Whether by coincidence or not, Penguin's new title had originally planned to open beta today.
But the moment MiHuYou's preview stream detonated the web, TiMi Studio scrambled its schedule and chose to dodge MiHuYou's date.
Hard to blame them. The Lantern Rite buzz was enormous—Evening News level enormous. How do you compete with that?
At this point, MiHuYou didn't fear Penguin anymore. In name recognition at home they were shoulder to shoulder with the Pigpen and the Penguin; abroad, MiHuYou flat-out crushed both. Even Penguin's old trump card—traffic throttling—couldn't find purchase now. All they could do was shovel money into ad slots for exposure and slide their open beta to three days after Genshin's patch.
—
Inside MiHuYou Studio.
"Hi~ Did you miss me?"
"Elysia has been so looking forward to seeing you all again~"
"No? Aww… that's a little disappointing. But it's fine—you'd like to greet Eden, right?"
"My dear Eden, say hello to everyone?"
Eden gave Elysia a fond look, then inclined her head toward the camera with a gentle smile.
"So… what shall we boot up first—Honkai Impact 3rd, or Genshin Impact?"
Viewer count in Elysia's room was skyrocketing. Bilibili staff got dragged back on duty to help mod and keep the servers steady—Elysia plus Eden was a terrifying combo. (Mostly Eden's draw… mostly.)
"Decided! Let's start with Honkai~"
"Boss said the new main story finally lets Otto show an HP bar—heh."
Chat exploded instantly.
Elysia logged in. The girls had pre-patched everything for her, so even before the official unlock time she could at least reach the title screen.
An elevator rose in frame; upon entering, the version PV auto-played:
"Honkai Impact 3rd — 'Infinite Trajectory'"
Elysia and Eden both straightened, and the audience quieted. MiHuYou PVs + music? Never miss.
The MiHuYou logo pulsed, music easing in.
"This will be my final day as Overseer of Schicksal. Durandal, I leave the work ahead to you."
"Understood, Overseer."
Cut: a city of medieval European spires and stone. The score thickened on heavy beats.
"Old Schicksal Headquarters—Kolosten."
"Grandfather chose this place on purpose…?"
Theresa's soft, baby-sweet voice. The crowd realized: were these shots… the old HQ?
Questions rattled around. The architecture screamed five centuries ago. And yet Theresa and the others were here? Wait—Otto did everything to save Kallen, who died five hundred years prior. Did he actually pull it off? Is the new arc a journey to the past?
Speculation flooded the chat while the PV rolled.
Kiana, Tesla, and Theresa walked through an empty city. Up above, Rita—ever elegant—stood in knight-class power armor, watching from a rooftop.
Hard cut. Otto smirked, seemingly squaring off with Kevin.
"I suppose I should thank you—Leader of World Serpent."
"No need," Kevin replied coolly. "The Key of Revelation is useless to me now."
Smash-cut—Mobius on screen. Viewers blinked: wasn't this patch not about the Elysian Realm? Why was Snake here at all?
Before anyone could ask, the music shifted—violent rise, then a drop.
Mobius purred:
"Snakes don't give up their prey so easily…"
"You won't escape."
"My next experiment…"
"—is you."
Camera dove from the heavens, a face-filling close-up: hands cupping cheeks, that manic, lovesick smile—goosebumps. The beat detonated higher than before: slick, sinister synths, then a brutal, predatory rhythm. Even Eden shivered.
Title card flared:
[Infinite Ouroboros]
[It's here it's here—MiHuYou brought the subwoofers again!!]
[Bowing to the music & art teams as usual]
[That BGM made it feel like a snake crawled through my brain]
[This groove is perfect for Mobius]
[No matter the cost—I'm pulling Snake]
[Yandere energy?? Sold.]
[Slaying again!!]
Elysia swayed left-right with the beat. "This track is so fun, hehe."
Eden exhaled a laugh. "As expected of Mr. Mo Li." Another new style, flawlessly executed—how many did he have in reserve?
"Eden Eden—look, Raven's on board too!"
"Island Boom-Boom Raven—haha, that's the nickname Boss uses~"
Chat promptly spammed variations of "pink gremlin." Elysia puffed her cheeks.
"Boss is the worst—always slapping weird nicknames on people…"
Eden patted her arm. "Alright, Elysia—the game's ready."
Elysia, instead of focusing, hugged Eden's arm. "Elysia is hurt. Only Eden's love can heal her~"
Eden indulged her with a light embrace.
"Yay~ All better!"
"So… main story first, or jump to the side story?"
She clicked through the login rewards as she spoke. Mo Li hadn't only set up a 30-day New Year login for Genshin—Honkai got one too: 2,800 Crystals, 8 Expansion Supply Cards, 8 Precision Supply Cards over thirty days. That's before event/story rewards. Very generous.
"Main story," Eden decided. Not that she didn't care about the side story—but the side was an Otto & Kallen chapter, and the broad strokes had already been seeded. The fresh draw was the mainline.
Elysia obeyed and opened it.
[Chapter XXVI — The Birth of Tragedy]
She ignored the prize list and launched the first stage.
A cinematic played: a man in white robes with long golden hair lay unconscious on the floor.
The POV belonged to a young girl. Her voice was sweet, laced with amnesia.
"Did I… kill him?" She stared at her hands, struggling to pull up the moments before she blacked out.
"But why… was he crying?"
"Because of that promise?" A memory tugged. She had been on the verge of death. The golden-haired man had used something to save her. And then his gaze had gone distant—as if he remembered someone else—and tears fell without reason.
"He didn't even look at me. He saved me, yes… but the tears weren't for me."
"Then what… was he grieving?"
With her murmurs, Elysia and Eden pieced it together: the man on the floor was the Otto of five centuries past. And the girl…
There were many candidates, but the two who lived in the studio guessed fast.
"This should be Li Sushang," Eden said.
Before Elysia could reply, the scene flickered. The view shifted to the inside of a stasis pod.
Otto's voice flowed in, calm.
"Don't be nervous. You were only having a nightmare."
"Your vision hasn't fully returned—normal during deep-sleep revival. No need to worry."
"In another hour—ah… half a shichen—your body will be in excellent condition."
At that line, everything clicked. Using ancient time units? That screamed **Sumeru—**no, Shenzhou antiquity. In Honkai, that meant Fu Hua… or the yet-to-appear Li Sushang. And the preview had already teased Sushang's debut.
Players had wondered how someone from five centuries ago could be alive today.
Answer: deep stasis.
[…and Mobius's art is dangerously spicy]
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