Chapter 64: Fan-Made Videos?

"Supreme Bishop, long time no see. You're back again, huh?" In Meropide, facing Duke Wriothesley's cheerful greeting, Ye remained calm. "Is my room still here?" "Of course. Let me show you the way." Under the Supreme Bishop's imposing aura, Wriothesley stifled his laughter and led the way. "You seem quite happy?" "Thanks to you, Supreme Bishop, I won quite a bit this time." "How long did you bet?" "Six to eight months." "Split it with me. And next time, bet six months again." "Rigging the system isn't good, Supreme Bishop." "Does that even matter to someone who's been framed and jailed repeatedly? I've long stopped caring about fairness." In the courtroom, Ye had never lost a case. But Furina—no, let me rephrase that—Focalors, the goddess, was unreasonable! The final verdict rested in Focalors' hands. If she said guilty, it was guilty. If she said innocent, it was innocent. Was there no justice in this world? Oh, right. The Heavenly Principles were asleep. Otherwise, they wouldn't let Focalors act so recklessly! Being framed and jailed by Furina at least once a year had become an annual tradition in Fontaine. Every year, when this time came, ticket prices for the Opera Epiclese would skyrocket. Yet, the people of Fontaine still flocked to buy tickets, eager to witness the spectacle of the Supreme Bishop leaving Lady Furina speechless in the defendant's seat, only for her to angrily manipulate the system and send him to Meropide. It was more entertaining than any opera, movie, or stage play. The Supreme Bishop's suffering contributed significantly to Fontaine's national revenue. That said, while Lady Furina might seem unfair, the people of Fontaine loved this dramatic spectacle. Under her influence, the entire nation had become a bunch of thrill-seekers. Besides, Lady Furina only played these games with the Supreme Bishop. In all other genuine cases, the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale's verdicts always aligned with the Chief Justice's. Thus, the people of Fontaine thoroughly enjoyed the farce between Lady Furina and the Supreme Bishop. But it was Ye who suffered. Every year, he had to spend at least a few days here. For Ye, Meropide had become like a second home, complete with a dedicated room. Returning here felt like coming home. "Supreme Bishop, how have you been lately?" "Very well. And you, Sigewinne? Neuvillette asked me to send his regards." "I'm doing great too. Thank you, Supreme Bishop, and please convey my thanks to Chief Justice Neuvillette." Sigewinne smiled happily. Among Fontaine's unique non-human race, the Melusines, Sigewinne was the most human-like in appearance, looking almost indistinguishable from a cute human girl. Of course, all Melusines were adorable. Such a kind-hearted race made everyone seem lovable, with no exceptions. ...If anything, Sigewinne was one of the rare schemers among the Melusines. But despite her cunning, she was still kind and gentle. Having served as the head nurse in Meropide for centuries, Sigewinne was practically an angel in the eyes of all the inmates. Well, she was an angel in Ye's eyes too, given how often he ended up in Meropide. Returning to his room, Ye didn't invite Wriothesley or Sigewinne to stay, as he had work to do. Being locked up for a few days wasn't so bad. " Baoyu." "Here, Master." Baoyu popped out of nowhere, sitting cross-legged in mid-air, her golden-nail-polished feet swinging back and forth. "Release the PV first." "Understood, Master." With Longhua's Lantern Rite Festival storyline concluded, it was time to release the previously filmed PV. This PV would elevate Longhua's popularity even further, solidifying her as a counterpart to the Supreme Bishop of Fontaine. At the same time, Ye's name would be revealed in the PV, sparking another wave of hype. As expected, with the PV's release, Ye watched as his popularity soared. However, such predictable outcomes weren't worth much attention. After a brief glance, Ye turned his thoughts to the next steps. First, Hu Tao's banner was coming soon. Ah, the banner of the version's darling. Although Ye hadn't entirely planned it this way, in this Earth's heavily modified version of Genshin Impact, Hu Tao was undoubtedly set to become the version's top-tier character. This was indisputable—Hu Tao would be the strongest main DPS of the current version. On her own, Hu Tao couldn't match Themis with her signature weapon. In solo play, Themis was undoubtedly the strongest main DPS. But Genshin Impact was never a one-character show. Being strong alone meant little; what mattered was how well a character synergized with others. With the current version's mechanics, once Hu Tao was paired with Zhongli, Xingqiu, and Astrea, she would become the strongest main DPS. Astrea was a versatile support, designed from the start to fit into any team and enhance any main DPS. However, even so, her effectiveness varied depending on the main DPS. Hu Tao was the only main DPS in the current version who could fully utilize all of Astrea's support capabilities. High damage, frequent Hydro application, and increased attack speed—for Hu Tao, Astrea was the perfect teammate, bar none. And if Astrea had her signature weapon... 666666. Even Ye could only type a row of 6s, because Hu Tao could fully benefit from Astrea's signature weapon's effects as well. Moreover, in the Hu Tao, Xingqiu, Zhongli, and Astrea team, Astrea wasn't just supporting Hu Tao's damage output. Her enhancements for Zhongli and Xingqiu were also significant. In other words, once Hu Tao's banner dropped, the strongest team of the version would emerge. And if Yelan were to replace Xingqiu in the future, the team would become even stronger. While Themis was indeed a meta-defining character who wouldn't fall out of favor in any version, Hu Tao could fully capitalize on the version's benefits. Compared to the current Hu Tao, who was buffed by Astrea, Themis really couldn't hold any advantage. Well, in some ways, Hu Tao and Themis were similar characters. Themis was fully functional at C0 with her signature weapon, while Hu Tao was fully functional at C0 and soared at C1 with her signature weapon. As for Astrea, she was the perfect support who could launch a C1 Hu Tao with her signature weapon into the stratosphere. She seemed tailor-made for Hu Tao. —Actually, that wasn't far from the truth. When Ye first created Astrea, he wasn't sure how difficult it would be to gain popularity or if he could gather enough to create another alt in a short time. He wasn't certain if Astrea could carry the game on her own... So, he had prepared for the worst-case scenario. That is, to ride on Hu Tao's coattails when she debuted, using her as the golden support to skyrocket Astrea's popularity. After all, wasn't Xingqiu's popularity born from this very synergy? Thus, while Astrea was a versatile support, in some ways, she really was tailor-made for Hu Tao. Admittedly, this was giving Ye a bit of a headache now. Once Hu Tao's banner dropped, she would inevitably overshadow Themis's popularity. But... well, headache or not, this was expected. In fact, when designing Themis's mechanics, Ye had already considered this. But he had proceeded with the design anyway. Ye had his reasons. As the saying goes, this was still version 1.0, not 4.0. In this version, Genshin Impact's characters were still primarily focused on Mondstadt and Liyue. And for main DPS characters, while there was a saying that "DPS characters come and go, but supports are eternal," this actually highlighted how much attention players paid to the main DPS role. Any character designated as a main DPS would inevitably face intense scrutiny from players. If they were too weak, players would feel the developers had created a useless character, leading to poor reviews for both the character and the game. If they were too strong, players would accuse the developers of power creep, making previous main DPS characters obsolete, which would also harm the game's reputation. While players would still pull for characters regardless of their complaints, for Ye, whose primary goal was to gain popularity, he naturally wanted to avoid any negative reception for his alts. Thus, while Themis was a meta-defining character who wouldn't fall out of favor, she still needed to maintain balance. Considering Hu Tao, Ye had designed Themis's mechanics accordingly. In terms of raw strength, Themis surpassed Hu Tao. But with the current version's benefits, a properly built Hu Tao team could outperform Themis, making her the strongest main DPS of the version. Additionally, as a Liyue character, Hu Tao fit the 1.0 version's theme and was guaranteed to gain immense popularity. Being slightly overpowered would make players more willing to accept her, which was the balance Ye aimed for. While Hu Tao would undoubtedly affect Themis's popularity in the short term, in the long run, the benefits outweighed the drawbacks. In other words, Hu Tao's banner wasn't something to overthink. The real question was... "Should I ride the wave of Hu Tao's inevitable popularity?" Ye stroked his chin, seriously considering this. After all, much of a Genshin Impact character's popularity came from fan-made content! For now, there wasn't an urgent need for popularity. So, should he create an alt to post some fan-made videos? The fan-made content scene for Genshin Impact on this Earth was still too inactive. So far, the most memed character was Albedo. How bizarre. Ye felt it was necessary to stir things up a bit.