NOVEL NEXT Chapter 183: Gallagher Becomes the Leader of an Organization?!
"Damn it! Damn you, miHoYo!"
"You seriously cut it off here?!"
"You might as well just kill us!"
"Aaaaaaah!"
"I don't know who killed them, but the one killing me is definitely you, miHoYo!"
"Damn you!"
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The audience were wailing madly.
Even the comments section below were flooded.
...
: What the heck, bro, so many things weren't explained!
: The person killed someone and just ran off.
: What is the deal with the Dreamworld? How did the Robin and Firefly die? Tell me! I need answers!
: It's over. Another week of waiting. You might as well just kill me now!
: Can someone analyze this? My brain got fried from the first episode alone.
: Aaaaaah! Don't leave us hanging! Don't leave us hanging!
...
In the official comment section, the audiences' comments were increasing rapidly.
No matter where the previous episodes left off, they were still bearable.
But this time, Honkai: Star Rail is too much to handle!
It's just way too good!
Even after it ended, the audiences' minds were still immersed in the twists of the story they just saw.
Countless questions, like ants, crawled through their brains!
As the audience wailed in frustration, at that moment, in the screening room, everyone also looked unsatisfied.
"Huh? That's it for the first episode?"
"We haven't had enough yet!"
"Ahhh, boss, you're such a villain!"
One after another, they cast resentful looks toward Xia Wen.
As the one who shot it herself, even the crew didn't expect that Xia Wen would edit it like this.
The entire Penacony was shrouded in conspiracy and fog.
The plot kept twisting and turning at every moment.
Without any need for prior explanations, the mysterious air surrounding the characters appearing in the main story was enough to fill everyone with anticipation.
"And I thought you, Boss, would slowly reveal the knives bit by bit."
"Didn't expect you to show all the blades in the first episode." Tingyun, who had battled through countless revival matches, smiled softly and said.
"You must be happy because someone played the revival matches with you!" March 7th teased her with squinting eyes.
"Of course not. I'm a naturally kind and lovely girl!" Tingyun squinted her eyes and grinned.
Watching everyone's banter, Xia Wen chuckled and said casually,
"It's just showing the audiences some firepower first."
"After all, before the first episode aired, the little fans were all very confident."
"Talking about how MiHoYo's blades have dulled, or that they've layered armor and whatnot."
These mischievous words brought bursts of laughter to the screening room.
At this moment, Furina, who had been monitoring online reactions, suddenly screamed,
"Boss! Boss! Look at this!" She immediately sent the news to the chat group.
Everyone picked up their phones to look, and what appeared was a meme.
It was based on Xia Wen's appearance during her last appearance on Guinaifen's livestream.
A netizen had captured a clip of Xia Wen's serious expression and added a cheerful smile effect.
In the image, Xia Wen suddenly showed sparkling white teeth and a bright smile.
The caption below read, "Relaxed, sunny, and positive storytelling. Do you like my Penacony?"
"Pfft…!" Many people couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Wait, there's more!" Furina laughed until tears streamed down her face, tapping her screen furiously and quickly sending over a pile of memes.
Other than Gallagher, every important character who appeared in the first episode was included in the memes, all staring at the screen.
Each character's face was humorously edited with the same bright smile effect.
The caption below read, "You're awake? Penacony's dead, only we're left."
"Hahaha, this is too ridiculous!"
"Was this edited with AI? It's way too realistic." Furina clutched her stomach and laughed heartily.
There was also an image of the Inferno Duke.
But his goat head had already been replaced with a clown's and the caption below read, "Everyone, type 1 to support my revival."
Seeing these memes, Xia Wen couldn't help but laugh too.
"Boss, leaving cliffhangers like this every time, you see, it's caused public outrage."
"Everyone must 'love' you to death right now." March 7th teased cheerfully.
"This is just the beginning."
"Wait till later, when the audiences discover the true identity of the Watchmaker."
"When they see the story of Aventurine, they'll probably want to storm the company and treat me to a meal." Furina thought about the upcoming plot and couldn't help but sigh.
"Don't get too smug now. When the time comes, and you see it for real, don't end up crying like a baby again." Xia Wen chuckled.
"Hmph, I won't! I've already witnessed everyone acting on set."
"I'm battle-hardened now! I won't cry so easily!" Furina put her hands on her hips, looking proud.
Xia Wen simply gave a mysterious smile and didn't argue further.
Some things, which didn't require the actors, were entirely created using special effects.
On set, without those elements as context, the emotions would naturally fall short.
For example, Penacony's past history, Mikhail's experiences.
But this air of mystery was also the greatest anticipation for everyone in MiHoYo who came to the screening room to watch the series.
They would never know what the full story would look like.
After chatting briefly with everyone, Xia Wen returned to the office.
Silver Wolf had already sent the data for the first episode to his computer.
As expected, Penacony's opening had already overtaken the hype of the Xianzhou arc and left it a mile behind.
The number of viewers for this episode was about to break the five hundred million mark!
Including streaming platforms, it's simply astonishing.
This figure is a miracle in the history of entertainment and film!
Mainly because of its solid quality, with system-supported special effects that perfectly present the Honkai: Star Rail world.
Moreover, unlike films, the series doesn't have the issue of long intervals between releases, allowing for sustained strong output.
Along with the data report, there were also global platform reviews from everywhere, where the tone of even the previously hesitant or subtly critical media had completely shifted.
Almost all were lavish with praise, because Honkai: Star Rail's scale had grown too large to ignore.
Besides this, there were also dense proposals from various regions seeking to incorporate their local elements.
Xia Wen couldn't even finish reading them all at once.
This is what makes Honkai: Star Rail as a series so unparalleled—it turned itself into a virtual platform.
Different cultures can be showcased through this platform.
Under such massive viewership and global influence, everyone wanted to use this medium to showcase their local customs or traditions.
This was far more effective than advertising.
The successful Museum event and the upcoming events were concrete examples of real changes.
"Let's put this aside for now."
"First, we need to complete the most critical parts of Penacony before considering these matters..." Xia Wen rubbed his temples.
The upcoming week would be a stark contrast to the uneventful past week.
There would be a flood of PVs and Myriad Celestia Chronicles content released.
All these could, in various ways, provide viewers with more pieces of the puzzle.
Of course, the overall tone of Penacony would still be suspenseful, with a sense of anticipation lingering over truths yet to be revealed.
These additions wouldn't diminish the suspense of the second episode.
As Xia Wen buried himself in work, the audiences of miHoYo stirred up a storm.
…
On the official website, there was a section called the Tavern of Miscellaneous.
Initially, it was just a place for audience to chat casually, but because the tavern connected audience from all over the world could joke and chat here.
Although the forum was divided into sections by language, it had always maintained a relatively peaceful atmosphere.
Until today.
The hateful shadow of cliffhangers descended worldwide.
Countless riddles made everyone feel like ants were crawling in their heads.
So, people gathered together and began frantically rewatching the previous episodes, summarizing and organizing the content.
With the help of fans fluent in various languages, different theories and clues were shared and connected.
Gradually, it truly felt like everyone was coming together as one!
Fans from different parts of the world even united to form an organization in the Tavern of Miscellaneous: the Hound Household.
Every contributor was a member of the Hound Household, dedicated to uncovering the truth of Penacony.
Since the first episode was full of enigmatic characters and unclear motives, the audiences decided to create their own personas and stances, to clarify perspectives and logic.
Of course, the only character in the first episode who wasn't cryptic, who was honest, diligent, and wholeheartedly devoted to Penacony, was Gallagher, currently the highest-ranking member of the Hound Household.
Thus, he became the leader of this real-life fan organization.
No matter which language section you visited, at the top of each post, you could see Gallagher's bearded, weathered face with a slightly melancholy gaze silently staring into the camera.
Below was a passionate declaration, "Members of the Hound Household, Penacony is shrouded in darkness! Under the leadership of Chief Gallagher, we will uncover the truth of Penacony and bring those villains to justice!"
It's fortunate that Xia Wen didn't see the intense activity in the tavern.
If he had, he probably wouldn't have been able to hold back his laughter.
Thus, under the spontaneous organization of the audiences, something resembling an official event took shape.
And it wasn't without results.
At the very least, many clues buried in the first episode that had gone unnoticed during initial viewings were unearthed.
These discoveries, combined with the massive amount of information in the first episode,
once again sent chills down countless viewers' spines!
First and foremost was a shocking revelation— Penacony wasn't just a dual-line plotline! It was triple-plotline!
Even more astonishing was that these three plotlines weren't traditional narrative lines but timelines!
And each timeline in the series had both a reality line and a dream line!
In other words, there were six distinct narrative plots, concealing the ultimate secrets!