Time flew, and soon it was the next day.
The miHoYo studio had returned to its usual peaceful... no, boisterous atmosphere.
Although the girls were still surprised and proud of Honkai Impact 3rd's resounding success, having gone through it multiple times, they naturally adjusted much faster than they had in the beginning.
It wasn't to the point where they still couldn't pull themselves together by the second day.
The girls had now thrown themselves back into work with one hundred percent dedication.
And Su Luo, naturally, was no different.
He sat at his office computer, moving the mouse, and with a light click, rejected all industry invitations in one go.
Invitations to attend parties, invitations to game development seminars, invitations to creator conferences...
Any event that required him to personally make an appearance.
All of them, rejected!
Hmm, it definitely wasn't because he was afraid that if he ran around now, he'd accidentally get caught by players and "knifed."
It was purely because he was too lazy to go out.
Besides, he was very busy!
Never mind that all of Honkai Impact 3rd's updates up until the Spring Festival were already prepared.
But could he be satisfied with just that? Of course not!
So, he had already begun to meticulously plan and produce the subsequent storyline.
It was just...
"I hope Mei doesn't... halfway through her voice acting session..."
An image inexplicably surfaced in Su Luo's mind: himself, being chased around the miHoYo studio by Mei, who was brandishing an iron wok.
He quickly shook his head, dispelling the absurd image.
"How could Mei possibly get angry just because I made her shout 'I can't do anything!' a few more times?"
"Enough of these thoughts. First, I'll serialize 'Durandal' on the official website."
Su Luo reined in his overly divergent thoughts, moved the mouse to open the backend of the Honkai Impact 3rd official website, created a new featured post, and then copied the first chapter of "Durandal" from his Word document into the first entry.
In the upcoming storyline, Durandal, Schicksal's strongest Valkyrie, would finally cease to be a mere background character.
In fact, in terms of her role and impact, Durandal would be quite dominant.
Fighting Kevin, fighting 'Dark Fu Hua'...
Therefore, releasing "Durandal" in advance was perfect; it would allow players to gain a preliminary understanding of her.
[A new Honkai 3rd novel? Durandal? Is Durandal the official favorite child? They even released a novel with her name as the title?]
Direct replies to featured posts were disabled, but replies within replies were not.
[Reasonable speculation: Durandal will become playable soon.]
[Durandal: Every single one of you who calls me 'Dale' has been noted down in my little black book. When I go live, I'll eliminate you all.]
[If you have time to update a novel, why not update the main story!]
Following one player's comment, everyone stopped discussing the new official novel and instead began to clamor for updates to the main story.
And who could blame them? The plot was stuck at such an agonizingly tantalizing point.
This was a duel for the fair maiden (Kiana)!
To this, Su Luo could only remark internally that he had never seen people so desperately eager to be "knifed."
He glanced at the players' reactions for a few moments, then closed the forum.
He was just about to put pen to paper and write out the next part of the main storyline.
Knock knock knock~~
"Come in."
"Su Luo." Fu Hua was the first to appear.
"Su Luo, Su Luo, we need to talk to you about something!" Kiana appeared after her.
Fu Hua clutched a stack of papers, being nudged into the office by Kiana.
"What's all this?" Su Luo asked curiously.
"Fu Hua has something she wants to show you, Su Luo!"
"I do not."
Kiana exclaimed, Fu Hua retorted, leaving Su Luo somewhat bewildered.
"Yes, you do~~" Kiana continued to push Fu Hua.
"I... I really don't." Fu Hua displayed a rare expression of being caught in a dilemma.
Su Luo stood up, left his seat, and walked over to Fu Hua and Kiana. His gaze shifted between the two girls before finally settling on the papers Fu Hua was clutching.
"This is?" he asked Fu Hua.
"..."
"Kiana," Su Luo looked at Kiana. "Why don't you tell me?"
"Su Luo, let me tell you, it's just..."
Just as Kiana was about to speak, Fu Hua cut in.
"Actually, Kiana saw me writing a story on these papers..."
Fu Hua paused, gripping the draft sheets in her hand. "After Kiana read it, she insisted on dragging me here to find you, saying that you, Su Luo, would definitely be interested in this plot."
"Is that so?" Su Luo nodded.
He hadn't expected Fu Hua to also be interested in scriptwriting.
Kiana, at this point, finally couldn't hold back any longer. "Su Luo, Su Luo, take a look at the plot Fu Hua wrote! I think you'll definitely be interested!"
She exclaimed while lifting Fu Hua's hand.
Su Luo smoothly took the draft papers from Fu Hua's hand.
He scanned them quickly.
"Seven disciples... killed their master?"
"How is it? Although the details are lacking, so the emotional impact isn't fully developed, the plot development itself feels very creative."
Kiana asked excitedly, "Especially since it's a 'knife'-heavy plot. Su Luo, you must be very interested, right?"
"I am indeed very interested in this plot, but it has nothing to do with 'knives'."
Su Luo lightly tapped Kiana's head with the draft. "Don't go attributing strange predilections to me. I don't actually like 'knives'."
"Really? For real?" Kiana wore an expression that screamed, 'There's no way I believe that.'
In truth, if Su Luo said this out loud, probably not a single Honkai Impact 3rd player would believe him.
A miHoYo scriptwriter who doesn't like 'knives'?
Lol. Were they trying to make everyone laugh to death so they could inherit their Alipay Huabei debt?
"Alright, let's not talk about this right now. Let's discuss the script first."
Su Luo had no intention of continuing this bizarre conversation with Kiana.
"Fu Hua, may I ask why you wrote a story like this?"
To actually write about herself being killed by seven disciples... Fu Hua was quite ruthless, even to herself.
"Um... actually, this isn't a story I wrote..."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, it might be a bit complicated to explain. Some time ago, my younger sister came to stay at my place temporarily."
Fu Hua shifted the topic to an unexpected area. "However, lately she's taken to saying rather abstruse things, for example..."
She paused, trying very hard to imitate the tone, "I shall... twist the myriad phenomena!"
But it was quite obvious that Fu Hua's efforts were utterly useless; her tone remained just as flat and呆 (dai - blank/呆滯 - dāizhì - deadpan) as ever.
"Er..." Su Luo's expression shifted.
"She also wanted me to tell her stories..."
Fu Hua continued her explanation, "But I told her all the stories I knew, and she didn't like any of them. In the end, I had no choice but to recount the plot of Honkai Impact 3rd to her as if it were a story."
"It seemed to be quite successful, actually. She didn't ask me for any more stories for the next few days."
Are you sure your sister wasn't just suffering from internal damage due to all the 'knives' in your stories? Is that why she stopped pestering you? Su Luo mused internally.
"Until last night. She suddenly ran over and told me a story with me as the protagonist, where seven disciples kill their master. Then, she left with a look of disappointment..."
Fu Hua's explanation concluded, "Honestly, I find her behavior a bit strange. Could it be that she wants me to glean some unspoken, profound meaning from this story?"
"That's why I wrote the story down today. I wanted to study it and see if there was any deeper meaning hidden within."
Fu Hua wore an expression of persistent confusion, but Su Luo felt he was beginning to understand.
This was clearly Fu Hua's sister, having been "knifed" by the stories Fu Hua told, and she had probably lost her composure and embarrassed herself in front of Fu Hua at the time.
In order to save face, or perhaps as a form of 'revenge,' she had racked her brains to come up with a 'knifing' story of her own, hoping to make Fu Hua also lose her composure and be embarrassed.
She had even gone so far as to make Fu Hua the protagonist to heighten her sense of immersion.
It was a bit childish, but if Fu Hua's sister was indeed that person, it wasn't entirely out of character.
"Fu Hua, what was your reaction when you finished hearing the story?" Su Luo asked.
"Hmm..."
Fu Hua blinked. "Just a very normal reaction. After all, this story is vastly different from the ones you write, Su Luo. How could I possibly be 'knifed' by such a plot?"
"...Indeed."
The story's concept was good, but it was merely that—a good concept.
For a story to be captivating, it required more than just creativity; many other factors were involved.
"But you could have at least pretended."
"Pretended?"
"..."
"Sigh~~"
Su Luo heaved a deep sigh, patted Fu Hua's shoulder, and said, "Old Antique, you really need to learn how to humor a child."
"Er..."
With Su Luo's reminder, Fu Hua seemed to grasp a little of what he meant.
...
...
Although it was just a concept, there was no doubt that the story Fu Hua's sister had written was the prototype for "Blade of Shenzhou."
He hadn't expected "Blade of Shenzhou" to emerge in such a fashion.
Su Luo felt a twinge of emotion, but he wasn't shocked.
After all, Theresa herself had personally designed the Stargazer battlesuit.
Truthfully, if he hadn't transmigrated to this world, "Blade of Shenzhou" would likely have died an early death.
Who would pay any mind to a story born from 'playing around'?
Even Fu Hua's sister—alright, he had already asked. Fu Hua's sister was named Fu Shibao.
Even Fu Shibao herself probably didn't care much about this story, right?
Of course, Su Luo cared a great deal about this story.
So, he immediately and sincerely expressed his interest in enriching the story's plot, which somewhat surprised Fu Hua.
Fu Hua genuinely hadn't imagined that a story created by her sister would catch Su Luo's eye.
"Is there anything else?" Su Luo asked after taking the story.
"Nothing else. Su Luo, please get back to your work."
Fu Hua shook her head gently and left Su Luo's office with Kiana.
The two of them stepped outside.
"Kiana, you head back first. I need to make a call."
Fu Hua said this and walked alone to a secluded corner, taking out her phone.
Beep beep beep~~
The phone rang for a few short bursts and was quickly answered.
"Hello?"
"..."
"That story you told me last night... it was actually quite good. Although it has a few minor flaws... it has a lot of potential."
"..."
"Are you listening?" Fu Hua asked.
"...I fell asleep," Fu Shibao's voice came from the other end of the line.
"No, you didn't," Fu Hua retorted.
"Zzzz~~" Fu Shibao emitted a series of feigned, drowsy sounds.
"...Alright, you rest first then." Fu Hua, it seemed, had actually been fooled.
"??? Hey! Come back and continue! I haven't heard enough yet!"