"An... an extra?"
Shigure Kira pointed at herself in bewilderment and asked incredulously: "I'm not the female lead you've chosen?"
Lucius looked at her strangely, as if he didn't understand why she would ask such a question.
"No. We already have someone in mind for our female lead."
Shigure Kira fell silent for a moment, then turned and walked away, once again leaving only her back for Lucius.
At the same time, she waved her hand backward as she walked.
"Made it sound so grand, thought it was a female lead position..."
"Did you really think I cared about the vocalist spot in your third-rate movie?"
After walking some distance away, Shigure Kira made a magnificent spin, extended her thumb toward Lucius, and pointed it firmly downward.
"Me? My absolute favorite thing to do is say no to self-important people. Goodbye to you!"
Saying this, she turned and walked into the distance with incomparable ease.
Watching Shigure Kira walk farther and farther away, Lucius didn't show any signs of being provoked. He simply sighed lightly and said with regret:
"Sigh... this makes things difficult. Miss Eden will be coming to join the production in a while, and we still haven't settled on an assistant. We finally found a suitable candidate, and she turned us down. Where are we going to find the right person now..."
As Lucius lamented, he turned to leave.
Just as he took his first step, he felt a gust of wind, and then his wrist was gripped tightly.
He saw the previously departed Shigure Kira now hugging his arm, her face pleading.
"Please, I'm begging you. Give me a role, even an extra role is fine!"
If she could meet Eden and receive her guidance, she would surely be able to overcome her innate tone-deafness, right?
Miss Kira hoped with all her heart.
Lucius reached up to adjust his sunglasses, the corners of his mouth curving into a smile.
Shigure Kira, I still like your untameable personality.
"Since you're being so sincere, and I also think you're extremely suitable, I'll leave this role to you then."
As he spoke, Lucius reached into his pocket, produced something card-shaped, and handed it to Shigure Kira.
Shigure Kira took it and looked—it turned out to be a plane ticket to California, America.
Shigure Kira's face showed confusion. "Why are you giving me a plane ticket?"
"Miss Shigure Kira, you need to make a trip to Caltech. That's where one of our filming locations is."
"Oh right, your powers might be significantly stronger these next few days. Remember to keep them under control."
"Don't be afraid if you hear strange sounds in your head. It's a normal phenomenon."
"What are you talking about?"
...
Watching Shigure Kira walk away with the ticket, Lucius reached into his pocket and produced another plane ticket.
However, this one was a ticket to Australia.
All the various preliminary arrangements had been prepared. It was time to get Himeko to take on the role of Murata Himeko.
In Himeko's character setting, before she arrived at St. Freya Academy to teach, there were three people who had significant influence on her.
First, her father Ryuusuke Murata.
Second, her teacher Walter during her time at Caltech.
Third, her squad captain Ragna during her Valkyrie Assault Squad days.
Himeko's life story began with her father Ryuusuke Murata—this was the origin of her childhood longing to explore the stars.
Her father Ryuusuke Murata's true identity was the director of Schicksal's Sacred 7308 Research Institute, appointed by Otto to repair the Fourth Divine Key.
But Ryuusuke Murata's dream was to explore the cosmos and propel human civilization into the interstellar age. After Schicksal rejected his request to restart the Ark Project, he planned to steal the key to the Fourth Divine Key and defect to Anti-Entropy.
Normally, under Otto's all-seeing eye, Ryuusuke Murata's small schemes would certainly have been exposed.
But at this moment, a variable appeared—an alien individual attempting to establish contact with humanity, named Pepper Mint.
The so-called alien weren't the mythological creatures from Cthulhu mythology, but an alien refugee species existing in the Honkai world.
This alien civilization was born in the Jurassic period and was destroyed by another alien civilization called the "Sky People."
The remaining alien individuals transferred their consciousness into objects similar to Divine Keys called "Outer Keys," continuously relocating to evade their great enemy the "Sky People."
At the same time, they suppressed the development of their civilization to prevent the outbreak of Honkai.
For a very long time, they had hidden on Earth, peacefully coexisting with humanity—until the Sky People attempted to launch an attack on Earth.
To protect themselves, the Sugar individual named "Pepper Mint" decided to cooperate with humanity to resist the "Sky People," and the individual it chose was the human called Ryuusuke Murata.
Borrowing Bubblegum's power, Ryuusuke Murata, who should have been caught by Otto's all-seeing eye, successfully deceived Otto and stole the key to the Fourth Divine Key, delivering it to Anti-Entropy.
Originally, Ryuusuke Murata would have hidden within Anti-Entropy as a Schicksal defector. But at this point, fate took another turn.
Himeko, who was studying at Caltech, discovered news of an alien arrival in New Mexico, and went to investigate together with her teacher Welt.
All of this was witnessed by Ryuusuke Murata, and his worldly wisdom gave him a bold idea.
—He would seize the power of the Herrscher of Reason and use it to lead humanity to the stars.
To this end, through a backdoor he had left in the Fourth Divine Key, he triggered a dispute between Destiny and Anti-Entropy to tie up Anti-Entropy's forces, and deliberately allowed a Sky People individual to attack Himeko.
This forced Welt to go alone with him into the stars to face the Sky People's vanguard.
After Welt shattered the Sky People's vanguard through the power of the Herrscher of Reason, Ryuusuke Murata backstabbed Bubblegum and seized the Outer Key.
Then using the Outer Key's power, he boldly attacked Welt, attempting to seize the Herrscher of Reason's core.
And then he was casually kicked to death by Welt like a roadside weed.
Although Ryuusuke Murata died, it caused Himeko's destiny—which should have been that of a pioneer in stellar exploration—to undergo tremendous upheaval.
While sorting through her father's belongings, Himeko found information related to Schicksal, and thereby joined Schicksal and became a Valkyrie.
She then had an artificial stigmata implanted, joined the Valkyrie Assault Squad, and under Ragna's guidance became a true Valkyrie.
Until the main storyline, descending aboard the Hyperion to arrive in post-Great-Honkai Nagazora City and encountering the three young ones.
It could be said that Himeko's life had a vast span, its complexity even exceeding that of establishing MEI Company and having Mei take on Raiden Mei's character.
Getting Himeko to take on Himeko's character profile in a short period of time would be very difficult.
But with less than half a year remaining before the Third Great Honkai erupted, Lucius had to ensure Himeko obtained Himeko's character profile in under half a year.
Only that way could he complete the first act's "Escape from Nagazora," obtain the Herrscher of Thunder's character card, and thereby allow hundreds of millions of people in East Asia to survive.
So, what was to be done?
After deploying his worldly wisdom, Lucius arrived at his solution.
That solution was—make a movie!
Since he considered himself to be a director, why not actually use this to make a movie?
Since Himeko's life had such a vast span, he would simplify and fast-forward through it, having Himeko complete it in the shortest possible time.
Lucius called this... Himeko's Rebooted Life.
...
Australia, Sydney.
In a park after nightfall, a woman with flame-red hair and a girl with long straight black hair sat shoulder to shoulder.
These two were none other than Himeko and Yuki, who had just fled from the Far East.
Himeko held a can of beer in her hand, while Yuki held a box of fruit juice in hers.
Under the vast starlit sky, the two conversed.
"Sigh... I probably won't ever return to the Far East in my lifetime." Yuki hugged her juice and said with feeling.
Even having traveled from the Far East all the way to Australia, thinking back on her recent experiences still gave her chills.
"The Far East..." Himeko took a gulp of beer and said with emotion: "I haven't been back in a long time either. I never imagined the culture would become like this."
The two sighed.
But soon the topic grew heavier.
"Captain, the compensation payments... still haven't come through?" Yuki's face showed worry. "Sulen and the others didn't come from the best families. This money is very important to their families."
Himeko naturally knew who Yuki was referring to—they were among the original members of the Fifth Squad.
During the battle to eliminate the Pseudo-Herrscher, they had been drained into husks while protecting Yuki. This left Yuki deeply guilt-ridden.
Himeko shook her head, leaned back against the bench, looked at the brilliant starry sky, fatigue on her face.
"Not yet. Those damned fossils..."
Fire Moth's anti-Honkai combat personnel did work that involved constantly risking their lives, so their salaries and corresponding benefits were naturally extremely generous.
But the prerequisite was... that they were actually paid as promised.
After the Fifth Squad's roster was wiped out, the people above used one excuse after another to stall, withholding the compensation payments that should have been distributed.
For this reason, Himeko had even transferred all her own savings to the families of her fallen comrades.
But this money was a drop in the bucket, and many of these warriors' families were depending on these funds to survive.
Whenever she thought of this, Himeko would feel a wave of helplessness.
What she needed now was money—a great deal of money. But she felt this seemed even harder than killing a Pseudo-Herrscher.
The old saying "a single coin stumps a hero" had never felt more true.
The pressure in her heart gradually surged. Himeko leaned back against the bench and looked at the sky.
Looking at the brilliant starry sky overhead, Himeko's thoughts were pulled back to the past.
"Yuki, do you know what my dream is?"
"Huh?"
Yuki was somewhat surprised by Himeko's sudden question, but after processing it, she thought carefully, then ventured: "Saving more people?"
Hearing this, Himeko laughed and shook her head. "Yuki, I'm actually not that noble."
Then she stared blankly at the stars in the sky and said slowly:
"When I was little, I would sit in our home's courtyard with my father just like this, counting the stars one by one."
"I was curious whether those stars also had people like us on them, and whether we too appeared as a star in their eyes."
"When I grew a bit older and gained basic knowledge of astronomy..."
"I would fantasize about whether someday a train like the Night on the Galactic Railroad would stop at my doorstep and take me on an extraordinarily fantastical adventure."
"When I grew even older, I realized it was only an unrealistic fantasy—a train traveling through the Milky Way doesn't exist."
"But perhaps I could personally build a train that sails through the starry sky."
"And that's how my dream was born."
Listening to Himeko's unhurried narration, Yuki gradually became immersed, as if leafing through her captain's past.
Pointing at the brightest star in the sky, Himeko extended her hand as if to grasp it in her palm.
"I think my future shouldn't be bound by gravity, but should chase after those billions upon billions of stars."
"That sounds so romantic..." Yuki was moved, but she soon thought of Himeko's current position and couldn't help feeling puzzled. "So Captain, why did you end up as a Fire Moth combat operative?"
"Oh, because of my deadbeat old man."
"I see... wait, what?" Yuki suddenly felt something was off. "Captain, did you just say something quite remarkable?"
To this, Himeko didn't offer any explanation.
She downed the remaining beer in the can, then crushed the can with one hand and tossed it into the trash bin across from her.
Standing up, she said to Yuki: "Just take it as me venting. It's getting late. Let's go back and rest."
...
When Himeko was tossing her beer can and walking to her front door, she found someone seemed to have been waiting there for some time.
The person had black hair, with a streak of white running through the hair at the forehead.
They wore black sunglasses and held a black briefcase.
It was none other than Lucius, who had already arrived in Australia.
Seeing this, Himeko frowned slightly.
"Who are you?"
Hearing this, the corners of Lucius's mouth revealed a perfect smile.
"Miss Himeko, I imagine you're in need of a rather large sum of money right now?"
Under Himeko's wary gaze, Lucius opened the briefcase he was holding. Inside were stacks of neatly arranged banknotes.
But seeing Lucius do this, the wariness on Himeko's face actually intensified.
"I have a money-making job here that you might find interesting."
Himeko knew that people who threw large amounts of money at you during times of difficulty were most likely the kind who intended to take advantage of your vulnerable state.
But thinking of the still-unsettled compensation payments for her fallen comrades, she instinctively replied: "What kind of job?"
Hearing this, the corners of Lucius's mouth lifted slightly. "Film work."
The words had barely fallen when Himeko threw the beer can in her hand.
"Get lost!"
With Lucius's current physical constitution, he naturally couldn't be hit by something Himeko threw.
He simply extended his hand lightly and steadily caught the beer can Himeko had thrown.
"I have a film script here about an alien arrival. We're currently short a female lead. Miss Himeko, are you interested?"
Hearing Lucius's words, Himeko, who had been on the verge of exploding with rage, paused.
"When you said film work, you meant this kind?"
"What else?"
"..."
Facing the dazed Himeko, Lucius tossed the beer can back to her and asked: "Miss Himeko, interested in having a chat?"
---
Advanced 30+ Chapters in pat/reon.com/Sleepy_Hua