Chapter 156. Are You Ready, Legends?
Griseo's shame exploded past its limit, and in an instant she burst out with strength she'd never shown before.
Xander Masato felt the small hands pushing against his chest suddenly shove hard.
He staggered back a step, his heel caught on the leg of the toppled chair, and he fell backward.
Because she had pushed too hard, Griseo lost her balance as well and toppled onto him.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch..."
Thankfully, he braced himself on his forearms in time, so he only landed on his backside and it wasn't a big deal.
"S-sorry!"
Griseo, who had landed on top of Xander, had been well protected.
When she came back to her senses, she propped herself up and started apologizing in a panic.
"I'm fine.
Griseo, could you get off me first, okay?"
Honestly, their current position was just a little bit off.
Griseo had her hands braced on his chest, and she ended up sitting on his waist.
Her cheeks were scarlet, and because of that surprise just now, her eyes were a little watery.
Also, he remembered he hadn't closed the door when he came in, and Griseo's scream just now would definitely bring the people downstairs running.
If anyone at home saw this scene, his life might as well be over.
Biting her lip, Griseo didn't stand up.
Instead, she started tugging at his clothes.
"Griseo?"
He hurriedly pulled his clothes tight and looked at her in confusion.
Griseo's voice was aggrieved yet stubborn as she said, "I-I want to see if Sir Knight is hurt.
Sir Knight just said it hurt."
"I'm okay.
I just landed on my butt.
Get up first, and let me stand up too."
"Really?"
"Really, really—get up first."
As he spoke, he reached out a hand to help Griseo sit up, but his hand had barely extended halfway when there was a thud from the doorway.
Kiana rushed in, saw the scene before her, and her eyes went wide.
"Oho~"
Hearing that weird tone from Kiana, Xander slapped a palm to his forehead.
Welp, too late.
...
"I thought my impeccable reputation was going to be ruined today."
Sighing, Xander shoveled a mouthful of Seele's dinner.
"It was just a fall—what are you overthinking for?
Griseo's still a kid.
You're not that kind of pervert," Bronya deadpanned, exasperated.
Then her hand, which was holding a bowl of soup, paused as she eyed him suspiciously.
"Don't tell me you really have thoughts about Griseo?"
At Bronya's words, the chopsticks around the table paused one after another, and everyone fixed their eyes on him.
Feeling all those direct stares, Xander swallowed, then shook his head frantically.
"Of course not!
I am really not a pervert!!!"
Everyone except Griseo let out a breath of relief.
Only she looked instantly heartbroken.
"So Sir Knight doesn't like me?
I understand.
I won't bother Sir Knight anymore."
"You jerk, you made Griseo cry!" Kiana immediately jumped in to fan the flames.
"N-no, no, no, of course I like little Griseo," he replied with a headache, enduring the teasing looks from everyone at home.
"Then why did you deny it just now?"
Head tilted, Griseo stared straight at him.
"Th-that—Griseo, you have to understand that 'like' and 'like' aren't the same."
"What's different?"
"Th-this, this, the difference is..."
His voice stalled.
His wandering gaze suddenly landed on Elysia beside Griseo, who was snickering nonstop.
He immediately threw the problem over.
"Ask your sister Elysia.
She knows!"
"Sister Elysia, why is 'like' different?"
Seeing Griseo's attention shift, Xander finally let out a sigh of relief.
But before he could eat two bites to calm his nerves, he noticed Elysia's smile growing ever more impish.
She set her hands on Griseo's shoulders, and the two of them looked at Xander together.
"The 'like' Xander means is the kind where he wants Griseo to be his wife~"
"W-wife!!"
Griseo's face flushed red at once.
She fidgeted, snuck a glance at Xander, and quickly looked away when their eyes met.
In a small voice, she said, "S-so, does Sir Knight want to wait until I grow up and then make me Sir Knight's wife?"
"Mhm, mhm, that's right~"
Pfft!!
Xander almost sprayed out a mouthful of rice.
What was he thinking, handing this topic to Elysia?
He forgot she was a master at stoking the fire.
At that moment, Griseo exhaled in relief, stood up, bowed her head, and spoke to him slowly and earnestly.
"I'm sorry, Sir Knight.
I-I'm not ready yet."
"Aww, rejected~" Elysia laughed in delight.
"Rejected, huh." Eden found the whole thing very amusing.
"Husband was rejected~" Kaguya smiled as well.
"Don't be too sad, big bro~" Seele couldn't stop giggling.
"Xander, you need to look ahead~" Kiana put on a faux-elder tone.
"Serves you right." For some reason, Sirin had a little bit of a mood.
"Hehe~" Raiden Mei only smiled and didn't chime in.
"Heh." Bronya turned straight into a spectator for fun.
"That's enough out of all of you!!!!"
The smile on Xander's face was copied onto everyone else's face, and the dinner ended in this cheerful atmosphere.
"So what exactly did you do to make Griseo scream like that?"
After dinner, everyone gathered around the sofa for some casual chit-chat.
The TV was on as background noise.
As soon as they sat down, Kiana looked at Xander curiously.
Feeling even more tired after eating, Xander slumped on the sofa.
Beside him was Elysia, who had made his teeth itch in exasperation just now.
But with Elysia cuddling him like this, all his irritation dissipated.
He sighed, lay down with his head on Elysia's soft, plush thighs, glanced at Kiana, and—though he felt there was something off about her question—he still answered casually.
"Nothing.
Griseo was talking about some private girl stuff with her friend.
I forgot to knock when I went in and startled her."
Naturally, he wouldn't say Griseo's secret outright.
No need to embarrass the little girl into shutting herself in.
"That's on you, Xander."
"I've learned my lesson the hard way."
"Pfft~"
Thinking of the dinner scene just now, Kiana couldn't hold back another laugh.
He shot her a look, rolled over, and buried his face in Elysia's soft little tummy, feeling a bit emotionally tired.
Speaking of which, had Elysia put on a little weight lately?
Her tummy felt even softer than before.
Of course, that was something he didn't dare say aloud—only mutter in his heart that this plushness was comfy and it was better not to bring it up.
His nose was filled with Elysia's unique sweetness, and his thoughts turned back to Griseo.
It was normal for a girl in her teens to have some private hobbies, but Griseo's felt a little bit skewed.
Seriously, how did Griseo end up like this!
Maybe he shouldn't have had Eromanga-sensei teach her back then.
Would the kid become Eromanga-sensei No. 3?
He was a little worried that when Branka and Hen found out, they'd come over with knives to "have a talk."
Looks like it's time to assign Griseo some work to squeeze her free time a bit.
Conveniently, Apex is almost finished, and we're starting on some promo art and the game PV.
Since Griseo has time to draw that kind of manga, giving her some extra load should be fine, right?
He slid an arm around Elysia's waist, nuzzled in her embrace, and thought quietly.
But thinking of the game PV, when Elysia and the others wrapped up their current topic, he mumbled into her tummy to cut in.
"Elysia, how's the PV music we asked Eden about last time?"
The warm breath on her tummy made Elysia's body tremble slightly.
She pinched Xander's cheek, thought for a moment, and replied, "I remember Eden's pretty much done.
But she just went back to change clothes.
I'll ask her when we go for a walk tonight."
"Mm.
Let's try to get the PV out before the New Year.
I still need to head back to Siberia."
"Half a month is plenty."
Bronya munched on the cookies Seele made—crunch, crunch—and continued, "A game PV doesn't need that many key illustrations.
We've finished the important 3D assets.
What's left is some rendering and voiceover.
We can borrow computing power from Anti-Entropy.
Time will be more than enough."
"Good.
I feel uneasy if I don't finish what's on my plate before going home."
Getting a bit ticklish, Elysia blushed and turned Xander's head to face forward.
"Ah, half of my view just got blocked."
Xander's line of sight suddenly pointed at the ceiling, and he couldn't help commenting.
"What?"
"No, nothing."
He rolled over again; this time facing out.
He looked to Raiden Mei on the other side and spoke.
"Mei, it's about time we started warming up the audience for the game."
"A warm-up?"
Raiden Mei nodded and thought.
"It is time.
Do we need to post some promo art?
Should we buy some traffic?"
"No need.
Just post the game icon on the company homepage and the official blog.
Players will guess on their own... actually, I'll post it myself."
"Not buying traffic?
Is that okay?
Are you planning to lean on the Pokémon side?"
Bronya was puzzled too.
"Let's not.
The Pokémon World Championships postponement has already drawn a ton of criticism.
If we borrow Pokémon to promote the new game now, it'll only spark backlash."
That topic made Xander a bit depressed.
The Pokémon World Championships were pushed to the second half of next year.
On one hand, players' teams aren't strong yet, and in some regions even the qualifiers didn't have many participants.
Half a year, eight Gyms, and each Gym is no joke—he hadn't fully accounted for that.
Lately, Anti-Entropy's Pokémon division had been busy adding more Gyms and lowering Gym difficulty.
And of course, there was another important factor.
An unforeseen natural disaster.
A typhoon plus torrential rain wrecked the outdoor venue they had set up.
That's what a lack of experience brings.
They thought the typhoon wouldn't hit, but it took a turn halfway and passed right over St. Freya Academy.
Thankfully, it was just the first, not-so-formal tournament running into these issues, so they can learn and dodge them in the future.
Right now, St. Freya is still building the stadium roof.
"So how do we do it?
Without buying traffic, we might not even make the trending list."
"You've forgotten the ace up our sleeve?"
"What ace... you mean that?"
"Isn't it enough?" Xander smiled at her.
"That's more than enough."
Bronya smiled too.
"What riddles are you two speaking in?
Also, it's after hours.
Can we not talk about work!" Kiana crossed her arms, a little huffy.
"Okay, okay, no work talk.
You keep chatting—I'm heading upstairs."
Getting up from Elysia's lap, he gave Kiana's white hair a rub on his way out, making her almost jump up to bite him.
When he reached the studio, he noticed the screen was still lit, and Kaguya was still seated there.
"Why are you working so late?"
"Just a few simple leftovers.
Didn't feel like putting them off until tomorrow."
She turned back with a gentle smile.
"When you're home, you should rest properly.
Work never ends."
He walked over and gave her a kiss, then turned on his workstation.
"Husband says that, and yet you're about to work too?"
"No, I'm just posting something."
"What are you posting?"
"The teaser for Apex."
Hearing that, Kaguya covered her mouth in surprise, then little sparks of excitement lit her expression.
"It's finally starting?!"
"Mm."
At that, Kaguya stopped caring about her own tasks and hurried over to squeeze in next to him.
Watching Xander finish posting on all accounts in two minutes, Kaguya blinked in mild astonishment and asked, "That's it?"
"This is enough."
...
The Gensokyo official site and Designer Masato's personal blog updated.
The first to notice weren't players, but the gaming media who kept eyes on every feed every day.
As a studio whose every title was a smash hit—and with one of them, Pokémon, already world-famous—their news naturally drew traffic like a magnet.
Countless media rags spontaneously became word-of-mouth sprinklers, scrambling to gulp down the biggest sip of heat.
And so, with more and more reports, the news quickly spread through player circles.
Many eager players immediately opened the Gensokyo company site or Xander Masato's account.
The newest post there was indeed about the new game.
In an instant, countless players cheered, even though the post was just one simple line and one image.
It was a banner with a blood-red background.
In the center of the banner, a sharply stylized triangle with fierce angles.
The base wasn't a straight line but two inverted corners like spikes—just looking at it, you could feel its edge.
The text was even simpler.
Xander wrote only one sentence.
"Are you ready, Legends?"
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