"Seeing the fighting spirit in all you mommies' and daddies' eyes, I'm so touched!"
Seeing that the mood was just right, Elysia's sweet voice came over the loudspeakers.
"I totally understand how you all feel, but please calm down and return to your places, okay~"
"Director Su will be taking part in every event today as a family representative! Congratulations, players and parents! You've finally got a once-in-a-thousand-years chance to beat the old scoundrel Su Yu, the man who's made everyone cry every single day, fair and square, on a real track in real life!"
Elysia gripped the microphone and beamed. Her radiant smile made the regular announcer teacher beside her wipe sweat from his brow.
The whole sports field went silent for half a second. Then a roar erupted that could have lifted the roof off the school building.
"Damn, why didn't you say so earlier!" A muscular dad in a tank top slapped his thigh, eyes wide as bronze bells. "I trained in track and field at sports school for ten years! I've been waiting for this very moment!"
"Old scoundrel Su Yu! You're not walking away with a single gold medal today! Do it for my off-banner Supply cards!"
"Son, march with your father and slay the villain!"
The young dad with the DSLR camera was even more over the top. He crouched down and clamped his hands on his son's shoulders, looking like a suicide squad about to storm the front line.
The chubby boy had never seen his father like this. He stood frozen like a wooden chicken, holding up his lollipop.
Elysia seemed quite pleased with the effect, and she didn't forget to twist the knife over the speakers.
"But please don't forget, everyone: even if you're out to take down Director Su, this is still a parent-child sports day at heart!"
"Mommies and daddies, work together with your children and defeat him with the love and Bond of your families! Good luck, everyone~"
Su Yu turned and looked at the burly men already stretching and warming up. The corner of his mouth twitched uncontrollably.
"I have a feeling this is the most fired-up turnout of parents any sports day in this city has ever seen. Look at that guy with glasses on the left. He's stretching so hard he's about to snap a ligament."
"Bzzzz."
Before Kiana could answer, the whirr of mechanical rotors drifted down from overhead.
Su Yu followed the sound and looked up. He recognized at a glance the small black dot rapidly growing in the sky, its body painted in black camouflage.
The garishly painted drone obviously belonged to a certain cyber bunny.
"Oh dear, I got found out."
Bronie's voice came from the speaker on the drone's underside.
"Hey, Bronie, what are you up to?! Did we come here for a sports day, or to play zombie mode?" Kiana shook her fist at the drone's camera.
"Just tell me whether you're joining in or not," Bronie teased. "Stupid Paramecium, you seem to be enjoying yourself, don't you? Holding hands so tight, tsk tsk~"
Teased like that, Kiana fizzled out instantly.
"Ahem! One thing at a time! Anyway, don't change the subject!"
Bronie ignored the white-haired fluffball and steered the drone into slow circles above their heads.
"So, how does it feel to be the Great Demon King in every parent's eyes? Pretty thrilling, right?"
It was, without a doubt, schadenfreude.
"When we get back, I'm docking all your attendance and bonus pay this month."
Su Yu stared at the camera dangling in front of his face and pulled out the boss's ultimate threat without mercy.
"You want to dock my pay?"
On the other end of the comm channel, Bronie blew a bubble and popped it with a sharp snap.
"Elysia already promised me. This is her assignment. However much you dock, she'll quietly pay me double! This Hack Bunny is monitoring you by imperial decree!"
Miss Pink Elf and the bunny were in cahoots. He'd fallen into the trap from the very start!
"Honestly, I didn't really want to get mixed up in this either."
Bronie went on explaining over voice chat, completely unhurried.
"Look on the bright side, Boss. Putting yourself out there like this today adds a brick to our grand world-saving enterprise."
"What brick am I adding?" Su Yu rolled his eyes.
"After all, in this world you're a front-row idol who's even hotter than Elysia herself!" Bronie delivered her highest praise with obvious pride.
"You call me an idol?" Su Yu spread his hands helplessly. "You mean the kind of idol who gets beaten and cursed out by thousands of people lined up the moment he shows up? If that's the standard, then yes, I'm a very dedicated idol."
The drone even nodded its "head" up and down like a person.
"This is the perfect chance to build your down-to-earth, approachable image as a game producer! So, for the game's fame, and for the lofty goal of saving the world..."
Bronie raised her voice and announced loudly.
"Livestream channel, activate!!"
"Wait, what, dude?"
Before Su Yu had finished speaking, the phone in his pocket began vibrating wildly, notification chimes from every app ringing at once.
The second Bronie hit the Enter key, the internet blew up completely.
Elysia's official livestream room went live without warning. No announcement, no poster, just a single line for a title:
[Can a Youthful Electric Bunny Dream of Old Scoundrel Su Yu Getting Water Stuck in His Teeth?]
Several hundred thousand viewers flooded in. They were about to start asking questions when the feed from the drone made them forget to type.
The camera was aimed squarely at the game producer who commanded the virtual internet and made everyone grind their teeth in hatred.
Beside him stood a tense-looking Kiana, her hand held in a death grip, and little Griseo, shielded in front of Su Yu.
The danmaku froze for two seconds, then poured down the screen like a waterfall in reverse.
[Holy crap! Who's this?! Is THIS the old scoundrel Su Yu?!]
[Stop, stop, am I blind, or is that awkward-looking beauty next to the old scoundrel Miss Kaslana herself?!]
[The old scoundrel holds Kiana's hand with his left and shields a little girl with his right? What kind of magical family photo is this?!]
[Stay calm, brothers. The old scoundrel's barely in his twenties, and Kiana looks like she's just become an adult. How could a ten-year-old with silver hair and blue eyes appear out of nowhere?! Biology is collapsing!]
[Blind student, you've found the key point! And look at the plate on Kiana's chest!]
The drone obligingly pushed in for a close-up. The red plate with black lettering, [Grade 5, Class 2, Griseo's — Mom], filled the center of the screen, and the [Dad] plate on Su Yu's chest was practically glowing.
[What's going on?! They even have a kid?!]
[Don't start rumors. I'm on site. Skyward Elementary is holding a parent-child sports day today, and everyone has to wear those two plates. They're probably standing in for Griseo's parents.]
[The knowledgeable one has appeared, and that makes sense. But their hands have been glued together since the beginning and haven't let go once. I can smell the sourness through the screen! Old scoundrel, and you still claim you have no feelings for the Little Junior Sister?!]
[I've been a fan for months! Let me give you some background: ever since the old scoundrel was holed up in that run-down rental, the Little Junior Sister has been by his side!]
[Seriously? From a run-down rental to a top-tier penthouse, from total obscurity to a nationwide hit... That's, that's practically the most enduring confession there is, just being there!]
[I give up. The old scoundrel Su Yu is a pure-love warrior at heart?! He poured millions into making Honkai Impact 3rd just to give it to Kiana as a love letter?]
[Hey! Whoever said love letter, come out here! What kind of lunatic writes love letters where the heroine gets stabbed half to death in the game every day!]
The danmaku boiled over, and arguments over whether Su Yu was a pure-love warrior or a sadistic pervert flooded the screen.
Soon after, Bronie adjusted the drone's signal and split the livestream screen in two.
The picture was cut in half, and the second panel showed Elysia in the broadcast room.
In a few short sentences, she laid out today's "Challenge the Demon King" rule for the sports day.
Now it wasn't only the parents on site who went wild. The netizens in the livestream room joined the demonic dance too.
[Damn!]
[Why am I still single with no kids?! I want to sprint to the field and duel the old scoundrel Su Yu too!]
[Coach, I'm actually an elementary school kid too. I just matured a bit early and grew a beard.]
[Will the security guard at Skyward Elementary let me in to compete?]
[Brothers on site, give it your all! We have to beat this shameless old scoundrel Su Yu at sports today!]
[Old scoundrel Su Yu, give me back Aunt Himeko! I'm already numb!!]
But amid all the cries for vengeance, a few voices sounded a warning.
[Hey hey, kids, I don't get what you're popping champagne for. Do your brains only have a goldfish's three-second memory?]
[Have you all forgotten the wilderness treasure-hunt variety show that the old scoundrel Su Yu and Elysia went on?]
[That man climbed cliffs with one hand and dove deep into the sea without even breathing hard! In real life the old scoundrel's physique is basically Captain America-level superhuman, okay!]
[And you expect this bunch of office-working parents to beat a superman at sports?]
The rebuttals followed immediately.
[Pfft, as they say, masters hide among the common folk!]
[I bet the parents at Skyward Elementary are full of talent, hidden dragons and crouching tigers!]
[There's no way this little field doesn't hide one or two retired athletes who can beat the old scoundrel Su Yu!]
[Exactly! There are so many different parent-child events lined up. No matter how strong or fit the old scoundrel Su Yu is, he can't possibly take first in every skill event!]
As the danmaku squabbled in a tangle, one maverick comment finally floated up.
[Hey, aren't you all missing the point?! Why is nobody paying real attention to our Griseo!]
[Our Griseo is a famous little genius painter! One of her paintings sold for a sky-high price at auction! And she knows the old scoundrel Su Yu too?!]
Someone below immediately explained.
[Well duh, the old scoundrel Su Yu is openly clinging to the thigh of the super-rich Eden. Of course they know each other.]
[I give up. Is there any big shot the old scoundrel doesn't know??]
Meanwhile.
On the rostrum in the middle of the field stood the old principal, clutching a three-thousand-word speech full of clichés, now thoroughly flustered in the cold wind.
He rubbed his balding head and sighed.
"It's rare for everyone to be this enthusiastic. Isn't that a good thing?"
With a wave of the old principal's hand, and with countless eyes watching, Elysia announced sweetly into the microphone.
"The First Skyward Elementary Parent-Child Sports Day is now officially underway!"
Bronie's drone quickly climbed higher and began broadcasting.
The first event on the field was a test of family chemistry: the three-person, four-legged leg-tied shuttle run.
Other families had dad shouting "one" and mom shouting "two," stumbling along nervously and lurching sideways. Some tumbled together after two steps and started blaming each other loudly.
Su Yu's trio stood in lane five.
Red cloth strips bound the calves of Su Yu, Kiana, and Griseo firmly together.
"Kiana, don't worry about the rhythm, just go at your usual pace. Griseo, hold on tight to me. Ready?"
Su Yu gave the order in a low voice.
Kiana lifted her chin confidently.
"Hmph, a little game like this isn't even a warm-up for me!"
The whistle blew.
Su Yu's monstrously powerful mental strength let him simulate the muscle-firing pattern and stride length of Kiana's start beside him.
In that instant, their stride rhythm, their force output, even their breathing frequency fell into perfect sync.
"Whoosh—"
Plastic track dust kicked up behind them.
That wasn't running. That was damn well low-altitude flight!
The other parents had barely taken their third step.
Su Yu and Kiana, with Griseo dangling in the middle, shot across the finish line like a black-and-white bolt of lightning, leaving second place behind by most of the field.
"The old scoundrel Su Yu must have put thrusters in his soles! That's cheating, right?!"
"How is this possible?! I wouldn't have dared dream up a scene this ridiculous!"
"How can a guy make a smash-hit game himself, have a gorgeous, obedient Little Junior Sister, and still steamroll everyone at offline sports too?!"
"Why does a living cheat code with zero weak spots exist in this world?!"
"This is totally unscientific! He's stomping Newton's coffin lid to pieces! It's unscientific!!"
Next.
The second event was the parent-child three-person obstacle relay.
The rules required the child to run the toughest opening five hundred meters.
Griseo, whose stamina was weaker, ran the first leg gasping for breath, clutching the baton tightly.
She gave it everything she had, but by the handoff she had fallen far behind, currently second to last.
When Griseo reached the exchange zone and handed the baton to Su Yu, her eyes were red, and her voice carried a hint of grievance.
"I'm sorry... Griseo ran too slowly and held you back."
Su Yu bent down, took the baton, and pinched her cheek on the way.
"What are you thinking? Isn't family about making up for each other? Leave the rest to us."
The moment the words fell, Su Yu darted off like a cheetah.
On his short three-hundred-meter leg, while others sprinted in agony, he left an afterimage on the track and erased the gap outright.
Kiana started her run-up early in the exchange zone. The instant the baton landed firmly in her palm...
The white-haired girl practically flew down the track, with nothing but the howl of wind around her.
The last few parents desperately trying to block her only felt a flash of white sweep past and ended up with mouthfuls of dust.
As she crossed the finish line, the huge momentum stirred up a strong gust that blew the score sheet right out of the timekeeping referee's hands and into the air!
And that was with Kiana holding back. With her terrifying Valkyrie physique, otherwise it wouldn't have been the sheet that flew.
It would have been the poor referee.
The thousands in the stands and the audience in the livestream room all fell into stunned silence in that moment.
"This is unscientific! Newton's coffin can't hold him down anymore!"
"Good-looking and great at making games is one thing! But is that running speed even human?!"
Those two crushing displays of physical power shattered the confidence of most of the parents on site.
But soon the school brought out the final big event, one that tested brainpower and family teamwork: the campus family encyclopedia quick-answer quiz.
It was the only event that pitted brains against brains, not brawn.
When the questions on the big screen came up, about complex geometry, historical documents, and obscure art history...
Kiana, who had just been running wild and unstoppable on the track, deflated like a punctured ball.
"Uh, this..."
"What are these scribbles?! Why would anyone string together letters scarier than sleeping pills?"
Standing at the answer board, Kiana stared at a question about the composition of some obscure school of painting from fourteenth-century Renaissance Europe. Beads of sweat the size of soybeans covered her forehead, and her eyes spun into mosquito-coil spirals.
What she hated most was memorizing history, and she had no idea what alien script was written up there.
Many players finally found an outlet to strike back, and they gloated in the livestream room.
[Hahaha! The old scoundrel gets his comeuppance!]
[I'm dying, her illiterate stat is fully exposed!]
[What's the use of being great at sports? Give her a brain-burner like this and she's done for!]
[What's that supposed to mean? Picking on a poor little Chongchong, huh?]
But just as everyone figured the old scoundrel Su Yu would finally fall flat on his face...
Griseo, standing beside them, slowly picked up the answer pad.
Faced with art movements and obscure knowledge that would make even a graduate student think for ages,
Griseo's genius mind began running at high speed.
She didn't even hesitate for a moment. Her little fingers flew across the answer board.
The score on the leaderboard shot up as if strapped to a rocket.
In just five minutes,
Griseo single-handedly left the other families' parents, who were racking their brains, far behind.
[What do you mean idiot mom, genius daughter? I'm convinced Griseo really isn't Kiana's biological kid.]
[Pfft, you can't ask a sports student to answer these questions. That's like asking Zhang Fei to thread a needle.]
[Fun fact: the second half of the Zhang Fei saying is 'rough on the outside, careful within.']
[Being careful within doesn't mean Zhang Fei can solve function problems, though.]
[To be fair, that's true.]
Faced with the dazzling long string of total points on the big screen,
Kiana scratched her head sheepishly, a faint blush on her cheeks.
"Um... why does this scene feel kind of familiar?"
How could it not?
Back at the amusement park, she'd been carried to victory by Griseo in exactly the same way.
"Thanks to Griseo, I really didn't help with anything."
Hearing this, Griseo turned around, took Kiana's hand firmly in one of hers, and grabbed Su Yu's with the other.
The little girl lifted her pure, flawless face and smiled slightly at the camera.
"It's okay, Mama Kiana. Daddy Su Yu just said so too, didn't he?"
"Family means that no matter what difficulties we meet, we make up for each other and help each other and walk on together!"
The glow of the setting sun fell on the three of them, hand in hand.
In that moment,
the furious danmaku in the livestream room, which had been screaming about killing the old scoundrel with their bare hands, miraculously vanished.
But soon, a fresh wave of danmaku burst out.
[Sour! Sour! Sour! Sour! I'm turning into a lemon with envy!]
[I've had enough! I should never have clicked on this stream!]
[Netizens are like vampires. One touch of sunlight and we turn to ash!!]
Meanwhile,
in the Golden Courtyard group chat, Mobius sent a message.
It was a lightning-fast clip from the sports day livestream, with a cover image of Griseo holding Su Yu's and Kiana's hands, smiling happily in the glow of the setting sun.
Mobius: @Ato @Blanka
Mobius: So this is what little Griseo is like at your place. At the Lab Rat's place, she's completely different, you know. If you can handle it, go ahead and open the video I sent you.
Blanka: ???
Ato: ???
Elysia: !!!
Su Yu: What's that supposed to mean??
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