Countless firearms coalesced behind Kaito, restructuring into a colossal cannon muzzle.
Bang!
As his lips parted slightly, specks of light swirled around the barrel like a swarm of fireflies gathering at the mouth of the gun—until the moment of discharge, when the world turned a blinding, stark white.
Amidst the violent roar, a cluster of arrows as dazzling as drifting petals simultaneously pierced through his chest. As Kaito caught a final glimpse of the city-wide field of experience points he'd never get to collect, a torrent of mental curses erupted instantly.
"Don't let me find out you're that boss!!! You bastard!"
Disconnecting from the game, Kaito felt a heavy, groggy sensation in his body. He assumed it was just the result of being too deeply immersed in the neural link. He pulled off the helmet... only to find his "plus-sized" sister sitting right on top of him. His train of thought stalled.
"We've lived together for so long, Sis... surely you're not making a move on me now?"
His voice trembled. My god, even if they weren't blood-related, after all these years of living together, he didn't have a single romantic thought about Elysia. He was the one who brought her toilet paper when she ran out; he'd seen her at her absolute messiest over the years.
Elysia's gaze was gloomy. Lately, she had been having a series of strange yet incredibly vivid dreams—ranging from traveling the world to the Twelve Herrschers, ending with the Finality being beaten and humiliated.
And she didn't know if it was a mental health issue, but her sense of time within the dreams was becoming severely distorted; her waking hours during the day seemed to vanish in the blink of an eye.
Perhaps it was because Kaito was always annoying her that so many bosses in her dreams shared his face. Looking at that face now, she felt an uncontrollable urge to throw a punch.
Was it really just a dream? But why did it feel so real?
"Sis?"
Kaito dropped the joking act and quickly reached out to check her forehead. She didn't have a fever, but he couldn't rule out other illnesses.
"I'm fine." Elysia leaned to the side, finally getting off the boy.
"Did someone upset you?"
Kaito sat up and naturally took her arm, trying to cheer her up—even though Elysia was usually the one playing the role of the "happy pill."
"Yes."
Elysia's tone was eerie. Moreover, that bastard had been provoking her for years; every time she killed him, he'd just return shortly after as a new Herrscher to keep causing trouble.
"Who?! I'll go teach them a lesson!"
Kaito immediately pledged his loyalty, fearing that if he were too slow, his sister would add it to her mental grudge-list.
Elysia lowered her eyes. "You."
Kaito pointed at himself, bewildered. "Me?"
"You made me angry in my dream."
Kaito: "..."
"Huh?"
Kaito gestured helplessly, nearly dropping to his knees. Sis, please don't do this. Save this move for your future boyfriend, okay? I haven't been in a relationship in either of my two lives; I really can't handle this kind of drama.
"Let's go eat."
Elysia seemed to have lost her usual spark; she felt completely drained of energy.
Kaito genuinely didn't know how to comfort her. No, seriously, Sis, don't pull this. We know everything about each other. If we actually ended up together, I'd be under your thumb forever. I'm still young!
Dinner was takeout, of course—ordered by Kaito himself.
Out of habit, he flipped his fried egg onto Elysia's plate before starting on his chili-sauce noodles... his noodle-mixing skills were top-tier!
"Do you have work these next few days?"
Elysia kept poking the fried egg with her chopsticks until it broke, thoroughly mixing it into the noodles.
"Barring any surprises, I'll be busy with a new project for a while," Kaito said hesitantly. "But I can take time off. Sis, if there's really something on your mind, you don't have to keep it from me."
He felt like Elysia had been acting strange lately. Had she been played by some jerk? Or maybe backstabbed by a "bestie"?
Hmph, Kaito knew that people from different social classes couldn't be true friends. Someone of Eden's stature and someone like his sister—they moved in completely different worlds, right?
"I want to go on a trip."
Kaito: "..."
A vacation to clear her head?
"Can it wait a bit? We just launched the new project; 'vacation' isn't exactly a great excuse for leave right now."
"Or how about you go out and explore first, and I'll join you in a while?"
If she were being bullied or wronged, Kaito figured he could grit his teeth and demand the time off. But his sister getting moody over a dream and wanting to go on a trip? He didn't even have the confidence to say that out loud to his boss.
"A while later, then."
Elysia didn't push it. Though she loved being willful and acting spoiled, she knew Kaito had his own career now.
After dinner, Kaito didn't go back to gaming. Instead, he went through the general plot of Honkai again, specifically taking notes on the background lore that had been glossed over.
"Is the new project related to Honkai?"
Elysia leaned against the doorway, quietly watching Kaito work. Lately, she'd developed a bit of a "trigger response" to the word Honkai, to the point where she couldn't stay as calm as usual.
"Yeah. The new project is likely about the Previous Era of Honkai."
Kaito replied casually. In a sense, this was confidential information, but there were no secrets between family.
"But Boss Bronya's past ideas seem to have a lot of contradictions... ugh, players have been complaining about them for years. I'm gathering them now to see if I can patch those holes in the prequel."
"After all, that's what we world-building planners are for."
He laughed helplessly. He remembered his sister used to be quite fond of the IP Bronya created—especially those "wholesome yuri" plotlines.
"Is the new plot still going to be about 'wholesome vibes'?"
Elysia leaned in, scanning the areas Kaito had highlighted. This kid still had such a penchant for grand spectacles and bloody destruction.
"...Not exactly."
"We're planning to emphasize the destructive power of the Herrschers. We're completely cutting out all their tender, humanizing scenes and making them strictly the antagonists of humanity."
"The point of the Previous Era's existence is to take the 'wholesome vibes' of the current Honkai IP and show that they are the result of the previous generation's sacrifices—the world that the successors get to live in because of their ancestors' dreams."
Kaito continued explaining. Since they were going for a "subverted contrast," the Previous Era couldn't have any sympathetic Herrschers—unless that sympathy was a disguise.
Elysia's head began to spin. It sounded so familiar, so similar to the themes in her dreams.
"Do you have to do it that way?" She covered her forehead.
"We have to make a breakthrough, after all. And the easiest way to get players to empathize is through tragic heroes."
Kaito smiled, accustomed to his sister's occasional bouts of sentimentality. That was just who Elysia was.
"If—and I mean if—" her voice suddenly hitched with a slight sob, "if the numbers in the game were actually real human lives?"
She truly couldn't forget everything from the dreams. Those monsters... they seemed to treat the destruction of the world as nothing more than a fun game.
Kaito hesitated. "Uh, it's just a game, Sis. If game content could become real, then the 'Blue Pill' would definitely exist too."
"In that case, I'd just take the Blue Pill, go in there, and punch the boss into oblivion for you, okay?"
He spoke with total conviction.
But Elysia kept her hand over her forehead as her vision began to blur.
"You really are quite high-and-mighty, aren't you, dear?"
Kaito suddenly felt something was off. Why did the room feel so... cold?