South City CBD, miHoYo Studio.
Right now, the studio was completely empty and unusually quiet.
On the girls' desks lay neatly stacked Honkai Impact 3rd scripts, unfinished illustration drafts, several design documents, and of course, some girlish decorations.
Ding-a-ling~~ Ding-a-ling~~
Just as Hokuto stepped one foot into miHoYo Studio, his phone—which had been buzzing frequently lately—rang again.
"Hello? Mr. Li, it's you again."
Considering Li Yue always spoke very politely and respectfully, Hokuto hadn't considered blocking him.
"I've been bothering you quite a bit lately," Li Yue sounded slightly apologetic. "But this time, I'm calling to remind you of something very important."
Intrigued, Hokuto stopped at the entrance of miHoYo and asked, "What is it?"
"You need to be careful of Penguin Games, and protect the source code of Honkai Impact 3rd," Li Yue stated bluntly.
"Uh… are you saying that Penguin Games plans to plagiarize Honkai Impact 3rd?" Hokuto asked hesitantly.
"..."
Li Yue fell silent for a moment, then replied briefly, "That's right."
"...Mr. Li, can I ask you a question?"
Frowning slightly, Hokuto asked in confusion, "I remember you're the head of Penguin Games, right?"
"Then why are you coming to me with this? Are you trying to provoke me?"
Frankly, Hokuto couldn't understand Li Yue's behavior at all.
"No! Of course not!"
Li Yue hurriedly denied it. After a moment of thought, he added, "Although I am the head of Penguin Games… I'm still just a high-level employee."
"There's not much I can do. I have no influence over Penguin's top-level decisions, and besides..."
He might not even be the head of Penguin Games much longer.
"In any case, that's the situation. Penguin Games might not actually plagiarize Honkai Impact 3rd, but it's always better to be cautious."
"You've brought an excellent game to the market. I don't want Honkai Impact 3rd to be ruined because of something like this."
After listening to Li Yue, Hokuto replied, "I'll take your advice to heart, Mr. Li."
He wasn't particularly worried about plagiarism—Honkai Impact 3rd wasn't that easy to copy.
He paused for a moment and couldn't help but add, "Actually, what surprises me most… is the kind of person you are, Mr. Li."
Compared to hearing about Penguin's intent to plagiarize, Hokuto found Li Yue's actions even more astonishing.
Honkai Impact 3rd was so popular that it made sense for Penguin to try and learn from it—he had mentally prepared for that.
As for Li Yue, how should he put it? He felt… a little like one of the characters from Honkai Impact 3rd.
Too pure.
"Hah?"
Li Yue paused in confusion before chuckling. "Maybe it's because of the people I've known… they had an influence on me. Hmm, I have a lawyer friend named Welt who once said that a person's character is shaped by..."
"..."
Hokuto completely tuned out after hearing the name Welt.
He hadn't expected Li Yue to know Welt?
Though, thinking about it, it wasn't that strange.
It wasn't like Honkai characters could only know other Honkai characters, or only become friends with each other, right?
That made no sense.
If anything, the fact that Kiana and the others had somehow gathered to found miHoYo was the real miracle.
"A lawyer? Actually, miHoYo could really use a professional lawyer for consultation right now. Mr. Li, would you be willing to introduce your lawyer friend Welt to me?"
For the sake of future main story development in Honkai Impact 3rd, Hokuto definitely wasn't going to miss this opportunity.
And miHoYo truly did need a reliable, trustworthy legal consultant.
"Uh…"
"No need to be so concerned, Mr. Li. I'm just looking to collaborate with Mr. Welt," Hokuto said sincerely.
"Then… all right, I can ask Welt what he thinks."
The call ended.
Hokuto put his phone away as he mulled things over, just about to walk into miHoYo.
"Wait a moment."
A voice rang out beside him—familiar, yet Hokuto couldn't remember where he'd heard it before.
"Wait a moment!"
The voice came closer.
Hokuto turned instinctively, only to see a girl with red twin-tails and another with light-colored wavy hair appear before him.
"Ein and Tesla?!"
"You know us?" Tesla stopped mid-run, scrutinizing him with a suspicious look.
"You two look exactly like Einstein and Tesla from Honkai Impact 3rd… don't you?" Hokuto quickly came up with a fairly reasonable excuse.
"No, the way you just reacted didn't seem like—mmph mmph mmph—"
Tesla stood with arms crossed, chin raised, ready to make a sharp retort—only to be abruptly silenced by Ein covering her mouth.
Ein took over calmly. "Discovering that characters you created in a game actually exist in real life… it is quite a shocking revelation."
Hokuto: "..."
"Chicken-nest head, what are you doing?" Tesla brushed Ein's hand away furiously.
"Call me Ein in public."
Meeting Tesla's glare, Ein explained coolly, "We came here just to audition for the roles of Einstein and Tesla in Honkai Impact 3rd."
"Based on rational judgment, discussing that other topic of yours would interfere with our objective."
Hokuto: "..."
Then can you explain it a little more quietly?
Hokuto honestly didn't know what kind of expression to wear at this point.
"Ahem… so, you two came to audition for Einstein and Tesla—also known as Chicken-nest Head and Lobster Doctor in Honkai Impact 3rd?"
"Chicken-nest head? Lobster Doctor?" Tesla's attention was successfully diverted.
"That's what the players call you in Honkai Impact 3rd."
"I get the chicken-nest head part, but why am I called Lobster Doctor?"
Before Hokuto could answer, Ein had already pulled out her phone and began reading aloud in a flat voice—
Like a Pokédex describing a newly scanned Pokémon:
"The tsundere Lobster Doctor of Anti-Entropy. Not only does her hairstyle resemble a lobster, but her personality is also just as aggressive. However, this domineering facade conceals a crucial oversight—only boiled lobsters have hair that vivid a shade of red."
Tesla: ???
#!
Even her red twin-tails twitched upward.
"Ein! We're leaving! Forget the voice audition!"
"Mm…"
Ein, however, stepped forward and stood beside Hokuto. Turning to Tesla, she said, "Then wait here for me."
She turned to Hokuto and offered a suggestion: "With Tesla's temper, if she doesn't want to, it's best to remove Tesla from the game. But it's fine…"
She raised her hand to adjust a pair of nonexistent glasses.
"I'll handle her role."
Tesla: ???