Himeko leaned back against the wall, arms crossed, a sly smile tugging at her lips as she glanced at Mo Li.
"Boss~ did you enjoy the view?"
Mo Li only shrugged.
"Not my fault~ and it's not like I saw anything anyway."
With that, he walked toward the work area, while Hu Tao, Kiana, and Himeko quickly trailed after him.
To his surprise, Ganyu was already up and busy at her station.
Curious, Mo Li approached.
"Eh? Boss, you're up this early too?" Ganyu blinked in surprise.
"No choice, Kiana dragged me out of bed," Mo Li replied with a yawn, stepping closer to her.
"What's this… livestream equipment?"
Ganyu gave a timid nod.
"Himeko-nee is supposed to stream this afternoon, so I thought I'd help set up the gear and background."
Mo Li chuckled.
"Thanks for the effort. But don't overthink the backdrop—just hang a sheet or something."
"It's no trouble," Ganyu shook her head. "Compared to the other sisters… I feel like I haven't helped much at all…"
"How could that be? You're the secretary of Yuehai Pavilion, after all~"
"Eh?" Ganyu froze, her expression adorably blank.
Before she could ask, Mo Li explained,
"That's your character setting in the new game."
"My… character setting? In the new game?" Ganyu blinked, then suddenly realized:
"Boss, you mean… you made a character in Genshin Impact modeled after me?"
"Exactly. And a very strong one, too. So that red packet I gave you—accept it without guilt."
Just then, Hu Tao popped up with her usual mischief.
"Boss Mo Li~ what about me?"
Mo Li looked at her and chuckled, ruffling her hair.
"Of course you're in it too."
"Really? What am I, huh? Also in Genshin?"
Mo Li nodded.
"You… are the head of a Hall. Even Liyue's Geo Archon serves under your name."
"Whaaa!! So powerful!" Hu Tao jumped excitedly, hugging his arm.
"Thank you, Boss~ you're the best~"
She whispered the words "head of a Hall" to herself a few times, then suddenly looked up.
"Uh, Boss… what does that mean?"
"Secret for now. But—" Mo Li pulled out his phone, opened Genshin Impact, and tapped on Hu Tao's character.
"Here, this is you."
Hu Tao eagerly took the phone, turning the model around with her pale, delicate fingers, admiring it from every angle.
"Wow~ it looks just like me! It's literally identical!"
Just then, in-game Hu Tao struck a pose, hands like claws, trying to spook someone while reciting a silly little rhyme:
[The big hilichurl's sick, the second bangs a drum,
Third one's got some veggies, fourth goes yum~ awooo~~]
"Wahhh!! Even the voice is exactly the same! Boss, did you record the lines yourself?" Hu Tao's eyes sparkled.
She adored the design—couldn't stop gushing over it.
In her excitement, she accidentally triggered her Elemental Burst.
[Eat your fill, then take the bill, off to the afterlife you go~]
The camera spun as a cute little spirit popped out of her ring, which Hu Tao grabbed by the tail and twirled dramatically. The flashy animation left everyone dazzled.
"Wooow~ so cool!!"
Kiana and Himeko, curious now, came over too.
Seeing the Genshin screen, both of them were instantly hooked.
"Hu Tao, move her around more!" Kiana urged, bouncing with impatience. New game? She was dying to see more.
Himeko also turned to Mo Li.
"Boss, is Genshin playable already?"
Mo Li nodded.
"Yeah, technically it could launch right now. But I want to wait until Honkai 3rd's hype dies down first."
"Ah, makes sense…"
Just then, Rita, Mei, and Durandal came out with trays of breakfast.
Spotting the little group squealing over something, Rita tilted her head curiously. She handed Mo Li his portion while asking,
"Good morning, Boss~ what's everyone so excited about?"
"Thanks~" Mo Li accepted the meal, smiling.
"They're testing Genshin. The graphics and gameplay probably shocked them a bit."
Rita and Durandal exchanged a glance, curiosity lighting up in their eyes. They joined the crowd, with Mei and Fu Hua following along—after Mo Li's quick demonstration yesterday, all of them had been itching to try it.
"Kiana, Boss said Ganyu's in it too! Quick, check her out!"
At that, all eyes turned to Ganyu.
"Umm… c-could you not all stare at me like that…" she stammered, cheeks pink.
The girls chuckled and looked back at the screen.
After a moment, Hu Tao navigated to the character select.
The moment Ganyu's blue-haired, horned model appeared, everyone gasped.
"Why does Ganyu have horns?"
"I think they look pretty cute."
"Don't tell me you're really gonna grow a pair, Ganyu."
"Of course not… Himeko-nee, please stop teasing me."
Suppressing a laugh, Himeko turned to Mo Li, who was calmly eating his breakfast.
"Boss, what made you give her horns?"
"Lore-wise, she's a qilin—an auspicious beast. Having qilin horns isn't too much, is it?"
"An auspicious qilin…" Ganyu actually rather liked the idea.
By now, Bronya had finished washing up and came out.
The moment her eyes met Mo Li's, a flicker of awkwardness passed between them.
"Morning, Boss~"
"Morning." Mo Li wasn't foolish enough to bring up earlier, and simply handed her a breakfast set.
"Eat up. After this, we'll get the update running."
"Thanks~"
Meanwhile, countless sleepless Honkai players were practically vibrating with anticipation.
[Himeko's finally going live!!]
[Can't wait—this will finally kill off those dumb rumors for good.]
[Lol, I checked, all those old smear posts got deleted.]
[Do you think the other Valkyries will show up too?]
[Am I the only one hoping the miHoYo Boss appears on cam?]
[Otto, taste my sword!!]
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