Hearing the name Khaslana.
Everyone was filled with anticipation. There was no doubt that among the characters about to appear, this was one of the most important figures on all of Amphoreus.
As they watched the scenes on the television, a flame burned in everyone's heart.
Their Greek culture was being treated by others as nothing more than a tool.
There was not the slightest trace of so-called respect.
Cincinnati and Herdo, didn't care about the story itself at all. They just stuffed in a pile of labels that were useful to them. It was arrogant to the extreme.
"I can't even imagine what Amphoreus would have become if we really had handed it to them…" Aglaea's eyes flashed with lingering fear.
"Mind-numbing," Anaxagoras summed up his feelings in just two words.
That aside. The Khaslana Xia Wen had just mentioned.
He was a being completely filled with rage. That fury destroyed everything, including himself, and even touched the Aeon of Destruction.
In the story, this was the complete outburst belonging to the first half of the plot.
And hearing this, everyone felt an indescribable sensation.
That anger did not merely represent Phainon's resistance in the story against Amphoreus and against the injustice of fate.
In a real-world sense, this explosive moment was also the best counterattack against Olympus's arrogance.
"Maybe it really is a coincidence…" Such thoughts surged up in everyone's mind.
Prometheus was a fire thief, stealing the flame from the gods to give it to humanity.
Khaslana stole the coreflames, stealing them to fulfill a long-cherished wish.
Some people, like Xia Wen, Aglaea, Cerydra and others keenly sensitive to reality, all sensed a possibility.
That in the current environment, there must be many more who had seen this disrespect, and were also bottling up a fire in their hearts.
While watching Amphoreus, would this sense of grievance resonate with Phainon's extreme outburst in some way?
In a certain sense. The flames with which Khaslana burned might ultimately spill into reality, becoming an outlet for certain real-world groups.
For Xia Wen this was perfect timing. It was hard to find another chance where the anger a story wanted to express could be so effortlessly empathized with, one hundred percent, by audiences outside the screen.
This realization made everyone especially the members of Okhema, tremble. They could already imagine it.
Countless people who felt the same as they did, and even the people who had been insulted by Olympus. They would personally witness the suffocating frustration of seeing Greek classical culture tampered with.
That anger with nowhere to go would gather in their hearts. And then. They would see this character appear.
A character rooted in Greek, a being of rage, carrying memories of countless reincarnations, pushed to the brink along with all of Amphoreus.
They would see him rise up, turning all his rage, all the injustice and despair inflicted upon himself and the world, into flames that burned everything away.
Launching the most magnificent charge against destiny, against fate, and even against the Aeon itself that loomed over the entire world, arrogant and irresistible!
When that pillar of fire that burned everything, shot into the sky and broke free from the confines, it would no longer be Phainon's anger alone.
It would be the release of pent-up emotion from all the viewers enraged at Olympus. The fictional flames in the story would no longer be an illusion.
They would ignite real resonance in these people. Every inch of his burning body would carry the emotions of those who came before.
And his victory would not just be a single character's highlight moment. It would be the victory moment of countless people.
That kind of feeling was the ultimate goal every creator dreamed of achieving. And now what lay before Aglaea and the others was precisely such a possibility.
How could they not tremble with anticipation?
"Remember this feeling." Xia Wen's gaze burned like fire as it swept over every member of Okhema Theatre and others as well, "Remember this sickness at seeing Olympus's first episode, and then wait for the next episode of Amphoreus to air."
He paused, then said each word slowly and clearly: "When our next few episodes air. It will be a complete game changer!"
The real contest was already advancing into its most critical stage. A head-on collision of sheer quality.
And here at MiHoYo, from Xia Wen's words, they had already glimpsed a future that made morale boil.
....
After Olympus aired. The so-called troll-army war seemed to grow even more ferocious.
Because so many people had been angered. But they were all unable from speaking out.
Across the entire internet, there seemed to be nothing but voices singing MiHoYo's downfall and praise for Olympus.
Media outlets already bribed, all loudly promoted their terrifying first-episode data over the following week.
And used it as a comparison point, they were announcing that this was a heavy blow to Honkai: Star Rail.
In fact, after pouring massive resources into marketing and traffic promotion, Olympus's results were indeed quite impressive.
Ranking within the top two in streaming-platform alongside Star Rail was no problem at all.
But to call it a "heavy blow" to Star Rail was an exaggeration. Even so, MiHoYo remained silent.
The troll-army grew even crazier.
Extreme claims that MiHoYo was finished were everywhere.
Even bystanders were influenced by this wave of public opinion.
....
: It exploded! It exploded!
: These numbers are insane, this is a true world-class production!
: A historic moment, MiHoYo's myth is about to be ended!
: MiHoYo doesn't dare make a sound anymore, they've gone quiet!
: Why doesn't Amphoreus episode two dare to move its air date up? Afraid of being outdone, right?
: Insider info: after seeing the finished cut of Olympus, MiHoYo urgently rewrote the later scripts, they're already in a panic.
: They've relied on marketing and luck to get this far; once they ran into a real behemoth, it was over.
: Suggest MiHoYo just go make anime, live-action dramas? They got completely crushed.
...
Amid all kinds of pessimistic opinions, a week gradually passed.
Finally, it was time for MiHoYo to air the new episode.
There wasn't much promotion. It was released just like that, quietly and plainly, as if nothing special had happened.
Whether it was the haters or the audience, countless pairs of eyes around the world were fixed on it, all wanting to see how the data for Amphoreus would look under the impact of Olympus.
But just in the very first minute after the broadcast began.
The numbers that appeared left countless people stunned into silence.
...
Date: Saturday.
Time: 11:00 a.m GMT.
Scope: All streaming platforms.
Program: Honkai: Star Rail – Amphoreus Arc.
Viewers: 371 million.
...
On MiHoYo's official website.
Along with a large number of traffic-chasing data-analysis sites, they released a copy of the numbers at the same time as the episode started.
Previously MiHoYo had never displayed detailed data.
But when people truly saw this set of numbers. They were completely dazzled and shaken by it.
...
: H-how much? 370 million watching at the same time?
: Did I count an extra zero?!
: Holy crap, 370 million?! Did this thing go super Saiyan?! Even all the previous blockbuster dramas at their peak combined weren't this hot, and this is three times hotter?!
: This is insane! Brothers!
: Damn it, they played dead for a whole week, and now they've flipped the table!
: Where are the haters? Come out and talk!
: Put Olympus episode one next to this and it can't even compare to the scraps, right?!
: These numbers are terrifying!
: No wonder MiHoYo never released any data before.
: The haters are clowns now. Dumbass Olympus, hyped itself up forever, and in the end got kicked to death like a stray dog.
: Holy hell, looking at public opinion I thought MiHoYo was about to die any second, and turns out everyone was secretly watching it!
: I'm dying of laughter.
: This is pure madness.
...
Public opinion flipped.
Fans supporting MiHoYo were practically soaring with joy. In an instant they also understood why MiHoYo had kept silent all this time.
So this was their confidence. Compared to this comeback victory brought by the data.
What the audience wanted to see even more was the reaction from Cinnati and those bribed media outlets.
But unfortunately, this wasn't their stage right now.
It was MiHoYo's time.
The comments were surging wildly.
...
: This feels too damn good, brothers, seriously!
: Another comeback win, and we get to see episode two. This week is perfect!
: Compared to that trash Olympus, I still prefer Star Rail!
: Who doesn't like handsome guys and beautiful girls?
: Last episode Phainon's demigod journey isn't even over yet! There are still so many doubts, and we still don't know how things will develop!
: I'm full of anticipation for episode two now!
...
A huge number of comments was filled with people saying 'So satisfying!' and 'This feels amazing!'"
The irritation the audience had been holding in before was finally released in full.
And it was more than enough to let them immerse themselves into the story of episode two.
On screen.
The scene followed closely after the ending of the first episode.
But what appeared first wasn't Amphoreus.
It was the Express… Himeko was sitting together with Pom-Pom, looking out the window with a worried expression.
Welt and Sunday had already gone to find Herta. She herself had stayed behind on the Express to take care of March 7th.
"Hopefully everything goes smoothly." Himeko murmured in her heart.
For some reason, she kept having a bad feeling.
After thinking for a moment, Himeko put down her coffee and stood up, heading toward March 7th's room.
She planned to go check on her.
But when she got close to the door, she felt a strange chill.
"March?" Himeko frowned and opened the door.
The sight inside made her breath hitch.
"March?!" March 7th lay on the bed, curled up under the covers, looking like she was fast asleep.
However, countless ice crystals were surging out from all directions, completely freezing the entire bed along with March 7th inside.
The viewers who had still been intoxicated by MiHoYo's data were instantly scared out of their wits.
Whatever stupid that online fight was, it was thrown straight out of their minds.
Who cared about trash-talking when March 7th was involved?!
...
: Holy crap! What the hell is this?! What happened to my March 7th?!
: No way, bro! Is this how episode two starts?!
: Wait, didn't last episode's foreshadowing mean the knife should fall on Phainon? Why is the blade on March's neck instead?!
: Don't hurt my March! MiHoYo! I'm begging you to be human!
: March 7th, no!!!
: She really became an ice-cold beauty now (:
: Shut up!!!
...
The audience was full of worry.
They had absolutely no idea what had happened to March 7th.
Because of being frozen, March hadn't gone to the planet at all.
Himeko was also flustered. But she knew that she had to be calm. After stepping forward to check, she forced herself to calm down.
"March's aura is very weak, but it's still there."
"Hmm…" After a brief moment of thought, Himeko called over Black Swan, who was still on the Express.
The memokeeper appeared and immediately sensed something familiar.
"Don't worry, Miss Himeko. Let me handle this." Black Swan looked around.
From it, she caught a faint sense of memetic matter. Her brows furrowed. Many thoughts already forming in her mind.
"First… I need to check whether someone of my kind is nearby." Black Swan's eyes narrowed slightly, and without realizing it, she had already drawn a card in her hand.
When they heard her words, the audience reacted instantly.
March 7th being frozen had something to do with a Memokeeper from the Garden of Recollection?