Collapse City: Starting by Creating an Anime Version of Honkai

"Stop fooling around, we're here." Himeko parked the car in the open-air parking lot, right below the Far East Branch office building.

"Wow, what a tall building!" Kiana exclaimed.

"Don't make such a fuss," Bronya said with a strange expression. "Kiana, your parents are also high-ranking members of Destiny Group. How come you act like you've never seen the world?"

"What does it matter? I haven't been to Destiny headquarters much anyway!" Kiana's pretty face flushed red.

Himeko and her group arrived at the company lobby. After a brief conversation with the receptionist, they sat down on the guest sofa, waiting for someone to come down and receive them.

"Little Kiana~"

The person who came to greet them was Shigure Kira. Having just arrived in the Far East and not yet having her work responsibilities transferred, she was currently the most relaxed person in the company besides Yaqing. Naturally, Shub had called her to help receive the guests.

"You are?" Kiana recognized her as the person she had seen in Theresa's office yesterday and also knew from Yaqing that her name was Kira, but she had no idea how to address her.

Perhaps sensing Kiana's awkwardness, Shigure Kira eased the situation, "Just call me Kira-neechan!"

With that, Shigure Kira even winked.

"Kira-neechan," Kiana obediently called out.

"Okay, let's go. I'll take you directly to the recording studio."

Shigure Kira led Kiana and her group into the elevator, preparing to go directly to the recording studio on the thirty-first floor. Although she didn't explain the intention of calling them to the company, taking them to the recording studio explained everything.

"Kira-neechan, is Uncle really planning to create characters based on us?" Kiana asked.

"Eh? Yaqing, he... didn't tell you?" Shigure Kira's eyes widened in surprise.

Kiana subconsciously looked at Mei, who shook her head to indicate she didn't know, and then looked at Himeko, who was equally clueless.

"He didn't say anything," Kiana shook her head.

"Alright then," Shigure Kira said, "I'll inform Salome immediately. Someone will explain the character settings to you. Honestly, Yaqing can't even handle such a small matter properly."

Listening to Shigure Kira's complaints, Kiana found it hard to disagree.

The elevator stopped on the twenty-ninth floor. Rita, who was waiting for the elevator, looked at the group inside, a dangerous smile constantly on her face.

"Hey, Rita, are you planning to go up or down?" Shigure Kira asked.

"Kira-sama, President Otto asked me to come down and get the proposal from Director Salome. I'm preparing to go to the top floor now," Rita said as she entered the elevator.

As the elevator doors closed, Rita looked at Kiana. The maid's etiquette and undisguised gaze set off alarm bells in Mei's heart, and she silently took a step forward, blocking Rita's gaze.

Rita didn't mind at all.

"You must be Kiana-sama. You..."

Hearing this familiar opening, Kiana helplessly waved her hand and said, "I know, I know. Did you hold me when I was a child?"

"Kiana-sama, no, I'm not as old as you imagine. I'm only five years older than you. It's impossible that I held you when you were a child," Rita said with a smile, not at all offended by being interrupted.

"Ah?" Now it was Kiana's turn to be embarrassed.

Everyone else was holding back their laughter.

Rita smiled and said, "Your sister Bianka asked me to bring you a few words."

With a ding, the thirty-first floor arrived. As soon as the elevator doors opened, Kiana fled from the elevator as if escaping, leaving everyone puzzled. The only one who knew the truth was Rita.

After everyone had left the elevator, only Rita remained inside. The elevator continued to ascend, and Rita began to talk to herself, "Bianka-sama, it seems I didn't convey your words well."

Upon closer inspection, Rita was wearing a Bluetooth headset on her right ear, which was covered by her short hair, and a female voice came from the headset.

"It's alright, Rita."

On the thirty-first floor, Mei asked in confusion, "Kiana, why did you run?"

"Mei, you don't understand," Kiana wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, as if she had just escaped from a life-or-death situation. "My older sister asked someone to bring me a message, and it must be about my studies again. She's the one in the family who can't stand my laziness the most."

"Eh, has little Bianka become like this now?" Shigure Kira's impression of Durandal was still stuck on the six-year-old Durandal holding an umbrella and saying she was going to save the world.

Although she didn't witness it personally, both Yaqing and Cecilia had mentioned this incident.

"Hey, Kirara, you're too slow."

Shub looked at Shigure Kira with dissatisfaction.

Shigure Kira put her hands on her hips and said, "How am I slow? It's only been ten minutes. Don't open your eyes and talk nonsense. It takes time for me to wait for the elevator to come up."

"Okay, okay," Shub stood up, looked at Kiana and her group, extended her hand, and said politely, "Hello, my name is Shub-Niggurath, the head of the voice acting department."

"Hello, I'm Himeko, a teacher at St. Freya Academy," Himeko said, shaking her hand.

"My name is Bronya Zaychik."

"Hello, my name is Raiden Mei," Raiden Mei said.

"Kiana Kaslana," Kiana said, curiously looking around.

"Kiana, you don't need to introduce yourself to me," Shub said with a smile. "I've watched you grow up."

"Uh..." Kiana scratched her head.

Shub had everyone sit down. A laptop was prepared at each seat in the conference room, and the character settings could be freely accessed on the screen. However, apart from Kiana, Himeko and the others were honestly looking at their own character settings.

Kiana was different. She immediately opened Raiden Mei's character settings.

Chapter 60: Otto's Disciple and Welt II

"Why is Bronya using her appearance from three years ago?! Why not use Bronya's current figure?!"

Bronya was flustered, not even noticing her old verbal tic. She clearly had curves now, but the character model was set as her flat-chested self from three years ago.

"Then you'll have to ask the one upstairs," Shub said, taking a sip of coffee and pointing to the floor above.

Bronya was furious. She got up and took a few steps, but when she realized no one was stopping her, she silently sat back down.

Kiana looked at the blatant and suggestive lines in the script, her simple mind almost overheating. Her face flushed red. Although she would occasionally take advantage of Mei, she had never said anything like this.

I want to drink Mei's sister juice…

How could she say that? Kiana suddenly wanted to try it, a little curious about what Mei's sister juice tasted like.

"I have no objections," Himeko said, having no issues with the character settings or models.

"My character is actually the Third Herrscher…" Raiden Mei's image of the Herrschers was still stuck on the destroyers of the world, especially after seeing her Herrscher lines in the script, which gave her a headache.

"Mei, don't overthink it! You'll definitely be a Herrscher who fights for humanity, just like the First Herrscher," Kiana said, moving closer to Mei.

Shub immediately noticed that their relationship was unusual, but she didn't have any objections to lesbians. Perhaps it was because she herself was…

"Does anyone have any questions about the script or character settings? Feel free to ask," Shub said with a smile. "Just a heads up, I personally value efficiency, so my tone might be a little harsh when we get into the recording booth. I hope you can understand."

"I have a question!" Kiana was the first to raise her hand.

"Little Kiana, you don't need to raise your hand. It's not like we're in class," Shigure Kira said, amused.

"Kira-nee-san, this onee-san always gives me the feeling that I'm in class," Kiana said, scratching her head.

"Kira… nee-san?!" Hearing Kiana's address to Shigure Kira, Shub almost spat out her coffee. Her beautiful eyes widened as she looked at Shigure Kira in disbelief.

I'm already embarrassed to have little Kiana call her nee-san, and you, an old woman who's six years older than me, are actually letting Kiana call you nee-san?!

Seeming to notice Shub's gaze, Shigure Kira showed no shame and glared at Shub, signaling her not to say too much.

Fine, fine.

Shub understood Shigure Kira's meaning and could only nod helplessly.

Of course, Kiana didn't understand their exchange of glances and honestly said, "I feel like I'm a little too stupid in the story. I haven't fully realized this lady's intelligence and talent. At least this lady wouldn't use idioms incorrectly!"

Kiana revealed an expression similar to Theresa's.

Shub and Shigure Kira exchanged a look. They didn't think there was anything wrong with the story Yaqing wrote. In fact, it was a little too accurate.

"Kiana, it's called 'intelligence and talent,' not 'intelligent talent,'" Mei reminded her helplessly.

"Ah!"

"Bronya disagrees. Bronya doesn't want a flat figure. Bronya wants her current appearance," Bronya muttered to herself, surrounded by a dark aura.

"Such terrifying killing intent!" The sensitive Kiana immediately sensed it and quickly moved away from Bronya, shrinking between Himeko and Mei.

Mei looked at the cowardly Kiana-cat, amused, and said seriously, "What if we can't capture the feeling of the characters? The personality of the Herrscher… I might not be able to portray that feeling."

"Just try to get as close to the personality as possible. If you really can't, don't force it," Shub said. "Destiny currently has a research project that imitates the timbre and emotional content of voices, but it hasn't been fully debugged yet. But it can still be used as a temporary solution."

With Mei's problem solved, only Bronya was left. Shub looked at Bronya.

"Bron… I want to see Yaqing."

Ten minutes earlier, on the thirty-third floor, Yaqing was enjoying the afternoon tea Rita had brought him and called Welt Yang. The moment he dialed, the other end picked up.

"Yaqing Schari…"

"Welt, first…"

The two spoke at the same time.

"You go first."

"You go first."

The two spoke at the same time again.

"I'll go first."

"I'll go first!"

The two spoke at the same time once more.

The atmosphere fell silent for a moment.

"Mr. Welt, it seems we have a real understanding," Yaqing said, breaking the awkwardness.

"Heh." If he didn't need something from him, Welt Yang really wouldn't want to have too much contact with Otto's people, especially someone who had tricked him.

"Mr. Welt, I need your help," Yaqing got straight to the point.

"I don't think I can provide you with any help," Welt Yang's vigilance was raised to the highest level, afraid that the other party would set a trap for him in some sentence.

"In the previous script, I portrayed President Otto as a villain that the audience hated, and my current Honkai script needs a new villain. I think you won't refuse my suggestion and will definitely provide me with help, right?" Yaqing stood on the moral high ground.

"Sure, go tell the netizens that you were the screenwriter for the first movie, not me. See if they're willing to help you!" Welt Yang said coldly.

Yaqing's expression changed; he naturally knew that if he were the screenwriter, he would definitely be torn to shreds by Destiny's staff.

"You're just sending me to my death."

"Sorry, I'm not the screenwriter."

"Who knows?"

Yaqing said with a teasing tone, "Mr. Welt, I remember at the beginning, you were very tough. I was forced to let you join the creation of the script, but now you're not happy about it."

Welt Yang almost spat out a mouthful of old blood. He joined the script's creation only to supervise Destiny, to ensure they wouldn't write any plots that smeared Anti-Entropy, but now a huge pot was being pinned on him, causing him to be furiously criticized by the entire internet.

"Yaqing Schariac, you're really cunning. I admit I've been played by you." Welt sighed and said, "Tell me what kind of help you want me to provide?"

"Not in a hurry. As before, you should take a look at the script first."

"I won't look!" Hearing this, Welt immediately had a PTSD reaction.

"I assure you, Mr. Welt, only my name will be on the screenwriter credits for this movie. I swear on the President's persona." Yaqing said helplessly, feeling it was worth making a serious promise.

Only then did Welt open his email and pull up the script. He thought Yaqing was talking about the president of the Far East Branch subsidiary, which was his own persona, but the only president Yaqing recognized in his heart was someone else.

"Are you crazy?!"

After reading the script, Welt couldn't maintain his composure. He knew how much Cocolia in reality loved the children she adopted, but the Cocolia in the plot was a deranged woman who didn't hesitate to use her own children for experiments, and even killed a poor girl, even though she had become a Herrscher.