Chapter 304: Fervent Tempo Δ! Is the Old Thief Going to Sacrifice the Twins??
As the calendar turned to August, a new era began.
The brand-new version of Honkai Impact 3rd, "Starry Overdrive," was imminent. This update included the Chapter 23 main story "The Solo Stage," the version event "Honkai Quest," and the launch of the core augmentation for Rozaliya—[Fervent Tempo Δ].
"Fervent Tempo Δ is a PSY-type melee sustained damage dealer. After a charged attack or unleashing an Ultimate, she enters the 'Fervent State,' dual-wielding greatswords to attack enemies and deal high Physical DMG."
Amidst the variation BGM of "Starlit Twins," Fervent Tempo Δ made a dazzling appearance in the promotional PV.
However, as soon as this Fervent Tempo appeared, players collectively spat out their drinks.
[Isn't this just Assaka?]
[LOL, she really looks like a female human version of Assaka!]
[Is there a possibility—and I'm just saying maybe—that the Olgierd twins originally had Assaka's genes in their bodies? So it makes sense they look alike, right?]
At first, everyone was focused on Fervent Tempo's appearance resembling a humanized Assaka, but soon someone noticed something was off.
That was Rozaliya's voice.
She was no longer the energetic, carefree, sunny girl from before. Instead, she had become mature, resolute...
This... this wasn't right, was it?
[Wait a minute? Is Rozaliya's personality supposed to be like this?]
[How can a person's personality change so drastically? Could it be... the same situation as Kiana?]
[Holy crap? No way? Is he going to sacrifice the twins now?]
[And did you guys notice? Before, Rozaliya and Liliya were inseparable, but this time Liliya didn't appear in the promotional PV at all...]
At that moment, the hearts of the players watching the PV skipped a beat in unison.
The twins were an inseparable unit. After all, their previous battlesuits, Molotov Cherry and Blueberry Blitz, had complete joint-attack skills. When the two characters were deployed together, they received exclusive stat bonuses... Even in events, this pair of mischievous sisters always appeared as a duo, without exception.
However, for the augmented S-rank battlesuit [Fervent Tempo Δ], there was no sign of Liliya... As a twin, Liliya should have had an augmentation battlesuit as well, logically speaking.
But until the end of the PV, no news regarding a Blueberry Blitz augmentation appeared.
Combined with this mature Rozaliya whose voice had clearly changed... it was no wonder everyone suspected that the inhumane "Old Thief" was going to start "knifing" people again.
[No, he wouldn't, right? That's the Vodka Girls—the Old Thief's last bit of conscience!]
[Exactly! No matter what, he wouldn't sacrifice the Vodka Girls, right?]
[No matter how heartless the Old Thief is, he wouldn't go that far, would he?]
Of course, many people still held an optimistic view. After all, whenever Rozaliya and Liliya appeared, they always brought joy to the players—wasn't this an established tradition in Honkai Impact 3rd?
One must realize how many times the Olgierd twins had helped players, wounded by the Old Thief's tragedies, regain hope in life. Their weight in the players' hearts was extraordinary.
And the Old Thief had intentionally or unintentionally used the twins as a "firefighting" relief; after traumatizing players with the plot, he would always arrange for these sisters to show up and heal the audience.
So, probably, maybe, perhaps...
[Maybe... Rozaliya and Liliya fused using some magical earrings?]
[That actually seems possible! Look, Rozaliya's outfit now has blue accents representing Liliya!]
[My word? Fusion, is it?]
[Wild guess: maybe they encountered an incredibly powerful opponent, and due to Assaka's characteristics, Rozaliya and Liliya merged into one, becoming the legendary warrior Delta to turn enemies into stars with her greatsword!]
[True, when Son of Darkness and Son of Light merge, they become Assaka. So it's logical for the Vodka twins to fuse, right?]
[Exactly!]
Su Mu, who was high-intensity self-searching (not really), saw the players unwilling to face reality and constantly finding excuses. He sighed helplessly.
Once upon a time, he was just as innocent and believed in MiHoYo... but once Delta's plot came out, one could only say it allowed Su Mu to feel the malice of this world...
Ahem.
In fact, the design of Fervent Tempo Δ clearly referenced a certain "Best Match" scientist. This was normal, as the MiHoYo team in his previous life was full of old-school otakus and Tokusatsu fans; otherwise, they wouldn't have gone to such lengths to collaborate with EVA.
Furthermore, among the Valkyrie battlesuits, there was even "Knight Moonbeam" as a tribute... not to mention the classic Tokusatsu setting of Valkyries, Zombies, Honkai Beasts, and even Herrschers sharing the "same origin as the enemy."
So when Fervent Tempo Δ first came out, everyone was meming frantically, with "Best Match" filling the screen. However, replicating that grand occasion in this world would be difficult, given the cultural differences between the two worlds.
Aside from the heated discussion over Rozaliya's new augmentation, the upcoming Chapter 23 main story also triggered widespread debate. After all, in the previous version, Honkai Impact 3rd had just given everyone the shock of "Shattered Samsara."
Everyone was eagerly anticipating what big moves the new main story would pull. Although the Class Monitor had been successfully saved, Mei was still in World Serpent.
Sigh, who knows when the day will come for Kiana and Mei to reunite...
At the same time Honkai Impact 3rd was dominating the charts again, another explosive piece of news was announced.
The game Resident Evil, produced by Old Thief Su Mu in collaboration with Herta Studio, was officially dated!
In Resident Evil, players would play as a newly appointed police officer, Leon, venturing deep into Raccoon City to uncover the dark secrets hidden within!
This time, the game was split into two versions: a holographic version produced by Herta Studio and a standard version for consoles produced by Ranger Studio under MiHoYo.
With the addition of Herta Studio's powerful holographic technology, players would be given an immersive experience! And even without the holographic version, players on consoles would still have a hair-raising audio-visual feast!
The news of Resident Evil's release date quickly ignited the gaming circle again. After all, this was Su Mu's latest masterpiece since Titanfall, and it was in a completely different genre—horror!
While players marveled at how versatile the Old Thief was, they were also very excited... Titanfall had ignited the mecha dreams of countless players. So, what heights could this Resident Evil reach?
After officially announcing the October release date, the officials declared they would participate in the August "Bilibili World" (BW) exhibition. They would set up holographic equipment at the Tianqiu City venue and release a Demo for players and media reviewers to test!
This caused many players in Tianqiu City to gear up, wanting to personally experience the charm of Resident Evil offline!
And... just when everyone thought the gaming world in August was already explosive enough with two major pieces of news, another unexpected announcement, like a heavy bomb, detonated across the industry!
The personal account "4399"—which had driven many content creators crazy with Cat Mario in July, torturing them with a little white cat while also releasing numerous high-quality indie games—finally revealed its true identity!
It was named "Songque Studio," and it had reached a partnership with the Interastral Gaming Platform (which rivaled the Homu Gaming Platform) to jointly launch a brand-new concept: a massive ACG open-world game—Genshin Impact!
Furthermore, the game would soon hold its first test... and would participate in the BW exhibition at the Canghai City venue!
Reportedly, Genshin Impact was funded by the Interastral Gaming Platform and produced by Songque Studio. Under the guarantee of the Strategic Investment Department's "Stonehearts" Topaz and Aventurine, it was a direct challenge to Honkai Impact 3rd, which dominated the mobile market!
Judging from the currently released PV, the production quality was even a step above Honkai Impact 3rd! Moreover, "open-world mobile game"—a brand-new gameplay style never before seen in free-to-play mobile games—attracted a massive number of players in a short time!
Everyone was incredibly curious about how far this open world could go on a mobile phone! And... did the emergence of Genshin Impact mean that the Interastral Gaming Platform could break the near-monopoly of the mobile market held by the Homu Gaming Platform and MiHoYo over the past two years?
Undoubtedly, this was a duel between a new king and the old king... Combined with the previous grievances between the two platforms, many bystanders had gathered to discuss the impending storm of competition...
"Holy crap! This Genshin Impact is way too cool!"
For Senti, who loved surfing the web, she learned the news of the collaboration between Interastral and Songque Studio immediately. The moment she saw the promotional PV, she was dumbfounded.
"No, isn't this image quality a bit too invincible? I thought Honkai Impact 3rd was already the peak... whose subordinate is this?"
Looking at the terrifying graphics in the PV, Senti couldn't help but worry if players' phones would explode because they couldn't handle the load.
Previously, Honkai Impact 3rd had already made countless phone manufacturers wail. A bunch of manufacturers used "maxed-out graphics" Honkai to showcase their phones' powerful performance... But seeing Genshin Impact, Senti instinctively felt that this thing might become the new "phone-roasting" benchmark. Putting such a large open world entirely onto a mobile phone was much harder than a stage-based game like Honkai Impact 3rd!
At least in terms of technical prowess, Songque Studio was maxed out!
"What about Su Mu? That guy probably doesn't know this news yet, does he? It's time to put some pressure on him so he feels a bit of urgency!"
Upholding her identity as Su Mu's good bro, Senti sent him a message.
[Senti: Have you seen Genshin Impact? Any thoughts?]
[Su Mu: What do you mean by 'thoughts'?]
[Senti: No sense of urgency at all? Maybe that Songque Studio is about to kick MiHoYo's butt!]
[Su Mu: ...]
[Senti: And that lead director of Songque Studio called 'Chen Ye'—I only just found out that 4399 account was his! He's the 'treasure' game creator I recommended to you before! If you ask me, his talent in games might be even higher than yours!]
[Su Mu: Thank you for the compliment.]
[Senti: ???]
[Senti: I wasn't complimenting you, why are you thanking me?]
Looking at the confused emoji Senti sent on his phone, Su Mu found it amusing. This kid at least had some heart, actually coming to check on him.
But... saying his talent was higher than his own was truly "grass-growing" (hilarious). And as for Songque Studio kicking MiHoYo's butt... was he supposed to fight himself?
Following the announcement of Genshin Impact, Su Mu also received a call from Eden. After all, Eden was one of the few people who knew that Su Mu had infiltrated the Interastral Gaming Platform and was prepared to fleece the company for a large sum.
In fact, the ownership of Songque Studio was currently in Eden's hands. Of course, the actual funding came from Su Mu and the MiHoYo behind him, but having Eden's name attached to it was something that couldn't be measured in money. This was why Topaz, when reaching the contract with Su Mu, agreed not to interfere with Songque Studio's autonomy and only provided financial assistance.
Regarding the profit distribution, the conditions proposed by the Interastral Gaming Platform as the investor were within a reasonable range. Furthermore, as the person in charge of the Genshin Impact project, a large part of these profits would flow into Topaz's pockets...
This wasn't a bad thing for Su Mu. In the business world, rich profits always tie people firmly together. And among the notorious Company, executives with a human touch like Topaz were rare... Su Mu was confident that after Genshin Impact succeeded, Topaz would give him the maximum level of support for the Star Rail project. Becoming one of "their own" was only a matter of time; at the very least, being a reliable business partner was no problem at all.
Of course, Topaz's good attitude had another reason... Topaz was also a fan of Eden and liked her music. In this world, there were only two kinds of people: fans of Eden, and potential fans of Eden... This just showed how popular Ms. Eden was.
However... for the current Su Mu, he faced a very headache-inducing problem.
The exhibitions for Genshin Impact and Honkai Impact 3rd were to be held in Canghai City and Tianqiu City respectively, and he was stretched thin...
The only consolation was that on MiHoYo's side, the "Post-Honkai" trio, who were the current heads of the Honkai 3rd project team, had already submitted a complete exhibition plan. As the game director and their "teacher" at work, Su Mu should naturally attend to observe their results personally.
On the other hand, because Songque Studio was just starting out, most matters here required his attention, and he also needed to stay and oversee the booth.
Su Mu truly wished he could grow three heads and six arms, or blow a handful of hair like the Monkey King to create several clones.
There was no other choice. In this situation, he could only ask Bronya to move the Herta puppet to the venue, allowing him to take a few peeks during his busy schedule...
Sigh, it had to be said that the Synesthesia Beacon and the Herta puppet were the greatest inventions of the century. Combining the two allowed Su Mu, from thousands of miles away, to have the ability to work at two different locations simultaneously. Truly a must-have artifact for workaholics! He suggested mass-producing them!
But the people at MiHoYo had something to say as well.
Aside from a workaholic like Su Mu, who the heck used Synesthesia Beacons and Herta puppets like this? Getting these two things just so you can work at two locations at once—just how much do you love your job? Your passion is your life, right?
Everyone was laughed into anger by this man whose head was full of games. Otherwise, who do you think the company's mandatory monthly leave was aimed at? Behind every ridiculous regulation, there was surely the figure of a certain workaholic obsessed with games!!
Su Mu had already made his plans, but a letter from Elysia made him spit out his drink.
["Dear Mr. Su Mu, the Golden Courtyard will be holding a cruise party in the middle of this month..."]
The timing was just after the BW exhibition ended. Elysia said it was a team-building activity for the Golden Courtyard family initiated by herself, and even the busy Kevin would be there.
Although Su Mu didn't live in the Golden Courtyard, in Eden's words, he had long been a part of this big family. Those also invited were Kiana, Bronya, Carole... Su Mu basically understood: rather than a Golden Courtyard team-building event, it was more of an Elysia team-building event. Anyone with a good relationship with her was dragged along!
Even Mei was invited. Wait, you haven't even met Mei many times, have you? Pining for her like that? You "Lesbian Queen of the Realm"!!
[Su Mu: ?]
[Su Mu: Thanks for the invite, currently in Canghai City...]
[Elysia: Heehee~♪ I already considered that, of course! Isn't there the Herta puppet? You can just show your face then~♪]
[Su Mu: I feel like there's a conspiracy...]
[Elysia: How rude! How could a beautiful girl have bad intentions! I just want everyone to bond~♪]
[Su Mu: Fine.]
It was Elysia's invitation, after all, and with so many people attending, Su Mu didn't want to spoil the fun. But he couldn't shake the feeling she was up to something... Whatever, the one attending would be the Herta puppet anyway, so it was none of his business.
[Su Mu: ?! Wait.]
[Su Mu: You didn't move the Herta puppet to your office again, did you?]
Su Mu was truly about to faint. He hadn't forgotten that the last few times he connected to the Herta puppet, he opened his eyes in Elysia's office. The clothes on his body were also strange—dinosaur onesies, bear pajamas, and even a big white goose costume... Elysia always managed to pull some stunts; he couldn't help but suspect she was doing it on purpose!
[Elysia: It's just collecting dust in the office when you're not using it anyway. Isn't it perfect to use as a clothes rack? ♪~]
[Su Mu: Please change the clothes back after you're done modeling. If Madam Herta comes to check, she'll think I'm a person with strange fetishes.]
[Elysia: No~ it's too troublesome~ anyway, what you wear doesn't affect your work, right?]
That was true. But as for whether Madam Herta would come to find him with a hammer to settle the score, he didn't know.
END OF CHAPTER
Like this story Leave a review ; it would really help me out a lot.
Want to Read Ahead in Advance?
Join my Patreon!
+75 Chapters
Support me in
Patreon.com/BestElysium