Sunlight slipped through the curtains and fell across Arthur's eyes.
Arthur slowly opened them and picked up his phone.
A message was waiting on the screen. It was from Cyrene.
"Hey, Arthur, are you awake? Don't forget today's get-together. You have to come."
A cute emoticon followed the message.
As Arthur read it, the corners of his mouth lifted without him realizing.
"I'm awake. I'll definitely be there."
After replying, he put down his phone and stretched.
Today was the day of the get-together.
Phainon had organized it for their old college friends.
The same friends who had once stayed up late with him to finish assignments and dreamed with him about the future.
It had been far too long since they had last seen one another.
After washing up and changing into a clean set of clothes, Arthur opened his bedroom door.
The living room was quiet. He walked over to the window and glanced at the apartment next door.
The window of 502 was open.
Cyrene had probably already gone out, or was getting ready for the gathering.
The studio was closed for the day.
Now that the game had become a hit, he could finally afford to give everyone some time off.
Kiana was at home with her parents.
When that girl had called to pester him for more updates, he could even hear Siegfried's booming voice and Cecilia's gentle laughter in the background.
The family of three sounded perfectly happy together.
Durandal had gone to see Kiana as well.
Officially, she was visiting her younger sister, but Arthur suspected she also wanted to experience more of that warm, familial atmosphere.
After all, even that rigid, straight-laced girl had a tender side to her.
As for Dan Heng, he was probably spending time with his old friends.
Arthur wondered what a gathering attended by that stone-faced little dragon would look like.
He would probably sit in a corner with the same unchanging expression he always wore.
Every now and then, he would add a sentence or two to the conversation, only for his friends to tease him for never changing.
Then there were Stelle and March 7th.
Those two were probably still fast asleep.
Whenever they stayed up until the early hours, nothing could wake them before the afternoon.
They would be attending the gathering tonight as well.
Arthur sat down on the sofa, poured himself a glass of water, and began thinking about what came next.
Honkai Impact 3rd had become a hit.
But a successful game needed more content to sustain it.
Voice acting.
The characters in the game still had no voices.
The story and visuals were already moving enough, but with voices added...
They would become even more vivid, even more emotionally powerful.
The question was, who could he ask to voice them?
The appearances of their real-life counterparts had already been used in the game.
Obtaining their permission alone had been an incredible stroke of luck.
Asking them to provide the voices as well?
That was unlikely.
Everyone had lives of their own.
Besides, voice acting was not as simple as casually reading a few lines.
It required professional training and demanded a tremendous investment of time and energy.
He could not force it on them.
"Boss!"
A bright, crisp voice rang out in his mind.
Ai-chan appeared with an expression that practically screamed, Come on, praise me already!
"Boss, you're thinking about the voice acting, aren't you? Ai-chan knows!"
Arthur looked at Ai-chan and raised an eyebrow slightly.
"You can solve that problem?"
"Of course!"
Ai-chan proudly lifted her chin. "Ai-chan's database contains a complete set of voice-acting data!"
Arthur paused.
"A complete set of voice-acting data?"
"Mhm!"
Ai-chan nodded. "Don't you remember the characters' voices, Boss?
That Honkai Impact 3rd had voice acting! Ai-chan has already compiled all that data!"
She paused and blinked.
"All you have to do is upload the files to your computer. Then, when work starts again, they'll be ready to use immediately!"
Arthur fell silent for several seconds.
The version of Honkai Impact 3rd that existed in his memories.
The voiced version.
The voices he had heard countless times before.
He thought of the people who had cried for Kiana during the livestream.
The people flooding the comments with, "Fight for all that is beautiful in the world."
The people who had sent him long private messages filled with their thoughts and hopes for the future.
It would be wonderful if those voices could accompany them too.
"Boss?" Ai-chan tilted her head and looked at him.
Arthur came back to himself.
"Ai-chan."
"Here!"
"Once the gathering is over, upload that voice-acting data to my computer."
Ai-chan blinked. "Why not now?"
Arthur shook his head.
"I'm meeting some old friends today."
A faint smile touched Arthur's lips. "I haven't seen them in a long time. I don't want work interrupting us."
Ai-chan looked at him, then suddenly smiled as well.
"Boss, you're actually pretty handsome when you smile."
Arthur fell silent.
What kind of strange compliment was that?
"All right, all right!" Ai-chan waved a hand. "Ai-chan understands!
When Boss gets back from the gathering, Ai-chan will have the voice-acting data ready!"
Arthur then stood and headed toward the door.
"I'm heading out."
"Be careful on the way," Ai-chan said, waving.
"And remember to come back early. Ai-chan will be waiting for you!"
The door to Apartment 501 closed softly behind Arthur.
His footsteps gradually faded down the corridor before disappearing around the stairwell.
The apartment fell completely silent.
[Ding.]
Ai-chan's little head appeared inside the room.
She looked left and right, making sure Arthur had gone far enough, then revealed a sly smile.
"Hehehe."
Ai-chan rubbed her little hands together.
"Boss said to wait until after the gathering to upload the voice-acting data, but Ai-chan thinks there's nothing wrong with preparing it in advance!
That way, Boss can use it as soon as he comes home!"
[Transferring voice-acting data.]
Voices from another world, carrying countless memories within them, began transferring bit by bit onto Arthur's computer.
A progress bar flickered across the screen: 5%, 12%, 27%...
Ai-chan leaned over the edge of the holographic screen and watched the numbers steadily rise.
"Hmm, this speed isn't bad."
She hummed an unfamiliar tune, swinging her legs back and forth.
[46%, 58%, 73%...]
The data transfer was proceeding smoothly.
At the same time, however, Ai-chan caught sight of another display in the corner of the system interface.
[System energy reserves: 80%]
Ai-chan froze.
"The energy reserves seem a little low."
She tilted her head and considered the matter seriously.
"Boss went out today, so he definitely won't be back until late.
What if the power runs out halfway through the transfer? Wouldn't all this effort go to waste?"
Her gaze slowly shifted toward an electrical outlet in the room.
"So..."
[Ding. Available power connection detected.]
[Connect?]
Ai-chan's finger hovered over the system button.
"Boss's room, Boss's computer, Boss's electricity."
She muttered under her breath, "I'll just steal a tiny bit of power. Just a tiny bit."
"Boss probably won't notice, right?"
[73%, 85%, 92%...]
The data transfer continued.
At the same time, an outlet in the corner of the room began to grow faintly warm.
A barely visible spark flickered along its edge.
Then it vanished.
[98%, 99%, 100%!]
[Voice-acting data transfer complete!]
Ai-chan cheered and jumped into the air.
"It's done! It's done!"
She happily spun in a circle, then looked at the outlet she had just borrowed a little electricity from.
It sat there quietly, looking no different from before.
Only the faintest smell of something scorched drifted through the air.
Ai-chan leaned closer and sniffed.
"Hmm, it should be fine, right?"
She nodded, reassuring herself.
"It's fine, it's fine! Ai-chan only stole a tiny bit of electricity! Boss is so busy, there's no way he'll notice!"
She retreated into the system until only half her head remained visible.
"Besides, Ai-chan did it for work!
Now that the voice-acting data is ready ahead of time, Boss can start working as soon as he gets back. Isn't that great?"
The more she spoke, the more justified she sounded.
"That's right! Exactly!"
Sunlight continued streaming in through the window, while the computer sat quietly in the room.
A complete set of voice-acting data had appeared on its hard drive.
The outlet in the corner, which had been borrowed for a moment, sat quietly as well.
Though if someone took the time to sniff carefully, they might detect the faintest hint of something burnt lingering in the air.