Everyone wore mixed expressions as they looked at the three who had struck a... unique pose.
No one knew what they were supposed to say.
Hokuto: "..."
"Elysia, what's this?" Hokuto asked cautiously.
"A celebration for Honkai Impact 3rd's anniversary, of course~~"
Elysia beamed. "This is just the opening—we even made our own original dance!"
"If you just want to celebrate Honkai Impact 3rd's anniversary, couldn't you have filmed the dance and posted it online?"
Hokuto offered a practical suggestion. "No need to come all the way here and perform it live for us."
"That'd be so boring~~"
Elysia instantly rejected Hokuto's idea.
What she wanted was to see that look of shock on the faces of familiar friends.
Like the reactions just now—completely worth it.
"All our effort wasn't in vain!"
"So, what do you think of our pose? Cool, right?"
"Uh..."
As Hokuto searched for a polite way to respond, Kevin suddenly chimed in:
"Cool~~"
"You think it's cool, Kevin? Want to join us?" Elysia immediately extended the invitation.
"Join in?"
Unexpectedly, this world's Kevin didn't immediately refuse. In fact, he seemed... a little tempted.
Beside him, Kiana's eyes sparkled.
"Mei, Bronya, let's do it with Elysia! That pose looks awesome."
"Aren't we supposed to be recording the anniversary video? Why don't we just do this instead?"
Mei & Bronya: "..."
Idiot Kiana, stop changing plans on your own!
"You all want to join in too?"
Elysia's excitement grew. She scanned the room and came up with a bold idea.
"How about we all do it together!"
She repeated the pose.
"Henshin!"
Silence.
"Come on, come on."
Elysia ran over to help Kiana shove Mei and Bronya into the center.
Kevin grabbed his close friend Su.
Griseo went for Aponia and Mobius, whose expression had shifted from "spectator joy" to "stone-cold frozen."
One by one, others stepped up for various reasons.
"Don't drag me into this, you old fossil!"
"I know you're interested, little Shibao."
"You're the one who's interested!"
"No need to lie."
"..."
After a burst of chaos, everyone had gathered together.
Well, everyone except one.
"Hokuto?" Elysia looked over.
"I'll pass." Hokuto quickly shook his head.
Elysia smiled sweetly, utterly unbothered. "In that case, you'll have to ask everyone whether they agree with that."
At her words, everyone turned to stare at Hokuto.
Especially those who had joined in reluctantly—their scorching stares seemed to pierce him.
Everyone else did it. You think you can run?
"...Give me a second." Hokuto stopped resisting.
On one hand, he couldn't bear the pressure of all those heated stares.
On the other...
Sometimes doing something alone is embarrassing.
But when everyone does it together—it becomes fun.
He turned, grabbed a mask, and stepped into the middle.
Elysia stood beside him. Everyone else lined up behind them by height.
"Ready~♪"
Right hand raised high.
Left hand clenched into a fist.
Then the right hand slowly came down, while the left shot upward—forming a straight horizontal line.
"Henshin!"
Freeze frame.
Everyone struck the "cool" pose in perfect sync.
It looked absolutely ridiculous—
But oddly heartwarming.
No sorrow, just laughter.
"That was amazing~!!"
Half an hour later—
Honkai Impact 3rd's official account on pilipili posted a short video.
Title: "miHoYo Staff and Elysia's Friends Celebrate the 1st Anniversary of Honkai Impact 3rd"
Fans flooded in.
The moment they saw the content—
They froze.
Wait, this was a meme video?
[What is this? Official meme content!?]
[Holy crap, the devs just nuked all fan content!]
[Is it just me, or is this video strangely healing? Seeing Kiana, Mei, Himeko, the class rep, Shibao... everyone laughing together—I almost cried.]
[Same. Watching it, I suddenly got something in my eye.]
If a random passerby watched it, they'd probably just be amused.
At most, they'd be shocked by how absurdly good-looking everyone in the video was.
They might even think this was a new idol group debuting.
But to those who'd walked alongside Honkai Impact 3rd all this time...
It was deeply moving.
That feeling of: "This... is really nice."
[Healthy, wholesome, uplifting... have I been brainwashed by miHoYo??]
[Isn't Honkai 3rd the most healing game of the past few years? (dog head)]
[Of course it is! Today's story, today's meme content—who dares say Honkai 3rd isn't wholesome!?]
...
After the video shoot—
Elysia and the others didn't leave.
Some still had things they wanted to discuss with Hokuto.
Sure enough—
Elysia brought Griseo and Aponia over.
"What's up?"
"I'll let little Griseo explain." Elysia stepped aside, putting Griseo up front.
"I..."
Griseo hesitated a moment.
"I want to join miHoYo."
"Huh?"
"Is that... not allowed?"
"Hmm... Why do you suddenly want to join miHoYo?" Hokuto asked curiously.
He hadn't interacted with Griseo a lot recently, but not too little either.
If she really wanted to join, she could've said so earlier.
Which meant—something today had changed her mind.
Henshin?
Hokuto's expression subtly shifted.
Griseo spoke:
"Today was my first time at miHoYo. I saw a lot of colors I'd never seen before. I really like it here."
"Colors you hadn't seen before... and you liked it?"
Hokuto tried to interpret her words another way:
"So seeing everyone here at miHoYo made you fall in love with this place?"
Griseo thought for a second. That interpretation sounded right. She nodded.
"Mm."
"I see..."
Hokuto now understood the reason.
But that didn't mean he would agree right away.
Joining miHoYo wasn't the same as joining Honkai Impact 3rd.
"Out of respect for everyone here, I'll need to give you a small test."
"A test?"
"Draw a character illustration of Herrscher of Thunder."
Griseo understood immediately. If it was drawing—she had full confidence.
"No problem."
"Come with me."
Hokuto took her to another room and laid out a full set of drawing tools.
Griseo stood in front of the computer.
She didn't start immediately.
Instead, she closed her eyes and adjusted her mindset.
After a while—
She slowly opened her eyes, a strange sharpness flashing within them.
And murmured:
"Brush... submit to me!"
Hokuto: "..."
Was it because he asked her to draw Herrscher of Thunder?
"Hahaha~~ That's just how little Griseo is. Don't be too surprised,"
Elysia explained from the side as Griseo began drawing in earnest.
"Griseo's like a blank canvas. She picks things up from her environment and changes easily.
But don't worry—they fade just as quickly."
"That said... even I think the whole 'Brush, submit to me' bit is a little much."
Hokuto nodded seriously.
"I see."
But then he looked at tiny Griseo—
And realized there was something he hadn't considered.
"Griseo's still a minor?"
"Yes."
"Hiring child labor is illegal, isn't it?"
"Yes~" Elysia replied cheerfully. "But Hokuto, you already promised Griseo. You wouldn't want to make her sad now~~ That'd be scary."
Hokuto fell silent.
Of course he knew.
You don't mess with the team's beloved mascot.
"No problem. We'll just switch to another form of partnership. Not a big deal."
...
...
Naturally, Griseo passed the test.
Hokuto, after discussing with Griseo and Aponia, worked out a collaboration that satisfied everyone.
That afternoon—
It was time for the livestream.
Since Elysia and the others had stopped by, Hokuto decided to put them to good use.
He put on a gold wig, changed into a blue suit, and cosplayed as Otto.
He even wore a white mask.
He invited Kevin.
Welt wasn't available, so he had Theresa fill in.
The three walked into the livestream room.
[Kevin? Theresa? And this blond guy in a blue suit is... Otto?]
[Dogto! Scriptwriter! Come out and face us! ...Wait, this chapter was sweet. Never mind.]
[Hahaha~~ In the Widower Duo, Theresa totally doesn't fit. Replace her with Welt!]
[Honkai 3rd Bosses: Y'all got any respect?]
Amid the barrage of chat messages, Hokuto, Kevin, and Theresa took their seats.
Left to right: Hokuto, Theresa, Kevin.
Hokuto glanced at the scrolling chat, then smiled and said:
"I'm just cosplaying Otto. I've got nothing to do with the Widower Duo."
Kevin, who had barely sat down, heard Hokuto distancing himself and—
rather than revealing his "paramecium nature" in public, channeled his in-game self:
He responded calmly:
"Mei and I have a good relationship in real life. Don't confuse the game with reality."
"..."
Wait, Kevin and Mei are already together in real life?
Kinda wish we'd gotten to watch him chase her... feels like we missed out a bit.
"Ahem."
Hokuto cleared his throat.
"Back on topic. Let's talk about the newly released main story chapter."
"You mean the part where you got wrecked by Dark Fu Hua?" Kevin asked flatly.
"?"