On the other side of the city, in a room decorated like a garden.
Pink accents, adorable plushies as the backdrop.
In front of the camera, Elysia faced the microphone with a smile that was at once sweet and full of life.
Her voice was bright and melodious, carrying a cadence all her own, as though each word arrived with its own little musical note.
"Hi there♪ Did you miss me? My dearest viewers?"
She gave a little wave at the camera.
"A brand new day, and of course it has to begin with a wonderful chance encounter♪"
The comment stream flooded instantly with "Of course we missed you!", "Good morning, Pink Elf!", "Looking gorgeous as always!", and "A chance encounter? Does that mean with me? (lol)."
Elysia gave a playful blink and put on an air of mystery. "As for today... I haven't quite decided what to stream yet~♪
How about we just scroll through some videos first and see if anything catches our eye? Or maybe... we play a little something to unwind?
If you have suggestions, you'd better shower me with compliments before you give them~♪ Otherwise, I might get just a tiny bit grumpy♪"
The comment section lit up at once, with viewers recommending trending games, requesting songs, or egging her on to watch funny videos.
"Alright, alright, let's just browse around for a bit~♪"
Elysia smiled and opened the homepage of a major video platform, fingers scrolling the mouse wheel as her eyes wandered across the various recommendations.
"Hmm... this one looks kind of interesting? Oh, that one might be fun too..."
She browsed and chatted with her viewers, offering little remarks on the video thumbnails. She would click into one every so often, then close it just as quickly, searching for something that would truly hold her attention.
Then her hand went still.
In the corner of the screen, a thumbnail in a modestly placed recommendation slot caught her eye.
The composition was simple but striking: three silhouettes of girls, each striking a different pose. Above them, in a stylized typeface that had clearly been designed with care: "Honkai Impact 3rd: Official Concept trailer, First Reveal!" Below that, a single line of smaller text: "Fight for all that's beautiful in the world!"
"Oh?"
Elysia tilted her head slightly, a flicker of curiosity passing through her eyes.
"Fight for all that's beautiful in the world... that's actually a pretty wonderful motto♪"
She moved the cursor and clicked in.
"Let's see what kind of beautiful story this turns out to be♪"
She tossed a mischievous smile at the camera.
"Hopefully it's not one of those flashy-thumbnail bait-and-switch situations, because if it is, I will be very displeased♪"
The video began to play.
A surging, epic score grabbed Elysia's attention from the very first note. The shots cut fast, the combat sequences were sharp, and the character close-ups were brimming with feeling. Brief text overlays punctuated the visuals: "Immersive 3D action," "Free to play across all platforms..."
The trailer was short, but tightly paced and rich with information. Most importantly, that burning spirit of fighting for something beautiful was rendered with real impact.
The video ended and looped back to the beginning. Elysia looked at the frozen final frame.
Those eyes of hers, which almost always held a smile, now carried something more: a quiet, genuine appreciation.
"My goodness..."
She let out a soft murmur. "It seems like... it really isn't a scam~♪"
"A lot of heart went into the visuals, the music is excellent, and the atmosphere is pulled off beautifully." She spoke to the camera with sincere warmth.
"Especially that girl Kiana's jump. Very energetic♪ And the girl named Mei is intriguing too. Then there's the silver-haired little one, and whatever that enormous thing beside her is, it looks incredibly powerful~♪"
The comments were rolling fast: "Whoa, the production quality on this trailer is no joke!", "Love the art style!
The animations look pretty fluid?", "Free to play? Is that actually true? Sounds like a trap.", "Fight for all that's beautiful in the world... it's so over-the-top but somehow it works.", "Pink Elf, I didn't know you were into this kind of thing!", "This feels like a big-budget announcement, but I've never heard of this studio."
Elysia caught the discussion in the comments, especially the skepticism around "free to play" and the unfamiliar studio name.
She smiled. "Fair point, free to play definitely warrants some caution. But with a trailer this carefully made, maybe there really is something special here? Oh, right!"
As though something had just occurred to her, she moved the mouse and clicked on the account that had uploaded the trailer: Under the Stellar Sky Studio.
The account was brand new, with only two posts. One was today's trailer. The other was a comic prologue for "Honkai Impact 3rd," published the day before.
"There's a comic too?"
Elysia's eyes lit up. "So this really is a complete project~♪ Let's see how the comic holds up."
She clicked the link.
This time, she read with considerably more care.
She turned through the pages one by one, and the expression on her face shifted from curiosity to focused attention, and then, gradually, to something that was harder to name. A quiet stirring.
Kiana's reckless, all-in bravery. The resilience beneath Mei's gentle surface. Bronya's wordless, steadfast guardianship. And the Honkai itself: a catastrophic, all-consuming force woven through the very fabric of the story's world.
"To protect the people who matter to you..."
"To fight for everything beautiful in this world..."
The words layered themselves over the images and music from the trailer, producing something that resonated in an odd, unexpected way.
Elysia read through the prologue in silence until the page informed her it was to be continued.
She paused for a few seconds. The stream chat, unusually, fell quiet for a moment as well.
Then she lifted her head, looked into the camera, and smiled the same sweet smile as always. But somewhere in the depth of her eyes, a different kind of light had taken up residence.
"Everyone..."
Her voice came out a little softer than usual, but somehow clearer for it.
"I think... this Honkai story might be... a little bit special~♪"
"It's only the beginning, there are still so many unanswered questions, and the whole free-to-play thing is a bit concerning..."
She paused, then her eyes curved into a warm, bright smile.
"But that feeling of genuinely wanting to fight for something beautiful, I felt it♪ It comes through as honest. And radiant."
She moved the mouse and, without a moment's hesitation, hit "Follow" on the Under the Stellar Sky Studio account.
Then she reposted the trailer with a message of her own: "A delightful surprise encounter~♪ Both the trailer and the comic exceeded my expectations!
'Fight for all that's beautiful in the world,' now that is a moving motto.
Looking forward to the story ahead, and curious to see whether the 'free to play' promise holds up. @UnderTheStellarSkyStudio Keep at it! I'll be watching you?"
Once it was posted, she winked at the camera.
"Alright, that's enough of today's chance encounter♪ Now let's go find some fun in a game! But this 'Honkai Impact 3rd'... I've made a note of it♪ When it comes out, I am absolutely giving it a try!"
She closed the browser, pulled up her game, and the stream returned to its usual cheerful energy.
And yet the words she had just spoken, and that repost bearing her unmistakable personal stamp, were like a stone of considerable weight dropped into a still lake.
Elysia was, without question, one of the biggest names on this entertainment-focused platform.
Her sweet appearance, her warm and vivacious personality, her impressive skill in certain high-difficulty action games and rhythm games, and above all, some quality that was difficult to put into words, a kind of radiance that seemed to brighten people from the inside, had earned her millions of devoted, highly active followers.
Her endorsement and repost carried an influence that bore no comparison to Cyrene's share within her smaller circle.
Within minutes of Elysia's repost, the follower count on Under the Stellar Sky Studio's account began climbing at a visible pace.
The trailer's view count curve surged sharply upward. The comic's read count broke four digits and kept climbing fast.
The comment and repost sections grew lively. Alongside the handful of early discussions, a wave of new comments poured in, tagged with phrases like "sent here by the Pink Elf," "if Pink Elf recommends it, it's guaranteed to be good," and "Fight for all that's beautiful in the world! Let's go!"
The ocean of data began to churn, stirred by this sudden, powerful, and strangely gentle current.
And in the platform's backend, the content related to "Honkai Impact 3rd" had now, driven by the enormous genuine traffic and engagement Elysia brought with her, triggered a higher-tier algorithm for recommending content with breakout potential.
A far wider wave of exposure was on its way.
All of this was entirely unknown to Arthur, who sat in his worn-down office building, staring at a blank document as he sorted through future chapters.
It was equally unknown to Kiana, Mei, Bronya, Dan Heng, Stelle, and March 7th, each of whom had returned to their own homes to rest.
But the story of "Honkai," and the fates of the people telling it, had already begun to be quietly illuminated by more, and brighter, spotlights.
In a corner no one was watching, the butterfly had beaten its wings, and the first real wave had begun to rise.