Chapter 189. Sirin Who's Happy Playing Games
"How is it? How do you feel?"
Same spot.
Same booth.
Same Mini-Game Festival.
Standing behind Sugisaki Ken, Kitahara, and Grandpa Kir, Xander Masato patted each of the three who were a little dazed.
Ever since the booth finished being set up just now, they'd been wearing the same dumbfounded looks, who knew what they were thinking about.
Still, seeing this scene made Xander a little sentimental.
The first time they came to the Mini-Game Festival, it was the four of them.
He was the designer, and the other three were just helping with odd jobs.
The second time, it was still the four of them.
He was the designer, and the three were members of his team.
The third time, still the same four.
This time, though Xander was still taking the lead, the four of them could all be considered lead designers in their own right.
Now, with the game they were in charge of about to be judged by players, it was only natural the three found it hard to stay calm.
"Well, it's… a strange feeling," Grandpa Kir said softly. He shook his head. "I suddenly thought of our first time here. Back then nobody knew who we were. We barely had a few visitors at the booth all day."
"But it's different now."
Kitahara picked up the thread, taking a deep breath to calm the nerves in his chest. "Now we're the most watched of the lot."
"All right, it's about to open. Guys, let's get our heads in the game!"
Patting Kitahara and Grandpa Kir on the shoulder, Sugisaki Ken grinned as he spoke.
With the extra experience from the Schicksal Game Expo, Sugisaki Ken was much more composed than the other two.
"If there's nothing else, then do your best. For the sake of our game, I won't steal your thunder," Xander's voice drifted into his brothers' ears, immediately drawing a chorus of good-natured jeers.
"Listen to this guy—so full of himself now?"
"Just telling the truth."
Smiling at the trio's teasing, Xander waved his hand and left.
Since he was cultivating the three of them, Xander naturally wouldn't take the stage this time.
Thanks to the Mini-Game Festival being held at St. Freya, he headed straight back to the dorm.
It was a day off.
In broad daylight the house was lively: Bronya, Kaguya, and Kiana had already changed into convenient outfits, hats at the ready, planning to head out to try the games at the festival. Seele was helping Bronya tidy her hair. Seeing him come back, she immediately gave him a sweet greeting.
Smiling, Xander waved for Seele not to mind him, and looked through the floor-to-ceiling window toward the courtyard.
Mei sat motionless on the grass.
Beside her, Griseo had propped up a canvas and was carefully applying paint, while Elysia stood by her side pointing things out. Griseo would nod from time to time.
Though it looked like their usual daily life, something inside had quietly changed.
Elysia and Kaguya.
The gene adjustment apparatus currently existed only at Schicksal Headquarters, so when he went to Schicksal last month, he brought the two of them along.
Contrary to what he'd imagined, the gene adjustment finished in just three days. According to that slightly pervy female doctor in charge of Luna last time, those three days were like planting a "seed" in your body. In the time that follows, this seed would intervene in the division of cells throughout your body and, as a certain special catalyst at the genomic level, exert its influence on newly born cells.
Generally speaking, about four to six months would complete most of the progress, though due to the slow replacement of neurons, the final completion would take six to seven years. During this period, you just needed to take medicine once a month on schedule.
Mm. The explanation sounded simple, but it embodied Schicksal's results from who knows how many years and how much manpower and resources. The details were certainly not as simple as she made them sound; otherwise, there's no way only Schicksal could do it.
"We're heading out first. There are a few games at the Mini-Game Festival I'm quite interested in."
Bronya's long silver curls were tied into a high ponytail. With a fitted jacket and jeans, she oozed a fresh, dashing youthfulness.
Tossing her head up slightly, heels clicking, Bronya adjusted her cuffs, lowered her eyes, her expression casual and her voice a little cool. This look wasn't just appealing to boys—felt like it pulled in plenty of girls too.
"Mm. Go on. Call me if you need anything."
He paused to admire her for a moment. Bronya noticed and curled her lips; her thin red lips pressed together as she naturally stepped forward and tugged at his collar.
"How do I smell today?"
"Pretty nice~"
Licking his lips, Xander answered with a smile.
"Xander, aren't you coming with us?"
Suppressing her envy at Bronya's boldness with a silent daily sigh, Kiana asked with a smile as usual.
"I'll pass, so I don't get surrounded and block the aisles. The sorrow of being a public figure~"
Seeing his smug look, Kiana clicked her tongue in disdain. "I'm a famous voice actress too, you know!"
"All right, all right—go have fun, and remember your caps."
Ruffling Kiana's hair, then going over to give Kaguya a hug, he finally stood by Seele's side and watched them head out with a smile.
"Where's Sirin?"
Once the door closed, Xander asked Seele.
"Sirin's probably getting ready to stream. Since it's a new game from Gensokyo, she definitely wants to play it the moment it's out."
"I see."
He glanced up toward the second floor. At his side, Seele spoke again: "Big bro, I'm planning to bake some cookies right now. Any flavor you want?"
"Do you have one that tastes like 'Seele'?"
The shrimp-brained words slipped out. Seele froze for a second, then her cheeks turned a little red as she stammered, "O-of course not. You, um, pick on that place every day—how could you not know if there is or not…"
Okay, so Seele was even more shrimp-brained than he was.
He gave Seele's chest a pat and let her do her thing, then opened the little door to the yard and walked outside.
April weather was already turning warm. Seasonal flowers rushed to bloom. The moment he stepped out he caught a noseful of fragrance.
A few butterflies danced among the blossoms. Following the garden path at an easy pace, Xander soon reached the broad lawn in the middle.
In a pure-white long dress, Mei sat on the grass with her legs bent and her hands wrapped around her shins, a smile on her face as she gazed ahead without a word.
A big purple bow was tied in her black hair. Silky strands fell over her back. One lock was braided into a little plait that hung over her shoulder to her chest. A purple ribbon gathered at her waist, outlining a perfect S-curve.
To put it crudely: big chest, slim waist, perky hips. With the elegant air of a well-bred lady, she hit a man's strike zone dead-on.
Of course, Xander's gaze was just appreciation. After staring a moment at her little white toes in sandals, he stepped over and tried waving a hand in front of her.
Soon, her smile shifted. Those gorgeous light-violet eyes glanced at him with a hint of displeasure.
"Xander, don't bother Mei. Griseo's still painting her!"
Elysia's voice came. Xander stopped teasing Mei and walked over toward where Griseo was.
The big canvas was almost taller than Griseo herself. From Xander's angle all he could see were her slender, pale calves and two little feet in white socks. Unfortunately, the Mary Janes covered everything, keeping him from appreciating the view of a beauty nicely wrapped.
Seeing him walk too slowly, the impatient Elysia trotted over and hugged him.
The at-home pink dress strained a bit over Elysia's figure. Lowering his head, Xander could easily see the wave-like sway of that soft fullness, even bouncing lightly with her happy movements. It made his heart leap—afraid that one big motion would set off a white tide, making him want to hold them up with his hands.
"Come see how Griseo's doing."
She tugged him around behind the canvas. Her melodious voice helped him break free of gravity and shift his gaze to Griseo.
Blue hair, slender limbs—so small and cute that one couldn't help wanting to pick her up and hug her from behind—
Ahem. No, no, no.
Shaking off the criminal thought, Xander forced his eyes onto Griseo's painting.
An A0 sheet was fixed to the easel. Under Griseo's strokes, a strongly three-dimensional figure was taking shape.
Only… this painting…
Long hair braided into a big plait. Purple eyes holding a quiet calm as though nothing in the world could stir them. She wore an ornate, pale-violet kimono with a loose collar, a vast expanse of fair softness surging forth.
Looked like nothing at first glance. The weird part was the crackling arcs of lightning at that chest, and the purple katana being drawn from it by her hand on the hilt.
Holy—Raiden Shogun!
Wait, how did Griseo paint something like this??
He looked at the gentle girl sitting on the lawn, then at the imposing young lady on the canvas. You couldn't say they were completely different—only that they had nothing to do with each other.
Subway, old man, cellphone.jpg
Getting exactly the surprised look she wanted from Xander, Elysia snickered.
"Griseo is amazing. It's like she can see through people's hearts and paint something different from the surface."
"Then how did Mei end up…"
How did she end up like this? Different, sure, but not this different—this jumped franchises!!
"Don't worry. Secret between us, okay? Mei might look like a goody two-shoes, but she's actually pretty chuuni~"
She said it was a secret, but deliberately raised her voice like she was afraid Mei wouldn't hear.
"Xander, you've never been in Mei's room. She's got lots of interesting stuff in there~"
She stressed the words "interesting."
At that moment, Xander noticed Mei's body tremble, and her face flushed.
Elysia flicked a glance at Mei, let go of Xander's arm, moved to where everyone could see her, straightened up, made the motion of sheathing a blade, then stared ahead with resolute eyes and said lightly, "This fallen world—I will change it with my own hands."
"Elysia!!!!!"
Like a line from a certain Honkai Impact 3rd plot, complete with a little voice crack, Mei finally couldn't take it. Face crimson, she rushed up to try to block Elysia's mouth.
Elysia just chuckled "hehe," darted behind Xander, clung to his shoulders, stuck her head out from the side, and teasingly stuck out her tongue at Mei.
"You…"
Violet eyes welled with mist. Mei's whole face was red, her body trembling with shame, but since Elysia was leaning on Xander's back, she was too embarrassed to get too close, and could only stand there fuming helplessly.
"Aw, don't be mad, Mei. Being chuuni once in a while isn't a big deal. It's part of your unique cuteness~"
"You still dare say that!"
"Mm. Mei-sister, very cool!"
Having just about finished, Griseo turned around, smiling as she gave Mei a paint-stained thumbs-up.
"Even you, Griseo…"
Drawn by Griseo's voice, Mei's slightly aggrieved tone froze the moment she saw the painting on the canvas.
Forgetting her shyness, she stepped forward in a daze, pointing at the canvas, then at herself. "This is me?"
"Mm. This is Mei-sister."
Griseo nodded with certainty.
"?"
How did she not know she looked like this?
Tilting her head in confusion, Mei leaned even closer.
The revealing outfit looked a little risqué, but that draw-from-the-chest motion was inexplicably cool. At night she could try—
No, no, no. She was not a chuuni!
"So, how is it? Griseo did great, right?"
She felt a weight on her back, and a lock of pink hair drifted across her vision.
"Pretty good."
It just… didn't seem to have anything to do with her.
For no reason, she started doubting whether all the sore-back, sore-waist posing earlier had done anything at all.
"And another thing—we haven't settled what you did just now!"
"Don't be mad. It's just that you usually keep a bit of distance from everyone. I wanted them to see how cute Mei really is~"
Hearing that, Mei suddenly felt a toothache coming on.
Wasn't it obvious why she kept a little distance? Of everyone in the dorm, only she and Xander didn't have that kind of relationship, and she wasn't interested in anyone who kept feet in multiple boats. Friends were fine, but that kind of thing—forget it.
Mei had already sworn in her heart she would never become one of them!
Just then, Griseo rose on tiptoe to take the painting down, then walked up to Mei. "Mei-sister, this is for you."
"Huh? For me?"
"Mm. Because I think Mei-sister will really like it."
That made Mei's hands stiff for a moment, but she quickly reached out to take the painting.
Griseo was right. She did like it.
The same violet eyes as hers were crystal clear, as if they could see into a person's heart. Suddenly, Mei didn't quite dare meet Griseo's gaze. She carefully put the painting away, then smiled. "Thank you, Griseo."
"It's okay. As long as Mei-sister likes it."
With that, Griseo turned her eyes to Mr. Knight and Elysia.
"Mr. Knight, Elysia, may I paint a picture of you two?"
"Really? Of course!"
Elysia cried out happily and instantly glued herself to Xander's side.
"Should we invite Sirin too?" she suddenly asked.
Xander glanced upstairs, thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Forget it. Seele just told me Sirin's streaming. By now she's probably already started the game."
At the same time—
On the second floor of the dorm, unaware of the bustle downstairs, Sirin started her stream and excitedly launched the new game from Gensokyo.
Cities: Skylines, start!
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