Five minutes later.
The flow of air inside the bar had grown a little delicate.
Su Yu was propping his cheek on one hand, watching with great interest as a certain "number-one hacker in Arc City" was forced to clock in for work.
Bronie was wearing that waitress uniform. Although the way she held the tray was as steady as a mechanical arm, her face was as dark as if it had just been blocked by a firewall a hundred times over.
That "I want to slam this plate onto your head" yet "I have to swallow my anger" contrast-charm let Su Yu, this unscrupulous boss, savor a guilty pleasure known as the raising-sim genre.
Just then, the wind chime hanging by the door let out another string of crisp clinking sounds.
"Ding-a-ling—"
Su Yu instinctively turned his head, assuming it was yet another drunkard coming through the door.
But the one who entered was no drunkard.
Rather, it was a black-clad figure that seemed to bring its own cooling effect.
It was a woman.
A head of long, straight black hair hung down to her waist, smooth as the finest silk.
On her face perched a pair of exquisite gold-rimmed glasses, and behind the lenses, her phoenix eyes tilted slightly upward, exuding a certain shrewdness and rationality.
She wore a tailored, high-end professional skirt-suit, her slender legs sheathed in black stockings.
Su Yu nearly failed to keep his grip on the wine glass in his hand.
Fuxi.
Eden's chief agent, Nuwa's own elder sister, and… the scheming menace who gave Su Yu the biggest headache in the entire Golden Courtyard.
If Nuwa was the idiot little sister who only knew how to fiddle with figurines, then Fuxi was the terrifying elder sister with calculation carved into her DNA.
After entering, Fuxi swept her gaze around the bar and locked onto Su Yu, sitting at the counter, with pinpoint precision.
In that instant, Su Yu clearly saw a cold glint flash across her lenses.
The corners of her mouth curved up slightly, revealing a smile that could be called "the hunter spotting a little white rabbit."
"Clack, clack, clack."
The sound of high heels drew closer.
Fuxi walked straight up beside Su Yu, pulled out the bar stool next to him, and sat down elegantly.
She crossed her two long legs, and between the black stockings and the hem of her skirt, a sliver of absolute-territory creamy white was exposed, dizzyingly dazzling under the dim lighting.
"Oh-ho, Producer Su."
Fuxi extended a finger and pushed the glasses up the bridge of her nose, her tone carrying a kind of casual teasing.
"Drowning your sorrows in drink here all by yourself? What, aren't you going to buy your future sister-in-law a drink?"
"Cough, cough, cough—"
The mouthful of whiskey Su Yu had just swallowed went straight down his windpipe, and he coughed earth-shatteringly.
"Fu—Fuxi-jie..."
Patting his chest, he managed with difficulty to squeeze out a smile uglier than crying.
"You can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want. Nuwa and I… we share a pure, comradely friendship! It really is just about making games!"
"Is that so?"
Fuxi arched an eyebrow, her eyes full of amusement.
She turned to face Su Yu, leaning her body slightly forward, and that faint cold fragrance instantly enveloped him.
"But… how is it that I heard from Dr. Mobius that a certain someone carried off my idiot little sister a few days ago?"
"Not only did you take her back to her apartment, but a lone man and woman, alone together in one room..."
Fuxi narrowed her eyes, her fingers lightly tapping against the surface of the bar.
"Su Yu, you're not going to tell me that the two of you stayed in that room for an entire day, playing Ludo the whole time, are you?"
Su Yu: "…"
What kind of ancient, lame innuendo is this!?
And Dr. Mobius, why are you such a gossip!? Are those snake eyes of yours fitted with surveillance cameras?
"I've been wronged!" Su Yu raised both hands in surrender. "That day Nuwa's head was full of nothing but modeling and rendering. In her eyes, I was probably no different from that ergonomic chair. Forget Ludo—even if I'd wanted to play Gomoku with her, she wouldn't have had the time for me!"
"Heh."
Fuxi let out a soft laugh, seemingly quite satisfied with Su Yu's flustered reaction.
Of course she knew exactly what kind of person her little sister was.
That figurine-crazed maniac—once she entered work mode, even if you stripped Su Yu naked and tossed him in front of her, she'd probably just grab a ruler to measure his three sizes.
But that didn't stop Fuxi from using this matter to tease Su Yu.
After all, watching this man—who was usually so unflappable—come up short was one of the few pleasures she had outside of her high-intensity work.
Just then, a glass of ice-filled lemon water was set down heavily on the counter in front of the two of them.
"Thunk."
The force was a bit much, and a few droplets splashed out.
Bronie stood behind the counter, tray in hand, those gray eyes sweeping back and forth between Su Yu and Fuxi, her gaze full of a certain… looking-at-trash contempt.
"Your friend?"
She pointed at Fuxi and asked Su Yu.
Before Su Yu could answer, Fuxi turned her head first, sizing up through her lenses this little girl in work clothes with a thoroughly displeased look on her face.
"Oh? Looks like your business is pretty busy, Su Yu."
Fuxi's gaze lingered for two seconds on Bronie's uniform, which was obviously a bit tight, and the curve at the corner of her mouth deepened.
"Is this also… a friend?"
Bronie rolled her eyes and, while wiping the water stain off the counter, mercilessly snarked:
"I'm already starting to regret agreeing to work for you."
She shot Su Yu a glance, her tone cool.
"I always get the feeling you're some deeply hidden player. The beauties around you keep getting swapped out, one batch after another—first that white-haired weirdo, then that big-shot celebrity, and now another one comes along..."
Bronie glanced at Fuxi's thoroughly elite-styled getup.
"...a career-woman onee-san? Your hunting range is pretty broad."
Su Yu felt as though an arrow had struck his knee.
No—it was ten thousand arrows piercing his heart.
This misunderstanding was beyond clearing up now.
But to his surprise, Fuxi didn't get angry.
On the contrary, looking at this sharp-tongued little rabbit, she suddenly found her quite to her taste.
When it came to the matter of "making Su Yu squirm," this kid had real talent.
"Not bad, you've got an eye for it."
Fuxi even raised the nonexistent wine glass in her hand toward Bronie, a trace of appreciation in her eyes.
"Looks like when it comes to our assessment of a certain someone, we speak a common language."
Su Yu helplessly covered his face.
These two women… had actually formed an alliance?
There was really no living through days like these.
"Ahem, let me introduce you."
Su Yu hurriedly cut off the eye-contact exchange between the two women, terrified that if they kept talking, they'd expose all his dirty laundry.
"This is Bronie, the network security director my studio just hired. Her skills are… extremely impressive. And this is Fuxi. Sister Eden's agent, and also… Nuwa's older sister."
"Network security director?"
Fuxi arched an eyebrow and gave Bronie a couple more looks.
"So young? Looks like your studio really is a place where crouching tigers and hidden dragons gather, Su Yu."
"Oh right, Fuxi-jie."
Su Yu hurriedly changed the subject, afraid these two would chat their way into some earth-shattering topic.
"How come you came here? Didn't Sister Eden say she was taking the day off today?"
At the mention of business, Fuxi put away that cynical expression.
She sighed and pulled a thick document envelope out of the briefcase she carried, radiating outward from it the resentment unique to a "working stiff."
"It's all because a certain someone has my boss spinning around in circles."
Fuxi rolled her eyes at Su Yu and pushed the document envelope in front of him.
"The moment Eden heard you were setting up a studio, she had me go handle the paperwork without another word. There was no stopping her."
"Here."
She jerked her chin.
"This is the property deed to the top floor of that office building in the city center, along with the complete set of transfer contracts."
"Wha—what?!"
Su Yu's hand trembled, and he nearly failed to keep his grip on the document envelope.
Although he'd heard Eden mention it offhandedly back at the bar before, he'd assumed it was just a rich lady's joke—or that, at the very least, it would take a process of ten days or half a month.
And yet how much time had even passed?
Even the property deed had already been processed?!
So this was a superstar's "money power"? Terrifying to this degree!
Su Yu opened the document envelope and looked at the transfer agreement inside, stamped with a bright red official seal, and felt the paper in his hands as heavy as a thousand jin.
This was no contract—this was clearly a deed of indenture!
If he signed this, how would he ever hold his head up in front of Eden again? This soft-rice meal was way too hard to swallow!
"Um… Fuxi-jie."
Su Yu swallowed, attempting one final struggle.
"This is way too valuable, I can't..."
At the very instant Su Yu was about to refuse, that damned, never-content-to-let-a-good-show-stay-small System suddenly popped up.
[MISSION TRIGGERED]
[Main Mission No. 2: Establish a Studio]
[Description: Now that you have the strongest team, how can you not have a base worthy of them?]
[Objective: Accept the office space gifted by Eden, and complete the preliminary renovations.]
[Reward: Based on the studio's level of luxury and the completeness of its functions, phased rewards will be issued (including but not limited to: holographic projection equipment upgrades, quantum computer clusters, Valkyrie training simulators).]
[Failure Penalty: The System will automatically deduct all of the Host's savings and forcibly execute the "Eating Soft Rice the Hard Way" achievement (i.e., broadcast across the entire web the fact that you are being kept by a rich lady).]
Su Yu:
The corners of his mouth twitched madly.
This System… absolutely did it on purpose!
This was forcing him to eat this bowl of soft rice! And the kind that got shoved straight into his mouth, at that!
"What? You don't want to sign?"
Watching Su Yu's ever-shifting expression, Fuxi let out a cold chuckle.
"All right, you don't need to carry such a heavy burden over this."
Her tone turned serious, carrying the crisp competence of a workplace elite.
"This building isn't being handed to you for free, and that startup capital Eden wired you wasn't wired for free either."
Fuxi extended her hand, her fingertip tapping firmly at the signature line of the contract.
"Eden thinks highly of you because she believes you can make the kind of thing that… can shake people to their core."
"Since you've accepted her goodwill, then do the job beautifully for me."
She lifted her eyes, her gaze blazing as she stared at Su Yu.
"Don't make Eden feel that… she misjudged the person."
These words landed like a stone, dropping heavily onto Su Yu's heart.
But strangely, the panic and pressure he'd felt before instead settled down in this moment.
It transformed into something called "responsibility."
Su Yu took a deep breath.
He looked at Fuxi, then glanced at Bronie, who, though wearing a thoroughly displeased face, was actually pricking up her ears to listen too.
And then there was Fenghuang, who had always silently supported him from within his mind.
As well as… that idiot Kiana back home, still waiting for him to return and eat pizza.
That's right.
Since he'd already come this far.
Since everyone trusted him this much.
If he was going to do it, then he'd do it big!
Su Yu picked up the signing pen on the table.
"Scratch, scratch, scratch."
The pen tip glided across the surface of the paper, making a rustling sound.
At the end of the contract, he signed his name.
The handwriting was a bit sloppy, but the strokes bit deep into the paper.
"Rest assured, Fuxi-jie."
Su Yu capped the pen, raised his head, and a confident smile appeared on his face.
"I'll make this building into a holy land for all of Arc City… no, for the entire world's gaming industry."
"Scratch, scratch, scratch."
[System Notice: Asset transfer complete. The studio's location has been confirmed.]
[Congratulations, Host. You've taken one more step toward "reaching the pinnacle of life."]
Fuxi looked at him, a flicker of satisfaction passing through the depths of her eyes.
"Very good."
She stood up and smoothed out the hem of her skirt.
"Then I'll be waiting to see what you can do, brother-in-law… oh, no, Producer Su."
She deliberately paused on the two words "brother-in-law," and watching Su Yu's expression instantly stiffen, she turned and left in a cheerful mood.
"Truly a tangle that can't be cut apart or sorted out."
Su Yu sighed and downed the last bit of liquor in his glass in one gulp.
"Leaving?"
Bronie was wiping a goblet in front of him and glanced up at Su Yu.
"Mm. Once I've gotten that whole studio business sorted out, you'll be able to move right in, bags and all."
Su Yu paused for a moment.
"Oh right, if you have time, come scope out the place at the studio then too—for instance, the renovation arrangements for your technical director's office."
Bronie's eyes lit up: "I can decorate it however I like? Anything goes?"
"Of course." Su Yu smiled. "But don't put out anything too dangerous. We're a game company, not an arms dealer or a mercenary company."
"Roger that, BOSS."
Bronie threw Su Yu a salute of respect. Su Yu nodded with satisfaction and, under the little rabbit's watchful send-off, left the bar.
"Bronie."
Cioara walked over to her side and called her name, her expression as bland as ever, betraying nothing.
"What is it?"
Bronie didn't look at Cioara; she still wasn't quite used to being alone with this old lady.
"Do you think that man is reliable?"
"Huh?"
Faced with this out-of-nowhere question, Bronie lifted her head.
"Weren't you the one who told me to go find him? And now you're turning around and asking me whether he's dependable?"
Cioara said nothing, only looking at Bronie.
Bronie understood—this was probably that "old mother who can't stop worrying" look that Su Yu had talked about.
"Relax, he really is pretty capable." Bronie scratched at her hair. "He's a bit long-winded, but he's a good person."
As she spoke, that scene on the rooftop floated unbidden into Bronie's mind, and a faint, barely noticeable blush appeared on her face.
"Is that so?"
Cioara nodded and said nothing more. She knew the temperament of her own little rabbit—stubborn as a mule, and always looking down her nose at everyone.
For her to give an assessment of "pretty capable," it seemed that young man called Su Yu was even more impressive than she had imagined.
"Since that's the case, then follow him and do a good job. Don't be like when you were a waitress, with your three-minutes-of-enthusiasm."
"Aiya, I know, I know—old lady, you're so annoying."
Bronie muttered a retort, but Cioara didn't get angry over that "old lady" of hers. Instead, the corner of her mouth curved up into a tiny arc.
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