Chapter 60. The Old Trade
So this is the surprise Elysia mentioned?
Recalling what Elysia had said, Xander smiled and tapped to save the image.
Not gonna lie, it felt a bit exhilarating, though there was something odd mixed in with the thrill.
"On the Superstar with Tens of Millions of Fans Secretly Being My Lover?"
His thoughts began to wander, when a faint voice sounded by his ear.
"Brother, the people in that picture are you and Elysia, right?"
Gazing at the sky full of fireworks, Seele instantly understood.
Her curious look turned faintly resentful.
She poked her little head between her brother and the phone, blue eyes staring at him without blinking.
"...Ahem, p-probably."
His gaze started to drift, dodging left and right, which only made Seele more displeased.
Puffing her cheeks, she clasped her hands tight, determined to get to the bottom of it.
"What is it?"
Off to the side, Bronya didn't understand and leaned over curiously.
"Bronya, my brother, he—ya!!!"
Before she could finish tattling, Seele felt a strong force at her waist, and her body was suddenly lifted into the air.
"Ah, I'm starving.
Seele, let's go make dinner!"
With that, Xander braced his legs, hoisted the Seele who was clinging tightly to him onto his shoulder, and, taking advantage of Bronya's dazed moment, bolted out of the room.
"Hey, wait!"
Bronya had just stretched out a melodramatic hand when the only thing left before her eyes was a firmly closed door.
"..."
...
After dinner and a full night's rest, early the next morning Xander and Bronya showed up in the studio.
"Alrighty, we've rested long enough.
Back to work, back to work!"
Stretching with a long yawn, Xander rolled his neck and powered on the desktop.
"I've finished the Knight's basic animations.
How's your progress?"
Having Hatsune Miku open the various Hollow Knight files, Xander turned to Bronya as he spoke.
"..."
Hearing that, the previously full-of-pep Bronya fell silent.
She opened her mouth, and her confident expression drooped at once.
She replied weakly, "Um... I haven't finished a single one?"
Xander didn't get angry, look disappointed, or sneer.
He just nodded casually.
"It's your first time making an action-type game like this.
If you finished that fast, that'd be what I'd find strange."
As for the previous Alahato α?
It just had cooler mechs and somewhat interesting level design.
The action tuning in there was, frankly, a total mess.
Then Xander softened his tone.
"I just wanted to see how far you'd gotten.
In a bit, we'll do it together."
As he spoke, Hatsune Miku had already opened the necessary files and, in the corner of the screen, was waving a leek to claim credit.
He tapped her head with the mouse, and that cute big head instantly lit up with a happy expression.
"Mm, got it."
Her reply let Bronya breathe a sigh of relief, and she subconsciously leaned a little closer to Xander.
Turning her head, she happened to see him checking the various moves for the Knight she had designed.
With curiosity and a learning mindset, Bronya watched intently.
She didn't know how Xander adjusted them, but the Knight's animations looked incredibly pleasant—smoother than Dove chocolate.
It's just...
"The Knight is the protagonist of this game, right?"
Bronya asked, puzzled.
"Yeah."
Still staring at the monitor, Xander nodded.
"Then aren't his moves a bit too few?"
Frowning, Bronya voiced her doubt.
"Too few?
I think it's already enough."
After watching the moves once and confirming no problems, Xander finally turned his gaze to Bronya.
"Piling on additions can look flashy, sure, but sometimes subtraction can bring a different kind of enjoyment."
"Subtraction?"
"You'll get to experience it yourself later."
Without complicated stacking, if you push simple actions to the extreme, it can still win people over.
Speaking of which, Xander suddenly remembered a joke.
A Hollow Knight veteran teaching a newbie: "This is move, this is jump, this is attack.
Alright, you've learned all the controls.
Now let's go challenge the simple and easy Mantis Lords!"
"Oh..."
Noticing Bronya's pensive look, Xander leaned closer and pointed at her screen.
"Pull up those small enemy models first.
Let me show you."
The morning then passed amid the clack of mouse and keyboard and the two of them discussing.
Bronya watched the models she was responsible for get better and better.
That heady, positive feedback felt so good she couldn't stop; work practically became a kind of enjoyment.
It wasn't until Seele angrily called them to lunch for the third time that Bronya reluctantly pulled her hands back and rose from her chair.
Watching the backs of Xander and Seele walking side by side and chatting and laughing, Bronya licked her lips, eyes blazing.
I really, really want to squeeze Xander dry—merge his thinking and ability completely into my own mind.
After eating, they worked straight through to dusk before Xander finally relaxed his body and stopped.
"Break time?"
"Work-life balance, ever heard of it?
I don't want us coming down with occupational back pain."
Especially his kidneys—those must be protected!
"Alright."
Bronya's voice carried a hint of regret, but she still obediently stopped.
What could she do—she lost last time, and Xander is the boss now!
"Why the sighing if we're off work?"
Unable to hold back a chuckle, Xander picked up the fruit platter Seele had cut, speared a little rabbit-shaped apple piece with a toothpick, and held it to Bronya's lips.
"Here, moisten your throat."
After popping the apple into Bronya's mouth, Xander looked back at the screen.
"Hatsune, sort out the files for Kaleidoscope 4.
Base the system framework on Kaleidoscope 3, then fill in the organized script and CGs.
Oh, and remember to change the theme color."
Very soon, Hatsune began faithfully executing the command.
On his screen, all kinds of files started flashing by at high speed.
AI really is handy.
All this tedious work without much technical challenge can be handed off to AI, and it even ends up with fewer bugs than doing it manually.
He'd borrowed Kaleidoscope's system and UI from Yuzusoft.
In his memory, Yuzusoft's UI truly ranks among the most comfortable in galgame.
Back when he made Kaleidoscope 1, he had already built the system framework.
Now he just needed to tweak the colors and option flow and slot in the script and CGs, and it would be done.
"Aren't we off work?
What are you doing?"
"Why, going back to my old trade, of course."
Leaning back in his chair, he flashed Bronya a mischievous smile, only to receive a look of utter disdain in return.
"Eroge?"
"..."
He'd been about to retort that galgame isn't the same thing as eroge.
But remembering that what he was making was the Kaleidoscope series, he fell silent.
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