"Or we could play a game?"
"A game?"
Opening Duck Duck's Gaming Addict Switch
"Yeah, a game."
At first, Lin Nai had been puzzled as to why Bronya didn't know about video games.
But thinking about it, it made sense.
During that time, Bronya simply hadn't had the chance to come into contact with video games.
After coming to Anti-Entropy, she had mostly been studying.
Right now, Bronya's main form of entertainment was probably just reading a book.
Hmm...
Lin Nai had a feeling that turning on a game might activate some strange switch in Bronya.
Like Bronya, the gaming-addicted girl.
Lin Nai pulled a box out from beneath the bed. Inside were some snacks and a game console.
"What's this?"
"Emergency rations and mil—no, snacks to keep Kiana from stealing them, plus a game console that I had nowhere else to put."
Lin Nai had almost added that it was called restraint.
Bronya blinked and reached out with her little hand to pick up a bag of her favorite snacks.
Lin Nai didn't mind.
He took out the game console, then walked over to the television and started setting it up.
He inserted the cartridge.
Very soon,
the game appeared on the TV's large screen.
Eating snacks, Bronya was drawn toward it.
After all, there were still very few games in this world.
So Lin Nai had gotten his cartridges from the system.
Hmm...
What games did the Honkai world have?
Kallen Fantasy?
There was also a whole series of games starring Homu, but Lin Nai just couldn't quite get Homu's appeal.
So he gave up on those.
As for the cartridge in his hand, it was It Takes Two.
Lin Nai had always heard that this game was good in his previous life, but unfortunately, he had never had a friend to play it with.
As everyone knew, the best gaming setup wasn't a graphics card or a CPU.
It was a friend willing to keep you company and play with you.
As long as you had money, you could replace either a graphics card or a CPU.
But friends weren't necessarily so easy to find.
Besides, Lin Nai had been extremely socially anxious in his previous life.
Mind you, socially anxious, not a social terrorist like Kiana.
Meek in real life, and still meek online.
He avoided social interaction entirely.
You asked about the game console?
Lin Nai had gotten the console from the system too. He only occasionally took it out at night to play for a bit.
And so, Lin Nai and Bronya sat on the couch, playing a game in front of the television.
Bronya, who had never touched a game before, seemed as though a switch had been flipped.
From being clumsy at first, she soon became completely at ease.
Lin Nai could already vaguely sense Bronya's gaming-addict side awakening.
Hmm...
Lin Nai thought this was pretty good.
Bronya was gradually developing hobbies of her own, even if it was just gaming.
Besides, what was wrong with gaming?
Games made people happy.
Unless you lost a gacha pull, lost the game, or your teammates sent your blood pressure soaring...
Emmm...
There were always moments that made your blood pressure rise.
But Bronya was still a child at the end of the day, even if she had often stayed up late when she was an assassin.
Recently, however, she had been going to bed early and waking up early.
On top of that, in such a safe and comfortable environment, Bronya, who had been forcing herself to stay awake, grew drowsier and drowsier.
At some point, she curled up in Lin Nai's arms, her eyelids constantly fighting each other as though she could fall asleep at any moment.
Seeing this, Lin Nai paused and shut off the game.
Then he softly hummed a tune.
Bronya let out a huge yawn, set the controller aside, and fell asleep in Lin Nai's arms.
Lin Nai hummed quietly.
Only after Bronya had fallen asleep did Lin Nai carry her to the bed.
After tucking her in, he softly said goodnight and left the room.
He checked his phone. It was only two in the morning.
As everyone knew, staying up late was bad for your health, so pulling an all-nighter... forget it. He still wanted to live.
But you wouldn't suddenly die now, would you?
Lin Nai: But I'll still get mentally exhausted.
After sitting for so long playing games that he felt stiff, Lin Nai stretched and headed toward Anti-Entropy's rooftop.
However, when Lin Nai arrived at the rooftop, he saw a middle-aged man sitting on the railing with a bottle of beer in hand.
"Hmm... Siegfried, be careful not to fall."
Hearing that voice, Siegfried became irritated and turned to see Lin Nai walking over.
How could he not be annoyed?!
When talking with his daughter, nearly two-thirds of their conversation had been about Lin Nai.
Siegfried was practically about to blow his top.
And the worst part was, this brat might, perhaps, possibly... he might not even be able to beat him.
But on further thought, this brat had taught his daughter quite a lot, whether it was morals or how she should deal with enemies.
Even though he had some objections to this pig trying to root around his cabbage, there was nothing he could really say.
And to make matters worse, he even had to thank this brat!
Lin Nai: You're welcome.
"Kid, you could at least call me Uncle." After holding it in for so long, that was all Siegfried could manage to say.
Lin Nai rolled his eyes. "Don't you call me kid too?"
Siegfried shrugged, flipped down from the railing, and glanced at Lin Nai beside him.
"So why did you come up here?"
"Hmm... Gazing at the moon and thinking of home."
"Huh?"
"Just kidding. I'm not sleepy, so I came out for some air."
Lin Nai hadn't expected to run into Siegfried here either.
"Is that so..." Siegfried took a huge swig of beer, then picked up another bottle from the ground and tossed it to Lin Nai.
Lin Nai caught it, opened it without hesitation, and took a drink.
"You're not worried I poisoned it?" Siegfried raised an eyebrow. After all, they had fought during the day.
Drinking his beer, Lin Nai looked at the moon. "Poison? Hmm... You wouldn't do something like that."
"Heh."
Siegfried said nothing. He wouldn't do that, nor did he disdain to do so.
Besides, Lin Nai wasn't an enemy.
"Lin Nai."
"Hmm?"
"I'm leaving Kiana to you. Protect her well."
Lin Nai frowned at those words and looked over in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"I... can't stay by Kiana's side for too long."
Leaning against the railing, Siegfried recalled how, while talking with Kiana, he had vaguely seemed to see a flash of gold in his daughter's eyes.
Perhaps because neither Lin Nai nor Welt was around, the Herrscher of the Void had begun stirring again.
"Then what about Kiana? She won't want you to leave."
"Haha, I'll show up from time to time to visit her. I told Kiana that I'd accepted an Anti-Entropy assignment, so I had to leave."
Siegfried laughed. When he left, he only needed to tell Welt.
Besides.
Even after leaving, he would only be going elsewhere within Anti-Entropy to recuperate.
He had been out for long enough. He still needed to suppress the Honkai Beast genes.
And with Lin Nai by Kiana's side, he would feel much more at ease.
Lin Nai looked at Siegfried.
That was far better than leaving without saying goodbye.
Kiana would grow stronger in the future too.
Hmm...
But if that was the case, Kiana wouldn't need to travel in the future after all.
Wasn't that a good thing?
Before you continue