Honkai: Star Rail: I Developed the Star Rail Mobile Game at the Company Chapter 8

"Aventurine came looking for us?"

Lin Guang rubbed his chin, weighing whether to add him.

Staying in contact with the branch office alone wasn't ideal—many cross-galaxy promotional methods were exclusive to the Interastral Peace Corporation.

It's just that, for now, only Aventurine was reaching out to him. Once he actually partnered with the company, other departments and factions would inevitably make their move, and that would mean a heap of trouble down the line.

He wasn't in a hurry for now. Better to wait until he had enough strength to protect himself first.

So Lin Guang once again opted for the aloof persona—when in doubt, cold-shoulder it. That was basic game developer protocol.

And with the PV's release, countless eyes locked onto the Honkai: Star Rail account.

"Lao Mu, stop topping up! The official channel dropped a PV!"

"Holy crap, the official account is alive again?"

"There's even a PV! Lao Mu, go check it out!"

Lao Mu, who was about to pull for gacha, saw the barrage messages and quickly switched over to play the PV.

The game's hype had clearly spread. The moment he clicked in, a flood of bullet comments erupted from the right side of the screen, making the whole video stutter.

"11111"

"So many people!"

"Damn, with this many comments, my 8848 graphics card is about to explode!"

"Group Hunters passing through, just taking a look!"

"Check out the Medicine Master's Legacy!"

"This damn company is working overtime again!"

Countless bullet comments swiped across the screen as the live viewer count skyrocketed!

1,000... 10,000... 50,000... 230,000! And it was still climbing!

"Our game is thriving!"

Chapter 11: The Official's Pie in the Sky

Hundreds of thousands watched live, endless white bullet comments flashing across the screen, completely obscuring the video's original content.

"Damn, one more look and this thing's gonna explode!"

Helpless, Lao Mu had no choice but to turn off the bullet comments, or his graphics card would melt.

The PV opened with a "thump"—the lid of a trash can was flipped open, and through the light, Stelle appeared.

Before she could get a good look, March 7th appeared from behind and yanked her away, dragging her over to a wall plastered with an abstract, cartoonish wanted poster of the train trio.

Stelle and March 7th were both amused by the absurd poster, while Dan Heng just pressed a hand to his forehead in exasperation.

Finding it hilarious, March 7th pulled the two of them for a photo in front of the poster—only to attract a swarm of guards in pursuit.

During the escape, Sampo poked his head out from inside a trash can to spy on them, but the commotion from the fleeing group knocked the can over.

A blonde man in full armor pointed ahead at the wanted fugitives, seemingly directing the arrest.

Then the background shifted tones, and the words "Gepard" appeared in large letters beside him.

But the next moment, the imposing commander was grabbed by a very rock-and-roll cool chick and dragged backward—Serval!

Serval, who had stopped Gepard from chasing the group, let go and waved at him as she backed away, only to bump straight into Pela, who was looking at her phone!

The phone flew out of her hand and spun toward the camera, and in the frame were clearly Seele and Bronya!

The airborne phone was caught by a hand with doll-like joints, and then Herta pointed a single finger at the camera like a gun.

With a "bang" from Herta's mouth, the scene cut to Kafka and Silver Wolf, the camera panning to reveal Blade leaning against a wall.

As the camera focused on Blade, he stood up and walked toward a red glow.

The light flared, and the PV's music shifted entirely!

The pipa notes of Xianzhou flavor, paired with the sight of a Starcraft, instantly caught the eye!

The camera pushed forward through the Xianzhou until two figures appeared on the bridge—Luocha and Sushang!

Sushang looked up, and a massive fat chicken fell from the sky, only to transform into Imperial Jade tiles landing in Qingque's hands!

Fu Xuan, phone in hand, saw through it all from behind and snapped the perfect evidence of her subordinate slacking off!

As the two fought over the phone, a blue sword light swiped across, and a young swordsman descended from the sky—Yanqing!

The frame panned again, revealing a white-haired man dozing off—Jing Yuan!

Then the scene suddenly turned into a photo: the fox-eared woman Tingyun was selling limited private photos of the Divine General, smiling as she showed the payment QR code to customers.

But the photos couldn't keep up with demand. As customers fought over them, a little girl with dragon horns pushed through the crowd—Bailu!

After knocking the photos out of Tingyun's hands, the Dragon Lady realized she'd caused trouble and immediately bolted, with Tingyun, furious over her ruined business, chasing after her.

More and more people joined the fleeing crowd, and Stelle was even playing on her phone while running.

The lively PV ended with the Star Rail Express speeding by, revealing the game's logo.

At the very end, all that came through was Welt's voice, sighing with emotion.

"Youth is truly wonderful. I'd like to visit the Xianzhou Luofu too someday." "Don't worry, your part is coming soon."

And with that, the entire PV ended.

Yet the impact it left on the audience was nothing short of stunning!

Lao Mu stared blankly at the camera, as if he hadn't yet snapped out of the PV that had just played.

"What... was that thing that just played?"

Lao Mu's current feeling was strange—he sensed something new, but it was immediately interrupted by new characters, information flooding into his mind without him being able to grasp it.

"Is this the big pie the officials are throwing out?"

Call it a pie, but this was way too much to swallow!

It was like the officials were shoving one giant pie after another into his mouth, then forcing down a whole bottle of Sushiren, shaking it all up, and finally making him choke it down with a big hand clamped over his mouth!

The question marks on the barrage had already been worn out from spamming; no one knew where to even start savoring it.

"Why did the officials suddenly drop something this huge?"

"I can't take it anymore—if they keep stuffing me, I'm gonna break!"

Finally, Lao Mu looked at the barrage and said, "How about... we watch it again?"

Compared to the shock in the livestream room, the Train Crew found the familiar faces in the PV oddly heartwarming, since these were places the Star Rail Express had already passed through.

"Wow, the friends from Jarilo are in the PV too! These should be characters that appear in the game, right? I saw Gepard and the others in the Beginner Banner!"

March 7th was super excited seeing the characters in the PV, wanting to pull every single one and bring them home.

"And judging by the PV order, the game's story should first progress to Jarilo-VI, then head to the Xianzhou Luofu after solving the problems there."

Hearing this, March 7th suddenly thought of something and turned to Dan Heng with sparkling eyes.

"Wow, is it possible that you, Dan Heng, in your full Dragon Lord form, will appear as a five-star character?"

"What do you mean by 'full form'..."

Dan Heng was speechless at the embarrassing term, and besides, that wasn't his full form—his Dragon Lord power had long been split apart; he could never be his former self again!

"Ah, but I want every single character, and my allowance doesn't seem to be enough anymore."

March 7th looked pitifully at Stelle and Dan Heng.

Sensing her intent, Stelle immediately raised a palm forward.

"No way. As the protagonist, I can't let any companion miss out on my story!"

March 7th had no choice but to turn her gaze to Dan Heng.

"...If you only buy the monthly pass train ticket, with good luck, you should be able to collect all the characters."

"Hmm~ You two, help a girl out!"

March 7th grabbed both their hands in a cutesy way, but they were pulled away at the same time.

"If you want to act cute, you should go to Himeko."

So March 7th had to look at Stelle.

Stelle: "Uh... I can apply for an interstellar loan for you."

March 7th: "..."

"Borrowing money to top up a game—that's not good behavior."

"I agree with Miss Himeko. Little March, maybe you should plan your spending. Just the shipping fees for your online shopping sent to the Star Rail Express have already cost several hundred thousand."

"Hehe, I... I just couldn't wait to get them faster."

And with the appearance of the PV, Honkai: Star Rail finally began to spread through the gaming community.

Some bloggers with little traffic saw the potential in Honkai: Star Rail and started joining the game on their own, hoping to get a slice of the future traffic pie.

The gears of fate began to turn.

Years later, people would still remember the day the game Honkai: Star Rail was released.

Chapter 12: Me, Fighting the Doomsday Beast? Seriously?

Inside Lao Mu's livestream room.

After carefully savoring the PV several times, a lingering aftereffect began to erupt!

"Oh my god, are these the characters and maps that will be implemented in the future?"

"I admit this big pie is very effective—I've already become the King of Impatience!"

"I know you're in a hurry, but let me be in a hurry first!"

"And the quality of this PV is seriously high—both the transitions and the special effects!"

"Same here! Especially that pipa melody in the background after the switch to the Xianzhou—absolutely stunning!"

"At first I was gonna say this game account had nothing, turns out they were saving a big one for this!"

"Luofu! It's the Luofu, I saw General Jing Yuan, ahhh!"

"I never thought the Divine General would actually show up—that's one of the Seven Arbiter-Generals of the Emperor Bow, a Hunt Envoy! His power must be insane!"

"And the Stellaron Hunters! Besides Kafka and Silver Wolf, there's Blade!"

"Boo-hoo, Mommy is so beautiful!"

"Ms. Herta's puppet is a playable character too! Wonder if we'll ever see the real Herta in the future!"

"Haha, that foxian woman named Tingyun is actually selling Jing Yuan's private photos!"

"Makes me want to grab a few myself—I'll head to the Luofu later and ask Tingyun about it!"

"The protagonist is still running around playing on their phone—truly the Trailblazer!"

The barrage in the livestream was frantically discussing the PV content. Watching the stream's popularity soar to several times its usual level, a thought arose in Lao Mu's mind.

Maybe he should switch to streaming Honkai: Star Rail from now on. The game had just launched, and he could ride this momentum to become a major streamer for it!

With that thought, Lao Mu's gaze toward the game grew fervent. He set aside his perfunctory attitude toward the commercial task and began to take things seriously.

"Alright, bros, time for the gacha session—let's see which characters we can pull! One shot, one hit, gimme!"

The Stellar Jade Ticket floated in the air, welcoming the arrival of the Star Rail Express.

A faint colored projection behind the ticket hinted at the outcome of this warp. The train pulled in, and a golden light accompanied by a fierce gust of wind blasted Pom-Pom, who stood waiting at the front, flying backward!

"What the hell, it's gold!"