"The new boss is arriving today. I wonder what miHoYo will become under his leadership?"
"I'll stay with everyone until the very end."
"With someone investing in our studio, it's a good thing miHoYo can keep going, right?"
"It's not an investment—it's an acquisition. I already got confirmation from Theresa."
As Rita finished her sentence, the others fell silent.
After working at miHoYo for so many years, they had already developed deep emotional bonds with the company.
At that moment, the door to miHoYo Studio opened from the outside.
Hokuto walked in with a stern expression.
As he expected, the studio was full of charming women—easy on the eyes, with the scent of air freshener in the air.
There was something that completely defied his expectations!
"Kiana? Mei? Rita? Himeko???"
Hokuto suddenly froze.
Did he transmigrate again?
Honestly, if he had a choice, he definitely wouldn't want to enter the world of Honkai Impact 3rd.
It was way too dangerous.
He'd rather stay in this world and continue living as a "man in debt."
At least through his own efforts, there was still a good chance of paying off his debts.
Instinctively, he retracted the foot he'd stepped into the office with and closed the door.
Standing outside, Hokuto looked up at the company nameplate:
Then he looked through the corridor window at the outside world—
The streets bustled with cars. Everything was calm and peaceful. He could even see a giant penguin logo.
There was no way this was the world of Honkai Impact 3rd.
"Yeah, this is right." Hokuto muttered, "Maybe I just haven't adjusted since the transmigration, and my eyes are playing tricks on me?"
He pondered this, then opened the door again.
Standing at the entrance to greet him was Rita, wearing office lady attire and black stockings.
Everything was clear now—characters from Honkai Impact 3rd had appeared in the real world?!
And they even created miHoYo?
"Excuse me, are you Mr. Hokuto Su?" Rita gave a flawlessly professional smile.
At the same time, her eyes subtly swept over Hokuto. Her left eye, obscured by short hair, flickered with a scrutinizing gleam.
"Oh? I didn't expect Mr. Hokuto to know me?"
Hokuto reacted quickly and told a small lie, "I reviewed your studio's staff profiles before coming."
Just earlier, he had only paid attention to miHoYo's games and completely overlooked its staff.
After all, he was already planning to fire a few unproductive employees.
But… that was a thing of the past now.
Not because he, like his predecessor, was led by desire—no.
But because… making Honkai Impact 3rd together with the Valkyries—wasn't that exciting?
Besides, in a world with strict copyright laws, where even drawing doujin required authorization, misusing someone's likeness was a serious offense.
So, he couldn't let any of these girls go.
As for making Honkai Impact 3rd without their appearances?
A Honkai Impact 3rd without Kiana, Bronya, and Rita—would it still be Honkai Impact 3rd?
"Shall I take you to meet Manager Theresa?" Rita asked.
"No need. I'd like to get straight to the point." Hokuto shook his head. "Can I ask everyone to head to the meeting room with me?"
Though he was curious about their real-world situation, business came first.
Rita exchanged a glance with Himeko.
"I'll go get Theresa. Himeko, you take the new boss and the others to the meeting room."
Rita left the group and headed to the manager's office. She pushed open the door and stepped inside—
There she found Theresa, small-bodied and loli-faced, hurriedly putting away a manga.
"Reading HoYo comics on company time again? Even with the company in its current state, you still have the leisure?"
Theresa cleared her throat. "Precisely because things are dire, it's all the more important to relax, don't you think?"
"I think this excuse-making version of you is quite cute." Rita smiled faintly.
"Why are you suddenly saying that? You're making me want to smack you with Judah… Wait, what's Judah?"
Theresa, flustered by Rita's teasing, began to ramble nonsense. She even blurted out a term she herself didn't understand.
Which only made her more confused.
After teasing Theresa a little,
Rita got to the point, contentedly saying, "The new boss has arrived. He wants to call a meeting in the conference room."
Theresa furrowed her brow slightly, then kicked off from her chair with both feet and jumped down like an adult.
She walked up to Rita.
"What kind of person do you think he is?"
"He was clearly surprised when he saw us." Rita led Theresa toward the meeting room. "Of course, that's only natural. Given our studio's unique makeup, any man would react the same way."
"Hmm… So what's the real reason you rate him highly?"
"Probably because… it felt like meeting an old friend in a faraway land? And I feel like miHoYo's opportunity may have finally arrived."
"That's a bit mystical, don't you think?"
About twenty minutes later—
In miHoYo's largest conference room—
Hokuto stood atop the platform. He swept a glance over the formally seated staff below and got straight to the point.
"Before coming here, I reviewed your past projects."
Even before he finished speaking, several of miHoYo's game titles appeared on the projector screen behind him.
The crowd looked visibly hopeful.
Clearly, they were hoping to gain the new boss's approval and support.
Unfortunately, they were bound to be disappointed.
Liking the characters from Honkai Impact 3rd didn't mean he was going to kiss up and call black white.
"To be honest, judging by the quality of these games, the only way anyone would pay for them is if they were blind." Thɪs chapter is updated by N(o)vᴇl(F)ire.nᴇt
As soon as the words landed—
The room darkened with tension.
But Hokuto was unaffected. He spoke every word seriously and clearly.
"Still, while the scripts and concepts are garbage, the gameplay is very smooth, and the visuals are good. Overall, there are some redeeming qualities."
"What's wrong with the script?!"
Before the scriptwriter Kiana could even react, it was Mei—who had just been praised—who jumped to her feet. "The best-selling Nonsensical Hero's Grand Adventure had its script written by Kiana!"
"That script was decent, yes. But one success doesn't mean every script will be a hit."
Mei wanted to retort, but Hokuto had a point. More importantly, they had several flops in a row lately.
She had no confidence.
"I'm not trying to assert dominance with this critique. On the contrary, I think you all have great potential. What you lack is proper direction."
"You're saying… you can guide us?" Theresa raised her hand.
Hokuto tapped the next slide in his presentation.
A large Honkai Impact 3rd logo appeared on the screen behind him.
"This will be our company's next project—Honkai Impact 3rd!!"