Sunlight streamed through the gap in the curtains, casting a bright strip of light on the carpet.
Su Yu was sprawled on the sofa in a completely useless posture, his injured leg, wrapped up like a giant silkworm cocoon, propped high on the coffee table.
He was holding his phone, the screen's light reflecting on his somewhat pale face.
[Su Yu: How's the progress on the device?]
After sending the message, he skillfully switched to his notepad app and began organizing the materials he had managed to 'dig out' from Kiana's fragmented memories last night, piecing them together like a puzzle.
The maze-like overpasses of Nagazora, the rooftop of Senba Academy scorched black by lightning, the silicon-based textures on the Honkai Beasts...
The phone vibrated.
Mei's reply came back.
[Mei: The core control module is already welded. I'm debugging the output power parameters now. As long as you don't require it to also brew coffee, I expect it can be delivered in three days.]
[Su Yu: That fast? I thought it would take at least a week.]
[Mei: Kevin said you were in a great hurry, like you couldn't wait a single moment. And... I myself am also very interested in this 'non-human creature suppression technology.']
[Mei: By the way, you still haven't given me that key parameter—the specific weight and body measurements of the target. Without that, I can't set the current's threshold. If I make it too low, it'll be useless. Too high... I won't be responsible for collecting the corpse.]
Su Yu lifted his head, his gaze passing over the messy pile of design drafts to land on Kiana, who was curled up at the other end of the sofa.
The girl was holding a mug with a cartoon cat printed on it, filled with steaming hot milk.
"Hey."
"Hmm?" Kiana looked up like a startled rabbit, her eyes still a bit dazed.
"How much do you weigh?"
Kiana froze for a moment, then instantly became alert.
"Huh? Why are you asking a girl for private information like her weight?"
Although her tone was very impolite, and even held a faint trace of Kiana's characteristic tsundere attitude, Su Yu felt inexplicably reassured.
"Dr. Mei needs to know the specific parameters to make that anti-berserk collar." Su Yu sighed, his face a picture of righteousness. "If you don't want to be electrocuted into a roast suckling pig or have it be ineffective, you'd better confess honestly."
"..."
Kiana was silent for a few seconds before she quietly said, as if squeezing the words from between her teeth, "Forty-seven kilograms."
"Height?"
"One hundred and sixty-three...."
Su Yu quickly sent the data to Mei, adding another sentence:
[Su Yu: Although the data makes her sound pretty light, her muscle density is likely much higher than an ordinary human's. Her power output is absurd. You should have seen how she lifted me like a dumbbell last night.]
[Mei: I saw. It was truly a sight to behold.]
[Mei: That's why I've tripled the default current intensity.]
[Mei: Don't worry, based on biological calculations, it won't be life-threatening, but the momentary paralysis will be enough to temporarily incapacitate her.]
Su Yu stared at this message for a while. Mei didn't say anything else, not even asking why he wanted to put this limiter on Kiana.
He took a deep breath.
And finally typed two words:
[Thank you.]
He tossed the phone aside and brought his focus back to the messy jumble in his notepad.
"Next," he began, "I plan to tell you about our approach."
Kiana's gaze shifted from her milk mug to him.
"What approach?"
"The format of the game."
Su Yu gestured in the air with his finger.
"This world's tech tree is a bit skewed, higher than I imagined. Things like VR glasses and holographic projections are already becoming civilian goods at dirt-cheap prices."
"So, we're making a holographic immersive game."
"Holographic game?" Kiana blinked, clearly a little unfamiliar with the term. "St. Freya had holographic simulation battles. Is it like that?"
"There's still a difference." Su Yu thought about his wording. "At the very least, ordinary people definitely can't handle your Valkyrie holographic simulation battles. After all, the difference in physical constitution is right there."
"In short, it's about being able to personally experience the battles that the Valkyries went through."
Kiana nodded thoughtfully, a light flashing in her heterochromatic eyes.
"Isn't that better? That way they can more truly feel... what happened in that world."
"Right. The sense of substitution and immersion are both on a nuclear-bomb level."
Su Yu nodded.
Kiana didn't ask Su Yu how he planned to make this game, and Su Yu didn't explain further. He couldn't just say he had a cheat system, could he?
To put it bluntly, he felt like he was just copying from a construction blueprint right now. He only needed to consider how to lay the wires and place the raw materials—that is, to collect the various materials needed to get the assembly line running.
The rest could be left to the assembly line itself.
He only needed to think about how to lay the wires, but the System, the one designing the blueprint, had to consider much more.
"So, are we continuing to collect material today?"
Kiana looked at Su Yu.
"Yeah. Originally, according to the plan, I wanted to take you to see Griseo again. The reception for 'The Three-Year Sakura' was good, so I was planning to commission Griseo to continue creating our manga."
"Manga? What's the chapter this time?"
"'The Third Eruption.'"
Kiana paused for a moment, then nodded. That was where the destinies of her, Mei, and Bronya began.
She was actually a little curious herself.
How would Griseo depict her first meeting with Mei?
"However..."
Su Yu patted his leg.
"But this leg of mine will probably take a few days to heal, and you need to rest too. After all, you went through so much last night."
Kiana didn't refute him.
Nor did she expose Su Yu's lie.
Sometimes, seeing through something but not saying it out loud is also a form of gentleness.
"So," Su Yu's voice pulled her back from her thoughts, "for today, let's start with the simple parts."
"What do you mean?"
Su Yu put down his phone, leaned his body forward slightly, and looked at her seriously.
"Kiana."
His tone became a bit more formal.
"What kind of person do you think you are?"
Kiana was stunned.
"...What?"
"What kind of person do you think you are?"
Su Yu repeated.
"Personality, characteristics, strengths, weaknesses. How do you see yourself?"
This question was too big, as big as a bottomless pit.
Kiana opened her mouth but didn't know how to answer.
"Why are you asking this?"
"Because what I'm making is not just a game, but your biography. As the protagonist, your character sheet and profile are very important."
Su Yu's tone was calm.
"Kiana Kaslana is the protagonist of the entire story. I need to know what kind of person she is. Only then can I stuff that soul of flesh and blood into the data."
He paused, then added, "Of course, I can summarize it myself based on the stories you've told, but I want to hear your own opinion."
Kiana lowered her head, staring at the milk mug in her hands.
What kind of person am I?
This was a question she hadn't seriously thought about for a long time.
At the end in that world, she only knew she was a 'jinx'.
A monster possessed by the Herrscher of the Void.
A sinner who had killed her most beloved teacher with her own hands.
A piece of trash whose very existence was a waste of air.
But those were labels she had put on herself.
That wasn't what Su Yu was asking.
What kind of person am I?
Before becoming a 'jinx', before that thing was revived—
What kind of person was the Kiana who climbed walls to skip class at Senba Academy?
"...I don't know."
Kiana's voice was very soft.
"I haven't thought about this question in a long time. Thinking about it only brings more pain."
Su Yu didn't speak.
He just leaned back on the sofa quietly, waiting, giving her enough time to search through those ruins.
The silence lasted for a long time.
The wall clock ticked away, and the sunlight moved slowly across the carpet.
Finally, Kiana spoke.
"...An idiot."
"Hmm?"
"Mei said I was an idiot."
Kiana's lips curved up slightly in self-mockery.
"Impulsive, reckless, never using my brain. I'm obviously terrible at everything, never pass any exams, yet I insist on clamoring to be at the very front."
"Sounds pretty accurate. Especially the impulsive part, I saw that for myself last night." Su Yu nodded.
"...You don't have to agree so quickly." Kiana shot him a glare.
Su Yu smiled and didn't argue.
"What else?"
Kiana thought for a moment, as if counting her sins on her fingers.
"...Greedy. I want to stuff any delicious food into my mouth."
"I've had a profound experience with that. Especially your obsession with high-calorie foods."
"Noisy. Always unable to be quiet."
"I know that too. You have a loud voice."
"Can't cook. Can even blow up the kitchen just by making instant noodles."
"Well, we're a good match on that point. I'm quite handy in the kitchen."
"..."
Kiana looked up, glaring at him with some annoyance.
"What exactly do you want to hear? Does it make you happy to listen to me list my own shortcomings?"
"I want to hear how you see the real you."
Su Yu's tone was still serious.
"Not these superficial labels, but your own evaluation of your soul."
Kiana's expression froze.
Evaluation of my soul?
She lowered her gaze to her own hands, which weren't holding any weapons, and remained silent for a long time.
"...I don't know."
Her voice was very soft, so soft it was as if it came from far away.
"I only know what kind of person I want to become."
"What kind of person?"
"Someone like my dad."
Kiana's gaze softened slightly.
"Like Siegfried... someone who usually seems unreliable, but at critical moments, can be a hero who protects everyone."
She paused, then added, "Although... I'm still very, very far from that goal right now. I can't even protect myself properly."
Su Yu nodded, seemingly satisfied with this answer.
"That's enough."
"Enough?" Kiana was stunned.
"Character development isn't about listing a bunch of nice-sounding adjectives."
Su Yu picked up his phone and started typing.
"The most important thing is the motivation—what that character fights for, what kind of person she desires to be in the depths of her heart."
"With this core, everything else, whether it's being greedy or an idiot, is just the flesh and blood that makes the character more lovable."
He looked up and gave Kiana the same smile he had on the rooftop that night—a smile that was both punchable and incredibly warm.
"The idiot Paramecium who wants to be a hero—I think this setting is pretty good. Better than any perfect savior."
Kiana froze for a moment. Looking at that smile, she felt as if her heart had skipped a beat.
She turned her head away, burying her face in the steam from the milk, not wanting him to see her expression.
"...Who's an idiot? I take back what I said."
But the tips of her ears peeking out from her white hair had quietly, little by little, turned red.
____
________________________________________
If you want more chapters, please consider supporting my page on (P). with 50 advanced chapters available on (P)
👻 Join the crew by searching Leanzin on (P). You know the spot! 😉