Chapter 54: The Dormitory System Launches; Ana Fans Rejoice!

Please support me on Patreon, where you can read a bunch of extra chapters, not just for this novel, but for all the novels I'm working on. I upload at least 2 times daily for most novels - There are at least twice as many available chapters on Patreon, compared to here on Webnovel.

Additionally, there are also free extra chapters available for Free Members, so head on over:

Patreon.com/ThatGreatStuff

******

Honkai Impact 3 Version 2.0 "Dorm Party" arrived as scheduled, featuring the highly anticipated release of Fu Hua's character—Valkyrie Xun Yu joins the fray! For long-awaiting Fu Hua fans, it was a moment of pure celebration.

Adding to their delight, subsequent updates would introduce new Fu Hua characters. In terms of story progression, Fu Hua dominated center stage, although Saint Freya Academy also had its moments. However, when it came to sheer badassery, Fu Hua clearly outshone others.

Towards the end of the storyline, Ana briefly appeared, leading some Ana enthusiasts to speculate about her upcoming new armor sets. However, the anticipation wasn't overwhelming because true Ana fans were preoccupied with something else—

In Brother Cake's live stream, prominently displayed on the screen was the Valkyrie Dormitory from Honkai Impact 3's Version 2.0 update.

As expected, this version primarily focused on enhancing the Home System, with the most significant addition being increased interaction with the Valkyries.

Among all the Valkyries added to the home system, Ana's Valkyrie Snow Grace stood out the most. This update proved immensely satisfying for both Ana fans and lore enthusiasts alike.

[Wow, the little Ana avatar is so adorable! Absolutely amazing!]

[Hold up, that's insane!]

In the live stream, Brother Cake continuously poked at Ana's miniature character after placing her in the dormitory, but she showed no sign of annoyance. Instead, she smiled indulgently, as if humoring a spoiled child.

[Brother Cake, try putting Ana on the bed; there's an Easter egg!]

A particular bullet comment caught Brother Cake's attention.

"An Easter egg? Let me see!" he responded, but instead of immediately placing Ana on the bed, he opened the preview mode to upgrade the Valkyrie Dormitory with a larger and better bed first.

After making these changes, Brother Cake carefully dragged Ana onto the bed.

Soon, Ana nestled comfortably into slumber. Although adorable, it initially seemed unremarkable.

Just as Brother Cake started feeling slightly disappointed, suddenly, a speech bubble appeared above Ana's head:

"Wahh—Rita—don't!"

Her expression turned sheepishly embarrassed.

"Whoa!"

This unexpected scenario took Brother Cake by surprise, eliciting an involuntary exclamation.

[Tsk tsk, is this a spin-off of what Jiege rejected?!]

[Ana's gay too? Surprisingly connected with Rita.]

[Hey, hey, isn't that quite normal? This is Honkai Impact 3 after all!]

While yuri elements became less prominent later in Honkai Impact 3, they were excessively prevalent in its early stages. Characters like Yae Sakura and Kallen exemplified this trend, even influencing the game's developers to intentionally create a yuri atmosphere. As a result, the plot sometimes felt contrived, further casting Otto as the perpetual third wheel.

["The comment above is spot on!"]

"So, it implies there should be more interaction scenarios between them later," Brother Cake speculated, rubbing his chin.

He wasn't bothered by yuri content; in fact, he quite enjoyed it. Watching girls being affectionate with each other was always entertaining, and even if it involved yuri, it didn't diminish his fondness for Ana.

Following this revelation, Brother Cake began testing other hidden interactions involving Ana's mini-avatar.

Indeed, the developers had put significant effort into Ana's character. Almost every time her avatar was placed alongside those of other Valkyrie avatars, unique dialogue triggers occurred.

With the main trio (Kiana, Mei, and Bronya), Ana spoke like a wise mentor, embodying a teacherly demeanor.

Towards Himeko, she expressed regret and resignation.

In front of Theresa, she conveyed admiration.

Lastly, when paired with Fu Hua, Ana surprisingly confessed her liking but then criticized Fu Hua as wooden, lacking understanding of human emotions. However, that was not all.

Ana's mini-avatar also featured easter egg comments specific to different Stigmata characters, making this update truly a win for Ana fans.

Soon, they started daydreaming about what might happen if Ana received additional armors in the future—how would conversations unfold between different versions of Ana? Additionally, could there be a possibility of introducing Ana-themed Stigmata sets?

In the official comment section, some even made bold predictions; notably, one such predictor foresaw the introduction of weather systems in an open-world update—hmm, this forecaster was proven wrong half a year later.

Regardless, although Ana didn't receive specific story content or new armor in Version 2.0, it still brought immense joy to her fans.

Next came Version 2.1, titled "Moonshadow Dragon Hunt," marking the Lunar New Year with numerous rewards for players. On the Valkyrie front, Fu Hua's new armor, Shadow Knight Moonwheel, along with the Divine Key Grips of Taixuan, were introduced, as seen in the previous chapter's storyline.

At first glance, does this version seem unrelated to Ana enthusiasts?

Not at all! Despite featuring no existing characters from the original game, this update included a free Qipao skin called "[Spring Water Lotus]" for Ana, complete with special effects!

Typically, such skins would be released later as reward-based skins, but not this one. With its impressive model and attractive visual effects, it stood out.

Although Da Wei himself didn't present during the preview stream for this Lunar New Year edition, player enthusiasm remained high. Regarding Ana's Qipao skin, planner PinkWhite provided an explanation:

They recognized Ana's high popularity, coupled with many Ana fans within the art team, which led to creating this exclusive skin as a gift to players. Any gratitude should be directed towards the art group!

However, upon release, Shadow Knight Moonwheel's reception wasn't as favorable due to its unique ultimate skill mechanism, leading some skilled players to express pessimism.

But only time would reveal the truth.

In subsequent versions, with each new generation of top-tier characters emerging, Moon Ring gradually fell out of favor. This decline was not inherently Moon Ring's fault but rather a consequence of evolving game balance and meta shifts. For a significant period, Moon Ring remained a highly valuable elemental damage dealer.

As for the rest... The 2.1 version didn't have any particularly noteworthy features. In theory, such transitional updates should introduce major content, yet version 2.1 turned out quite uneventful.

There were no new main story chapters, just cooperative levels featuring Grips of Taixuan, making the entire update rather mundane. Fortunately, the high quality of the four skins released during this wave, combined with discussions and exploration around Moon Ring, helped maintain stable player sentiment.

Despite Honkai Impact 3 being unparalleled in its genre at that time, it couldn't afford complacency.

Thankfully, the developers stepped up in version 2.2, titled "Immortal Phoenix." This update introduced Fu Hua's Shenzhou side-story arc, a new character, Phoenix, and even her dedicated character theme song, marking Fu Hua as the second character to receive one.

With this unique side story, Fu Hua swiftly overtook Ana as the perceived "favorite daughter" among players in Honkai Impact 3rd. Additionally, due to Red Kite's statue plotline, Fu Hua genuinely earned the nickname "Tablet of Shenzhou," further popularizing the meme about her being older than fifty thousand years.