Elysia thought for quite a while, unable to find anything to say.
Seeing Elysia's expression, Hokuto could more or less guess what was on her mind.
So he lowered his voice and said, "The story in the Realm isn't over yet. It's normal if you don't fully understand what I just said."
"But think about it—have I ever lied to you before? So..."
He paused slightly, "You can totally trust me."
"You've never lied to me? I can totally trust you?"
Elysia's expression shifted slightly.
As she reflected briefly, countless memories surged to the surface.
What had Hokuto said to her in the past?
That after Flame-Chasers ended, the story would get even more exciting—and then came Otto's finale and the Elysian Realm...
That Otto's ending would be a beautiful story—and then she got emotionally scarred by Thus Spoke Apocalypse...
That the Realm was a "story that exists because of you"—and then she was gone in the previous main story...
Strictly speaking, Hokuto hadn't lied.
But...
It was like that line from Otto in the game: "Red Kite Immortal, I did not lie."
You couldn't say he was wrong, but the line was absolutely packed with red flags.
And made people very wary.
"The more you say that, the more uneasy I feel," Elysia said bluntly.
"Hmm... then let me put it another way."
Seeing Elysia like this, Hokuto, who had to voice act to calm her down, could only try another tactic.
"If you don't trust me, you can always trust yourself, right?"
"As long as the story doesn't break your character, then you can believe you'll bring the Elysian Realm to a grand, magnificent and 'complete' ending."
Upon hearing that, Elysia was somewhat persuaded—but there was still one critical issue.
"But... Elysia already..."
"Oh... I see."
She stopped halfway, then slowly assumed a face that said she'd understood everything completely.
"You... see what?"
This time it was Hokuto's turn to be curious about what Elysia had figured out.
"Later, Elysia's going to make a 'glorious return,' right? Then lead everyone to end this conflict." Elysia guessed.
"Looks like... everyone else kept their promise and didn't spoil anything for you, Elysia..."
Seeing how optimistic she still was, Hokuto nodded slightly. It seemed his no-leaks campaign had gone smoothly?
He'd paid enough hush money to Pardofelis (who was honestly easy to handle)...
As for Mobius... since her part of the story hadn't been written yet, and she was eager to know what exactly Realm-Mobius would do next, she was actually quite cooperative.
Hopefully, by the time her scene needed voicing, she'd still be this agreeable.
Though, chances were high she'd still (crossed out: definitely)... put up some verbal resistance.
Then there was Kalpas... and Vill-V...
Anyway, by the time the Herrscher of Corruption appears, about half the Flame-Chasers would already be down.
If Elysia had learned the story from anyone else, she might still be optimistic—but not this kind of optimism.
Instead...
Elysia would make a "glorious return," revive all the Flame-Chasers, and end the conflict perfectly.
That's probably how she'd imagine it.
"So it was you—you told everyone not to leak their part of the story to anyone else," Elysia said, her expression saying I knew it was you.
"Of course I did. I definitely didn't want you all to spoil your segments before the update dropped."
Hokuto didn't think there was anything wrong with that.
Even if the Realm's story right now wasn't "Werewolf," just a light-hearted daily life—
As a game dev, he wouldn't want the voice cast to leak unannounced story elements, right?
And just in case, he made some minor additional arrangements this time.
For example, aside from Elysia's cryptic lines that made zero sense out of context, each character's recordings were done alone and in isolation—no more shared scenes like before, or letting others observe.
Which meant, unless the Golden Courtyard crew gathered to pool all their information, they could only guess where the Realm's story was headed.
And the chance of them doing that had already been cut off by his pre-emptive "no-leak" operation.
Of course, doing this created new problems.
Like having to explain each scene's emotion individually—unlike before, when everyone could grasp the story and act freely.
And since they weren't professional voice actors, even when playing characters just like themselves, there'd still be huge barriers.
So they had to retry, redo, and stall. It really delayed production.
But Hokuto still went through with it.
Because it meant the cast could experience the story with surprise.
It was all out of good intention.
While those thoughts ran through Hokuto's mind, Elysia also sensed something sharply.
"Well, that does make sense... but it really feels like you're being especially uptight about it this time."
"..."
Hokuto snapped out of it and gave her a response.
"Well... you should be able to tell. The story's trending toward a suspense arc. Since that's the case, preserving the mystery is super important."
"Hmm, is it just that? To preserve the mystery?" Elysia tilted her head and lightly cradled her chin.
"What else?" Hokuto asked back calmly.
He really wasn't lying—although the real reason to preserve mystery was so that everyone could feel the knife—cough, the surprise.
"Hmmm..." Elysia was still hesitant.
"Alright, Elysia, better get into the zone and try voicing this line already," Hokuto reminded her not to stall anymore.
"Get into the zone?"
Elysia returned to herself and looked at Hokuto—then just stared at him unblinking.
"Why are you suddenly looking at me?" Her stare completely threw Hokuto off.
Elysia replied seriously, "I'm trying to feel it. That scummy aura. Don't move, I can almost feel the scum energy now."
Hokuto: "???"
...
Elysia was trying to learn how to portray Corruption from "Otto."
And honestly... you couldn't say it was unreasonable.
She might even really be able to channel some of that "Corruption" vibe from Otto.
It's just... that didn't stop Hokuto from finding this whole scene extremely strange.
The Herrscher of Corruption learning from "Otto"...
There really was no easy way to describe that.
Let's just say—it's one of those bizarre sights that could only happen in this world.
"Mmhm, I think I've got a tiny bit of the feeling now."
Elysia stared at Hokuto for quite some time, then finally turned back to the mic, focusing as she spoke:
"Hi. How do you feel?"
Different from her usual bubbly tone, this voice had a clearly lower pitch.
Of course, the main difference was the added sense of dramatic pretense—it felt very forced.
"Hmm..."
"Elysia, can you be even more dramatic? Like, the kind of voice that makes people's blood pressure spike the moment they hear it."
Hokuto still hoped Elysia could push it further.
"Hmm, okay, I'll try again."
Elysia turned to look at Hokuto for a while longer, then gave it another go.
"Hi... how do you feel?"
An even more performative tone echoed through the recording booth.
Kiana and the others, who'd been waiting nearby, instantly felt a jolt shoot through them.
Their brows furrowed reflexively.
How could Elysia's 37-degree voice deliver something that sounded like minus 273 degrees?
It was practically on par with when Hokuto voiced Otto.
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