On the Matter of Retired Screenwriters Finding New Employment...

[Elysia: Oh my, what a pitiful Herrscher—crying from a beating. Want the Pink Fairy Lady to comfort you?]

[Sirin: I wasn't crying! And that wasn't even me! ☆]

[Wendy: Such a weak Herrscher...]

[Sirin: I don't need—wait, the Herrscher of the Void in that video doesn't need to hear that from someone who got knocked out by Anti-Entropy's crappy mechs! ☆]

[Wendy: Who are you calling knocked out by a mech?!]

[Sirin: Who else but that disgrace of a Herrscher? ☆]

[Wendy: I was worn down first, then ambushed! If I'd been at full strength, no amount of mechs could've beaten me!]

[Sirin: Sure, sure—if you hadn't been worn down by a few students who hadn't even graduated, you'd totally have crushed those mechs~ ☆]

[Wendy: You... you...!]

[Sirin: Oh my, don't tell me the little one's crying~ What's the matter? Going to tattle to your Sister Bronya? ☆]

[Wendy: Aaaagh! You inherently evil Herrscher of the Void, I'll personally—]

Wendy was practically fuming. She glared at Kiana, who was lying on the bed beside her. From the earlier bullet comments, she knew that Sirin—the one mocking her in the livestream room—was currently inside that Grassworm's body.

A faint cyan glow flickered around her as the Gem of Desire's power stirred again, threatening to turn her back into the Herrscher of Wind...

"Aah, Wendy, don't look at me like that!"

Kiana was trembling in Mei's arms. She wasn't really afraid of Wendy, but this Wendy wasn't the enemy she'd faced before—they were teammates now, in a sense. Actually fighting her felt awkward. And more importantly...

"It was Sirin mocking you! Why are you coming after me, Kiana?"

Kiana felt this was an Unforeseen Calamity.

[Bronya: Wendy, calm down. Don't do anything rash.]

[Wendy: Sister Bronya...]

[Bronya: Even if you hit Kiana, Bronya wouldn't mind, but it wouldn't do anything to Sirin.]

[Theresa: That's right, Wendy. And if you want to fight Sirin, your current power isn't enough. You'll need to fully master the Gem of Desire first.]

[Wendy: Sister Bronya, Principal Theresa...]

[Wendy: Fine, I understand! I'll master the Gem of Desire's power, then defeat that Sirin myself!]

[Sirin: Try it if you can. I'm curious to see what a Herrscher beaten by a toy can do. ☆]

The light around Wendy faded, and she sat back down on the bed.

Mei sighed in relief, glad to avoid a fight with Wendy. Then she felt something odd on her Slimes. Looking down, she saw a white Grassworm blissfully squirming against them.

"Ehehe~ Mei smells so good..." That Grassworm thought: Opportunities to cuddle Mei openly are rare... Every time I try, that Shorty shows up to ruin it. Finally, I can enjoy this!

Wait—why had it suddenly gone so quiet?

Kiana opened her eyes and met Mei's dark, smiling face...

"Mei... if I said I was just too scared... would you believe me?" (〃'▽'〃)

"What do you think... Kiana...?" (?＿?)

Thump!

Congratulations to Kiana for receiving a red envelope from Mei ×1.

"Oww... that hurts, Mei." (*?????)

Mei didn't actually mind Kiana's cuddling—but at least do it somewhere private!

Blushing under the strange looks (she imagined) from the doctors who'd fled during Wendy's outburst and then crept back, Mei buried her face in the blanket.

The video continued.

The scene shifted. Unnoticed, evening had fallen. A-Quan faced the sunset, gazing at the sinking sun as if seeing her own loneliness...

"I'm the wildly popular Lady Herrscher of the Void! No way I'm going down here. I can still—"

A-Quan's eyes blazed with confidence. In that moment, she was no longer the sniveling Spring Elf, but the Honkai Queen herself—the majestic Herrscher of the Void!

At last, the Queen was about to descend!

But the next second...

"Ugh...!"

The Queen's descent failed.

The once imposing, cool Queen reverted to A-Quan, hunched over a trash can, retching violently.

The setting sun illusion vanished—it had all been A-Quan's fantasy.

Himeko, who'd been expecting some epic line from A-Quan, watched her suddenly start vomiting and felt her anticipation evaporate.

"Looks like her body's overworked..."

What an idiot I was, expecting anything from this shut-in, Himeko thought to herself.

Ai-chan watched A-Quan's wild tonal shifts, her expression nearly turning into Bronya's.

Ai-chan recalled the majestic Herrscher of the Void from the original storyline, then looked at the A-Quan before her, who was vomiting uncontrollably—who would have thought they were the same person?

"Speaking of which, I remember you didn't even lose that fight, right?"

And Ai Yi had another question, one she'd wanted to ask since this team-building event started...

"If you wanted to win, how would the rest of the act play out?"

Ai Yi genuinely had no idea what A-Quan was thinking. She hadn't heard of her meeting with any scriptwriters lately, had she? Or maybe...

Could A-Quan actually have a talent for scriptwriting? (???) If that were really the case... then with A-Quan's intelligence, trust her—she could definitely trick the company into hiring a scriptwriter who worked two jobs for the salary of one.

Just as Ai Yi was mentally drafting A-Quan's Scriptwriting Plan (the company's exploitation plan) all the way to "retired scriptwriters re-entering the workforce," A-Quan's words shattered her scheme...

A-Quan lifted her head from the trash can, her eyes brimming with wisdom.

"Huh? Why didn't you say so earlier? Ugh..."

No sooner had she spoken than she went back to vomiting.

Clearly, Ai Yi's scriptwriting plan was over before it even began.

Though the scriptwriting plan was dead, the team-building had to go on. To keep others from discovering her "scriptwriting (exploitation) plan," Ai Yi explained to A-Quan:

"I only just realized that myself—after all, this time the budget's free to spend however we want."

Even if this might tarnish her image as the perfect administrator, it was still better than the title "heartless administrator."