Chapter 93: Himeko's New Battlesuit, Vermilion Knight: Eclipse!
At the tail end of the preview livestream, following the pre-arranged plan, Elysia presented the audience with ten Expansion Supply Cards. This wave of welfare caused a frenzy of question marks to flood the chat.
[Holy crap? More freebies?]
[They gave out so much at launch, and plenty of supply cards when the revenue hit number one... Is this company too generous for its own good?]
[Characters come out fast, but the welfare keeps up!]
[Seriously, with Honkai Impact 3rd's quality, won't they go bankrupt being this kind?]
[I can't stand it, brothers. I have to top up and support them. I don't want a good company like this to close down!]
As the Game Director and the leader of the project team, Su Mu naturally had the final say on the operational strategy. Handing out a few extra supply cards was nothing to him. Having stood in the rain himself, he wanted to hold an umbrella for others. Su Mu wanted more people to experience the joy of Honkai 3rd, and since a huge part of a gacha game's content revolves around the Valkyries, he knew the pain of missing out.
If a player couldn't even pull the new Valkyrie in a new version, they'd miss out on half the experience. As for skins... if someone doesn't own the character, they aren't going to buy the skin. Ultimately, in a 2D-style "waifu" game, the characters are the core of the content.
In his previous life, Su Mu had felt the frustration of seeing several favorite characters released back-to-back when he was broke. Because he understood that pain, he increased the baseline welfare for Honkai 3rd in this world. This was actually a necessity; with the current pace of releasing S-rank Valkyries, being stingy would lead to a PR disaster. Thus, increasing Crystal income and providing farmable S-ranks was essential.
Of course, from a profit perspective, generosity had its limits. The company needed to make money. Therefore, in every version, Su Mu controlled the welfare to a level where a player could roughly secure the current rate-up Valkyrie. As for weapons and stigmata... if you were lucky, you could get them; if not, you might be tempted to spend a little. This combination of "everyone gets the girl" and "spend for the gear" worked perfectly. Given the game's terrifying popularity, the percentage of absolute "zero-spenders" was lower than expected. Most players at least bought the Monthly Card.
And there was no shortage of "whales" who spent out of love. For instance, a video recently trended on Bilibili of a whale who, out of love for Theresa, pulled fifteen copies of the Oath of Judah... Never underestimate the power of fans.
"Alright, that's it for today's stream! I'm your idol, Elysia~ See you all next time~ ♪" After the giveaway, the stream ended with Elysia's smiling farewell. Even after the screen went black, the chat continued to scroll wildly.
However, just as viewers were about to exit... the black screen suddenly flickered with a new image. First, the Bilibili logo appeared, followed by a blue and white giant dragon—the Second Herrscher's servant, the Judgment-class Honkai Beast, Benares. The moment Benares appeared, the miHoYo logo followed! The roaring dragon soared into the sky, and behind it, looking like a descending deity, the Herrscher of the Void judged the world with indifferent eyes.
[Wait? What's this?]
[Is there a hidden trailer?]
[Glad I didn't leave! God Su is so sneaky! Hiding a PV like this?]
[Holy crap! The dragon! Holy crap, My Queen!]
The sudden broadcast of the [Vermilion Blade]version PV sent the audience into a fever pitch. The Bilibili executives, who were just about to breathe a sigh of relief as the server pressure eased, found the servers jammed to capacity once again!
"We can't fit anymore! Seriously, we can't fit anymore!!" The programmers wailed in agony as they looked at the server loads.
[Schicksal Headquarters: Helheim. The figures of Tesla and Einstein appear. Deep within the Honkai Energy System Lab. Murata Himeko gazes at a crimson battlesuit floating within a containment device...]
The moment the crimson armor appeared, the audience reacted instantly.
[Is that Himeko's new battlesuit?!]
[Definitely! It looks like it has a huge sword? So cool!]
[So Himeko finds a new armor by chance and uses this new power to defeat the Second Herrscher?]
[I don't know, Himeko is only an A-rank. The Herrscher of the Void is way stronger than those previous 'embarrassing' Herrschers.]
[Maybe her body gets healed and she gets buffed for some reason!]
Amidst the chatter, the PV showed glimpses of upcoming maps. Finally, a small vial of crimson liquid appeared in the CG.
[Honkai Energy Suppressant]
[Neutralizing Serum HSN-b46]
In the next shot, a familiar hand gripped the serum—it was Murata Himeko!
[I knew it! Himeko definitely finds a cure at Schicksal!]
[It looks like this serum is the key to saving Himeko!]
[Wuhu! Auntie Himeko is making a powerful comeback to crush the Herrscher of the Void!]
[As a Himeko fan, my blood is boiling!]
Seeing Himeko hold the serum, many viewers assumed it was the key to her salvation. Using it would surely heal her body!
[But is that really the truth? I don't think 'Old Thief Su Mu' would be that kind...]
[You're overthinking it. Didn't God Su say this is a healthy, sunny, and positive game?]
[Right, Himeko is part of the main cast. How could she get 'boxed' so early? She's a playable character!]
[But Kallen and Yae Sakura are playable and they've been 'G' (dead) for a long time...]
[Uh, that's a point...]
The CGs continued: "The Seeker of Miracles: Otto Apocalypse." "The Immortal Blades: Shadow Judge, Rita Rossweisse." "Guardian of Destiny: Fu Hua, The Watcher of Fate."
Otto, Rita, and Fu Hua appeared in sequence, accompanied by stylish editing and escalating music. Then, a red-eyed Theresa appeared, unleashing the [Violet Executrix]while wielding Judah. Finally, a figure in crimson armor with a black cape appeared, dragging a massive crimson claymore along the ground. Himeko's back appeared along with her name. As the music reached its absolute peak:
"The Decisive Moment!"
Amidst the sound of blazing flames, a gallant Murata Himeko appeared in her brand-new armor!
[Vermilion Knight: Eclipse]
"I will continue to fight until the very last moment!"
Following Himeko's resolute words was a combat demonstration of the Vermilion Knight! The standard-issue claymores deployed like wings at her sides, and the Gem of Haste on her chest erupted with crimson fire. Paired with the cool-looking [Surt, the Godslayer], Himeko swung the dual blades as if they weighed nothing, carving a path through the enemies with ease!
[Holy crap? Can a claymore be played like that?]
[Wait, brother? A claymore! I thought you were dual-wielding daggers for a second!]
[Himeko struggled just to swing one blade before, and now she's spinning two like a firestorm??]
[Just how much terrifying strength do you need to swing two swords like that?!]
Seeing the terrifying attack speed displayed by the dual-wielding Himeko completely subverted the players' perception of "Greatswords." Using a claymore like a dagger—was this the power of the Vermilion Knight?!
It didn't end there. As Himeko tossed the standard blade into the air, her figure turned into a blur of light, catching the sword mid-air with lightning speed. She then crossed the blades into a fiery cross-slash, incinerating the enemies instantly!
In the final shot of the video, Himeko gripped [Surt, the Godslayer]with both hands. The standard blades disassembled into shards, coating the main sword as high-heat energy converged into a massive energy blade, transforming it into a terrifying giant sword of fire! Within the crimson storm whipped up by the flame sword, Himeko's figure was deeply etched into the minds of the audience!
[So cool! I need to play Vermilion Knight right now!]
[How can a claymore be this stylish? Designer Carole is a god!]
[I'll die if I don't get to play Auntie Himeko's new armor!]
[There are seven years until the version update!] (Hyperbole for seven days).
The cool demonstration in the PV had the audience screaming. They wished they could skip forward seven days to pull on the Vermilion Knight banner!
As the demonstration ended... a blinding white light followed. A girl lay collapsed on a beach; her scattered white hair and hairband seemed to tell her identity. In front of the girl lay an empty syringe.
[ich liebe dich.](I love you.)
As the CG ended, the splash arts for Murata Himeko and Rita's [Umbral Rose]appeared.
[Honkai Impact 3rd New Version]
[Vermilion Blade]
The PV ended there.
[Wait? What was that? That white hair... is that Kiana?]
[It should be Kiana. It looks like she's back to normal?]
[Does that mean the Herrscher of the Void was actually defeated?]
[But what was that syringe in front of her? Did that thing wake Kiana up?]
[Wait, is that the serum Himeko took?]
[Probably not, the device looked different... Maybe Himeko found another way to save Kiana at Schicksal?]
[I don't know why, but I feel a bit uneasy...]
The audience discussed the final shot of the PV animatedly, but with no more footage, their theories couldn't be confirmed. After a few more minutes of waiting, the stream showed the "Broadcast Ended" notice. It seemed there truly were no more surprises. Though slightly disappointed, the players were satisfied with the overall experience of the night.
In the seven days before the update, a few things happened. First, Elysia's follower count exploded, and she received the official "Honkai Impact 3rd Brand Ambassador" certification. miHoYo now had two official accounts: one for the "Cabbage Head" Ai-chan (the "No. 1 Idol"), which handled character reveals, PVs, and Otto's Lectures; the other was the "Honkai 3rd" account, featuring an abstract Higokumaru/Flame Sakitama mashup as its avatar, which handled fan-work features, birthday mail, and wallpapers.
The community was buzzing with fan creations, and the official account launched incentive programs to support creators. For a game like Honkai 3rd, the community's creative output was a vital source of longevity.
And so, time passed in a blur of activity. Soon, the day for the launch of the new version, [Vermilion Blade], arrived.
END OF CHAPTER
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