The storm stirred up by Extreme Treasure Hunt swept across Shenzhou in no time. This hardcore survival-and-competition show, which prized total authenticity and used no scripts, already enjoyed sky-high popularity at home.
Su Yu's dazzling performance this episode could be said to have slapped more than a few viewers right in the face.
A game developer taking on a challenge this brutal? Director Su, who spent his days tapping out keyboard shortcuts and code, going head-to-head on the same stage as a pack of retired athletes and fitness influencers?
Almost nobody had given the Su Yu–Elysia pairing any real chance — even granting that Elysia truly was gorgeous, looks alone weren't going to fill anyone's stomach on this show.
The pairing everyone had written off had been dubbed "The School Belle's Personal Bodyguard" — and yes, before anyone asks, Su Yu was the belle, and Elysia was the bodyguard.
But the live broadcast left more than a few jaws on the floor — this most underestimated duo had claimed the championship outright, and had immediately chosen, right there on camera, to donate the entire prize to children in impoverished mountain regions.
Afterward, plenty of netizens revealed that Elysia wasn't just some pretty-faced streamer — behind the scenes, she'd been quietly running all sorts of charity work for a long time.
Her personal motto was: "Even though this world isn't beautiful, I hope that through whatever effort I can give, it moves a little closer to beauty, one step at a time."
As for donations like this one, she'd already held hundreds of them, big and small, ever since she'd become famous.
That massive fan meet-and-greet Elysia had held around the time Su Yu first took Kiana to HOMU Amusement Park had also, in fact, been a charity fundraiser.
Beautiful in looks and kind at heart — there was no better proof of that than Miss Pink Elf herself.
Su Yu had once asked Elysia why she did all this, and Elysia had answered: "Aren't you curious why I agreed to be your emotional-guidance counselor for Kevin and Mei back then?"
"Why?" Su Yu had asked.
"Because Miss Pink Elf simply can't stand by and do nothing when she sees someone drowning in the mud," Elysia had said.
When she said it, her smile had been blinding — brighter and grander than sunlight itself.
Su Yu sometimes thought that his decision, a few months ago, to forcibly keep Kiana around despite all the trouble it caused, had probably been influenced, at least in part, by Miss Pink Elf.
From "not caring about anything" to "wanting to find something worth caring about," and then to "giving everything for the sake of what he cared about" —
Thinking back on it now, Elysia deserved a huge share of the credit.
Of course she did.
After all, she was Elysia.
Whether it was Su Yu or everyone at the Golden Courtyard, meeting her had, to some degree, always left people changed, infected by something warm and bright in her.
Little Sun, Moonbeam of White — there were plenty of words people used to describe her.
But to Su Yu's mind, describing Elysia rarely needed any of those extra words at all.
"Elysia" — those two syllables were already enough.
For Elysia to keep living in this world she loved so much, and for the countless people she loved — and who loved her — to keep living too,
facing the camera for his interview, Su Yu, in his heart, addressed all the players still unaware and about to be deceived, players who hadn't yet fallen into the pit of Honkai Impact 3rd, and spoke once more that world-shaking line.
"Honkai Impact 3rd is a healthy, wholesome, uplifting game. Everyone, come dive into Honkai Impact 3rd!"
The scene briefly spiraled out of control — every Honkai 3rd player watching the livestream couldn't help but send Su Yu's dignity flying, and Elysia snatched up an inflatable hammer and chased him from one end of the beach to the other.
Su Yu was still staring at the quest notification in front of him — "Island! Heartbeat! Miss Pink Elf's Perfect Weekend" cleared successfully, double Emotion Points, Bond with Elysia risen from Rank 2? to Rank 5? —
when the inflatable hammer came crashing down on his head, wringing out of him a scream fit for a slaughtered pig.
"Take my hammer! You bad, bad Su Yu!"
"Owww!!"
"Well then, that wraps up this episode of Extreme Treasure Hunt — this is your guest host, Eden, looking forward to seeing you all next time. Goodbye."
Eden bid the audience an unhurried farewell to the camera, while in the background Elysia's voice could still be heard, all claws and fury.
"Bad Su Yu! Miss Pink Elf shall destroy you in the name of the moon!!"
That background line quickly became a running joke plenty of players loved to quote.
A famous game developer joining forces with the beautiful, kind-hearted Miss Pink Elf sent Honkai Impact 3rd and miHoYo Studio trending all over again.
And as the reality show came to a close, miHoYo's momentum showed no sign of cooling off heading into October.
The reason was simple.
The date for Honkai Impact 3rd's next version update was drawing near.
The air over Arc City still carried the lingering scent of a collective heartbreak.
Tens of millions of players across the network had all been stabbed in the heart at once by the back of a red-haired woman walking away, and no shortage of them still burst into tears rewatching the Final Lesson animated short.
This short film, produced by miHoYo and personally worked on part-time by Su Yu, had sat at the very top of the Little TV danmaku site's trending chart for a full month.
That alone showed just how thoroughly this world's poor players had been emotionally wrecked.
After the version preview ended, six of the top ten trending topics on Weibo were related to Honkai Impact 3rd.
Number one was "Teacher Himeko, we're waiting for you to come back" — the little flame icon trailing it had been burning for five straight days without going out.
Number three was "Su Yu, get out here and take your beating" — the comment section was a solid wall of blade and brick meme emojis.
Number seven was "Murata Himeko herself responds" — clicking through led to a leaked video of that red-haired teacher from Arc City University being surrounded and comforted by her students in class, with two hundred million views.
What? You're asking about number two? Number two was "That old geezer Su Yu joined a hardcore reality show and allegedly took first place by cheating? Old geezer, what other secrets are you hiding?" — with a photo attached of Su Yu splitting a coconut bare-handed, and the entire comment section flooded with "666."
As for the forums, things were even livelier.
The pinned thread in NGA's Honkai Impact 3rd section had already climbed past forty thousand posts, with a title just four words long — "Where is Kiana?"
Discussion in the thread ranged from careful analysis to conspiracy theories to full-blown mysticism.
Someone had gone frame by frame through the CG at the end of Chapter Nine, pointing out a faint pinprick of light in the bottom-left corner of the screen right as Kiana fell into the sea, insisting it was "the engine glow of the Hyperion."
Someone else had dug up the Chapter Ten poster miHoYo's official site had just posted — a picture showing only a blurry silhouette standing amid underwater ruins — and turned it into hundreds of different meme edits.
The four words "Under The Deep" got picked apart and reinterpreted over and over.
Some said it referred to the depths of the Sea of Quanta, others said it was Kiana's inner world, and some swore, with total confidence, that going by the trailer PV for the chronicle arc known as Azure Waters, this had to be tied up with Bronya somehow.
On the massive LED screen along Arc City's central shopping street, Honkai Impact 3rd's promotional PV looped over and over.
Deep blue water swallowed the whole frame, a figure in white sinking slowly through it, long hair drifting loose, beautiful beyond words — paired with music produced by Eden, it made passersby stop without meaning to, tilting their heads up for a few seconds.
Some of them pulled out their phones afterward to snap a photo for their social feeds, usually captioned "Ten a.m. tomorrow, meeting my death on time" or "Su Yu, I hate you, but I'll still be logging in right on schedule."
That was the mark Honkai Impact 3rd had left on this city.
It had become a collective emotion, a citywide piece of performance art with tears as the price of admission.
And that was exactly what Su Yu wanted — to use everyone's emotions as a shield against the coming apocalypse.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes of that citywide performance —
October 8th, Thursday.
A white-haired girl with twin tails sat with her legs crossed on a brand-new ergonomic chair, poking idly at the empty milk tea cup on her desk with the tip of her pen.
This was Sparks' livestream room.
More precisely, it was the dedicated studio Su Yu had provided for this masked Fool — the penthouse of a luxury apartment in the heart of Arc City.
Three months ago, the owner of this room had still been curled up in a partitioned room without even hot water in a city-village slum, scraping together tip money for instant noodles with the same tired sob story: "my gambling-addict father, my sick mother, my broken life."
Now?
Two top-of-the-line water-cooled rigs cycled their RGB lighting through the dim room, three curved monitors arranged in an arc, and a custom mechanical keyboard sat on the desk alongside a limited-edition HOMU mousepad.
On the wall behind her hung a massive LED sign, its cursive letters spelling out "Sparky's Pleasure Palace," the font color shifting every few seconds.
It was, in every sense, trading in the old junk for new guns — a full rags-to-riches turnaround.
Sparks spun the pen in a little flourish, clamped it between her teeth, and squinted at the screen.
The danmaku poured down like a waterfall.
The live viewer count had already jumped to four million and was still climbing.
"Tch."
She pulled the pen from her mouth and tapped it twice against the desk.
A little over a month ago, this was a number she wouldn't have dared to dream of.
And these people weren't even here to insult her.
Well — okay, some of them were here to insult her.
But most of them were here to watch her get wrecked by the game and cry about it.
This was life after signing with Su Yu.
Sparks leaned back against the chair, fingers absently stroking the real leather on the armrest.
Soft. Warm.
Nothing at all like the hard plastic stool back in that cramped partition room.
She pulled her hand back and turned her attention to the screen.
The danmaku was still scrolling like mad.
[Ten o'clock update, right? Still forty minutes — talk about something else in the meantime, streamer?]
[Talk about what? The streamer's epic history of getting wrecked by Black Duck?]
[Hoho, guess you guys really aren't letting the streamer live it down!]
[Streamer, isn't this background way too fake? Come on, spill it — did you and Su Yu make some shady deal? How else'd you get a place this nice?]
[What's that supposed to mean? You dissing my Brother Su? My Brother Su's got Eden backing him, Elysia at his side, and a white-haired Little Junior Sister too — that beats an abstract streamer any day, doesn't it?]
[Heh heh, got it — so Brother Su only looking your way at all is pure charity, huh, streamer?]
Sparks skimmed that string of comments, the corner of her mouth curling up.
The mocking comments she simply ignored — laugh all you want, she really couldn't care less.
"Fine, fine. Can't just sit here twiddling my thumbs until the update." She tilted her head toward the camera, her twin tails swaying along with it. "Since you all asked so nicely, of course Sparky's gonna indulge you. What do you want to talk about? Only rule — anyone who asks about my relationship with Su Yu gets an instant block!"
The danmaku exploded instantly.
[Then what else is there to talk about?]
[Is the streamer scared her casting-couch deal with Brother Su is about to get exposed?]
[Not cool, bro, what do you mean "casting-couch deal with Brother Su"? Is that even fair to say?]
[Streamer, did you catch Extreme Treasure Hunt!!!]
[I've watched Su-god split that coconut bare-handed like eight hundred times]
[Wait, is Su Yu's physical fitness actually normal for a game developer? Is he secretly training for the UFC or something?]
[I want to be Elysia's support too, even if it just means eating crabs on a deserted island]
[And there's a whole eat-and-grab segment? You don't even have to suffer at all!]
Sparks looked at the screen full of "Su-god" and "Elysia," and one of her eyebrows twitched.
She shoved the empty milk tea cup aside, leaned forward, and got up close to the camera.
"Oh, come on, you drooling country bumpkins glued to your screens."
She drew the words out slowly, in that tone that made people want to punch her and laugh at the same time.
"Su Yu's really nothing special — just a big lump of wood with a bit more strength than usual. If it'd been Sparky on that island, I'd have teased him until he was crying and begging for mercy!"
She winked at the camera as she finished, the four-leaf-clover pattern in her red pupils standing out sharply under the studio lights.
The danmaku's reaction came even faster than she'd expected.
[Streamer, wake up! Forgot the last time you got obliterated in a co-stream, when Su-god pressed you face-first into a wall and demolished you with Black Duck till you questioned your life choices?]
["Crying and begging for mercy"? Streamer, you sure you're not describing yourself? I still have the recording of you smashing your keyboard from getting wrecked by Black Duck's stealth mechanic]
[Memorial Arena: Herrscher of the Void just went live — why don't you show us live how you'd "tease" the Queen?]
[Sparky: I'm gonna tease Su Yu! Su Yu: Oh. Sparky: Waaah, why aren't you following the script!]
[Just admit it, streamer — you'll never beat Brother Su in this lifetime!]
Sparks' expression froze for a few seconds.
She coughed twice, leaned back against the chair, and her crossed leg started swinging faster.
"Ahem! What are you all even talking about? Sparky here is a wholesome, good-looking streamer now, I don't do that violent demolition stuff anymore!"
[A wholesome, good-looking streamer???]
[You know your "Sparky Meltdown Compilation" on Bilibili already has six hundred million views, right]
[Good-looking streamer AND the queen of the abstract-streaming scene — pick one!!]
[Honestly, who even reacts to this kind of bratty little imp? I laugh at her all day long]
[Same! I just want to punch something!]
[Little devil Sparks, born evil — let me personally—]
Sparks made an incomprehensible little "tch" sound.
She spun her chair halfway around, back to the camera, pretending to tidy up the cables on her desk.
In reality, she was checking the semi-transparent terminal on her wrist that only she could see.
The Euphoria Points counter was ticking upward.
Every comment, every laugh, every moment of embarrassment fed a tiny stream of value into her terminal.
Bit by bit, those numbers would one day add up to the fare she needed for her ticket home to the sea of stars.
Su Yu had gotten the Emotion Points he wanted.
She'd gotten the Euphoria Points she wanted.
A perfect split of the spoils.
Sparks spun her chair back around, putting on an innocent expression for the camera.
"All right, all right, you're all correct, Sparky's just an abstract streamer, happy now? But seeing as Sparky is so beautiful and kind and dotes on her fans so much, where are those donations, hmm?"
[666, straight to asking for donations?]
[Honestly, I love this kind of blunt honesty!]
[Streamer, if I donate, can you reenact getting curb-stomped by Black Duck?]
[Sparky's not like those fake sweethearts in the beauty-streamer scene who pretend to care about you when they just want your money — Sparky just wants your money straight up! At least that's honest!]
[Real talk, real talk!]
"Aiya, how could you all say that about Sparky? A girl's gotta eat, you know? If Sparky here starved to death, where else would you find a streamer brave enough to trade insults with that old geezer Su Yu?"
[Fair point, no notes. You know none of the sponsored streamers dare to badmouth Su-geezer, right?]
[Sure, Sparky's a bit of a bratty imp, punch-worthy and all, but she's genuinely out here roasting Su Yu's dignity!]
[I'm just saying, the boldest voice on the whole internet turns out to be an abstract streamer — this streaming scene really has run out of sane people!]
[So what are we waiting for? Sparky, keep roasting Su Yu and the gifts will keep coming!]
Watching the string of gifts pour in, Sparks nodded to herself in satisfaction — this business was way too comfortable. Stir the pot against Su Yu, roast his brute of a self silly, send his dignity flying — not only did it make money, she got to farm Euphoria Points on the side too.
As for Su Yu — Sparks had no idea he was harvesting Emotion Points, but at the very least, this was pure, unfiltered heat and traffic being served to that guy on a platter.
This kind of mutually profitable arrangement that scammed the entire internet at once — how could Sparks possibly not be thrilled about it?
Those poor viewers probably wouldn't realize, even if they died, that even their own habit of stirring up drama against Su Yu was something Su Yu himself had signed off on.
Now that really was addictive!!
"Anyway, on that note —"
She suddenly dropped her playful expression, index finger raised to her lips.
"What did you all just call Su Yu? Su-god?"
The danmaku started scrolling again.
[Yeah, Su-god! God of game developers!]
[Su Yu yyds!]
Sparks tapped her lips with her finger, then lowered it.
"Boss Su does have a couple of tricks up his sleeve," she said, her pace slowing. "But you all need to get one thing straight."
She held up her right hand, forefinger extended.
"Who's the one out there pushing his game for him? Who's the one in the livestream getting sliced up while performing her own breakdowns for you all? Who's the one who took this game from a 'niche gem' and turned it into a nationwide phenomenon?"
The danmaku fell silent for a fraction of a second.
Then —
[It's Elysia.]
[It's Elysia +1]
[Elysia's number one in the world!]
[Streamer, your contribution's probably third place, behind Elysia and Eden]
[Niche, my ass? Streamer, don't flatter yourself! Honkai Impact 3rd's launch was already earth-shaking, and weren't you the one who took a sponsored gig to help promote it at the start?]
[Hoho, and there it is, the classic "put down the bowl and curse your mother" moment. Very much on brand.]
Sparks' twin tails twitched.
She opened her mouth, then closed it again.
Then, very slowly and very deliberately, she picked up the empty milk tea cup off the desk and pointed it straight at the camera.
"Just you wait! Thirty years on the east bank, thirty years on the west — don't underestimate a poor Sparky down on her luck! One day, I'll have that damn old geezer Su Yu kneeling right in front of me, singing 'Conquered'!"
The danmaku instantly drowned in "HAHAHAHAHA."
[The streamer's melted down! The streamer's melted down!]
[Sparky: Where's my credit? Danmaku: Elysia's. Sparky: ???]
[LMAO, that's the fate of every bratty imp out there!]
["Don't underestimate a poor young man," they said. Fast forward to "don't underestimate a poor middle-aged man," "don't underestimate a poor old man"!]
[Fast forward straight to "the dead deserve respect"!]
[Sparky, don't go there — Brother Su's all knives, you can't handle it!]
Sparks took a deep breath, pushed her chair back, and let her whole body go slack against the backrest.
She stared at the ceiling for three full seconds.
Then she heard a soft "ding" from her terminal — the Euphoria Points had jumped up sharply again.
...
She slowly sat up straight, the corner of her mouth curling upward.
Plan's working perfectly!!
Didn't matter if she was being praised or mocked, moved or angered — every single one of these earthlings' emotions would turn into numbers in her terminal, and in the end, she'd be the one laughing last!!
Heh heh heh, hahahaha! Foolish earthlings — while you're all laughing at Sparky, little do you know Sparky's laughing right back at all of you!
Give me every last drop of your Euphoria Points, and let it become my ticket home, the source of power for the Masked Fool!!
You think you're watching the monkey show, but really, it's the monkey show watching you!
Truly, truly delightful — hee hee hee hee!!
The sound of an alarm pulled Sparks out of her pleasant little fantasy.
"Okay, okay." Sparks clapped her hands and leaned back toward the camera. "Cut it out, look at the time."
She pointed at the clock in the top right corner of the screen.
9:58.
Two minutes left.
The mood of the danmaku shifted instantly from comedic to tense.
[It's here, it's here, it's here!]
[Chapter Ten! Under The Deep! Kiana, here I come!]
[Teacher Himeko, are you still alive? Please, just give us a sign]
[I've already got the tissues ready, Su Yu, bring it on]
[The last guy who said he'd prepared tissues ended up using three whole boxes]
[I'm getting a little anxious here, folks — you think the old geezer's gonna drop another blade on us?]
[We just took a truckload of blades, can't we get a breather?]
[Didn't they say there'd be a faction war event? I'm joining Team Fortune right now!]
[Random-draw gang, represent!]
Sparks also dropped all her playfulness.
Her posture shifted from slumped in her chair to leaning slightly forward, both hands resting on either side of her keyboard, eyes locked on Honkai Impact 3rd's login screen.
Sparks watched the danmaku scroll by, licking her lips.
In her terminal, the Euphoria Points income rate suddenly doubled.
Anticipation, fear, hope, unease.
These complicated human emotions were pouring into the Masked Fool's terminal at a concentration like never before.
Maintenance complete.
The show was starting.
The danmaku in the livestream flew by at breakneck speed, and a striking SC appeared on the screen, carrying more than a hint of trouble.
[Placing bets, placing bets, kids — you think Su Yu the old geezer can keep his dignity intact this time around?]
Sparks glanced at the name behind that SC and nearly did a spit-take right there on the spot.
Because the danmaku that had sent it was posted under the name "Moonlit Sea's Roaring Fishy Cat" — none other than Su Yu's other private account.
What exactly are you playing at, Boss Su?
____
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