Starting with the Herrschers, I Cut Down All: Chapter 44

"But that wouldn't fit my original idea..."

"She has to stay true to her original intentions. She can be a little timid, but she must have a sense of responsibility. We can fill in the setting later. Add some fairy-tale elements then; a messy timeline won't be a big problem."

Speaking of responsibility, An Yu thought of his sister again: the tenacious little flower she had been when they were poor before college, and the dream she once had.

The dividing point in his life had been searching for college...

"Senior and Sister Elysia really have a good relationship."

Ling naturally changed how she addressed her.

An Yu had wanted to complain about how quickly she climbed the pole, but then said, "How can you tell that we're close?"

"Because Senior's character model looks a lot like Sister Elysia, and your personality is also very similar to Fairy Miss from the past."

"The Earth is round, and Elysian Realm doesn't exist. But precisely because Elysian Realm doesn't exist, we have to create it."

She had been a die-hard fan of Fairy Miss... or rather, she used to be.

But Fairy Miss had once said, "The Earth is round, so poetry and faraway places are home."

That made her feel that if she didn't work hard in college, she would be letting down her sister. As a result, she had fallen to this point, where she didn't even know how to have fun anymore.

An Yu examined the model and seemed to genuinely think it looked somewhat alike. He lengthened its ears and kept making fine adjustments, trying to turn them into elf ears.

"Don't have idolized fantasies about anyone. Otherwise, when those fantasies shatter, everything turns black and white."

"But Fairy Miss seems fine..."

"She holds grudges. Back in middle school, she gave me some candy, and I gave it to another girl. She remembered it for three days and only said she forgave me on the fourth day, when there were two bites of bread left at breakfast."

You remember that so clearly, Senior...

"You'd better get the timeline sorted out."

Bronya, who had appeared at some point, frowned deeply.

This had been her debut work. In a sense, it represented her youth and past. Perhaps the final result would not be perfect, but throughout the process, she would keep pursuing perfection.

"Yes, yes, Boss Producer."

An Yu curled his lips, though Bronya did not see it.

But now that the boss was here, some settings really did need to be discussed in detail.

"Tragedy is not the end. Instead, it can be placed at the beginning, as the start of hope. There will be good and evil on the journey, joy and sorrow in the outcome..."

"For this sort of divine maiden setting, do you think it's better for her to keep holding onto her beliefs?" An Yu pondered.

"Or should she go through all kinds of growth, and then have the child who fell asleep at some point in the past awaken again and continue believing unwaveringly in what she once believed?"

Both settings seemed pretty popular. The former lacked a little humanity, while the latter lacked a little divinity.

Incidentally, although this character was born from internal favoritism, her appearance was absolutely not because of it. For a normal IP, there had to be a safety net in the early stages, something that could patch things up if the later stages fell apart.

Even if you had an outline, you still needed that patch.

Just like Phoenix in the old Marvel IP.

"The second one."

There was no reason. Both had their advantages and disadvantages; it depended on personal preference.

Meanwhile, Ling quietly shifted her feet, trying to slip away while the two were talking so the boss would not discover that she had been slacking off.

"Why are you leaving so quickly? Didn't you say you wanted to be the bassist?"

Bronya looked directly at her.

Starting a company was too difficult. This morning, she had been thinking Ling was such a good kid, only to discover in the blink of an eye that she had been slacking off.

Ling sniffed. Boss, did you have to come so early?

Adults who eavesdropped on other people's private conversations were not likable.

"I'll work hard."

Working hard could never be wrong. Ling remembered her sister's earnest teachings as a longtime worker and hurriedly emphasized the point.

Bronya silently watched the girl whose gaze had begun to wander. Ling, meanwhile, tried her best to make her eyes look perfectly clear and sincere.

Sigh.

It seemed someone sighed inwardly.

"Hm? Is it already time to get off work, Boss?"

An Yu came back to his senses and only then noticed the time.

Come to think of it, when Ling came looking for him, there should have been another six or seven minutes before work ended...

Silly kid. Who slacked off right before getting off work? Wasn't that just walking into the line of fire?

Bronya nodded, tacitly acknowledging that work was over.

She seemed to remember something, and her tone softened slightly with a trace of nostalgia.

"Come to think of it, the last time we played together was back in college."

Ling blinked and glanced between the two of them. She seemed to understand whose connections Senior had used.

"At the time, Miss Kiana had such a cool and distant temperament."

Although An Yu had never interacted with her, they had not been in the same program. She played the piano.

"Heh."

Thinking of someone's unrealistic fantasies, Bronya laughed softly without thinking.

"So what instruments is everyone in our band responsible for?"

There were not many people waiting for the elevator, and the space felt slightly empty. Ling edged closer to Senior, since she was at least somewhat familiar with him.

Bronya did not know, since she had joined temporarily. An Yu pondered for a moment, then smiled frankly. "I don't know either."

"We'll just make do when the time comes. It's not like we're a professional band, and we're not trying to make money from it."

If necessary, An Yu could play rhythm guitar. The rhythm guitar's job usually was not too complicated anyway.

"Yes!"

Ling muttered softly, clenching her little pink fist. A startup team filled with unknowns and possibilities was the best.

And no one was particularly skilled, so everyone could improve together. Their bond would grow fastest that way. It was simply perfect!

However, Ling's radiant smile completely vanished a few minutes later.

Bronya sat to one side, casually picked up a drumstick, and tentatively struck the drumhead. From initial awkwardness to increasingly steady and clear sounds, she only struck it four times.

Ling's expression began to stiffen.

Bang!

The rhythm was not fast, nor did it form any melody, but every strike rang out with exceptional force, like thunder, carrying a primal power that shook the heart.

The heavy drumbeats resounded through the street. Their steadily rising force seized everyone's senses tightly.

Only after there were no other sounds beneath the office building did Bronya put down the drumsticks in satisfaction.

"The feel isn't bad. What about you two?"

The corners of her rosy lips curved up. There was no provocation in it; she merely looked around.

Before An Yu could consider whether that was a provocation, Elysia's eyes had already lit up. Her soft, fragrant body pounced onto his back, shaking him excitedly.

"Woof... ahem, Little Yu, we're definitely going to become the most famous rock band!"

Elysia coughed instinctively. There was no need to hear anything else—Bronya's pure sense of pitch had already won her over.

Bronya narrowed her eyes at An Yu, who had staggered from the impact, and somehow felt as if she had lost somewhere.

But she did not dare let Kiana pounce on him.

Kiana pursed her lips. I stayed here with you all morning, and you didn't even praise me. And aren't you supposed to be the wingwoman?

Are you sure you're qualified to be a wingwoman?

"Let's go eat. My treat."

Bronya lazily stood up. She had not played in a band for a very long time. This was a good chance to recall her rock-and-roll days with Sister Mei and Kiana.

And also...

Bronya: "Didn't you say your sister almost killed you before? You also said she couldn't possibly be obsessed with her little brother."

After typing that, she raised her eyes again. Elysia was still holding An Yu's arm, seemingly whispering to him.

In truth, Elysia was not whispering. An Yu listened to the faint, mosquito-like yet somewhat stimulating woofing by his ear.

He had to admit one thing: he was terrible at judging people. His past fantasies had nearly all been shattered.

An Yu: "The situation is very special. To avoid affecting our revolutionary friendship, Boss, you'd better not ask. Just assume she really is obsessed with her little brother."

A few minutes later, Elysia nonchalantly walked eight steps ahead. The scorching noon wind scattered the tips of her hair.

"Senior, you're not some hidden master too, are you?"

Ling wore a miserable expression.

She might have said she wanted to coast as a bassist, but she had her own fantasies too.

An Yu did not answer directly. "Maybe you can imagine that the special hereditary gene inside you suddenly releases some special genetic fragments related to music."

It was not impossible. After all, his sister had attributed her dreams to special genetic fragments.

"Senior, is that how you suddenly learned too?"

An Yu shook his head. "I'm different. I don't have that special hereditary gene. My chromosomes are perfectly normal. It's just that I do learn rather quickly."

Ling slowly produced a question mark.

P.S. That's it for today's ten thousand words. To answer the earlier question, daily ten-thousand-word updates until three hundred thousand.

At meals, there was no need to worry about the atmosphere. One lily-colored dog, and one Fairy Miss who was already lively and cheerful, occasionally sought excitement in secret before quickly changing the subject.

"Does anyone want some apples?"

Kiana picked up a fruit knife and showed off, easily... cutting the apple peel in half.

Without any psychological burden, she shifted the blame. "It must be the knife's fault. If I had a fruit knife I was familiar with, the apple peel definitely wouldn't have broken in the middle."

After saying that, she took a bite out of the pale, tender apple.

"Come to think of it, when did you buy apples?"

Bronya took the fruit knife and skillfully peeled off a single intact strip of apple skin.

Though they could have gotten a prepared apple platter from afar, Bronya was best at defeating others in the things they were good at.

"On the way to the restaurant. I saw her stop by a fruit stand for a while."

After An Yu took the fruit knife, he did the same. However, he gave the peeled apple to his sister, then looked toward Ling.

Ling pondered for a moment, her fingers tucked into her long sleeves with only the tips exposed.

"Thank you, Senior!"

Others had done that for her in the past, but those boys had mostly wanted to pursue her. As for Senior... Ling glanced at Boss Bronya beside her and felt there was no need to flatter herself.

If she were a tall, beautiful woman like her sister, perhaps there might have been a chance.

"You must have practiced peeling apples!"

Kiana declared with certainty. An Yu had already peeled a second apple and handed it to Ling, then wiped off a third apple and took a bite.

"How should we assign the instruments?"

After all, there were five people present: two guitars, one bass, and a drum kit. Of course, they could also go home and bring back a violin or saxophone. If all else failed, they could simply move over a piano.

Bronya realized she had changed. They should have been happily enjoying a meal, so why had she brought up something work-related?

Sigh. This was probably the price entrepreneurs had no choice but to bear.

"Pick a lead singer."