Reality
"Have you heard? About that company in Shanghai?"
"Of course, how could I not? The whole thing has blown up. It's hard not to know about it!"
"Exactly! I'm one of their players, I can't believe something so bizarre happened… I'm almost afraid to play their games now!"
"It's too scary. Maybe if you have that game on your phone, you'll end up like that company! You should delete it, quick!"
"No way! I've spent a ton of money on it!"
---o---
"China Morning Post: Today, there are still no leads in the case of the mass disappearance of Shanghai's miHoYo company. This extremely strange incident is being called the most bizarre disappearance case in global history. Currently, our nation's police forces have been mobilized nationwide in an effort to find these more than ten thousand civilians as soon as possible…"
Click…
Sister Guoguo turned off the TV with a look of disinterest. She collapsed onto the soft sofa behind her, completely drained. It was winter, and the air conditioning was on inside. Although the room was warm, Sister Guoguo felt a chill in her heart colder than the wind outside her window.
A short while ago, the miHoYo company in Shanghai had vanished in plain sight…
That's right, "vanished." A true, literal "disappearance." The entire company building, along with all its staff, had disappeared. It happened in an instant. Not even the old security guard at the front gate or his dog was left behind…
The whole affair was as if some strange power had taken an eraser and wiped miHoYo's existence off a piece of paper, leaving only the faintest of traces behind.
And those traces were the various games miHoYo had published, and their official accounts which were, somehow, still updating and posting.
This series of abnormal events gave off a bone-chilling feeling, as if the company miHoYo had never existed and everything it had brought to people was just an illusion. But in reality, those so-called "illusions" truly existed on every player's phone. Those things were definitely not some fleeting mirage…
But now, no theory, no method, no instrument could explain why the miHoYo company would suddenly disappear while everything they had online continued to operate normally.
Everything about it… was just too strange…
It had reached the point where miHoYo had become a taboo subject. Whenever it was mentioned, people would clam up and quickly change the topic.
The streamers who used to update and broadcast miHoYo games had all switched to different content. Even if their viewership had plummeted, they absolutely did not dare to touch this ghost game…
As for Sister Guoguo, she had chosen to stop streaming for the time being, treating it as a vacation for herself.
It wasn't just China; the whole world was abuzz with discussion. The alien theories that had been dormant for years had resurfaced with a vengeance. Things were escalating, and miHoYo's disappearance was now being seen as a harbinger of the apocalypse, a sign of encroaching darkness!
So… where on Earth did the miHoYo company go?
---o---
"Phew, the company is getting bigger and bigger, but it still feels like something is missing."
Wende stroked his chin, looking at the company building before him, its lights beginning to switch on one by one as evening fell. His face was lost in thought.
With numerous partnerships established, the number of company employees was constantly expanding. A couple of days ago, Wende had even managed to scoop up the entire leadership of St. Freya Academy and the top brass of Anti-Entropy in one fell swoop, getting them all to sign contracts.
As for the Star Rail world, to be honest, Wende felt he needed to be more cautious. Take a certain General, for example. He was afraid that if he had him sign a contract, not only might the Xianzhou have some complaints, but more importantly, he feared the guy would constantly pop over to have meals with Jingliu and Dan Heng, and then con Jingliu into making Wende cook for them.
That old fox… if he really signed the contract, he'd actually dare to treat this place as his own home!
But speaking of the four of them having a meal together, there was something else Wende was curious about… When exactly did Veyl team up with the Stellaron Hunters and help them get onto miHoYo Planet?
If Jing Yuan hadn't dragged him over to cook for them, he probably would have never noticed. But the moment he saw Blade, he immediately used his "glasses" to ferret out Kafka and Silver Wolf, who were hiding among the Punklorde staff. While he was curious where the other, as-of-yet unseen Stellaron Hunter had gone, that wasn't a particularly pressing matter.
Ever since the Xianzhou affair, the relationship between the Stellaron Hunters and the Astral Express had become very subtle. Before, while they weren't mortal enemies, their conflicting philosophies made them adversaries… But now…
---o---
"Huh? We actually get a salary? For real?"
Sitting in her newly assigned employee dorm (freshly pinched into existence by Wende), Silver Wolf stared at the message on her phone in disbelief. Several million Credits every month… Did this company have so much money they didn't know what to do with it? They were being this generous without even testing their abilities? Was this really a "corporation" as she knew it?
Okay, so this company wasn't that Corporation, but still, this was ridiculous!
"Hmm… Little Wolf, with such a big wardrobe, do you think we should add a few more coats? I heard this planet has four distinct seasons. It would be a good idea to prepare some coats for different times of the year."
As if she hadn't heard Silver Wolf's complaints, Kafka was already fretting over the enormous wardrobe in her room. She really, really wanted to stuff it completely full~
"Hey, hey… Are you even listening to me? We're not going to wake up tomorrow morning, get discovered, and then be sold off to the IPC for our bounty money, are we?"
Silver Wolf put her hands on her hips, looking at Kafka with exasperation.
"Oh, Little Wolf, what's made you so paranoid all of a sudden?"
Kafka smiled gently, her pupil-less eyes gazing quietly at Silver Wolf.
"If he really wanted to, we probably would have been sent to the Interastral Peace Corporation long ago, before either of us even had a chance to react. But here we are now, safe and sound, just chatting, aren't we?"
"What do you mean? We've already been discovered?"
Silver Wolf frowned, looking at Kafka with complete confusion.
"Of course… Nothing on this planet can escape his sight. Perhaps even most of this universe… is the same."
Kafka looked out the window calmly, the corners of her lips curling into a smile.