Although it was romantic for Elysia and Eden to lead a chorus of "Nightglow" to send Himeko off, the players in Elysia's livestream were only a small fraction of Honkai Impact 3rd's player base. Many more, filled with indignation, were battling it out on Tieba, Weibo, and various other major forums.
[Willing to pay a high price for miHoYo's scriptwriter's address! I have some 'local specialties' I'd like to send him!]
[Sweet, so sweet! Honkai Impact 3rd's game story is just too sweet! You're not human if you don't watch it! Hahaha.]
[Himeko True Love Thread! A hundred posts a day, I'll make it happen.]
[Everyone, we need to unite! If we are of one mind, we can definitely force miHoYo to change the plot!]
...
Originally, Honkai Impact 3rd was a mobile game that only had influence within the ACG circle. But now, with the players making such a commotion, Honkai Impact 3rd successfully broke out of its niche.
Curiosity is an unavoidable human desire. Countless people, intrigued though uncomprehending, turned their attention to Honkai Impact 3rd, wanting to know just what kind of story could make its players break down like this.
A single spark gradually showed signs of starting a prairie fire.
"Su Luo, the situation seems a bit dire," Kiana, Bronya, Rita, and the others rushed into the office.
Today was Saturday. Although Honkai Impact 3rd had updated its main story, Su Luo hadn't forced the girls to work overtime. He had merely said that anyone willing to come to the studio could do so. As a result, all of them had come.
"It's normal for the players to be agitated." Su Luo typed a few final keystrokes on his keyboard, entering the last few words into a document.
Seeing him so calm, Rita couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you afraid something will go wrong? It's like adding fuel to a raging fire; a slight misstep, and I'm afraid..."
"Yeah, yeah," Kiana nodded beside him. "Su Luo, why don't you just change the plot? It's such a pity that Auntie Himeko died."
Su Luo turned to look at the girls gathered in his office. "Do you all feel this way?"
"I believe you, Su Luo, understand better than us how Honkai Impact 3rd's story should unfold." Durandal expressed a different opinion. "If you think the plot is fine, I'm willing to support you."
"Sister..." Kiana whispered.
"It's not a matter of whether there's a problem or not, but rather..." Su Luo stood up and walked in front of the girls. "Actually, if you analyze the plot carefully, you'll know that Himeko's curtain call was almost inevitable."
"Instead of forcibly resurrecting Himeko and ruining Honkai Impact 3rd's narrative, it's better to let her story conclude this way, allowing Kiana to inherit Himeko's spirit and carry it forward."
At this point, the girls all understood Su Luo's meaning.
He suddenly paused for a moment, glancing at a system notification he hadn't paid attention to in a long time.
[Honkai Impact 3rd Current User Statistics: 2,356,123.]
According to his analysis, once he completed the main task of reaching ten million users for Honkai Impact 3rd, he could probably draw the next game from the system.
And after producing Honkai Impact 3rd, he had gained a more comprehensive understanding of the game data provided by the system.
Thus, a groundbreaking idea came to him—the Honkai Impact 3rd Metaverse Project.
It had to be said, Honkai Impact 3rd's world-building was actually very well-suited for a metaverse.
"If you're all really that regretful, perhaps Himeko can appear in other games."
"Other games?" The girls (*N) were understandably stunned upon suddenly hearing this news.
"Mm," Su Luo nodded. "You didn't think I only planned to make one game, did you?"
He said with a serious expression, "Our goal should be global domination."
"This..." The girls hesitated.
"Of course, it's still too early to talk about this. Let's focus on making Honkai Impact 3rd well first." Su Luo waved his hand, his gaze sweeping across the girls' faces one by one, then a hint of surprise appeared on his face. "Speaking of which, didn't Mei come to the studio with you all?"
"Of course Mei came to the studio," Kiana explained from the side. "But didn't you just tell us to do our own thing, Su Luo? She went to co-stream with Elysia. She should still be playing Honkai Impact 3rd with Elysia right now, shouldn't she?"
"?" Su Luo's expression subtly changed. What did he just hear? Elysia?
Although he had already met many Honkai Impact 3rd characters, Elysia's existence still surprised him. He feigned ignorance and asked, "Who is Elysia?"
"She's a very popular virtual streamer on Pilipili. Every time we develop a new game, Mei asks for her help with promotion. miHoYo has always been rather indebted to her help." Kiana hadn't spoken with Elysia herself, only hearing a little from Mei, but she had a good impression of Elysia.
"Hmm... Since that's the case, this is a rare opportunity. Should we go over to Mei's place and thank her?" Su Luo believed that any Honkai Impact 3rd player from his previous life, if in his position, wouldn't miss the chance for a close encounter with Miss Pink Elf♪.
"Well, what if we disturb Mei and Elysia? That wouldn't be good," Kiana hesitated, concerned.
Su Luo was a bit at a loss for words; after all, he had no reason to appear overly eager. Just as he was thinking of an excuse, Fu Hua, rarely taking the initiative, spoke up.
"Actually, knowing Elysia's personality, she would definitely be very happy if so many cute girls came to see her."
"Listening to you, Fu Hua, it sounds like you're quite familiar with Elysia?"
"Yes, we're good friends."
"Oh? Fu Hua, you've always been so mysterious. Can you tell us a bit more about yourself?"
The girls surrounded Fu Hua, eager for gossip. Fu Hua couldn't help but cast a pleading look towards Su Luo.
Su Luo realized his chance had come. He coughed lightly into his fist twice, "Ahem, since Fu Hua said that Elysia wouldn't mind us disturbing her, and would actually like it, then let's go over to Mei's place and take a look."
He paused, then gave an instruction, "Hmm, Fu Hua, could you please take us to Mei's station?"
"Of course," Fu Hua nodded hastily and quickly turned to lead the way.
Su Luo followed behind Fu Hua, with the other girls behind him, and they proceeded this way to the work area.
Mei was wearing headphones and humming softly. "I hope to awaken from a long-held dream, Soon the long night will come, I wish to become the final light... The love I have for you is what I cherish most, So please bravely live on..."
"It's 'Nightglow'." Su Luo was all too familiar with this song; to get this song recorded, he had put Himeko (the employee) through quite an ordeal.
He gestured with his hand, signaling them to be quiet, and led the way, lightening his steps. Leading the girls, they tiptoed to Mei's side, silently observing the livestream. They discovered Mei was singing "Nightglow" along with Elysia for Murata Himeko.
"Mmph..." Kiana hurriedly covered her mouth and leaned against Himeko. The others watched quietly, waiting for Mei to finish singing.
Waiting, waiting. No matter how long the song, it eventually had to end.
"Hoo~~" Mei let out a light sigh, soothing the emotions that were nearly overflowing in her heart. Then, she discovered a circle of people around her. She was momentarily startled.
"Su... Ahem, Boss?" Mei hastily corrected herself, not saying Su Luo's real name.
"Boss? Mei~ Who's there with you?" Elysia asked curiously first.
"It's miHoYo's boss, and also the scriptwriter," Mei said without thinking too much, but her words completely detonated the livestream chat.