After a wild party, moonlight streamed through the window, illuminating Yaqing's handsome, sleeping face, still flushed from the alcohol. The bedroom door was pushed open gently. A certain catgirl tiptoed in, opened the closet, gathered up her "treasures," and left with the utmost care, breathing a long sigh of relief.
The next morning, a new day began. The residents of the Courtyard were once again busy with their routines. Yaqing, having washed up, ruffled his messy hair.
"Morning, Brother Jie."
Yaqing looked blearily at Master Kalpas, who was busy in the kitchen.
"You're getting lazier and lazier," Kalpas said in a harsh tone, but he still pushed a deluxe sandwich he had made early that morning in front of Yaqing.
"Brother Jie, your cooking skills are getting better and better."
Yaqing took a bite of the sandwich. The wonderfully delicious flavor exploded in his mouth, and he closed his eyes in comfort.
"Hah." Although Kalpas let out a cold snort, the face under his beauty mask was clearly smiling.
"Brother Jie, I'm heading to work now."
Yaqing bounded up the stairs, changed out of his dinosaur pajamas, and put on a well-fitting suit and his gold-rimmed glasses. As he came downstairs, he saw the just-awakened Elysia.
"Mmm~ good morning, Yaqing~♪"
"Morning, Elysia."
At Schicksal Far East Entertainment, Yaqing looked at the beautiful female employees before him, smiled, and said, "Patrick, how are the concept art and models for our Overseer coming along?"
Patrick, a tall, gray-haired woman with purple eyes, couldn't help but laugh out loud. She teased, "Yaqing, do you have some kind of beef with the Overseer? His character setting is either a clown or a fool, and the model even has a clown mask."
"Pfft."
Laughter filled the room.
Even the normally cold and expressionless Salome cracked a smile.
Shub opened her mouth, revealing her sharp teeth. "Boss Yaqing, aren't we hiring for the voice acting department? Right now, I'm a general with no soldiers."
Yaqing spread his hands. "It's not that we aren't hiring. It's that for this anime, I plan to use the real-life prototypes. So naturally, the prototypes have to do the voice acting."
Cheng Lixue blinked her beautiful eyes and asked curiously, "Brother Yaqing, we still haven't seen the script yet."
"I've already made the script into a file and sent it to everyone's email." Yaqing opened a PowerPoint presentation. On the blank page, a few large words were written in a mechanical font.
"Honkai: The Second Great Eruption"
The honest Cheng Lixue raised her hand and asked, "Brother Yaqing, are we in the script?"
Instantly, all the beautiful women turned their curious gazes toward Yaqing, their boss and scriptwriter.
"Of course, you are." Yaqing smiled slightly. "The members of the Snow Wolf Squad, under the command of Schicksal's S-rank Valkyrie, Cecilia Schariac:"
"The Genius, Patrick Highsmith." "The Frost Swordswoman, Cheng Lixue." "The Cleaner, Salome Jokanaan." "Child of Chaos, Shub-Niggurath." "The Floating Prominence, Kira Shigure."
Rita, sitting next to Yaqing, looked at him resentfully. Even Kira Shigure had a role, but she didn't.
Yaqing felt a chill from Rita's stare. He coughed a few times and said, "Alright everyone, get ready! The Honkai IP is officially greenlit!"
"YEAH!!!"
After everyone had left the conference room, Yaqing leaned back in his chair, looking at Rita, who was now sitting on the conference table with her shapely rear, looking down at him from over her magnificent chest.
"Rita, is there something else?"
Yaqing stood up.
"Lord Yaqing, why isn't there a role for Rita?"
"Er..." Yaqing felt his throat tighten. He smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, Rita. This movie can only be considered a prequel. Your real debut is when the main story begins, as the 'powerful, invincible, and undefeatable' S-rank Schicksal Valkyrie, just like my sister."
"Hmm~" Rita hummed softly, leaving the conference room completely satisfied.
Yaqing crossed his legs.
He felt a little embarrassed, but his choice of adjectives wasn't wrong.
Invincible and undefeatable...
Yaqing tapped on the table, making a rhythmic thump-thump sound. He took out his phone and called his sister.
...
Elsewhere, Cecilia and Kiana were walking arm-in-arm, looking less like mother and daughter and more like sisters, their smiles like blooming flowers. Meanwhile, a miserable Siegfried trailed behind, carrying a mountain of shopping bags filled with various goods.
"Mom, will Sirin be okay staying home by herself?" Kiana's beautiful eyes narrowed happily, like the triumphant Moon-Sea Fishy-Cat that had just stolen a fish.
"She'll be fine," Cecilia said, holding Kiana's arm with a girlish charm. She winked playfully. "Besides, Bella is there taking care of her."
Just as the mother-daughter pair were chatting, a phone rang at an inconvenient moment. Cecilia pulled her phone out of her skirt pocket and looked at the caller ID with a confused expression.
"Hey, it's Uncle?" Kiana leaned over to look.
Cecilia nodded, answered the call, and asked, "What's up, little brother? Your big sis is out shopping with Kiana right now. Say hi, Kiana~"
"Hmph, Uncle..." Kiana pouted.
"Mmm, Kiana, long time no see. Sis, do you have a moment?"
"Ah! Yes, what's wrong?" Cecilia asked.
"I have a role here that I need you to voice. And if Siegfried is there, have him come along too. I'm still missing one more voice actor."
"Huh? Me?!" Siegfried looked utterly incredulous, unable to believe that Yaqing would actually have a role for him. Then, a wave of unease washed over him. It's not going to be some kind of disgusting villain, is it?
"I want to go too!" Kiana puffed up her cheeks, very unhappy that her uncle was making her mom work during their mother-daughter time.
"Today?" Cecilia glanced at her watch. "We might not have time. I promised Kiana I'd spend the whole day with her today."
"It's fine, let Kiana come along too. Besides, Sis, the Overseer sent all of your old subordinates over," Yaqing said with a smile.
"Alright."
After Cecilia agreed, Siegfried called for their driver, and they headed towards Nagazora's West District.
After hanging up, Yaqing straightened his suit, pushed open the conference room door, and walked over to the publicity department. He informed Rita that Cecilia would be arriving soon and asked her to go greet her.
For Rita, Cecilia was simply a respected idol. It wasn't a romantic admiration like she had for Kira Shigure, nor was it a fanatical worship like Shub's.