My Game Studio is Full of Valkyries?!

Hokuto gave a simple opening speech—

and it worked out pretty well.

At the very least, everyone was happy.

And then came the fun·play·ti·me!

Chef Kalpas continued barbecuing with fiery "enthusiasm."

Fu Shibao, who had been calmed down by Kiana, Bronya, and Mei, stopped muttering to the ancient fossil and wandered over to Chef Kalpas.

No one knew what the two of them talked about,

but within minutes, they were already at odds,

each grabbing a skewer and shouting about having a showdown at the summit.

They even dragged in Elysia, Kiana, and Theresa to act as judges.

Mei and Bronya stayed behind to spectate.

While Chef Kalpas and Master Shibao "cast spells" over their skewers,

Theresa went to grab some bitter melon juice as a palate cleanser.

When she found out they were actually serving bitter melon juice here,

Theresa was overjoyed!

This was leagues better than that so-called Anti-Entropy banquet in Honkai Impact 3!

Meanwhile, Elysia struck up a chat with Kiana.

She asked a lot of questions about voice acting.

After all, her story was coming up next—if she messed it up, it'd be embarrassing.

Kiana answered seriously.

As their conversation went on:

"Kiana, you're amazing~~ Not only can you show the shift from paramecium to firefly so well, you can also voice two roles in one go."

Elysia praised her sincerely.

"Hehehe~~ I'm not that amazing~~ It's all thanks to Hokuto's guidance."

Kiana smiled with a bit of pride but still stayed modest:

"Though voicing two characters is definitely tricky—especially when one's the villain and the other's the main character. Sometimes I mix up the emotions."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah yeah, it's super headache-inducing~~"

"Haha, I'm feeling a bit lucky I don't have to do what you do, Kiana."

Elysia chuckled.

"Even though I'm an equally cute girl like Kiana, that kind of thing might still be too much of a challenge for me."

"I actually think if you wanted to, you could totally pull it off,"

another voice chimed in.

It was Theresa, who had just returned with the bitter melon juice.

She sat down between them and handed out drinks.

"Here—Kiana, your soda. Elysia, your milk."

"Thanks." *2

"After talking so much with Elysia, I am a bit thirsty."

Kiana cheerfully twisted open the soda and took a big gulp.

Only...

"Pfft~~"

The moment it touched her tongue, she spat the soda all over the floor.

"What is this taste?! It's so bitter! Auntie, did you mess up my order? I didn't ask for bitter melon juice!"

"You ordered soda, and that's what I gave you."

Theresa completely ignored Kiana's expression of suffering and started explaining with great enthusiasm.

"You guys won't believe this, but I just found out there are so many bitter melon flavored drinks out there!"

"Bitter melon soda, bitter melon milk... ahh~~ It's pure bliss!"

Kiana & Elysia: ...Are you okay, Theresa?

"Cough cough—how is this bliss—cough—give me a napkin..."

Kiana was so overwhelmed by the bitterness that her whole face twisted up.

She collapsed onto the table and reached out with a hand.

Elysia patted herself down but couldn't find one.

Just as she was about to get up to grab some—

Mei had already come over and placed a clean tissue into Kiana's hand.

"Kiana, don't you think you're exaggerating just a bit?"

"You don't understand, Mei... this stuff is really bitter..."

Kiana mumbled as she wiped her mouth, still spitting out little "puh puh" sounds.

"Sure, sure."

Mei smiled.

"Want me to get you something sweet to counter it?"

"Mei, you're the best~~"

"You, honestly~~"

The back-and-forth between Kiana and Mei continued.

Watching them from behind—

Bronya, always in the observer's seat—

shook her head after a moment, then decided to go look for Seele.

She quickly acted on that thought and found Seele tucked away in a quiet corner.

"Seele? Where's 'Seele'?"

But this time, Seele was alone.

"Are you looking for 'Seele,' Bronya-nee?"

Seele raised her hand and pointed in a direction.

"'Seele' is over there."

"Then come with me?"

"I..."

"What's wrong?"

"I still have something I want to do," Seele replied softly.

Bronya looked surprised. "Something to do?"

"Mm, I want to find Hokuto-nii... and ask him something."

Seele still spoke with that gentle, quiet tone.

Bronya: ( ᗜ‸ᗜ )

Hearing that only made Bronya more shocked.

Just how close had Seele and Hokuto gotten?

What happened while she wasn't paying attention?

"Bronya-nee, I see Hokuto-nii now, I'll be going."

Seele made as if to walk off.

"Wait a second."

Bronya stopped her on instinct.

Seele paused and gently asked,

"Um... Bronya-nee, is there something else?"

"No, nothing..."

Bronya thought carefully, then shook her head.

If Seele and Hokuto were getting along well,

that was probably a good thing.

No need to overreact.

"If you've got something to ask him, go ahead."

Bronya turned and walked away.

Only after Bronya had completely disappeared from view did Seele move.

She walked up to Hokuto—

but before she could speak—

Hokuto smiled and asked,

"Seele, are you here about that night?"

"Mm..."

Seele nodded slightly and answered honestly:

"Yes, Hokuto-nii. I did what you suggested last time..."

She told him, in general terms, about how she followed his advice—

that night, sneaking into 'Seele's' bed to try and have a heart-to-heart.

Specifically—

she'd crawled into 'Seele's' bed in the middle of the night and then...

"...But after that night, it felt like nothing changed,"

Seele said, looking troubled.

"Well..." Hokuto gave a strange smile.

"'Seele' is just that kind of person. You can't expect her to suddenly... be honest."

"So you've got to keep pushing, Seele."

"Keep pushing?" Seele echoed quietly.

"Yep. If once doesn't work, try twice. If twice doesn't work, try a third time.

Quantity becomes quality—that's how change happens," Hokuto advised seriously.

Seele hesitated.

"Will that really work?"

"Of course it will. You can absolutely trust me."

Hokuto put on his most reliable big brother face.

"..."

Seele nodded slowly.

"I understand."