"Honkai and Queen's Descent took first and second place on the trending charts. It's simply unimaginable."
Keqing said excitedly:
"Even more impressive, we didn't place ads on any platform. It was all organic hype."
"Mm, everyone worked hard."
As the girls took turns reporting good news to him, Ye Ming's mood barely fluctuated.
In this world with its underdeveloped entertainment industry, Queen's Descent's game CG was like bringing a laser sword to fight cavemen. Its explosive popularity had been expected.
"The upcoming story and animated CG will push the hype to new heights again."
"An animated CG even more amazing than Queen's Descent?"
The girls in the studio simply could not imagine what kind of work that would be.
"By the way, how's the revenue?"
Ye Ming was still rather concerned about income. After all, the nearly two hundred million in debt had to be repaid as soon as possible.
"It's only been a few days since the open beta began, and we've already broken ten million!"
"That high?"
That had caught Ye Ming off guard. After all, the truly whale-baiting banner had not even been released yet.
It seemed the world he had reconstructed really was not bad. At the very least, everyone had money in their pockets to spend.
"Elysia also played a crucial role."
Mei, wearing glasses, said as she looked through the data:
"Not only did she bring us enormous exposure, she also spent heavily during her stream, encouraging quite a few people to spend."
"Hehe."
The moment they heard that the studio was making money, all the girls revealed happy expressions.
Seeing this, Ye Ming finally realized that they were no longer gods or warriors. They were homebody girls working to earn a living.
"How about this? Let's take one million from the company account and give everyone a bonus."
"Huh?"
Hearing Ye Ming's proposal, the girls went blank, as if a "Program Not Responding.exe" pop-up had appeared in their minds.
Only after quite a while did they say in delight:
"A one million bonus!? I-I didn't hear wrong, did I!?"
"Split among everyone... that's nearly a hundred thousand each!"
After the initial excitement, Ganyu nearly burst into tears:
"I haven't seen this much money in a very long time."
"Is it really that exaggerated?"
Seeing Ye Ming's confusion, A-Tzu stepped forward to explain:
"Our studio has been teetering on the edge of bankruptcy for a long time. Forget bonuses—sometimes we couldn't even pay salaries."
"The money Keqing used to meet you at The Good Hunter Cafe was pooled together by everyone."
Bronya was tempted too:
"I'm going to buy every game I added to my wishlist recently! And all those HOMU figures I piled into my cart but never dared check out!"
"What about Himeko? Aren't you going to open a bottle of expensive red wine?"
As she looked around for her drinking buddy Himeko, she teased:
"Let's go have a drink together?"
"..."
"Himeko?"
Since earlier, Himeko had been sitting at her desk and staring blankly out the window, looking utterly distracted.
"Huh? Sorry... I was spacing out. What were you all talking about just now?"
"The bonus! Nearly a hundred thousand! Aren't you going to bring out that good wine you usually can't bear to drink?"
"Mm, it is quite a lot of money, but... I want to drink less for a while."
"Huh?"
Hearing Himeko say that, everyone in the studio was startled.
"Himeko, you don't have a fever, do you? You want to quit drinking?"
"Didn't I say so that day?"
"We thought you were just joking."
"Yeah, someone who mumbles about quitting drinking while drunk has no credibility."
"..."
After being teased by everyone, Himeko said nothing. She merely lowered her head and stared blankly at the lines on her palm.
"It's fine if you don't drink. Then where should we go have fun this weekend~?"
"Yeah, let's all go out together and do some team building!"
That suggestion once again livened up the atmosphere in the studio, but Himeko still could not blend in.
Though she had beautiful fiery red hair, she now seemed as though she were shrouded in cold moonlight.
"This weekend... I have a doctor's appointment for a checkup. I can't go with everyone."
"A doctor? Himeko, are you sick?"
When this subject came up, Kiana, who had deliberately kept her distance from Himeko until now, looked over as well.
"It's not really anything serious. Whenever I felt unwell before, or had aches somewhere, I always thought it was nothing and that I could just tough it out."
Himeko smiled faintly, her face pale.
"But thinking about it now, I'd better get checked. If something is wrong and I let it drag on until it's too late, that would be troublesome."
"Himeko is actually caring about her health?!"
It was not just the drinking. There were also late nights, irregular meals... Himeko's lifestyle habits were famously terrible in the studio.
"You never cared about your body before."
"We tried to persuade you several times, but you never changed. What's gotten into you today?"
"Hmph... I think you're just getting old."
"Kiana!"
Mei hurriedly covered Kiana's little mouth, afraid Himeko would come over and add two more bumps to Kiana's head.
"Perhaps... I really am getting old."
Yet not only did Himeko not get angry, she even laughed at herself. Her eyes were filled with sorrow.
"..."
This time, no one said anything.
A small change might have made them curious, but such a drastic contrast only made them feel that something serious had happened.
"Ye Ming, come with us."
They left Himeko behind, dragged Ye Ming out of the office, and surrounded him.
"What exactly happened?"
"What did you do to Himeko?"
"Could it be... something H?!"
"Huh?!"
The questions had been fairly reasonable until Bronya's remark stunned everyone.
"Speaking of H stuff, don't you think Himeko looks pregnant?"
"How could that be possible! It hasn't been nearly that long!"
Ye Ming could not help retorting:
"If you don't believe me, ask A-Tzu. She knows a lot."
"Normally, it wouldn't happen that quickly from intimacy to pregnancy, but..."
Although she had confirmed Ye Ming's statement, A-Tzu looked somewhat bashful as she asked:
"Under normal circumstances, shouldn't you deny the H stuff first? Saying it wouldn't happen that quickly right away is basically admitting that the H stuff happened, isn't it?"
·
I saw some readers asking what PTSD means. It means "post-traumatic stress reaction."
You'll find out later why Ye Ming had this reaction.
Déjà Vu in the Load Domain
"Ye Ming! I never expected this!"
"You actually made a move on Himeko!"
"Wah! T-That's too much!"
"How can you face us after doing something like that!"
The girls' feelings were extremely complicated. Shame and anger went without saying, but there was clearly no small amount of jealousy in their eyes as well.
"I didn't do anything! Don't talk nonsense!"
"Then why did you say it wouldn't happen that quickly instead of denying it?"
"I... I just misspoke!"
Ye Ming felt somewhat guilty.
Anything intimate with Himeko had happened before the world was reset, so the words had slipped out by accident.
He had not expected A-Tzu to be so perceptive that she could spot the issue from one casual remark.
"Anyway! You can't use this kind of nitpicking as evidence to convict me!"
"Then what was Himeko's scream outside the barbecue restaurant that day?"
"It was a test. I told her to drink less. The process was just a little painful."
As for taking off Himeko's shoes and lifting her leg, it was better not to mention those parts.
"And a few days ago, you called Himeko into the recording room. Was that the scene of the crime?"
"Of course not! We were working normally, on the new main story... ah!"
As he spoke, Ye Ming seemed to realize why Himeko had been acting strangely.
"Could it be that the game's story affected Himeko's mood?"
"The game's story?"
Kiana, who had not intended to join in, asked skeptically:
"Can a game's story really have that much impact?"
"It depends. Some people don't care, while others care a great deal."
"Auntie Himeko is unbelievable. She's actually hung up on a fictional story, yet she says I'm immature."
"Because Kiana is a single-celled organism, she probably didn't feel anything," Bronya mocked.
"Hmph, say whatever you want. I definitely won't be affected by a game's story."
Before you continue