When it came to Kamisato Ayaka and Yae Miko—two of Genshin Impact's most popular characters—Mo Li very much wanted to bring them into his studio.
If they really weren't willing to join, then at the very least, he would still try to establish some form of collaboration.
After all, in Genshin, the images of Yae Miko and Kamisato Ayaka were absolutely untouchable.
That day, when Mo Li extended his olive branch, the two girls had clearly been moved.
He'd then arranged for them to spend an afternoon with the other studio girls, just so they could feel the atmosphere of his workplace.
Mo Li firmly believed that his studio offered one of the very best environments in the entire industry—the kind you'd never want to leave once you got a taste of it.
And sure enough, after an afternoon together, both Ayaka and Miko seemed to genuinely enjoy the atmosphere there.
But what he hadn't expected was that the very next day, the two of them hurried back to Sakura Nation.
Mo Li thought that meant they wouldn't be joining miHoYo after all… until a few days later, Rita came running to him, saying that Kamisato Ayaka and Yae Miko had both submitted their résumés.
That was when Mo Li realized the truth—they had simply gone back to report in and hand in their resignations.
It was almost comical. The agency's boss even called him personally to complain for quite a while.
Because after Ayaka and Miko left, more than a dozen employees from that studio followed them out the door.
Still, it was only complaints. They didn't dare actually blame Mo Li for "poaching."
After all, people naturally sought better opportunities. And their studio wasn't very large to begin with.
If anything, the boss owed Ayaka a great deal. Without her initiative, they wouldn't have been the first to spot Honkai Impact 3rd and secure the agency rights.
So instead of holding a grudge, the man had actually asked Mo Li to take good care of the two young women.
It seemed that Ayaka and Miko's fondness for Dragon Country wasn't just polite talk.
Because they followed Dragon Country's affairs so closely, they had managed to discover miHoYo ahead of everyone else.
And acquiring the rights to Honkai 3rd was destined to be a goldmine.
The game had already been live in Sakura Nation for many days now.
Unsurprisingly, the revenue there was nearly on par with Dragon Country's.
After all, it was the kingdom of anime. A game with art and story of such polish was simply irresistible to their players.
Even though Rita had crushed the agency's profits to the bare minimum, the partners were still raking in money hand over fist.
As for Mo Li himself, there was no need to even mention it.
His popularity value had already surpassed two hundred million.
Which meant… he could now directly redeem all Genshin Impact content up to version 3.0.
[Popularity Value: 230 million]
[Popularity Gift Pack x1]
At that moment, Mo Li sat in his office, gazing at the System panel.
When he had broken one hundred million, the System had given him a special bonus: a popularity gift pack.
He was very curious about what it contained.
"Sis System, how about giving me a Key of God in this pack? If not, I'll settle for a Vision~"
The System gave no reply.
Mo Li wasn't surprised. He had only said it offhand; he wasn't really expecting anything.
"Open the popularity gift pack!"
[Ding~ Congratulations, Master. You have obtained…]
[Valkyrie Dormitory (High-Tech Villa, 1 set)]
"The Valkyrie Dormitory?"
[Ding~ The Valkyrie Dormitory can be used for both residence and work. It includes a perfect defense system and is fully equipped with everything a game studio needs.]
Hearing the description, Mo Li's eyes lit up instantly.
"This came at the perfect time!"
Ever since Himeko had shown her face, fans had begun lurking near the studio to catch a glimpse of her.
At first, it was just a handful of people. But once someone snapped a photo of her leaving work, the numbers swelled.
It wasn't just an issue of privacy anymore—safety had become a concern.
Even though the studio was located on a busy street, there was no guarantee that an overly zealous fan wouldn't do something reckless.
The employees had already been reduced to sneaking around when leaving. More often than not, Mo Li himself had to personally drive them home.
The boss had essentially become the chauffeur.
Kiana had it the worst—she was directly ambushed at her school gate.
In the end, she and Hu Tao had to withdraw from school entirely.
Thankfully, the identities of Bronya and the others hadn't been exposed yet—that was the only silver lining.
But things couldn't go on like this.
Most of the reason fans crowded the studio doors was simply the novelty.
That was why Mo Li had been urging Himeko to try streaming.
If she appeared often enough, the fans would lose that initial sense of excitement.
Eventually, she'd just need to wear a mask when going out.
Even if recognized, it would amount to nothing more than a selfie with a fan.
Just like a celebrity or influencer.
Who could have imagined that Himeko and Kiana… would end up debuting into stardom, all thanks to a game?
On Baidu Baike, their entry already listed: Works: Honkai Impact 3rd.
Meanwhile, the Douyin accounts Mo Li had set up for them had blown past five million followers.
And this was for accounts with zero posted videos.
The result left countless B- and C-list celebrities dumbfounded.
Even Yu Weiwei was green with envy, pestering Penguin Games nonstop to speed up development.
She desperately craved that kind of loyal ACG fanbase.
Finally, Penguin finished rendering their visuals and released a new version.
The graphics were still a step below Honkai 3rd, but at least they weren't eye-searing anymore.
And true to form, Penguin never pursued polish.
As long as the game made money, that was enough.
Why bother spending more just for reputation?
Knock, knock, knock!
The door to Mo Li's office swung open, and Rita's tall, alluring figure glided in.
With her gentle smile, she set a cup of coffee on his desk.
"Boss, it seems Penguin has just rolled out their update. They even added a [Yu Weiwei Edition] Valkyrie, and it's attracting quite a bit of attention."
Mo Li only nodded, his mind still turning over the issue of the Valkyrie Dormitory.
"How should I explain this to the girls…"
"…Forget it, I'll just use the usual excuse. They won't press too hard, and in a few days we'll simply relocate to the new place."
He shut the System panel with a sigh.
If the girls ever tried digging deeper, the fact that he'd created Honkai 3rd singlehandedly was already unbelievable enough.
Compared to that, the sudden appearance of a high-tech villa was actually easier to accept.
What's wrong with being a rich second-gen, anyway?
"By the way," he suddenly recalled, "I think Honkai 3rd should be reaching Chapter 14 in the story soon, right?"
Rita chuckled and nodded. "Yes. Yesterday Eden told me she plans to announce her new album today. She'll release the lead single Stellar Meteor at the same time—and help promote our new game version."
Mo Li's expression immediately turned strange.
Even Rita couldn't hold back a laugh.
Penguin really did have a knack for this—every time, they somehow ran headlong into him.
It looked like, once again, the hype for Girls Odyssey's new update… would be crushed beneath Eden's brilliance.
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