In the villa, Kallen was curled up on the couch, tablet in hand, eyes locked on the screen.
Her fingers swept rapidly across it as she dodged, attacked, and chained combos with her in-game character.
"Come on, come on! Dodge, dodge!"
She muttered under her breath, "Otto! Back me up!"
Otto, sitting beside her, smiled with patient resignation and kept working his own tablet.
The two of them sat side by side like any ordinary old couple, spending a weekend evening gaming together.
On screen, the story quietly unfolded.
"No way!!!"
Kallen nearly flung her tablet across the room.
"It's me! That's me!"
She grabbed Otto's arm and shook it excitedly. "Otto, look! I'm in the game!"
Otto's head swam from the shaking, but he couldn't help laughing.
"I see it, I see it."
Kallen dove back into the game, buzzing with excitement, while Otto watched her with eyes full of quiet warmth.
Then he turned and glanced toward the other end of the living room.
Theresa was also curled up on the couch, her own tablet propped in her hands, thoroughly absorbed in her game. Her little legs dangled in the air, swinging back and forth. She was clearly having a great time.
"Theresa," Otto said.
"What is it, Grandpa?"
"You sold Kallen's rights too?"
Theresa's expression froze solid.
Her eyes started darting around.
"Ehehe."
She tilted her head, tapped her temple lightly with one finger, and stuck out her tongue.
Otto watched her in silence for two seconds.
That expression. That gesture. That tone.
Textbook Theresa. Whenever she got herself into trouble or did something she shouldn't have, this was her go-to routine for wriggling off the hook. It used to work pretty well when she was little.
Now, though.
"Theresa." Otto's voice stayed gentle. "How old are you again?"
Theresa's face went scarlet in an instant.
"Grandpa! You are not allowed to bring up my age!"
Kallen doubled over laughing beside them.
"Hahaha, Theresa, you are absolutely adorable!"
"Grandma!"
"Okay, okay, I'll stop laughing."
Kallen struggled desperately to hold it in, though her shoulders kept shaking.
Otto watched the scene with a soft curve at the corner of his mouth.
"It's fine. What's done is done."
Theresa blinked.
"Huh? Grandpa isn't angry?"
"Not at all."
Otto shook his head. "I'm proud of you, Theresa."
Theresa stared at him.
"Proud?"
"Mm."
He nodded.
"Just let the elders know before you do something like that next time."
He paused and looked over at Kallen.
"Besides, Kallen has always told me how you put her in the game. Your grandmother, she's actually been quietly envious of you this whole time."
Theresa looked at Kallen.
Kallen was focused on her game, but the tips of her ears had gone faintly red.
"And so have I," Otto added with a quiet smile. "The version of me in that game is quite different from who I really am. But seeing yourself appear in a story like that, it's a strangely wonderful feeling."
Theresa let out a breath of relief and went back to her game without another word.
But Otto's mind had already drifted elsewhere.
Kallen Fantasy.
The game had just been mentioned in the story on screen. A game he had made about Kallen, one that in that parallel world seemed to have been used as a training system for Valkyries.
And here, in this world, a quiet idea had begun to take root in him.
What if he actually made Kallen Fantasy?
Not as a training system. Not as an Easter egg tucked behind an elevator unlock.
A real game. One you could actually play.
With Kallen as the Valkyrie of Light, with Otto as her support. Adorable Homu, and an eastern fox demon waiting to be defeated. A story about Kallen and Otto adventuring together, and finding their way to each other in the end.
A faint smile touched Otto's lips.
She'd love it. And he could design her so many beautiful outfits in the game. So many.
Of course, once the game was finished, whether to release it publicly or tuck it away on a private server for Kallen's eyes alone, well. That was a question for another day.
He was still turning the thought over when his gaze drifted across a line of in-game story text.
"Defeat the eastern fox demon who wields a power of corruption..."
Something shifted almost imperceptibly in his expression.
Eastern fox demon.
The setting seemed to position her as one of the game's key antagonists.
And yet, unbidden, a figure surfaced in his mind.
Yae Sakura.
Kallen's closest friend. The woman Kallen adored, the one who was close enough to her that Otto occasionally felt, well. A certain subtle, undeniable awareness of her presence.
His gaze grew distant and unreadable.
Eastern fox demon.
He repeated the description quietly. "Could it be her?"
Kallen noticed the shift in him and looked up.
"Otto? What's wrong?"
He came back to himself and turned to her, his expression settling back into its familiar warmth.
"Nothing. I was just thinking that the villain in Kallen Fantasy has a rather interesting design."
Kallen tilted her head. "The fox demon? She really does. Though honestly, I don't think she's actually evil. There's probably a twist coming later."
Otto looked at her steadily, something unspoken moving behind his eyes.
"What makes you say that?"
"Because," Kallen thought about it for a moment, "in a good game, the villain is never just purely evil. There's always a story behind them."
She paused, then added, "Kind of like Otto in this game. He looks like the bad guy, but I feel like he must have his reasons."
Otto was quiet for a beat.
Then he smiled, and it was softer than usual.
"You're right," he said. "In a good game, the villain always has a story of their own."