"Heh~ I could guess without even trying. Tencent, right? They only ever have that one trick."
"Bro, you can go check Tencent out first. Come back and tell everyone what the game's like afterward."
"Sure, bros, wait for my news."
Meanwhile, countless streamers on Bilibili and Douyin opened their livestreams at the earliest possible moment.
Because Mo Li had not invited any players to a closed beta, the only people who had fully experienced Honkai Impact 3rd were the girls at the Studio.
As a result, over the past half month, there had not been even the slightest leak about Honkai Impact 3rd online.
Under normal circumstances, Honkai Impact 3rd's popularity should have gradually faded.
However, Mo Li kept releasing videos related to Honkai Impact 3rd from time to time, even openly labeling them with countdowns such as xx days, xx hours, and xx minutes until the open beta...
The result was that players could not play the game, nor could they get even the tiniest bit of insider information.
Yet every couple of days, a trending video about Honkai Impact 3rd would pop up, practically leaving them drooling with anticipation.
Aside from combat videos featuring several different characters, those videos revealed almost nothing else, leaving the players unbearably itchy with curiosity.
The players only knew that the Valkyrie Armors White Knight: Moonlight and Thunder Queen's Demon Armor were incredibly badass.
"Wings of Light, deploy!" "Lightning! Burst!" Whenever the Valkyries shouted those lines, the gorgeous combat effects looked unbelievably cool.
A white-haired loli, a stoic girl, a white-haired girl, a red-haired mature beauty, an elegant maid, a Shenzhou Flatboard...
Whatever type of beautiful girl you could imagine, this game had them all...
Forget anime fans—even people who were not into anime had been drawn in.
Unable to play the game or see any leaks, many players started searching everywhere for Honkai Impact 3rd closed beta slots.
Some wealthy players even directly offered one hundred thousand yuan just for a closed beta slot.
The news of someone spending one hundred thousand yuan to buy an account sent Honkai Impact 3rd onto Weibo's trending searches for a while, successfully pushing it beyond its usual circle.
When Mo Li received the news, he felt somewhat helpless and could only post an announcement through the official account, stating that the team had no plans for a closed beta.
No matter how desperately the players begged, Mo Li refused to open a closed beta. He was determined to keep them hanging.
The girls at the Studio all said he was simply too wicked...
Finally, Honkai Impact 3rd launched its open beta today, and the hype that had been building for so long successfully reached its peak.
Whether they genuinely wanted to play the game or merely wanted to ride the wave of hype, most gaming streamers chose to stream Honkai Impact 3rd.
At that moment, a Bilibili content creator named Miss Fairy, who had tens of millions of followers, unexpectedly started a livestream.
Although she possessed peerless beauty, most of her followers had not come solely for her looks.
The main reason she attracted so many fans was her optimistic, cheerful, innocent personality, as well as... her bizarrely varied stream content.
Her only flaw was probably that she streamed too rarely. Sometimes, she did not stream even once a month...
Even so, whenever she went live, her stream would become livelier than ever.
Today was no exception.
"Hi~ Did you miss me?"
On camera, a pink-haired girl smiled sweetly as she gently waved her delicate hand at the lens.
Her brows were like crescent moons, her face as radiant as a rosy dawn. Whenever she smiled, she seemed like a fairy who had wandered into the human world, innocent and carefree.
Just a simple greeting was enough to dispel all gloom and lift one's spirits.
A good mood could be contagious. Seeing such a pure and adorable girl, the viewers in the livestream could not help but smile as well.
Then, dense Danmaku flooded the entire screen.
Image: Elysia?
Chapter 13: It's Elysia Time Now!
"Elysia!!"
"Today's Elysia is still as dazzling and radiant as drifting flowers~"
"She's finally here! Without Elysia, my days are completely dull and colorless."
"Hmph~ Elysia's opening line this time was a little ordinary, but I still love it~"
Elysia softly read the Danmaku aloud, a radiant smile still hanging on her face. Her lively eyes curved into two crescent moons, and even the occasional jealous comment did not affect the girl's mood in the slightest.
"You didn't like this opening line? That's okay, I still have thirty-nine different opening lines~"
"But hearing you praise me like that... really makes me happy."
"Let me tell you a secret: over these past two months, Elysia has been constantly planning the content for this livestream~"
"Can everyone guess what it is?"
"Going to see cute beautiful girls? We already did that last time~ Besides... isn't Elysia a cute beautiful girl too?"
"Going to see Eden? I want to see her too, but unfortunately, she's been very busy lately~ It seems she's been troubled over her new album..."
"But everyone, don't worry about Eden~ Elysia will definitely cheer her up~"
"Helping thirty elderly ladies cross the street? But... there simply aren't that many elderly ladies who need help."
"Looks like you really can't guess what today's stream will be about... so~ now comes Elysia's thoughtful hint~"
"Today's stream... is about a game."
"Hehe~ No, no. Are all these adorable viewers really unable to guess it... Huh? This girl named Moe-chan got it right."
"Sure enough, cute beautiful girls will always share a mutual understanding with me~"
"That's right, this game... is called Honkai Impact 3rd."
"I've been waiting for it for so long, but MiHoYo never replied to me."
"But it's okay. Honkai Impact 3rd's open beta has finally arrived today."
While keeping an eye on the Danmaku, Elysia clicked on the Honkai Impact 3rd game icon.
She had first learned about Honkai Impact 3rd when she happened upon it while browsing Bilibili one day.
Perhaps the beautiful girls in it had attracted her, or perhaps she had been drawn in by the line, "Fight for all that is beautiful in the world." Either way, the game held an inexplicable appeal for her.
Thus, she had been following information about this game throughout the past half month.
She had watched nearly every video Mo Li released.
Kiana, Himeko, Bronya, Mei... the adorable girls in it had truly captured her heart.
"Fight for all that is beautiful in the world... fighting side by side with beautiful girls, huh~"
"Elysia is getting a little impatient."
Under the shared witness of tens of thousands of viewers, Elysia successfully logged into the game.
The opening animation still featured that familiar MiHoYo logo, followed by a crisp female voice through her headphones.
Report, Major. An unidentified flying object has appeared above Canghai City. Coordinates: FH5639. No biological energy response. Internal conditions cannot be observed. A minor Honkai energy reaction is rapidly intensifying.
Combat plan confirmed. Drone squad, move out! Cover the Valkyries as they board!
In the animated short, countless Assault-class Honkai beasts flew through the skies above a city packed with towering buildings. Alarms blared without pause, the once-prosperous streets had fallen into chaos, and not a single person could be seen.
Just a few seconds of footage made it clear that a disaster had likely erupted in this great city.
And that disaster had naturally been caused by those Honkai beasts.
Then the scene shifted. Once again, the camera slowly moved upward from a girl's legs, while the music changed into a lighthearted, somewhat mischievous tune.
Elysia's eyes lit up. "Kiana's here. Next... it's beautiful girl time~"
Many viewers in the livestream who had not learned anything about the game were also drawn in by its exquisite, fluid visuals.
"Is this an anime? It looks pretty good~"
"Hey, the streamer already said it's a game."
"I'm shocked! A game actually has such carefully made animated scenes?!"
"Elysia is streaming from a computer, right? This game even has a PC version!"
By then, Elysia had become immersed in the game and barely paid attention to the Danmaku anymore.
After the animated short ended, the game immediately entered combat mode.
On the screen, Kiana, dressed in White Comet armor and wielding dual pistols, stood atop a rapidly speeding drone.
Kiana's lively, cheerful voice also came through Elysia's headphones. "Watch this young lady show you what she's got!"
Seeing this, Elysia's eyes lit up. "Is it my turn to make an appearance~?"
"Fighting alongside beautiful girls really does put people in a good mood."
As she watched the tutorial, she admired the game's stunning visuals.
The drone weaved between skyscrapers, crossed elevated bridges, and flew out over the sea. White clouds drifted through the azure sky... The anime-like art style, combined with the cheerful music, left everyone in the livestream utterly amazed.
Even Elysia's eyes shone brightly.
"It's Kiana Time now!"
"This is my stage~"
Listening to Kiana's voice lines, Elysia's interest was thoroughly piqued.
"Just like me, she's a lively and adorable girl."
As she controlled Kiana to defeat Death Warriors and Honkai beasts one after another, all while listening to Kiana's young-lady-like remarks... Elysia realized that in just two minutes, she seemed to have completely fallen in love with the game.
The viewers in the livestream were itching to play as well. While watching Elysia's stream, they quietly turned on their computers and began downloading Honkai Impact 3rd.
As time passed, Elysia seemed to have forgotten she was even livestreaming, seriously progressing through the game's main story.
Before she knew it, an entire afternoon had passed.
It was not until a phone call rang that her attention was pulled away from the game.
The instant she saw the name on her phone screen, Elysia let out a string of cheerful giggles. "Little cutie Eden~ Are you done with work~?"
A calm, dignified mature female voice soon came from the phone. "Mm. I'm downstairs."
"I'm coming~" Elysia hung up and waved at the livestream camera. "Little angel Eden is here~ Soon, I'll be fighting side by side with her."
To the livestream viewers' surprise, Elysia had not forgotten that she was streaming.
PS: Feilu actually doesn't allow that musical note symbol. This makes Elysia significantly less adorable. (Sigh)
Image: Elysia
Chapter 14: The Queen of the Music Scene?—Eden
The moment they heard Eden was coming, the livestream's Danmaku completely exploded.
That was Eden, the most popular female singer in the country at the moment.
Her looks, temperament, figure, and vocal ability—every single one was among the very best.
And Eden rarely showed herself in public.
She never accepted commercial performances or advertisements, never appeared on variety shows, and never acted. She only buried herself in writing songs.
In her world, it seemed as though only music remained.
Other than seeing her during concerts, the place where fans had the best chance of seeing her was Elysia's livestream.
Therefore, whenever Eden appeared in Elysia's livestream, viewers would spread the news far and wide.
Once word got out, Eden's fans would naturally flood into Elysia's livestream.
Whenever that happened, Bilibili's traffic would explode.
Before long, Eden, with her long wine-red hair, finally appeared in the livestream.
Before you continue