Faced with Sparkle's questioning, Su Yu didn't answer right away.
Expressionless, he folded the pure white handkerchief stained with strawberry milk and tossed it into the wastebasket beside him.
Then he looked up and, instead of answering, turned the question back on her:
"And what about you? Why go to all this trouble collecting Elation Points in this world?"
Sparkle blinked, visibly caught off guard — this man actually had the nerve to turn the tables and interrogate her instead.
"Oh my, Mr. Producer, are you answering a question with a question?"
Sparkle narrowed her eyes, the smile at the corners of her mouth fading slightly.
Su Yu shook his head and leaned back in his chair, arms crossed in front of him.
"One secret should be traded for another. That's the principle of equivalent exchange."
"The reason I was willing to invest in you and sign you is that I need your abilities."
"And the reason you're willing to go along with my requests is that there's profit to be had from me. There's no such thing as a free lunch, is there?"
Sparkle gave him a long look, then suddenly burst out laughing.
She didn't deny it — instead, she admitted it readily.
"It's just like you said. Everything has its price. Even a masked fool chasing after fun can't escape that law. The price you offered me back then — I really couldn't refuse it."
Sparkle leaned forward slightly, twirling a lock of hair by her temple around one finger.
"But right now, that price needs to be reconsidered. Do we keep collaborating, or does it end here? It all depends on how sincere you are."
"No harm in telling you," Sparkle said.
Sparkle smiled faintly.
"The reason I've gone to such lengths to collect these so-called 'Elation Points' is because of the 'Masked Fool Terminal' in my head."
"Since you already know everything about me, you should also understand — I'm not from this boring world of yours."
"As a Masked Fool, my strength comes from walking the Path of Elation."
"Once the Elation Points on the terminal accumulate to a certain threshold, I can reopen the door back — back to the vast universe that's truly mine, and continue my journey for fun."
Sparkle tilted her head, looking at Su Yu.
"How's that? Does that answer disappoint you?"
Honestly, this candor was entirely within Su Yu's expectations.
From the very start, he'd never expected this notorious troublemaker from the Star Rail universe to have run to Earth out of the goodness of her heart to do charity work.
Either she was scheming something, or some irresistible force had trapped her here.
"So who do you think exiled you to this world?" Su Yu asked, following the thread.
"Who knows? Maybe Aha."
Mentioning the Aeon she believed in, Sparkle pursed her lips indifferently.
"That foul-tempered god of fun — is there anything He wouldn't do? Forget throwing me here — if you told me one day that Aha dragged Nanook, the Aeon of Destruction, into filming some trashy prime-time soap opera together, I wouldn't even blink."
Su Yu's eye twitched involuntarily.
"So Aha moonlights as a Fiction Historian too."
"He used to be one of the Nameless aboard the Astral Express, and good friends with Akivili too. Do you think there's any mess in this universe He wouldn't stick His nose into?"
Sparkle snorted.
"If you ask me, this world of yours might just be some fun little thing He whipped up out of boredom."
"And me, poor little Sparkle — I'm just an expendable piece on His game board of fun."
Watching Sparkle's nonchalant expression, Su Yu felt a flicker of surprise.
"But from the sound of it, you don't seem too bothered that He treats you like a piece on a board."
"Bothered? Why would I be bothered?"
Sparkle's smile turned fervent, as if she'd just heard a great joke.
"A true fun-seeker dares to throw herself into a grand piece of fun! If a Fool isn't even brave enough to become the fun herself, what right does she have to create fun that shakes the whole universe?"
Su Yu watched her quietly, then nodded seriously.
"I didn't expect Miss Sparkle to have such deep insight into the Path of Elation. I stand corrected."
"Heh, Mr. Producer, my little tricks are nothing compared to yours, are they?"
Sparkle changed the subject.
"As a game producer, you actually went and made an alt account to argue with players yourself. Not only did you rip into five thousand beta testers, you also managed to earn yourself the hatred of a few million onlookers across the whole internet."
Sparkle leaned in close to Su Yu, looking him up and down like he was some kind of pervert.
"Tell me, Mr. Producer — you didn't set your phone to max vibration and stick it somewhere unspeakable, just waiting to watch your inbox fill up with insults for some strange thrill, did you?"
Su Yu rolled his eyes hard. "Thanks for the concern, but I don't have that kink."
"Well, no matter how I look at it, you just don't seem like a normal person~"
Sparkle giggled coquettishly, lifting the foot Su Yu had just wiped clean and pointing her toes suggestively at his chin — the flirtation couldn't have been clearer.
"No thanks, not my type."
Su Yu completely ignored the gesture, his gaze cold.
"I really don't want to wake up tomorrow and find myself starring in some video on a mysterious pay-per-view app."
"Fine, fine~"
Sparkle withdrew her foot, a little bored, pouting as she studied Su Yu's perpetually unruffled face. Mischief flickered in her eyes.
"I think I've finally figured you out."
"A guy like you, always so composed, never fazed by anything... you're absolutely the type who's going to end up pinned against a wall someday by some dominant girl and thoroughly devoured."
"What a tragic fate, Mr. Producer~"
Su Yu ignored the provocation.
"There's one thing you got right."
His voice dropped low.
"I really do have something fun in the works. A grand piece of fun that will shock the whole world — one that'll overturn everything you thought made sense."
"And in that piece of fun, there just happens to be a role for you."
"Oh?" Sparkle arched an eyebrow, sounding a bit more interested. "But what makes you so sure I'll agree to play along?"
"Simple." Su Yu leaned back in his chair. "You need a massive amount of Elation Points to buy your ticket home. But what if I told you... that before you could collect enough, this world would be completely destroyed?"
The air in the office seemed to freeze.
The smile on Sparkle's face froze.
For once, those eyes that always shone with madness and mischief turned grave.
Her extraordinary intuition kicked into gear.
In her mind flashed the Sea of Quanta projection she'd glimpsed by chance in Arc City's night sky some time ago.
The strange "gas leaks," "natural gas explosions," and "controlled demolitions" that had been all over the recent news in Arc City...
All the clues suddenly connected into a chain of logic that sent chills down her spine.
"Interesting... truly interesting..."
Sparkle murmured to herself, her expression growing more and more intense.
"So this is the whole truth? All that trouble you went to, releasing that so-called 'city-wide holographic projection promotion' through official channels, and those clumsy explosion cover-ups... it was all to hide one thing."
She stared fixedly into Su Yu's eyes, enunciating each word.
"An unavoidable... Honkai invasion?"
Su Yu said nothing, just watched her with an ambiguous almost-smile.
"Looks like you already have the answer."
Sparkle made no more frivolous gestures.
The foot that had been dangling in midair slowly lowered, resting on Su Yu's leg.
She sat there quietly, seeming to need a moment to process this world-shattering truth.
"So? That's the whole truth?"
After a long moment, Sparkle let out a low laugh.
There was none of her usual delight in it — only a sense of absurdity, as if she'd been made a fool of.
"So from the very start, I was thrown into a world doomed to be destroyed?"
"And His idea of 'fun'... was watching me stumble toward death like a clueless clown, in a city on the brink of doomsday?"
"Heh—"
Sparkle suddenly raised her head, a wild fire igniting in her eyes.
"What a rotten bastard. Watching a delicate, defenseless girl struggle pathetically under the crush of the apocalypse — is that His idea of the aesthetics of elation? His taste keeps getting worse!"
Sparkle took a deep breath and turned her gaze back to Su Yu.
"Mr. Producer, tell me your plan."
Her toes tapped lightly against Su Yu's leg, her tone turning serious.
"You already know the end is coming, and yet you've gone to all this trouble setting things up. If this world were truly beyond saving, you wouldn't have the leisure to sit here negotiating terms with me."
"So tell me, in this mad little play of yours where you try to 'save the world'..."
The corners of Sparkle's mouth curled slowly upward into a smile as chilling as the Devil's own.
"...what exactly is the role reserved for Lady Sparkle?"
Su Yu didn't hand over her script right away.
He tapped his fingers twice on the mahogany desktop, then laid out the utterly insane 'Empty City Evacuation' in full.
"We need to turn all of Arc City into a super-battlefield with no civilians left in it."
"But if the authorities issue a mandatory evacuation order, it'll only trigger citywide panic and riots — and might even tip off the enemy."
"We have to keep it hidden from everyone in this city and keep running Ordinal Scale as a genuine smokescreen."
"I'm going to use a grand, false carnival to lure every unwitting citizen safely out of this place before it turns into hell, and then meet the Honkai head-on on this battlefield."
Su Yu's words fell silent.
Sparkle went completely still.
She stared blankly at the man before her, her mind racing to process this ultimate con — one so audacious it stripped an entire population of its right to know, playing the whole city like a toy in his palm.
After a brief silence—
"Heheh... hehehehe..."
A low laugh spilled from Sparkle's throat.
It grew louder and louder, until it broke into unrestrained, wild laughter!
"Hahahahaha! So that's it! So that's your plan!"
Sparkle laughed so hard she doubled over, tears nearly springing to her eyes.
She straightened up abruptly, staring at the ceiling, her eyes alight with feverish revelation.
"I'm suddenly starting to understand Aha! That old fox wasn't trying to dump me in this dump to self-destruct. He clearly knew better than anyone that in a world doomed to end, there'd be something here that could bring a Masked Fool like me true, total Elation!"
"This is wonderful! Mr. Producer, you really are a hopeless madman!"
Watching Sparkle, practically dancing with excitement, Su Yu's expression remained calm.
He posed his first question:
"Sparkle, given your understanding of human nature — when open beta hits, how many people do you think will actually go hunt down Jiahao?"
Sparkle propped her chin on one hand, thought for a moment, then gave her answer.
"If Jiahao doesn't do anything else to enrage the public after open beta, I'd guess... not that many people will actually go after him."
"Internet outrage is always temporary, after all. As long as Jiahao doesn't genuinely hurt most people's real interests, very few will actually be willing to spend the time and effort to come after him."
Su Yu nodded, satisfied with the answer.
"Hits the nail on the head."
Then he asked his second question:
"So — if I keep playing Jiahao, keep courting hatred after open beta, and announce to the whole internet that I'll set up a real-life arena in a city other than Arc City — how many people do you think would actually travel that far in real life to hunt me down?"
Sparkle swung her legs, answering almost without thinking.
"Less than half."
Su Yu made a "go on" gesture, inviting her to continue the performance.
Sparkle twirled a lock of hair by her ear, a mocking curve tugging at her lips.
"If you mean the keyboard-warrior crusade online, then yes — with Jiahao continuing to court disaster, maybe eighty or ninety percent of players would bombard him online."
"But out in the real world, that's a completely different story."
"The internet always gives people a false sense of safety. Behind a screen, it's a lawless zone — they can hurl the vilest insults at Jiahao without a shred of guilt."
"But reality has a cost — travel fare, time, energy, and the courage to face conflict head-on."
"Expecting people used to typing safely behind a screen to come out in force purely out of hatred? Not a chance."
"You're right."
Su Yu nodded approvingly.
"That's exactly the crux of it — the core vulnerability of this whole trick."
"Hatred has a threshold."
"Even if 'Jiahao' genuinely harmed most people's interests, the number of players furious enough to hunt me down in real life would never reach a hundred percent."
"And for the empty-city trick I'm about to pull off, the more people who stay behind, the greater the chance of failure."
Su Yu looked steadily at Sparkle.
"So harming interests and stoking hatred can't be the entire driving force behind this plan."
"If you want a donkey to turn the millstone, you can't just whip it — you also need to dangle a carrot in front of it."
Su Yu paused.
"Beyond stirring up negative human emotions and turning hatred into motivation... there's something else — something rooted deeper in the genes, an even more absolute, more irresistible driving force."
"And that is — greed."
At that word, Sparkle's eyes lit up instantly, as if she'd just spotted the most exquisite toy.
"Why do you think Ordinal Scale sparked such widespread discussion in such a short time? Why do the beta testers who won a slot work like tireless slaves every day, willingly running every kind of extreme data test for me?"
Before Sparkle could answer, Su Yu answered his own question.
"Obviously because there's profit in it — virtual achievements, and, more importantly, real money."
"And why does Jiahao get on everyone's nerves? On the surface, because of his arrogance. But the deeper reason is that he broke down that artifact — worth five million, and worth even more after open beta — into a mere thousand-yuan consolation prize split evenly among everyone."
Su Yu gave a cold smile, seeing straight through the hypocrisy of it.
"They'll always feel that if Jiahao hadn't broken down that artifact, every one of them could have had a shot at those five million — could've been the lucky one who changed their whole class in life."
"Their hatred for Jiahao is, at its core, greed over that lost fortune."
"Their obsession with this game is also greed."
"Whether it's money, power, or so-called vanity and fame they're greedy for, it's all just a byproduct of greed."
Su Yu leaned back in his chair, his gaze open and untroubled, showing no contempt whatsoever for this side of human nature.
"Greed is human nature. I don't think there's anything wrong with it — if anything, without that raw instinct as a backdrop, there'd be nothing to set off the greatness of those willing to sacrifice themselves when the end comes."
"I intend to use that greed of theirs."
"So I need a script that can instantly stir everyone's emotions, awaken their deepest desires, and pull them completely under."
Su Yu looked at Sparkle and, word by word, spoke the absurd name of the plan:
"In the simplest terms, this script is called — 'Operation Cash Rain.'"
"Operation... Money Shower?"
Sparkle blinked, rolling the name around in her mouth.
Su Yu smiled faintly, a calculation in it that even the Devil would admire.
"Your job starts the very first second the open beta launches."
"Oh?" Interest sparked in Sparkle's eyes. "Tell me more."
"I need you to appear the moment open beta starts, as a permanent special NPC in the game. Your persona is a little demon who loves provoking players."
At the words "little demon," Sparkle blinked, then her eyes instantly curved into two delighted crescents.
"Ooh, now that's an exciting character concept~"
Sparkle immediately slipped into character, cupping her cheeks in both hands and pitching her voice into a deliberately shrill, exasperating tone — the kind that made you want to bend her over your knee and spank her — as she called out sweetly at Su Yu.
"Weakling~ weakling Mr. Producer~ trying to save the world with skills like that? Hilarious~ Something like that, right?"
Su Yu's eye twitched slightly. Fighting down the urge to snap back, he nodded.
"That's basically just you playing yourself, isn't it?"
"Every day after that, you'll appear randomly at different coordinates in the game, even broadcasting taunts server-wide."
"If a player manages to find you at a specific spot and pass whatever trial you throw at them, you'll shower them generously with rare items and real cash."
"We're making this a permanent fixture, unshakeable — a standing event."
"Day one, you give out a thousand. Day two, ten thousand."
"You'll tell every player, in the most arrogant way possible, that catching you — this insufferable brat — means splitting an unimaginable fortune."
The smile on Sparkle's face gradually faded as her clever Fool-of-Elation mind instantly grasped the deeper meaning behind Su Yu's scheme.
"Pavlov...?"
She spat out the name.
Su Yu nodded.
"Exactly. Conditioning."
"We're going to spend a long time cultivating their conditioned response. Binding the concept of 'Sparkle showing up' with 'unexpected windfall' so tightly they're carved right into their DNA."
"Once every player has subconsciously formed the ironclad belief that 'follow Sparkle and there's always something to gain,' our trick's precondition will be met."
Su Yu leaned back in his chair, his gaze seeming to pierce straight through the office walls, as if he could already see the mad scene right before doomsday.
"Once that belief is fully ingrained, once everyone is thoroughly convinced you're the game's own fortune-scattering fairy... I'll release the ultimate announcement, in the official channel's name: 'Sparkle has fled to another city with five billion in stolen funds.'"
Su Yu looked at Sparkle, the smile at his lips as chilling as the Abyss itself.
"By that point, credibility and authenticity will have reached their peak. No one will suspect it's a con. Every player in the city — even people who never touched the game before — will be swept up in an unmatched tide of greed, charging out of Arc City with bloodshot eyes to hunt down you, their walking printing press."
The office fell into a brief silence.
Sparkle stared fixedly at Su Yu, her chest rising and falling slightly with intense excitement.
Feed the players' greed with money, provoke their nerves with mockery, and finally, with one flawless, believable lie, empty the entire city in an instant!
Was this the madness unique to Earthlings? A method that toyed with human nature to its very limits in the face of catastrophe — it was even more vile, even more captivating, than that old fox Aha!
"Haha... hahahahaha!"
Sparkle couldn't help covering her face, bursting into delighted laughter again.
"It's perfect! Absolutely perfect!"
She leaned in close to Su Yu, her eyes burning with a fervor and anticipation like never before.
"There's the greed of wanting to take down the insufferable Jiahao, to gain 'fame.'"
"And there's the greed of wanting to hunt down me — the official NPC who ran off with the money — to gain 'wealth'! A staggering lure of both fame and fortune — that alone could empty this entire city in a single day!"
At that, Sparkle's voice suddenly caught.
Through all this calculated ugliness of human manipulation, she seemed to glimpse another grand scheme hidden deep within this cold man's mind.
"So, let me guess further..."
Sparkle leaned close to Su Yu, her voice as soft as the Devil's own whisper.
"Since you're so skilled at exploiting the ugly, greedy side of human nature, surely you wouldn't pass up the shining, 'beautiful' side of it either."
"The five-billion bait will lure away most people, sure, but there'll always be a handful of stubborn souls who don't care about fame or fortune, or who can't leave because of some Bond, left behind in this city."
The corner of Sparkle's mouth curled into a knowing smile.
"Mr. Producer, you haven't only arranged this one trick."
"Behind Operation Cash Rain, you must have prepared another script — one designed to trigger people's protective instincts and empathy — to sweep away everyone who's left..."
"Am I right?"
Faced with Sparkle's curious gaze, Su Yu didn't keep talking freely the way he had before.
The corner of his mouth curled into a meaningful, faint smile.
"Sparkle, as a professional actress, you should know one basic rule of the trade."
"Hm?"
Sparkle blinked, apparently not expecting him to change the subject.
"Only read the part of the script that's yours. Don't pry too much into other characters' roles. Otherwise, when you step onto the stage, you'll lose that genuine sense of shock and immersion."
His words seemed to declare the end of this exchange.
"That script for exploiting the beautiful side of human nature... that's not your part to play. There'll naturally be someone more fitting to give the perfect performance."
"Tch—"
Having had her curiosity stoked to the max only to be denied an answer, Sparkle drew out the sound in displeasure, puffing out her cheeks like a little girl denied candy.
"Mr. Producer really is stingy! Only telling half a story — you'll never find a girlfriend at this rate!"
Though she grumbled, the excitement in Sparkle's eyes hadn't dimmed one bit.
She knew that whatever grand game this man was plotting, it was bound to be spectacular.
Sparkle hopped lightly down off the desk, bare feet landing on the carpet.
"Fine, fine — I'll graciously let myself keep the suspense."
She turned around, waving a hand at Su Yu over her shoulder.
"Don't hold back — use me however you need, Mr. Producer. Getting to take part in fun like this — even dying would be worth the ticket price. Hehehe."
She snapped her fingers with a crisp sound.
"Snap."
Sparkle's figure dissolved into the air, as if she'd never been there at all.
If not for the few dried milk stains still left on the desk, the whole encounter might have seemed like nothing but a dream.
"Boss?"
Bronie's voice came through the comm.
"I'm here."
"The preview announcement for the new Honkai Impact 3rd version has been released."
"Main Story Chapter 11 Interlude — 'Void Dome, Moon of Solitude' — has finished testing."
"The animated short 'Amazing Grace' has officially gone live."
Su Yu sat quietly in his chair, gazing through the massive floor-to-ceiling window down at Arc City below — utterly ignorant of the doomsday closing in on it.
"Good." Su Yu pressed his earpiece. "Send an invitation, in miHoYo Studio's name, to Himeko — I mean, Teacher Himeko."
"Word it as: Miss Eden's wine cellar grand opening — vintages aged for years, awaiting an appreciative guest with the right connection."
"And there's only one precondition — complete one small livestream task."
On the other end, Bronie paused for three seconds before the sound of typing resumed.
"Boss."
"Hm?"
"I'm worried about your parents — is there still a risk with Auntie's return trip?"
"Bronie," Su Yu said. "Haven't you read 'Record of the Little Stone Pond'?"
"?"
"All seem to swim in emptiness, unsupported by anything."
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