sky blue in colour, with highlights of green and darker blue in certain places.

I asked the reception where we could get parts for our ship and sell our… ‘trophies’, for credits.

The person who tended to me was an elderly woman in uniform that matched the airport’s caerulean colour scheme.

“For interstellar trade, the nearest city that handles explorer requests is Cobalt Heights, half an hour by rail from here. Here’s the directions to the nearest station…”

So we’re traveling on the ground as well. This is going to take some time.

You: We’re going to take around two hours or so to replenish and upgrade our stuff, Eunseo. I’ll get you the Lemon Stardust here as well.

Eunseo: Alright, something’s come up with my previous job as well, so our schedules should match up after I’m done.

Job, huh?

The two of us headed to the station and boarded the next train that went to our destination, an overhead monorail line that went through a few platforms before the open countryside view revealed itself.

The fare system interacted directly with our systems, which was convenient.

---

We left the train once it arrived to Cobalt Heights, and made our way into the city.

The multitude of high-rise buildings shared the white and blue design of Tranquil Lakes, giving the city a feeling of spaciousness despite its high density of people. Crowds of humans and aliens moved along the streets and LED signboards showed advertisements of fashion, skincare, and automobile products above the city’s roofs, as well as on its glassy walls.

“It looks like we can get lost easily here, Yeoreum.” I suggest, “…Should we link arms or something?”

Wait, what was I saying?

Before I could explain,

“Sure.” Yeoreum agreed without missing a beat. Her right hand reached for my left and she pulled me along the walkway that led into what looked like a luxury shopping mall.

The two of us walked around the mall and found someone working at a travel agency, an alien that looked like the Martians from classic sci-fi movies wearing a cap with the words ‘Ben’s Travels’ on it.

This time, it was Yeoreum that approached to ask the question.

“I’m sorry, we’re a little lost. Do you know where we can get parts for our spaceships and get parts from our hunt appraised here?” She began,

“Don’t worry, dear, I’m happy to help,” The attendant answered as they put their paperwork away. They had a feminine voice, but I’d rather not take the risk and assume.

“You should find what you need at the Exchange Centre. Your ships are personal spacecrafts, right? Not military or commercial frigates?”

We nodded.

“Then that’s the place to go to. Just take this street, go left at the second intersection—”

As if remembering something, they brought up what looked like a home phone charger and placed it in front of us.

“We actually provide maps for personal navigation systems here in Ben’s Travels. For a city like Cobalt Heights… I think we can put it on the house.”

They offered us the service with a smile.

“Really? Thank you!” I expressed my gratitude.

The attendant directed us to bring up a system window as they began operating the device.

A prompt appeared on my screen to begin syncing map data, which I accepted.

Yeoreum approved hers as well, and the process was finished in less than a minute.

Thanking them once again, we left the agency and headed for the Exchange Centre a few blocks away.

It took us ten minutes on foot to reach the building, but the atmosphere of the city was pleasant so I didn’t end up as tired as I thought.

The Exchange Centre was a huge marketplace, with more than fifteen floors each filled to the brim with people of various trades. Stores ranged from single space stalls to full-blown department outlets, and the Centre itself opened 24 hours a day.

Not wasting any time, we went into the building and rode the escalator to the 10th floor, where specialists dealing in monster parts resided.

A vendor called out to us as soon as we arrived onto the floor,

“Selling mineral elemental parts, friend? Our prices are trustworthy and you will not be disappointed!”

I ignored him and tried to walk away, but Yeoreum responded to him with a question.

“Do you know where we can sell Daeciga parts around here?”

Hearing her words, the seller went silent for a few seconds.

“Daecigas…” He muttered, then turned back to us, “I know a seller.”

He called over a person that was probably his assistant, and asked him to bring us over to another store.

As we followed him, I noticed that his eyes had a different lustre to that of usual humans.

“That left eye of yours, what is it?” I casually asked.

“Appraisal cybernetics, sir. Essential for us to analyze minerals to make sure they’re genuine.”

“I see.”

Cybernetics, huh? There must be a whole trade all to itself for that.

We reached what looked like a chemical store, and the assistant began to leave us.

“Is this the right place?” I called out to him.

“Yes, it is, sir.” He answered, “Just ask for Mr Naim and he will take care of the rest.”

---

We entered the store to find out that no one was in it, the bubbling apparatus filled with unknown chemicals left unsupervised. All sorts of vials and pills were lined up in glass cabinets, and the store itself was lit up with a dark blue light.

“Mr Naim?” Yeoreum spoke up.

Not three seconds later, a sound of falling boxes could be heard from the back of the store, and a person with disheveled hair strutted out in a lab coat. He looked like a young adult in age, and wore a casual smile as he faced us.

“Yes, how can I help you?”

“We’re looking to sell Daeciga parts,” I continued, “And someone directed us to you?”

His expression turned to excitement.

“You have Daeciga parts!?” He ecstatically asked us, “Do you have their spikes intact?”

“Yeah, I think they’re not even pulled out from the body yet,” Yeoreum responded.

“That’s great!” He cheered. Trying to calm himself, he began, “I should introduce myself, first.”

“I am Mr Assaudy Naim, working scientist studying biological systems and their effective culture. I am particularly interested in the exertive bacteria found naturally on Thohiri’s arctic environment.”

“Exertive bacteria?” I asked,

“That’s right! Exertive bacterial species are the organisms responsible for Thohiri’s living ice phenomenon, moving its crystal structure towards sources of food in a heavily evolved form of quorum sensing!”

I lost track of what he was saying midway through the sentence. Yeoreum’s eyes told me she had no idea either.

“You have whole Daeciga specimens with you, right? I’ll make some space in the shop, please take them out.”

Assaudy moved a central glass cabinet filled with flasks out of the way as we took out the slain monsters out of our inventory and lined them up inside the shop. He flipped the sign on the entrance to show that the shop was closed, and examined our kills.

We had one body each, a total of two hunted Daecigas.

As he examined the spikes still attached to his body, I saw a logo on his lab coat: a green and yellow leaf overlapping a golden crest and a blue globe.

I asked Uzzu in private what that logo was.

Uzzu: That is the logo of the Vernier Interstellar Academy, Astronaut.

Uzzu: It doesn’t have as prestigious a history compared to other human and sentient institutions, but the student body and teaching is remarkable.

Uzzu: The research that has come out of their diverse set of laboratories is certainly up there with the best of them.

I see. Seeing as he was from such a background, I felt a little more assured that he knew what he was doing.

He finished his investigation and turned back to us.

“Ten intact Daeciga cryosecretors! This is great!” He exclaimed.

“Do people not come here with these guys that often?” I asked Assaudy, motioning to the beasts in front of us.

“No sensible explorer will go up against a pack of these monsters on their own. The people that usually hunt them already belonged to a faction, so very few actually reach the market.” He replied.

“I see,” Yeoreum chimed in. As her eyes met mine, “We’d like to sell the entire Daeciga, if possible, not just the spikes. Can you get a rate for us?”

“No problem, I can take the entire thing and pay you a fair price for them. I have my own contacts and they’ll definitely find a use for the leather and whatnot.”

“Are they useful to us explorers in any way?” I added. “If we can save a few materials for them it’ll be great.”

“You won’t find anyone that can work on them anywhere on Influx-3A, unfortunately.” Assaudy apologetically said.

“Tell you what,” He took out several pieces of card and wrote down on them. “Here are the people I know who works with Daecigas. They’ll actually be the one to receive your materials, so as long as you tell them the code word they’ll know that it was you who provided them the beasts.”

Giving five cards each to me and Yeoreum,

“The code word is ‘Christmas Eve’. If they ask what it means, say that it was the ‘bestest day’ of our lives.”

We stored them in our inventory as the scientist carefully excised the cryosecretors from the monsters’ bodies.

“I actually only need four of them for now. As for the rest… How about I refine them into something good for you?”

“Oh? What is it?” I was curious about what he could do.

“It’s a bit of a prototype tech from my lab team back on Vernier. Don’t worry, we’ll only patent the final version, so you can use these ones freely.”

“Alright then, let’s do it.”

The two of us agreed to the deal.

---

Assaudy needed around ten or so minutes to process everything, so we left his store and looked around for other things to buy. The whole transaction actually netted us quite a sum of credits, so as long as we don’t buy too many mid-grade parts we should be good for a while.

Yeoreum wanted to go to the spacecraft section, so I accompanied her there to look for my own stuff.

After several shops, both of us ended up with quite a few upgrades to the cannons, as well as a shield extension that allowed our ships to survive in extreme environments.

I also took the time to secure Eunseo’s Lemon Stardust, and both of us could upgrade our comms plugin with all sorts of features without a hitch.

“Hello?” Yeoreum’s face filled my chat window as she waved at me, “Looks like everything works fine, how about you?”

“Good on my side as well.” I answer.

The two of us weren’t even a few metres apart. We were testing out the video call function while walking out of the previous section, making our way back to the escalator.

“You know,” I suddenly began, “We did pass by the Xetune’s specialty food area on the way here, right?”

Yeoreum’s eyes practically shined as she heard my words.

“I was waiting until we were done to go there! Can we drop by, KC!?”

Both her hands were pulling on my arm as she pleaded for us to go there in her charming voice.

“You didn’t need to ask for my permission, Yeoreum.” I awkwardly replied, “I’m interested, anyway. Let’s go!”

“Let’s go!” She echoed my words as we pretty much raced each other to the place.

The entire store, a large outlet, was filled with numerous kinds of confectionery, almost like a giant snack bar where all kinds of sweets were sold.

However, the smell that reached our noses told us otherwise. There were the usual suspects of chocolate, honey and caramel, as well as a wide selection of fruits.

However, there were also scents that belonged more proper, complete meals. The fragrance of well-cooked meat, vegetables and soup permeated the store as well, all belonging to a wide variety of ration samples, opened from their packs for us to enjoy.

As I sunk my teeth into my fifth sample, I turned to look at Yeoreum enjoying a ration that contained all the goodness of what looked to be a cutlet dish, featuring a meat not found on Earth in real life. Her smile as she enjoyed the food melted my heart as I thanked myself for following her into this store.

As she reached to eat another product, this time a can of self-heating broth, I took out my system window and recorded a video of her as she gulped down mouthfuls of the savoury stew.

Making sure the recording came out right,

You: Looks like Xetune’s food is Yeoreum Certified™, guys 😆

Yeoreum: Aaah, KC!!

Exy: Oh man, that looks so good 😢

You: It is! You should definitely try it.

Dawon: I saw a shop selling them on the city I landed in, maybe I should take a look.

Meiqi: …Maybe I should have stayed for a bit after all 😩

Xuanyi: I think I saw a few stores myself; I’ll make sure to get some for the two of you 😉

Chengxiao: Thanks, jiejie.

WJSN’s enthusiasm for food is as admirable as ever.

We bought more than enough rations and packs to survive the three days we have in this game, and left the store with a full stomach.

---

“Here it is!” Assaudy brought out six containers in front of us, after we returned to his shop.

Inside each one was a crystal structure, surrounded by blue liquid which filled three-quarters of the container.

“What is it?” Yeoreum explained.

“Heheh, allow me to explain,” The scientist triumphantly began.

“These are six portions of primed exertive bacteria, kept alive by the scaffold that I made from your Daeciga cryosecretors.”

He then took a smaller vial of the same fluid and poured it over a pail of sand.

After a few seconds, we saw something moving inside it.

…Coming out of the pail was actually a humanoid constructed out of sand! After struggling, it climbed out of the container and went to Assaudy’s side.

“These golems are controlled by the exertive bacteria, and they will stay animate for three hours!” He continued.

“They will obey your orders and serve you until the time limit, or if something destroys them with energy or heat.”

Colour me impressed. A golem constructing liquid? Imagine what it’ll be like with metal or stone!

“They’ll only work with solid phase material, but that should be good enough for you. We’re working on making the fluid reusable for our final version, so you can tell how excited I am.”

He thanked us with a grin,

“Daeciga cryosecretors are hard to come by, and Thohiri is too dangerous for us to keep making trips to. Your contributions will help our team progress our research! …Of course, if you want stakes in our patent, that’s another story.”

“Nah, that’s too much of a hassle.” I reassured him. Yeoreum also nodded in agreement.

“So here you go!” He pushed the containers towards us. “Three each. You can use a bit of one container over several occasions, but you’ll have to eyeball the size of the golem you get out of it.”

“Thank you,” I accepted his creation and stored them in my inventory.

The description that showed up gave them the name ‘Assaudine Solution (x3)’.

Wait.

I turned to him and asked, “You’re the lead scientist?”

“That’s right.” He was embarrassed. “A heavy responsibility to be given to a student without his own income, but they put their trust in me. I’ll make sure I complete the project I started!”

“Good luck,” I cheered him on.

He nodded silently. After finishing up everything, he sent us off as we left the Exchange Centre.

“He’s quite a nice man,” I said to Yeoreum.

“A little unkempt, but the resolve in his eyes was strong.” She responded.

Given the massive scale of Hyperspace Frontier, it was highly unlikely that the devs personally created each and every one of its characters’ stories by hand, not least an obscure shopkeeper at the back of a marketplace. The AI that generated this world must be really powerful.

Having gotten everything we needed, we boarded the train and made our way back to Tranquil Lakes.

---

[Day 1, Evening]

I was gazing out of the train windows into the grassland when a notification came.

“Oh?” Yeoreum piped up, “It looks like Dayoung’s online!”

“Oof” I quickly brought up the chat window.

Dayoung: Exy unnie 😭 Bona unnie 😭 where is everybodyyyy 😭😭😭

Exy: There, there, Dayoung. Tell us what happened.

Bona: Is something wrong, Dayoung? Did you get injured?

Dayoung: Some weird snake things attacked me when I woke up, I ran away and now I don’t know where I am 😭

You: Can you make it back to your ship, Dayoung? Where are you on your planet?

Dayoung: Ship? Planet?

Dayoung: I dunno any of those things guysss 😭😭

Bona: I think we should make another group for Dayoung.

Exy: Alright, give me a moment.

It looks like the two of them will help Dayoung out of her predicament.

…How did she manage to repair her comms, anyway?

Not bothering to think about it any deeper, I shook off my weariness as the monorail approached the Tranquil Lakes station.

“Looks like Dayoung’s come into trouble as well,” Yeoreum said, a look of concern in her eyes.

“Hmm” I pondered in thought.

“But it’ll be alright,” the girl seated across me reassured, “The unnies are there to help her, and she’s always been the kind of girl to get through these situations on her own.”

“If you say it like that, I guess it’s fine.” I answer.

DaReum is love, DaReum is life. Thank you God for letting me see this moment.

I thought to myself.

---

The departure process went by without problems, and our ships left Tranquil Lakes after a few minutes.

Leaving the vicinity of Hub Influx-3A, we could see the cityscape of Cobalt Heights near the horizon.

The two regions only composed like one-fifths of the colony? And that includes the countryside as well.

If this was a ‘medium-sized’ metropolitan station, I wonder what a ‘large’ one will look like.

As I approached the portal located well away from Influx-3A, I opened the transmission channel.

My heart was warm, without a trace of worry from this afternoon.

I spoke into my mic.

“You’re coming with me, right?”

The Indignant 11 brought itself forward and cruised to the right side of my ship.

I could almost see the girl inside, smiling at me.

“Why ask a question you know the answer to?”

I laid back in my seat, heaving a sigh of relief.

“…Thanks, Yeoreum.”

“No problem.”

It was true that I had to study more about this world, to become more helpful to the girls if I come across them.

But that didn’t mean I had to do the learning alone.

Walking hand in hand, as we experience all that the world has to offer;

I think that’s a nice journey to walk on.

The authority person snapped me out of my daydream and asked where I was going.

I answer them, and our ships set off.