My Game Studio is Full of Valkyries?!

"..."

Elysia opened her mouth, then shut it tight again. She quickly took the tissue Hokuto handed her and covered her nose.

She kept pulling out sheet after sheet.

Only after a long time did she finally calm down a little.

Elysia turned to look at Hokuto, repeatedly clenching and unclenching her small fists.

She only barely held back from punching him after remembering that if she killed Hokuto, she wouldn't get to see the rest of the plot.

In the end, she murmured faintly,

"How can you stay so calm...?

Well, I guess it makes sense. You did write the script yourself...

But the story between Himeko and Kiana—don't you think you're being too cruel?"

"Ahem... but wasn't this chapter's story good?"

Hokuto coughed lightly, then responded,

"I didn't even use a fake-out. I had the Herrscher of Sentience deliver the news of Himeko early on, so players could prepare themselves mentally."

If he really wanted to hurt people—

He could have altered the script to hide Himeko's death, let players build up hope, and then reveal the truth at the very last moment when Kiana and Himeko part ways.

That would've guaranteed devastation across the board.

But he thought that wasn't necessary.

Because—

"Kiana's greatest regret was not being able to properly say goodbye to Himeko."

"Now she has a chance to say the words buried in her heart. That kind of story is fulfilling. That kind of ending... is without regret."

"...Without regret."

Elysia really wanted to say her heart was full of regret.

But thinking about Kiana in the story—

She had to admit, Hokuto was right.

For Kiana, this ending really was one without regret.

Elysia turned the words over in her mind, wanting to refute but finding nothing.

Instead, she could only glare at Hokuto with a faint trace of indignation.

"Hmph. I hope you'll keep giving us more stories without regret from now on~~"

Hokuto didn't take her irritation seriously. Instead, he smiled confidently and made a promise.

"Of course. Honkai Impact 3rd won't end here."

"You know why this chapter is called Set Tomorrow Ablaze, right?

Because I want everyone to believe that 'tomorrow' will be even more brilliant."

"Brilliant?"

Elysia's body subtly twitched at that word.

She no longer felt the same excitement she used to upon hearing it.

In fact... she felt nervous.

And honestly, it was all Hokuto's fault!!

Elysia asked with heightened suspicion,

"Who are you going to kill next?"

"...It's not killing."

"Hmm~?"

"I think it's more like a curtain call."

Hokuto explained solemnly.

Whether it was Otto or Elysia—

One was a villain who got what he deserved.

The other was someone long gone.

Their grand and glorious farewells—

That wasn't a knife. It was a curtain fall.

Of course, Elysia looked like she didn't believe a word.

"Alright, alright."

Since he had a good relationship with Elysia, Hokuto still decided to share a bit of the upcoming plot.

"It's not a cute girl, nor is it a new character."

"Why specifically say 'not a cute girl'? Don't make it sound like I'm some sort of... you-know-what."

Elysia snapped back, clearly annoyed.

But when it came to male characters in Honkai Impact 3rd, there were only a handful.

Kevin, Otto, Welt... hmm, maybe Gray Serpent too?

So who would it be?

Could it be Welt? After all, hurting a villain doesn't count as a 'knife,' right?

...

Just like how Elysia and the others exclaimed, "How is there no tissue left!"

Many viewers were also pulling out tissues one after another.

At a certain uploader's shared apartment—

Click~~

He opened the door, seemingly about to head out.

A roommate relaxing in the living room greeted him with a smile.

"Heading out? Where to?"

"I..." The uploader took a deep breath, his voice trembling.

"I'm going to buy tissues... We ran out."

His roommate noticed his odd tone and blinked in confusion.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine. Just... going downstairs. To buy tissues."

The uploader walked in a daze, aimlessly, swaying like a ghost, to the small supermarket downstairs.

He pointed to a large pack of tissues behind the shopkeeper.

"Excuse me, I'd like that pack of tissues. Thank you."

"Sure thing."

Though the shopkeeper found the young man's expression a bit off, he didn't think much of it.

He simply reached back, grabbed the tissues, and handed them over.

"Twelve yuan. You can pay by scan or cash."

The uploader numbly took out his phone, scanned the code, paid—

And then just stood there, unmoving, staring at the tissues.

Suddenly, he tore the packaging open.

And the moment he saw the tissues—his tears overflowed again.

"Himeko... Kiana..."

"miHoYo, you're the worst!!!"

Clutching the tissues, he wiped his face repeatedly.

He understood now. He finally understood.

He could never win against Honkai. He could never beat the scriptwriter.

The shopkeeper looked at the uploader sobbing uncontrollably, his expression gradually turning... complicated.

And that uploader's reaction was just a reflection of the Honkai Impact 3rd players after the Chocolate Gate.

It was precisely because today, so many Captains had their emotional defenses shattered...

Captain: The new main story of Honkai is just too good! What are you waiting for? Join us now!

Then, when they saw new players starting the story, and when someone reached Chapter 25—

Captain: They're here, they're here!

Captain: Fall before me! No one survives the Chocolate Gate!

Captain: Muahaha!

...

Alright, let's set aside the emotional rollercoaster that players faced after Chocolate Gate.

Back to miHoYo.

Elysia and the others had composed themselves.

Hokuto helped them clean up the used tissues from the table.

"I left the tissues here. Drink some water—replenish those fluids."

"..."

"I'll take the trash out. You three can continue."

"..."

Hokuto's voice was calm, and his actions were impeccable.

Logically speaking, Elysia should've thanked him politely.

But for some reason, her mouth felt... blocked.

Hokuto really looked like a weasel offering New Year greetings to a hen—definitely up to no good!

"Kiana... what's next?" Elysia nudged Kiana.

Kiana rubbed her red eyes and replied, "The rest is really positive."

That was her genuine feeling.

She felt the same way about Everlasting Flames—just like Firefly: unwavering, no more confusion.

To fight for all the beauty in the world.

Though... whether others would emotionally break down was another matter entirely.

Clearly, Elysia had asked the wrong person.

"I see..."

Elysia let out a slight breath of relief.

There was no reason for Kiana to lie to her.

She perked back up.

"Alright then, we should really get back to it~~"

Hokuto took the opportunity to say:

"Then I'll be off. Oh, and I'll be switching the live cam feed back on soon—get ready, you three."

"Okay~~" Elysia responded.

Hokuto waved and stepped out.

Immediately, Mei and Bronya approached him.

"You two... what are you planning?"

Hokuto instinctively stepped into a stance that was both offensive and defensive.

Mei raised her phone.

"Kevin said he wants to invite you and us for a team-building event."

"?"

"Kevin suddenly wants to organize a team-building?"

Hokuto frowned—he sensed something off.

Knowing how into Honkai Impact 3rd they all were, he wondered...

Could they have been emotionally wrecked by the 'sweetness' today and were now plotting something?

Honestly, he was sensing a trap.

"He said he wants to discuss arrangements for next month's online concert.

Vill-V, Eden, and the others have lots of ideas."

Mei's reasoning sounded perfectly valid—nothing suspicious at all.

She paused and looked at Hokuto, who still seemed hesitant.

"Hokuto, you don't want to go?"

"I... ahem. I was just wondering...

If Kevin's team-building idea means we're going to slurp noodles together or something?"

Hokuto kept his real suspicions to himself.

"Pfft~~"

Mei chuckled, then reassured him.

"Don't worry. Eden's organizing the venue this time."

She added,

"Who even dares let Kevin plan team-building these days?"

"Oh, maybe Mobius and Vill-V wouldn't mind.

They seem to enjoy cup noodles."

"So really, don't worry."

Mei reassured him again.

"Eden also asked Bronya to bring Seele, Rozaliya and the others,

and Fu Hua to bring the Fu Shibao along.

There's no way she'd gather everyone just to eat noodles—that'd be too weird."

Wait—

Weren't they supposed to be planning an online concert?

Why were so many people being invited?

Hokuto felt something was off.

But after thinking it through—he decided not to refuse.

After all, he lived in the Golden Courtyard.

No point running from the temple when the monk lives inside it.

That's right—after he'd suggested the name change to Elysia last time,

she mentioned it to Eden, and Eden actually agreed.

"Alright. We haven't done a team-building in a while.

Let's take this chance to have some fun together."

Hokuto agreed like it was no big deal.

...

As Hokuto and Mei chatted about the team-building,

he asked Rita to help restart the equipment during a lull in the conversation.

Meanwhile, in the live-streaming area—

Elysia, Kiana, and Himeko had composed themselves and were seated neatly.

Though they'd used up more than half of the tissue pack Hokuto brought earlier,

it wasn't a big problem.

Kiana did say the rest would be uplifting.

Soon, the real-world camera in the live room turned back on.

Elysia began explaining to the viewers the reason behind the previous stream interruption.

The viewers understood well—because they had also emotionally shattered moments ago.

[miHoYo single-handedly boosted the national tissue sales today (cough).]

[Petition for miHoYo to release a "Main Trio Tissue Set"—guaranteed to sell out!]

[One box of razor blades wasn't enough to express my feelings toward the script team—I'm mailing ten more!!]

[I already cried twice before the CG even dropped—once for the Queen, once for Himeko. What will happen when the short comes out? I can't even imagine.]

[Damn! I almost forgot—there's still the CG short coming!!]

...