Izumo Country. [Divine Harvest Era, Year 0121.] Heading north from Tenkyo City, an unnamed small village.
Raiden Bosenmori Mei wore a moon-white kimono with a large crimson Nagoya obi tied at the waist. Her hands were crossed over her abdomen, the wide, long furisode sleeves hanging down from her forearms.
She followed behind Leon, walking along an overgrown path choked with weeds.
Seeing Raiden Bosenmori Mei's current appearance, countless Honkai Impact 3rd players instantly became excited.
Different from the classic look in their memories, her current appearance and attire seemed somewhat reserved and gentle.
"The Honkai Star Rail version of Mei has finally grown up! I thought she'd enter the pool in her teenage form."
"This outfit is beautiful, sure, but it's too plain and too realistic."
[What's wrong with that?]
"The problem is huge! Plain means she doesn't look like a character who's going to enter the pool. Aren't you afraid Mei is just an NPC… Holy crap! No way!!"
Only then did Ah Xian realize what she had overlooked earlier.
"This is Leon's past memory—we have no idea which segment of his 120,000-year journey this is!"
"A few thousand years would still be okay, but if it's over ten thousand years, wouldn't that straight-up tell everyone that Mei no longer exists?"
As soon as she said this, the players felt as if cold water had been poured over their heads.
[Having Mei in the story but not putting her in the pool? What kind of joke is that?]
[Impossible not to include her. Genshin has Raiden Shogun—total revenue still unmatched by any character to this day. She's one of the flagship characters of the Honkai IP, a guaranteed money tree!]
[Mihoyo would have to be insane to ignore Mei in the Honkai IP. The commercial value is massive.]
[Agreed, guaranteed pool entry. Her current plain look doesn't mean they can't change her outfit or model later.]
[The plot is building up Mei right now. Trust me, she'll definitely enter in some future version—just don't know which one.]
[1.4 is out of the question; the UP banners are Jingliu and the new character Topaz.]
[Current version is 1.3. The second half pool is more than halfway done; they'll drop 1.5 previews soon. We'll know if Mei is coming just by checking.]
"You guys make sense. Mihoyo wouldn't leave a giant cake uneaten."
"But one thing at a time—don't get your hopes too high. If she doesn't enter in 1.5 or even 1.6, won't you all explode?"
"Continue the story. Leon's time in Izumo doesn't seem short. The meaning of the Divine Harvest Era should start from the year the first of the eight million gods descended."
"Now it's year 121. When Leon first arrived in Izumo, Raiden Ryoma said 98 years had passed since the giant beast's arrival."
"Three years later was the second god's descent—so that means about 20 years have passed since he arrived in Izumo."
"Now the two of them are heading to… hey hey hey, some unidentified creatures have had enough, right?!"
Ah Xian caught sight of some physiologically repulsive bullet comments, and her face instantly fell.
"Shipping in gacha games is freedom, but don't shove it in the faces of people who don't ship. No one cares if you entertain yourselves shipping whoever."
"But are some of you anthropomorphic creatures out of your minds? Saying official breeding out loud? Is your household register down to one page?"
"Where exactly do you see the officials openly or subtly shipping Leon and Mei?"
"Has there been even half a second of boundary-crossing intimacy?"
"Leon came to Izumo to save the world and fulfill his duty and mission—not to freaking find a wife."
"All day long you only know how to stir drama. If you don't like general-audience games, just get lost. Don't disgust normal people in my stream."
"We're here to play the game. Watching my stream is giving me face—not watching you repressed idiots stir drama."
"Leon is older than many Aeons. You could say he's an ancient existence."
"To put it bluntly and pedantically, Mei calling herself a junior in front of Leon is already messing up generations."
"The current Leon-Mei plot interactions don't even measure up to one strand of the Belobog Sapphire group—especially the Dan Heng line, which is practically blatant."
"No one said anything back then, right? Everyone just smiled knowingly, especially veteran Honkai 3 players."
"If patting someone's head counts as breeding, then what about Dan Heng preparing to give the Trailblazer mouth-to-mouth at the start of the game?"
"Don't bring Genshin planners' private-agenda nonsense into Star Rail. Moderators, do your job—perma-ban the rhythm-stirrers."
"Don't ruin the mood for this old lady and all the handsome guys and beauties in the stream."
[Spicy Immortal senior showing off repression as usual.]
[Summer vacation, yeah—unidentified lifeforms scurrying everywhere. Totally normal.]
[Tie senior only needs to be force-fed CP by the officials, but You-number-one immortal senior has a lot more to consider.]
[Didn't expect there'd really be such reverse-heavenly explosiveness.]
[There are piles of Leon yaoi doujins on the corrupt sites; the fujoshis are eating it up like spiritual food, yet no one goes to the community or streamers' live rooms to shove it in faces.]
[It's not that no one stirs drama—there are even more Stelle-Leon CP books. Spicy Immortal just self-highs in her own circled territory. Normal people don't go to the cesspit to see the drama.]
"If it were even slightly normal anthropoids, I might still say 'wait till you're dead, I'll fly to your grave and madly steal your offerings.'"
"But these creatures with zero carbon-based components—I'd feel unlucky even stealing their offerings."
"Alright, alright—perma-ban all unidentified creatures. Don't let this garbage affect everyone's mood."
Continuing the plot, the players finally realized that Leon and Mei were heading to the village for house calls.
Due to the descent of the eight million gods, brutal wars affected countless ordinary people and also brought many strange illnesses.
For example, quite a few people who heard Tenjo Tatokami-dono's roar would experience intermittent mental breakdowns, leaving their consciousness in a complete mess.
In addition, some people's bodies developed incurable mutations.
"Leon, are you okay?"
Raiden Bosenmori Mei suddenly spoke, her tone carrying a trace of concern.
"Why do you ask?"
"You've been researching new medicine without sleep or rest for an entire month… I've never seen anyone who could…"
She didn't finish, nor did she need to.
Leon waved his hand.
"I'll be fine. I can handle it. But for the people affected by the eight million gods, every extra minute is hellish torment."
As soon as the two spoke, Ah Xian mentally greeted all eighteen generations of those rhythm-stirring creatures' ancestors.
Of course, assuming they even had any.
Just what kind of reverse-heavenly ingredients would see this kind of serious plot as a little grove rendezvous?
Could they really be Mihoyo scholars so heartbroken by Mihoyo-daddy that they turned dark?
The more they loved before, the more they hate now, right?
The moment there's the slightest movement, they come biting like rabid hyenas that smelled blood.
Raiden Bosenmori Mei said no more, keeping her concern in her heart, planning to share his burden with actions.
"Give me thirty percent more of the medicine to distribute."
"…Then I'll trouble you."
Leon knew Mei was worried about him, so he didn't insist on this small matter and handed over a portion of the medicine.
"We're almost there… Mei, up ahead—"
Raiden Bosenmori Mei looked up, her gaze instantly sharpening.
Without thinking, she flashed forward, slashing the rope with her blade while catching the hunched, elderly figure.
"…Old one, why seek the short path?"
…