Everyone, 〈...〉
Fu Lin's mouth twitched, muttering, "What kind of hellish joke is that…"
Raiden Ryoma, 〈Otto, you ＊＊＊＊!〉
----------------------------
[At this moment, Ai-chan walked up to the two of them, her eyes fixed tightly on Himeko, and she asked sternly, "You gave her alcohol?"
Upon hearing this, Himeko reacted like a cat with its tail stepped on, quickly waving her hands and explaining, "No! That was bitter melon juice..."
However, before Himeko could finish, the Frigid Empress suddenly grabbed a bucket of instant noodles with a look of anguish.
With a sharp scream of "Wuaa!", she tore the packaging open without hesitation.
In an instant, a dazzling golden light burst forth, radiant like the sun.
Clearly startled by the sudden glare, Ai-chan instinctively stepped aside.
At the same time, Himeko stared in astonishment at the incredible scene unfolding before her.
As the blinding light gradually faded, everyone's gaze refocused on the bucket of instant noodles.
"Huh?"
The Frigid Empress stared suspiciously at the noodles, and before long, she pulled out a golden card.
Looking closely, the card had a large character "Great" on it, and below it was an image of a bald man in a suit.
The Frigid Empress widened her eyes in disbelief as she stared at the card and muttered, "What is this?"
Seeing this, Himeko rubbed her chin and muttered to herself, "This... this is..."
Before she could finish, her words stopped abruptly, as if she couldn't believe her own thoughts.
Ai-chan, curious, leaned over to get a better look at the black-gold card and said,
"I think I remember something."
Like performing a magic trick, Ai-chan suddenly produced a thick book from who-knows-where. On the cover were the bold characters — "Archive 001".
Ai-chan quickly flipped through the pages, and before long, a look of surprise appeared on her beautiful face, and she exclaimed, "Just as I thought!"
She began explaining to everyone,
"This was a special batch of instant noodles custom-made when Big X first founded the company.
At the time, everyone in the company relied on instant noodles to get by. To surprise the employees, Big X hid all kinds of prizes inside them.
Everyone was enthusiastic at first, but after the food improved, nobody ate the noodles anymore."
As she spoke, Ai-chan suddenly put one hand on her waist, raised the glowing gold card high with the other, and solemnly declared,
"And this golden card!"
"Was the grand prize set by Big X before the new year — any one wish within the company's ability will be granted to the employee!" ]
[Miss Lily] Otto, 〈Sounds pretty good. Maybe we can borrow the idea?
Replace instant noodles with supply lottery, and within the limits of Schicksal's power, fulfill any one wish for a Valkyrie?〉
Rita, 〈Really any wish? Like making Lady Durandal 'willingly' wear all the clothes I design from now on?〉
Durandal, 〈Impossible. No way. I absolutely won't wear those strange outfits!〉
[Miss Lily] Otto, 〈Of course you will!〉
Durandal, 〈Eh? Don't make decisions on your own, Bishop Otto!!!〉
Kiana, 〈Can any wish really be granted within the ability limits?〉
[Miss Lily] Otto, 〈Of course~〉
Kiana, 〈Then can I have your position as Bishop?〉
[Miss Lily] Otto's lips twitched, speechless, 〈Uh...〉
Instantly, everyone turned their eyes to Otto, curious about how he would respond.
[Miss Lily] Otto, 〈Of course you can.〉
Everyone, 〈!!!〉
Siegfried, 〈Who said my daughter's dumb? My daughter is not dumb at all!〉
Fu Hua couldn't help but look at her in a new light and said, "Kiana, you're such a genius!"
Kiana, 〈Really? Really? I'm really a genius?〉
At this moment, Theresa puffed up her cheeks and shouted sweetly at Otto, "Grandpa~"
Otto chuckled, reached out and gently patted Theresa's head, saying,
"Ahem, don't worry, no one can take away little Theresa's place. Trust grandpa."
[The Frigid Empress widened her eyes and stared blankly at Ai-chan, as if she couldn't believe what she just heard, completely stunned.
After a long while, she finally opened her mouth, "What? If that's the case..."
Before she could finish, her once clear and bright eyes welled up with tears again, and crystal-clear droplets streamed down her cheeks like broken pearls.
She quickly raised her hand to wipe away the falling tears, and shouted in a teary voice,
"Then the noodles are expired now!" ]
Seeing this, Kiana☆ couldn't help but mutter softly, 〈Why am I not surprised that the Frigid Empress focused entirely on the noodles? It just feels so natural.〉
Kevin, 〈Expired noodles... eating a little should be fine.〉
Elysia, 〈Kevin, if the noodles are expired, it's better to throw them away~ it'd be bad if you got sick.〉
[Meanwhile, Ai-chan stood by with a helpless and speechless look, furrowing her brows and asking Himeko again, "Are you sure she's not drunk?"
Faced with this question, Himeko was now at a loss for words. She could only sigh silently.]
...
A few days later...
Kiana was walking reluctantly, while Bronya held a script tightly in her arms.
Upon arriving at the filming site, Kiana looked around while grumbling,
"Why are we called out even on our day off?"
Hearing her complaint, Bronya quietly explained,
"I heard it's because Big X wanted to grant Frigid Empress's wish. And afterwards, there'll be a dinner treat."
At the mention of "dinner," Kiana, who had been lethargic, instantly lit up with excitement and hurriedly asked,
"Eh! We can eat as much as we want?!" ]
Bronya, 〈As expected, mention food and Kiana perks right up.〉
Kiana, 〈So what? Food is the most important thing in the world — can't go hungry!〉
[Then, an astonishing scene unfolded — two identical Ai-chan's appeared before the audience.
The taller and more mature-looking Big Ai-chan had a worried expression and said,
"Speaking of which, Ai-chan, when our company was still small, I could fulfill this promise. But now... won't it put us at a loss?"
Beside her, the slightly smaller and livelier Ai-chan still wore her signature sweet smile and calmly responded,
"This time it's held as a team-building event, so it doesn't count as overtime."
With that, she gracefully raised her right hand and made an OK gesture, her face showing an unreadable expression. Then she slowly added, "Ahem, naturally, there's no need to..."
At that point, Ai-chan's smile turned slightly mischievous, her eyes glinting subtly, and her speech sped up,
"Also, we can use the footage later as in-game events when the scriptwriters run out of material, so this is really a win-win... ahem~"
Upon hearing this, Big Ai-chan nodded in sudden realization, clearly understanding the deeper meaning behind Ai-chan's words. Without hesitation, she turned to face the distance and shouted,
"Alright! Film to your heart's content! This admin will help you fulfill your wish today!" ]
[Magical Girl] Theresa, 〈Why does Ai-chan's voice sound like a guy's?〉
Bronya, 〈Wow~ So this is possible too. A brilliant solution. Bronya will consider this when she starts her own game company.〉
Kiana☆, 〈...Emmm, Bronya, you do start a game studio in the future, but your first game "Arahato"...〉
[Sit-Up's King] Welt, 〈Arahato!!!〉
Bronya, 〈Quick! Tell Bronya, how were the sales?〉
Kiana☆, 〈...A total flop. Though that's partly my fault. I kept marking the difficulty as "very easy" after testing, so Bronya kept redesigning it to be harder — the game lost its fun.〉
Bronya, 〈...I see.〉