Chapter 13. Honkai Impact 3rd's New Story Chapter Update Is Here!
That voice...
It was completely different from the Hokuto they remembered.
Less gentle, more commanding—full of the kind of authoritative weight that allowed no objection.
Just hearing it made everyone instinctively tense up.
"Hokuto, your voice…" Theresa felt a numb tingling shoot from her heels straight up to the crown of her head. It was the oppression of being low on the food chain.
"My voice?"
Hokuto seemed to be getting into it. He even ad-libbed a line: "Theresa, my dear granddaughter~~ what's wrong with my voice?"
"Who's your granddaughter…?!"
"Ah, it's just part of the script."
Hokuto's voice soon returned to normal, and he asked the others with a smile, "So, what do you think of this voice for Otto Apocalypse?"
"It fits perfectly. It matches exactly how I imagine Overseer Otto," Rita praised.
Durandal thought for a moment and replied, "Hmm… this voice sounds very authoritative. I think it will fulfill the players' expectations of Overseer Otto well. I believe it's fine as is."
After she finished, she glanced around the lively recording room, slightly furrowing her brow. Then, with a serious expression, she reminded them:
"Hokuto, I meant to say this earlier, but it's working hours right now. Letting everyone slack off like this isn't good."
"..."
"If everyone gets used to being lazy, it'll be very hard to change them back," Durandal said with a tone of utmost sincerity.
"I understand."
"Please don't brush it off."
"Ahem."
Faced with Durandal's overwhelming seriousness, Hokuto could only give two dry coughs and signal the others with a look.
"Everyone, let's prepare to start recording. We've got a heavy workload ahead."
"Yes!" *N
...
...
Despite their earlier grumbling about the new script, the girls took voice acting seriously once it began. In fact, they were so into it that they dragged Hokuto into working overtime until late at night.
The new story chapter was just too sweet!
They wanted players to experience this kind of sweetness as soon as possible.
In the stillness of the night—
Hokuto was the last to leave miHoYo Studio. He took out his phone—which he had turned off to avoid interrupting the recording—only to find over a dozen missed calls.
All from the same number.
"Don't recognize it."
Hokuto searched his predecessor's memories. The former Hokuto had no close connections. "But they called this many times... might be worth calling back."
He dialed the number.
Ring, ring~~
After only a few rings, the call connected.
"Hello? This is Hokuto. Who's speaking?"
"Hello, Mr. Hokuto. I'm Li Yue, general manager of Penguin Games," came a calm middle-aged male voice.
"Penguin Games?"
Hokuto recalled the shady moves Penguin made in his previous life and instinctively frowned. "What business do you have with me?"
"Well… I'll be straightforward. Mr. Hokuto, are you interested in joining Penguin Games?"
Li Yue didn't beat around the bush. "We're prepared to offer extremely generous terms."
"Me? Join you?" Hokuto stepped up to the window at the end of the corridor and looked out at the night. "Are you sure you're not trying to acquire miHoYo… or Honkai Impact 3rd?"
"Honkai Impact 3rd is part of it, yes. But personally, I value your talents more, Mr. Hokuto."
Li Yue was exceedingly polite, his tone filled with sincerity and respect.
He was genuinely impressed by Honkai Impact 3rd. And even more, he thought Hokuto—the one who developed it—was insanely, ridiculously, unbelievably impressive.
"I believe without you, Honkai Impact 3rd wouldn't even exist."
"You flatter me. Honkai Impact 3rd is the result of everyone's hard work at miHoYo. I merely played a coordinating role," Hokuto replied calmly.
Li Yue could tell Hokuto wasn't very interested. "So Mr. Hokuto isn't moved by my offer?"
Hokuto looked out at the city lights. Shadows covered half his face, leaving only a faint smile.
"You may not understand, but everyone at miHoYo is irreplaceable."
"…Then I've disturbed you," Li Yue said, still polite even after being rejected.
After hanging up, Hokuto muttered, "Penguin… being this courteous?"
Given Penguin's reputation, that was unexpected.
But in truth—it was just Li Yue being polite. Please don't generalize it to the whole company.
Proof?
At the same time, elsewhere—
In a fully furnished three-bedroom apartment with one kitchen and one bathroom—
Kiana, Mei, and Bronya were living together.
Bronya, wearing an apron, stood in front of the stove.
"Add the beef cubes and previously chopped potatoes into the pot. Once the water boils, add some salt, then turn to low heat."
She placed the lid on the pot.
"Next, wait thirty minutes."
She picked up her phone, which she had left nearby, and casually opened miHoYo's official Weibo account.
There were tons of players rushing in to ask questions.
[Can you give us a little hint about the new main story?]
[Mr. Hokuto said Honkai Impact 3rd is a wholesome, cheerful game. The new arc will definitely be full of fun and laughter.]
[Wow! That sounds amazing! Once the new story and characters drop, I'm gonna whale!]
Bronya blinked.
To be honest, she was starting to worry about Hokuto's personal safety.
When the new story released, would someone throw a sack over his head?
She closed Weibo while thinking about it.
Bzz~~
A message popped up from an old acquaintance she hadn't spoken to in years.
Back when she graduated, she had added many HR contacts. She hadn't bothered to delete them.
Penguin: [Hello, I'm from Penguin's HR department.]
Bronya: [Sorry, I'm not interested.]
Penguin: ???
They hadn't even said anything yet!
No longer able to stay polite, they got straight to the point.
Penguin: [If you're willing to join us, we'll offer double miHoYo's compensation.]
Penguin was a big company, but full of internal factions—very different from game development head Li Yue.
Some people in the company believed they could just poach miHoYo's programmers, clone a new Honkai Impact 3rd, and use their distribution channels to crush the original.
Bronya: [Sorry, I'm not interested.]
Penguin: [You'll have better prospects and a bigger platform at Penguin.]
Bronya: [Sorry, I'm not interested.]
Penguin: [...]
Penguin: [Are you sure you won't reconsider?]
A system message popped up:
Message failed to send. The recipient has blocked you.
Penguin: ...
They got blocked?!
After putting Penguin's recruiter on the blocklist—
Kiana peeked through the kitchen sliding door.
"Bronya, you suddenly offered to cook tonight. Are you sure you're okay?"
"It's almost ready."
Bronya glanced at the bubbling iron pot, then at Kiana—who was peeking in curiously—and Mei, who was smiling warmly at them from the living room.
She liked everyone.
She liked miHoYo.
...
...
A few weeks later—
miHoYo's official account released the latest promo art. The poster featured the final glance of the Herrscher of the Void.
Below her, it read: "A new Herrscher will soon board the Hyperion."
Along with the title of the upcoming new story chapter:
From "Tundra Reunion" to "The Queen's Arrival" and "Journey for Tomorrow."