Making Genshin Impact: Elysia Helps Me Endorse

This means that out of the top ten trending topics on Weibo, a full eight were driven by Eden.

Eden is just that popular in this world.

Chapter 20: Imitating the Ghostly Judge - Tencent

Inside Zhao Yi's studio at Tencent Games.

Ever since Zhao Yi was rejected at MiHoYo's doorstep half a month ago, he had been accelerating his own game development.

As for the game made by MiHoYo's new boss, he didn't care at all.

In his opinion, a small workshop like MiHoYo couldn't possibly achieve anything significant.

What difference did a change of ownership make?

In China's gaming industry, only Tencent and NetEase mattered; all other game studios were trash, only fit to pick up scraps.

Therefore, he was furious and dismissive of Durandal's rejection.

He had been stewing in anger for over half a month upon his return, vowing that once his game launched, he would make Durandal and the others regret their decision.

Once MiHoYo's new boss went bankrupt, he would swoop in, take over, save MiHoYo from ruin, and finally win the beauty's heart.

Heh heh heh... this plot was just too perfect.

Even if, by some slim chance, Honkai Impact 3rd wasn't a complete flop, he could still use Tencent's backing to completely crush it.

In his calculations, MiHoYo's new game absolutely couldn't make any waves, and the new boss's bankruptcy was a foregone conclusion.

However...

What he never expected was that MiHoYo's Honkai Impact 3rd would coincidentally launch on the same day as his own game!

Not only that, but MiHoYo's new game completely overshadowed his, crushing its popularity to an all-time low.

After a full day, there wasn't even a single mention of Tencent's new game.

The trending topics were completely dominated by Eden and Honkai Impact 3rd.

On TapTap's new game rankings, Honkai Impact 3rd was miles ahead, leaving all other new games in the dust.

In the first 24 hours, it achieved a staggering 50 million downloads...

The second-ranked game barely reached 10 million downloads, while the game Zhao Yi was responsible for producing... ranked a mere 8th.

Such results couldn't even compete with the second-ranked game, let alone go head-to-head with the number one, Honkai Impact 3rd.

This outcome immediately drew the attention of upper management.

After all, since Tencent entered the gaming industry, they had never suffered such a crushing defeat.

Even if they lost, they shouldn't have lost so miserably, especially to an unknown small workshop.

However, thanks to Eden snatching most of the traffic and his uncle's intervention to cover for him, Zhao Yi didn't receive any severe punishment.

He was merely lectured by his uncle.

"Damn it... lucky for you," Zhao Yi gritted his teeth, his mood incredibly agitated.

"But I won't give up just yet..."

Although he had an uncle in a high position, his own standing wasn't solely due to his uncle; he had to possess some ability to maintain it.

Zhao Yi was capable and not foolish.

Seeing the success Honkai Impact 3rd achieved on its first day, he naturally analyzed it.

After a full day of playing and dissecting it, Zhao Yi had to admit that MiHoYo's new boss was very smart and could absolutely be called a marketing genius.

Honkai Impact 3rd's success wasn't entirely due to Eden.

Firstly, the game had a very clear target audience.

That would be "ACG fans."

Coincidentally, the games released by Tencent and NetEase lacked any ACG style whatsoever.

MiHoYo's new boss accurately identified this niche and struck quickly, carving out a significant portion from Tencent and NetEase... From this aspect alone, the opponent was definitely worth the attention of everyone in the gaming industry.

"ACG fans... why didn't I think of that before..."

With this realization, Zhao Yi suddenly felt a flash of inspiration.

Besides its ACG style, Honkai Impact 3rd's greatest strengths were its... story, beautiful girls, and art style.

He didn't need to worry about the art style; with Tencent's capabilities, if they wanted to do it well, it would definitely be excellent.

The remaining elements, "story" and beautiful girls...

"What if we directly collaborated with famous anime studios and adapted them into games..."

Zhao Yi suddenly stood up, a look of wild joy on his face.

He hastily grabbed his phone and called his uncle.

"Little Yi, what is it?"

"Uncle, I've got a great idea..."

Following that, Zhao Yi carefully explained his idea.

On the other end of the phone, a middle-aged man nodded secretly. "It seems you have some ability, but this approach won't work at Tencent."

"Huh? Why?" Zhao Yi didn't quite understand.

"Over the years, the criticism against Tencent online has been known to the higher-ups, and they've considered making changes..." The middle-aged man paused, his tone shifting.

"And the game you made was a test case from them. The result is clear: the original route is still inferior to imitation."

"We have massive traffic, so there's no need to take risks with originality. Plus, your recent idea requires purchasing anime adaptation rights, which is too large an upfront investment."

"The higher-ups have already assigned a task: focus on that game, 'Honkai Impact 3rd,' and just imitate it."

"You don't need to use your brain. MiHoYo has already paved the way for us. What we need to do now is to quickly release 'Honkai Impact 4.' Understand?"

Zhao Yi slapped his thigh. "That's right! How could I not have thought of that..."

"I understand, Uncle. Then, for my next step..."

"Next, everyone in your studio will come over to help me. You can hand over the game you were responsible for to someone else to operate."

After hanging up the phone, Zhao Yi's lips curled into a smirk. "MiHoYo... your good days are numbered!"

Although MiHoYo had successfully carved out a significant portion of the market from Tencent and NetEase by appealing to the anime audience.

But what was Tencent known for?

They were the notorious imitation masters. Give them half a month, and with their powerful team, they could successfully "imitate" a "similar" game.

Then, relying on Tencent's enormous traffic, taking down a small studio wouldn't be that difficult, would it?

"It seems the higher-ups must have contacted MiHoYo's boss."

"Heh~ What a lack of foresight. Acquiring you would have been a courtesy. If you don't play along, you can't blame us."

Chapter 21: Healthy, Sunny, and Positive~

Honkai Impact 3rd has been publicly released for three days.

In just three days, the net profit has reached a staggering 10 million!

However, 80% of this 10 million was accumulated on the day of the public release.

It was clear that this was due to Eden's influence.

Without Eden's popularity, the profit figures for the following two days began to steadily decline.

"Tsk, tsk, as expected of Eden... Just playing for an afternoon brought such huge revenue to the game..."

"It seems I need to contact her as soon as possible."

Cooperation was a must, after all, Eden still needed to participate in the upcoming Thirteen Flame-Chasers event.

If it were an ordinary person, it might be possible to brush it off as coincidence.

But for public figures like Eden and Elysia, the word "coincidence" would definitely not work.

Mo Li wasn't worried about her refusing.

After all, she's a musician... tempting her with music should do the trick~

If she still refused, Mo Li would have to replace her spot in the Thirteen Flame-Chasers.

However, Mo Li would still try his best to persuade her, because if a different character was chosen, 'Honkai Impact 3rd' wouldn't be perfect.

"Boss, it's already 2 PM. Can we release the preview for the Herrscher of the Void gacha pool?"

As Mo Li looked up, his eyes were met with two ample peaks...

"Ahem... Since the time has come, let's upload it to both bilibili and Douyin simultaneously."

"From now on, you don't need to ask for my opinion on decisions that have already been made..."

"Heh heh~ But I want to spend more time with you, Boss~" Rita, dressed in an Office Lady Outfit, was elegant and sexy. The smile on her face was incredibly alluring, and coupled with her "push and pull" tone, it was truly hard to resist.

"Rita... Why are you learning bad habits from Himeko? Talking too much can become a habit..."

"Oh? Is the Boss worried I'll talk about other men?" Rita tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, feigning shyness. "Don't worry, Boss, Rita will only talk about you~"

Mo Li didn't believe a word of what Rita said. He rolled his eyes at her and said impatiently, "Alright, alright. I know you're all eager to get money to take care of your 'Saving Girl.'"

"But I've already invested the money into 'Honkai Impact 3rd.' I can't take out much money right now. Although Honkai 3 has made over 10 million in profit, the funds haven't been settled yet."

"How could we be the kind of people who are blinded by money... Boss, do you misunderstand us so much..."

Unlike before, Rita's expression was incredibly serious when she said this.

For a moment, Mo Li couldn't quite tell if she was being truthful.

He had always believed he understood the girls in the studio very well, but at this moment, he suddenly doubted himself.

Seeing Mo Li fall silent, Rita chuckled softly. "Alright, Boss, I won't tease you this time."

"This is the coffee I made for you. I'll get back to work now."

After saying this, Rita left Mo Li's office, her high heels clicking on the floor.

Watching the girl's retreating back, Mo Li seemed to understand something.

"Oh right, this isn't a game world. There's no Honkai, no Schicksal... the girls having personality differences is probably the most reasonable thing..."

He shook his head. "I should go check on Himeko's voice acting situation."

"This chapter is going to be really emotional..."

When Mo Li arrived outside the voice acting studio, he found the girls gathered together.

And at the center was Himeko, her eyes red.

"Himeko, what's wrong? Did the boss bully you?" Bronya asked, arms crossed and looking extremely serious.

Although Mo Li had been very polite during their half-month together, making Bronya lower her guard considerably, if Mo Li had truly bullied the girls in the studio, she, Bronya, would absolutely not let him get away with it.

Rita shook her head. "It probably wasn't him... I just went to find the boss. He seemed to be looking at game data..."

"So, who made Himeko cry?"

Everyone looked at Himeko in unison, hoping she would quickly reveal the culprit.

But Himeko was still immersed in her sadness, sniffling and unable to speak. Besides, she was a little embarrassed to say anything...

After all, crying because of game plot... was a bit too embarrassing.

At this moment, Mo Li finally walked over. Seeing the girls gathered together, Mo Li curiously asked, "What are you all doing gathered here?"

Seeing Mo Li approach, Rita proactively made an opening.