"All right..." Kiana could only put away her phone in disappointment.
Meanwhile, a video titled "Sister Himeko Breaks Through the Dimensional Barrier" was spreading like wildfire across the internet.
Naturally, it was a recording from Elysia's earlier livestream.
Anyone who saw the video was deeply shaken by the Himeko and Kiana in it.
Holy crap! Aunt Himeko isn't dead!!
I'd give this cosplay full marks. It's practically a one-hundred-percent recreation!
Hey, is there a chance that's actually Himeko and Kiana themselves?
What kind of joke is that? Himeko walked out of the game?
Didn't you read the title? Elysia and Eden went to MiHoYo Studio, and Himeko is a MiHoYo employee.
Hiss... Could it be that Himeko was created using MiHoYo's pretty female employees as models?
Now that you mention it, I suddenly have a bold guess... Could all the Valkyries in Honkai Impact 3rd be MiHoYo employees?
Hiss... Is MiHoYo still hiring?
Heh~ This is obviously just a publicity stunt. Tencent's popularity was about to surpass Honkai Impact 3rd, so they resorted to this kind of hype?
It was only a fleeting shot. It has to be fake.
Honestly, I don't really believe it either. There's still a gap between 2D and 3D.
Tencent's paid trolls are here~ Everyone, come watch~
Who cares whether it's real or fake? I just want to play the game now!! Hurry up and update it!
Watching Honkai Impact 3rd shoot up the trending charts once again, Zhao Wenbo found himself in quite a predicament.
"They actually came up with this kind of publicity stunt... I have to admit, when it comes to understanding 2D culture, MiHoYo's boss is better than me..."
Though they were rivals, Zhao Wenbo had to admit that Mo Li's tactics were certainly eye-catching.
Just as he was thinking, Zhao Yi hesitantly spoke up. "Uncle... that Miss Himeko... she really does exist. I saw her once before."
"Even Bronya, Durandal, Kiana, Rita... and the other Valkyries all have real-life counterparts at MiHoYo Studio..."
Zhao Wenbo was stunned by those words.
"You mean... MiHoYo's boss really used employees as templates for the game characters?"
Zhao Yi nodded.
"How accurate are their appearances?"
Zhao Yi said, "...They're almost one-hundred-percent accurate. Even... their personalities are very similar."
Zhao Wenbo said, "..."
How the hell was he supposed to compete with that?
Naturally, he had looked into Honkai Impact 3rd, and he knew perfectly well how popular its Valkyries were among players.
As long as those girls were willing to show themselves, they could debut on the spot.
Their popularity might even surpass some second-tier celebrities.
And those girls were far prettier than those celebrities.
"Damn... This won't do... If they want attention, all they have to do is let their employees show their faces, and the internet will explode."
After thinking for a moment, Zhao Yi said hesitantly, "As far as I remember, those girls don't like showing their faces in public."
"If they were willing to appear publicly, why would they have kept themselves hidden all this time? Even when The Last Lesson came out and MiHoYo was cursed so badly, Himeko never stepped forward to explain anything."
"If Himeko had come forward back then, MiHoYo wouldn't have been criticized so harshly."
"So I don't think we need to worry about that for now."
Hearing Zhao Yi's speculation, Zhao Wenbo's eyes immediately lit up.
"That makes sense..."
Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, Zhao Wenbo urged, "Xiao Yi, try contacting Eden and see if she'd be willing to play Maiden Voyage for two hours during a livestream."
"If Eden isn't willing, contact some other celebrities!"
This was an idea Zhao Wenbo had just come up with.
At the moment, hiring paid trolls to smear Honkai Impact 3rd and buying popularity to seize Weibo's trending rankings was clearly more trouble than it was worth.
Since that was the case, why not spend that money on finding a celebrity to endorse them?
He could even... imitate MiHoYo by choosing a female celebrity and using her as a template to create a character in the game!
"I'm such an idiot... Why didn't I think of this earlier..."
Zhao Yi seemed to understand his uncle's idea as well, and he eagerly went off to contact female celebrities in the entertainment industry.
With Tencent's prominent name behind them, finding a female celebrity to cooperate with was actually quite easy.
Very soon, Zhao Yi came running back excitedly.
"Uncle... Eden didn't answer the phone, but I contacted another female singer."
"Who?"
"Yu Weiwei." Zhao Yi said excitedly, "She didn't even ask about the price. She agreed right away."
"I think she must have seen the trending news too and wants to cash in on a wave of 2D fans..."
At that, Zhao Wenbo seemed to remember something. "And I heard she has some history with Eden."
Hearing there was gossip about Eden, Zhao Yi immediately became interested. "There are actually people who dislike Eden?"
"Heh~ No one can make everyone like them, no matter how outstanding they are..." Zhao Wenbo shook his head. "Calling it history isn't quite accurate."
"More precisely, Yu Weiwei was jealous of Eden's talent and started trouble because of it."
"That's what I thought~ With someone as gentle as Eden, how could she possibly get into conflicts with others?"
"All right, stop gossiping. The game launches tomorrow, so hurry up and keep an eye on things."
PS: I've received your love, my darlings. Thank you for the support. I'm going back to writing now; barring any surprises, there'll be another chapter today.
Launching at the Same Time, Facing Off Head-On
After much anticipation, it finally arrived.
At 2 PM on the afternoon of the 21st, Honkai Impact 3rd finally updated.
At the same time, Tencent's Maiden Voyage entered open beta as well.
Tencent really was Tencent.
Even though it had blatantly plagiarized the game, plenty of players still rushed to download it.
It couldn't be helped. There were so many people in the country; not everyone used Weibo, nor did everyone scroll Douyin.
But at least ninety percent of the population used Tencent's messaging software.
With those two apps, Tencent never lacked traffic.
Thus, Maiden Voyage's downloads in its first hour after launch were still explosive.
At this time, countless game livestreams on Douyin, Bilibili, Douyu, and other platforms were discussing these two games.
There were streamers playing Honkai Impact 3rd, naturally, as well as streamers playing Maiden Voyage.
At that moment, a Douyin game streamer named Fallen downloaded both games with the intention of reviewing them.
His fans all knew that he mainly played single-player games.
Even when Honkai Impact 3rd was at its most popular, he had never tried it.
The only reason he downloaded these two games today was because his fans had kept urging him to do so.
It couldn't be helped. He spoiled his fans too much.
"Mods, ban the people arguing in chat."
"First, let me make one thing clear: I'm not a MiHoYo fan, nor am I a Tencent fan, so I'll be looking at the strengths and weaknesses of both games from an outsider's perspective."
"I won't belittle or praise either game. I'll only share my personal opinions."
As he spoke, Honkai Impact 3rd notified him that its update was complete.
"Since Maiden Voyage just entered open beta, it still needs to download."
"And since I downloaded Honkai Impact 3rd yesterday, we'll try this game first."
"Maiden Voyage should be done downloading in half an hour or so. Then we'll try Tencent's new game."
As he spoke, Fallen had already successfully opened Honkai Impact 3rd and registered an account.
Just like every other player, the first thing newcomers saw upon entering the game was an animated short.
Then came the beginner tutorial.
"No wonder you all say MiHoYo is an animation company. This short's quality really is high. If they turned it into an anime, I'd definitely watch it."
"The impact feedback is perfect too, and the character models are flawless... The visuals are so gorgeous... Holy shit? This is really a mobile game?"
He had not even finished the beginner tutorial, yet Honkai Impact 3rd had already given him such a huge surprise.
He had never expected this.
"I'm not even into 2D stuff, but this art style... I seriously love it!"
Just as he said that, the beginner tutorial finally ended.
Yet what surprised Fallen was that the game screen went black.
Many veteran players were confused by this as well.
They remembered that after finishing the beginner tutorial, the game should have gone straight into free control.
Why had the screen gone black? Was there a problem?
Before Fallen could start cursing, a mature and capable female voice came through his headphones.
"The priority now is dealing with the interference from Celestial Mandate. They've already sent people to Shenzhou... Don't let them interfere with me!"
Then, a piece of suspenseful music slowly began to play.
At the same time, another female voice appeared.
"K423's whereabouts hold greater significance for Celestial Mandate, so... let them stay busy chasing him."
"Very good~ They'll definitely be pleasantly surprised~"
The dialogue ended, and the music gradually became more urgent. The heavy bass seemed to pound against Fallen's heart, leaving him deeply shaken.
On the game screen, Kiana held dual pistols with a solemn expression. Behind her, the figures of Rita, Otto, and Raven flashed by like venomous snakes lurking in the darkness.
The entire short was steeped in suspense.
Fallen's attention was quickly drawn in as well.
He could not understand what the short was trying to convey, yet his emotions rose and fell with the music.
As the music became more and more urgent, just as it seemed to reach its climax, it suddenly stopped. Then a Bagua symbol appeared on the screen, and the music... changed key.
It became even more intense, and seemed to carry a hint of aggression...
Fallen did not understand music, nor did he know how to describe it.
But with that sudden key change and the Valkyrie illustration that abruptly appeared, goosebumps rose all over his body.
"I have long since grasped every single one of your movements."
As Fu Hua's voice rang out, a dashing Fu Hua with a single ponytail and a monocle appeared on the screen.
Azure Feathers
Valkyrie Fu Hua Feathers
Before you continue