"Aventurine came looking for me?"
Lin Guang rubbed his chin, wondering whether he should add him.
It wasn't ideal to keep communicating through the branch office. Many interstellar promotional methods were only available through the Interastral Peace Corporation.
Still, although only Aventurine was contacting him for now, once he reached a partnership with the company, other departments and factions within it would definitely make their moves too. Who knew how many troubles that would bring?
He wasn't in a hurry right now. He would wait until he had enough strength to protect himself first.
So Lin Guang once again chose the aloof persona. When in doubt, give them the cold shoulder—this was basic game developer procedure.
As the PV was released, countless eyes focused on the Honkai: Star Rail account.
"Lao Mu, stop spending already! The official PV is out!"
"Holy shit, the official account's alive again?"
"There's actually a PV! Lao Mu, hurry up and go watch it!"
Lao Mu, who had been about to pull, saw the Barrage messages and hurriedly switched over to play the PV.
Clearly, the game's popularity had already spread. The moment he clicked in, Barrage comments erupted across the screen from the right, making the entire video stutter.
"11111"
"So many people!"
"Damn, this many comments? My 8848 graphics card is about to explode!"
"The Hunt gang, just passing through!"
"Check out the Medicine Master's Legacy!"
"This damn company is making us work overtime again."
Countless Barrage comments streamed across the screen as the video's concurrent viewers skyrocketed!
1,000... 10,000... 50,000... 230,000! And it was still climbing!
"Our game is thriving!"
The Official Hype Train
Hundreds of thousands watched online, while endless white Barrage comments flashed over the screen, completely obscuring the actual video.
"Fuck, one more look and it'll explode!"
With no other choice, Lao Mu turned off the video comments first. Otherwise, even his graphics card would melt.
At the start of the PV, there was a loud thump as a trash can lid was lifted. Himeko appeared in the light.
Before anyone could get a good look, March 7th appeared from behind and grabbed Himeko, dragging her over to look at the wild, abstract cartoon Wanted Posters of the three members of the Train Crew on the wall.
Himeko and March 7th were both amused by the ridiculous Wanted Posters, while Dan Heng pressed a finger to his forehead in speechless exasperation.
Finding it entertaining, March 7th even pulled the other two over for a photo in front of the posters, only to attract a group of guards pursuing them.
During their escape, Sampo, hiding inside a trash can, poked his head out to observe them in secret. The commotion from their getaway ended up knocking over his trash can.
A blond man in full armor pointed at the Wanted Criminals ahead, seemingly directing the pursuit.
Then the background tone shifted, and three large words appeared beside him: Gepard.
But in the next moment, that imposing commander was dragged backward by an incredibly rock-and-roll cool girl—Serval!
After stopping Gepard from chasing them, Serval released him and waved goodbye as she backed away, only to bump right into Pela, who was looking at her phone!
The phone flew into the air and turned toward the camera. On its screen were none other than Seele and Bronya!
The phone drifting through the air was caught by a hand with puppet-like joints. Then Herta pointed one finger at the camera like a gun.
As Herta said, "Bang," the scene switched to Kafka and Silver Wolf. The camera panned over to Blade, leaning against a wall.
When the camera focused on Blade, he stood and walked toward a patch of red light.
As the light flared brightly, the entire PV's musical style changed!
The pipa melody rich with Xianzhou flavor, combined with the Starcraft before their eyes, was instantly refreshing!
The camera continued forward through the Xianzhou until two figures appeared on a bridge—Luocha and Sushang!
Sushang looked up just as a massive Fat Chicken fell from the sky, only to transform into Imperial Jade and land in Qingque's hands!
Meanwhile, Fu Xuan, who had seen through everything from behind while holding her phone, perfectly captured proof of her subordinate slacking off!
As the two fought over the phone, a blue sword shadow flashed past, and a young swordsman descended from above—Yanqing!
The shot panned again, revealing a white-haired man taking a nap—Jing Yuan!
Then the image abruptly became a photograph. The Foxian woman Tingyun was selling Limited Private Photos of the Divine General, smiling as she showed customers her payment QR code.
However, the photos were in short supply. As customers fought over them, a little girl with dragon horns forced her way through the crowd—Bailu!
After knocking the photos from Tingyun's hands, the Dragon Lady immediately fled after realizing she had caused trouble, with Tingyun chasing after her in fury over her ruined business.
More and more people joined the fleeing crowd, and Himeko was even playing on her phone while running.
The lively PV ended as the Star Rail Express passed by, revealing the game's logo.
At the very end, Welt's sighing voice could be heard.
"Young people really are wonderful. I'd like to visit the Xianzhou Luofu too."
"Don't worry. Your part will be coming soon."
And with that, the PV ended.
Yet the feeling it left the viewers with was pure shock!
Lao Mu stared blankly into the camera, as if he still had not recovered from the PV.
"What... did we just watch?"
Lao Mu's feelings were strange right now. Every new thing he saw gave him a reaction, but was immediately interrupted by another new character. Information kept flooding into his mind, yet he couldn't grasp any of it!
"Is this the official hype they released?"
Calling it hype was an understatement. This was way too filling!
It was like the developers were force-feeding him pancake after pancake, then pouring an entire bottle of Sushiren down his throat and shaking him around, before finally clamping his mouth shut with their huge hands and making him swallow it!
The viewers' question marks had already flooded the Barrage. They truly had no idea where to begin appreciating it.
"Why did the official account suddenly drop such a huge bomb?"
"No more! If you keep stuffing it in, I'm going to break!"
Finally, Lao Mu looked at the Barrage and said,
"How about... we watch it again?"
Compared to the shock in the livestream,
the Train Crew found the familiar faces in the PV rather endearing. After all, these were places the Star Rail Express had already visited.
"Wow, our friends from Jarilo are in the PV too! Does that mean these characters will appear in the game? I saw Gepard and the others in the Beginner Banner!"
March 7th was incredibly excited by the characters in the PV. She wanted to pull every single one and bring them home.
"And judging by the order in the PV, the game's story should first advance to Jarilo-VI, then head to the Xianzhou Luofu after the problem there is solved."
Hearing Himeko say that, March 7th's eyes suddenly lit up as she looked at Dan Heng.
"Wow, then is it possible that your peak form after recovering your Dragon Lord Power will appear as a Five-Star Character, Dan Heng?"
"What do you mean, peak form...?"
Dan Heng was speechless at the embarrassing name. Besides, that wasn't his peak form at all. His Dragon Lord Power had long since split apart; it was impossible for him to become his former self again!
"Ah, but I want every character so badly, and it looks like I don't have enough spending money anymore."
With a pitiful expression, March 7th looked toward Himeko and Dan Heng.
Realizing what she intended, Himeko immediately raised one hand.
"No. As the protagonist, I can't let any companion be absent from my story!"
March 7th could only turn her gaze toward Dan Heng.
"...If you only buy the monthly Train Pass, you should be able to collect every character if you're lucky."
"Mmm~ You two, help me out!"
March 7th cloyingly grabbed both their hands, only for them to pull away at the same time.
"If you want to act cute, you should go find Himeko."
So March 7th could only look toward Himeko.
Himeko: "Uh... I can help you apply for an interstellar loan."
March 7th: "..."
"Borrowing money to top up a game is not good behavior."
"I agree with Miss Himeko. Little March, perhaps you should plan your expenses better. The shipping fees alone for all the online purchases you have delivered to the Star Rail Express amount to several hundred thousand."
"Hehe, I... I just can't wait. I want them sooner."
With the PV's release, Honkai: Star Rail finally began spreading through the gaming community.
Some small creators without much traffic saw Honkai: Star Rail's potential and began joining the game voluntarily, hoping to claim a share of the future traffic pie.
The gears of fate began to turn.
Many years later, people would still remember the day Honkai: Star Rail launched.
I'm Fighting the Doomsday Beast? Seriously?
Inside Lao Mu's livestream.
After carefully savoring the PV several times, the aftershock finally hit!
"My god, are these the characters and maps that will be added in the future?"
"I admit it, this hype is extremely effective. I'm already the King of Impatience now!"
"I know you're impatient, but let me be impatient first!"
"And this PV's quality is insanely high, from the transitions to the special effects!"
"Same here! Especially that pipa music in the background after it switched to the Xianzhou. Absolutely incredible!"
"At first I was wondering why this game account had nothing on it. Turns out they were holding back for something huge!"
"Luofu! It's Luofu! I saw General Jing Yuan, ahhh!"
"I never thought the Divine General would really appear! He's one of the Seven Arbiter-Generals of the Emperor Bow, a Hunt Envoy! His strength is definitely going to be absurd!"
"And there are the Stellaron Hunters! Besides Kafka and Silver Wolf, there's Blade too!"
"Wuwuwu, Mommy is so gorgeous!"
"Ms. Herta's puppets were made into characters too! I wonder whether Herta herself will appear later!"
"Hahaha, that Foxian woman named Tingyun is actually selling Jing Yuan's private photos!"
"It makes me want to get a few too. I'll find Tingyun and ask her once I get to Luofu!"
"The protagonist is still playing on her phone while running. Truly worthy of being the Trailblazer!"
The livestream Barrage frantically discussed the PV's contents. Seeing that his viewership had already climbed several times higher than usual, Lao Mu had an idea.
Maybe he should switch to streaming Honkai: Star Rail from now on. The game had just launched, and he could absolutely use this momentum to become a major Honkai: Star Rail streamer!
With that thought, Lao Mu's gaze toward the game grew heated. He put aside his half-hearted attitude toward the commercial assignment and began taking it seriously.
"Alright, brothers, now it's time to pull. Let's see what characters we can get! One pull, one hit—give me something good!"
A Stellar Jade Ticket drifted through the air, welcoming the arrival of the Star Rail Express.
The faint colorful Projection appearing behind the ticket hinted at the result of this Warp. The train pulled in, and golden light came with a fierce gust of wind, blowing Pam, who stood ahead to welcome it, straight away!
"Holy shit, what's going on? I got gold!"
Before you continue