As soon as Mo Li uploaded the video, it exploded in popularity.
A free character could actually be this powerful?
Forget other games—just take Girls' Odyssey from Penguin as a comparison. In that game, don't even mention free characters. Even if you spent money, you'd still get beaten to a pulp by veterans clad in ultimate armor.
And yet in Honkai Impact 3rd, you could grab a free character and still wipe out a boss.
Mo Li's video wasn't just fun to watch—it directly slapped Yu Weiwei across the face.
Countless players shared it like crazy, cheering "Immortal, you're amazing!" while mocking Yu Weiwei for spouting nonsense just to make money.
Under such pressure, Yu Weiwei had no choice but to step out and apologize.
[Dear Honkai Impact 3rd players, I sincerely apologize for my previous remarks.]
[Because of work, I haven't had much time to play games, so I didn't really understand that one. That's why I said some inappropriate things.]
[Please don't take it to heart. Honkai Impact 3rd is indeed a great game. I also hope to collaborate with miHoYo in the future.]
After she posted this on Weibo, most players simply unfollowed and left.
A small portion, however, stayed behind to mock her. After all, even though she was trying to cozy up to Honkai Impact 3rd, her post didn't feel like a genuine apology at all.
As a result, Yu Weiwei not only failed to gain anything from this incident—she left a terrible impression in the hearts of her old fans. Even her public image with casual audiences took a nosedive.
But the matter didn't end there.
A few days later, as the video continued to circulate, all Honkai Impact 3rd players gained a new understanding of the character Stygian Song.
In one sentence—the biological mother of Physical DPS comps.
Whether paired with White Comet in Memorial Arena or with Herrscher of Reason in Abyss, she was an outstanding support.
This drove countless players to madly pull from the dorm supply pool, hoping to get her.
And suddenly, Honkai Impact 3rd's daily profits skyrocketed.
Watching this, Zhao Wenbo was practically drooling with envy.
He was about to burst from rage.
He had spent his own money to hire internet trolls just to smear Mo Li.
And what happened? The guy released a single video, not only humiliating him, but also boosting Honkai Impact 3rd's profits by a huge margin.
Even worse—many Girls' Odyssey players suddenly realized the comparison.
They discovered that they had been total idiots all along, almost brainwashed by Penguin's endless marketing blitz.
Coupled with the recent plot twist in Girls' Odyssey where major characters suddenly died, a massive wave of players abandoned ship—joining the Honkai ranks instead.
Typical case of trying to steal a chicken but losing the rice.
Players across the community were overjoyed.
For so many years, Penguin had relied on its massive traffic, endlessly hyping half-baked games and bleeding players dry.
Any genuinely good game that appeared would soon get reshaped into Penguin's image.
Chinese MMO players had no choice but to play them. Only a few who stuck to single-player titles would buy foreign games.
It had been a miserable situation.
Now, finally, a truly high-quality game appeared, and Penguin got knocked down a peg.
Online gamers were ecstatic—it was like finally venting years of frustration.
Even though everyone knew Stygian Song was just a launch character who'd eventually get power-crept, players still kept rolling for her like crazy.
It was a kind of retaliatory spending.
Compared to being exploited by Penguin, even if miHoYo took their money, players were willing.
At least miHoYo actually cared about making good games.
Their music and CG anime were crafted with genuine effort. If they didn't deserve to make money, who did?
Just as players were rushing to roll for Stygian Song, miHoYo's official account suddenly dropped a shocking announcement.
To everyone's surprise, the announcement discouraged players from overspending—literally pushing money away.
[Recently we noticed that many players, influenced by my earlier video, are drawing for "Stygian Song" from the dorm supply pool. I must advise everyone…]
[Stygian Song was an S-rank Valkyrie available at launch. In recent patches, this is her final moment of glory. I strongly urge players to spend rationally—save your crystals for future Herrscher-tier physical supports.]
The news stunned not only players, but also game developers across the industry.
They were all racking their brains to trick players into spending. Yet here miHoYo was, pushing money away?
Were they insane?
Even newcomers to the studio like Yae Miko and Kamisato Ayaka couldn't understand.
What was the purpose of making games?
No matter the reason—results and money were always the most important.
And yet here was their boss, turning down free profits.
But was Mo Li stupid?
Of course not.
With his Game Development System, he lacked neither money nor good games.
What he truly needed was popularity.
That announcement not only boosted Honkai Impact 3rd's reputation, it also harvested a massive wave of popularity points.
Once reputation was secured, more and more popularity would follow naturally.
Besides, Honkai was already profitable enough—money wasn't his concern.
And indeed, his approach drove players absolutely wild.
Countless people shared the announcement.
It even spread overseas.
Foreign players and developers were equally dumbfounded.
[Rational spending? How do you expect me to be rational after reading this?!]
[Everyone else tries to bait spending, and here you are not only spoiling future characters but pushing money away?!]
[If your studio doesn't deserve to make money, then no one does.]
[I had already stopped, but after reading this, I bought two more $100 packs.]
[Idiot… but such a lovable idiot.]
[From now on I'll never curse the miHoYo boss again. I'll only curse Otto. (dog head emoji)]
The result?
Instead of lowering profits, the announcement caused Honkai Impact 3rd's revenue to soar even higher.
Other developers finally realized—was this marketing?
Even if it wasn't, the benefits of reputation were undeniable.
Penguin and NetBoar fell into deep self-doubt.
Meanwhile, small indie studios with genuine passion for making games were moved to tears.
They publicly praised miHoYo, believing that all their years of hard work weren't in vain—that serious game development would indeed be rewarded.
But Penguin and NetBoar weren't so happy.
Compared to miHoYo, their ugly money-grabbing faces were laid bare.
Countless players flooded the internet with angry comments.
[Studios that treat games seriously are the ones everyone loves.]
[Think carefully—you have the best teams. Why can't you just make real games?]
[I've completely given up on Penguin—they're an investment company, not a game studio.]
[Hopefully NetBoar will wake up.]
As for NetBoar, they stayed quiet for now.
Penguin, however, refused to change.
Yes, miHoYo had created strong player loyalty and community atmosphere.
But original games always carried risks.
Penguin's upper management would always choose the old fast-money approach.
Thus, they decided to continue copying with Girls' Odyssey.
But just as they rolled out a new update—miHoYo dropped a bombshell announcement that shook the entire internet.
#miHoYo Sues Penguin for Plagiarism#
The hashtag shot straight to the top of trending searches.
Countless netizens were shocked, then shook their heads.
Sure, miHoYo had grown stronger.
But Penguin had plagiarized for years, been sued countless times, and never lost once.
Still, miHoYo's bold stance won huge support from players.
Yet in just a few days, the verdict left everyone stunned.
Penguin lost!
And they lost completely.
Not only was Girls' Odyssey ordered to shut down, but Penguin also had to pay miHoYo massive damages and issue a public apology.
When curious netizens wondered how miHoYo managed to win, an insider revealed the truth.
Turns out miHoYo had embedded countless hidden miHoYo logos inside their game code.
A simple inspection of Girls' Odyssey's code made the plagiarism undeniable.
The result had players cheering wildly.
It also set a strong example for small studios everywhere.
[miHoYo you sly dog… hahahaha!]
[Always walking by the river—of course your shoes will get wet. Well done, miHoYo!]
[Finally, Penguin the bully gets punished. I'm so touched I could cry.]
[Lesson learned—next time don't plagiarize the source code. (smirk)]
[Still don't believe Penguin will change? Same. Too real!]
[And miHoYo was devious—waiting until the game stabilized before suing. Genius!]
[Hope miHoYo can hold strong and not get crushed by Penguin later.]
NetBoar trembled in fear.
Thankfully, they hadn't been as blatant as Penguin. Otherwise, they'd have suffered the same fate.
Meanwhile, at Penguin's Timi Studio, the Girls' Odyssey dev team huddled in terror.
Zhao Wenbo was especially nervous.
At the head of the table sat a middle-aged man in a tailored suit—one of Penguin's largest shareholders, Brother Pony.
He quietly reviewed the financial report, calculating just how much Girls' Odyssey had cost them.
Although only two versions had been released, four had already been developed. The fifth was still in production.
Without Penguin's massive traffic injection, just development alone had already consumed 80 million.
And that was only possible because they had Honkai Impact 3rd as a blueprint. Otherwise, making four versions of an original Girls' Odyssey would have cost at least 200 million.
Of the two released versions, they had barely scraped a profit of 100 million, but before the other two could launch, the lawsuit struck.
So—100 million profit, minus 80 million in dev costs, minus 50 million in damages…
After also factoring in the traffic and manpower supplied to Girls' Odyssey, Penguin had taken a catastrophic loss.
In all their years, they had never suffered this badly.
As Brother Pony's expression grew darker, Zhao Wenbo knew he was doomed.
Losing his job was the least of his worries. He knew Penguin's ways—before kicking him out, they'd make sure to take a chunk of flesh first.
His career was over.
Zhao Yi wouldn't escape either.
"Well done…" Brother Pony finally set down the report, his eyes sharp as blades as he stared at Zhao Wenbo. "I told you to imitate, and you went and copied the source code!"
"Losing money is one thing. Do you realize how severe the hidden consequences are?!"
Zhao Wenbo stammered, "Boss Ma… I…"
"From now on, Xue Zhiyi will take over as producer at Timi Studio. As for you…" Brother Pony waved his hand coldly. "Get out."
Meanwhile, over at miHoYo Studio, the atmosphere couldn't be more different.
The girls were happily gaming together.
The new update for Honkai Impact 3rd was already complete, so Mo Li let them relax a little by unveiling Genshin Impact version 1.0 for them to play.
They had been eager to try it for ages. Even the refinement work on Save the Girl was set aside as they plunged headfirst into Teyvat.
Mo Li sat back, listening to their cheerful chatter while preparing the Genshin trailer.
The room radiated warmth.
As for Honkai, its story had now advanced to Chapter 16.
There were no animated shorts or huge climaxes this time—the only noteworthy event was Mei and Kiana's reunion.
Even so, the emotional impact left players gutted.
Compared to Girls' Odyssey's clumsy shock deaths, miHoYo's emotional knives were far sharper and more refined—painful yet unforgettable.
At the end of the chapter, Dr. Tesla revealed to Mei—and to the players—that under the corrosion of multiple Herrscher cores, Kiana's life was already on countdown.
Players wailed in anguish, swearing vengeance on the "evil" miHoYo boss.
"Heh, since you're all hurting that much, I'll ease the pain with a little surprise~"
Mo Li decided to release the Genshin Impact trailer that very night.
After letting it ferment for a while, once the hype cooled down, he would immediately drop Chapter 17 of Honkai's story.
At that point, Stormterror would even cameo briefly in Honkai.
Then, with a planned Honkai–Genshin crossover…
Both games would trend together without cannibalizing each other's popularity. Absolutely perfect!
Without spending a dime, he could use Honkai's hype to fuel Genshin's flawless publicity campaign.
"I really am a marketing genius~"
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