Mu Yang watched a few more fan creations.
He had to admit it.
The players' creative enthusiasm was through the roof.
Seeing the soaring popularity, miHoYo
directly established video creation incentives.
(Mu Yang had the system do it.)
No matter what type of Genshin Impact content you made,
as long as it was related to the game,
whether it was guides, team compositions, treasure hunting in the main story, or puzzle-solving for quests,
or fan creations and illustrated videos like the ones he had just watched,
even cosplay creators could get a share of the profits.
Of course, borderline content and shameless clout-chasing did not count.
What mattered was the players' love for a character.
The moment this announcement came out,
the comments flooded with cries about fleecing miHoYo.
However, these creation incentives also had requirements for view counts.
It was not like you could just upload something random and get paid.
The players were not stupid either.
Wasn't it all about getting views?
Then they just had to focus on high-popularity characters.
During Genshin Impact's launch period, who was the most popular?
Without a doubt—Mu Yang!
Even before launch, his character art had sparked heated discussions for being so handsome.
Then, thanks to his performance in the story—
his overwhelming strength, decisive ruthlessness, doting on the Traveler—meaning the players—
and a bit of unexpected contrast,
Mu Yang had successfully become a wildly popular character.
To sum it up, as long as they made videos related to Mu Yang,
they would get traffic.
They could earn miHoYo's money.
So all the talented players began coming up with their own antics.
At that moment, in the livestream room of the female streamer Sparkle.
Sparkle had already finished most of the game's available content.
Her level was stuck.
She could only wait for the daily reset to level up.
Treasure hunting was getting a little boring too.
So she asked her fans, the "little troublemakers."
"Brothers, is there anything interesting we can do?"
"I've got nothing to do."
Paid message (100 yuan):
[Why are you wearing my lunchbox on your feet?]: Why isn't the streamer solving puzzles? Is it because she can't?
Sparkle had long become immune to these little attempts at provoking her.
"How many Primogems can puzzle chests even give? Don't you know that once you send this paid message,"
"I can afford to open a few fewer chests."
Didn't we say the streamer was loaded? Why are people still sending gifts?
Anyone who sends gifts gets banned for a year.
Sparkle saw a new user enter with the Governor effect.
They even had the same name as a character from the game.
It was the big shot who had gifted her the Governor status on Genshin Impact's very first day.
"Welcome, Governor Mu Yang, to the livestream. It's been a long time since you last came by, big boss."
"Did you find some other girls?"
Paid message (yuan):
[Mu Yang]: How about doing a cosplay for fun?
This was Mu Yang himself.
He had just finished watching some ridiculous fan creations.
He wanted to see what the players were doing now.
After entering livestreams, he found that most people were farming materials or hunting treasure chests.
When he came to Sparkle's stream, he saw that she seemed to be looking for something to do.
So he sent this paid message.
Brother Mu is here!
Cosplay sounds good. Doesn't miHoYo have those video creation incentives now? It feels like it could blow up.
A flat board can only do cosplay. What else, make guides?
Sparkle thought about what the chat was saying.
It seemed pretty doable.
She normally liked playing with cosplay anyway.
If she could ride the hype from Genshin Impact's launch and the video incentives this time,
and become popular through character cosplay,
wouldn't that be awesome?
"Fine, fine. Since our big-shot Mu Yang said so, I'll satisfy you all."
"Who do you want to see me cosplay?"
Mu Yang.
Mu Yang +1.
Mu Yang +.
Sparkle looked at the screen full of "Mu Yang."
That was just how chat was—pure rebellion.
"Alright, alright, so that's how you want to play? Then I'll cosplay Mu Yang."
"I'll go look for something suitable."
"I think I had a set of Chinese-style clothes before..."
Sparkle left the room to rummage through her clothes.
After some time,
a white-haired young man dressed in black stepped into the camera frame.
"What do you think, brothers?"
???
Don't talk yet, I'm almost there.
This is insane!
A female streamer effortlessly cosplays a male character. I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
How can she look this similar?
She looks similar, but something is missing. I can't quite explain what.
I have the same feeling. It should be the eyes. Mu Yang's eyes often express so much.
Now that you mention it, that really does seem to be it.
Sparkle looked at the chat's discussion.
She tried imitating Mu Yang's gaze.
"How about this, brothers?"
Still doesn't have that feeling.
Forget it. Mu Yang is one of a kind. He really can't be imitated.
Stop struggling, flat board. It's already impressive enough that a female streamer can make her build look this similar.
Mu Yang really is one of a kind. I just saw a guy cosplay his silhouette on that bridge, and it felt completely wrong.
Could it have something to do with Mu Yang's experiences? Cosplayers don't know his story yet. They can only imitate the form, not the spirit.
I bet that even after seeing his story, nobody could imitate him.
I agree. He can't be imitated. He is who he is.
Exactly. Our Brother Mu is the only one.
The more Sparkle looked, the less it seemed right.
"Alright, I'm ending the stream for now."
"I'll alter the clothes later and figure out how to recreate him better."
"Wait for my video, okay?"
After Sparkle ended the stream,
Mu Yang closed the panel and went to do something else.
There was not much he could do while waiting for Popularity Points.
He could only wander around Wangshu Inn for a while.
Until the system notified him
that the cosplay section was now fiercely competitive.
Only then did he return to his room and continue watching.
The so-called fierce competition
was because the system had created a special vote for the cosplay section.
First place would not only receive miHoYo's creation incentive,
but also a custom Mu Yang figurine.
Globally exclusive, never to be reissued!
Mu Yang: "Did you even ask me before giving that away?"
System: "I help you come up with ideas, and you're blaming me?"
"With how rapidly Popularity Points are rising now, once the voting closes,"
"at the moment the champion is decided, you'll be able to simulate!"
Mu Yang had not expected it to happen so quickly.
It had clearly said five days before.
Looks like he had wrongly blamed the system.
"Awesome. Love you, System."
System: "Hmph ╭(╯^╰)╮"
Mu Yang opened the videos in the cosplay section.
The system clearly had not given them much time to prepare.
There was no need to mention the male side.
Every single one was cosplaying Mu Yang.
However, none of them had particularly high vote counts.
The comments were brutally honest too.
They just didn't have that feeling.
Mu Yang's gaze, silhouette, and contrast—
all of it was one of a kind.
He was simply impossible to imitate.
Among the female cosplayers, Lumine had the most cosplays.
Because she was the protagonist of the game.
And many female streamers would cosplay Ying during launch
to attract viewers.
They already had the outfits and wigs prepared.
After looking through them all,
Mu Yang found that the two people with the highest vote counts
were Liu Ying CC, who had cosplayed Ying,
and Sparkle, who had cosplayed Mu Yang.
Who could have seen that coming?
Sparkle's efforts had ultimately paid off.
Although she still could not fully recreate Mu Yang's aura,
somehow, she had learned a couple of sword-dance moves from somewhere.
She put on a convincing performance.
With Mu Yang's immense popularity boosting her and her sword dance performance,
she overpowered Liu Ying CC and took first place.
She won the world's only Mu Yang figurine.
After watching, Mu Yang impatiently exited.
He had something more important to do now.
"System, the Popularity Points should be enough, right?"
"They are sufficient. Would you like to complete the settings and begin the simulation?"
"Yes!"
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