Chapter 79: The Holographic Gaming Platform

"I believe players have been eagerly anticipating this for a long time." Having learned her lesson, Fu Xuan, in this crucial version preview livestream, did not invite the voice actress for Elysia, the protagonist, nor did she invite the voice actor for the Supreme Bishop. Instead, she brought back Qingque and Kiana, with the three of them personally hosting the event. "Without further ado, let's start the trailer for the next version." As Fu Xuan spoke, the screen transitioned, and a traditional ink painting suddenly appeared, accompanied by the sharp plucking of a pipa. Ink paintings of mountains and rivers slowly unfolded from left to right, showcasing the breathtaking beauty of the Shanhaijing region. Suddenly, the screen froze on one particular image. A young girl holding an umbrella walked through a bamboo forest. The ink painting of this scene suddenly dispersed, and the image turned to color. The girl began to move, step by step, through the bamboo forest. Her calm voice slowly rang out: "Why are you doing this? Confess now, and I might spare your life." The scene shifted to a peculiar mountain. What made it peculiar was that the mountain's peak was hollow, with water gushing upward from inside, scattering like a fountain. An elderly woman's proud voice echoed: "That is the source of life that sustains all of Shanhaijing. We rely on it entirely." The scene changed again, showing island residents lying in pain on sickbeds. A young man's angry voice shouted: "Outsiders! Why are you doing this?" The screen shifted once more, showing a young girl panicking as she stood by a riverbank. Her flustered voice cried out: "The water is poisoned! Quickly inform the Sect Leader!" The scene changed again, showing Lumine and Paimon surrounded by a group of men and women wielding greatswords and single-handed swords, their weapons drawn as they cautiously backed away. A young man's cold, angry voice declared: "You've betrayed the Sect Leader's trust! Your crimes are unforgivable!" The screen shifted once more, showing the girl from the bamboo forest—Longhua—standing outside a prison cell, looking sorrowfully at Lumine and Paimon inside. A mature woman's magnetic voice spoke: "Humans are such fragile creatures." Finally, the screen changed one last time, showing Longhua floating in the sky, a dazzling golden sun forming a radiant halo behind her. Her right hand raised high, the oil-paper umbrella in her hand transformed into a magnificent, glowing greatsword. Longhua gripped the sword tightly with her delicate yet regal hand, looking down from above. From the camera's perspective, it was unclear who she was looking at—only that she was gazing downward. In this moment, she spoke in a voice colder than ever before: "Outsiders, pay the price you owe!" The rapid succession of close-up shots left viewers dazzled, while the chaotic dialogue sent chills down their spines. The screen slowly faded to black, and the words "Genshin Impact" appeared on the darkened screen. Then, the screen lit up again, showing Longhua standing on a misty mountain cliff. A fragile, bewildered murmur, something no one could have imagined coming from her, softly echoed: "Did... did I make a mistake?" And with that, the PV ended. 「What's going on? Is the Traveler being hunted again? And this time, they're even thrown in prison?」 「No way... is the next storyline going to involve deaths? Are they going all out this time?」 「Am I going to be killed by the Sect Leader?」 「That can't be! If the protagonist dies, the game's over, right? There has to be a twist.」 「I feel so bad for the Sect Leader!」 「Holy crap, I can't wait another second for 1.8!」 「After the archipelago storyline, why bother with the card game? Just open Shanhaijing already!」 「Don't say that, the card game is pretty fun too. It's practically a whole new game.」 「It is a whole new game.」 "That PV was packed with information," Qingque remarked, feigning surprise. Of course, she was acting. While she usually avoided spoilers to enjoy the game, as Longhua's voice actress, she was privy to the upcoming storyline this time. Fu Xuan calmly stated, "I believe players can guess that in the next version, Longhua will be added to the gacha pool." "Yay!!" Qingque clapped excitedly. "Finally, Longhua's here! Now we just have to wait for Ayaka, the Supreme Bishop, and Furina!" "Longhua won't have a Story Quest for now, as this main storyline chapter essentially serves as her Story Quest. The same goes for the new character joining the gacha after her," Kiana added. As Kiana spoke, another PV began to play. "When a Vision holder dies, their Vision loses its light." "To discover strong warriors and reignite Visions, I organized the 'Crux Clash.'" "Your semifinal opponent is an unknown dark horse." "That Vision... it's gone?" "When a storm approaches, the voice of 'nature' grows chaotic." "The 'wind' is coming." "Hidden Clouds... Crying Swans!!!" "If the Seven Archons once had their own standards for granting Visions, does the Electro Archon now doubt this act?" "One day, I will seek the answer to 'eternity' from her." "The sea route to Inazuma is treacherous, with storms raging endlessly." "Beyond the endless thunderstorm lies perhaps your most challenging journey yet." 「Holy crap, Inazuma is finally coming?!」 「No 1.9 version? After Shanhaijing, it's straight to Inazuma?」 「Good, good, very good!」 「This Inazuma character looks so cool!」 "Now I'm looking forward to both Shanhaijing and Inazuma. Kiana, you're really something!" Qingque loudly complained. Kiana smiled sweetly. "Both Shanhaijing and Inazuma were meticulously designed by the development team. I hope they won't disappoint the players." "Before we get disappointed, I want to ask a question on behalf of the players," Qingque said seriously. "I'm just an investor. My only job besides that is voicing Longhua. I'm not involved in the game's development, so aside from being a boss, I'm just a pure player. Therefore, my question absolutely represents the players—are these characters worth pulling for?" "Ahem! Ahem!" Fu Xuan loudly coughed, glaring at Qingque. Didn't she know not to say things that might encourage players to spend money? Qingque looked confused. She genuinely didn't know. As for Kiana... "Of course they're worth pulling for. Anyone who doesn't will regret it." Yeah, she didn't know either. But a second later, she added, "Longhua is so beautiful! Kazuha is so cool! I'm definitely pulling for both!" Fu Xuan sighed in relief. Well, as long as they didn't hype up the characters' mechanics, it was fine. "In any case, in the upcoming Version 1.8, Genshin Impact will release two main storylines and two new characters..." As the preview livestream concluded, the opening of Shanhaijing was finally within reach. However, the real bombshell of this livestream was something else entirely—a world-shaking announcement. First and foremost, Genshin Impact: Clash was launching a global tournament in real life. Players could form teams and register in cities and regions worldwide. Regional champions would receive $1 million in prize money and qualify for the national tournament. In the national competitions of each country, the top three teams will qualify for the global competition and receive prize money ranging from 10 million, 4 million, and 1 million US dollars respectively. At the same time, teams participating in the national competitions will receive a prize of 300,000 US dollars for each game. As for the team that wins the championship in the global competition, it will receive the global champion trophy and a prize of 100 million US dollars. The second and third place winners will receive the runner-up and third place trophies and prizes of 40 million and 20 million US dollars respectively. Moreover, every match played in the global tournament would earn the team $1 million. This was undoubtedly a global gaming event only miHoYo could pull off—a groundbreaking feat. First, only miHoYo had the financial muscle to spend this much money without expecting immediate returns. Second, only a game like Genshin Impact, which had topped the charts in dozens of countries and boasted hundreds of millions of players worldwide, could host such a global event. Genshin Impact: Clash, though a mini-game, was also a standalone game that complemented Genshin Impact, creating a synergistic effect. Finally, for this tournament, miHoYo unveiled a long-prepared trump card: A holographic gaming platform secretly developed by miHoYo. All tournament matches would be projected in real-time onto the platform. Due to material limitations, the platform couldn't be miniaturized yet—the smallest version was 30 meters long and wide—making mass production impossible. But for gaming tournaments, it was perfect. This tournament would allow ticket-holding spectators to witness a real Clash battle, complete with holographic projections of Genshin Impact characters. In comparison, the announcement of Yu-Gi-Oh! card sales in real life was completely overshadowed. That said, it wasn't ignored. The livestream also announced that after the Genshin Impact global tournament, a Yu-Gi-Oh! tournament would follow, also using the holographic gaming platform. Unlike the Genshin Impact tournament, which required teams, the Yu-Gi-Oh! tournament allowed individual entries, making it a major event for card game enthusiasts. Oh, and while it was called Yu-Gi-Oh!, like Genshin Impact: Clash, the cards in Genshin Impact were all based on Teyvat. Ye had simply "borrowed" some rules and card effects from the original Yu-Gi-Oh! In any case, both Genshin Impact: Clash and Yu-Gi-Oh! would elevate Genshin Impact's IP value. Even if the storyline collapsed, Genshin Impact could still thrive thanks to these two games—this was the genuine belief of miHoYo's team. That said, they couldn't help but admire Kiana. While she didn't bother with foreshadowing, she was truly a genius when it came to game development. Of course, she was also great at creating challenges. When Kiana proposed the tournament idea, the team was relatively calm. After all, Genshin Impact: Clash was solid enough to support such an event, and they believed it would boost the game's IP value. But when Kiana suggested developing a real-time holographic gaming platform, everyone was stunned. Who even thinks of something so sci-fi?! —Well, apparently, Kiana did. As miHoYo's game producer, Kiana was known for throwing out wild ideas without a care for practicality. It was up to the rest of the team to figure out how to make them work. And this time... miHoYo pulled it off again. Herta: "This one's a bit challenging." Ruan Mei: "Let me think... it's not entirely impossible." Are you two sure you're not wasting your talents by working at miHoYo? When the team successfully created a prototype under their guidance, everyone stared at them in awe. Then, after a moment of reflection, they calmed down. Well, this seemed pretty normal. MiHoYo was such a free and fun place. The company's funds were readily available, and they could work on whatever they wanted. Aside from Kiana occasionally throwing them curveballs, it was a dream job. And Kiana's curveballs were just part of the fun. In any case, thanks to Kiana's wild idea, miHoYo's team had conquered another technological hurdle, shocking the world. Amidst the frenzy of this announcement, the opening of Shanhaijing and the two main storylines in Version 1.8 seemed almost insignificant. —But this was within Ye's expectations. —Though, in another sense, it was also unexpected. When Ye decided to use a Yu-Gi-Oh!-style card game to expand Genshin Impact's IP value, he had wondered if they could create the holographic technology seen in the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime. He had even planned to use popularity points to make it happen. But in the end, it wasn't necessary—miHoYo had real geniuses on board. In any case, it didn't matter. Even if the hype was temporarily overshadowed, the essence of Genshin Impact remained unchanged. The excitement would eventually circle back to the game itself. Ye wasn't worried. When the time came, he logged back into Longhua's account. Genshin Impact Version 1.8 had officially begun. This time, he would personally take the stage.