Genshin impact : Elysia endroses me!!!

Penguin Games Department, Zhao Yi's Studio

Since Zhao Yi was rejected from Mi Huyou's office half a month ago, he had been working tirelessly to accelerate his game's progress. He didn't care at all about the game that Mi Huyou's new boss was developing.

In his eyes, a small workshop like Mi Huyou could never achieve anything substantial. Even with a new boss in charge, Zhao Yi was certain of one thing: in the domestic game industry, only the big players—Penguin and the Pig Farm—mattered. The rest, in his view, were nothing more than a joke, destined for failure.

That's why he was so angry after being rejected by Helander. Upon returning from that rejection, Zhao Yi spent more than half a month seething with frustration. But it only fueled his resolve. He swore that when his game was launched, he would make Helander and the rest regret their decision. When Mi Huyou's new boss went bankrupt, Zhao Yi would step in, take over the company, and save Mi Huyou from disaster. And in the process, he would finally claim the admiration of the beauty.

His laughter echoed with self-confidence. Even if things didn't go according to plan, if "Honkai III" didn't take off, Zhao Yi was prepared to crush the game with the full backing of Penguin. In his mind, the bankruptcy of Mi Huyou's new boss was inevitable.

However, what Zhao Yi never anticipated was that Mi Huyou's "Honkai III" would launch on the same day as his own game. Worse still, Mi Huyou's new game completely overshadowed his own.

Not only did "Honkai III" dominate the headlines, but it also left his game in the dust. A full day passed, and there wasn't a single mention of Penguin's new game. The hot search was entirely taken over by "Honkai III" and Eden.

"Honkai III" was not only topping the new game rankings, but it was also miles ahead of its competition. In just 24 hours, it racked up a staggering 50 million downloads. In comparison, the second-highest game on the rankings only managed 10 million, while Zhao Yi's game languished in 8th place.

The numbers were humiliating. "Honkai III" was leagues ahead, and Zhao Yi's game was barely even on the radar. This failure quickly grabbed the attention of higher-ups at Penguin.

After all, Penguin had never lost so badly since it entered the game industry. Even in their worst losses, they had never been this outperformed, and certainly never by a small, unknown workshop. The embarrassment was undeniable.

Fortunately for Zhao Yi, Penguin's executives saw that Eden had absorbed most of the traffic. As a result, Zhao Yi wasn't immediately punished, but his Uncle gave him a stern talking-to instead.

"Damn it… You're just lucky." Zhao Yi gritted his teeth, his frustration palpable.

"But I won't give up on this..."

Despite having an Uncle who could shield him from immediate consequences, Zhao Yi knew that to truly secure his position, he needed results. Simply relying on his Uncle's influence wouldn't be enough.

Zhao Yi wasn't a fool, though. He quickly realized that the success of "Honkai III" wasn't just about good luck—it was a result of smart strategy. After analyzing the game for an entire day, Zhao Yi begrudgingly admitted that Mi Huyou's new boss was a genius in game operations.

It wasn't just Eden's popularity that contributed to "Honkai III"'s success. There was more to it than that.

The first and most obvious reason was the game's very clear target audience: "the two-dimensional world." Coincidentally, neither Penguin nor the Pig Farm had games aimed at this demographic.

Mi Huyou's new boss had capitalized on this gap, expertly grabbing a large portion of the market share from Penguin and Pig Farm. From this alone, Zhao Yi could tell that the other party was not someone to be underestimated.

"Two-dimensional... Why didn't I think of that?" Zhao Yi thought, a lightbulb suddenly flashing in his mind.

In addition to the two-dimensional style, the greatest advantage of "Honkai III" was its plot and character design. Zhao Yi didn't need to worry about the game's artistic style—Penguin had the ability to pull it off.

The plot and the beautiful characters, though—those were the things Zhao Yi could capitalize on.

An idea struck him suddenly.

"What if I directly adapt a popular anime series into a game?"

Zhao Yi sprang to his feet, his face lighting up with excitement. He immediately grabbed his phone and dialed his Uncle.

"Xiao Yi, what's going on?"

"Uncle, I've got a great idea…" Zhao Yi explained his thoughts in detail.

After hearing him out, Zhao Yi's Uncle was silent for a moment before responding, "It seems you do have some abilities, but this approach isn't right for Penguin."

"Huh? Why not?" Zhao Yi asked, confused.

"Over the years, Penguin has been criticized online, and we've been exploring ways to change that…" The middle-aged man paused briefly. "Your game was essentially a test, and the result is clear: the original idea didn't work. Imitation is the way forward."

"We have the traffic, we don't need to risk originality. If we want to make something work, we should look at Mi Huyou's success and follow their lead. All we need to do is launch 'Honkai IV' as quickly as possible. Got it?"

Zhao Yi slapped his thigh. "Yes! Why didn't I think of that?"

"I understand, Uncle. I'll take care of it right away."

"Good. Now get your team together, and come to me for help. Your current project is now someone else's responsibility."

After hanging up the phone, Zhao Yi's lips twisted into a smug grin.

"Mi Huyou… your good days are numbered."

Although Mi Huyou had successfully carved out a niche in the two-dimensional market, stealing a large chunk of the traffic from Penguin and the Pig Farm, Zhao Yi knew what Penguin could do. The so-called "ghost of imitation" had a reputation for a reason.

Given half a month, Penguin could easily produce a "similar" game that was close enough to "Honkai III" to claim success. And with Penguin's massive traffic, they could crush a small workshop like Mi Huyou without breaking a sweat.

"It seems the senior management must have already reached out to Mi Huyou's boss," Zhao Yi mused. "But what can you do? We're buying you out, and you'll be indebted to us. If you can't succeed, it's not our fault."