Bronya lifted her gaze, her expression unreadable. "What are you trying to say?"
Kaito coughed twice, then performed a clean roll, leaping out of the gaming pod.
"I'm saying that back then, Boss, your creative direction was clearly a bit green. A lot of areas weren't fully fleshed out, and you glossed over quite a bit. That's exactly why the market is currently flooded with all these Honkai spin-offs."
"Why don't we refine the setting ourselves?"
As it happened, Kaito had developed a few "minor" ideas after playing that illicit game earlier.
He reached out, pulling a holographic screen from the side. It projected an image of a girl from years ago—standing under the spotlight, confident, flamboyant, and elegant. At that moment, the young, world-famous Bronya was the chosen one, the only one.
In reality, Bronya truly was a genius. Although the rapid development of technology meant the "winner takes all" phenomenon was becoming more pronounced, Anti-Entropy remained a world-class company, consistently ranking among the global elite.
Bronya looked disinterested. "Cashing in on nostalgia?"
She had already finished the story of the main cast years ago. What was there to write for a sequel? A plot about pioneering Mars? Even if they did start a Part 2, the original protagonists had a perfect ending. How would you handle them? Put them in a coma?
Selling "mutton" while hanging a "dog's head"—slapping a famous title on a subpar product—was a one-way ticket to being torn apart by the nostalgia-driven fans. At that point, the quality wouldn't even matter; she probably wouldn't even make it into the world championships for game design.
"Happy energy isn't the trend anymore, Kaito. Use your brain for once."
Kaito shook his head.
"No, we're writing a prequel!"
Bronya paused. A prequel?
"Because a prequel is a story destined for destruction! Within this Honkai IP that's supposed to be full of 'positive energy,' we can go all out depicting cruelty! We can truly fill out the world-building!"
"Back then, your creativity was top-tier, Boss, but... honestly, I never understood why you were so obsessed with 'wholesome yuri vibes.' It turned what should have been a depiction of a cruel Honkai disaster into something filled with nothing but 'happy energy.'"
Kaito pondered for a moment. Bronya really was an odd one.
But it didn't matter. Having been transmigrated into this world for twenty-two years, he had already immersed himself in this high-tech society, living a life of hedonistic bliss. He attributed any irrational or abstract phenomena to the "whims of a genius"—much like how he had turned down the invitation from that old-money Austrian company, Schicksal.
"Go on," Bronya said, crossing her arms. Her slender fingers tapped against her bicep. Speaking of the Previous Era... there really was quite a bit of room for development.
But overturning the framework she had personally established was, for a creator, a bit cruel... and thrilling.
"For example, the Herrschers. They take up so much space in the Honkai IP, yet their destructive power is always glossed over in favor of them being 'wholesome' core cast members..."
"I get that you wanted to create a contrast before, Boss, but in the prequel, we can play with a subverted contrast."
Kaito hesitated for a second, thinking back to that illicit hack-and-slash rogue-like he'd just played.
"We don't need to demolish the existing framework. We just need to re-examine those glossed-over moments of cruelty and bloodshed to re-depict the deaths of individuals within the disaster."
"Instead of just mentioning 'thousands of casualties' as a mere statistic like before."
"Let's create a bloody, magnificent heroic epic, using the foundation the Honkai IP has already built."
That was the key—the foundation. Bloody epics were a dime a dozen, and the most important part of such a story was the build-up. Bronya had already paved the way with the IP's history. Rather than calling it "living off past glory," Kaito preferred to see it as a high-stakes investment.
What if it failed? If it failed, the Honkai brand would be ruined, and even the high ratings of the previous works would plummet.
Bronya's long, beautiful legs shook rhythmically. Should she keep racking her brain only to be eliminated in the top eight, or take a gamble for a chance to stand in the global spotlight again?
She let out a long breath. "Fine."
"Eh? Where's Kaito?"
She looked around blankly. The holographic screen had been shut off, and the young man who had been talking so passionately was nowhere to be seen.
"He said his grandmother is giving birth and there's absolutely no way he can keep working overtime," a nearby colleague answered hesitantly. Seeing the Boss's face darkening by the second, the colleague immediately put on an expression of being "intensely busy."
"Off the clock!"
Time to head home and play that illicit game, Koikatsu 6!
The roar of a retro, two-wheeled mechanical beast filled the air. Its matte-black chassis seemed to swallow the light. Amidst the envious gazes of onlookers, Kaito leaned low over the motorcycle, tearing down the highway at high speeds.
He didn't have to worry about crashing. Civil automated vehicles had reached a point where their road detection allowed for perfect high-speed cruising; accidents occurred less than twice a year globally.
Unfortunately, the thrill of speed never lasted long. The faster you went, the shorter the ride felt.
"Truly, 'fast' and 'short' always go together."
As the exhaust let out one final resonant note, Kaito took off his helmet and entered his home in this world.
Speaking of which, he had been an orphan in both lives, though this time he had an older sister to lean on.
"I'm back, Sis!"
No response. His lazy, "plus-sized" sister was probably playing games, binge-watching shows, or out partying.
Whatever, it didn't matter. The whole point of making money was so your family could enjoy life.
He ordered some takeout and logged into the game right on time. Kaito planned to do one more hack-and-slash run, gather some more "research material," and turn in his work tomorrow. He couldn't actually slack off on his job, after all.
"Musou-style hack-and-slash, start!"
Following a strange ripple, his consciousness felt heavy. Kaito crawled out of the sea, the screen flashing red.
He shook his head. "No death penalty?"
What's the point of a rogue-like if you don't lose anything? A rogue-like where you can't experience every evolution path is just garbage!
Oh wait, this is a stage-based rogue-like. Maybe the progress resets at Stage 2.
Seeing a "Fisherman" mob approaching, he raised his hand. Bang!
The last bit of his experience bar filled up. Level 10.
[Please choose your upgrade path]
Firearm Mimicry 5 → Replication Reconstruction
Attack Speed 3 → 4
Artillery Support 3 → 4
In a rogue-like, you always go for the evolution. If you don't evolve your weapons, the late game is impossible.
He picked option one immediately: Replication Reconstruction.
Replication Reconstruction: Observe all laws, deconstruct all phenomena.
"Interesting. It says it's a Honkai-derived rogue-like, but the controls feel more like a Xianxia game."
"Where's that pink-haired boss from earlier whose face I couldn't see? Bring her out!"
No response.
Drawing on his experience with Xianxia games, Kaito tried to visualize blueprints from other games he remembered.
Nothing happened. The game's backend probably didn't have that much data programmed in.
"Can't do this, can't do that... Why make the description so flashy then? It's not like I'm supposed to memorize the schematics myself, right? Trash game."
Kaito floated in mid-air. While he couldn't create anything high-level, simple flying devices were a universal staple in these games.
He held two fingers to his eyes in a sword-gesture and pointed toward a new map in the distance. The city was packed with mobs—enough to trigger anyone's trypophobia.
Bang!