After the proposal, the Valkyrie came to the door

Or perhaps it's just the scent of the shower gel?

An Liang's thoughts wandered for a moment, then he shook his head and started chatting with Bronya.

"Boss, as you know, art is based on reality. If you want to draw a beautiful girl, you naturally need to draw inspiration from beautiful girls."

"That makes sense, but aren't you afraid of getting your salary docked if you use your boss's embarrassing situation as material?"

Bronya coughed lightly, squinted her deadpan eyes, and stared intently at An Liang's profile.

"Boss, please be lenient! Wages are a sensitive issue; you can't deduct anything from them!"

An Liang put down his paintbrush, deliberately feigning a somewhat aggrieved expression, and argued, "Besides, I was doing this to make the game better. Even if I didn't make any great contributions, I still put in a lot of effort. Boss, it's one thing if you don't pay me overtime, but why are you deducting my salary instead?"

"Pfft, I never said I wouldn't pay you overtime..."

Bronya couldn't help but smile when she saw Anliang's appearance. Her slightly upturned lips resembled a cherry blossom bud, beautiful and reserved.

"Alright, I'm not kidding anymore. If this keeps up, you'll start calling Bronya a heartless capitalist who exploits his employees."

“How could that be… I’ve always believed that you, Bronya, are an exceptionally good boss who would never arbitrarily deduct wages from your employees.”

Anliang replied with a smile, then glanced at the time and put away his tablet.

"Oh, it's almost seven o'clock now. Now that Bronya is awake, I can go home without worry."

"Yes, thank you for taking care of me for so long."

Bronya nodded slightly, looked at Anliang who had stood up from the sofa, and asked, "By the way, if you were in such a hurry to get off work, why didn't you wake me up?"

"Well... you're sleeping so soundly, you must have worked all night yesterday, so I thought I'd let you get some rest."

An Liang shrugged and answered naturally.

He and Qingque didn't disturb Bronya during the day for this reason, and since it was almost time to leave work, he figured Bronya should be waking up soon, so he decided to stay and work overtime!

"I see. Anliang, you really are a gentle and good man."

Bronya pursed her lips, her gaze sweeping over the ring on the captain's left hand. "With a boyfriend like you, your fiancée must be very happy, right?"

"Haha, I'm not as good as you say. Any normal person would do the same as me."

An Liang smiled and waved goodbye to Bronya before turning to leave.

But at this moment...

The girl clenched her fists, her expression becoming complicated, and suddenly called out to him.

"Um, Anliang, wait a minute, I have something I want to think about... no, never mind."

An Liang stopped and turned to look at Bronya, who seemed hesitant to speak. A twitch appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Big Duck's behavior is like that of a game NPC with a question mark above its head; it's obvious it has something on its mind!

But now is precious time to get off work...

Is he really going to give up the temptation to go home and trigger Big Duck's mission?

An Liang paused for a moment, then let out a helpless sigh, walked back to the lounge area, and sat down in his previous seat.

He couldn't possibly stand idly by when faced with Bronya, whom he had once dated.

"Bronya, is there anything else you wanted to see me about?"

While observing the girl's expression, Anliang tentatively asked.

"It's nothing major, I just wanted to discuss the game's design with you, and maybe chat about something else."

Bronya controlled her facial muscles, making her expression appear somewhat forced.

"If this has taken up your time, we can talk another day."

"It's alright, it won't cause any delay."

Anliang is now certain that Bronya is under a lot of pressure and has probably encountered some trouble.

I just don't know how he can help the other party...

Anliang took out his phone to tell Bronya that she didn't need to wait for him to come back for dinner, and then took a bottle of oolong tea from the coffee table and handed it to Bronya—the non-alcoholic kind.

"We still have plenty of time. Let's have some tea and chat at our leisure!"

PS: Second update delivered. I've finally paid off another chapter of the bounty. There should be one more chapter left.

Let's continue the challenge tomorrow and see if I can be a two-chapter beast for a few more days, making the reading experience even better for everyone.

Chapter 47 Dying Together is the Greatest Romance

Oolong tea without alcohol tastes mellow, sweet, and refreshing, without giving you a burning sensation.

Anliang opened a bottle for himself and took a few sips to soothe his throat.

Well, it's not quite as good as chilled iced tea, but it's far better than iced tea at room temperature.

An Liang mentally assessed the situation, and then saw Bronya bring over a laptop and sit down next to him without any hesitation.

"Ahem, let's talk about the game first. This is the design proposal I worked on all night yesterday."

Bronya placed the computer on her plump, fleshy legs encased in black stockings, opened a PowerPoint document, and then gestured for Anliang to come closer to take a look.

An Liang hesitated for a moment, then moved his buttocks closer to Bronya.

There are only him and Bronya in the Principle Studio now, so there's no need to worry about being misunderstood by Qingque.

Moreover, even if Qingque were present, it wouldn't really be a big deal.

The two were just sitting together, there was no physical contact, only a virgin who has never held a girl's hand would feel ambiguous.

but……

It was indeed somewhat unexpected that Bronya would let a grown man like him get so close.

Is it because he has a fiancée that you feel more at ease, or is it because after working with him for a few days you feel that he is a trustworthy subordinate?

It couldn't be that she wanted to sexually harass him, so she deliberately let him get close, could it?

An Liang thought to himself jokingly, then shook his head and focused his attention on the proposal Bronya had written.

As the name suggests...

The design proposal for a game is mostly written by the game designer.

However, the studio currently only has three people. He and Qingque serve as the lead artist and screenwriter, respectively, so the planning work is naturally done by Bronya, the game producer.

She has to be responsible for the game's programming, write the design proposal, and coordinate other aspects. No wonder Da Ya Ya is so busy that she works overtime every day and even works through the night in the studio.

As Anliang sighed, he reached for the laptop on the girl's beautiful legs in black stockings...

"Let me see. Your proposal is very detailed. It summarizes all the ideas we've discussed over the past few days and even expands upon them."

"However, the game's ending in the design proposal seems to have changed somewhat compared to Qingque's outline?"

An Liang spent more than ten minutes reading through the proposal, then pondered for a while before asking a question.

"That's right, that's also what I wanted to discuss with you."

Bronya nodded, flipped the proposal to the section on the game's ending, and said softly, "When I was writing it yesterday, I suddenly had an idea to add a true ending to the game."

"Hmm, is this the real ending...?"

Anliang stroked his chin, his expression turning serious.

Different endings are often achieved due to differences in affection levels, which is a common occurrence in visual novels.

There are also considerations regarding how to arrange the game's ending.

In the game they plan to make, "Starving Corpse: A Thousand Miles in the Late Ming Dynasty", the male protagonist Liang and the female protagonist Gong Mansui are initially enemies.

In the midst of a famine where people ate each other, Liang had no choice but to become an outlaw to survive. He robbed and killed Mansui's father, which led the Mansui family, who had lost their pillar of support, toward an inevitable tragedy.

Her younger brother starved to death, and her mother hanged herself because she couldn't accept reality. Man Sui survived on the corpses of her relatives, with only the thought of revenge in her heart.

Years later, Man Sui finally found her enemy—Liang.

She learned that Liang and his companions were going to take on the job of human traffickers, transporting several girls across thousands of miles to the "pig demon" in Luoyang. The clever Mansui pretended to be mute and sold herself to the traffickers, becoming one of the goods to be transported.

The girl's purpose in doing this was, of course, to find an opportunity to kill Liang.

Therefore, players will encounter many choices during the delivery storyline, and if they choose the wrong option, they will face the bad ending of being killed by Man Sui.

Even if you choose the right option, if Mansui's favorability is not high enough, Liang, whom the player is playing, will still die when they arrive in Luoyang. The difference is that the girl discovers along the way that Liang is not a bad person and treats them, the goods, well, so she cannot kill him herself.

If the affection level is high, Liang won't die, but the player will still encounter a Bad End on their first visit, and this will be the most heartbreaking ending.

"After dealing too many bad endings, we need to give some sweetness, otherwise players might send us death threats. So, apart from a bunch of bad endings, Qingque left a beautiful true ending as the end of the game."

"Following the original process, players experienced any of Mitsuho's affection levels at once, and then could trigger the true ending, 'Together We Live,' when their affection was at maximum, in which Ryo and Mitsuho were together many years later."

An Liang recalled the plot, his gaze shifting from the proposal to Bronya's pretty face.

"And now you're planning to add a true ending called 'Shared Death,' where players, after reaching maximum affection, can choose to assassinate the 'Pig Demon' Prince with Man Sui, avenge the true culprit who caused their suffering, and ultimately die together?"

"Well, actually I think that dying together is the most romantic true ending."

Bronya nodded, and once she got into work mode, she exuded a serious charm as she explained her thoughts in detail.

"The hatred of killing one's father is not so easy to let go of. Even if the 'Same Life' ending can be reconciled in terms of plot, if players put themselves in the shoes of the characters, they will still feel that there is a grudge between Mansui and Ryo."

"Only in the 'Die Together' ending can Liang atone for his sins and wipe the slate clean of the past, while Man Sui can finally let go of her hatred for Liang, no longer suppress her feelings, and express her feelings for Liang on her deathbed."

Is dying together the greatest romance...?

After listening to Bronya's words, Anliang nodded thoughtfully.

“That makes sense. Ryo and Mansui’s relationship is too complicated. Hate is far more profound than love. That’s why there are so many bad endings where Mansui kills Ryo… The only true ending, which is simply ‘living together,’ does feel like something is missing.”

"With the true ending of 'dying together,' as the saying goes, 'death absolves all debts.' After assassinating the real murderer who caused the destruction of their families, Ryo and Mansui were finally able to reconcile when they faced death with equanimity. From a certain perspective, this can be considered a magnificent love suicide, truly elevating their relationship."

An Liang analyzed the situation carefully, his eyes growing brighter and his expression becoming excited.

Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!

Bronya may seem like just adding a true ending, but she actually adds a finishing touch to the entire game, allowing players to better understand the emotional changes between the male and female protagonists.

Silence or unseen, living together or dying together...

Such a healthy, positive, and uplifting game ending is sure to leave players with an unforgettable experience!

PS: In this chapter, the author has tried to give a brief overview of the game's plot before its release. The focus will not be on the game itself in the future. If you are still interested in the game's plot, you can buy a copy on Steam or watch recorded game videos on Bilibili.

That said, Hanser's voice acting in "Hunger" was pretty good, but the duck flavor was really too strong. I always felt like Mansui would say something like, "The current Bronya is the true Herrscher of Reason."

Chapter 48 Died together in a past life, live together in this life!

"It seems you also think adding a true ending of 'dying together' is a good idea."

Bronya took in An Liang's expression and couldn't help but smile slightly.

"It's not just good, this true ending is a stroke of genius. Based on my experience, [dying together] might be more likely to evoke players' emotions than [living together]."

Anliang didn't hold back his praise and gave Bronya a thumbs up.

Galgames don't offer much gameplay; their selling point is almost entirely the storyline. Bronya's idea has made the storyline even better, which will make it easier for the game to sell more copies when it's released in the future.

As expected of the Bronya he knew so well...

With such a shrewd and capable boss, how can you not make a lot of money!

An Liang sighed inwardly, then asked with some curiosity, "By the way, Bronya, how did you come up with the brilliant idea of ​​the [Shared Death] ending?"

"Well, it's probably because I've seen similar things before..."

Bronya's smile faded, and her tone became somewhat complicated.

Hmm, what Big Duck said sounds a bit sad. Could it be that a tragedy of a man and a woman dying together happened around Big Duck on this timeline?!

An Liang had a guess in his mind, scratched his head and said, "Sorry, I didn't know that was the case."

“It’s alright, that’s just a story from a long time ago, Bronya doesn’t care anymore.”

The girl looked at An Liang with her light gray eyes, her expression very calm.