Chapter 178: Victim Big Duck! Seele is Still Night Raiding!
[Starlit Astrologos TeRiRi, may I ask how you feel about the recent fall of the Great Huang Empire?]
During the faction war event, Theresa's livestream was flooded with bullet chats asking her this question.
"Eh? TeRiRi doesn't know. I was assigned to the Schicksal Theocracy. But wow, I didn't expect the Hero King to be Fu Hua."
Regarding the destruction of the Huang Empire, Theresa could only say that her Schicksal Theocracy had a hand in it too. She hadn't wanted to be in the Huang Empire from the start anyway, since that annoying woman Rita was there. Theresa didn't want to be in the same faction as her! Was she not tormented enough by Rita already? Seeing that woman, the further away the better!
Now, Theresa felt quite lucky to be in Schicksal. Although they were beaten by Huang for the first few days, they fought back later and held the final battle right at Huang's doorstep. To this, Theresa could only say...
"Battle high!!"
[Newbies don't know? TeRiRi was assigned to Schicksal!]
[LMAO, why are you in the 'Shenzhou Flatboard' faction just like me!]
[That's what happens when the Huang Empire gets too arrogant. Tragic, isn't it?]
[Wait, even Theresa defected! Was the fall of Great Huang really destined??]
The plot of this faction war was quite to Theresa's taste. Before playing, she was worried Su Mu might have hidden a "knife" in there somewhere. But it turned out she was over-worrying. The Honkai Kingdoms plot was primarily witty and humorous, filled with memes... Theresa had a blast playing it.
At the same time, she couldn't help but grumble about Su Mu. Seriously, he could write happy plots when he wanted to, so why did the main story feel like a vendetta against the entire world? Sometimes Theresa really wondered if the main story and the events were written by the same person. The style gap was just too wide!
Complaints aside, Theresa was satisfied with both the main and event plots so far. Setting aside the various cool and beautiful Valkyries of Honkai Impact 3rd, the story was genuinely good, which was why she kept playing.
As time flew by, Theresa realized she had been a Captain for nearly a year. Honkai Impact 3rd was already a year-old game. This made her sentimental; a year had passed too quickly... looking back on what happened this year...
Uh, it seems I played Honkai 3rd every single day?
This won't do! Theresa, you're the next CEO of Schicksal. How can you be so lazy! If you're addicted to games every day, what will happen to Schicksal's future!
Theresa reflected on her actions and decided to ask her idol, Otto Apocalypse, what he usually did to spend his time meaningfully.
Amber: "Lord Otto? He's also played Honkai 3rd for a year." Theresa: "Never mind then." Amber: "Though he slacks off sometimes, no matter how much paperwork piles up, he always finishes it before the deadline." Theresa: "..."
She thought Otto was just like her, wanting to play games with a clear conscience. But hearing Amber's words, she fell silent. What kind of ultimate "deadline warrior" was her grandfather...? Was it actually possible to finish a mountain of documents in a single night? And according to Amber's report, Otto never made a single mistake in his handling...
Impossible. It's absolutely impossible!!
Theresa realized clearly that there was a decisive chasm between her and Otto! A chasm that simply couldn't be crossed!! This made her look at the sky and weep.
Can I really... be a good CEO for Schicksal?
As the middle of December approached, there were only a few days left until MiHoYo's full relocation to the new office building. Currently, besides the staff maintaining the normal operation of Honkai Impact 3rd, most of this floor had been cleared out.
Su Mu looked at the empty studio, feeling sentimental. A year ago, when he first came here, MiHoYo was just a dying small studio. A year later, they were about to have their own building. It was impossible to say he had no feelings for this place; it was the birthplace of his dreams and where he, Bronya, and Kiana had started together.
"What is it?" Bronya handed him a cup of coffee.
"Nothing, just thinking about moving out. It's a bit sad." Su Mu held the coffee and shook his head with a smile.
"Mhm." Bronya took a sip. "I didn't expect the studio to move so soon either. A year ago, I wouldn't have dared to imagine this." she paused, looking at Su Mu. "All of this is because of you... Su Mu."
Su Mu gave a wry smile: "You're flattering me too much, Bronya... MiHoYo's success isn't my credit alone. It's the result of everyone's hard work."
"Excessive humility is a bad habit." Bronya sighed. "Perhaps it wasn't your credit alone, but yours was the greatest. It's no exaggeration to say that without you, no matter how hard Kiana and I worked, it would have been for nothing. Many people gathered because of you—Pardo, Elysia, Ms. Eden... even Schicksal's CEO Otto and my mentor Welt Yang. Being able to gain the support of so many people is due to your unique personal charm."
Looking at the serious Bronya, Su Mu shrugged and teased: "Fine, then I'll accept your praise with gratitude."
Bronya looked at the smiling man before her. His smile was like the warm winter sun. she held her coffee cup a bit stiffly and, as if possessed, moved a few inches closer to him.
"And." "Mhm?" "Thank you for everything, Su Mu." "Mhm."
The two stood side by side, drinking their coffee, falling into a simultaneous silence. The air was thick with a hint of ambiguity. Bronya didn't know why, but while she usually found coffee bitter, today it seemed to have a trace of sweetness.
"By the way, Bronya." "What is it?" "Since we're leaving soon, there are a few things I want to do before we go." "What things?" "Follow me and you'll see."
Bronya nodded, not refusing his invitation. Then, to her surprise, she found that Su Mu's "things to do" were simply saying goodbye one by one to the people they knew in the Arc Commercial Building. she knew Su Mu had always worked on building good relations with others in the building, and proof showed he was right. Su Mu had "acquaintances" all over the building, and whenever he was mentioned, they were full of praise. Some said he was easy-going with no ego, unlike a sharp young man. Despite becoming a famous game director and creating a revenue myth at a young age, he showed no arrogance.
Bronya had asked him why he spent energy on these people. Many of their companies weren't even in the same industry as MiHoYo. They weren't rivals, and they couldn't be partners. But Su Mu told her that this was the accumulation of a network. The Arc Building was one of the top business hubs in the city, filled with heavyweights from all industries. And those working there were more or less capable or well-connected. They were all potential assets; a network shouldn't be built only when you need it, but long before.
"Remember our collaboration with the Arc City transit cards? The brother of the boss of the company upstairs is the President of Arc Bank..."
Back then, Bronya had nodded half-comprehendingly. Thinking about it, she really rarely reached out to expand her network. Most of her connections were from her school days or Anti-Entropy.
"And remember when someone in the studio was careless and lost an important file? Before we even reported it, the security guard downstairs brought it up... That file involved trade secrets. If it had fallen into the wrong hands, our losses would have been massive."
Thinking back, it was because Su Mu built these relationships that they always proved useful in unexpected ways.
"Of course, these things are often cases of 'planting willows for shade'... if it's useful, everyone's happy; if not, it's just good karma," Su Mu said. "Better to have one more friend than one more enemy, right?"
As Bronya's thoughts returned to the present, she realized a crowd had gathered around Su Mu. There were bosses from other firms, security guards, cleaning staff, and many office workers from the building. Watching Su Mu talk with them, Bronya couldn't help but find it amusing. This guy was like a little celebrity, popular wherever he went.
Hmph. I wonder what his brain is made of. He's younger than me, yet so seasoned in social interaction...
Watching Su Mu being the center of attention, Bronya felt happy for him. For some reason, she also felt a sense of pride in her heart, an urge to show him off to others.
See? This is the man Bronya likes. Outstanding no matter where he goes.
For a moment, Bronya was mesmerized, her gaze focused entirely on him as if the rest of the world had vanished.
"Sister Bronya? Sister Bronya?"
It took Seele tugging on her sleeve for her to snap out of it. "Seele? Weren't you with Elysia and the others decorating the new office?"
Bronya checked the time; it was almost time to clock out. she had planned to go to the new building to pick Seele up.
"Mhm, Sister Elysia said they had enough people, so I wanted to come back and see... What is Brother Su Mu talking about with those people?"
Seele's gaze landed on Su Mu, who seemed to notice her arrival and smiled at her.
"Him? He's being a 'fresh meat' star."
"Is—is that so? Brother Su Mu is going to be a star?"
"Pfft... just a joke. But he really is like a star now." Seele sat beside Bronya. she looked at her sister's profile and realized Bronya's eyes had never left Su Mu.
"Sister Bronya." "Mhm?" "You're staring at Brother Su Mu like you want to eat him alive."
"You brat." Bronya put her hands on her hips and gave Seele's cheek a playful poke. "I'm not a T-Rex; how could I eat him?"
"Hehe, Sister Bronya, since you like Brother Su Mu so much, when are you going to confess?"
"I'm not mentally prepared yet. Besides, we're so busy lately; I don't want to distract Su Mu with this."
"What do you mean by 'with this'? To Seele, Sister Bronya's happiness is much more important than work!" Seele leaned in, encouraging her. "Seele will cheer for you! My other self said so too—if you don't grab happiness when it's in front of you, it will slip away!"
Seeing Bronya still hesitating, Seele decided to add some fuel: "Sister Bronya, you go home first later. I need to go to Brother Su Mu's house."
"Mhm?" Bronya looked at Seele curiously.
"You know about Sister Kiana, right? she rented an apartment near Brother Su Mu to live independently. I'm a bit worried about her, so I want to go check on her."
"I only heard Kiana is being a housekeeper for Himeko... Fine, it's good for her to be independent. she shouldn't rely on Sirin for everything, or she'll turn into a total waste."
"Sister Bronya, don't you find it strange?" "Strange?" "Yeah. Why did Sister Kiana choose a place so close to Brother Su Mu?" "Isn't it because Su Mu is a good cook and she wants to scavenge meals?" "That... seems right. But there's another reason! Think about it, they live so close now, they might even commute together every day. If that happens..."
Seele's words were an epiphany. Bronya hadn't thought that far, but now it felt increasingly suspicious.
"Seele, you mean..." "Sister Bronya, Brother Su Mu is excellent, right?" "True..." "If Sister Kiana wants to pursue him... they say 'the pavilion nearest the water gets the moon first'. What if she makes a move first?" "This..."
Seeing Bronya's worried look, Seele patted her chest: "Leave it to me, Sister Bronya! While I'm helping Sister Kiana, I can serve as your eyes and ears..."
"Is that really okay? Seele, won't it be too much work for you?"
"It's fine! Sister Bronya has done so much for me, Seele wants to help too!"
Looking at the sincere Seele, Bronya hesitated before nodding: "Then I'll count on you, Seele."
Seele said with a giggle: "Leave it to me, Sister Bronya! I'll monitor Brother Su Mu closely!"
Five hours later. Inside Su Mu's room. Facing Su Mu's eager gaze, Seele had entirely forgotten she was there to "monitor" him.
—"I'm sorry, Sister Bronya."
Back at her apartment, Bronya suddenly sneezed. she felt like her head was unusually heavy lately... what was going on? Seeing that it was almost 10 PM and Seele hadn't returned, Bronya called her.
"Sister... Bronya? Is—is something wrong?" Seele's voice sounded somewhat strained on the other end.
"Seele, what's wrong? Your voice sounds very hurried." Bronya sensed the anomaly and asked with concern.
"Me? I'm... I'm playing a game with Brother Su Mu..."
"Playing a game?"
"Yeah, that popular new one, HOMU Contract! An FPS where you play as agents in a 5v5 battle! It's so much fun. Brother Su Mu is teaching me how to play 'Bomb-HOMU' step-by-step. But the character is too hard, I keep making mistakes... Brother Su Mu keeps laughing and calling me a dummy!"
Bronya understood. No wonder Seele's voice sounded so "pained" and rushed; she was probably getting frustrated from losing while Su Mu mocked her.
"Alright then. When will you be back? Don't play for too long; rest when you're tired and stand up to stretch..."
Seele's voice came back: "O-Okay, Sister Bronya. Seele will make sure to rest..."
For some reason, Bronya felt Seele's voice didn't sound like she was "red-lining" from anger, nor did it sound like she was playing HOMU Contract... but she dismissed the thought. she liked HOMU Contract too and had invited Seele to play before, but Seele had said she wasn't into FPS games. To think she was playing with Su Mu now... Does this mean we can play as a trio in the future? I wonder how Su Mu's skill is.
"Then keep playing. If it's too late, just crash at Kiana's for the night. But Kiana's sleeping posture is terrible, so watch out."
"O-Okay! Bye, Sister Bronya—"
After hanging up, Bronya still felt something was off, so she dialed Su Mu.
"Hello? Bronya? Something up?" she heard Su Mu's voice was also a bit short of breath. Was he red-lining because Seele is too bad at the game?
"Are you playing games with Seele? Playing HOMU Contract? I invited her before but she wasn't interested... What did you do to her? Why is she playing with you now?"
"Maybe I'm just that charming."
"Stop joking... let's play together sometime. I like that game too. Anyway, it's late; let Seele stay at Kiana's. I have some work to finish."
"Mhm, bye."
Ten minutes after hanging up with Bronya. Su Mu massaged his temples and looked helplessly at the Black Seele beside him.
"You really are something." He poked Black Seele's cheek, his face full of helplessness. "That was too bold. You almost got us caught by Bronya."
Black Seele snorted, but her face was full of satisfaction. she was clearly in a very good mood. "Caught is caught. It'll happen eventually anyway, hehe." she showed zero remorse, seemingly enjoying the thrill.
Su Mu sighed and held his forehead. When Bronya first called Seele, things were fine. But when it was his turn, it was Black Seele who answered. she had immediately forced Su Mu into a round of "HOMU Contract."
What was HOMU Contract? It was an FPS game Su Mu had suggested and Anti-Entropy had developed and published. Players played as agents with magical abilities in 5v5 combat. It had taken the internet by storm upon release. Welt had even organized a tournament with a million-credit prize for the champions.
In HOMU Contract, Su Mu's favorite character was Jett-HOMU... okay, let's be real, it was the HOMU version of Valorant. Jett's skills made her a perfect entry fragger, and her ultimate—the incredibly cool kunai—was a favorite among players.
What? Jett is a starter character everyone has? Haha, just shoot. Just shoot and it's fine!
Of course, since it was an FPS, it required talent and massive training. Seele would often find Su Mu for 1V1 sessions in private rooms. Each time, they had to duel until they were sweating and exhausted. Thanks to these sessions with Seele, Su Mu felt his FPS skills were skyrocketing. Headshotting with Jett's knives was now second nature! He could maneuver and fly through the air, with every "knife" precisely hitting Seele's "weak spots"! And to pull off such moves, one needed good equipment... sorry, off-topic.
Every time they finished playing, Su Mu felt Seele's skill was also rising. It proved that playing HOMU Contract with a good partner could truly change a person. With the "nourishment of love," Seele's entire aura and presence had clearly shifted recently. It was a miraculous thing.
"Weren't you supposed to be monitoring me for Bronya?" Su Mu smiled at the Seele in his arms. "Is this how you monitor? Testing the integrity of the cadre?"
Black Seele hummed: "We really have to thank Kiana. Without her, Seele and I wouldn't have such a legitimate reason to come to your house."
Su Mu sighed: "Kiana would never dream she'd become a tool like this."
While Su Mu and Black Seele spoke... inside Kiana's new apartment, she was curled up in her blanket. for some reason, she felt a vague sense of unease. What's going on?
And... in Bronya's apartment. Bronya massaged her temples, looking at a new email on her computer, thinking about how to reply. Work was a matter that allowed no carelessness.
END OF CHAPTER
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