Let's see who dares question my original intention for making games again.
"Ye Ming, you're behind me, aren't you?"
"Huh? You could tell?"
Ye Ming had wanted to stroke Kiana's white hair, just like before, but after Kiana noticed him, he could only pull his hand back.
"Our game is getting roasted across the entire internet. Aren't you going to do anything about it?"
Kiana compiled the screenshots and sent them to Ye Ming. She had actually summarized and categorized all those insults and negative reviews.
"I understand."
The moment Ye Ming saw Kiana's report, he immediately understood what she was thinking.
"You're unhappy with the story, aren't you?"
"I'm not unhappy. Th-this is the players' opinion."
Every major gaming forum, anime forum, and general entertainment forum—basically anywhere related to Honkai—was full of criticism.
"Bring back Himeko." "Himeko died, I'm quitting." "Let's team up and raid the studio." Beyond those relatively civilized comments, there was plenty of profanity as well.
The grief and fury of tens of millions of netizens seemed to seep through the screen. The more seriously someone played the game, the more heartbroken they were.
According to Kiana's report, many people had gone night after night without sleep. Every time they closed their eyes, all they saw was, "Live on, Kiana."
Ye Ming's Identity Could No Longer Be Hidden
"What about our revenue?"
"Well... it's decent."
"Just decent?"
"Fine, the numbers have already reached the point where I can't even understand them."
"Then isn't that enough?"
Ye Ming stretched lazily and said with ease:
"That's just how players are. They complain while they spend—talk tough, but their bodies are honest."
Of course, that was only true if the game itself was good enough, or if the competitors were so bad that players had no other choice.
At the moment, Ye Ming's Honkai Impact 3rd had both conditions covered.
"You! You really aren't going to change it?!"
Kiana looked even more anxious than the players.
"If it can touch the hearts of so many people, I should be happy about it. Why would I change it?"
"Then... then..."
Rather than getting angry, Kiana unexpectedly softened. In a pleading voice, she asked:
"Can you spoil it for me? Himeko... will she come back?"
"..."
Seeing Kiana's shoulders trembling uncontrollably, Ye Ming's gaze softened as well.
He placed his hand on Kiana's head, gently stroking her long hair as he said:
"Trust me, Kiana. Everything will be alright."
"Huh?"
The instant Ye Ming touched her, a glimmer from the past suddenly flashed through Kiana's misty eyes.
It felt as though she had remembered something. The more she dwelled on Ye Ming's reassurance, the clearer the images in her mind became.
Kiana could feel that the memories about to take shape were far more than a single scene.
"Trust me." "Everything will be alright." "Kiana." "Trust me."
Ye Ming's voice echoed through Kiana's mind over and over, each time with subtle differences, as though it came from different times and spaces.
"Wah... sob..."
For some reason, the more familiar the warmth Ye Ming brought felt, the more shaken Kiana became inside.
It was like being able to endure every grievance outside, only to burst into tears the moment she returned home and faced her family.
"Ye Ming, I... feel strange..."
The soothing sense of security shattered Kiana's strong defenses. She no longer wanted to hide anything and cried:
"Ever since I saw the new main story, I've had trouble telling virtual reality apart from real life."
"Last night, I dreamed about Himeko several times. Every time, it was the same story and the same ending."
"Even when I fell asleep again after crying myself awake, it was the same. It feels like parting with Himeko in those dreams is reality, while things like this... working with Himeko and fooling around together... are the dream."
"..."
Just as expected, Kiana's sadness was not as simple as being upset over the game. Like Himeko's sense of déjà vu, she had sensed something too.
"It's not a dream."
Just as Ye Ming did not know how to comfort her, Himeko hugged Kiana from behind and said with a smile:
"Ye Ming told me that this is reality. No matter how sad the story in the game may be, our everyday lives in reality will continue forever."
"Sister Himeko..."
Having had the softest part of her heart touched, Kiana could no longer keep up her previous stubbornness and threw herself into Himeko's arms.
"I'm sorry... Everything before was my fault."
"Hehe, you've always been like that. I'm used to it."
The two held each other tightly, while the other girls in the studio gathered around to watch quietly.
"Idiot Kiana."
Bronya hugged the HOMU plush in her arms tighter and tighter, her eyes full of envy as she looked at Kiana.
Noticing this, Ye Ming leaned close to Bronya's ear and whispered, hoping to ease her loneliness:
"Don't forget our bet."
"Mm..."
Remembering their agreement that she would date Ye Ming once her body had fully developed, Bronya's cheeks turned the color of the sunset.
However, Ye Ming only meant to lift Bronya's spirits and was not particularly hung up on the matter.
"Honestly, Ye Ming, this is such a touching moment. Did you really have to bring that up?"
"Now that you mention it, Ye Ming, you really are strong."
"Yeah. You wrote such a heartbreaking story, yet you act like nothing happened."
Hearing the girls' remarks, Ye Ming smiled self-deprecatingly.
"I'm not strong at all. I might be more fragile than any of you here."
"It's just that I've cried too many times. My tears have already run dry."
Only the system could understand the deeper meaning behind Ye Ming's monologue.
However, Ye Ming did not yet know that the girls before him would soon understand as well.
"Ye Ming! Something happened to our game!"
The moment Keqing returned from scouting the market outside, she shouted excitedly:
"This is international news!"
"Is it really that exaggerated? Did we make the trending lists again?"
"You're thinking too small! Mere internet trends are nothing compared to this."
Keqing took a sip of tea and continued:
"Griseo! Griseo painted something based on the story of The Last Lesson! She finished an entire painting in just two days! And she said she has to paint another one, or she won't be able to calm down!"
Nahida, who had practically become the studio mascot, explained on behalf of the exhausted Keqing:
"Griseo is a renowned master painter of this era. If she creates art for us, it would indeed be world-class publicity that breaks beyond our usual circles."
"Let me look it up."
The moment Ye Ming opened the homepage, he saw the news Keqing had mentioned. When he clicked in, Griseo's painting truly was stunning.
Even the knowledgeable A-Tzu sighed. "It wouldn't be surprising if this painting were displayed in the Louvre."
"Beyond our original user base, this has drawn in art circles both at home and abroad. Players around the world are now watching our game."
Just as Keqing said, Honkai Impact 3rd had become a phenomenon-level game. Although many of those people were just casual viewers who wanted to watch the animation and experience the story...
Their arrival had also indirectly brought more attention to the game.
"So that's why there have been so many fan works lately~~"
Zhen said with a smile:
"There's even a novel website called Yae Publishing House holding a Honkai fanfiction contest."
"Are there any interesting fan works?" Ganyu asked, holding Nahida in her arms.
"There seems to be a pretty popular video, but I haven't watched it. They say its production quality is on par with ours."
"That's impossible."
Ye Ming complained:
"How could some grassroots group possibly make a short film on our level?"
Ye Ming was not blindly confident. The entertainment industry in this world lagged behind, and its related technology was not much better.
The black technology used to create Honkai Impact 3rd had all been borrowed from the system on credit. It was unmatched in this era.
"I don't know about that. They say that in just one day, its views have almost caught up with The Last Lesson."
"What?!"
Ye Ming hurriedly opened Bilibili and asked Zhen:
"What's it called?"
"Let me see... It's called 'The Truth of The Last Lesson.'"
The moment Ye Ming typed the words The Last Lesson, the suggested searches immediately brought up "The Truth of The Last Lesson."
He checked the numbers. The official short film for The Last Lesson currently had twelve million views, while this fan work had somehow reached nine million!
"That ridiculous?"
Full of curiosity, Ye Ming opened the video. Yet the moment he saw the first shot, his bloodshot eyes filled with shock.
Ye Ming, the Male Lead of a Fan Work?
"How... is that possible?!"
The video had only played for a few seconds, revealing only a faint bit of sound and several empty shots.
Yet Ye Ming immediately knew everything the video contained.
He knew this story too well—so well that it tore his heart apart.
"Is this that popular fan work?"
The girls' voices made Ye Ming realize that he was still in the studio. Panicking, he quickly closed the video site.
"What's wrong? Why did you stop watching?"
Before you continue