In an atmosphere like this, Xia Wen naturally wore a subtle, complicated expression.
He had access to information far more accurate than what ordinary people could get.
So he couldn't help scratching his head in confusion over the opponents counterattack.
Who told them that Amphoreus wasn't desperate enough, or tragic enough?
They even spent such enormous resources to shape this kind of public opinion environment worldwide.
It was practically warming up the audience for Amphoreus' upcoming storyline!
Even he, the boss of MiHoYo, hadn't thought of doing something this hardcore.
Could it be that… The real public managers of MiHoYo were actually Cinnati and Herdo?
They even spared no expense to build hype for Amphoreus' next phase.
He really… felt like cry.
But putting that aside. After this wave of online "not-tragic enough movement" erupted, he keenly sensed another possibility.
That was the rendering of atmosphere. The entire core of Amphoreus could be summed up in two words: the powerlessness of fate, and the struggle of heroes.
Phainon, or rather the ending of the entire planet of Amphoreus, was largely something people couldn't fully accept.
When players first finished the game, the reactions were sharply polarized.
In the end, it came down to confusion over the characters' endings. The ending where Cyrene sealed away her memories wasn't some happily-ever-after, everyone-hugs finale either.
From Amphoreus' perspective, the Chrysos Heirs did succeed, though the price they paid was extremely heavy.
But from the perspective of the entire Honkai: Star Rail universe, Amphoreus could basically be described as tragic.
To sum it up, "Amphoreus may have won, but people lost."
Because people simply can't accept "living in memories" as truly being alive.
So some gamers felt angry and resentful. But that helpless, sorrowful feeling of being unable to do anything was also very real.
Likewise, the idea of "meaning" itself, to some people, it was something vague and unconvincing.
Another group felt that this ending was the best possible ending, the most moving and the saddest ending.
The Chrysos Heirs had already done their absolute best.
In this digitized world, multiple Emanators were born and truths were revealed.
From a lore perspective, that was an extremely important milestone.
The only real regret might be that the cosmic war arc wasn't made due to limited resources.
But these controversies weren't something Xia Wen needed to worry about.
What he had to do was to push the audience's emotions to their limits.
If it was sadness, then let them be sad to the extreme.
If it was anger, then let them experience the most extreme anger.
This was where a series had its advantage, it had infinite resources to burn.
By piling on massive amounts of plot, it could stack up emotions in the audience's hearts, then, in the most extreme environment, let them experience the most intense emotional catharsis.
...
Over the next stretch of time,
MiHoYo continued operating as usual.
Several character PVs were released one after another.
They kept adding fuel to the online not-tragic enough movement war.
The MiHoYo supporters and the Hollywood supporters were slaughtering each other online.
And in this rage-filled internet battlefield, a third force gradually grew in size.
That was the great Director Sparkle.
Inside one of the many MiHoYo office cabins, Sparkle was curled up on the chair.
The desk was covered in phones. A sly smile tugged at her lips as she kept swinging her little feet, hugging a phone and tapping frantically with both hands.
"Heehee."
"Heehehehehe."
She was ready to let out all her grievances from the past few days.
Ever since the great Director Sparkle met Rappa, her lifelong career of seeking fun had run straight into a brick wall.
That Rappa was basically her natural nemesis. No matter how Sparkle teased or mocked her, she didn't care at all.
Even when she caught the hidden meaning, it only fired up her fighting spirit, and then she'd start rapping in her ear, which was pure unbearable noise as far as Sparkle was concerned.
Against someone like that, Sparkle really had no solution at all.
Until now.
Until the start of this not-tragic enough movement war.
"Hehehe!"
"This is too fun!"
"This is what real fun looks like!"
Sparkle laughed until her eyes turned into crescents. She registered more than a dozen alt accounts.
IDs like "MiHoYo Terminator" and "Tragic Guard" were all put to use.
"Honestly, I've been following Star Rail from Jarilo all the way to now. It used to be so shocking, but Amphoreus is way too conservative!"
"Trash MiHoYo, too scared to let characters really suffer! Disappointed!"
"Doesn't even compare to Olympus." Sparkle spammed posts like these at high intensity every single day.
She didn't actually want to smear her own company.
What she wanted was to use this online war to direct a truly absurd story.
Sparkle knew very clearly.
This movement was the people behind Olympus fanning the flames and making it grow.
They used money and their own media networks to fire the opening shot of this war.
But the people who followed after that were a complete mixed bag.
There were paid trolls from other platforms, uninformed passersby, people who simply enjoyed online flame wars, people who were openly hostile toward MiHoYo, and those who wanted to fish for traffic and have some fun in the chaos.
In the past, these people were just a loose pile of sand with no organization.
So no one could really hear their voices. But once someone fired the first shot, these scattered forces quickly gathered under the comment sections.
They began attacking MiHoYo like crazy. The first step Sparkle wanted to take was to mix into this crowd and gradually seize control of the narrative.
At this moment, Sparkle was chatting with people in several anti-fan groups.
As someone who spammed MiHoYo hate daily with over a dozen accounts, she had already built up a certain reputation in these groups.
She had even quietly become an admin in a thousand-person group.
She took out her phone and started typing a message.
Her alt account ID was: Codename Twin Rabbit.
...
Codename Twin Rabbit: Everyone, how are today's results?
Bandwagon Joker: Twin Rabbit's a beast. I reported thirty accounts that were speaking well of them today. But honestly, we trash them every day, why hasn't MiHoYo reacted at all? They haven't even posted an announcement.
Codename Twin Rabbit: No reaction is the greatest arrogance! It shows they don't even think we're worth talking to. And it also proves we're right, they're guilty!
Professional Hater: Makes sense. I carefully scrubbed through it for half an hour yesterday and found that Amphoreus also has some pretty big narrative risks.
...
After chatting idly in the group for a while.
Several of the main accounts that Sparkle had been watching out for finally showed up.
...
Super Overlord: Brothers, what you're all saying is spot-on. My latest video deeply compares the core of Greek mythology with Amphoreus. The views are climbing right now. I'm heading home to farm three more matches.
Bandwagon Joker: OK bro, no problem. I'll go give you a triple-like right now.
Professional Hater: Count me in too. I'll help you flame people.
...
After Super Overlord posted the link.
Very soon, hundreds of people started popping up in the group. All of them speaking up to support him.
Sparkle also clicked into the link and took a look, and found that this guy's video traffic was rising rapidly.
She checked a few other groups on her phone. Sure enough, the guy had posted it in more than one group.
But right at this moment, a guy with the ID name "Celestial Dragon" emerged.
Celestial Dragon: Your video angle is good, but the depth could still be strengthened. I have some internal materials on my side. Maybe we could collaborate and co-create an episode.
This guy expressed an intention to cooperate. But the other party didn't respond to him.
Soon after, the group once again descended into chaotic noise.
...
Joker: If you ask me, we aren't flaming hard enough! MiHoYo not daring to write dead characters is cowardly. Olympus casting is obviously political correctness shoved into your brain at a glance. Black dudes playing Apollo! I'm dying! Both sides should just die together!
Professional Hater: Bro, whose side are you even on?
Joker: I'm on the fun side.
Kalboli: @Joker, be serious. One warning. This is a righteous alliance group against MiHoYo, not a place for you to come watch for fun. Second time and you're kicked!@Celestial Dragon, about the materials you mentioned, I think they should be publicly posted in the group to give everyone better theoretical support. Don't make little cliques.
Celestial Dragon: Group Leader, don't get excited. I'll DM the bro first. We'll think it over, and when the time comes we'll definitely share the resources.
...
Sparkle watched their conversation.
She only felt that it was extremely interesting. In this thousand-member group, where most people were just venting and killing time.
Only Celestial Dragon, Super Overlord, and this group leader clearly had their own purposes.
In this so-called hater group, not a single person with even a bit of influence was really speaking out just to discuss the core of Greek mythology, as they claimed.
Super Overlord was obviously trying to use these haters to make videos and get traffic, earning money through online hype and account value.
Celestial Dragon was clearly trying to use so-called "internal materials" to raise his own influence within the crowd. He was obviously doing Olympus's bidding and being fed their scraps.
As for the group leader, Kalboli, he was a guy who studied Greek culture and looked the purest on the surface.
But in reality, behind that facade, Sparkle had long seen through him. What he really wanted was for his ideas and words to be recognized by more people, to gain a kind of emotional satisfaction from being validated.
For that he would even take some conclusions out of context.
All just to make others in the hate wave acknowledge him. What tragedy, what culture, those were all just fig leaves for business and validation.
Under the hate wave. It was all base desire flowing freely. And that, to Sparkle, was the best stage and the greatest source of amusement!
Sparkle's little eyes spun. She sent a message in the group. Because she was an admin, she could tag all members.
...
Codename Twin Rabbit: @Everyone, I think we can start with small-scale cooperation first. Integrate the resources of all the groups, unite everyone we can unite, and form a more unified organization. That way, when we spread things, scattered fighters can become a much bigger wave of sound. After all, only if our voices are loud enough can we win and bring down MiHoYo!
The group fell silent for a moment. Then everyone started showing signs of excitement.
Super Overlord: Makes sense. I support it. Only by unifying our talking points can we maximize broadcast effect. I can use my channel and accounts as our voice matrix!
Celestial Dragon: Integration can indeed raise communication efficiency, but leadership needs to be clearly allocated. Who we listen to and what we say are both very important.
Kalboli: Won't this make criticism a bit too utilitarian?
Codename Twin Rabbit: No. This is our most solid step onto the stage of history, Kalboli. Don't you want your voice to be heard by more people?
Kalboli: …Alright. I support it.
Codename Twin Rabbit: Then if no one objects, we'll establish the Anti–MiHoYo Alliance, okay?
Under Sparkle's smooth talk, the Anti–MiHoYo Alliance stepped onto the stage for the first time.
She successfully formed an exclusive circle with a strong sense of identity.
Looking at the replies from those few people on the screen, Sparkle could tell.
Super Overlord was the most supportive. Celestial Dragon was clearly very cautious, afraid of losing discourse power and influence. Kalboli had his head clouded by the urge to be acknowledged by more people.
These people, with different thoughts but cooperating, were the fish in Sparkle's pond.
As for how to use them, and how to eat them afterward, that depended on Sparkle's mood.
"Heehee."
"Way too easy to fool, these guys."
Sparkle covered her mouth, a mischievous smile in her eyes.
As the one who proposed forming this circle, Sparkle, Codename Twin Rabbit, naturally gained a portion of power within it.
Next, Sparkle was going to help these people expand their influence.
Gradually become the sole designated group to speak, while she herself slowly blended in, step by step becoming the one who led the hate wave, until in the end, she became the one who controlled it.
And by that time, Sparkle had already imagined a gigantic piece of fun.
Like a firework, exploding fiercely within the hate wave.
The name Twin Rabbit would definitely circulate on the internet for a very, very long time.
Of course, during the process. Sparkle would also have plenty of fun.
For example, stirring up internal conflict in this organization and making them tear each other apart.
Just thinking about it was filled with a joyful atmosphere.
Thinking of this, Sparkle took out her phone and posted a message in her real account's Moments feed.
[The poor online MiHoYo haters are being toyed with in Sparkle's palm. (Image: Tom Cat)]
Furina, sneaking a break from her busy schedule, was the first to reply:
Furina: (Jellyfish confused.jpg) . Even though I don't understand what's happening, the Tom & Jerry duo is still ridiculously overpowered.