Chapter 138: Old Thief Su Mu Appears in the Livestream! Players Nationwide Denounce the Old Thief!
Su Mu helped Senti ask Kiana for the collab, and Kiana's initial intent was to refuse. But on second thought, she realized she had "taken the man's hand and eaten the man's mouth"—Su Mu had looked after her a lot recently.
Plus, Su Mu immediately exposed Kiana's secrets: "You have nothing to do right now anyway. As miHoYo's CEO, shouldn't you put in some effort for the game? It's just a livestream; you aren't even willing to do that?"
He knew exactly what Kiana's daily life was like during this period. Small matters at the company didn't require her, and larger ones were handed directly to Bronya and Su Mu. There were very few things that actually required the CEO to make a final decision. So if Kiana tried the "I'm busy" excuse, Su Mu was truly ready to go to her house and tie her up.
Kiana imagined that scene and felt it was indeed too embarrassing. Though she was somewhat reluctant, she eventually agreed.
"Alright, Kiana is fine with it. I'll bring her to the Arc City branch on time tomorrow.... By the way, is Ms. Theresa at the branch now?" Su Mu relayed the news to Senti and asked about Theresa in passing.
"Who? Theresa? Yeah, she's there... she's pretty busy though. Lately, the Old Timer has had to go out with her a lot," Senti thought for a moment. "I think they just finalized another deal with Kevin's Instant Noodle Factory? They want to launch a Teriri commemorative collab cup... you know how it is, anything can be a collab these days."
Hearing Senti's grumbling, Su Mu found it funny; it was indeed true. After all, Kevin had just negotiated a deal with miHoYo to launch Honkai Impact 3rd themed cup noodles, and the deal was already set. In fact, to build the IP, Su Mu even planned to cooperate with Arc City's transit system to launch Honkai 3rd themed transit cards... a plan to take "social death" to the extreme.
After finalizing the time with Senti, she left the company excitedly to make preparations. After seeing her off, Su Mu returned to his office. He had to handle some work beforehand since he'd be streaming tomorrow. He had just opened a Word document when there was a knock at the door.
"Come in."
Seele hurried in. After closing the door, she asked impatiently, "Brother Su Mu, how did your talk with Sister Bronya go?"
Su Mu rubbed his forehead. Feeling Seele's enthusiasm, he felt helpless. "We talked about work, nothing else."
"Oh? Is that so..." Clearly, Seele's expression turned into one of disappointment.
"Seele, you..." Su Mu let out a dry laugh. "Other people dating want their boyfriends to be loyal, but you? Your head is full of trying to sell me off..."
Seele's eyes widened. "N-No selling! Seele is just thinking about Brother Su Mu's future..."
"Fine, fine." Su Mu knew he couldn't win an argument with her. Though Seele seemed weak and gentle, once she set her mind on something, she wouldn't change it—an obsession that couldn't be pulled back by eight horses.
"So, Brother Su Mu, you really need to pull yourself together!" Seele put her hands on her hips and pouted, looking incredibly cute in her huff. "Take down Sister Bronya in one go, and then everything will be easy!"
Su Mu was helpless. Seele, you and Bronya really have deep sisterly love, but this is a bit too 'filial' (pun on a meme), isn't it?
He spread his hands. "Feelings can't be forced, and opportunities aren't that easy to find, right?"
Seele said seriously, "Since Seele is going to help Brother Su Mu, I will give it my all! Isn't Sister Bronya off this weekend? Seele will ask her out first, then you'll pretend to run into us 'by chance.' I'll sneak away in the middle to create an opening for you..."
Su Mu clutched his forehead. This kind of thing truly shattered one's worldview—having your girlfriend act as a wingman to conquer your girlfriend's sister... it sounded terrifying!
"We'll talk about the weekend later. Tomorrow I'm going to the Schicksal branch. Do you want to come along, Seele?"
"Eh? Isn't Brother Su Mu going for work?"
"Work, yes. Aren't you working in Elysia's clothing design department now? I actually have an idea to collab with 'Magical Girl Teriri.' We'll need to design the corresponding clothes to add to the game as skins..."
Senti's earlier words had reminded him. Magical Girl Teriri was perfect for a collab; it would bring hype and traffic, and he could finally fill in the skins that Sakuno Rondo should have had.
"I see! Then I'll go too. Seele wants to support Brother Su Mu in his work."
Looking at the considerate Seele, Su Mu couldn't help but reach out and pinch her cheek.
"Wuu! Don't treat Seele's face like a toy!" "Can't help it. Who told Seele to be so cute?" "Brother Su Mu is so mean!"
Su Mu let go. "Alright, go get busy, Seele. Rita should be back soon. We can't let her see us being intimate, right?"
Seele pouted. "Hmph, Sister Rita is also a rare beauty. Brother Su Mu stares at her every day; do you actually have thoughts about her too?"
Looking at the little "vinegar jar" (jealous girl), Su Mu found it amusing. He hadn't realized Seele was such a jealous type, but it was strangely adorable.
"Rita was sent by Ms. Theresa—Seele, you know our company is backed by three major corporations, right?" Seele nodded; she had heard some things from Bronya. It wasn't an exaggeration to say Rita was a spy sent by Schicksal. It was normal; the Kaslana family had invested heavily in miHoYo. After the game blew up, Otto had also poured in capital through Theresa, seeing a bright future for the company.
Despite being a "spy," Rita's abilities were indeed exceptional. With her help, Su Mu often achieved twice the result with half the effort. Of course, Su Mu had negotiated with Rita, asking her to help Bronya out as much as possible whenever she could. To be honest, Su Mu mostly handled game-related matters, which weren't too difficult for him. Bronya, however, had to manage personnel and administrative shifts—no easy task. Without her, Su Mu alone couldn't have made miHoYo work. He could focus on the games precisely because Bronya handled everything else.
Rita had agreed, so during Bronya's busy times, she didn't spend too long in Su Mu's office. But that maid had a magical obsession: every morning, she insisted on bringing personally baked treats and cookies, supervising Su Mu as he ate them, claiming a qualified secretary must always monitor the boss's health.
This left Su Mu helpless. While Rita's baking was good, he started to miss the BBQ pork buns and soy milk from the old man downstairs. As a Shenzhou native, who didn't love a morning carb-fest? Soy milk, fried dough sticks, crepes... being forced to have black tea and pastries every day was hard to accept.
"If only Seele could be Brother Su Mu's secretary. That way, I wouldn't have to worry about you and Sister Rita meeting."
Looking at the slightly disappointed Seele, a phrase popped into Su Mu's head: "When there's work, the secretary does it; when there isn't..." Ahem.
"I'll drive to pick you and Kiana up tomorrow morning. Tell Bronya about it; I'll pick you up first."
After finishing his instructions and Seele left, Su Mu adjusted his mindset and dived back into work. He was currently writing the script for [Lament of the Fallen], and was also contemplating how to add the [A Post-Honkai Odyssey]gameplay. Through Himeko, he had met Herta and the others, and had chatted with them since. Herta's studio reportedly had incredible holographic technology... a bold idea emerged in his mind.
If he combined APHO with Herta's holographic tech, what would happen? Heck, maybe Titanfall could use it too... imagine a player sitting in a holographic BT cockpit... that would be beyond cool.
With that in mind, Su Mu sent a message to Herta, asking if she had time for him to visit her studio. Herta's reply was characteristically brief: "Anytime. Come test it." Su Mu sent over a time, and after an "Oh," she didn't reply further. Su Mu wasn't phased; that was just Herta.
The next morning, Su Mu drove his SUV to Bronya's place to pick up Seele. After saying goodbye to Bronya, Seele sat in the passenger seat. She was wearing the "Lily of the Valley" summer outfit again, with white gladiator sandals wrapping her slender calves and that eye-catching thigh strap... She immediately drew Su Mu's gaze.
Sensing his heated look, Seele gave him a mock glare. "Sister Bronya is right outside..."
"Does that mean I can look all I want when she isn't?"
"Brother Su Mu, you're a bad person." Seele glanced at him, her gaze plucking at his heartstrings, making him sigh inwardly. Even her angry face is cute.
Su Mu looked up to see Bronya waving at them before she turned back to the apartment. Once her back was gone, he nodded and turned his gaze unreservedly toward Seele's legs.
"Brother Su Mu really is a 'Big Bad Wolf'." "I wonder who forcibly kissed me first... sigh, that was my first kiss, you know." "If you keep saying embarrassing things like that, Seele will ignore you!" "Alright, alright, let's go."
Su Mu didn't look repentant at all. Sigh, can't help it. Seele is so fun, and her reactions to teasing are so cute; it's hard not to mess with her. He had wanted to be a gentleman, but since Seele played with fire, he wouldn't hold back.
When Su Mu and Seele reached Kiana's house, they found her fast asleep on the sofa. Miraculously, she was already dressed in her clothes and socks, though her hair looked like a bird's nest. She looked ready to leave—nominally. Su Mu found a note from Sirin on the fridge: knowing her sister was unreliable, Sirin had dressed her early so Su Mu could just "pack her up" and take her away.
Su Mu looked at the ceiling in silence. The reason Kiana is a disaster has been found. Sirin, you're spoiling her too much. If this keeps up, your sister will become truly helpless.
"Seele, give me a hand... let's move her to the vanity. It's too embarrassing for her to go on stream like this."
They moved the dazed Kiana to the mirror. Half-awake, she mumbled a bit, but under Su Mu's "command," she sat upright. Su Mu picked up a comb and began tidying the bird's nest. This girl had the worst sleeping posture; it was a miracle her hair wasn't worse.
Watching Su Mu expertly comb Kiana's hair, Seele twirled her own hair around her finger, pouting. "Hmph, Brother Su Mu is so mean, combing another girl's hair in front of Seele..."
"Then how about I comb Seele's hair every day from now on?" "I don't want to. Sister Bronya combs my hair every day. Your skills definitely aren't as good as hers." "You little vinegar jar." Su Mu pinched her nose. "Alright, time to go."
Seele looked at Kiana and was surprised to find that Su Mu had quickly braided Kiana's hair into twin tails... it had only taken a few minutes. His hands were incredibly skilled. Carrying the sleepy Kiana on his back, they headed downstairs.
"Did she go out stealing watermelons last night? How can she sleep this deeply?" Su Mu complained. Seele, following behind, suddenly laughed.
"For some reason, looking at us like this... we look like a family." "Mhm?" "Brother Su Mu is the dad, Seele is the mom, and Sister Kiana is the daughter." Su Mu rolled his eyes. "Please. I wouldn't claim such a disobedient daughter."
Kiana didn't fully wake up until they reached the Schicksal branch. Fortunately, Su Mu had left early, so they weren't late. Upon arrival, Su Mu sent Seele to talk to Theresa about the collab, while he and Kiana went to Fu Hua's office.
"Hi! Class Monitor! Senti! Long time no see!" Seele Kiana greet them enthusiastically; it was hard to imagine she was a zombie minutes ago.
"Kiana! Finally! Quick, you're the only one who can help me! I've saved up crystals for so long and didn't dare pull!" After a quick nod to Su Mu, Fu Hua immediately grabbed Kiana and pulled out her phone, asking the "Luck Goddess" to help her gacha.
"Ohhh, Su Mu! My good brother, you're finally here!" Senti treated him like a treasure, rushing up with a fist extended. "I saw that good brothers are supposed to do fist bumps, right? Let's bump!"
Su Mu bumped fists with Senti, making her even happier. "Come on in! I'll show you where I stream! I prepared a lot for this!"
Senti led them to the room. Su Mu immediately saw the sandbag with his photo on it. Recalling Senti's flying kicks from the stream, he let out a dry laugh. One kick from her would probably flatten him.
"Don't worry, that's just for 'stream entertainment'! I'd never actually hit you. Trust me, Su Mu!" Senti saw his concern and thumped her chest.
"That's good to hear." Su Mu replied, but internally he thought: If I take a few hits from you, Seele might actually become a widow.
"Oh right, I prepared a prop for you, since you can't show your face, right?" Senti handed him a mask like the one from the movie New Police Story.
Su Mu almost laughed. Seriously, did you watch too many police movies? Where did you even get this?
"Oops, wrong one. This one." Senti quickly swapped it. Su Mu looked: it was a mask of the chibi Elysia emote, the one with her tongue sticking out mischievously. Su Mu had designed that set of emotes since Elysia was the brand ambassador. Streaming with an Ellie mask... well, that was a look. But it was better than nothing, so he put it on.
Once the equipment was ready, the stream officially began.
"Hi! Good morning fellow heroes! Welcome to Senti's stream! This heroine's word is her bond! Look who I brought for you today!" Senti stepped aside, revealing Su Mu.
[Heroine Senti? You brought an Elysia emote?]
[LMAO, it really is the Ellie emote! I use that one too!]
[Elysia_Blehp.jpg]
[Elysia_Blehp.jpg]
The chat started spamming the emote. Anyone coming in would think they were in Elysia's stream and everyone was chanting "Amen."
"Hmph, you don't recognize him through the mask? That just means your love... wait, hate for the writer isn't deep enough! Shouldn't you recognize him even if he turned to ash? Fake fans confirmed!"
[Holy crap? Holy crap? Senti's mysterious guest... is it actually Old Thief Su Mu??]
[Dammit! It's been months since he showed up on Pardo's stream. I thought the guy would never show his face again!]
[Streamer actually got Su Mu on air? You're too legendary!]
[Meow, brothers, blades in hand, follow me! Let's stab the Old Thief together today!!]
The news of Su Mu's appearance spread like wildfire. Within minutes, the viewership surged into the millions. "Su Mu" had such "charm" that any Captain who heard the name couldn't help but tune in—if only to spam "Old Thief"!
Su Mu was unfazed, greeting everyone with a smile. "Hello everyone, I'm Su Mu from miHoYo. Glad to meet you all in the stream today."
[Old Thief! Do you have the guts to take off the mask!!]
[Give back my Himeko-sensei!]
[Himeko-sensei, take me with you, Himeko-sensei!!]
[Does the Old Thief get cursed at so much online that he's immune? His pressure resistance is too high!]
[Nonsense, someone who writes those plots has to have a thick skin!]
Su Mu's presence set the room on fire. For a moment, it was chaos. After all, every Honkai 3rd player wanted a piece of him!
Senti cleared her throat to introduce the second guest: "Ahem, and now, I've invited another heavyweight guest—Ta-da!! It's the CEO of miHoYo, the legendary President Kiana!!"
[Holy crap! President Kiana!]
[Wuu-wuu! Super invincible mega-cute Kiana!]
[Seeing President Kiana makes my eyes 'sweat'! What's wrong, brothers?]
[President Kiana, you're so pitiful! For you, I'm going to blast that dog Otto!!]
Kiana's appearance made the chat howl. Seeing her, they immediately thought of the poor "Tuna" wandering alone in Arc City for four months...
"Senti, are your viewers... always like this?" Kiana wiped sweat from her forehead. They seemed a bit... manic?
"Sigh, I can understand their feelings, Kiana." Fu Hua patted Kiana's shoulder, her eyes full of complex emotions. Anyone playing Honkai 3rd would go a bit crazy seeing Kiana.
"Alright! Enough talk! This heroine worked hard to bring these two legends here. You have no idea how much effort I put in! At least give me some 'tea money' for the guests, right? I can't have them over and show zero hospitality!"
As soon as Senti spoke, gifts started flooding the screen.
[Heroine Senti 666!!]
[I'm impressed you got both the CEO and the Old Thief!]
[Good job! Take my reward!]
[Go buy some cake for Kiana! Big portion! Mega portion! Let her eat more!!]
In a short time, Senti received over a million in donations, leaving Fu Hua stunned. "Streaming makes this much money?"
"Old Timer, you don't get it. It's not the stream; it's because I brought two 'Gods of Wealth' home! Hehe, the internet is all about who has the best 'content'! Making money isn't shameful!" Looking at the smug Senti, Fu Hua was helpless. This kid would probably get along with Sushang's friend, Guinaifen.
"Sorry, Su Mu, Kiana...." Fu Hua turned an apologetic gaze toward them.
"It's fine, Senti earned her reward." Su Mu smiled. The "asking for gifts" part was actually a script they had discussed. Since he decided to support Senti as a Honkai 3rd streamer, he had to ensure she was compensated. You can't have a horse run without feeding it. Her streams were engaging, and entertaining the masses required effort.
"Hehe! Thanks for the support, fellow heroes! Without further ado, let's start today's stream!"
Senti launched Honkai 3rd and found the Chapter 11 Interlude: [Void Heavens, Lone Moon]. As she entered the game, a CG began to play.
On the screen, a ruin consumed by raging flames appeared. Within the wreckage, maddened Honkai beasts were destroying everything. A mother clutched her child, trying to shield them with her body. Nearby, beneath a collapsed stone wall, Kiana watched, her teeth clenched to their limit.
["Kiana, you cannot come into contact with Honkai energy again.... Go, there is nothing you can do right now."]
Fu Hua's voice rang in Kiana's ear, but she resisted it.
["Nothing I can do? I must...."]
She ignored Fu Hua's warning, grabbed a baseball bat, and charged out to block the beast's attack!
["Run! Don't look back, I'll hold it off!"]
She shouted at the mother and child, gritting her teeth as she engaged the beast!
END OF CHAPTER
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