Chapter 71. Reward Myself with a Galgame
After being ambushed, Xander immediately turned his gaze to Seele at the side.
When he noticed Seele puffing her cheeks, her big eyes full of resentment as she looked at him, his heart jolted.
Uh-oh.
Looks like I won't be getting any sleep tonight.
...
"Cheers!!"
That night, lively voices of celebration came from the living room.
With Hollow Knight doing so well, Bronya naturally invited their good friends to hold a celebration party at home, and since today was the weekend, the early-arriving Kaguya had of course joined in.
They used juice instead of alcohol and clinked glasses happily.
After Xander finished some polite remarks, Bronya immediately pulled Mei and Kiana over to chatter away, and that childlike, endlessly bragging cuteness made Mei keep chuckling.
Kaguya went to Seele and shared the cute little decorations she had recently made by hand, and then the two of them planned to knit a sweater for each person in the family.
Only Sirin sat alone there—from the moment she arrived until now—silently sitting with a blank look, her gaze a little dazed.
"What's up with Sirin?"
Xander had been pulled by Bronya to listen with Mei and Kiana, but when he noticed Sirin's state, he couldn't help asking.
Who knew that the moment he finished, Kiana burst out laughing, as if she had been waiting for someone to ask, pointing at her sister to mock her.
"Played Hollow Knight, that's what."
"Huh?"
Seeing three confused looks, Kiana hurried to explain.
"This dummy got too impulsive and, egged on by the livestream viewers, bet she could do a no-hit Five Doors challenge.
If she failed, she'd do a handstand hair-wash on stream."
For a game her bestie made, she and Mei had naturally cleared it right away, so everyone present understood just how outrageous Sirin's bet was.
"Uh… wish her luck."
Raising his glass toward Sirin from afar, Xander downed the juice in one go.
Let's hope she makes it out alive.
Without the mushroom-head troublemaker, this dinner had fewer twists and turns, and the group came in high spirits and left satisfied.
With some free time, Xander sat on the sofa for a short rest, and Kaguya stood behind him, gently kneading his shoulders.
It was Saturday today, so she naturally chose to stay over.
Letting her gaze pass over her husband's head toward the coffee table, a not-small box caught her attention.
She leaned down, moved close to her husband's ear, and parted her lips, her sweet breath brushing Xander's ear.
"Husband, what's that?"
Her soft voice added a touch of ease to Xander's heart.
He opened his eyes and looked in the direction Kaguya pointed.
"That?
It's the TGA trophy.
I didn't have time to pick it up before, so I had someone collect it and mail it over."
"TGA… ah, is it for To the Moon?"
"Yeah.
Best Narrative."
"Then congratulations again, husband~"
Although Kaguya had already congratulated him once when the winners list was announced, that didn't stop her from praising him again.
Who wouldn't like a gentle, beautiful fiancée who talks sweetly and is completely accommodating?
At least, over the past half-year, Xander had already been gradually sinking into this gentle homeland.
"It's a pity Hollow Knight released too late."
Hearing Xander and Kaguya's conversation, Bronya, who had walked over, spoke with a touch of gloominess.
She bent down, opened the small box, and looked at the glittering trophy inside, her eyes carrying faint envy.
"Don't worry.
Hollow Knight is absolutely eligible to win next year's Best Indie Game."
Xander smiled to comfort her, but Bronya shook her head.
"Hm?
Not that confident?"
"No."
Bronya looked at him, a smile suddenly appearing at the corner of her mouth, and declared firmly.
"By the timeline, the next Best Indie Game should belong to our next title."
Hearing this, Xander and Kaguya froze for a moment, then both smiled.
So it wasn't a lack of confidence.
It was too much confidence.
He patted Kaguya's hand, and she knowingly let go.
Xander stretched and went up the stairs, soon returning to the familiar studio.
Before long, Bronya and Kaguya came in as well.
Noticing Xander sitting at the computer doing something, Bronya walked over curiously and hugged his neck from behind with both hands, her breath soft and fragrant at his ear.
"Didn't we agree to take a break for a while?
Why are you working again?"
There was more than a month left until New Year's Day, so Xander and Bronya had planned to start making the new game after the holiday.
"I'm just quickly checking the company emails."
Rapidly scrolling through one message after another, Xander answered casually.
Quietly putting Kaleidoscope 3 back in its original place in the bedroom cabinet, then slipping the new Kaleidoscope 4 into her sleeve, Kaguya—face slightly flushed—carefully walked over to the two of them.
The strange games her husband made were really interesting…
Just then, Xander reached an email about personnel transfers.
Something came to mind, and he raised his head to meet Bronya's eyes.
A bit of a misunderstanding made Bronya lower her head to kiss his lips; then she blinked playfully and asked:
"Want more?"
"I do, but hold on."
Leaning in to return the kiss and savoring the sweet softness between their lips and teeth, he pulled Bronya down to sit by his side.
"I thought you were asking me for a reward for working hard."
Leaning against him, Bronya replied while secretly feeling a little regretful.
If only the chair were a bit smaller.
Then she could sit on Xander's lap like Seele.
Every time she saw Seele nestled comfortably in Xander's arms, Bronya felt a little envious.
"Of course we can have more of that kind of reward."
He smiled and then grew a bit serious.
"Bronya, I feel like we need to hire more people."
Hearing this, the slightly daydreaming Bronya paused, then slowly nodded.
"Yeah, we really should bring on some people."
If they didn't want their future games to be small-scale tinkering anymore, then relying only on the two of them was far from enough.
In fact, during the development of Hollow Knight, Xander had already mentioned it once.
For Bronya, this was the first game she made together with Xander.
On this game, she didn't want it stained by other people's fingerprints, so when she heard the proposal back then, she looked conflicted.
Thus, the idea was shelved by Xander and only brought up again now.
This time, Bronya naturally had no intention of opposing it.
Rather, even if Xander didn't bring it up, she would have.
If you want growth, sufficient manpower is always one of the first factors to consider.
"Ahem."
A soft cough drew their attention.
Kaguya stood before them, her face full of expectation, her blinking big eyes seeming to say: "Pick me, pick me!"
"Relax, we already had you in mind, our designer for Eientei."
In her words, Bronya's voice carried a faint grievance.
This had been exposed a month ago and left Bronya sulking for quite a while.
She discovered that among the people who often appeared in the studio, besides Seele, she seemed to be the most noob.
"Mm.
Then please take care of me, senpai."
"Don't roast me like that."
Rolling her eyes at the grinning Kaguya, Bronya pressed her whole body against Xander.
Patting Bronya's small head, Xander continued:
"Since we're hiring, we need to divide into teams.
The first batch we recruit into Gensokyo Company will form Team One, and we'll name it Scarlet Devil Mansion."
"Our own family will be independent from those teams as a separate unit that can merge into any team as needed depending on tasks.
As for the name…"
Glancing at the very attentive Kaguya, Xander said lightly:
"Let's call it Eientei."
Eientei?
Kaguya's face showed surprise, and Bronya, seeing the smiling look on Xander's face, puffed her cheeks and said nothing more.
"Then, does Eientei have anything to do before New Year?
I can prepare in advance."
Quickly seeing herself as a member of the team, Kaguya asked with some anticipation.
"The work after New Year isn't set yet.
Before New Year, the recruitment for Scarlet Devil Mansion can be handled by HR specifically.
As for the rest, there shouldn't be any—"
Just then, the Hatsune Miku at the bottom right of Xander's screen went bang-bang-bang on the glass a few times.
After drawing his attention, she spoke at once:
"Master, there's a new message in the chat app.
Open it?"
"Open it."
Without avoiding Kaguya or Bronya at all, Xander answered directly.
This kind of trust filled Kaguya and Bronya's hearts with joy, and smiles appeared on their faces.
Soon, a chat window was pulled out by Hatsune Miku.
The message came from Eromanga Sensei.
Eromanga Sensei: "Boss, the bonus art for Kaleidoscope 5 is finished.
Please check!"
"Good work."
Xander had just replied when a response came quickly from the other side.
"Not hard at all!
Working with you is my greatest honor!"
"Alright, alright, stop the flattery.
Say more of that and I'll cut your share."
"No no no, boss, I have elderly and a child to support.
Please don't do that!!"
Xander naturally knew the situation of the first-gen Eromanga Sensei.
A single mother raising her daughter alone, living in the city with a lot of pressure.
He was only joking.
"Just this once.
So, tell me—what's with the sudden buttering up?"
"Hehe, as expected, I can't hide anything from you, boss.
I wanted to ask, is Kaleidoscope 5 the final entry?"
At her computer, a mature woman with a silver side ponytail sent that line nervously.
She glanced to the other side—at the door decorated with cute patterns—and gently bit her lip.
The success of the Kaleidoscope series had brought her a lot of income.
With it, the once rootless mother and daughter now had a home of their own, plentiful food, and a comfortable life—no more of those hard days of not knowing where the next meal would come from.
Toward Xander, Eromanga Sensei felt only gratitude.
Meeting a boss like this felt like using up half her lifetime's luck.
He never delayed pay and was very generous.
If there were no new projects, she would have to return to that hyper-competitive illustrator world and scramble for the few resources available.
"Yes.
Eromanga Sensei, are you looking to end our collaboration?"
Her breath caught at that line, and she hurried to respond:
"No, no, no.
I just wanted to ask if there's any other new work."
Soon, the reply from the other side made her breathe easier.
"There is.
I just thought Eromanga Sensei didn't want to work with me anymore and was getting a headache about where to find a new artist."
"No, no, no, I never thought that!
Please choose me!
I'll do it, I'll do it—I'm very capable!"
Seeing the artist's response, Bronya couldn't resist raising a hand to tap her lover's arm, and even the ever-accommodating Kaguya said, "Husband, that's too mischievous."
"Relax, relax.
I was just teasing her."
Eromanga Sensei was the in-house artist he had painstakingly built up.
She worked hard, was reliable, and listened.
As long as the pay was right, she was like a tireless little Palu, working from morning till night almost without stopping.
"Then reply to her quickly.
Don't bully a single mom."
"Okay, okay~"
With his cheek being pinched, Xander typed quickly:
"Of course.
As long as Eromanga Sensei doesn't end the collaboration, you'll always be my first choice."
Those words moved Eromanga Sensei to tears, but she still timidly asked:
"About the pay…"
"Same as before."
"Thank you, boss!
Boss, I love you!!!!!"
From those words, you could practically feel the surprise bursting out.
Just as Xander was about to chuckle and type a few more lines, Bronya suddenly spoke.
"You wouldn't be into single moms, would you—especially mother-and-daughter pairs?"
"Compared to mothers and daughters, I think I'd be more interested in sisters."
He shot Bronya a meaningful look, earning a beautiful eye-roll.
"Ah, it's snowing."
Near the window, Kaguya suddenly spotted something, hurried over to watch the drifting snowflakes outside, and spoke in pleasant surprise.
"It's about time for snow."
It was late November and the weather was cold, but for Bronya, who grew up in Siberia, and for Xander, there was none of Kaguya's excitement.
"It's the white season again…"
Absent-mindedly murmuring that, Xander suddenly paused.
He looked at Kaguya and Bronya, stroked his chin, and tried saying:
"We happen to have nothing before New Year's.
How about we make a galgame together?"
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