Chapter 170 Otto: A Fox Demon Boarded My Ship? The Mask of Pain!
Players were all shocked by the Ferryman's identity, but at the same time, new doubts arose in their hearts. How exactly did the Captain come to this world? Was the Captain in this event the same entity as the one in the Luna Kindred event?
From the dialogue between the Captain and Yae Kasumi, it was clear that the Captain's journey would not end here. Did this mean that one day in the future, the Captain could truly travel to Luna's world and save that poor girl? For future event plots, players were naturally full of anticipation, waiting for the day the Captain would reappear and show off his divine might. After all, the Captain in these stories was the players themselves!
However... compared to other Captains, Otto Apocalypse's mood was particularly complex. By all logic, he was a day-one player of Honkai Impact 3rd; calling him a veteran Captain was no exaggeration. But the frustrating part was that he played the role of a major villain in the game, and in this event, he had once again acted "inhumanly," becoming the mastermind after cooperating with the Herrscher of Corruption.
In the end, Yae Kasumi followed the Ferryman and boarded the Hyperion. Otto didn't know how to react. Yae Kasumi boarded my ship? A face identical to that fox spirit, with her soul even inside the body? And now I have to raise this "Electric Donkey," upgrade her, level up her talents, and pull for her signature stigmata and weapon?
"Is this some kind of hellish torture? If I have done wrong, let the law punish me, rather than adding a hateful pink-haired fox rival to my Hyperion!! Dammit!" Since he played the big villain, Otto found it hard to project himself into the Captain's perspective at a time like this.
Nevertheless, it had to be said that the plot of Sanka Saga was indeed excellent. The girl Yae Kasumi, with her tragic background, naturally won the hearts of countless players. Consequently, even though she was an A-rank character, Yae Kasumi contributed terrifying revenue to Honkai 3rd.
Players discovered that not only was her lore compelling, but her combat design and "feel" were top-tier. she could execute incredibly cool moves, and her ultimate—summoning Reigokumaru to fight alongside her—featured a roaring fox phantom surrounded by lightning that left many exclaiming, "Too cool!"
However... the poor Raiden Mei's Lightning Empress, having finally obtained the PRI-ARM weapon MagStorm, saw it change hands to the "Electric Donkey" for dual-wielding. With the Lightning Empress's signature weapon taken, she was relegated to being a "Memory Battlefield battery," causing millions of Mei fans to tear up!
Is it still not enough! Why is it never enough!! Cooking Queen, stand up! Do something!!
Mei's status was indeed tragic. In the plot, she was the "L-taker Queen," and in the meta-game, she had become a mere leader-skill battery. Honkai 3rd was, at its core, a mobile gacha game; power creep was inevitable, and it was a fact of life that new characters would outshine the old.
Su Mu had been frustrated by this himself in his past life. Dedicated bosses in the Memory Battlefield were almost impossible to fight without specific characters—such instances were everywhere. But it was an unavoidable necessity. Unlike MiHoYo's later games, PVP (or competitive ranking) was a vital component of Honkai 3rd. This manifested as the competition in the Abyss and the Battlefield, which was tied to the amount of Crystals players received.
As everyone knew, the monetization power of competitive games was terrifying. Su Mu remembered miners and bosses in old games spending massive amounts of cash to fight for the top spot on the server. While power creep couldn't be avoided, Su Mu tried his best to maintain the player experience. Honkai 3rd wasn't marketed as a PVP game, but as a "high-action 3D beautiful girl mobile game." The focus was on the action and the girls. Adjusting gacha resources allowed players to get new characters every version, giving them at least a fighting chance against "mechanic-heavy" bosses.
Of course, to hit the highest scores, one still needed "wallet power." Games need to be made, but money needs to be earned; finding the balance is the true measure of a developer's skill. Clearly, the community environment built over the past year was working well for Honkai 3rd, making it a giant in the mobile industry with a stellar reputation.
Honkai 3rd did not disappoint its supporters. To incubate the IP, many collaborations were launched, and Cooking with Valkyries was being produced around the clock. Over the past year, the game had gone from being mocked by the industry at launch to slapping the industry in the face, eventually dominating it. On the HOMU Game Platform's annual December charts, it won "Most Popular Game," "Best Visual Art," and "Best Operation." It broke historical best-seller records on the platform, amassing 100 billion in revenue within a single year. Such results made MiHoYo the center of global attention.
As the head of the production team and the Game Director, Su Mu had become a "mythical" figure in the industry. A hundred billion revenue myth in one year—based on Honkai Impact 3rd alone, Su Mu won the honor of "Game Producer of the Year." Of course, Su Mu didn't attend the award ceremonies. He didn't want to stand on stage only to be surrounded by Captains trying to feed him razor blades. The thought alone was terrifying. Thus, the task was honorably passed to Kiana and Bronya.
For some reason, when Kiana faced the camera holding the awards and honors, her expression was a smile, but her eyes looked like she was crying. It was as if she had suffered some great injustice... Was the trophy too heavy? Was she just tired of holding it?
However, Su Mu wasn't satisfied with his results over the past year. Life is short, and the thought of so many brilliant games from Blue Star that he hadn't yet recreated gave him a sense of "conscientious unease." If he couldn't let the players of this world experience those masterpieces, he wouldn't be able to rest in peace!
December had arrived, and winter was here. Compared to the north, Arc City was still relatively mild, hovering between 7°C and 12°C. Even so, it was time for winter clothes—thermal underwear, scarves, and trench coats. Bare legs were rarely seen on the streets now, though many women paired thick stockings with their outfits to remain a beautiful part of the winter scenery.
Su Mu sat in his SUV. He exhaled a breath that quickly condensed into droplets in the cold air, turning into white mist. He rubbed his hands together; the friction warmed his stiff, chilled fingers. As the passenger door opened, the pleasant scent of lilies of the valley wafted in. Seele sat down and handed a freshly bought breakfast to Su Mu, sticking her tongue out playfully.
"I knew you'd like this."
Su Mu unpacked the breakfast—a combination of char siu buns and soy milk. This was one of his staple breakfasts; as a native of Shenzhou, he felt he lacked energy for the day without some morning carbs. He didn't stand on ceremony with Seele, biting into a bun. The aroma of the dough combined with the heat and the sweet-savory juice of the filling exploded in his mouth.
"Brother Su Mu, is it good?" Seele watched him from the side, her cute face full of tenderness. she loved watching him eat. Even though everyone eats the same way, for some reason, seeing him eat made her feel happy.
Su Mu didn't answer but stuffed a bun into Seele's mouth. she gave him a playful glare, and the two tacitly shared their brief breakfast time. Their relationship had been heating up recently. Though they were constrained from going public for certain reasons, their time together had increased due to various "unspoken" excuses.
Despite the extra time together, Su Mu noticed Seele seemed more and more reluctant to be apart from him. If not for the need to avoid prying eyes, she would even want to stay glued to him at the office... While Seele wanted to move out of Bronya's apartment, she insisted they couldn't lower their guard until Su Mu had "conquered" Bronya. she felt they had to carefully observe her sister's situation, just in case...
After devouring breakfast, Su Mu drove to the company. Since Bronya had an early meeting, she had gone in ahead of time. This gave Su Mu the chance to pick up Seele and enjoy a rare moment of "two-person world."
Su Mu gripped the steering wheel. The road was unusually congested today; they had been stopped for nearly five minutes. Perhaps there was an accident up ahead... making the already crowded morning rush even worse.
While waiting for traffic to clear, Seele looked at him and said with sentiment, "It would be nice if every day could be like this."
Su Mu looked at her. she was wearing a beige zippered turtleneck sweater with intricate, delicate patterns. The tight-fitting sweater highlighted her graceful curves. Her high-waisted, solid-colored knit skirt was a popular winter style. Sensing his gaze, she didn't look away, but instead gave a playful smile and blinked at him. she was simply too cute.
"Brother Su Mu should be going to Sister Sirin's award ceremony with Sister Bianca later, right?" "Mhm." "I wonder what kind of expression Sister Bronya will have when she sees you two on TV together...." "...."
Su Mu looked at the smiling girl. He knew that according to Seele's plan, he was supposed to appear before the cameras today as Bianca's "husband." According to Seele, this shock would push Bronya to finally take action.
But was this really the right way? Su Mu gripped the wheel and looked at the girl beside him, hoping to see something in her smile. But there was nothing. Seele just kept smiling as if talking about something trivial.
And yet, she was betrayed. Her legs were pressed together tightly, and even beneath the knit skirt, her agitation was hard to hide.
"Are you worried, Seele?" "W-Worried? How could I be... it will definitely go smoothly! Sister Bronya will act, and then Brother Su Mu, as long as you are there..." "...."
Su Mu took Seele's hand. He could clearly feel that her hand was cold. "Is it really okay?"
"Eh?"
"Even if it's a misunderstanding, and even if it's only for a short time—in the eyes of others, Bianca and I will be a married couple. Even so, are you okay with that?"
"O-Of course... this is all so Brother Su Mu and Sister Bronya can..."
Su Mu looked Seele directly in the eye. His gaze was intense, making her instinctively want to look away. "What about you?"
"....Me?"
"Seele, what about your own feelings?"
Su Mu's question caught her off guard. she felt the grip of his large hand tighten slightly. "I..."
Before she could finish, the cars ahead began to move. Traffic was normal again. Su Mu didn't press her further; he withdrew his hand and gripped the wheel. For the rest of the ride, neither spoke. Seele kept her head down, lost in thought. The atmosphere was awkward. This silence lasted until they reached the company building.
"Anyway, Sister Bianca should be at the office by now.... Good luck with the ceremony today!" Seele looked deeply at Su Mu before putting on her usual smile, as if the awkwardness from the car had never existed.
After Seele left, Su Mu leaned back and let out a long sigh. It was just as he thought. Although Seele and Black Seele were two personalities—two different people—they were identical in certain ways. In their insecurity, they were cut from the same cloth. Black Seele was insecure about being "the other side," an anomaly, the one carrying the darkness; she doubted if her dark self was worth loving.
And Seele was the same. Since starting their relationship, Su Mu's understanding of her had deepened. At first, he was confused why Seele insisted on setting him up with Bronya. But over time, he understood what Bronya meant to her. To Seele, Bronya was the sister who had always protected her, the person she respected most. This made Seele feel extremely inferior when it came to her sister.
Even though Seele had been the one to confess first, and he hadn't established a relationship with Bronya—simply because there was mutual affection—Seele felt a massive sense of guilt. she felt she had betrayed Bronya, that she was a "vile thief." This was why she went to such lengths to set them up; she believed it was the only way to repay her "crime."
But... did she really need to "repay" a crime? she was just insecure. Insecure to the point of thinking she was inferior to Bronya. Believing she had stolen a romance that belonged to her sister. That was why she couldn't speak, couldn't act, and couldn't reveal her relationship in front of Bronya. she believed she didn't deserve this love, that she was just a thief.
Seele wanted him to be with Bronya out of guilt and insecurity. she believed only then would she be "qualified" to receive the warmth and love that belonged to her. But love is not a one-person affair. Su Mu realized this clearly. To love someone is to want to possess them, to stay by their side, to feel their warmth. Two hearts that draw near should lean on each other, like fire and kindling on a frozen plain; only together can they provide warmth. If either is lost, the flame dies, and the warmth vanishes. A dying flame cannot light the wood, and soaked wood cannot be lit by the fire. Love is that fire and wood—you and I—and we cannot lose either. Without that warmth, one will eventually freeze to death on this wasteland.
Seele thought she was a thief, but she didn't understand. Romance involves two people. If it were just a one-sided confession and Su Mu's heart were made of stone, how could there be a follow-up? It was precisely because of this girl's clumsy yet brave confession—that sentence, "Let me teach Brother Su Mu how to love"—her recklessness and courage had moved him deeply.
Su Mu didn't fall for this girl because of Bronya. Even though her insecurity made her feel like a flower blooming in the dust, she still craved the warmth within reach; even though she was desperately unwilling, she chose to suppress herself... For such a clumsy and twisted girl, Su Mu felt she was genuinely precious.
Seele cared so much about every "first" they shared; how could she possibly be indifferent to him pretending to be Bianca's husband?
Su Mu opened his eyes. The passenger door opened, and Bianca "Durandal" Kaslana got into the car. He looked at the girl beside him. He considered himself a steady person, someone who calculated every detail and never acted unprepared. He admitted Seele's plan might actually let him and Bronya take a big step forward. He admitted that comforting a dejected Bronya while explaining the truth would be the perfect moment to confirm a relationship. Everything would likely proceed smoothly, with a higher success rate than imagined. As long as he played along with Seele's arrangement and enjoyed her sacrifice, he could successfully be with Bronya.
But, I refuse.
A success built upon Seele's sacrifice and retreat, built upon a young girl's insecurity... he didn't need it.
Su Mu took a deep breath and looked at Bianca. He spoke.
"Bianca...."
END OF CHAPTER
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