The atmosphere froze for quite a while.
Hokuto tried to hold it in. "So that happened... No wonder Miss Cioara reacted that way to Honkai Impact 3rd back then…"
"That was just my misfortune. It has nothing to do with you or Honkai Impact 3rd," Raven interrupted Hokuto.
"But hearing such a tragic—"
"Tragic?!"
"…such a moving story, I can't just stay indifferent."
Hokuto had his reasons for saying this.
Honkai Impact 3rd still needed Raven as a tool—er, a game character.
"If there's anything you need help with, feel free to say it."
"I don't have—"
Raven was about to decline, but suddenly paused. She looked at the girl nearby, sighed silently, and, thickening her face, said:
"Raven Studio is about to be disbanded. I'm a little worried about everyone's future. If you could help them connect with other companies, that would be great. miHoYo has such a strong reputation now—people will definitely give you some face."
"Hmm…"
Hokuto recalled his earlier idea to set up a 'branch mine'—and now there was ready manpower?
"About that, I do have an idea… if you're open to it."
"What kind of idea?" Raven turned to look at Hokuto.
"Well…" Hokuto laid out his idea for a 'branch mine.'
Raven froze slightly. She hadn't expected Hokuto to suddenly say he wanted to acquire Raven Studio.
"You're serious?" she asked hesitantly.
"Yeah. miHoYo really needs people right now. And you all happen to be looking for a new path."
Upon hearing that, Raven frowned and gave Hokuto another look. Then, unexpectedly, she asked:
"Did you plan this from the beginning, ever since you met me? Is that why you tricked me into bringing everyone to miHoYo?"
"No! Really, no!" Hokuto shook his head earnestly. "It was a spur-of-the-moment idea."
He wasn't lying. Back then, he had only been thinking of bringing Raven in—he wasn't really interested in the others at her studio.
Raven couldn't read any deceit on Hokuto's face.
She temporarily put her suspicions aside.
In truth, Hokuto's proposal was like timely rain for Raven Studio.
"I'll go talk to them. I think they'll all be willing to join miHoYo."
After all, miHoYo was now the hottest rising star in the industry.
But Hokuto picked up on something in Raven's wording. "Miss Cioara, you're not planning to join miHoYo?"
"Me?" Raven shook her head. "I want to take a break for a while."
What had happened earlier had hit her quite hard.
"miHoYo's branch still needs someone in charge."
"Just let Sora do it. She's the second-in-command at the studio." Sora was the soft lavender-haired girl surrounded by the others earlier.
While Hokuto was still trying to persuade—no, convince—Raven to join miHoYo…
On the other side, Sora had finished her task and spotted the two standing at the entrance.
"Teacher!"
She ran over and greeted Raven first, then looked at Hokuto and gave a polite bow. "Hello, I'm Sora from Raven Studio."
"Hello, I'm the boss of miHoYo Studio. You can call me Hokuto."
"You're miHoYo's boss? The lead developer of Honkai Impact 3rd?!" Sora's eyes instantly sparkled as she looked at Hokuto.
"That's me."
Hokuto nodded and even joked, "I thought your first reaction would be to assume I'm the scriptwriter and try to stab me."
"Ah… The plot of Honkai Impact 3rd really does make you want to stab the scriptwriter sometimes…"
Sora blinked. "But we're here today to exchange and learn, so we can't do something so excessive."
In other words… if this weren't a learning exchange, stabbing would be fair game?
"Alright, enough idle talk. All of you, come in."
Hokuto remained composed and stepped aside to let them into the studio.
After Raven led the group inside miHoYo—
Hokuto intentionally struck up a conversation with Sora, who had fallen behind.
"Why do you call Miss Cioara 'Teacher'?" He started casually.
"Because she really did teach me a lot," Sora answered while her gaze, full of curiosity, wandered restlessly through miHoYo's interior.
"You seem really close to Miss Cioara," Hokuto guided the topic.
"Of course!" Sora nodded seriously. "I've lived with Teacher since I was very young."
"I see." Hokuto appeared thoughtful.
After a moment—
He sighed faintly, as if in sorrow. "Sigh~~ It's a pity that you'll be separated from her soon."
"?"
"I know you don't want to be separated either… but her mind is made up… sigh~~"
Sora stopped in her tracks, her gaze fixed on Hokuto as she asked sincerely, "May I ask what exactly happened?"
The corners of Hokuto's lips curled upward ever so slightly, and then he slowly said, "It's nothing secret. You'd find out soon enough anyway…"
...
Before they realized it, several hours had passed.
The members of Raven Studio got along well with the people at miHoYo—especially Sora, who was well-liked by Kiana and the others.
This made Raven more at ease about entrusting Sora and the others to miHoYo.
Hokuto held a stack of contracts that Rita had just printed out.
He found Raven and said, "No time like the present—why don't we have them sign the contracts now?"
"Hmm… Sure." Raven flipped through the documents and, seeing that they were just standard labor contracts, nodded lightly.
She took the contracts over to the Raven Studio members and briefly explained that miHoYo would be acquiring Raven Studio.
She thought everyone would happily agree, but in reality, things didn't go quite as she expected.
"I want to keep following Teacher!" Sora spoke on behalf of everyone.
"Are you all stupid?" Raven was speechless. "I have nothing now—why would you follow me? And give up such great conditions at miHoYo?"
"Precisely because you have nothing now, Teacher, we—"
Raven hardened her tone. "You're not kids anymore."
No one said a word.
The atmosphere grew heavy.
Kiana and the others stood nearby, wanting to speak up but not knowing if they should.
Just then, Hokuto walked over with a smile.
"Miss Cioara, since they're unwilling, how about we just forget it?"
"How could we?!" Raven grew anxious.
"But… I can't force them if they don't want to…"
Hokuto leaned in close and whispered, "Actually, I think they just want to be with you. If you joined miHoYo too, they probably wouldn't resist."
"Th—"
Raven hesitated.
Hokuto and Sora silently exchanged a look.