Chapter 101: Raiden Ryoma's Stroke of Luck

"So, this is what you've managed to procure from Bronie's office?"

Several days before the release of the gaming console, Seele watched Sirin enter her room with excitement, clutching the console.

Knowing Sirin was there to find Black Seele, White Seele temporarily retreated into her body, allowing Black Seele to take over.

To Black Seele's surprise, Sirin held a gaming console and several game cartridges, looking triumphant.

Black Seele had hoped Sirin had finally softened her stance and was ready to live peacefully.

However, Sirin explained that these were the initial fruits of her victory over Bronie.

Black Seele was at a loss for words but refrained from cursing, knowing she couldn't best Sirin.

What to do?

Just play games!

Seeing Sirin pull out Mario Kart, Black Seele joined in immediately.

Though she had never played this type of game before, it was easy to pick up and learn.

After a few hours, Sirin fell into a state of existential crisis.

She was frustrated by the turtle shells, not realizing they could be so troublesome in Odyssey.

"Why didn't I know the turtle shells in Odyssey could be so absurd?"

Each time victory seemed within reach, until a group of turtles would knock her back to the last place just before the finish line.

"It's not my fault! These turtles are all thrown by NPCs! Perhaps Bronie programmed some special scenarios, such as increasing item usage near the finish line?"

Black Seele found it amusing and quickly brought out Kirby to cheer up Sirin.

"Hmph! One day, I'll make Bronie honestly fix the AI for me!"

Sirin's arrogant declaration left Black Seele speechless.

What to say....By Sirin's side, Black Seele's arrogance was eclipsed by Sirin's. Black Seele felt drained, but relieved that games truly appealed to Sirin.

So, there was no need to worry about tension nor money. Rather, Bronie's funding was too abundant, and she didn't know where to spend it.

After sharing this with Bronya, Bronya would often ask for some money for investments here and there, claiming investments were needed here and there, unknowingly causing the money to flow more and more.

Was this normal?

Black Seele wasn't sure if it was normal, but she could tell Bronya seemed to be working for Sister Bronie, right?

That was fine.

Hopefully, the orphanage could continue to live peacefully like this, preferably without another Cocolia returning with news of failed experiments with family members.

Black Seele knew deep down that Seele was still very afraid, despite feeling awe and gratitude towards Cocolia. But the idea of conducting human experiments and then dying was really hard for people to accept, wasn't it?

...

Far away in Nagazora City.

In the affiliated private hospital of ME Company.

A girl slowly woke up by the window.

Upon opening her eyes, the girl finally saw the family member she had been longing for.

"Dad... what's happening to me?"

Usually, her father was busy and hardly had time to see her.

But this time, it seemed she had fallen seriously ill, prompting her father, who was always busy and never had time to see her, to finally come to her side.

But the father she saw when she opened her eyes was not the dignified father she had imagined but rather seemed like a boy engrossed in playing games?

Why would she think that?

Because Miss Mei saw her father completely immersed in the game, who did not notice her awakening at all!

It wasn't until Mei spoke that Raiden Ryoma reacted and quickly, embarrassedly turned off the game to look at his daughter.

"Cough, sorry, I was drawn into the game, which was also being pushed by Anti-Entropy, since you didn't wake up for a long time. This time it's just a slight cold, but because of the fever, it caused a coma, so don't worry too much."

"Um... okay, I understand, Father. So what about those men in white coats over there..."

The ward was tightly sealed. Although Raiden Ryoma sat defenselessly by her own sickbed, Mei still couldn't quite understand why such a big fuss was needed if it was just a minor illness?

White coats, protective gear, electrocardiogram, and inexplicable instruments.

Moreover, Mei also saw something similar to a Geiger counter making a clicking sound.

"Sorry, I was too nervous, but don't worry, it'll pass soon."

"But, Father, my study plan will be disrupted..."

"Don't worry, for the next month, I'll be by your side. Want to give gaming a try? I have a friend who loves it too, and I only realized how fun games can be after playing with him."

However, what Mei was worried about now was that her poor grades might disappoint her father. After that, her father, who didn't seem to enjoy coming Homu much, might really start ignoring her completely!

And usually, seeing Raiden Ryoma so busy, if she didn't behave better, wouldn't she just end up causing more trouble for her father?

"Sorry... Father..."

"Hmm? Sorry for what?"

"This time, I caused trouble for you, didn't I?"

"How could that be? Mei, you'll always be the daughter I'm proudest of! It's just that recently, there's been so much going on at the company that I may have neglected you a bit. After all, you fell ill this time because I haven't been paying attention to you lately."

Unexpectedly, the awakening of the natural stigmata could be life-threatening. Raiden Ryoma searched through all the data and delved into AE inside and out, but still didn't find much information about the stigmata.

He only knew that it was a legacy left behind by the civilization of the previous era to fight Honkai, and it could naturally counteract Honkai, seeming to resist the erosion of Honkai.

Since this thing could resist Honkai, could Honkai also resist the stigmata?

The researcher next to Raiden Ryoma suggested so, and Raiden Ryoma, eager to protect his daughter, carefully considered cases like Welt's and Sirin's.

It was unquestionable that Honkai had resistance, but the harm caused by the stigmata to his daughter was real!

And Raiden Ryoma did see that Honkai could alleviate the pain caused by the stigmata to his daughter, so after numerous attempts, seeing his daughter was about to die, he gritted his teeth and directly implanted the Gem of Conquest into his daughter's body.

As for the result?

Raiden Mei didn't feel any discomfort at all. Even after waking up, she didn't remember how she fell down!

During the time of illness and pain, there seemed to be little memory, perhaps the pain of impending death automatically blocked that memory?

But overall, the result was good.

Raiden Ryoma thought he was about to lose his daughter, and his apparent indifference, besides being able to divert his attention through games, was also to prevent his daughter from worrying.

After observing for a while longer, Raiden Ryoma could be completely at ease.

As for the Gem being gone, what should ME Company do about all the research centered around the Gem of Conquest?

What about the funds that had all been wasted now?

Forget it, let's put these aside for now.

"Come, daughter, come play games with Daddy! You'll definitely love Kirby's!"

Raiden Ryoma split the controller into two and handed one to Mei.

On this day, Mei felt the long-lost feeling of playing with her father.

At this moment, Mei hoped this time could become eternal.

Later, Raiden Ryoma left Mei again because of company funding issues, but left behind games and sent some new ones whenever he had the chance.

Consider it Raiden Ryoma's care for his daughter.

Raiden Ryoma didn't mind his daughter wanting to excel, but he couldn't accompany her, so perhaps games, this thing, could slightly alleviate her loneliness.

It's a pity that Miss Mei didn't like games, but rather, the time she spent with her family. Watching Raiden Ryoma's back, Mei could never express such a request.

...

"A father who loves his daughter in a twisted way is really terrifying..."

Bronie stayed in the office and saw Einstein's question. After all, Bronie had clearly stated that she had some connection with the people of the previous civilization, and she knew everything about fighting against Honkai and the Stigmatas.

Something happened on Raiden Ryoma's side, and Bronie was well aware of it. Einstein also sensed the young father's anxiety, so she thought without hesitation to go directly to Bronie.

As for the stigmata, everyone's situation was different, and even if the symptoms were mentioned, it didn't necessarily mean an immediate solution. Mobius also said she really didn't know what was going on with Mei.

The result?

It's also unknown which scientist under Raiden Ryoma made such a foolish move and directly implanted the Gem of Conquest which is equivalent to a Herrscher's Core into Mei's body.

You know, these two things, the stigmata and the Core of the Herrscher, are indeed two natural enemies, irreconcilable opposites.

Since the stigmata had a problem, why not use something more powerful to suppress it?

And it turned out that this approach really hit the nail on the head!

Mobius felt that her worldview had been greatly shaken, while Elysia was asking if this could be considered the birth of a new Herrscher.

Is Mei now considered a new Herrscher?

Bronie didn't think so; after all, Mei couldn't yet use that power flexibly.

Bronya also looked at Bronie's encounter with this matter, and she was even more shocked.

"So, is the third Herrscher considered born? Created by a father who didn't want his daughter to be killed by the stigmata?"

"Although I'm not eager to admit it, but indeed, as you have seen, the position of the Third Herrscher has already been predetermined in the future. However, Pardofelis is also right; no matter the era, people always tend to blame their faults on Honkai."

The second eruption was also like this.

The third eruption, and the fourth as well.

After knowing these things, Bronie found it difficult to refute Pardo's words, right?

What to do then?

She can only give Pardo more sparkling things to wear.

But now thinking about it, Pardo must be very happy playing on the Hyrule Continent.

Saving princesses isn't something that must be done, with so many treasure chests and Yahaha along the way, it will surely keep Pardo entertained for a long time.

You know, after every Blood Moon, a portion of the treasure chests will refresh, which means Pardo can explore countless treasure chests!

"Don't worry, Bronie; Bronya will accompany Bronie to fight against Honkai. But Bronya feels like Bronie hasn't taken any practical action against Honkai."

"Although these are indeed facts, most of my time is spent on making games. But please don't forget about Sirin. Being able to influence a Herrscher, no matter what, deserves me the highest achievement medal."

Although Sirin is still stubbornly playing games in her room, every time Kiana tries to communicate with Sirin, she only gets some perfunctory responses at most.

"Yeah, yeah, Bronie works hard to make games to calm Sirin down! Bronie's games have made outstanding contributions to world peace, and Bronya will learn Bronie's techniques in the future to make games with the same effect."

"Hehehe, not bad, not bad~"

"But!"

Well, can there be a "but" here too!?

Bronie was stunned for a moment.

"Bronie's games also successfully caused Teacher Yang to delay updating The Adventures of Homu for two issues in a row! Countless fans lamented; it can be said to be extremely sinful!"

Regardless of the time and space, Bronya always has a soft spot for Homu.

But Bronie also understands this matter quite well, after all, after watching it, Bronie vaguely felt it was like watching Jojo.

Mr. Welt's control over the plot is indeed very strong.

"So I have to balance my merits and demerits?"

"So Bronie still needs to make more games to offset this sin."

Looking at Bronya's smirk, Bronie was also helpless.

"Has the full Pokedex been unlocked? How many levels has Mario Maker passed? What's the ranking in Splatoon? Or have you collected all nine hundred Yahaha in Hyrule?"

"So does Zelda still require collecting all nine hundred Yahaha to clear the game?"

Bronya couldn't help but complain; these games indeed can be played for a long time, but collecting all nine hundred Yahaha is a bit unfriendly to players.

"In fact, there's no need to collect them all, or to consider making extra Yahaha for players from the beginning. But your urging made me not know what game to make."

After making many games in one go and making a lot of money, even Cioara said she got too much money, and holding it in her hand made her feel a little guilty.

And after holding back for so long, there's a feeling that anything could cause a fall from grace.

In short, there's already a bit of an idol burden.

"Plot? Or exploring new gameplay? Bronya has great confidence in Bronie, but if there's really no inspiration, Bronya can accompany Bronie to go out more and find inspiration together~"

"Hmm, finding inspiration... If you go too far from the orphanage, it's actually a very bad thing. I can't really let go of the children at the orphanage, and I also have a hard time letting go of that child Sirin, but new gameplay, new plots, it's really a very difficult thing to control. Even this time's The Legend of Zelda really didn't incorporate enough interesting plots; it was just a hero saving the princess."

To some extent, gameplay can make up for the lack of plot, but there were still many interactions related to the protagonist in The Legend of Zelda.

To avoid some players causing trouble and having disconnects between the plot and storyline, Bronie also thought of many branches in the dialogues.

"By the way, Sister Bronie, if you use game engines and real-time calculations, you can actually directly produce plotlines like animated series, right? Maybe we can separate the plot and make it into an anime, not integrating it into the game, and the game can just become simpler and more interesting content? What do you think?"

"Directly separating? That's not very appropriate, is it?"

Bronie shook her head, denying this idea. After all, most of the time the plot and the game need to be closely integrated.

Unless the plot and the game really feel especially disconnected, like fighting games for example.

Throughout the game, the player is fighting, where is there any attention to the game plot?

The whole mind is thinking about what combos to use, and what cool moves to use.

But Bronie wasn't sure if this kind of game could really attract players.

Fighting games are indeed harder to get into than most games, to do well and become a classic, first of all, you have to achieve differentiation and simplicity.

So after thinking about it, Bronie looked at Bronya.

"Now that there's KOF and Street Fighter in the gaming world, do you want to make a new fighting game? And separate the plot of the game into an anime?"

Bronya never expected that her casual remark would actually be adopted by Bronie, and even gave a very suitable suggestion for her own game theme!

For a fighting game, if you separate the plot, it definitely won't have too much disconnect with the game.

"Bronya wants to give it a try!"

"Then go ahead and do it!"