Ever since Honkai Impact 3rd updated to version 1.2, Zhao Yi and his uncle Zhao Wenbo were watching closely.
After all, the game they were making right now was essentially a "copycat" of Honkai Impact 3rd.
After more than half a month of work, their own title Girls' Odyssey was nearly finished.
So when news broke that Honkai Impact 3rd had suddenly exploded in popularity and dominated Weibo's trending charts, of course they paid attention.
"Hahaha… young people really are still young. They actually killed off a character they're selling in the gacha."
Looking at the flood of posts on Weibo, Zhao Wenbo wasn't angry—he was delighted.
When he saw The Final Lesson, he instinctively realized this was an opportunity.
A chance to drag Honkai Impact 3rd through the mud—and turn it into a stepping stone for his new title Girls' Odyssey.
The moment Elysia ended her stream, Zhao Wenbo immediately contacted paid posters and hype squads to stir up the narrative online.
They latched onto [Honkai 3 killed off a character just to farm hype] and spread slander everywhere.
After just a few hours of fermenting, his goal was achieved.
Now, public opinion of miHoYo compared to just two weeks ago had completely reversed.
60% of the voices online were cursing miHoYo.
20% were onlookers eating melon seeds.
And only about 20% were still defending miHoYo.
Under Zhao Wenbo's manipulation, Honkai Impact 3rd's ratings also began dropping sharply.
"Uncle, that was brilliant. Just by hiring a few water armies, you turned all of Honkai's built-up fans against them."
"But… what if the Honkai devs change the story?"
Zhao Yi wasn't stupid. He knew the only real controversy now was Himeko's death.
The players' rage only proved how much they loved the game.
If miHoYo really did change the story, all the current outrage would vanish, and they'd win back the fans' goodwill instantly.
If that happened, Honkai's reputation would recover in no time.
"You realized that much—not bad." Zhao Wenbo nodded approvingly, then smiled with confidence. "But if that miHoYo boss really does change the story, it doesn't matter."
"I never expected to crush them with just this little scheme anyway. That's why…"
"What we need to do now is push as fast as possible and get Girls' Odyssey released."
"Right now, go announce it on our official site. Get word out about our new game. While those players are feeling betrayed, we'll reel them in."
"Also, inform everyone to grit their teeth and work harder. Speed up development. Ideally, I want open beta in three days."
Hearing his uncle, Zhao Yi immediately understood.
High-level play—truly high. As expected of his uncle.
As long as Honkai Impact 3rd didn't alter the story within three days, they could exploit the anger to steal players.
With Honkai's current insane visibility, combined with Penguin's massive traffic and user base, Zhao Yi could hardly imagine how explosive Girls' Odyssey's launch would be…
...
Meanwhile, discussions online were still raging.
On Bilibili and Douyin, the official Honkai accounts were flooded with comments begging for Himeko's revival.
The most recent video already had over two million likes.
And just as the players were spamming their pleas, Honkai's official account suddenly posted a new video.
The fans immediately lit up with excitement.
At this hour? Must be an announcement!
Himeko Auntie is finally coming back? miHoYo finally realized their mistake?
But when they clicked it open, they were dumbfounded…
It was just The Final Lesson animation short—again.
[WTF! miHoYo you monsters!!]
[I just got gutted this afternoon, and you dare post it again?! Are you trying to drive us insane?!]
[Uuuu~ my Himeko Auntie~]
[miHoYo's playing dead. Brothers, maybe we're not raging hard enough!]
[Neutral passerby here—honestly, this short is really well made. Why's everyone flaming it?]
[Rise of Chinese animation?]
[What "Chinese animation"?? This is a game…]
Even though players were cursing nonstop, they still couldn't stop rewatching the video.
Because… it was just that good.
They cried, cursed, and rewatched—an utterly bizarre scene.
...
On the other side, at Elysia's place.
After the stream, she had been comforting Eden nonstop.
But no matter what, Eden simply couldn't stop crying.
Crying and crying, she eventually fell asleep in Elysia's arms.
Heart aching, Elysia let her rest on her lap.
Over three hours passed before Eden finally woke up.
"Eden!" Seeing her awake, Elysia was overjoyed.
"Elysia… how long was I asleep?"
"Just over three hours~ If you're still tired, you can go right back to sleep."
"Elysia's lap will always have a spot for Eden~"
Eden shook her head. "No, I'm fine…"
Seeing her mood still gloomy, Elysia flopped into her arms, pouting in exaggerated cuteness.
"Eden don't be sad anymore"
"If you don't want Himeko to die, then let's just buy miHoYo, okay?"
"Then we'll supervise their writers together—make sure they never hurt any of the pretty girls in the story again!"
Eden shook her head. "No need. Their writing is good… sincere…"
"I really do like it…"
"Huh?" Elysia tilted her head and touched Eden's forehead. "No fever…"
Once she was sure Eden was fine, Elysia grinned:
"Knew it—Eden really is the kindest, sweetest girl. Even after they made you cry, you're still defending them."
"Eden's my favorite~"
Eden flicked her forehead, pretending to be annoyed.
"What do you mean 'they made me cry'… I was just… touched. Whatever, I'm going to shower~"
"Want me to join you~?"
"No thanks~"
...
After bathing, Eden had composed herself again.
When she opened her phone to check the internet, she found Weibo completely dominated by Honkai-related tags.
As expected—so she didn't dwell on it.
Instead, she opened her own Weibo and typed a short message:
"miHoYo, you're heartless (crying)."
Her backend showed over 90 million real followers.
Not a single fake or bot account.
This number was even higher than many veteran kings and queens of the industry.
And since her debut, Eden had only posted a dozen times in total—almost all promos for her new albums, never about anything else.
This was the very first time she had used social media just to vent.
Yes—she'd posted it simply because she couldn't hold back anymore.
Because The Final Lesson had really broken her defenses.
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