Chapter 63. What’s Wrong with Making Mei Say ‘I Can’t Do Anything’ a Few More Times?

The next day came in a blink.

miHoYo Studio returned to its usual peace… and rowdiness.

Though the girls were still amazed and proud of Honkai Impact 3rd's overwhelming success again, they had grown used to it, and their ability to recover was far better than at the beginning. By the next day, they were already back to working at full capacity.

And Hokuto, of course, was the same.

He sat in front of his office computer, clicking the mouse to reject every industry invitation with a single click.

Invites to parties, game conferences, creator summits…

Anything requiring him to show his face.

All rejected!

Ahem, it definitely wasn't because he was afraid of being randomly caught by players and stabbed.

He just didn't feel like going out.

Besides, he was busy!

Even though updates for Honkai Impact 3rd through Lunar New Year had all been prepared…

Was that enough for him? Of course not!

So, he had already begun planning out the next storyline in full swing.

Just that...

"Let's just hope Mei doesn't end up chasing me around the studio with a wok halfway through recording…"

In his mind, a ridiculous image of Mei chasing him around the miHoYo studio with a frying pan suddenly popped up.

He quickly shook his head to dismiss it.

"How could Mei possibly get mad just because I made her say 'I can't do anything' a few more times?"

"Stop thinking about that—let's get "Durandal" posted on the official website first."

Hokuto pulled himself out of his wandering thoughts and opened the backend of the Honkai Impact 3rd official site. He created a new pinned thread and pasted Chapter 1 of "Durandal" into the first post.

In the upcoming plot, Durandal, the strongest Valkyrie of Schicksal, would finally step out of the background.

And in terms of performance, Durandal would be quite dominant.

Battling Kevin, fighting "Dark Fu"...

Releasing "Durandal" ahead of time would give players a chance to get to know her first.

[A new Honkai novel? Durandal? Is Durandal the official favorite now? They actually released a novel named after her?]

Replies were disabled in the thread, but nested comments weren't.

[Reasonable to assume Durandal's going to be joinable soon.]

[Durandal: Every single person who calls me "Dale" is on my list. Once I'm playable, you're all dead.]

[You have time to write a novel but not update the main story?!]

Following one comment, the conversation quickly shifted from the novel to demanding updates to the main story.

Who told them to stop at such a tantalizing moment?

This was a battle to win the heart of a beauty (Kiana)!

To this, Hokuto could only think: I've never seen people so desperate to get stabbed.

After skimming the player reactions, he closed the forum.

Just as he was about to start writing the next part of the main story—

Knock knock knock~

"Come in."

"Hokuto." The first to appear was Fu Hua.

"Hokuto, Hokuto, we need to talk!" Then came Kiana, pushing Fu Hua into the office with a stack of papers in her hands.

"What's this about?" Hokuto asked curiously.

"Fu Hua has something to show you!"

"I do not."

Kiana insisted. Fu Hua denied. Hokuto found himself more and more confused.

"She clearly does~~" Kiana kept pushing Fu Hua forward.

"I… really don't." Fu Hua showed a rare conflicted expression.

Hokuto stood up and walked over to them, finally focusing on the stack of paper in Fu Hua's hands.

"What's this?" he asked.

"..."

"Kiana," Hokuto turned to her, "why don't you explain?"

"I'll tell you—so basically…"

Just as Kiana began, Fu Hua spoke first.

"Kiana saw me writing a story…"

Fu Hua paused and gripped the draft paper. "After reading it, she dragged me here to show it to you. She said you'd definitely be interested in the story."

"I see." Hokuto nodded.

He didn't expect Fu Hua to be interested in scriptwriting too.

Kiana couldn't hold back: "Hokuto, Hokuto, read what Fu Hua wrote. I bet you'll find it interesting!"

She shouted while lifting Fu Hua's hand.

Hokuto took the draft from her hand.

A quick glance—

"Seven disciples kill their master?"

"So? Though it lacks detail, and the emotion isn't fully developed, the plot is creative!"

Kiana asked excitedly: "And it's knife-oriented, so you'll definitely like it, right?"

"I am interested, but not because it's a tragedy."

Hokuto tapped her forehead with the draft: "Don't go attaching weird preferences to me—I don't like knife plots."

"Seriously?" Kiana looked doubtful.

To be honest, no Honkai player would believe that.

A Honkai writer who doesn't like tragedy?

What a joke. Are you trying to kill us with laughter?

"Anyway, let's not dwell on that. Let's talk about the script."

Hokuto shifted back to the topic.

"Fu Hua, may I ask why you wrote a story like this?"

A story about getting killed by your own disciples? Pretty dark.

"Um… Actually, I didn't write it…"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's a bit complicated. My younger sister's been staying at my house recently."

Fu Hua took the conversation in an odd direction. "Lately she's been saying weird things like…"

She paused and tried hard to imitate her: "I shall… alter the fabric of reality!"

But obviously, Fu Hua's delivery was stiff and flat as ever.

"Uhh…" Hokuto's expression changed.

"She wanted me to tell her stories…"

Fu Hua explained, "But I ran out of stories she liked, so in the end, I had to tell her the Honkai plot."

"Surprisingly, she seemed to like it. For a few days, she didn't ask me to tell more stories."

Are you sure she wasn't emotionally destroyed by the tragedy and just gave up?

Hokuto complained internally.

"Then last night, she suddenly told me a story with me as the protagonist… a master betrayed by seven disciples. Then walked away, looking disappointed..."

Fu Hua concluded, confused: "Honestly, I think she's trying to express something through this story that she can't say directly."

"That's why I wrote it down today—to see if there's something hidden in it."

Fu Hua still looked puzzled. Hokuto, however, thought he understood.

Her sister was probably devastated by the tragic Honkai plot and wanted revenge. So she made a knife plot herself, inserting Fu Hua as the main character for maximum emotional damage.

A little childish. But if that sister is who I think it is, not too surprising.

"How did you react to the story?" Hokuto asked.

"Hmm…"

Fu Hua blinked. "Just a normal reaction. It's nowhere near as sharp as what you write. I wouldn't get emotional over something like this."

"...True."

The story was creative, but still lacking.

An engaging story requires more than just a clever setup.

"But you could've at least pretended to be moved."

"Pretended?"

"..."

"Sigh~~"

Hokuto sighed and patted her shoulder: "Old relic, you need to learn how to comfort a kid."

"Uh…"

Fu Hua looked like she understood now.

...

There was no doubt—her sister's story was the prototype of Shenzhou Chronicles: Blades of Betrayal.

So Blades of Betrayal came from this?

Hokuto was mildly impressed, but not shocked.

After all, even Muahaha! was originally designed by Theresa.

If he hadn't crossed into this world, Blades of Betrayal probably would've died off.

Who would care about a story born from "just playing around"?

Even Fu Hua's sister—okay, her name was Fu Shibao—probably didn't care that much either.

Still, Hokuto cared about this story.

He immediately and earnestly expressed interest in expanding it, which surprised Fu Hua.

She didn't expect her sister's story to catch Hokuto's attention.

"Anything else?" Hokuto asked as he took the manuscript.

"Nope, we'll leave you to work."

Fu Hua shook her head and left the office with Kiana.

Outside—

"You go ahead. I'll make a call," Fu Hua said and stepped into a quiet corner with her phone.

Ring ring ring~

It rang a few times before someone picked up.

"Hello?"

"..."

"That story you told me last night was actually pretty good. It had some rough edges… but a lot of potential."

"..."

"Are you listening?" Fu Hua asked.

"...I'm asleep." Fu Shibao's voice came from the other end.

"No, you're not," Fu Hua replied.

"Zzzz~~" Fu Shibao fake-snored.

"...Fine. Get some rest." Fu Hua seemed to buy it.

"??? Hey! Come back and finish! I wasn't done listening yet!