Chapter 29: Music Director Eden!
It would be a lie to say Su Mu had no selfish motives. To be honest, he had a bit of a completionist streak in his previous life; he couldn't stand not having a full gallery in a game. Coming to this wonderful world, he naturally wanted to complete his "collection." Being able to work alongside the Flame-Chasers of the MOTHs was simply too interesting!
Su Mu's sheer efficiency left Kiana completely dumbfounded. She had originally tagged along thinking she might get to see Su Mu make a fool of himself—in her mind, a superstar as famous as Eden wouldn't acknowledge Su Mu so easily. Kiana would have sooner believed the sun would rise in the west. As it turned out... the sun really did rise in the west.
This made Kiana wonder: was Su Mu really that outstanding? No, no! Being good at social navigation was useless; making games was all about strength! Su Mu, that "clear-eyed and foolish" college student, definitely didn't have that kind of strength!
"Since the superstar Eden and her companions are joining, those expenses will be quite substantial!" Kiana was more concerned with how to squeeze money out of her "stinky old man" to pay Eden and the others high salaries.
Given Eden's fame, the cost of hiring her would be an astronomical figure! With such a huge investment, she would surely make a killing when the game eventually flopped! Wait... with Eden involved, the game's popularity couldn't possibly be low?
Hehe! No, no, no, no! Kiana felt that was too superficial. No matter how popular Eden was, she had specifically studied 3D gaming knowledge. How could making a game be that simple? Source code, engines, underlying logic frameworks... these weren't things a single person could handle!
Lately, Kiana had been recruiting many "clear-eyed and foolish" college students, offering them high salaries and preparing them to dive into the production of this large-scale 3D action mobile game, *Honkai Impact 3rd*! As expected of college students! As soon as they heard they were making a 3D mobile game, they all got fired up. They were so easy to fool!
She needed more of these people! The more people there were, the higher the probability that she, Kiana, would "lose" her way to becoming the richest person! With more people, there was a higher chance of slackers, and slacking would naturally lead to a pile of problems. Perhaps the accumulated severe bugs would eventually scrap the *Honkai Impact 3rd* project entirely! When that happened, all investments would go down the drain. It would be perfect!
Kiana cheered inwardly, excitedly waiting for the day *Honkai Impact 3rd* would fail before it even started and die in the wilderness!
"I didn't expect you to actually convince everyone in such a short time..." At the dining table, Eden looked at the gathered members of the Golden Courtyard with a look of surprise. She knew exactly how difficult it was to achieve something like this. This raised Su Mu's standing in her heart considerably.
"Well, I won't go back on what I promised. I will join miHoYo and become your Music Director."
Su Mu smiled slightly. "Then, here's to a smooth collaboration, Sister Eden?"
Pardofelis suddenly raised her hand. "Though I don't think it'll be an issue... but Su Mu, have you considered our salaries?"
"I'll answer that!" Kiana pulled out a checkbook and slammed it on the table. "Fill it in! Put down whatever amount you want!"
Seeing his boss acting like such a spendthrift, Su Mu rolled his eyes and pulled the excited Kiana back down.
"I haven't finished," Eden continued. "Although everyone agreed to join miHoYo, there are special circumstances—Griseo and Kosma still have school. I'll have them help out during their spare time."
"As for Pardo and Elysia... you can have them live at the company if you want."
Pardo slammed the table. "Sister Eden, what do you mean by that! I'm busy too, okay?"
Elysia nodded. "Exactly, cute girls have private matters to attend to as well~"
Eden replied calmly, "miHoYo is located in the Sky High Commercial Building. That's downtown; there are gourmet shops, massive foot traffic, and plenty of beautiful girls."
Pardo: "?"
Elysia: "!"
Pardo: "The company is my home."
Elysia: "As a beautiful girl, I naturally must work hard to live up to my status!"
Su Mu slowly mentally typed out a question mark. Good grief, absolute good grief. When it came to grasping human weakness, the older ginger was truly spicier—Eden was a master.
Next, Su Mu discussed the induction process with Eden and the others. They eventually reached a mutually satisfactory plan, and the matter was settled. Before Su Mu left, Eden asked him one final question.
"If you wanted to showcase your company's capabilities, why didn't you choose to bring that girl named Bronya instead of Kiana?" Eden had also researched miHoYo and reached a conclusion: Kiana was a mascot who provided the money, while Bronya and Su Mu were the ones actually doing the work.
Su Mu thought for a moment and replied, "Because it's interesting."
Eden slowly mentally typed out a question mark. "Interesting"? That's a reason?
Not really. It was purely Su Mu's personal mischievous streak; he wanted to see what would happen when the "Tuna" fell into the Elysian Realm. And also... he wanted to tease a certain "Cook."
Kiana becoming the bait for the "Yuri Queen" of the Realm... Mei, how do you feel right now? How do you feel!
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About two months had passed since the *Honkai Impact 3rd* project was initiated. During this time, Bronya and Kiana had successfully obtained approval from the real-life prototypes of the game characters in their own ways, successfully laying the foundation for *Honkai Impact 3rd* to be launched without being sued.
Su Mu, meanwhile, submitted some of the music for *Honkai Impact 3rd* to Eden. Even Eden couldn't help but express immense admiration after seeing the music. Combined with the expansion of the team by Bronya during this period, the *Honkai Impact 3rd* project team was growing steadily.
After gathering most of the necessary conditions, Su Mu finally successfully redeemed the source code for *Honkai Impact 3rd*, along with the accompanying engine system and underlying logic framework. With the core technology established, the production of *Honkai Impact 3rd* officially began.
To better lose money, Kiana imitated a certain "President Pei" and performed a series of actions that made the employees feel extremely grateful—pay raises, paid leave, and even buying out the two neighboring companies to tear down the walls and expand miHoYo's territory! She installed various gym equipment, a snack area, and a leisure zone, and implemented a 9-to-5, five-day work week...
Before the game was even out, Kiana's actions had already made the entire company famous!
END OF CHAPTER