"Rita, I suddenly feel like doing charity."
Rita's eyes curved. "I'm all for it, Boss~"
"Should I start the paperwork now?"
Mo Li thought for a moment, then shook his head, smiling. "No rush. Call Durandal and the others over first—we're having a meeting."
"About the Spring Festival event?"
"Yep. Let's brainstorm fun event modes together."
"On it, Boss. I'll notify everyone now."
…
When Rita left, Mo Li returned to his desk and booted up his PC. He almost forgot—there was still a new story teaser he hadn't released.
Seeing Li Sushang earlier had jogged his memory. The new Honkai 3rd version had been out a while; most players had cleared the mainline and were itching for the next arc. Time to drop the teaser.
That also reminded him: Penguin had just pushed their new game's teaser too…
"Fated rivals, huh." Mo Li chuckled.
Same as last time—Penguin posts news, and he "coincidentally" drops a nuke: "The Last Lesson." He'd stolen their thunder without even trying. And today, history repeated itself.
"Shame. Guess I'll have to siphon the hype again…"
This trailer had plenty of bombs: Otto's return, his charge into the Imaginary Tree, Li Sushang's debut, master vs. grand-disciple…
No doubt it'd reverberate hard.
These days miHoYo and the big platforms—Douyin, Bilibili, the major ACGN portals at home and abroad—were all long-term partners. Once Mo Li posted something, it got pinned and splashed everywhere.
"Honkai 3rd" New Chapter Teaser — Pre-Apocalypse.
Like Hua's earlier "Return", this was full-on anime-film quality. Sadly, only two minutes—stitched glimpses to sketch the arc's outline.
He hit publish—and headed to the conference room.
By then, the girls were already gathered. Aside from the "asleep-from-drinks" Eden and Elysia, and the littler gremlins like Kiana, the rest had shown up—including the newest hires, Pardofelis and Li Sushang.
"Fast movers, huh."
Mo Li grinned, walked to the front amid all those eyes, and threw his screen to the big projector.
"Today's meeting: Spring Festival event plans. I've got some initial ideas—take a look."
Slides came up—still rough, no story copy yet. Just a bunch of cheerful modes:
Chasing off the Nian Beast, lantern riddles, and more…
The girls' eyes lit up.
"So fun!!"
"And fireworks!"
"Fireworks are a lock," Mo Li laughed. "But the focus is on festive minigames—and the event story."
"My thought is: we weave Spring Festival customs into the plot and show them in-game."
Buzz. The room exploded—in the best way. Their ideas were adorable and useful. In short order they'd hashed out a first-pass outline for the Lantern Rite story, then started drafting a timeline and scoping minigames.
The headache? Modeling the Nian.
Legend says the Nian is a vicious beast. But in a stylized anime game, too monstrous would clash with the vibe. Too cute and it becomes a mascot.
Finding that balance was hard—until he looked at Griseo.
"Child's-eye monster," he decided. "I'll refine the details after."
Perfect.
…
Meanwhile, the teaser he'd posted was detonating online—closing in on a million views in half a day.
Inside the studio, Kiana came skidding into Li Sushang's room, phone held aloft, face glowing.
"Sushang-jie!!"
"Kiana?"
Li Sushang opened the door, blinking at Kiana's excitement.
"Look—your character card is coming! You look awesome! Sword-immortal awesome!"
Li Sushang's eyes sparkled. "You mean…"
Kiana bobbed her head furiously. "Exactly that!"
"So fast…"
"Watch first!" Kiana shoved the phone at her, still gushing. "You're like a sword immortal! So cool!"
Title: "Honkai 3rd" New Chapter Teaser — Pre-Apocalypse.
Bullet screens flooded the opening frame.
[Again again!]
[The quality… unreal!]
[miHoYo please make a full anime QAQ]
[Main cast vs. Otto—so the Dogto finally gets an HP bar?]
[(cracks knuckles)]
[His Holiness looks so handsome, slurp…]
[Sir, this is a barbershop—]
On screen, a battered Otto staggered alone through a sea of reeds.
Just the opener, and people were confused—in the best way. Since taking the helm of Schicksal, Otto had never looked so wrecked. The comments guessed the crew had beaten him back.
"He's actually kinda handsome," Li Sushang snickered.
"He's a villain—don't get fooled," Kiana huffed.
Li Sushang just smiled.
Otto's voice rolled in: "Therefore, I, Otto Apocalypse, hereby resign as Overseer of Schicksal and withdraw from the order entirely…"
Then came flashes—everyone except Mei and Himeko aboard the Hyperion, facing Otto head-on. Otto's power? Puppets—which meant he'd nabbed the Herrscher of Domination's core.
Sleek, gorgeous, kinetic—the crowd ate it up.
Cut to Hua's solo POV: a realm like the Herrscher of Sentience's memory space—forests of swords, rich xiānxiá flavor. A rain of rapiers fell; Hua flipped through them—and the sky dimmed.
A sun-blotting greatsword descended in golden light.
The screen exploded with comments. Li Sushang switched to "curated" just to see.
Hua drew her spear and met the strike. The sword burst into countless blades that ringed her tight.
"Long time no see… Master Chiyuan."
At that line, Li Sushang's eyes lit up—then she herself appeared on screen, all flowing robes and lithe grace.
"Wow! That's really me! I look… this strong?"
Kiana nodded hard. "Sword. Immortal."
The scroll of comments surged:
[HOLY—LI SUSHANG!!]
["Rebellious disciple"?]
[Not quite—read the side story. She's the grand-disciple, okay?]
[Lore drop: seventh disciple of Chiyuan, daughter of Qin Suyi, pupil of the world's freest sword—Cheng Lingshuang. Lively girl. Do not mix with "rebellious disciple."]
[But isn't she from centuries ago? How's she here now?]
[Ask Otto. (smirk)]
[Soulsteel body?]
[Right—Otto said "Schicksal's last S-rank Valkyrie." It's her!]
[Too cool. Taixu Divine Sword!!]
[Grand-disciple dunks on Master?]
[Herrscher of Sentience: "You seem cocky."]
[Is there a real Li Sushang too?! She's gorgeous!]
[So when's the banner?]
Her scene was short but electric. Then: Mei vs. Durandal. More Otto. Tons to chew, little to answer.
Excited and a touch unsatisfied, they replayed it twice more. When it ended, Li Sushang handed the phone back.
"I'm asking Boss if my card is next version."
"I'm coming too!"
They sprinted to the work area—only to catch Ganyu turning off the lights.
"Everyone already turned in?"
"Let's try Mo Li's room!"
Kiana tugged Sushang down the dorm hallway. Knock knock knock—door opened on a pajama-clad Mo Li, half amused, half helpless.
"It's late. Not sleeping?"
"Is Sushang-jie's card coming next version?!"
"That's what you came to ask?"
Two bobbing heads. Mo Li: "…"
"Sorry to disappoint—not next version."
"Aww…" The two slunk off, only to snicker at each other in the hall.
Watching them go, Mo Li smiled. "Two more lively ones. This place gets busier by the day."
He stretched, shut the door, and flopped into bed.
He'd barely dozed off when, in the corridor, Himeko's door eased open with suspicious care. She peeked out, checked both ways, then tiptoed over…
…and slipped a key from her pocket into Mo Li's lock.
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