Chapter 6: Puppet Show—Astrea

"What treasure have I discovered?" "The first character PV for Genshin Impact? What kind of prestige is this? Is this the candidate for the Hydro Archon's knight?" "White hair and red eyes—my favorite." "Official declaration: This is my daughter." "Father-in-law, I bow to you!" "Where are the police? Arrest the guy above me!" Amidst a barrage of comments, the video officially began. The opening scene showed: "Help! Help me, Lady Furina!" Astrea screamed for help, her face filled with fear as she was chased by an Abyssal creature. Then: "Help! Help me, Lady Furina!" Astrea screamed for help as she was chased by a Fungi. Next: "Help! Help me, Lady Furina!" Astrea screamed for help as she was chased by a Whopperflower. Following that: "Help! Help me, Lady Furina!" Astrea screamed for help as she was chased by a Specter. Finally: "Help! Help me, Lady Furina!" Astrea screamed for help as she was chased by a Slime. From Fontaine to Sumeru, from Sumeru to Inazuma, from Inazuma to Liyue, and from Liyue to Mondstadt. ????? For a full thirty seconds, the screen was filled with question marks. "Let me tell you a joke: This is the knight candidate carefully selected to protect the Hydro Archon." This was clearly a viewer who had already watched the Reporting to Lady Furina video. "Don't be scared, daughter! Daddy's coming to save you!" "Don't be scared, wife! Hubby's coming to save you!" "Don't be scared, little sister! Big sis is here to arrest all the perverts above!" After thirty seconds of running, giving the audience a glimpse of the scenery across the nations, the scene shifted to show the white-haired, red-eyed loli kneeling on one knee, looking up at the Supreme Archbishop. The Supreme Archbishop draped a cape over Astrea's left shoulder and then handed her a scale. "In your final trial, you will represent the Hydro Archon abroad, wielding the authority to act in her name. However, with this authority comes immense responsibility. You must achieve great feats worthy of Lady Furina's praise. Only then, when you return to Fontaine, will you become Lady Furina's guardian knight." The Supreme Archbishop spoke in a calm tone. "Astrea, let me ask you one last time. This will be a difficult journey. It's not too late to back out now. Do you have the confidence to complete this trial?" With a tearful expression, Astrea weakly replied, "Your Excellency, I... I don't have the confidence. Can someone else take my place?" "Excellent. I admire your courage," the Supreme Archbishop said, his expression unchanged as he praised her. "Then, no matter how many years it takes, I will await your triumphant return here." "Your Excellency!!!" Astrea clung to the Supreme Archbishop's leg, tears streaming down her face. The Supreme Archbishop remained expressionless and clapped his hands lightly. "Clorinde, escort your future superior out of Fontaine." A mature woman stepped forward, grabbed Astrea's cape, and began dragging her away without hesitation. "It's time to go, Lady Astrea." "Your Excellency!!!!!" Astrea, her bottom scraping the ground, reached out in despair. "Help! Help me, Lady Furina!!!!!" As the doors of the Grand Cathedral slowly closed, the video came to an end. "Hahahahahaha!" "Astrea: Your Excellency, are you even listening to me?" "So I never had a choice? Then why did you even ask?!" "Supreme Archbishop: It's not too late to back out now—just pretend it's true." "I'm dying of laughter! Mihoyo really knows how to entertain!" "Hydro Archon's guardian knight: Help me, Lady Furina!" "I really want to know if this guardian knight is for real." "Is this what they call contrasting cuteness? Anyway, this character must be super strong, right? Otherwise, why would they make a little girl with this personality the Hydro Archon's guardian knight?" "I don't care how strong she is in the story. I just want to know if her mechanics are strong." "Her skills have already been revealed. Let's just say, for a game that hasn't even had a beta test, no one knows if her mechanics are strong or not." Finally, after peeking at the players in another world through Baoyu, Ye rubbed his chin. The response was pretty good. Now, all that's left is to wait for her official debut in the game. As for Astrea's skills, Ye had carefully designed them. Naturally, she wouldn't be competing for the main DPS role. As the saying goes, "Supports are eternal, DPS are fleeting." To maintain long-term popularity, a support with strong mechanics would be the way to go. Ideally, she would be a versatile support who could fit into any team composition and remain relevant across all versions. In other words, she should occupy a completely different niche compared to other supports. First, Astrea is a Hydro catalyst user, and her signature weapon is the scale Ye gave her in the video. 『Scales of Justice』: Its secondary stat increases Energy Recharge, but the main focus is its effect. Increases the Max HP of all party members by 15%. For every 100 HP the wielder has above 10,000, the active character's ATK is increased by 1.Every time a party member attacks, the wielder loses 10% of their current HP. —Of course, this HP-draining effect is tied to her skills. Elemental Skill 『Help Me!』: Continuously consumes HP to deal Hydro DMG to enemies. The more HP consumed, the higher the skill's damage. While the skill is active, the active character's attack speed increases based on the amount of HP lost. For every 1,000 HP lost, attack speed increases by 1%. Duration: 15 seconds. Cooldown: 30 seconds. Each skill level reduces the cooldown by 1 second, increases damage, and speeds up HP consumption. Elemental Burst 『Blessing of the Hydro Archon』: Instantly restores 25% of Max HP. Each skill level increases the healing effect by 5%. Talent 1: Increases Max HP by 20%. Talent 2: Reduces Elemental Skill cooldown by 2 seconds. Talent 3: Increases Base ATK by 300. Yes, you read that right—Talent 3 increases Base ATK. This is because of her sixth constellation effect. But... for now, that's not important. As a standard banner character, it's unlikely that players will have a C6 Astrea anytime soon. And without reaching C6, players won't know the full extent of her abilities. This is a little surprise Ye left for the players. C6: The character's Charged Attack can switch her Arkhe alignment. Hmm, players obviously won't know what this means yet. After all, when the Arkhe alignment switches, Astrea's Elemental Skill and Elemental Burst effects will also change. Ye kept this as a hidden mechanic, not explaining it in the description. Now that's a surprise. "But there seems to be a problem." The problem, of course, isn't with Astrea's skill mechanics, but... "No beta test?" Ye didn't overlook the players' comments. In Ye's memory, wasn't Genshin Impact a game that had beta tests? Of course, it was. A game without beta testing would be riddled with bugs, especially a game like Genshin Impact. Even with beta testing, there were plenty of bugs, let alone without it. And that's not all. Ye also checked out Mihoyo's other PVs. For now, he could only peek at these and Mihoyo's community. "A free game? Hard to believe." "Mihoyo just came out of nowhere?" "Genshin Impact is Mihoyo's first game?" The more Ye looked, the more confused he became. Anyone familiar with Mihoyo wouldn't say that Genshin Impact was their first game, right? After all, if it really were their first game... where would Mihoyo get the money to go all-in on Genshin Impact? And what's so hard to believe about a free game? By the time Genshin Impact was released, the idea that "free games are the most expensive" was already common knowledge. Ye looked up at Baoyu, who was floating in front of him with a large screen. "Baoyu, is the other world Earth?" "Of course, it's Earth." "Then what year is it?" "2020." "...Is its development different from the Earth I know?" "Of course, it's different. After all, it's an Earth within a bubble universe in the Honkai worldview." Baoyu answered nonchalantly, but Ye couldn't help but feel a chill. "Hmm~ Master, you should understand the situation once you see who the voice actors for this game are." Lumine CV: Elysia Paimon CV: Bailu Yae Miko CV: Yae Sakura Shenhe CV: Einstein Yoimiya CV: Pardofelis Diona CV: March 7th Nilou CV: Clara ... A long list of names Ye was very familiar with appeared in the voice actor credits. Finally, Baoyu thoughtfully provided the names of Mihoyo's CEO, general manager, and game producer. CEO: Qingque General Manager: Fu Xuan Game Producer: Kiana "Hey, the last three are going too far! Qingque as CEO and Fu Xuan as general manager is one thing, but Kiana as the game producer? Is this for real? Is this game even playable?!" Even Ye couldn't help but roast this. Baoyu, however, was unfazed and smiled. "These are just trivial matters. As long as Baoyu is here, the story of Genshin Impact in that world will definitely align with the actual events of Teyvat." Ye rubbed his forehead, suppressing the urge to roast further. Thinking about it, according to the Honkai worldview, these are just alternate versions of the characters. There's no need to take it too seriously. Maybe this Kiana is particularly smart. After all, Kiana isn't actually dumb, right? She just doesn't use her brain. "So, the gaming industry in this world is quite underdeveloped, right?" In a world where you have to pay to download games, a game like Genshin Impact, which is top-tier even among free games, is like a dimensional strike. "Naturally. This is the world Baoyu carefully selected for Master's popularity." Baoyu looked proud, seeking praise. "Genshin Impact is the first open-world game in that world." Ye patted her head in praise, then fell into deep thought. If that's really the case, then perhaps... we can be a bit more aggressive. —And so, the trip to Inazuma was decided.