"Good, then it's happily settled just like that."
Su Yu set the matter in stone, striking the Enter key on the last line of the electronic document.
As the preliminary structural chart of the Honkai Impact 3rd project team unfolded on the projection screen.
The entire conference room was filled with an excited atmosphere of "we're about to do something big."
[miHoYo Game Studio · Organizational Structure Chart (Draft)]
[Core Producer / Lead Planner]: Su Yu (Note: Responsible for painting pie-in-the-sky visions, taking the blame, and being the patriarch who pays everyone's salaries.)
[Chief Technology Officer (CTO) / Motion Capture & Combat Director]: Kiana Kaslana (Note: Her actual job is mascot, poster girl, and… being in charge of beating everyone flat to the ground.)
[Art Director]: Nuwa (Note: Currently in a manic state of "working for the love of it," and is assembling under her command a crew of art laborers made up of figurine enthusiasts.)
[Specially Invited Art Consultant]: Painted World (Griseo) (Note: An off-the-books grandmaster. Though she's an elementary schooler, everyone present is a mere little brother when it comes to drawing.)
[Director of Cybersecurity (CISO)]: H.B. (Bronie) (Note: In order to keep the alias hidden in front of Kiana, a code name was deliberately used.)
[Motion Capture Actor Team & Security Department]: All members of the Inch Heart Dojo (Note: Headed by Fu Hua. They can be both actors and security guards. From now on the studio's access control will probably be the most hardcore in all of Arc City—want to come in? First take a punch of my Inch Force.)
Su Mei looked at this chart and nodded in satisfaction.
"This lineup… is honestly a dream all-star roster."
Her gaze fell upon the still-vacant "Chief Executive Officer (CEO)" column.
"But, Eldest Senior Brother, this position… what do you plan to do about it?"
Su Mei pointed at that empty slot.
"Even though you're the boss, you still have to handle development and the script. You can't possibly take care of administrative management, external business affairs, and even things like changing the water on the water cooler all by yourself, right? We need someone who can hold down the room, who has a good image and fine bearing, and who can ideally also fend off those boring social engagements for you… a face of the company."
Su Yu rubbed his chin.
Actually, at first, he'd wanted Kiana to hold the title in name.
After all, the surname Kaslana was itself a kind of prestige.
And having that world's Herrscher of Finality serve as CEO—just thinking about it felt pretty cool.
He turned his head to look at Kiana, who was just stuffing the last piece of mung bean cake into her mouth.
"Um… Kiana? Are you interested in being a domineering female president?"
"Cough cough cough!"
Kiana nearly choked to death. She gulped down a big mouthful of tea, washing the pastry down, then shook her head like a rattle-drum.
"No way, no way! Absolutely not!"
Her face was full of terror, as if what Su Yu had asked her to do wasn't to be CEO, but to go study calculus.
"Managing people? Holding meetings? Reading financial reports? Su Yu, are you trying to kill me?"
Kiana held up two fingers and gestured.
"I only know how to do two things: first, beat Honkai Beasts flat; second, eat all the pizza. If you make me run the company, do you believe me when I say that by the very next day I could sell the company off to trade it for game cartridges?"
Su Yu:
Quite self-aware—truly worthy of being a Paramecium.
Though it was a bit of a shame that he wouldn't get to see a Valkyrie in business attire, for the sake of the company's survival, he'd better drop the idea.
"Then… as for a person…"
A figure instantly surfaced in Su Yu's mind.
White hair.
A deadpan face.
So handsome it was ridiculous.
An aura strong enough to freeze the air conditioner solid.
Most importantly… that was his best buddy, and in this world, apart from Kiana, the person most worthy of his trust.
"Got it."
Isn't this exactly the ready-made answer?!
Su Yu suddenly slapped his thigh, a mischievous "saving my buddy" grin spreading across his face.
He pulled out his phone and skillfully dialed a number.
At this very moment.
In the Arc City CBD, in a cubicle inside a certain office building.
Kevin Kaslana was sitting in front of his computer, his eyes dull and lifeless as he stared at the densely packed Excel spreadsheet on the screen.
He wore a slightly too-tight white shirt, his necktie hanging loose and slack around his neck.
That head of iconic white hair was a little messy, but this did nothing whatsoever to diminish the destructive power his face exerted on the female colleagues around him.
Even in this dead, dispiriting environment thick with the "stench of clocked-in drudgery," he was still like an iceberg standing aloof and apart from the world.
"Kevin! Is that report done yet? The client's pressing for it!"
A middle-aged supervisor with a Mediterranean hairline came strutting over, beer belly thrust out, a vacuum flask in hand, his tone full of that petty-tyrant, bossing-people-around arrogance.
"Young people these days just can't take hardship. It's barely even late—what time have you worked overtime till? And you're already slacking off?"
Kevin said nothing.
He simply kept silently tapping at his keyboard, the veins on the back of his hand bulging slightly.
The phone on his desk began to vibrate.
The screen lit up, a note flashing across it:
[Su Yu]
The corner of Kevin's brow twitched.
He picked up the phone and pressed the answer key.
"...Hello?"
His voice was low, carrying a trace of the weariness of someone wrung dry by life.
"Foster father——!!!"
From the receiver came Su Yu's heartfelt, even somewhat fawning, cry.
It was so loud that even the Mediterranean supervisor beside him turned his head to look.
Kevin: "..."
He felt his temples beginning to throb violently.
Foster father.
This was the highest form of courtesy a contemporary male college student employed when asking someone for a favor.
It usually meant that whatever came next was either borrowing money, or getting bailed out after stirring up trouble.
"Su Yu."
Kevin pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh.
"Out with it. If it's to borrow money, there isn't any. If that cat of yours smashed someone's window again… I don't have money to pay for that either."
"Aiya, how could you think so lowly of me?"
Su Yu on the other end of the line was grinning, sounding like he was in an incredibly good mood.
"Am I the kind of person who only screws over his buddies? This time I'm actually here to bring you a perk."
"A perk?"
Kevin glanced at the heap of meaningless data garbage on his computer screen and let out a cold snort.
"What kind of perk could you possibly have? Helping me bump off my boss?"
"Well, about that… although it's illegal, if you strongly insist, I could consider having Bronie hack into his computer and play the Great Compassion Mantra for him."
Su Yu cracked a joke, then his tone immediately turned serious.
"Let's talk business. Kevin, do you still remember when I told you before that I wanted to set up a game studio?"
"I remember." Kevin replied indifferently. "What? Did it go bankrupt? Come crying to me?"
"Quite the opposite."
Su Yu's voice carried a spirited, high-flying vigor.
"Not only did we not go bankrupt, we even pulled in investment. A very large investment. We've even got an office building now."
"Right now… everything is ready, all we lack is the final piece."
"So?" Kevin faintly got a premonition.
"We need a CEO."
Su Yu played his trump card, the dagger finally revealed beneath the unrolled map.
"We need a dashing, debonair, handsome and elegant man who can serve as the representative face of the studio, while also possessing both ability and authority… in short, a white-haired handsome guy who has both looks and strength, to hold down the fort for the studio."
Su Yu paused, his tone turning extremely sincere.
"Kevin, can you come be the CEO of my studio?"
Kevin: "...Huh?"
Kevin, whose face had always been deadpan, at this moment finally revealed an expression that could be called "dumbfounded."
CEO?
Me?
An Office Slave who gets cursed out by his boss every day and only knows how to eat instant noodles and work overtime?
"Are you serious?"
Kevin's voice sank.
"Do you know what you're saying? I'm just a..."
"You're an Office Slave my ass."
Su Yu cut him off.
"Kevin, stop pretending. I know what kind of person you are."
"A little cubicle like that simply can't cage you. You belong on a bigger stage."
"What's more..."
Su Yu's voice dropped a little, like the whisper of a devil.
"Sister Eden thinks so too. This investment came from her. She said that if it's Kevin managing this money, she can rest easy."
Hearing the name "Eden," Kevin was stunned for a moment.
Since it was Eden who gave the nod… then this matter wasn't just Su Yu hot-headedly messing around.
And besides...
Kevin lifted his head and glanced at that supervisor who was still chattering on, jabbing a finger in his face as he cursed.
Then he glanced at the patch of gray, overcast sky outside the window.
He'd long since had enough of days like this.
The blood in his body was cold, but it was also hot.
He shouldn't be rotting away here.
"...Alright."
Kevin drew in a deep breath.
No superfluous nonsense, no affected, mincing refusal.
Just this one word.
Crisp and clean.
"Time, place."
He said into the phone.
"Nine o'clock tomorrow morning, the Inch Heart Dojo. Bring your brain—I've got everything else."
Su Yu hung up the phone with a smile.
"Beep— beep——"
The busy tone sounded.
Kevin slowly set down his phone.
He stood up.
The chair scraped against the marble floor, letting out a piercing "screech."
"Hey! Kevin! What are you doing? Sit down! Who told you to stand up?"
The supervisor was startled, then bellowed in shamed fury.
"Before that report is finished, you're not allowed to go anywhere! Tonight you'd better get me——"
Kevin ignored him.
He reached out and, with unhurried ease, loosened the necktie that had been strangling him all day long around his neck.
With a casual yank, he tossed it into the trash can beside him.
Then, from the drawer, he took out a sheet of A4 paper that had long since been printed but had never had the chance to be brought out.
It was a resignation letter.
On it was only a single sentence: [The world is so big, I want to go see it.]
"Slap!"
Kevin smacked that sheet of paper down hard onto the desk in front of the supervisor, the impact making the goji-berry water in the vacuum flask slosh out.
"Y-you—what's the meaning of this?!" The supervisor's eyes went wide.
Kevin looked at him.
In those ice-blue eyes there was not a trace of emotion.
It was as if he were looking at a mere ant.
He turned around, strode off, and headed toward the exit.
When he reached the doorway, he paused for a moment.
He didn't look back.
With his back still to the supervisor who was still roaring, he slowly raised his right hand.
And stuck up a perfectly straight middle finger.
It was an action utterly out of keeping with his aloof, cool persona, yet one that was utterly cathartic.
"I quit."
Kevin's voice echoed through the quiet office.
"Goodbye."
"No—make that, never to meet again."
He pushed open the door.
And left.
Leaving behind only a back that was dashing to the utmost extreme, and a roomful of shattered eyeglass lenses.
In this moment.
Kevin felt that today's wind was really damn clamorous.
But also really damn… free.
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