Chapter 204 Doomfist Carole? Players Collectively Torture Old Thief Su Mu!
The atmosphere inside and outside the livestream was instantly filled with joy. Although "Old Thief" Su Mu usually acted inhumane, some of the event plots he wrote were quite excellent—humorous and witty, always leaving players roaring with laughter.
However, some observant players noticed a pattern: whenever Su Mu released a depressing "knife" in the main story, he would invariably follow it up with a lighthearted event to soothe the players' emotions.
And then? Then, just as the players finally managed to crawl out from the shadow of their psychological trauma, he would suddenly drop another blade on them—
Understood. This is desensitization training, isn't it?
A portion of the player base had discovered Su Mu's shameless tactics, but they were helpless against it. There was no helping it—the guy had the capital. When your writing is that good, you can truly do whatever you want!
In the subsequent plot, the awakened Joey directly addressed Mei as "Auntie," a move that caused Raiden Mei's expression to shift instantly. This sent the audience into fits of giggles.
[LMAO, Mei has reached the age where people call her Auntie?]
[Age is a woman's greatest taboo! Joey, you're dancing on the edge of a blade!]
[Haha, look at Mei's face turning dark...]
[True, Mei used to be called 'Big Sister Mei,' but now we have 'Auntie Mei.' This is truly...]
[But to be fair, Auntie Mei is indeed more mature and beautiful.]
[Just admit it, you're a Cao Cao (MILF hunter)! You clearly just like mature women!]
After Joey woke up, he told the group about his encounter with Welt. Joey and Welt had arrived in St. Fountain by train, only to be attacked by a man in white clothing. That man manipulated a swarm of monsters and eventually summoned a hideous, terrifying giant creature. Welt hid Joey and went to draw the monster away, telling the boy to stay put. But when the monster reappeared, Joey was terrified and ran, eventually getting lost... Fortunately, he held out until Squad 3 arrived, narrowly escaping disaster.
As the group discussed their next move, Raiden Mei brought news: Carole was arriving.
["Strange, calculating the time, Carole should have arrived by now. I hope nothing happened to that child?"]
From the dialogue options, it was clear that Carole was skilled at acting alone, but her personality... she was definitely the type to stumble into trouble.
["Carole's solo combat capability is top-tier. However, after that escape attempt, I am genuinely worried about her."]
Just as Mei was worrying, the communicator rang. It was a call from Carole, but despite Mei calling out several times, she received no answer. The scene shifted, and in the next battle stage, the perspective moved to Carole.
Looking at the youthful, lively girl on screen, the viewers' eyes lit up.
[Whoa! Carole's model is actually quite cute!]
[Indeed, she has a great 'shoujo' feel!]
[LMAO, why does she look like she has 'dummy' energy though?]
[Wait, now that you mention it... I feel like she and the Tuna would get along great.]
[Kiana: You want to talk about manners?]
Carole was currently in the center of the plaza filled with red crystals. As for why she was there...
["Captain! The Doctor's experiment failed again! I fell out of the sky!"]
Thanks to a certain Doctor's experiment, Carole had landed hard enough to hurt her backside and lose her communicator in the process. Now she was completely out of touch with Raiden Mei. Fortunately, her "Kiss-y Pillow No. 4" was still there... though what kind of name was that for a weapon...
As the in-game Carole threw a punch into the air, two massive yellow gauntlets appeared on her arms. Those terrifying iron fists were enough to make anyone shiver just by looking. How could such a cute, lively girl carry such a lethal weapon?
And yet... the gauntlets looked so domineering; why give them such a "moe" name?
[LMAO, is this the pink chainsaw trope?]
[Watch your mouth! Do you want to be flattened by Kiss-y Pillow No. 4?]
[Wow, if that thing hits you, you'd actually die, right? Definitely!]
[Is there a connection between Carole and Fu Hua? Fu Hua uses gauntlets, and Carole uses... well, giant mechanical arm-guards.]
[Hey, Carole's arm-guards are way beyond normal equipment. That setting where they vanish and reappear during attacks... isn't that just Project Bunny?]
[Surely Carole's weapon isn't a product of the Sea of Quanta too?]
[Nah, my take is that it's been years since the Honkai ended. Tech has progressed. Making gear like this isn't impossible. we already had the Ultimate Evasion/Time Fracture system developed from the Herrscher of the Void; hiding a weapon and summoning it for combat is child's play.]
[You're right, but the MC's sword is always on his back.]
[Isn't that just standard game design? You can't have Carole running around the city holding those massive fists all the time; it would ruin the visuals.]
Amidst the chatter, the Carole controlled by Elysia encountered enemies in the plaza. Among the monsters in APHO, if we're talking about annoyance levels, the "Chariot" was a top contender. With heavy armor and a shield thick enough to withstand an eternity, Mei or the MC would take forever to chip away at it.
But it didn't matter. If the Chariot was a tin can, then Carole's iron fists were the can opener! It was time to show her true strength!
Watching Elysia play, the heavy, powerful impact of Carole's fists landing on the Chariot—and the massive "clank" sound effect upon breaking the shield—was incredibly satisfying for the viewers!
[Whoa! That impact! That sound design!]
[This feels too good!]
[Carole's hit-feel is easily the best among the three characters, right?]
[I'd say the design directions are just different. Mei focuses on agility and frequency, Carole delivers devastating blows to heavy armor, and the MC is the balanced jack-of-all-trades!]
[Squad 3 is actually well-composed! The three complement each other perfectly!]
Raiden Mei (the guest) also praised the design. she wasn't a MiHoYo employee but was there as a special guest. she occasionally commented on the content and replied to chats. Ever since Elysia took over the stream, the atmosphere had become harmonious—completely different from the half-screen of "Kill the Old Thief" comments when Su Mu was on camera.
Seeing this, Su Mu felt helpless. You guys have no conscience!
"Forget it, I'll leave today's stream to Elysia and the others." Su Mu felt it wasn't the right time for him to go back. He had prepared a backup plan today anyway, which was why Elysia had been on standby. If everyone wanted to watch her play, so be it.
"Sigh! I work so hard every day to create happiness for the players, yet I'm rewarded with endless abuse and slander! My heart is cold; why the persecution?"
Looking at Su Mu's complaining face, Bronya's mouth twitched. Dedicated? Yes. Hardworking? Also yes. But did you actually create happiness for the players? Are you sure you aren't here to torture them? Thinking of the Resident Evil and Outlast proposals Su Mu had shown her, Bronya could only sigh. Be a human for once, Su Mu!!
In the stream, Elysia's Carole had retrieved her communicator and successfully contacted Mei. After explaining her situation, Carole immediately asked about the "Senior"—the protagonist of APHO.
[Aww, Carole cares so much about the MC!]
[The moment she got the comms back, she asked about us! she has me in her heart!!]
[Hehe, Carole, Carole, hehehe~]
[Whoa! This junior character archetype is irresistible! This is too good!]
[she calls me 'Senpai'? I can't take it! I'm whaling for Carole right now!]
[Wake up, APHO is a free DLC. It doesn't cost a cent.]
[Eh? A game of this quality for free? Is the Old Thief actually losing his shirt on this one?!]
[In that case, I have to SSS the Herrscher of Thunder. Old Thief, you can't starve on the streets; if you do, I won't let you off even as a ghost!]
Thanks to the high tech of this world, APHO's quality rivaled many standalone premium games. The 1:1 recreation of the city locations allowed every player to experience the beauty of South Africa—it was essentially a high-end tourism promo! No wonder it caused such a stir that the local travel systems crashed...
Because of this, while players hated Su Mu's heart-wrenching "knives," no one could deny his generosity! What other game company gave such benefits? only the Old Thief! Do you have an Old Thief like this? He's both old and a thief!
[Wait, why are you guys praising him? Don't stop the torture!]
[If you keep praising him, he'll knife your favorite character next version!]
[The Old Thief needs to be interrogated daily!]
[Keep charging, brothers! The Old Thief must be tied to the pillar of shame and whipped every day!]
[All Honkai 3rd players! Charge, charge, charge!]
[If anyone turns traitor, you'll be the first to go!!]
Due to Su Mu's "inhumane" actions, the player base had reached a consensus: never let this guy feel comfortable! Torturing Su Mu had become a daily task outside of the game. Like keeping the love in the dark and the Honkai in the sun? Then don't blame us for putting your name on the chopping block!
Back in the stream. After talking to Mei, Carole learned that "Senpai" (the MC controlled by Elysia) was currently monitoring a powerful monster. Given Carole's previous reckless behavior, Raiden Mei gave her a cold command: she had to attend a "reflection session" tonight. she needed to prepare a written apology for the evening. This left Carole looking miserable.
The real-life Carole was equally embarrassed: "A-A reflection session? Executing me in front of all these people? Mei-senpai, do you hear the sound of a girl's pride shattering!"
Elysia laughed heartily beside her: "Carole, you must reflect well~ or Mei's anger will be very scary, you know? you saw that, right?"
Carole looked blank: "Saw what?" Elysia: "Lament of the Fallen!"
Carole shivered, remembering Mei's knees, kicks, and hand-chops in the animation. "You don't think that was just for the animation, do you? In reality, Mei is the successor of the Hokushin Itto-ryu style too~ ♪"
Elysia looked at Carole with a playful smile. Carole immediately raised both hands in surrender. "Mei-senpai, I'll write the reflection! Just don't get physical! My small body can't take your combo!"
Watching Carole's antics, Raiden Mei couldn't help but laugh. "Don't worry, Carole is much more honest than Kiana. I heard Carole works quite hard at the firm. By contrast, Kiana... mhm, maybe I should invite Kiana to our dojo for a seat one day?"
Carole froze, then whispered a prayer in her heart: Sorry, President Kiana. You're on your own for this one.
The game continued to a low building where "Su Mu" (the MC) was stationed, observing a monster in an open area. The monster had the appearance of a noble lady, singing an unintelligible song. The eerie melody circled the area, sending chills down the players' spines.
Death—that was the monster's name. It had appeared in the main story Su Mu played earlier, but it vanished after losing a quarter of its health. On Hard difficulty, Death's speed and aggression were significantly boosted, and its patterns became unpredictable. Despite looking like a noblewoman, she was a total lunatic, slashing with dual weapons—and most annoyingly, she could release skills that obscured the player's vision! During this, she would teleport and attack from unexpected angles. Once her health dropped to a certain point, she summoned a giant monstrous bird and flew around the sky.
Seeing Death take flight, many competitive players remembered the quote from the famous technical streamer, Wolf of Punklorde: "Bella, why the f are you flying?"* This line had become legendary.
And now... in Wolf of Punklorde's livestream, Silver Wolf was chewing gum and blowing bubbles while fighting Death. Seeing the monster fly, Silver Wolf remembered the night she spent dozens of rounds against Bella; it made her stomach ache. A bit of PTSD. Fortunately, unlike Bella where you just stared helplessly, APHO had an aerial combat system to fight back. Since Silver Wolf had already mastered the three characters, she defeated high-difficulty Death with ease.
"There is only one reason for your failure!" Silver Wolf gave a thumbs-down to the screen. "You pissed me off!!"
END OF CHAPTER
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