Chapter 23: Triple Action
Today marked the dawn of a new era, the highly anticipated launch of Honkai Impact 3. For those who had been eagerly awaiting the game's release, the past couple of days had felt like an eternity. The excitement wasn't solely due to the game's impressive features or its widespread popularity, but rather the relentless information onslaught from Schicksal. This barrage of advertisements reached even the most remote corners of the world, including explorers in Antarctica. One such explorer reportedly nearly tumbled into an icy abyss due to the sudden appearance of an ad for Honkai Impact 3. Upon his safe return, he voiced his complaints about Schicksal's intrusive marketing tactics.
Schicksal's advertisements were ubiquitous, reaching every possible corner where they could be displayed. While this strategy successfully informed a vast majority about this captivating game featuring beautiful girls and mechs, it also sparked dissatisfaction among many who found the information overload overwhelming. Despite this, anticipation for the game remained high, with many deciding to overlook the aggressive marketing.
The official website for Honkai Impact III saw an early surge in traffic, surpassing ten million visitors. The introduction of each character on the site garnered global attention. Characters like Kiana Kaslana, Raiden Mei, Bronya Zaychik, Murata Himeko, and Theresa Apocalypse were particularly popular.
For the general public, they just thought that these females were good looking, each with their own characteristics, and indeed much better looking than the old Ho-Om-Ho-Ho goodness.
Even Tesla, who was a cool mecha lover, bluntly said, "If he led a mecha to face such an enemy, he himself could only surrender, right?"
You know, she's a huge fan of the Anti-Entropy mecha, and even she said that...
And those who were familiar with Honkai looked at it...
"What the hell, isn't that Theresa? She's in the game too?" Tesla sprayed a mouthful of water onto the blue cockatoo's head across the room, her expression full of shock.
And Dr. Einstein wasn't annoyed, freeing up a hand to wipe the dripping water droplets.
"That's obvious, Dr. Tesla. More than caring about that, how's the flying mecha F-126 you made, if this keeps up we won't even talk about going to Schicksal to strut our stuff, Schicksal will almost forget there's even an organization called Anti Entropy."
"Isn't this being done? It'll be done soon!" Tesla hurriedly looked at that
"Wing sections, engines, missile systems... Okay, done, Dr. Tesla's masterpiece, the Flying Mecha F-126, is officially complete!"
"Commencing operation!" Tesla gleefully tapped the red button.
"10!9!8!...."
"Success?" Einstein asked next to her.
"Success... What the hell! That's a warning of an emergency explosion, run, cockatrice!" Dr. Tesla panicked and grabbed some precious experimental materials and ran outside.
Einstein heaved a sigh, trailing behind Tesla without missing a beat. "Always look on the bright side, Dr. Tesla. At least this time you incorporated a warning device. The third lab you blew up last week left us all choking on dust!" She remarked.
"But I've double-checked everything! There's no way it could go wrong this time!" Tesla protested.
"You said the same thing last time," Einstein reminded her just as a loud "BANG-" echoed through the lab. Einstein decided to postpone her plans to visit Schicksal for a few more days and resolved to abandon the troublesome mech.
Meanwhile, Gray Snake found himself intrigued by the game developers' decision to include the Valkyries of Schicksal St. Freya in the game. He pondered over Schicksal's intentions and briefly entertained the absurd idea that they were trying to create a game about the future of the world. He dismissed this thought and decided to send Raven to St. Freya for more information.
Gray Snake examined a picture of a stone that members of the World Serpent had discovered in the ruins of an ancient civilization. He recognized it as one of the Herrscher Cores from the former civilization, and a spark of excitement flashed in his eyes. "But any further moves would be pointless! For, the serpent will soon emerge from the darkness!" he declared.
On another front, Kallen found herself in a video call with Luo Mo, who was requesting additional characters for the game. "So, having Himeko and Theresa isn't enough? You also want both Dr.'s from Anti-Entropy, Rita and Phantom?" she asked incredulously.
"Ahem, actually... there's more," Luo Mo admitted sheepishly.
"Oh? There's more?" Kallen's voice dripped with sarcasm. She was already stretching her resources thin with publicity expenses and now Luo Mo wanted even more characters, two of whom weren't even from Schicksal.
"Yes, we're also considering Anti-Entropy ally Walter, World Serpent's Gray Serpent, Raven, and of course Kevin ...."
Kallen abruptly ended the call, her annoyance palpable. "What was he thinking? I'm a Schicksal Bishop, not a wish-granting machine," she muttered under her breath.
Despite her frustration, Kallen decided to wait and see how Luo Mo's game turned out. The Schicksal Research Institute had praised his concept for a stigmata named 'Hannah', but when she asked about their progress, they were evasive. Judging by their response, it seemed unlikely that they would have any results anytime soon.
Kallen found herself in a challenging position, tasked with developing a game based on the demands of an individual from outside World.
Seeing the various sights on the publicity PV, she was somewhat convinced that what it showed was really a parallel world.
However, the demands were also irksome, pushing her to her limits.
The World Serpent appeared to be a formidable organization operating in the shadows. Kallen decided to prioritize establishing contact with them. She knew it wouldn't be easy, but she was determined to find a way to reach out to them. As for Anti-Entropy, it was high time to put an end to their pointless disputes. She pinned her hopes on Einstein, her eyes reflecting a spark of determination.
...
St. Freya, inside Himeko's villa
"Wow, he really did make you Theresa a game character!" Himeko pointed at the new Valkyrie on display on the official website today - Theresa Apocalypse.
White hair and blue eyes, long hair tied into a ponytail draped over her left shoulder, a black and white nun's uniform, and the family crest of the Apocalypse family pinned to her chest.
Written below: Valkyrie-Pledge.
Evaluation: White hair, short legs, not very tall; cute, intelligent, intellectually deficient.
Of course, the above sentence that was not displayed on the official website was an exclusive gift from Luo Mo.
"Hmph, Himeko~, aren't you in there too?" Theresa looked at her wistfully.
"You're still the one who gave it away for free!"
"Yeah, that one's an image of me when I was younger!" Himeko lamented, outwardly not caring about Theresa 's sarcasm, "I didn't realize that so much time had passed."
When the white-haired loli let her guard down, she hugged Theresa and rubbed herself against her.
"So, Theresa, when will you grow?"
"Ahhhhh! Himeko, let go of me, get the hell off me!" Theresa struggled desperately in her arms, the huge waves contorting, making Theresa even more agitated, her expression growing more and more livid.
"Get off, get off me!"
In a room at the villa.
"Mei Mei, the game's about to start, look at it." Kiana waved excitedly towards Mei, pulling Mei over to sit in front of the screen, her arms wrapped around her shoulders, her head resting against Mei's shoulder.
Dark purple and pure white hair intertwined, and next to her, Bronya watched the scene helplessly.
"Okay, Kiana, I'm not watching? Stop leaning on me." Mei petted the white-haired groupie favorably.
"No, no, no."
"The game's about to start, stupid Kiana!"
"3!"
"2!"
"1! Start!"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone