Chapter 285: Honkai Impact 3rd Brand New Version: I Am the One and Only! I Shall Turn the Tides of All Things!
"Tell Old Xuan that I want to slack off."
Inside a noisy mahjong parlor, a graceful young girl stood out exceptionally. At first glance, she seemed completely out of place among the middle-aged and elderly regulars; one might mistake her for a child coming to call their grandparents home for dinner.
However, anyone familiar with this "Imperial Jade" parlor—and don't ask why "Middle-Aged and Elderly" was added to the name; young people's parlors get raided every few days, so adding those words is a survival charm more effective than any connections—would recognize this girl who dominated the tables.
People called her the "Little Sparrow God." Her mahjong skills were transcendental, and she was invincible at the table. Her reputation as the Little Sparrow God was legendary in these ten streets and eight alleys—grandfathers trembled at her name, and grandmothers broke into a sweat.
Feeling a cold? No problem, play a round of mahjong; once you sweat from the intensity, the cold is gone.
Stuttering? No problem, play a round; after firing off a barrage of curses at the table, you'll be speaking fluently.
Dementia making you forget things? No problem, play a round; the losses will be so sharp you'll be slapping yourself in your dreams.
Of course, medical treatment requires a fee, right? Consider these winnings as the Little Sparrow God's consultation fee—not too much to ask, right?
However, today, as soon as the Little Sparrow God arrived at Imperial Jade, she felt the atmosphere was somewhat off.
The owner, an older woman, looked at her with a smile and teased, "Qingque, slacking off again? Is Little Xuan going to catch you and drag you back today?"
Qingque put her hands on her hips, looking quite arrogant.
"Lady Diviner is very busy today and has no time for a small fry like me! Besides, slacking off is the shortcut to realizing life's meaning! A life without slacking is like a bird losing the sky or a fish losing water!"
The owner laughed and scolded, "Stop being poor. Don't you remember being pulled from the table by your ear by Little Xuan last time? Aren't you afraid she'll actually fire you?"
Qingque shook her head and sighed: "Boss, I wish Lady Diviner would fire me. That way I could get the N+1 compensation. Unfortunately, she won't let me go, sigh~"
"Your company is quite interesting... sending Little Xuan every day to catch a slacking employee."
"Lady Diviner is my direct superior; who else would catch me? Well, actually, there aren't many people left in the company, so she has to do everything herself."
"I'm telling you, calling her 'Old Lady' every day is exactly why she gets mad."
"Old Lady is just a respectful title... and Lady Diviner, well, you wouldn't believe me if I told you, she might actually be older than you..."
Qingque waved her hand, signaling that no more words were needed. The Small Talk ended here; the Little Sparrow God was about to go on a killing spree!
"Boss, is Old Li here today? Haven't I finished curing his stutter yet? Let's start a round!"
"Old Li..."
The owner looked toward a certain spot with a playful expression.
Qingque finally noticed that the parlor was indeed livelier than usual, but most of the guests were not at the tables. They were crowded into a corner.
The crowd was packed three layers deep, with gasps of surprise erupting every now and then.
Inheriting the typical Shenzhou curiosity for a spectacle, Qingque couldn't help but ask, "Boss, what's going on?"
"A formidable expert arrived today. He's already wiped the floor with Old Sun, Old Liu, and Old Yang..."
Qingque's interest was piqued. The names mentioned by the owner were all regulars at Imperial Jade, seasoned veterans of the mahjong table.
Even Qingque couldn't guarantee she could beat all of them single-handedly, yet someone had managed it today? This was rare.
"Surely they didn't come to challenge the house?"
"Who knows? He looks like a stranger... but the girl with him has been here a few times. I think she's played with you, Qingque. What was her name? Something with 'Sparrow' in it..."
Qingque was now completely curious and pushed through the crowd to see the commotion.
Before she reached the center, she heard a wail.
"I... I'm never playing Imperial Jade again! Waaaaah!!!"
The crowd parted to reveal Old Li, a man in his sixties, crying his eyes out as he fled the scene.
Qingque stared blankly: "Wow, cried after being beaten? That's a bit much, isn't it?"
By now, the crowd noticed Qingque.
"It's the Little Sparrow God!"
"The Little Sparrow God is here, we're saved!"
"Little Sparrow God, we've been waiting for you! The opponent is too strong, only you can do it!"
The elderly crowd pushed Qingque to the table, treating her like a savior.
Unexpectedly, as she sat down and saw the person across from her, Qingque was stunned.
"Songque? Why are you here?"
The girl across from her wore sunglasses, looking like a street fortune teller, her eyes twinkling with a cunning light.
"Long time no see. Have you eaten?"
Qingque was puzzled: "The 'great expert' they mentioned... could it be you? That shouldn't be right..."
She and Songque had met at the parlor, but Songque wasn't here to play; she was here to read palms and tell fortunes for the elderly. As mentioned, Qingque was the Little Sparrow God, and naturally, there was a Big Sparrow God...
That was Songque, though the elderly preferred to call her "Sparrow Immortal"—a classic title for a wandering charlatan.
However, Songque did have some real skill, a fact confirmed by Lady Diviner herself.
Most of the time, Songque just used her silver tongue to spout blessings of wealth and prosperity to make the elderly happy. She was a fortune teller, but she had the vibe of a psychological counselor; both provided emotional value, so they weren't that different.
Songque's mahjong skills were decent, but not to the point where she could take down the parlor's top three experts simultaneously. After all, the table has positions; if three people are determined to block you, winning is harder than climbing to heaven.
"A great expert? No, no, I wouldn't dare claim that..."
Songque looked at the person beside her.
Qingque finally noticed a strange young man next to Songque. He looked to be in his twenties, very young. But being stared at by those black eyes gave Qingque the feeling that her secrets were being stripped bare.
She had only experienced this feeling with Lady Diviner—whenever Qingque twitched, the Diviner knew exactly what she was thinking.
"This friend is quite a stranger... Songque, won't you introduce him?"
"He's my friend, his name is Su... Chen Ye!"
"Ho, I've never heard of this before. He wouldn't happen to be your boyfriend, would he?"
As soon as Qingque said this, the surrounding elderly began to jeer.
"Sparrow Immortal, is he really your little boyfriend?"
"This little boyfriend is quite handsome... even I like looking at him!"
"Is it really Sparrow Immortal's boyfriend? Sigh, I was going to say my granddaughter would be a good match for this lad..."
"Sparrow Immortal found a boyfriend and didn't tell us old ladies. When's the wedding? Have you thought of names for the kids yet?"
Songque's face turned so red it looked like it would drip blood.
"It—it's really not like that! Let me explain! He... he's actually my distant cousin, he just came to the city for a visit today!"
Looking at Songque, who was surrounded and flustered by the elderly, Su Mu couldn't help but feel emotional.
The destructive power of the elderly is terrifying; their chatter can practically drown a person.
He truly admired how Songque had managed to tell fortunes in this parlor for so long...
"Distant cousin?"
Qingque looked at Su Mu suspiciously but decided not to dig deeper.
"I understand, everyone has little secrets... Well, Cousin Chen, since you're at the table, you should know our rules. You made Old Li cry. If he stops coming to play, the owner loses a customer."
Qingque pushed the mahjong tiles on the table.
"The owner treats me well, and I understand the principle of gratitude... State your terms. How do you want to play?"
Qingque knew this game was unavoidable. In fact, her hands were itching for a real battle against an expert.
Besides, even if Lady Diviner came and saw her defending the dignity of the Imperial Jade Middle-Aged and Elderly Mahjong Parlor, she wouldn't be able to say a word!
Being able to slack off legitimately and openly was simply wonderful!!
"I have indeed offended many today, so how about this... if this Little Sparrow God can beat me, I will return every cent I won from everyone just now. Furthermore, as an apology, I'll treat everyone here to a meal at 'Haitian No. 1,' how about that?"
Haitian No. 1 was actually a food stall at the corner, but the owner's skills were top-tier, making it a local favorite. The reason he chose a food stall over a high-end hotel was that the regulars were neighbors; they wouldn't understand a fancy restaurant, but everyone knew they'd get a great meal at Haitian No. 1.
Qingque nodded. She was satisfied with these terms. Imperial Jade was her base for slacking off, so maintaining good relations with the regulars was a top priority. Moreover, this would make the owner owe her a favor; when Lady Diviner came to catch her, the owner would help her hide. What's not to like?
"Then let's not delay and get started."
Songque, who had finally escaped the elderly, chimed in: "Wait, wait! Don't be in such a hurry! Qingque, what if you lose? Since it's a bet, you can't just pay nothing, right?"
Qingque looked at Su Mu. Her brow furrowed slightly; she had already sensed that this was likely a setup by Songque and Su Mu.
"Then how do you want to bet?"
But she had great confidence in her skills. Even if it was a trap, wouldn't it be fine as long as she won?
"If you lose, I want you."
Songque's sentence made Qingque spit out her drink.
"W-What nonsense are you talking about? What do you mean you want me??"
Su Mu looked helplessly at Songque beside him. Seeing her sticking out her tongue, he knew she was doing it on purpose.
"If I am lucky enough to win against Miss Qingque... then I would like Miss Qingque to join us."
He pushed his business card to Qingque. It read "Songque Game Studio," "Game Director," "Chen Ye," and a phone number.
Yes.
The reason Su Mu and Songque came to this parlor was specifically for Qingque.
Songque Studio was just starting and lacked talent. Su Mu had learned from Songque about this person who loved to slack off but had exceptional ability.
Therefore, after some plotting, they decided to pull Qingque onto their "pirate ship" and have her join the studio.
Of course, Qingque alone wasn't enough.
Su Mu wanted to pull the entire Luofu onto the ship.
This was mainly because the Luofu Xianzhou Co., Ltd. hadn't been doing well lately. This company was a member of the Xianzhou Alliance, making its living in the antique trade and being a titan in the world of curios.
In fact, Su Mu had already set his sights on this company. When Bronya came to Canghai City on a business trip, she had a secret mission: to investigate the Luofu company's situation.
A few years ago, a crackdown and regulation of the antique industry caused the Luofu company to shrink rapidly. As the saying goes, "the bird that sticks its head out gets shot"—the former Luofu CEO, Jingliu, was removed due to mental health issues, diagnosed with "Mara-struck" psychosis.
This triggered a significant internal conflict, and several veteran employees left.
The current CEO, Jing Yuan, was talented and had handled the mess single-handedly, but the company's vitality was severely damaged and hadn't recovered.
Despite Fu Xuan working diligently day and night, it was still difficult for the company to return to its former glory.
After all, when potential partners heard it was Jingliu's former company, they feared the "madwoman" would one day charge in with a sword and hack them into pieces.
They preferred to keep their distance.
Clearly, Luofu's current situation was not good. While its foundations remained and bankruptcy was impossible, returning to its peak was difficult.
Though Su Mu felt like laughing—it sounded just like the "Imbibitor Lunae Rebellion"—on second thought, he understood that such events were fatal blows to the morale of the Luofu staff.
Without a new path, Luofu would inevitably decline.
Su Mu didn't have the grand ideal of "saving the Luofu." He simply enjoyed being a "completionist" collector and needed a legitimate way to obtain the honorary and portrait rights for "Honkai: Star Rail."
And obviously, if Su Mu tried to meet Jing Yuan now, he would likely be blocked.
The gap between industries is like a mountain. If a game developer goes to the antique industry, people will just think you're joking.
So he needed a catalyst.
And now, the catalyst was right in front of him.
Qingque immediately shook her head like a rattle: "So you're here to headhunt me? No way, no way! If Lady Diviner finds out, she'll skin me alive! Change the condition, change the condition!"
Songque silently appeared behind her, her teasing voice reaching Qingque's ear: "Oh my, is the Little Sparrow God actually chickening out? Weren't you just bragging about your skills being unrivaled under heaven? Now you're beating a retreat?"
"You, I... you..."
"Or is the Little Sparrow God actually an empty vessel, a fraud?"
"I..."
She knew it was a provocation, she knew it was a trap, but how could the title of Sparrow God be defiled here!
"I understand... as long as I win, it's fine, right?"
Qingque looked at Su Mu and took a deep breath. She didn't believe this young man's skills could surpass her own...
Betting on the title of Little Sparrow God, I must not lose!!!
The sun set.
After a busy day, Master Diviner Fu returned to the company. As she entered, she saw Qingque kneeling in front of her office, with a sign behind her saying "I am guilty."
What was going on? Had Qingque caused more trouble? Why was she here for a self-imposed punishment?
"Lady Diviner, I... I deserve to die!"
The moment she saw Fu Xuan, Qingque burst into tears, hugging Fu Xuan's leg and wiping her tears on Fu Xuan's white stockings.
"What on earth happened?"
"I... I... I lost myself in a bet!"
"Huh??"
After hearing Qingque's story, Fu Xuan was speechless.
Knowing it was a trap and jumping in anyway—are you an idiot?
"You brought this on yourself... I already performed a divination for you, warning you against arrogance and seeking pleasure, or a great disaster would follow... It seems you didn't listen to a word I said."
Though she scolded Qingque, seeing her looking so piteous, Fu Xuan eventually softened.
"How long are you going to keep crying? This matter must not be known to others, especially Jing Yuan... if he finds out my subordinate made such a blunder, the leadership of this Luofu Xianzhou company might fall into someone else's hands."
"Lady Diviner, I knew you were the best to me!"
"Let go! This clinging is unseemly! To know one's self and one's enemy is to be invincible. Tell me the whole story again, in detail."
Qingque nodded and wiped away the eye drops from her eyes—what? You didn't really think she was crying, did you? She wished Lady Diviner would fire her in a rage so she could get her severance pay—
After hearing the story again, Fu Xuan's brow furrowed.
"Extremely strange... If what you say is true, the opponent doesn't seem to want to breach Luofu's defenses from the inside... He wants you to join his studio? What kind of studio is it?"
Qingque took a business card from her pocket.
"A game studio? I thought it would be another antique dealer... but what use does a game studio have for us?"
Fu Xuan pondered, and Qingque carefully spoke up again.
"Lady Diviner, actually... that person also said it's fine if I don't join the studio, but as an exchange... he hopes to meet you."
Fu Xuan's heart skipped a beat. Oh no, he's coming for me?!
"Qingque, you... you sold me out just like that?"
"Lady Diviner, please calm down! I... I really had no choice... You don't want me joining that studio, right? Think about it, if you fire me yourself, you have to pay me N+1!"
"You... sigh... I work diligently from dawn to dusk, yet I ended up with such a 'loyal' subordinate!"
"Phew—Director Big Boss, you're too amazing! You actually beat Qingque! You've completely refreshed my understanding of you!"
After returning to Songque Studio, Songque finally opened her floodgates, her words hitting Su Mu like a barrage.
"Just luck. Qingque is indeed very skilled."
"Big Boss, excessive modesty is just arrogance. I saw you were clearly doing it with ease!"
"Haha."
Su Mu smiled and didn't continue the topic. He had thought about how to recruit the top generals of the Luofu company a year ago. Fortunately, the explosive popularity of Titanfall had earned him a massive amount of Reputation points.
The useless system finally brought out the exchange shop. Previously, it complained that Su Mu was always "shearing the wool" from Honkai Impact 3rd, which was bad for spreading the excellent game culture of Blue Star, so it forbade him from using Reputation points for skills until he had a new work.
But after Su Mu released several games in a row, it finally had nothing to say.
His gambling skills were learned from Ko Chun (God of Gamblers); naturally, the Little Sparrow God could only admit defeat when facing a true God of Gamblers.
Half a month had passed since signing with the Interastral Peace Entertainment platform. During this time, Su Mu had been integrating the studio's resources, making drastic personnel changes while recruiting many fresh graduates.
However, the quality of these new recruits was inconsistent, and solving this took a lot of effort. This made him realize just how difficult it must have been for Bronya back then.
Of course, he had his own solution—sending the pre-selected resumes to Kiana to help him choose.
The result was outstanding; many excellent talents were hired, and he even recruited an elite team that had done outsourcing for large companies while still in university.
In reality, Kiana was just drawing "√" and "X" on the applicants; she didn't even understand the resumes... but sometimes "European" luck is that ridiculous, and she really did filter out the good seeds.
To train these newcomers, Su Mu went through a lot of trouble. Luckily, one of the skills he could exchange for with his Reputation points was "Teacher's Way of Enlightenment," which significantly boosted his teaching effectiveness, making it much easier to train recruits than it had been at miHoYo.
But even so, it was not an easy task.
Several times, Senadina and Songque had to drag Su Mu from both sides, begging him to go rest and stop working.
The staff at Songque Studio finally realized how terrifying Su Mu's workaholic side could be...
"Senior Bronya, I'm really going crazy! Big Boss Su Mu is working himself to death, I'm really afraid he'll drop dead at his computer one day! Please say something to him!"
In a phone call with Bronya, Songque tearfully asked for help.
This made Bronya, on the other end of the line, hold her forehead. After a long silence, she said faintly: "Let him be... compared to dying, he's more afraid of not being able to present a game that satisfies the players. That guy's head is entirely filled with games..."
Watching Su Mu work day and night, Songque felt a burning pain of guilt! A big boss traveled all the way to Canghai City and hadn't enjoyed a single day, spending every night reading and cleaning up her studio's mess...
He was practically Superman!
Songque felt her conscience aching for the first time.
"Big Boss Su Mu, if you keep this up, I'm going to kill myself out of guilt! Let me help you with something, or at least let me do your laundry and cooking! If Lady Thelema finds out I treated our benefactor like this, my life is over!"
They say a hard-working man is the most handsome, but with this much effort, Songque was truly afraid he would die of exhaustion in her studio!
Time passed while Songque lived in fear, and soon it was the day of the Honkai Impact 3rd version update.
Su Mu temporarily put down his work, activated the Synesthesia Beacon system, and linked to the Herta puppet at miHoYo.
He would also attend this livestream, but since he used a virtual avatar, having the Herta puppet stand in was no problem.
"Mobius, I'll leave things here to you."
To avoid misunderstandings, Su Mu specifically called Mobius to watch over him in the office.
If anyone came, she was to say he had been tired lately and was taking a short rest.
Mobius nodded and told Su Mu to "go in peace"... why did that sound so strange?
When Su Mu opened his eyes again, he found he was not in his office.
Strange.
When he logged off earlier, he should have been in his office writing the script for Star Rail.
What was going on...
Soon, Su Mu realized something was wrong.
He stood before a full-length mirror and looked at the Herta puppet inside—the puppet girl had swapped her classic beret and dress for a green dinosaur onesie pajama set.
Su Mu: "..."
The puppet girl in the mirror also made a very speechless expression.
Needless to say, he knew this was Elysia's handiwork, as this was Elysia's office.
Su Mu sighed and walked out of Elysia's office wearing the dinosaur onesie, being stared at by employees along the way.
He arrived outside the livestream room where Senti, the guest invited for this special event, was already looking around.
Senti greeted him: "You're here too? The dinosaur pajamas are quite cute... Speaking of which, is Su Mu absent again today?"
Su Mu didn't want to answer this stupid question, as it had been addressed in the last livestream. Whether Senti believed it or not wasn't his problem.
Bronya and Seele also appeared outside the room, and seeing Su Mu, the two couldn't help but exchange a smile.
"You're back?"
"Yes."
"This is Elysia's doing, right?"
"Sister Elysia said she just happened to need a clothes hanger..."
Su Mu apologized to Madam Herta in his heart. I'm sorry, I couldn't protect the Herta puppet and failed your trust! It fell into the hands of that terrifying Realm lesbian Elysia, I am a sinner!!
Far away in Herta's studio, Herta sneezed and looked up expressionlessly: "Su Mu? (Emotionless)"
Watching Bronya and Seele talk to Su Mu, Senti asked Fu Hua beside her curiously: "Old Timer, do you know that girl? She seems very close with Bronya and Seele."
"I don't know... probably a miHoYo employee?"
"Sigh, why is Su Mu absent again? He's been running off every day lately, how boring... I wanted to play with him."
"You should stop causing trouble for Su Mu."
"Ha? Old Timer, you make it sound like I'm some kind of burden! Don't forget, in today's new version, I am the real protagonist!"
Senti puffed out her modest chest.
"Hehe, I shall... turn the tides of all things!!"
Watching her mimic the line from the Herrscher of Sentience PV teased in the previous livestream, Fu Hua sighed.
Su Mu, oh Su Mu, as soon as you wrote those chuunibyou lines, a certain chuuni girl was bound to start.
She felt exhausted.
Soon, it was time to enter the livestream.
Elysia, Fu Hua, Senti, Kiana, and Su Mu entered early to debug the equipment.
Senti looked strangely at the Herta puppet sitting next to Kiana: "Eh? Is that girl a character appearing in the new plot? That shouldn't be right? Aren't I the protagonist?"
But when she saw the Herta puppet skillfully using the virtual equipment to bring up "Su Mu's" virtual avatar, she was struck as if by lightning.
"Holy crap, you really are Su Mu?!"
Seeing Senti jump up in shock, Su Mu rolled his eyes.
"Didn't I tell you last time you were a guest? Didn't you reply that you were actually the strongest MANTIS, Kevin Kaslana?"
"No, wait, Su Mu? What's going on? Have you decided to stop being my brother and become my sister instead?"
"This is a puppet, an inorganic body. Just think of it as a robot."
"You use a robot to work for you? What kind of workaholic are you? That's too perverted, too demonic!"
Senti was truly frightened after learning the truth. I mean, you're away on a business trip and you still set up a puppet to work occasionally... does your head have nothing but work and games? Are you married to your games?
Are you even human??
And so, amidst Senti's constant shocks, the Honkai Impact 3rd brand new version, "I Am the One and Only," special livestream officially began!
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