Wavy, pale golden hair with coral-pink tips, tied with a black ribbon; blue eyes with red shadow at the corners—
That was the beautiful onee-san Rita had just contacted.
She stood outside the miHoYo studio, hesitated for a moment, then slowly raised her hand and pushed open the door.
"Mei~~"
"What is it? Did your script get rejected by Hokuto again?"
"Uh… hehe~~"
Kiana placed the script in her hands in front of Mei. "I think I did really well this time! I absolutely went above and beyond."
"Let me see."
With a hint of curiosity, Mei opened the script.
"Kiana single-handedly uppercuts the Herrscher of Wind, suppresses darkened Bronya…"
"?"
"As the main character, getting fired up and going berserk is totally normal, right? So? Isn't this script pretty great?"
Kiana crossed her arms, lifted her chin proudly.
It had blood-pumping energy and showed off Kiana's invincible character setting, sure to draw in gacha pulls.
So perfect—it could only be her!
"This…"
Mei read it a few more times. You couldn't say Kiana's script was terrible—not to the point of being unreadable.
"You made Kiana too overpowered. How are you going to develop the plot afterward? The power scaling is completely broken," she said.
Kiana got even more enthusiastic. "Isn't there some supposedly strongest Valkyrie in Schicksal? I think, based on the plot progression, the Hyperion will probably find a reason to launch an attack on Schicksal."
"When that time comes, Kiana will definitely be the main force. Hmph, watch me—Kiana single-handedly overwhelms Schicksal!"
Mei had objections: "Besides being the main force, the protagonist might also get captured by the BOSS and locked up. The 'dragon and princess' trope is also a classic."
She paused and added, "That would also give the protagonist team a reason to attack Schicksal."
"No way! Absolutely not!"
At that moment, the golden-haired onee-san had already entered the studio and approached Kiana from behind.
"Kiana, you should focus during work hours. Slacking off is bad behavior."
Kiana, who had been arguing with Mei, froze at the sound of the voice.
Then she turned around and saw that familiar tall figure.
"Sis?!"
Kiana exclaimed, "Why are you here?!"
"I'm here for an interview."
"You're joining miHoYo?!" Kiana's voice got even louder.
"Kiana…"
The onee-san frowned and was about to tell Kiana not to shout when Kiana's volume apparently attracted Rita from the office.
Rita's eyes quickly scanned the commotion, then settled on the onee-san.
"You're finally here. Come with me—the boss has been waiting for a long time."
"Okay."
The onee-san responded, temporarily setting aside Kiana and following Rita into the meeting room.
Inside, when Hokuto saw the onee-san, he silently thought to himself—so it really is Durandal.
"Please, have a seat," he said with a smile.
After Durandal sat down, Hokuto skipped the pleasantries—considering the kind of person Silly Goose was.
"Let's get straight to it. Please introduce yourself."
"My name is Durandal. It's a bit unusual in this country. I've been in the industry for nearly three years, and have worked at Penguin, NetOne, Xuanji… and other companies."
"Hold on. Can I ask, why have you changed jobs over ten times in less than three years?"
"Because I felt those companies weren't a good fit for me."
Durandal answered seriously, without any reservations: "If I feel miHoYo isn't a good fit, I'll resign as well."
"..."
Is that something you're supposed to say in an interview?
Hokuto found that all these Honkai Impact 3rd characters—while clearly capable, often even more than average people—seemed to each come with their own problems.
Or rather, personalities from 2D characters, when placed in the real world, were simply too... "pure."
As for how he was so sure Durandal was capable?
Anyone who could switch between over ten companies—all of them big names—couldn't be ordinary.
"Bianka~~" Rita whispered softly, gently reminding Durandal.
Only then did Durandal come to her senses. She corrected herself:
"Please rest assured. During working hours, I will give one hundred and twenty percent."
"For example, the promotional CG that miHoYo Studio released online earlier—although the concept and composition were already quite impactful, there were still many issues with the details. If you let me handle it, I could definitely do it better."
Looking at Durandal's sincere expression, Hokuto felt she wasn't trying to throw shade at him for making a poor CG and wasting a good idea.
"Ahem. Miss Durandal's way of speaking is certainly… unique."
"...My apologies." Durandal bowed her head.
Rita gave a quiet sigh beside her. The plan to recruit Durandal probably just fell through.
It was her fault.
After spending too much time with Durandal, she had forgotten that Durandal's personality was too unusual for most people.
A bit thoughtless of her.
"In any case, welcome to miHoYo Studio, Miss Durandal."
In the midst of their slightly surprised gazes, Hokuto smiled and extended his hand to Durandal.
"Huh?" Durandal was clearly caught off guard.
"Have you already decided miHoYo isn't a good fit for you?" Hokuto asked softly.
"No."
Durandal shook her head, hesitating, "Just now, I… you suddenly…"
"I believe you meant no harm. You're just straightforward."
Hokuto explained calmly, "In fact, being straightforward isn't a flaw. It's actually one of your strengths, Miss Durandal."
If Silly Goose weren't silly, wouldn't that be a bit off?
"..." Durandal blinked.
Rita glanced at Durandal, then at Hokuto: "Boss, are you serious?"
"Of course."
Hokuto nodded lightly. "Honesty is always better than flattering your superiors while harboring other thoughts. Don't you think?"
Upon hearing that, Rita slowly pressed her lips together and gave a faint smile.
"That's true."
Durandal was briefly stunned, then took the initiative to raise her hand and shake Hokuto's lightly.
"Please take care of me from now on."
"I wouldn't dare. Let's work hard together."
Hokuto paused. "By the way, you wouldn't mind if Honkai Impact 3rd had a character named Durandal, would you?"
"What?"
Durandal looked confused. Why did she suddenly get drafted into a game?
"Honkai Impact 3rd is everyone's Honkai Impact 3rd here at miHoYo. I hope all of you can leave your mark in it."
Hokuto's expression was earnest. Whether she believed it or not, at least he believed it.
"Kiana, and everyone else at the studio, it's the same."
"Is that so?" Durandal thought for a moment. That did explain why Kiana appeared in the game.
"Then what about you, Boss?" Rita suddenly asked from the side.
"Me?"
"Would you like to try voicing Otto Apocalypse?"
"..."