Chapter 52: Just a Dream

Themis' banner shattered revenue records, lifting the declining sales caused by Albedo's banner and sending them soaring into the stratosphere.

Kiana's plan had succeeded perfectly. She had made a name for herself, significantly increasing the number of paying players.

As everyone knows, spending money in games is either zero times or countless times. Once you break the psychological barrier of F2P players, the next time you "encourage" them to spend... ahem, it becomes much easier.

However, there was no time to celebrate. Mihoyo immediately plunged into the next battle.

A very intense battle.

"In the upcoming Version 1.4, we will release four characters, including two new ones. Xiao and Hu Tao, who have already appeared in the story, will enter the gacha in Version 1.4. As for Dainsleif... we'll see how Kiana plans to handle him. Finally, Longhua will enter the gacha in Version 1.8, and the Shan Hai Jing region in Liyue will be permanently unlocked in the same version."

Fu Xuan spoke in a matter-of-fact tone:

"According to the plan, after Version 1.8, Genshin Impact will directly enter Version 2.0. At that time, we'll have three major banners in a row: Ayaka, Raiden Shogun, and the Supreme Bishop... So, Kiana, is the Supreme Bishop's card ready? Have you decided on a name? Don't tell me you're just going to use 'Supreme Bishop' as the name."

"..."

"Kiana?"

Fu Xuan looked at Kiana, who seemed to be lost in thought.

Mei nudged Kiana's shoulder.

Kiana finally snapped out of it. "Huh? What's up, Mei?"

"What are you spacing out for?" Fu Xuan sighed. "Never mind, I'll ask again. Version 2.0 is about six months away. Have you finalized the Supreme Bishop's design? Have you decided on a name?"

"Oh, it's decided. His name is Ye."

Kiana nodded, though her expression still seemed a bit dazed.

"...You hesitated for so long just to come up with such a simple name?"

Fu Xuan sighed again.

"Working with you and Qingque for so long, I feel like I'm going to grow old from sighing."

Kiana, unusually, didn't retort. She was still preoccupied with the dream she had yesterday.

What was going on? Why did she have that kind of dream?

Although thanks to yesterday's dream, she finally decided on the Supreme Bishop's name... In the dream, she had personally asked him what his name was.

Even though it was just a dream, the name was decided.

Even though it was just a dream... Yes! That's right! It was just a dream!

No need to dwell on it. It's just a dream. It seems I've reached that age. It's normal.

Kiana patted her cheeks with both hands, perked up, and finally focused on the meeting.

The upcoming Lantern Rite storyline was very important, as it would officially introduce a Liyue heavyweight character comparable to the Supreme Bishop of Fontaine.

Although she wouldn't enter the gacha immediately, the groundwork had to be laid.

Dainsleif's appearance caused quite a stir.

After all, as soon as he appeared, people realized he was the narrator from the Teyvat Chapter Storyline Preview and Hilichurlian Studies, as well as the representative character for Khaenri'ah in the preview.

However, his storyline wasn't extensive, and not much crucial information was revealed, so the stir wasn't too significant.

Soon, players shifted their attention to the Lantern Rite storyline and Xiao's Story Quest.

Leaving aside Xiao's Story Quest for now.

At the beginning of the Lantern Rite storyline, an animated cutscene was inserted, further cementing Mihoyo's reputation as an animation company.

In the animation, a beautiful, ethereal ship sailed across the sea.

A petite girl in a black qipao, holding an umbrella and crossing her legs, sat at the bow of the ship, gazing at the approaching harbor. She spoke softly:

"I remember hearing from a visitor who stumbled into Shan Hai Jing that during the Archon War, the victor of Liyue was Morax, right?"

"Yes, Sect Master."

Behind her, a blue-haired girl replied softly:

"But when I went ashore to arrange accommodations for you, Sect Master, I heard that the Geo Archon has passed away."

"Died?" The petite girl raised an eyebrow in surprise, then asked, "Then who is the new Geo Archon?"

"It seems no new Geo Archon has emerged."

"Then he's not dead."

The qipao girl shook her head slowly, her expression calm.

"According to the order established by the Heavenly Principles, unless Morax designated a successor before his death, the Geo Archon's throne would inevitably pass to me. This isn't about my will but simply because, aside from Morax, there's no other immortal (or god) in Liyue who can rival me. Now, since I haven't inherited the throne, and no new god appointed by Morax has appeared, he must still be alive."

"...Sect Master, have you met the Geo Archon before?"

"No, but I know of him, and he knows of me."

The girl stood up, her snow-white legs now planted firmly on the deck. She looked at Liyue Harbor with calm eyes.

"Perhaps this time, I'll get to meet him."

Behind her, the blue-haired girl draped a long black-and-gray coat over her shoulders.

The animated cutscene ended.

Brother Da immediately took a screenshot of the final scene and drooled over it, shouting, "Holy—! Mihoyo! I command you! Three seconds! Get this character into the gacha right now!"

"I can't take it anymore! I need to pull for her right now!"

"Sorry, Rea, I've fallen for someone else. I promise I'll come back after pulling her!"

"Don't get your hopes up. The Version 1.4 banners are already announced: Xiao and Hu Tao."

"What about Version 1.5? Any leaks?"

"Haven't seen any leaks from Mihoyo. Otherwise, I'd have saved my Primogems for Themis."

"It's not that there are no leaks. Remember when someone leaked Ganyu's skills?"

"The leak that got taken down in less than 30 seconds, and the leaker was sued? That's insane!"

"I'll offer 3,000 yuan as a reward. Someone leak when this character is coming to the gacha!"

"Looking at her Vision, she's a Geo character. She probably won't be too strong. Zhongli is already overpowered as a shield support, and Geo isn't great for DPS. As for support... let's not even go there."

"Wait, in the animated cutscene, the subtitles for 'immortal' had 'god' in smaller text above it. Combined with the dialogue, this character is clearly a god!"

"Do gods use Visions?"

"Are there gods other than the Seven Archons entering the gacha?"

"If they didn't give a close-up of the Vision, I wouldn't be sure. But since they did, she's definitely going to be playable."

"Is her Vision even real? Or is it just a glass bead?"

"It didn't look fake. I saw it light up during the close-up."

"Whether the Vision is real or not, just release this character already!!"

In fact, the Lantern Rite preview PV had been out for a while, but this character didn't appear in it. For players, this was an incredible surprise.

After all, this character's design... To put it simply, she's a character who doesn't need strength or even a storyline. Her design alone is enough to make countless players willingly open their wallets.

Well, if it weren't for that, Ye wouldn't have shamelessly borrowed (copied) a character design from another game.

When thinking of a Chinese-style female character in a gacha game, the first image that came to his mind was Hifumi from Blue Archive.

So he "borrowed" (copied) it.

No wonder transmigrators love being copycats. Not having to rack your brain is such a blissful feeling!