"Can everyone please stop for a moment?" Her voice carried a faint, almost imperceptible sob. "When we first fell in love with Genshin Impact, wasn't it because of all the vibrant and distinct characters in Teyvat?"
"Lydia's Primogems were a gesture of her goodwill, and Yunqin's struggles are part of her growth. They aren't tools for us to fight over."
She opened her inventory and projected the image of the 100 Primogems onto the screen. "Look, I got these at Liyue Harbor yesterday. Yunqin heard we needed Primogems for our adventures and selflessly exchanged her own rewards for them every time."
"They never meant to hurt anyone. Why are we fighting like cats and dogs over such a small amount of resources?"
But as soon as she finished speaking, comments like "You're just a goody-two-shoes" and "Easy for you to say" flooded the chat.
The smile on Lu Nanqing's lips slowly faded, but she still insisted softly, "I just don't want to see everyone turn against each other because of the characters they love. It's too sad."
Meanwhile, Xiao Guizi completely lost his temper, slamming his hand on the desk so hard that the microphone buzzed from the impact.
She stared at the chat comment on the screen: "They already gave 70k, what's wrong with giving a little more?" Her voice instantly shot up, and even the tips of her ears turned red with anger. "What's wrong? You have the nerve to ask what's wrong?!"
She quickly pulled up the cutscene of Lydia being besieged by the Abyss, pointing at the image of the girl covered in wounds.
"Seventeen years, man! She saved those up slowly over the past seventeen years! Even when she was dying, she wanted to leave them for the Traveler! You treat her like an ATM, and you still have the nerve to ask for more? Where's your shame?"
The more she spoke, the more agitated she became. Her fingers clattered furiously on the keyboard, and her mouse blurred across the desk. "And you people who exploited the bug to farm Yunqin's Primogems—where were you when Yunqin was deceived by Huoqin and tormented by her own bloodline?"
"Now you're selling accounts with her goodwill for profit and still have the audacity to curse the developers? I think you don't love the characters at all; you're just insatiably greedy!"
Players who supported her flooded the chat with "Well said," while opposing voices grew even sharper. But Xiao Guizi ignored them, continuing to argue into the microphone, the veins on her forehead bulging.
Unlike Xiao Guizi's agitation, the streamer Polar Bear seemed a bit more "calm."
He pulled up screenshots from the forum showing "Primogem farming and account selling," his tone calm yet every word striking a nerve: "Exploiting bugs to farm resources is itself a violation of the game's rules; getting punished is inevitable! And I think using a character's goodwill as a tool for profit is disrespectful to that sentiment."
He paused, then played the animation of Lydia handing over Primogems near a Hilichurl camp. On the screen, the girl's smile was gentle enough to melt the snows of Mondstadt. "She gave you Primogems hoping you'd have a good adventure, not so you could resell them."
"Those who got banned and are still crying foul should first think about what they did wrong."
A player retorted in the chat: "It's just a game, why get so serious?"
Polar Bear's gaze turned cold as he tapped the screen. "You don't have to get serious, but don't treat what others cherish as a joke."
"If someone sold your precious memories for money, would you be okay with that?"
The debate in the live stream escalated again. He methodically refuted the inappropriate comments, his eyes filled with unwavering conviction.
Streamer Dr. Pineapple, on the other hand, maintained a sarcastic tone throughout. He scoffed into the microphone and began speaking slowly: "Oh my, some people are really good at putting on a show. Selling a character's goodwill for money, then crying foul after getting banned... Isn't this a modern-day 'The Farmer and the Snake'?"
He deliberately dragged out his words, mimicking the tone of players whose accounts were deleted: "'They already gave us 70,000, what's the big deal about giving more?' What's the big deal? Why don't you just go rob a bank? The money comes faster, and you don't have to wait for respawns."
As he spoke, he typed words like "Greed" and "Shameless" on the screen, accompanied by exaggerated "Clown" emojis.
"And for those saying 'it's just a game,' so your idea of 'liking' something is treating characters as tools? Then why bother with the story? Just go farm gold ingots instead."
His words were like fine needles, pricking many players and making them jump. His supporters felt vindicated, while his opponents cursed him for his sharp tongue.
But Dr. Pineapple remained unfazed, continuing his mockery with a teasing tone, a faint, cold smirk playing on his lips.
-
At Mihoyo Headquarters, Brother Da Wei stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the bustling traffic outside. The evening breeze slipped through a crack in the window, causing the hem of his clothes to flutter slightly.
The computer screen behind him was still frozen on the account reset interface, where the figure of the Starter Traveler looked particularly frail.
He had created Genshin Impact with the intention of bringing players a world full of unknown adventures and warmth.
But now, this "world" was being manipulated by an unknown force, even sparking so much controversy and conflict.
"Are we creators, or just bystanders?" he murmured, his voice so soft it was swallowed by the evening wind.
As night deepened, the company building remained brightly lit. Employees were still busy handling player complaints, but no one could answer that question.
Time slipped silently from day to night, yet the storm of public opinion surrounding Genshin Impact showed no signs of abating.
On domestic forums, the hashtag #PrimogemProfiteering remained firmly at the top of the trending list, with new debate threads appearing daily. The controversy had even crossed the sea, stirring up significant waves on foreign websites.
Many foreign streamers looked into their cameras, their faces full of confusion, their voices laced with disbelief: "I truly don't understand why people are fighting like this over two characters who are so full of goodwill. Lydia and Yunqin are clearly pouring their hearts out to us. Shouldn't they be cherished?"
Some who already held prejudices against Genshin Impact players became even more convinced that "Genshin players are a mess" after hearing the full story, posting sharp comments on social media:
"Insulting each other and even attacking the developers over the 'feelings' of virtual characters. Could Genshin Impact players do anything more ridiculous?"
These voices were like stones thrown into muddy water, adding more chaos to the already complex public discourse.
Domestic players had to refute the greedy players' claims of "not enough Primogems" while also dealing with outsiders' accusations of "making a big deal out of nothing." Though their fingers ached from typing, they refused to back down.
What they wanted to protect was never just the 100 Primogems, but the raw, heartfelt emotions of the characters in Teyvat.
It was Lydia's gentle smile as she handed over the Primogems, and Yunqin's stubborn determination to protect Liyue despite her own confusion.
-
At this moment in Teyvat, the Northland Bank office.
Through the window, the bustling prosperity of Liyue Harbor filled his view, yet Tartaglia's gaze remained unfocused.
His mind was consumed by the nascent next steps of the "Acquire the Geo Gnosis" plan, but his thoughts, as if pulled by an invisible thread, kept drifting back to the ink-haired girl.