Hokuto arrived at the hotel by private car.
Rita led him upstairs and into her room.
As soon as the door opened—inside was a ss of girls lying around in disarray.
"Why are all of you in my room?"
Hokuto glanced at Kiana Kaslana, who was tumbling around on the bed with Theresa, then at Bronya Zaychik and Raiden i, who were seated properly to the side with a laptop in hand, along with the rest of the miHoYo studio mbers. He couldn't help but speak up.
If an outsider saw this situation, they'd probably think he was so top-tier rich second-gen, going out with a whole entourage of seventeen or eighteen beautiful won.
"Hokuto!"
Kiana, who had been "playing" with Theresa, quickly let go, bounced up with nimble movents, and landed in front of Hokuto.
She asked with deep concern, "I heard you were almost sward by fans. Are you okay?"
"Thanks to my quick reflexes." Hokuto shrugged. "A narrow escape."
Kiana looked him over from top to bottom. Seeing he didn't seem hard, she sighed in relief.
"That's good. Hmph, if any of those fans tried anything on you, I'd beat them up."
She even rolled up her sleeves, looking pretty serious.
Hokuto quickly waved it off. "No need. They were probably just talking big."
"In any case, you're my friend and my benefactor. Your problem is my problem," Kiana declared sincerely.
"That's right, that's right!" The girls echoed in unison.
"This…"
Hokuto looked around. Seeing all the girls seriously watching him, he pursed his lips and smiled.
"Thanks, everyone, for your concern."
Although the characters of Honkai Impact 3rd were a bunch of problem children, when you connected with them heart-to-heart, you could truly feel their warmth.
To be honest, he really enjoyed this feeling.
It was a kind of emotional connection no amount of material things could bring.
"Hehe~~"
"Alright, let take care of sothing first. Then I'll take you all out to have fun."
Hokuto said, bypassing Kiana, and approached Bronya.
"Bronya, upload the final segnt of Luminance and Shadow's Far Shore."
"Right now?"
"Mm."
Bronya nodded.
Soon after, players discovered a new ga announcent on the official website—
"To thank players for today's enthusiasm, 'Otto' has decided to unlock the follow-up main story for Bronya and Seele."
As soon as the news dropped, rather than being excited, players began to panic.
[I saw the notice and instantly had a bad feeling. Could 'Otto' be retaliating for us blocking him earlier? Is he about to knife Bronya and Seele?]
[No joke, I can already imagine 'Otto' updating the main story with that creepy smile.]
[Don't panic! I datamined before and found out the later story is super sweet. 'Otto' is repaying resentnt with kindness.]
[Heh~ You must be 'Otto' on an alt account, right? Trying to trick us!]
Amidst the panic, Honkai Impact 3rd finished hot-patching and unlocked the previously sealed story chapter.
Players stared at the new chapter, conflicted. They weren't sure whether they should click it—but curiosity won out.
"Rip off the bandage early!"
With that mindset, they decisively clicked in.
The new main story segnt was simple: Bronya was rescued by Seele from the Sea of Quanta and woke up on a hospital bed.
She first had a conversation with Rosalia and Liliya, then learned the current situation from Dr. Einstein.
Including the follow-up arrangents concerning Cocolia.
Bronya had complicated feelings toward Cocolia. Many saw her as a villain.
But the reason she cooperated with "the Serpent" was to save Seele.
In the end, Bronya didn't forgive Cocolia, but promised to take care of the orphanage children.
A few days later, Yang decided to pass the Core to Bronya and gave her ti to think.
anwhile, Seele and the twins told Bronya they would be living aboard the Hyperion.
Up to this point, the story was calm, peaceful—even sweet. The players who'd braced for heartbreak were stunned.
No knife?
Or was the knife still coming?
They didn't even know what they were hoping for anymore. Full of doubt, they kept reading.
A soft and beautiful BGM played.
Seele summarized everything that had happened: "A lot has happened… both Anti-Entropy and St. Freya will be very busy for a while."
Liliya responded hesitantly, "What will the future even look like…"
The evening glow fell upon everyone as Bronya said quietly:
"Theresa once said, the future belongs to the children. If even they don't believe tomorrow will be better, then the future we hope for will never co."
"Theresa always says these hard-to-understand things. Is she really the sa age as us?" Rosalia tilted her head and asked.
"Probably… not the sa age," Bronya didn't dare say Theresa's real age, afraid Judas would fly in from behind.
"But, I get what she ant. The future depends on us, right?"
Rosalia, for once, said sothing serious.
Just as the others nodded—
She hopped over to Bronya. "But for now, let's just have fun! We'll start working hard tomorrow."
Seele: "Rosalia…"
Liliya sighed: "I knew it."
"Haha~~"
Seeing this rare peaceful mont, Bronya smiled from the heart.
"Let's go! Let's go!"
Liliya ran toward the sea, waving to the others.
In the final scene—
The first rays of dawn illuminated the calm ocean. Four girls dashed toward the shoreline, their laughter echoing.
In this world of Honkai, drenched in sorrow and pain, even a fleeting mont like this was imnsely precious.
Players stared at the ending, dazed.
They felt their own "twisted" souls healed and uplifted.
They rushed to the official site.
[AAAAA! Sugar! I can't believe it's real sugar! So sweet! I'm healed!]
[I judged the writer wrongly… Repaying resentnt with virtue… miHoYo's writer is such a good person. I'm sobbing.]
[See? Honkai Impact 3rd can be super sweet! Who still says the story is all knives? (sarcasm)]
[Actually… I suddenly realized. They're still just kids, yet they shoulder so much.]
[And still, they don't regret it. They fight for a beautiful world with their small bodies. Isn't that amazing?]
[They fight for all the beauty in the world!!]
Players were beginning to realize more and more what made Honkai Impact 3rd so different from other gas—sothing irreplaceable.
And that was expected. Even in Hokuto's previous life, Honkai Impact 3rd had phenonal player retention—let alone this optimized version shaped by everyone's input.
"Hokuto, players are loving the new chapter."
"No surprise. Don't they always love the story?"
"…"
The girls looked at Hokuto's calm expression and were montarily speechless.
Wasn't this "praise" a little different from before?
Did he really not notice?
While players were still passionately discussing the new story, Hokuto, seeing no more imdiate tasks, took the girls out to explore Hangzhou.
This city, with over 2,200 years of history since its establishnt in the Qin dynasty, was filled with cultural heritage in every corner.
It truly deserved the phrase, "Above there is Heaven; below there is Suzhou and Hangzhou."
They spent a joyful day together.
By the next day—
Many companies were attending this ga awards event—not just giants like Penguin, but also small studios like Raven Studio and Spiral Boat Studio…
To avoid trouble, Hokuto intentionally arrived late to the pilipili Ga Awards.
Shortly after he arrived, the award ceremony began.
Seated in his place, the hall fell silent—only the voices from the stage remained.
There were eight awards in total: Best Dostic Ga, Best Dostic Mobile Ga, Ga of the Year…
Looking at the categories, Hokuto couldn't help but wonder, "I wonder which titles will win?"
Truthfully, he wanted to say, "How many can Honkai Impact 3rd win?" but refrained, lest others think he was full of himself.
Just then—
"Hehe~~"
Soone sat down beside Hokuto.
With a self-deprecating laugh, a clear female voice said, "I bet most of the awards will go to that Honkai Impact 3rd."
Judging from her tone, she clearly had a grudge against the ga.
"Well… Honkai Impact 3rd is definitely one of the top dostic gas. It's only natural it wins multiple awards, right?" Hokuto replied, turning his head.
"I know Honkai Impact 3rd is excellent. I admit defeat… but… my island villa… my island villa…"
The woman's voice trailed off into inaudible muttering.
To Hokuto's left sat a woman with short gray hair, a single ahoge on her head, a beauty mark near her lip, and dressed in a black evening gown.
His expression shifted subtly.
Wasn't this… Natasha Ciora?
Also known as Raven—or more famously, Little Island Boom-Boom Raven.
He didn't expect to et her here.
So Raven was in the ga industry in this world? He'd thought she was running a bar.
Raven spoke while gritting her teeth.
Hokuto hadn't been that interested initially, but now he was curious—why did Raven have such a grudge against Honkai Impact 3rd?
miHoYo had been quietly working hard on its gas. There was no reason for it to have provoked anyone.
"You seem to have sothing against Honkai Impact 3rd?"
"Hmph. It's none of your business," Raven responded coldly.
"I think it is, a little…"
Hokuto smiled warmly. "Miss, let's get acquainted. I'm Hokuto—current owner of miHoYo and the developer of Honkai Impact 3rd."
"What!?" Raven's eyes widened. "You're the developer of Honkai Impact 3rd?!"
"Please don't be too emotional, Miss. This is a public venue." Hokuto motioned for calm.
"Huff… huff…"
Raven took several deep breaths, finally calming down.
She looked at Hokuto, her expression growing very complicated.
Still smiling, Hokuto asked again, "Miss, can you tell … why do you seem so hostile toward Honkai Impact 3rd?"
"I don't have anything against it. You must be mistaken," Raven turned her head away.
What was she supposed to say? That a few years ago, she saw a blue ocean opportunity in the ga market…
So she mortgaged her island villa, went all-in to found Raven Studio, and planned to make a 3D ani girl action mobile ga.
Yes—just like Honkai Impact 3rd.
But as soon as Lost Girls, Raven Studio's ga, went live, Honkai Impact 3rd burst onto the scene.
Lost Girls' core gaplay was too similar. The superior Honkai Impact 3rd siphoned away its users, dooming it to beco the one and only ga to be utterly crushed by Honkai Impact 3rd—losing everything.
Her island villa… gone!!
The more she thought about it, the sadder Raven beca.
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