Starting with the Herrschers, I Cut Down All

An Yu coughed twice, then nimbly flipped out of the game pod.

"But Boss, your ideas back then were obviously still a little immature. A lot of things weren't fully developed, and many parts were only brushed over. That's why Honkai derivative works are popping up everywhere on the market right now."

"How about we flesh out this setting ourselves?"

As it happened, after playing that forbidden game just now, An Yu had come up with a few insignificant ideas.

He reached out and pulled up a light screen beside him, projecting the confident, flamboyant, graceful young girl who had once stood beneath the spotlight.

At least at that moment, Bronya, famous at a young age, had been chosen by fate—and she had been the only one.

Bronya truly was a genius. Although rapid technological advancement had made the winner-takes-all phenomenon increasingly apparent, Anti-Entropy's ability to remain among the world's best year after year still made it a world-class company.

Bronya looked uninterested. "A cash grab?"

She'd already finished writing the story of the first cast back then. What was there to write in a second part? A plot about pioneering Mars?

Even if she really made a second part, the protagonists of the first had gotten a perfect ending. How was she supposed to handle that?

Put them in comas?

Using a familiar name to sell something else would make it all too easy to get torn apart by the nostalgia crowd.

By then, the quality wouldn't even matter anymore. She might not even make it into the world finals of the game competition.

"Feel-good energy isn't popular anymore, An Yu. Put that brain of yours to work."

An Yu shook his head.

"No. We're writing a prequel!"

Bronya froze. A prequel?

"Because a prequel is a story destined for ruin, we can freely depict cruelty within this game IP that should have been filled with feel-good energy! We can flesh out the worldbuilding!"

"Your ideas back then really were top-tier, Boss, but... anyway, I still don't understand why you were so obsessed with girls being all lovey-dovey that the Honkai, which should've depicted cruelty, ended up filled with feel-good energy."

An Yu muttered to himself for a moment. Anyway, Bronya was just strange.

But it didn't matter. After crossing into this world twenty-two years ago, he'd already sunk into this highly advanced technological society and spent his days in drunken bliss.

As for all those unreasonable or absurd phenomena, he merely attributed them to... a genius's capriciousness, just as he had when he turned down an invitation from Schicksal, Austria's old-established company.

"Go on."

Bronya folded her arms, slender fingers tapping against her arm. Speaking of the Previous Era, there really was plenty of room left to explore.

But personally overturning the framework she'd established before was, for a creator, a little cruel and... exciting.

"For example, the Herrschers, who occupy such an important place in the Honkai IP, yet whose destructive power has always been brushed over despite them being the main members of the lovey-dovey cast..."

"I understand that you were trying to create contrast before, Boss, but in the prequel, we can completely play with reverse contrast."

An Yu fell into thought. He recalled that forbidden grass-cutting roguelike game he'd just played.

"We don't need to overturn the framework left behind before. We only need to redraw the individual deaths within disaster through the cruelty and bloodshed that were once brushed over."

"Rather than reducing them to death tolls of tens of thousands with a single sentence."

"Let's create a bloody, magnificent heroic epic using the foundation this Honkai IP has already laid."

The main thing was that this IP had already laid the groundwork. Bloody, magnificent heroic epics were everywhere, but the most important part of such epics was the early buildup.

Bronya had already paved the way for the Honkai IP in the past. Rather than call it living off past achievements, An Yu preferred to call it venture investment.

What if it failed?

If it failed, Honkai would stink, and even its previous high ratings would plummet.

Bronya's long, shapely legs kept trembling. Should she continue racking her brains only to be eliminated in the quarterfinals, or gamble once more on the possibility of standing beneath the world's spotlight?

She let out a long breath. "Fine."

"Huh? Where's An Yu?"

She looked around in confusion. The light screen he'd just pulled down had gone dark, and the young man who had been talking so animatedly had vanished.

"He said his grandma gave birth, so there was really no way he could keep working overtime."

Colleague Chi Si beside her answered hesitantly. Watching the second boss's expression grow darker and darker, he wisely put on the appearance of someone still hard at work.

"Work's over!"

Time to go home and play that illegal little game, Koikatsu 6!

The roar of the retro two-wheeled mechanical beast continued without pause. Its matte-black shell seemed capable of swallowing light itself. Under the envious gazes of others, An Yu leaned over his motorcycle and sped down the highway.

There was no need to worry about collisions, because civilian vehicles had already reached the point where their road-condition detection allowed fully automatic high-speed driving, with no more than two traffic accidents a year.

Unfortunately, the exhilarating rush of speed wouldn't last long, because the faster it was, the shorter the experience became.

"As expected, fast and short usually go together."

As the exhaust gave one final resonant growl, An Yu removed his helmet and returned to his home in this world.

Incidentally, he had been an orphan in both his lives. This time, though, he had an older sister to depend on.

"I'm back, Sis."

No one answered. His lazy, chubby older sister was probably still gaming or binge-watching shows. She might've gone out to have fun too.

Whatever. Wasn't earning money so his family could enjoy themselves the whole point?

After ordering takeout, An Yu entered the game right on time. He planned to cut down another wave of mobs, gather some information afterward, and turn in his work tomorrow. After all, he couldn't really slack off at work.

"Musou Grass-Cutting, activate!"

A strange wave passed over him, and his consciousness grew somewhat hazy. An Yu crawled out of the sea as the screen flashed red continuously.

He shook his head.

"No drops on death?"

What was even the point of this roguelike? What kind of garbage roguelike didn't let you experience every evolution path?!

Oh, it was a stage-clearing roguelike. Maybe everything would reset in the second stage.

Watching the fisherman mob approach from nearby, he raised his hand. Bang!

The last bit of the experience bar filled up, and he reached level 10.

[Please choose your upgrade path]

Gun Mimicry 5 → Replica Reconstruction

Attack Speed 3 → 4

Artillery Support 3 → 4

In a roguelike, you obviously had to evolve without thinking. If your weapon didn't evolve, there was no way you'd be able to keep fighting later.

He immediately chose the first option, evolving into Replica Reconstruction.

Replica Reconstruction: Observe all principles, deconstruct all things.

"Interesting. Even though it's supposedly a Honkai derivative roguelike, the controls actually feel more like a cultivation roguelike."

"Where's that pink-haired boss whose face I couldn't see just now? Call her over!"

No one responded.

Based on his experience playing cultivation games, An Yu kept trying to mimic blueprints he remembered from other games in his mind.

Nothing took shape. The game's backend probably hadn't been set up with that much content.

"This doesn't work, that doesn't work—then why make the description sound so overpowered? Don't tell me I have to memorize it myself. What a trash game."

An Yu floated through the air. He couldn't create anything too advanced, but simple flying vehicles were universal across games.

He raised two fingers before his eyes like a sword gesture and pointed toward the new map in the distance. The densely packed mobs in the city were enough to trigger trypophobia.

Bang!

Volume 1: Truly High and Mighty, Darling

Countless firearms gathered behind him, reconstructing themselves into an enormous cannon barrel.

Bang!

As his lips moved slightly, specks of light swirled around the cannon's muzzle like countless fireflies gathering there, until the moment of firing turned the world pale white.

Amid a deafening roar, a cluster of flower-like, brilliant arrows pierced through his chest at the same time. As An Yu stared at the experience points filling the entire city, countless curses surged through his heart.

"Don't let me find out you're that boss, you bastard!!!"

After exiting the game, his body felt somewhat drowsy. An Yu assumed it was because he'd immersed himself too deeply in the neural connection. He removed his helmet... and stared at his chubby older sister sitting on top of him, his thoughts coming to a halt.

"After living together this long, Sis, you aren't planning to make a move on me, are you?!"

His voice trembled. Oh God, even though they weren't related by blood, after all these years together, he really didn't have any thoughts about Elysia.

He'd even brought Elysia toilet paper when she ran out in the bathroom. He'd seen her at her messiest over the years.

Elysia's gaze was gloomy. Lately, she had kept having a strange yet incredibly realistic dream, from traveling around the world to the Twelve Herrschers, then getting brutally beaten and humiliated by Finality.

And for some reason, perhaps because of a mental issue, her sense of time in the dreams had become especially distorted. The waking daytime instead always seemed to pass in the blink of an eye.

Maybe it was because An Yu usually made her angry, but all those bosses had the same face. Whenever she saw that face now, she couldn't stop herself from wanting to throw a punch.

Was it really a dream? Then why had everything felt so real?

"Sis?"

An Yu was no longer joking. He hurriedly reached out to touch Elysia's forehead. She didn't have a fever, but that didn't rule out some other illness.

"I'm fine." Elysia shifted to the side and stopped pressing down on the young man.

"Did someone make you unhappy?"

An Yu sat beside her and naturally linked his arm through hers, trying to cheer her up. Though in the past, Elysia had always been the one lifting everyone's spirits.

"Yes."

Elysia's tone was faint. And that bastard had provoked her for years in the dream; every time she killed him, he'd soon return as a new Herrscher to cause trouble again.

"Who?! I'll teach him a lesson!"

An Yu immediately declared his loyalty, afraid that if he hesitated, his sister would add another entry to her mental blacklist.

Elysia lowered her eyes. "You."

An Yu pointed at himself in confusion. "Me?"

"You made me angry in my dream."

An Yu: ...

"Huh?"

An Yu gestured helplessly, nearly dropping to his knees. Sis, don't do this. Save that move for your future boyfriend, okay?

I've gone through two lives without ever dating. I really can't handle you tormenting me like this.

"Let's eat."

Elysia seemed to have lost her former energy and looked completely listless.

An Yu genuinely had no idea how to comfort her. No, Sis, don't do this. We know each other inside out. If we really got together, wouldn't I be completely under your thumb from then on? I'm still young!

Dinner was naturally takeout, and An Yu had ordered it himself.

Out of habit, he gave the fried egg to Elysia, then started mixing his noodles with chili sauce... He was exceptionally good at mixing noodles!

"Do you have work these next few days?"

Elysia kept poking the fried egg with her chopsticks until it broke apart and thoroughly mixed with the noodles.

"Nothing unexpected, but I'll probably be busy with a new project for a while." An Yu sounded hesitant.

"But I can take leave. Sis, if something's really bothering you, there's no need to hide it from me."

Elysia had seemed strange lately. Had some scumbag tricked her?

Or had her best friend set her up?

Hmph, An Yu knew people from different classes couldn't be true friends. What kind of status did Eden have, and what kind did Elysia have? They couldn't possibly play together.