Chapter 14: Russians Don't Deceive Russians

While Bronie pondered over her new game and how to surprise Elysia, discussions about "Undertale" on the internet were intensifying. In an era still dominated by the Homu, the emergence of a storyline-driven game with a touch of heartwarming sentiment naturally attracted attention.

With increasing topic searches and sales, along with the rise of video creators riding the trending wave, "Undertale" was making waves in the gaming industry. In the seemingly unchanged world of 2008, the world was quietly undergoing changes, both online and in urban development.

However, there was still concealment about the Honkai, leaving the public's understanding of it akin to an urban Undertale. Some said it was just folklore, while others believed it to be some sort of peculiar illness. Regardless, it had become less of a topic of discussion as time passed since Sirin's attack eight years prior.

Human adaptability sometimes surpassed imagination. It wasn't that people were immune to the dangers of the Honkai; it was just that they had adapted to the point where it was no longer a topic of discussion.

In this environment, the St. Freya Academy quietly came into being. It all began with Siegfried's defection from Schicksal and the crash of the aircraft carrying Kiana. Unable to tolerate Otto's actions, Theresa decided to inherit Cecilia's ideals and establish a Valkyrie academy with a warmer atmosphere.

Of course, establishing a school required hiring teachers. So, Walter, who had been missing for a long time and spent his days drawing Homu at home, filled out his forged information.

Just as he was about to start writing and creating more Homu comics, he came across some interesting news.

"BGN Game Review: 'Undertale' Scores as High as 9.0!"

"Is the era of Homu over? Is the author running out of ideas?"

"A brand-new art form, a story of monsters and humans!"

"Undertale" had nearly dominated the entire gaming industry, even affecting works related to Homu to some extent. This caught Walter's attention.

With so many exaggerated news reports, there had to be some truth to them. And the best way to understand was not to be a terminally ill online ''gamer' or rely on unscrupulous media but to experience it firsthand.

Upon downloading Sbeam, the opening screen featured promotional material for "Undertale." The simple pixelated English title made Walter frown.

Could a pixel game really achieve such success?

Nevertheless, Walter purchased the game and downloaded it. Despite its size being less than two hundred megabytes, it boasted overwhelmingly positive reviews. Even with tens of thousands of reviews, achieving such a level of praise wasn't easy, considering Sbeam's somewhat credible reputation in providing precise evaluations.

The simple yet not monotonous music gradually played.

...

Three days later, the author of "Homu's Adventure" tweeted: "'Undertale' is a game that will be remembered for a lifetime. Although it's a simple pixel game, it offers extraordinary gameplay and storytelling."

The author's praises were evident in every word, along with a new exploration of gameplay. Before "Undertale," no one had tampered with the game UI or save files. Therefore, in today's internet environment, elements that almost break the fourth wall and strongly interact with players were indeed shocking.

At one point, Walter almost missed his interview at St. Freya Academy and almost forgot to prepare for the related exam. After that, "Homu's Adventure" went on hiatus for two weeks, leaving Theresa gloomy as she conducted interviews.

Walter's actions almost led him to believe that he hadn't performed well.

Of course, these matters were bound to go unnoticed by Bronie, who was now fully engrossed in his new game, "Spiritfarer."

With its entirely new art style, although still confined to 2D, its intricate visuals and various detailed actions were sure to make the workload for creating this game absolutely immense.

After handling the tasks, Bronie began to feel that if she had to do it alone, it would take forever. What should she do now? Should she really create Project Bunny to make it write code for her?

"Hydra: Your Excellency, what is the philosophy of our Hydra?"

This message came from her mind-hacked Grey Serpent, no, it should be called Ash Serpent now.

It seemed that the other party had indeed begun to act, but in order to establish such an organization within the World Serpent, some core philosophies were definitely needed.

And they needed the kind of philosophy that clashed with the World Serpent. After all, on the its majority level, internal conditions were actually similar to those of a church, organized around fervent beliefs to steadfastly resist Honkai.

"Haxxor Bunny: It may sound naive, but I believe the philosophy of Hydra is to 'Fight for all beautiful in ths world' and 'cut off one head, and two shall grow in its place."

"Hydra: ?"

"Haxxor Bunny: Essentially, the Hydra are immortal, so as long as their belief exists, Hydra will always exist. But that's not important; I happen to have a task for you."

"Hydra: Whatever the task, the Ash Serpent shall complete it!"

The Ash Serpent's momentum was fierce, seemingly prepared for sacrifice.

Generally speaking, causing trouble within the World Serpent would not lead to any good results, and the worst-case scenario might even result in being killed by other Grey Serpents.

Nevertheless, the Ash Serpent remained determined to complete Bronie's task.

Bronie herself was feeling a bit uneasy.

"Haxxor Bunny: Nothing else, just take my startup capital and establish a game company, mainly focused on programmers."

"Hydra: How does this relate to us, Hydra?"

"Haxxor Bunny: It's related, of course! This is to fight for all beautiful in this world, so it's relevant! It's not dangerous, and it's not your money, so just do it well, and there'll be a huge reward!"

"Hydra: Understood..."

It seemed a bit forced. Was he beginning to doubt the composition of her own words? But it didn't matter.

Regarding the art aspect, Bronie handled everything alone, and thankfully, if the projection ability could scan the visuals, theoretically, the workload wouldn't be too heavy.

The only trouble was the volume of text. But wasn't she already used to that? After simply planning and even binding the settings, she entrusted the Ash Serpent to cooperate on the other side, and Bronie sought out Cioara.

"Are you really going to make a game set in the afterlife? But can something like that really impress your friend?" Roughly looking at it, Cioara couldn't see anything special about this game.

Players who newly acquired the profession of Spiritfarer would receive their own ship. During their journey, they would continuously build their ship, making it bigger and bigger, while the Spiritfarer would search for lost souls in the ocean and ferry them away one by one.

"The pace of the game is also very important. I'm actually focusing on immersion."

"Um... Afterlife still allows for life, but then sending them away one by one, is that really appropriate? This afterlife setting seems quite comfortable, doesn't it?" Cioara pointed out that the afterlife seemed a bit too calm.

"For them, parting is actually a new beginning in their lives, and meeting them is also the end of their lives. Their lives are full of regrets. In this world, death no longer exists. If possible, they could even stay in this world forever, but such eternity is not a good thing."

"Eternity... huh..." Cioara probably understood what Bronie wanted to say. For some reason, she suddenly thought of the Flame Chasers in the Elysian Realm. They were also dead. But they also gained almost eternal life in the Elysian Realm.

Fifty thousand years felt like a moment; this was the convenience of data. Looking back now, the reason why they had remained unchanged up to now might not be due to data, but because of their inner regrets?

Honkai had not been defeated, and the successors were still inadequate. Or perhaps they were nostalgic for the real world?

"When one loses the courage to move forward and loses the purpose of life, life loses its meaning as well. In such an afterlife world, what meaning is there in staying there?"

If one pursued the meaning of their own existence, they would no longer remain in that afterlife world.

Because in that world, there really isn't anything else.

"Bronie."

"Yeah?"

"Are you really just a kid? And not some kind of dwarf? Should I schedule a medical check-up for you sometime?"

Thank you, Island Exploding Crow!! Speak a little more!

"Without a doubt, I'm definitely a fifteen-year-old girl. Although my physical development might be a bit delayed due to my experiences, my monthly 'debuff' is very regular. I drink a cup of warm milk every night and morning, and I also do stretching exercises before bed. During the medical check-up, the doctor said all my indicators were very normal. Why are you teasing me like this?"

"Sorry, sorry, I just feel that if a person hasn't experienced certain things, it's hard for them to have that kind of insight."

To some extent, Cioara was indeed impressed by Bronie. Because during Bronie's discussion of death, it covered the lives of many people, as if everyone's lives had a few close intersections, hitting home.

Seeking the meaning of life?

Before encountering Undertales and Elysia, Cioara had never thought about it, at most she just thought about buying a small island and getting a villa. But this time, Bronie brought her a whole new surprise.

Looking at the character designs of various characters in the plan.

After death, they would take on different appearances, which were the most suitable for their personalities, and they would only truly manifest on the ship. Perhaps it was because they had lost themselves on the island that they gradually forgot their original appearances?

"How much do you want?"

She couldn't expose her soft side. Otherwise, not only would he seem like lack in authority in front of children, but she wouldn't provide a sense of security to the other side either. So after taking a deep breath, Cioara quickly changed the subject. If they continued discussing it, she would become unsettled, and on the battlefield, a the knife would become dull.

"Um... how much does game development really cost?"

In fact, Bronie had no idea either. She just looked up the prices of music studios, recording studios, and art studios on the market. After careful consideration, it would be at least a six-figure sum.

"Are you kidding me?"

After repeatedly confirming the market prices behind him, if Bronie really went ahead with her plan, she might end up investing a million dollars. How many mercenary missions would he have to do to make up that money? And they were all high-difficulty ones.

"I can handle the art myself, I don't require original music, I can make a demo version first for the studio to polish, and I can also handle the programming myself, but if we want to pursue efficiency, hiring talent is the most appropriate. I'll be responsible for fixing bugs if we outsource, is that okay?"

"I didn't expect you to be so versatile. Why did you come to work as a waiter in my rundown shop?"

Unable to help herself, Cioara mocked. With Bronie's versatility, why would she come to her rundown shop to make a living?

"Isn't this seeking your help in times of need? And I'm also the kind of bunny who likes to repay kindness! If it were a pretty girl, I might even consider more intense repayment~"

"Uh, why do you talk like Elysia!?"

"Elysia?"

"No, nothing, just a friend of mine."

Cioara was a clearly a little strained, she almost said something random. Luckily, mentioning a person's name wasn't a big deal.

"Well, I'm the kind of person who repays kindness, so don't worry, with me in the shop, your store will definitely become popular! Even if you open a funeral shop, I can come up with one or two buy one get one free activities for you."

Patting her chest, showing full confidence, Cioara was also amused by Bronie.

"Well then, I'll invest in you, give you that dream opportunity, just don't squander that money recklessly."

"Russians don't lie to Russians, so rest assured!"

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Poll at patréon for new fic at May and June.