"Don't worry, Daddy will definitely get it for you, and it'll be the rarest and most famous version!"
Upon hearing "MiHoYo," the father's attitude flipped instantly, picking up the phone right away and ordering his confidants into action...
----------------------------------
The sale of the physical album caused quite a stir.
But at the same time, the long-delayed PV and the new Myriad Celestia Trailer also brought the discussion of the Penacony chapter to a new level.
In the livestream room of Rion and Miss Yun, Miss Yun had completely changed from her usual gentle and intellectual demeanor; her delicate face was full of disappointment and sadness.
"Why, why didn't I get one!"
Seeing the "Sold Out" sign on the official website and that exquisite album cover, Miss Yun looked exactly like a little fangirl.
...
: Hahaha, I just came from the official site, wanted to see if the host's got one, seeing you didn't either, I suddenly feel better.
: Same, I didn't get one either. All the albums leaked on secondhand websites have already been bought. This is just too much.
: Robin has now become a galactic superstar.
: The sales and speed of this physical album, in this day and age, are simply unbelievable.
: A lot of haters are still criticizing that Robin's album only has four songs.
: LOL, with their level of production, even four songs would be too much to ask.
...
"Alright, alright, MiHoYo will definitely release more."
"I guess this time, they didn't expect our passion to be so crazy."
Rion comforted from the side.
"Sigh, guess we'll have to wait for the next time."
Miss Yun shook her head reluctantly. But just then, she remembered she also missed out on the solo concert tickets.
Which made her even sadder.
"Ah, this…"
Although Rion is a well-known screenwriter, even she didn't know how to handle this situation.
But just at that moment, the bullet comments from viewers came to the rescue.
...
: Host, Host, even if we didn't get the album, we still have a new PV to watch!
: Yeah! And the new PV is even better produced! Plus there's the new Myriad Celestia Trailer!
: It's related to Acheron!
: Hosts, please lead us in a breakdown and analysis!
...
The bullet comments lifted the spirits of the two Hosts.
"That's true, since we have new content to watch."
"Then the album… sigh, let's talk about the album later."
Miss Yun took a deep breath, pulled herself together, and smiled at Rion.
Rion opened the official website, moved her and Miss Yun's livestream cams to the bottom right corner, and gave most of the screen space to the video playback.
On the official site, a row of new videos lay quietly.
Each one had hundreds of thousands of viewers watching.
"Let's start with the PV." Rion clicked on the first PV.
Sparkle's Monodrama.
In the video, just as MiHoYo's logo appeared-
In just a second, a burst of cheerful music suddenly played.
With strong drumbeats and lively whistling sounds, it immediately caught everyone's ears.
Even Miss Yun, who had been disappointed by the album issue, was immediately lit up and threw her unhappiness out the window.
Then, the camera shifted to a first-person POV shot, what came into view was a swaying wine glass.
Through the reddish blur of the wine glass, Sparkle appeared at the door wearing a mask.
Then, a gun was raised and fired.
But the crisp gunshot did not fire a bullet,
Instead, it released dazzling patterns and artworks!
These visuals quickly merged into a colorful projectile, trailing flickering lights as it slowly slid across the screen.
The music turned mellow.
Only the drumbeats and whistling remained,
Giving off a distinctly lively and mischievous feeling.
Just those few seconds of the opening
Left Rion and Miss Yun completely stunned.
Rion even instinctively reached for the space bar to pause it,
But thinking it would affect the viewing experience too much, she resisted.
At this moment, many viewers in the livestream had the same reaction as the two Hosts.
They knew MiHoYo had released new content,
But they wanted to wait and watch it with the Hosts, to share the experience together.
This was also their first viewing.
...
: The BGM at the beginning is already legendary-level!
: This music is insanely catchy!
: Just from the music alone, I can already feel how joyful this PV is.
: Damn, the colors, the visuals! Feels like it leveled up several notches at once!...
Bullet comments flashed across the screen in shock.
In the video, Sparkle, bouncing along with the cheerful BGM, skipped through the streets of Penacony.
The colorful bullet always followed just above her head.
As Sparkle moved, more Sparkle's would appear, or fall to the ground, lifeless.
Until those tender white feet stepped on the camera, flipping the whole screen.
That "Easter egg" that had been following Sparkle had somehow run ahead of her, and she was now trailing it slowly.
At this point, countless Sparkle's had appeared on screen.
Some formed a circle with their thumb and forefinger, placing it over one eye.
Some cheerfully rested their legs on a table.
But without exception, all of them would be shot in the chest along with the BGM's gunshots.
No wounds, no blood.
Only comical ribbons bursting from their chests.
At the same time, on top of the whistling and drumbeats,
A seductive female voice began to hum a cheerful tune.
Full and novel colors, a unique presentation style, and a stellar BGM.
It made both hosts, and even the entire live-stream audience, stare at the screen without blinking, afraid to miss a single frame of this visual feast.
At that moment, wearing a mask and holding a revolver, Sparkle had already loaded a bullet into the chamber and pressed the muzzle against the back of another unmasked Sparkle's head.
"There's one bullet left. Wanna play a game?"
"What's the wager?"
"The fake one's life."
"Pfft~"
The glorious magic of fireworks returned once again.
Four versions of Sparkle, each in a different pose, appeared on screen.
And behind them, dazzling, multicolored fireworks.
"Masked Fool - Sparkle."
And that playful, irresistibly cute little "pfft~"
Instantly pierced the hearts of countless viewers.
…
: Aaaaah! Sparkle is just way too good-looking!
: Mischievous and adorable! Hehehe, Sparkle! Lady Sparkle!
: I'm done for, switching sides from Masked Fool to Sparkle! My heart's turned to mush!
: That tongue-out expression is too cute! TOO CUTE!
: And just thinking about how bratty and smug Sparkle is in the show makes me love her even more!
: But mainly it's Sparkle's voice, holy hell it's so good! That blend of innocence and seduction, it's addictive! I'm falling deep!
: I'm Sparkle's dog!
…
There's no helping it.
Sparkle's charm is just too unique!
And this PV showcased it perfectly.
That mix of smugness, mischief, cuteness, and unhinged madness,
It's like she's tickling your heart from the inside.
Makes you itch like crazy, but you can't catch her.
And the next scenes in the PV pushed that sensation to its peak.
Two Sparkle's, wearing masks of different colors, were locked in a battle of wits.
From their movements to their dialogue, it was all razor-sharp.
"Let me tell you what a craftsman is."
"Pretentious. Like you."
"Then what's a fool?"
"Someone who knows when to play dumb ~~ "
"Like me~"
Every line was delivered with a voice that perfectly matched the emotion.
For example, when saying "a fool knows when to play dumb,"
Sparkle deliberately used a dumb, goofy, and adorably clueless tone.
On the words "play dumb" and "like me," she'd add a little extra madness.
And the essence of it all, you knew she was pretending, and yet, that didn't stop you from thinking she was insanely cute.
That voice was full of girlish innocence and sweetness, but also laced with dangerous teasing.
And that still wasn't enough.
Because when she spoke, Sparkle's flawless face would take on an expression of clueless idiocy, only for her to immediately tear it away and reveal a crazed, delighted grin.
…
: I can't take it anymore! I'll gladly be Sparkle's dog!
: Bros, after she drops the act and shows that crazed smile, I'm in love!
: So cute! So cute! So cute!
: Sparkle's charm is too powerful! That expression, I'm obsessed! AAAAAHHH!
: Just one minute, and my heart is already dancing in Sparkle's palm!
…
The comments were drowning in adoration.
Even Miss Yun watched in awe.
Sparkle's artistic power hit her right in her weak spot.
And then, the PV reached its climax.
With rapid violin strings,
"What is joy?"
Red-mask Sparkle handed her gun to the white-mask Sparkle. Then, grabbing the barrel, she forced the other to aim it at her own head.
"I… am joy!"
As the last four words were delivered, spaced out like a poetic chant, the gun fired!
But it didn't blow out brains, it exploded into a burst of chaotic, multicolored, twisted hues.As the colors splashed, they constantly reformed.
Eyes, stars, petals, masks, silhouettes…
Red, blue, white, yellow, pink!
Images and colors you couldn't imagine swirled together in madness,
Yet still somehow danced in harmony, displaying a rhythm beyond logic.
And Sparkle's laughter grew ever more deranged. Or perhaps…
Joyful!
That laugh was overwhelmingly intense.
It sounded… broken.
Overwhelming even the visuals and music, sending chills down everyone's spines while making them wonder, Is Sparkle really okay in the head?
Finally, after the colors and laughter faded away,
The cheerful humming appears again.
"La la la la la la."
"La la la la la la."
Sparkle's face appears in the center of the frame, surrounded by stylized colors and patterns.
As the humming continues, her face keeps changing into other people's faces.
Then the scene shifts.
On a giant mask of joy, three different Sparkle's are each doing their own thing.
Another transition.
A faceless Sparkle, flickering with different colors, appears in the center of the screen.
The camera passes through the hollow of the faceless head, then comes the next faceless Sparkle.
As if it's an endless, inescapable path.
Within each faceless Sparkle, there is a trace of history.
Seemingly infinite.
And in the end, all these faceless Sparkle's turn into masks, rotating around a single Sparkle.
And this Sparkle spins in the center, as if confronting the face of her chosen fate.
The abstract visuals have already short-circuited the minds of the audience.
But just then, a gunshot knocks Sparkle's silhouette to the ground.
The pink "Honkai Star Rail" logo appears.
The music stops.
Just when everyone thinks it's over, a whistle, as if blown from the edge of the sky, continues to echo.
The scene shifts again, completely illogically and without reason, to a group of Sparkle's sitting around a long table in still, posed gestures.
The eerie whistle and strange visuals make one feel uneasy.
"Were you scared just now?"
Suddenly, a Sparkle pops her head out from the side of the screen, deliberately using a cute tone to ask.
The entire PV finally ends.
...
: Holy crap, Sparkle's PV is insane!
: That final segment gave me goosebumps all over!
: Madness, joy, and that laughter! Damn! How can a person even laugh like that?!
: That laugh was too powerful, I felt like I could sense her mental state just from it!
: The visuals and music are absolutely top-notch!
: The art style is both gorgeous and eerie!
: MiHoYo's PVs are really getting wild now!
: I have no idea what just happened, but I freaking love it!
: By the way, why are there so many Sparkle's in the PV?
...
As the comments scrolled frantically across the screen, Rion and Miss Yun also came back to their senses from the shock.
This PV felt like a complete breath of fresh air to them!
"Wow..."
"I love this PV so much!"
Miss Yun was like someone who had discovered a hidden treasure, her eyes sparkling.
"This form of expression is so artistic!"
"Sparkle's inner world must be incredibly complex!"
"And they used such bloody techniques to portray a scene that was eerie and absurd!"
"For example, the gunshot, the suicide, even the implied scene of a bullet going through the head, originally that's super gory, but the colors and presentation made it all feel strangely beautiful!"
"It completely fits my idea of what joy should be."
Miss Yun practically had "I love it" written on her face.
"Truly a surprise!"
"Penacony really is peak, not just the story, even the PV is this deep!"
Rion also took a deep breath, unable to hide the appreciation and admiration in her eyes.
"This PV may seem abstract, but it conveys real emotion!"
"Not just the many Sparkle's inside it, but also the pure red and pure white masks, did you notice? In the final shot, the mask becomes half red, half white."
"I think those chaotic visuals earlier might be hinting at how Sparkle became who she is now. The colors might be symbolic of Sparkle's mental state during that time."
Professor Rion kept dragging the timeline back and forth, studying the key scenes, immersed in decoding them.
"But the information is still a bit limited. I can't wait to watch Myriad Celestial Trailer: Sparkle – Behind the Curtain."
"Maybe the information in there won't just help us understand Sparkle better, but also give us indirect insight into the true meaning of joy..."
As she spoke, she clicked on the video titled Myriad Celestial Trailer: Sparkle, Behind the Curtain, right next to the PV.