"Hmm…"
Seeing Lynelle emerge from Bronya's room with that thoroughly flushed face, Mei, who'd just set the dishes on the table, couldn't help but let out a resigned sigh.
"Bronya, Kiana… Lynelle just got back. Could you two try not to pick on her too much?"
"Big sister Mei, we really were just playing a game."
Hearing that, the corner of Mei's mouth twitched slightly.
After all, given Lynelle's current state… anyone in the know would assume they were gaming, but anyone else would think she'd been fed some sort of strange… ahem stimulant.
"We were playing a game, it's just… that game was a bit special."
Feeling her cheeks were about to burn up, Lynelle shot a reproachful glare at a whistling Bronya and a very shifty-looking Kiana.
Of course, you couldn't really blame Lynelle.
After playing for about an hour, she'd pretty much figured the whole thing out.
She'd thought it was weird that anyone would develop such a bizarre, homogenized game. This game was absolutely something Bronya had skinned and made herself, wasn't it!
Otherwise, there was no explaining why the characters in the game, both in appearance and skills, bore such an uncanny resemblance to her!
Especially those defeat CGs—it was like they'd been drawn using her as a direct reference…
Gah, she couldn't keep thinking about this…
Feeling her body growing increasingly strange, Lynelle quickly patted her cheeks, forcibly shifting her attention back to the table full of delicious food and abruptly changing the subject.
"Ah, that's right. I remember you mentioning before, Mei, that Kiana's grades had risen above the class average?"
"That's right, it started around May, I think."
Mei nodded. "After we got back from Singapore, Kiana didn't seem as resistant to studying as before."
"Sometimes I'd even see her secretly reading books on theoretical physics… I've no idea what actually happened though."
"Bronya also tried asking this dummy, but dummy Kiana absolutely refused to talk about it. Lynelle, if you find out the reason this dummy had a change of heart, please be sure to tell Bronya. Bronya is willing to pay a high price for the information."
"A high price? How high, roughly?"
Lynelle asked curiously.
"Bronya's entire game library and save files, including some exclusively developed mods, can all be copied for you, Lynelle."
Lynelle's face instantly flushed bright red again, just like before. "W-who wants your weird games!"
After receiving several sets of Bronya's 'first playthrough' memories, plus her own personal experiences, Lynelle had learned her lesson the hard way.
This Bronya usually seemed perfectly normal, but whenever she felt like teasing Lynelle, she'd drag her off to play all sorts of strange, restricted-level games.
The crucial point was this Bronya also had programming skills.
Until Lynelle reached a key story point, she could never tell that the thing was actually a 'dating sim'! I mean, since when did those kinds of games have difficulty settings rivaling soulslikes?!
Let's just say, Arahato's commercial failure in later years didn't happen without reason.
"But…"
Lynelle's gaze subtly shifted to the white-haired ball of fluff who was burying her head in her meal, trying to escape the scrutinizing eyes of the other three.
She didn't need to guess to know that the main reason for Kiana's changes was probably Sirin.
At least from how things looked now, her little angel Sirin, even after awakening within Kiana's body, didn't seem to have any intention of making things difficult for Kiana.
On the contrary, she was actively helping Kiana master the abilities within her body.
"By the way, Kiana, you'll have some free time after dinner, right?"
"Y-yeah, I do…"
Kiana blinked. "Did you need something, Lynelle?"
"It's nothing, I just plan to check on your learning progress."
Lynelle speared a piece of chicken and stuffed it into Kiana's mouth, blocking further questions from the girl. "As for now… let's just eat, alright?"
--+--
The pleasant dinner time passed quickly.
Having already been tricked by Bronya once before the meal, Lynelle absolutely refused to join her for any more online gaming afterward.
So, as early as a little past 9 PM, an eager Lynelle—under the odd stares from Mei and Bronya—pulled Kiana back to her room.
Oh, of course, Lynelle definitely wasn't eagerly anticipating some sort of strange 'exercise'.
She was just genuinely curious about what Kiana had experienced during the time she was away.
"Eh, so it was about this…"
After Lynelle explained her 'purpose', Kiana's disappointment was visibly obvious for a moment.
Seeing Lynelle's state during their pre-dinner gaming session, she thought she might get to trigger some of that 'popular enjoyable plot development'.
What Kiana didn't realize, though, was that while Lynelle had indeed reached the point where her body felt strange back then, the current Lynelle was somewhat 'experienced', to a certain degree.
At the very least, this kind of visual stimulation was still rather tame compared to the intense physical stimulation someone like Wendy could deliver.
"Then, Lynelle, please wait a moment…"
Watching Kiana suddenly stand up, cover one eye, and face the mirror, Lynelle almost thought she was about to recite some sort of incantation for the 'Eye of the Wicked King' or something.
After all, judging by mental age, Kiana was still technically a minor—a bit of a chuuni phase was perfectly normal.
And then, Kiana gave Lynelle a 'big surprise'.
As Kiana's hand, covering her eye, slowly moved away, Lynelle's eyes widened more and more.
Because, in the span of just a few seconds, Kiana's 'aura' had completely transformed from that of a silly dummy Herrscher to the image of a seemingly very reliable Herrscher of the Void, with one golden and one blue heterochromatic eye.
Or rather, this form seemed to be a fusion of the Herrscher of the Void and the Queen, because behind Kiana, three Void Lances, shaped like individual wing plumes, floated in the air.
"Th-this is…"
"This is a new way of using our abilities that Sirin and I developed together☆~"
Kiana gave Lynelle a 'V' sign. "After all, Sirin is still in a state where she's severely lacking in Honkai energy. Plus, her soul is very sensitive."
"If we let Sirin directly take over the 'account' to fight, without sufficient Honkai energy support, not only would the duration be short, but the power she could exert would also be very limited."
"And so, Kiana and I researched this symbiotic dual-stream state together."
Kiana's voice abruptly switched to a different tone.
Judging from the girl's faintly glowing golden eyes, the one who had taken over now was clearly the little angel Sirin.
"In this state, the primary controller of the body remains Kiana, but I will govern most of the Core's Authority. Kiana herself only retains the Authority of teleportation."
"In other words, while Kiana maintains her original combat prowess and mobility, I can control the other Authorities of the Herrscher of the Void, utilizing the Void Lances and spatial construction abilities, achieving an effect similar to a normal person multitasking."
"Just… like this."
Caught completely off guard by Lynelle, the three Void Lances behind Kiana shot out, morphing and instantly forming a supporting wall behind Lynelle.
Meanwhile, Kiana—or rather, Sirin—instantly closed the distance, pressing right up in front of Lynelle and pinning the still uncomprehending pink-haired girl against the wall made of Void Lances.
At the same time, accompanied by a warm breath, Sirin's voice whispered softly by Lynelle's ear.
"Long time no see, Lynelle… I've missed you so much, you know~"
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.