Chapter 118: Honkai 3rd's New Content! Winter Empress and Benares the Good Boy?
In the subsequent game plot:
Upon waking from the dream, the Captain encounters Otto. It turns out the Otto in the dream was using the power of a Divine Key to conduct an experiment, aimed at finding a world-line where Kallen does not die.
Facing the Captain's report of mission failure, Otto does not appear disappointed. He seems to have long known that the world-line would converge toward Kallen's death.
["It's not your fault... No matter how we choose, the world-line eventually converges to the ending of Kallen's death."]
["I know this better than anyone... I've grown used to waiting."]
["…So used to it that I can't even remember the taste of disappointment itself."]
Subsequently, Otto and the Captain engage in a discussion regarding the meaning of "gentleness." Otto believes that gentle people find it difficult to survive because the world is neither gentle nor correct. Therefore, he has no need for such a thing as gentleness.
Finally, Otto states that there are 48 hours until the Divine Key can be restarted, issuing a new mission request to the Captain.
["Remember, I only want a future where Kallen lives."]
["To that end, I will not hesitate to overturn the causality of all world-lines."]
The story of Midsummer Night's Fantasy drew to a close, and the truth was finally out. Everything was a link in Otto's plan to resurrect Kallen. Otto, in front of the computer, had no idea how he managed to finish this segment. After the livestream ended, he walked back to his room like a living corpse and shut the door tight.
After all, the shock this time was simply too great. Even Lord Otto could not withstand such stimulation.
Famous. Otto was famous.
...Perhaps that was slightly inaccurate. More accurately, in the livestream room of Magical Girl Teriri, the clips of the Honkai Impact 3rd new version Midsummer Night's Fantasy—specifically the "Essential Otto Edits"—went viral.
The title of the clip was simple and clear: "Shoot toward ( ) Shoot toward ( )"
It was the kind of thing any Honkai 3rd player could recognize at a glance. The thumbnail featured Otto flanked by his "Left and Right Guardians," Kallen and Theresa, with a face of pure despair. Such an abstract title, combined with Otto's hilarious expressions, propelled the video straight to number one in trending on Bilibili. Its "triple-tap" (like, coin, collect) ratio was peerless, nearly rivaling the videos posted by the official Honkai 3rd account.
There had been many clips of Honkai 3rd prototypes playing the game before, mostly featuring Theresa and Pardo. Pardo's episode inviting Himeko to play Final Lesson had been the peak of such content. But Otto's video shattered Pardo's long-term reign and set a new record.
Because the entertainment value was just too explosive. It was arguably the most sensational livestream since the game launched. Otto's will to survive overflowing the screen; his face changing colors like a rainbow when faced with the two choices; and the way he let out a sharp, internal scream watching Theresa and Kallen die—it formed a massive contrast with his handsome, noble appearance!
It was precisely this contrast that made watching Otto "go mad" so incredibly funny. Furthermore, since Otto played the major antagonist in Honkai 3rd, seeing his real-life prototype suffer and break... gave many players a mysterious sense of satisfaction!
[Lord Otto 6666!]
[He literally has the 'Saint Body' for livestreaming!]
[Old Thief Su Mu is truly not human. I was there during the stream; you didn't see Otto's face when the choice appeared—he looked totally dumbfounded!]
[I almost died laughing at that moment!]
[Wait, am I the only one who was crying over the plot but lost it when I looked at Otto? I was laughing and crying at the same time; my family thought I had a mental breakdown!]
In the comment section, many "big brains" discussed the event. Otto's video reaching the top once again proved that Midsummer Night's Fantasy was a massive success! Through this battle, the image of Luna Kindred's extreme tragedy was truly etched into the players' minds. As the start of the Captain's Verse, it was undoubtedly a great beginning. The Captain's humorous dialogue and meme-referencing in the plot gave internet-savvy players a strong sense of immersion. It truly opened a brand-new story path that belonged to the Captains, independent of the main Honkai 3rd timeline.
Soon, many players discovered that within the "Summer Memories" event accompanying Midsummer Night's Fantasy, many memes were born due to the humorous dialogue. The most famous among them: ... That year... I became a wise janitor who could do splits in mid-air...
Looking at the various comments from players online, a recovered Otto felt somewhat agitated. "It seems Honkai Impact 3rd has achieved another grand success." He leaned back in his chair, his eyes swirling with complex emotions, eventually turning into a helpless sigh. "Sometimes I really want to crack open Su Mu's head and see what's inside."
After calming down, Otto's shock only grew as he recalled the experience. To have such a massive emotional reaction to a game's plot... while playing, he had a strong premonition. That the events in the game were real, a story happening on another world-line. This made him even more curious about Su Mu, who could write such a plot.
But... he also understood that now was definitely not the time to meet Su Mu. He was genuinely afraid that if he couldn't hold back, he'd go over and explode on Su Mu directly. ...Reason told him that Su Mu could definitely become an important asset for Theresa. Therefore, if he ruined things now, it would be a disservice to her.
"Hmph... I'll let you off this time." Otto suppressed the urge to meet Su Mu. He knew they would meet eventually, but not now. At least not until he had adjusted his emotions...
At this moment, Otto was unaware that the next time they met, he would face yet another nightmare.
The news of Midsummer Night's Fantasy's success spread throughout the miHoYo studio. Having their hard work recognized by players for so many days left the entire studio immersed in the joy of success. Su Mu had anticipated this result, but seeing the smiles on everyone's faces, he couldn't help but be infected by the atmosphere.
Why make games? Su Mu had pondered this before. In the beginning, he only wanted to create Honkai Impact 3rd to give this world a "little shock" and to make up for his own regrets as a veteran Captain. Now, that thought remained unchanged, but new goals had been added. Seeing the smiles of those who trusted him and the kind gazes they cast his way... it felt truly good.
With the success of Honkai 3rd, Su Mu had new objectives. He wanted to bring the excellent games from Earth to this world and "make the game industry great again." The first step into the single-player market would begin with Titanfall.
During the stable operating period after the version update, Su Mu organized a company meeting. At the meeting, he proposed establishing a new studio and nominated Firefly to be the project lead. Su Mu would serve as the lead designer, but he would only handle the major creative directions, leaving all other aspects to Firefly.
When Firefly's capabilities were questioned, Su Mu presented a set of data. The game Starsea Ranger, produced by Ranger Studio, had successfully achieved five million sales, becoming a titan in the 3D top-down shooter genre. The reason he presented this data was simple: Starsea Ranger was a project Su Mu had entrusted to Firefly. After reaching a cooperation agreement with Boothill, Firefly led a miHoYo team to provide technical support for him. It had essentially revitalized the entire game.
One should not think five million sales was small. Starsea Ranger was a single-player game with a purchase price; in this regard, it couldn't be compared to a free-to-play gacha game like Honkai 3rd. Free-to-play mobile games were in a league of their own when it came to making money. In Su Mu's previous life, Minecraft stood alone with 300 million sales, but that was accumulated over many years. In the PC market of his past life, three or four million sales was considered legendary. A typical AAA game was considered successful with around four million global sales.
Although the game industry here was more developed and the player base larger, the results achieved by Starsea Ranger were enough to cause a sensation. You have to remember, miHoYo's previous Getting Over It had only reached six million sales after half a year. Therefore, hitting five million within a few weeks of release was terrifying!
Starsea Ranger didn't have a high production cost, but with such high sales, the net profit was enough to make anyone envious. Most importantly, this studio had been completely unknown before—just like the old miHoYo. But similarly, it had become famous overnight with a single game! Many industry insiders felt they were witnessing the rise of another miHoYo. They watched Starsea Ranger dominate the charts with envy and jealousy, wanting to let out a sharp internal scream. During this period, many studios were secretly preparing to release their own hits, only to be ruthlessly cut down by Starsea Ranger! For a time, the industry was a sea of wailing!
When the data was announced, the meeting erupted in an uproar. "Holy crap, I just found out today that Starsea Ranger was an investment by our company?" "I thought that studio's sudden rise was because the boss awakened a System..." "Turns out it wasn't a System, just Director Su's eye for talent?" "I just want to say Director Su 666, this investment was a massive success!" "I only learned today that we invest in other studios..." "Don't you know? Jack Ma's games are doing well too, right? But he doesn't just do games. You have to have dreams; maybe miHoYo will evolve from a game studio into a giant enterprise!"
Everyone acknowledged Firefly's achievement, realizing she wasn't just a pretty face. Ultimately, Firefly's appointment as the project lead for Titanfall was finalized.
"I thought a girl that pretty must be Director Su's girlfriend..." "Do you think Director Su would show favoritism? With his workaholic personality, he clearly only cares about Firefly's talent!" "I don't know whether to be happy for Firefly or sad..." "When will Director Su finally wake up to romance?"
The new studio no longer needed much worrying over. After collaborating with Boothill, Su Mu discovered that the employees at Ranger Studio were quite skilled. Su Mu didn't hold back and used the opportunity to acquire Boothill's Ranger Studio, making it a part of miHoYo. Since they were brothers, Boothill didn't refuse, especially since miHoYo's terms were very generous. The employees were also in favor. Conveniently, after Starsea Ranger finished development, Boothill's studio didn't have a new project immediately. Hiring new people wasn't as efficient as using existing talent, so after discussing it, Boothill happily seconded many of his staff to Firefly's new studio. It allowed him to relax for a while, which he enjoyed.
Developing a single-player game was no easy task. While the Honkai 3rd Shadow Knight Studio had experienced talent and could spare some people now that they were stable, it was still a long process. Even with advanced technology and a high-intelligence AI like Bronya's Project Bunny 19C, single-player development was a marathon. It wouldn't take less time than Honkai 3rd, which could be released monthly in parts. Therefore, the initial capital investment would be significantly higher than Honkai 3rd.
Titanfall was miHoYo's first step into the single-player console/PC circle, carrying the expectations of many. Thus, Firefly did not delay, immediately diving into the intense work. Facing the brand-new studio that was starting from scratch, she looked at the "Stellaron Hunters" group chat on her phone.
Mhm. Time to bring in some secret weapons... wait, time to recruit some people.
Time passed quickly amidst the busyness. As the summer heat ended and the back-to-school season arrived, many students said goodbye to their holidays and returned to classrooms on the tail end of summer. During this time, everyone was working toward their own goals. At the end of the Honkai 3rd version cycle, Su Mu was checking the next update content.
Because the content for Chapter 9 was quite small, Su Mu merged it with Chapter 10, The Deep End, and planned to further flesh out Bronya's plot in the next version. Therefore, the Bronya-related Chronicle Azure Sea would be released next to fill in her past and introduce Seele, setting the stage for future versions.
Of course, after the back-to-back "stabs" of Final Lesson and Midsummer Night, the players were definitely feeling a bit numb. Coupled with the fact that Azure Sea wasn't exactly a happy story, it might truly make them lose all feeling. So, it was necessary to change the flavor appropriately. After all, "leeks" need time to grow before they can be harvested again... cough, no, the players' broken hearts need time to heal.
Therefore, Su Mu made a decision that he felt was incredibly kind: He would serve up the Legend of the Xuanyuan event in the second half of the next version! He could also bring out Fu Hua's Azure Empyrea for a rate-up. Naturally, this event featured a heavyweight popular character—the Spirit of the Spring!
He would let the players spend the first month of the school term happily playing through a joyful event, and just as the smiles returned to their faces...
Cough, can't laugh, can't laugh. To think of the players this much—there truly aren't many game producers with as much "warmth" and "conscience" as Su Mu!
"...So, my highlight plot is coming soon?" Bronya looked at Su Mu suspiciously. Since Honkai 3rd content was developed in advance, the main story progress was currently at Chapter 11. Simultaneously, the animated short Cyberangel was in intense preparation. Bronya had seen the design for the new battlesuit; it was indeed very beautiful.
But... what was up with the part in Su Mu's script where her "driver's license" gets revoked by "Kevin"?
A "highlight moment"... was it really just a "moment" of light??
END OF CHAPTER
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