Rebirth: The Universe's Hidden Heiress-Chapter 77: The Gate

"You know about the Gate?" Tanaka asked in surprise, reassessing Yuka. He pondered silently for a while, and just when Yuka thought he wouldn’t answer her question, Tanaka finally spoke, "I need to talk to you alone for a second."

Ayoi immediately breathed a sigh of relief, ran to the side. She walked in front of Yuka, shielding her from the prying eyes and ears of passersby. She had long been anxious about facing Tanaka, for his serious demeanor making her nervous.

Tanaka then turned to Kimiko and said, "You go out too."

Kimiko had been curious about the Gate and wanted to resist, but meeting Tanaka’s gaze, she lacked the courage to eavesdrop and quietly left the room, head bowed.

"Alright, now I’ll answer your question," Tanaka said, pushing his glasses up. "But you must promise me that you won’t mention what I’m about to say to anyone."

Yuka nodded, "Okay."

"To explain the Gate, I first need to mention another thing," Tanaka leaned closer to the camera, his presence overwhelming. He softly asked Yuka, "Do you know about [Wormhole Jumping]?"

Yuka frowned, "Wormholes? What does that have to do with the Queen?"

"The wormhole isn’t much related to the Queen. In the ancient era, a great scientist once proposed this concept: wormholes are narrow tunnels in the universe potentially connecting two different spacetimes. Through wormholes, we humans can achieve time travel," Tanaka explained, immersed in his thoughts, not noticing Yuka’s pupils dilate momentarily.

Yuka paused in her steps.

She steadied her mind and continued walking, "And then?"

"Do you know how spaceships travel in the universe?" Tanaka shifted the topic, answering his question, "Spaceships travel by using stable wormholes found in the universe to jump through space, reaching destinations at the fastest speed."

"Strangely, all the stable wormholes discovered so far end at Capital Octoxis, the home planet of the ancient civilization, also known as Imperial Nexus."

Tanaka continued, "However, all the wormholes we’ve found can only achieve spatial jumps, not temporal ones."

"Until the Gate appeared."

"It can traverse both time and space."

Tanaka sighed, "The name ’the Gate’ was given by the dean of the Alliance’s Science Academy who first discovered it. But later, we preferred to call it Pandora’s Box, as it brought near-catastrophic disasters to humanity... Also, for some reason, the Gate has always been closed throughout history. We’ve only observed it opening twice. The first time..."

"The Insectoid Queen appeared," Yuka said, her voice trembling slightly but quickly recovering.

"Yes," Tanaka replied. "But the second time was strange, it was a light orb. I’m not a core researcher, so I didn’t have the clearance to examine it closely. But I heard that the thing from the second opening disappeared without causing much attention."

Yuka asked with downcast eyes, "Then why did the Gate suddenly open?"

"I don’t know," Tanaka said. "But we all agree that nothing happens for no reason, right? The Queen and the light orb must have their own logic for coming to this world. There are too many mysteries in the universe that humans might never fully understand in their lifetimes. Don’t get too caught up in these questions; others will find the answers eventually."

Yuka looked up, "I understand, thank you."

Tanaka nodded, then ended the communication.

Yuka covered her heart.

The strong beating confirmed she was still alive. After a few seconds of stillness, she heard Ayoi calling her, "Yuka, we’re at the dormitory."

Yuka blinked, "Okay."

The butler, who had been silent, nuzzled Yuka’s hand, "I’m here with you, Master. Don’t be sad."

Yuka stroked its round head and gently hummed, "I’m not sad."

The closer she got to the truth, the more nervous Yuka felt. She even momentarily considered not going to the underground arena again, avoiding the answer to that question.

In her past life, she had weak talent and limited power. She was unable to practice most fighting skills and becoming the lowest in the martial society. She endured the muscle pain from over practicing night and day, defeating a genius knight with a hammer, and thus becoming renowned. In the end, however, she died at the hands of someone close.

Not everyone gets a second chance at life. With what she had now, she knew she should have been content.

Yet, she still yearned for more – a peaceful, comfortable, clear life, living happily with friends and family.

"Yuka, aren’t you coming in?" Ayoi peeked out.

"Just a moment," Yuka smiled at her.

...

In the weeks that followed, Yuka’s life at school was calm and uneventful.

Ever since she fainted that one time, her classmates would subtly bring it up when speaking to her, curious if she really fainted from fright at the sight of an insectoid.

To put an end to this, Yuka pretended to faint again when another student asked her about it, almost alarming Kenji. After that, everyone spoke to Yuka in hushed tones, fearing she might faint from shock.

Yuka played along, occasionally whitening her face and lips, coughing occasionally to feign illness, appearing fragile and delicate.

Ayoi and Alex were sometimes fooled by her act. They almost believed she was frail until they saw her winning matches in the underground arena, with just one arm.

Kenji, though he realized she was being dramatic again, didn’t bother her and let her deceive others.

Yuka was pleased with this; pretending to be weak didn’t hinder her from doing what she wanted and would make her life more enjoyable after switching her specialization.

On a pleasant Saturday, after leaving the underground arena, Yuka and her friends went out to eat. Alex, checking his opticomputer, announced, "Toru got accepted early into the Alliance Science Academy!"

"That’s amazing!" Ayoi applauded.

"He’s now the assistant to Dean Humphrey," Alex frowned.

Ayoi stopped clapping, "Ah? Should we still tell him about Humphrey?"

Before Yuka could respond, her opticomputer buzzed. She saw a new message from Kimiko, who hadn’t contacted her since she refused to share information about the Gate.

The message read, [Grandpa said he’s contacted his student. Tell us what kind of evidence you need now.]

Yuka pondered, touching the screen of her opticomputer, then told Alex, "I’ll talk to Toru."

She forwarded a message from their group chat to Toru. After a few minutes, Toru replied, "!!! I just smashed my opticomputer!"

"Is this true?!" Toru continued, "I’m not doubting you... I’m just shocked, like my world has collapsed!"

"I don’t know how to feel about him now, help! What should I do?" Toru asked.

Yuka replied, "I have a favor to ask of you."

"What do you need?" Toru asked eagerly. "Just say the word, and I’ll do my best to help!"

"Can you help me gather some evidence of Humphrey’s crimes?" Yuka inquired. freewebnσvel.cøm

"Ah, that might be difficult for me," Toru admitted, troubled. "I’m not great at hiding my emotions."

"What if someone inside the Alliance Science Academy could assist you?" Yuka suggested.

After a few seconds of thought, Toru agreed, "Okay."

He figured since he’d already be awkward around the dean, he might as well help Yuka in the process.

Yuka immediately shared her plan with Kimiko. After a while, Kimiko responded, "Grandpa said it’s gonna work. Here’s his student’s contact number. He advises you to be careful and not to rush, as there will be more opportunities."

Yuka promised and forwarded the contact number to Toru, "Thanks for helping me. Consider this repayment for when I saved you. You don’t owe me anything now."

Toru, eager to assist his lifesaver, replied promptly, "No thanks needed! But I heard that once I join the academy, I’ll be doing closed research with the dean, so I might only be able to contact you at the end of the term. Is it okay to update you then?"

"That’s fine," Yuka responded.

With another task off her list, Yuka felt more relaxed and asked Ayoi and Alex, "Shall we go? We’ll come back for more matches tomorrow."

"Um... maybe not," Alex said. "Yuka, did you forget? We have to attend the ball Donny invited us to tomorrow night."

Yuka had indeed forgotten.

She deactivated the butler’s shield, and the butler immediately exclaimed, "Quick, quick, quick, I need to do a deep facial treatment for you, master! You must be the most beautiful one tomorrow!"

"But I have to wear a mask to the place," Yuka pointed out.

The butler lamented, "Doesn’t matter! You have to be the most beautiful one! Even the mask should be the prettiest, I’ll buy one from the interstellarnet right now!"

Yuka, having no choice, told Ayoi and Alex, "Then let’s head back."

The next morning, Yuka woke up to the butler’s calls, her hair in tangles. Both she and Ayoi were pampered by the butler’s mechanical hands.

Ayoi, touching her face in surprise, exclaimed, "It really is smoother!"

She clumsily dressed in a light yellow midi skirt sent from home, and the butler, unable to bear the sight, perfected her look with a beautiful butterfly knot and a playful makeup suitable for her.

While Ayoi admired herself, Yuka, covering her forehead, asked the butler, "Can’t you change the color?"

The dress was a pink puffy skirt, and the mask was pink too. Yuka worried she would end up looking like a pink bubblegum.

Reluctantly, the butler found another dress for Yuka, this one with a touch of white.

Dressed in the delicate, low-cut puffy dress, Yuka stood before the butler, who beamed with satisfaction.

The butler tied a butterfly knot on the waistband that accentuated her figure and quickly applied a subtle makeup to Yuka.

The makeup did not hide Yuka’s natural beauty; instead, it highlighted her facial features even more.

Yuka blinked, looking at herself. She usually wore uniforms at school and opted for comfortable sportswear when going out. Other than the first day of school, Ayoi had never seen her in a dress.

According to Vivian, Yuka was underutilizing her good looks.

Now, with makeup and dressed in a skirt, Yuka’s beauty was striking, her good figure on full display. With a gentle smile towards Ayoi and the butler, the butler felt a surge of emotion: as long as Master Yuka wasn’t throwing punches, she was the most beautiful lady in the world!

Ayoi, dropping her mirror in astonishment, squealed, "Ah, ah, ah, you’re a princess!"

She was overwhelmed by Yuka’s appearance, ready to be her personal cheerleader, screaming for Yuka’s beauty every second of the day.

Just as Ayoi lunged towards her, Yuka swiftly grabbed a helmet and put it on, saying, "Alright, let’s go."

Both Ayoi and the butler stood there, thinking it was such a waste of her stunning look.