"You should know, I'm a big deal. If you make me mad, you've really messed with the wrong person!"
"Boothill even talked to me yesterday about filming a personal short film. And there's Tingyun and the others, if a someone wants my help in the future, five, no, even ten cakes won't be enough!"
------------------------------------------
"She didn't mean it, Director Furina."
"You know, my sister and I have always been your fans."
Looking at Furina, who was slightly upset from being ignored, Sunday coughed and slowly said,
"Originally, my sister had prepared a bunch of gifts to give you on another day, but I told her to send them earlier instead."
"Ah..."
Cough cough.
"That's... that's too formal."
Furina turned her head, pretending not to care, and asked casually, "So... what kind of stuff did she prepare?"
"Clothes, food, and lots of uniquely flavored pasta."
"Seems like it. I didn't pay that much attention either~"
Sunday lowered his eyes, hiding the emotion flickering in his gaze.
"Hmph, well... at least it wasn't in vain that I've looked after her so well."
Suppressing her inner joy, Furina pretended to be indifferent and added, "In that case, I'll forgive her!"
"Thank you, Director Furina."
Sunday praised sincerely.
"Alright, alright, that's that for now. I'm off to find Tingyun and the others—I'm their special advisor today."
"If Robin has anything going on, feel free to contact me."
After the small grievances in her heart had dissipated, Furina smiled again, humming an unknown tune as she happily walked away.
Only then did Sunday breathe a sigh of relief.
He turned his head and looked at Robin, who was thanking Xia Wen in the distance.
Having been at the company for quite some time, and seeing how Furina had looked after his sister ever since she joined...
Sunday felt very grateful.
Being the shrewd person he was, he of course understood that Furina's personality and her sometimes exaggerated words were just her usual way of expressing herself.
Just now, seeing Robin leave, Furina probably wasn't truly angry.
But regardless, as his sister's best friend and half-mentor in the company...
Sunday couldn't allow even the slightest sign of discord in their relationship.
...
On the other side.
Robin sat beside Xia Wen, her eyes brimming with tears.
She originally came to thank the boss, but unexpectedly, she was once again moved to tears by a surprise.
At this moment, she held a beautifully crafted album in her hands, her debut as an actual singer.
The album cover featured a very minimalist line drawing, made with gold stamping—depicting Robin singing with her eyes closed.
On the left side of the cover, the words INSIDE: Sway to My Beat in Cosmos were written in a horizontal, artistic font.
On the back of the album, were the logos of miHoYo and Robin.
The whole design was minimal but not plain, with a strong sense of artistry and premium quality.
Robin hadn't expected that with just four songs, the physical album would already be complete.
"Boss..."
Robin's eyes sparkled with tears as she gently stroked the album cover.
At this moment, her dream had truly come true.
"What's there to cry about?" Xia Wen handed her a tissue.
"No, these are tears of gratitude and fulfillment."
Robin shook her head and wiped her tears away, then said seriously:
"My dream is coming true, thanks to your help."
"I... I don't know how to thank you."
Robin had always been strong—it was rare for her to show such a soft side.
Xia Wen knew that because her dream had come true, Robin was still in a bit of a surreal state.
She even seemed to have lost her direction a bit.
After all, her original dream had been to sing happily and without worry, and hopefully have more people hear her voice.
And now, with miHoYo's help, all those goals had been easily achieved.
"You don't need to thank me. If you really want to, then be even more yourself."
"Sing like you always have—with a pure heart. Use your voice to warm others, and to warm yourself."
Xia Wen said with a smile.
"Mm!"
"I understand."
Robin nodded firmly.
"Alright, now, as the producer of your debut album..."
"Sign it for me, would you, Robin the superstar?"
Not wanting Robin to get too emotional again, Xia Wen smiled and changed the topic.
"A signature?"
"Sure!"
Robin didn't hesitate. The emotion on her face turned into a bright smile.
Just like in the drama—full of sunlight and hope.
She picked up the signing pen on the table, hesitated a bit, then said, "As the owner of the first copy of this album, you should get some special privileges."
Then Robin began to doodle and write on the back of the album.
After finishing, she lifted it and showed the heartfelt message she had written:
"Hope is like air and water—essential for life."
"Someday, I will become the hope for you and for all of you."
"—Robin."
Below the message was Robin's beautiful signature.
"I suddenly thought of this sentence on a whim,"
Robin smiled a little shyly. "Not sure if you'll like it, Boss."
"Like it? Of course I do."
Xia Wen took the album, extremely satisfied: "After all, this is the first signed album of superstar Robin, and it even comes with a personal message. When I post this online, imagine how many fans will be jealous."
"Fa... fans?"
"They'd go crazy over this? That's... that's a bit much..."
Robin said blankly.
In her mind, it was just a sentence, merely something to follow along with.
Would anyone go crazy because of these words?
Even if she became a star, it was still too hard to imagine something like this.
"It's fine, you were just trying to manage everything well, right?"
"After a while, the concert is about to start. You're the final performer. You'll understand then."
Xia Wen shrugged and didn't say more.
"Huh?"
"Concert?"
"When!"
"You should have told me earlier, boss!"
The sudden news made Robin's eyes widen.
"Weren't we already preparing the tickets? Now they're nearly sold out. Penacony is ending, it's the perfect time for a concert."
Xia Wen said, "It's next week, most likely. The venue has already been booked for the concert's main area."
"How, how many people..." Robin asked subconsciously.
"Fifty thousand."
"Fifty, fifty thousand?!"
Robin took a deep breath, and her little face turned pale.
"Yeah, that stadium next to our new company, it was built because of this concert."
Xia Wen counted on their fingers: "It was calculated during construction—exactly fifty thousand seats."
"I—I'm going to practice singing, boss!"
Robin held her cheeks with both hands, eyes full of anxiety.
She was imagining herself standing in front of fifty thousand people, singing a song, what would that even look like?
Just the thought gave her tremendous pressure.
Seeing Robin's cute reaction, Xia Wen couldn't help it and let out one more piece of news, strengthening the blow,
"By the way, it'll be streamed globally online."
"!"
"S-Sorry, I really meant to thank you properly!"
"But the concert is just too important!"
At this moment, Robin was like a startled musical dove, flapping her wings and flying around chaotically.
First she wanted to go find Silver Wolf to ask about the concert details.
But after a few steps, she remembered she had to go practice singing, if her performance was bad, it'd be a disaster.
So she stopped in her tracks again and headed toward the practice room.
Then she realized she didn't have her phone, and rushed back in a panic to grab it.
As she paced around frantically, she kept mumbling:
"W-when I used to be a street singer, the biggest crowd I ever sang to was just over thirty people in the corner of a plaza."
"Fifty thousand…"
"My head feels a little dizzy."
Seeing Robin's reaction, Xia Wen was utterly amused.
But this was exactly the state she should be in.
A Robin with goals, driven by her inner personality to express herself—that's how it should be.
If all she did was think about being touched and grateful, she might actually end up lost.
And as a real superstar, she needed to adapt in advance to the kind of pressure big stars face.
However, Xia Wen's comment about how many people would envy, be jealous, and crave her autographed first album wasn't a joke.
Because at this moment, the internet was clearly going crazier than even Xia Wen had expected.
On the official forum, discussions about Robin's album were boiling over.
...
: Family, help! Robin's physical album is already online!
: Huh? When did that happen!
: WTF! Only 3 million copies? Damn!
:They're gone! Gone! Three million copies gone in an instant, WTF, those bastards snatched my album!
: AAAAA! I want to complain! I had a lag when I opened the page, refreshed in one second—one second ago there were over a million left, the next second it was zero!
: Sh*t! Me too! Useless backend! Who's in charge of MiHoYo's backend? Drag them out and shoot them!
: There are already second-hand copies online. What the hell! Listed for 100000? Why don't you just rob people! Wait, someone actually bought it?
: I'm that idiot.
: 666, bro can you leak some rice, I really want that album.
: Wait, this album only has four songs, and they dare sell it for 10000? That's clearly aimed at die-hard fans. Mihoyo only released three million for that reason.
: But Robin just dropped her songs today, are there really that many die-hard fans already?
: Is it possible that Robin's identity as a singer isn't just a real-world one, but something that transcends reality, fantasy, and blends them? Some people, like me, bought the album because we genuinely resonated with her across dimensions.
...
On the forums, countless fans were wailing.
Three million albums sold out the moment they were released.
It probably didn't even take a few seconds.
Because MiHoYo's merchandise section is basically the same across all platforms.
For fans, Robin's physical album is even more tempting.
...
: I can't believe I didn't get Miss Robin's album, life feels so bleak now! Is my luck really this bad? Feeling uneasy.
: I'm obsessed with the overlap between Robin's identity in Star Rail and her real identity, I really want an album from the cosmic superstar Robin!
: I heard the album contains lots of materials and badges never before released by MiHoYo, I want it so bad!
: I want to kill all the people who competed with me for the album!
: I'm willing to pay a high price for a second-hand unopened album!
...
The frenzy triggered by the album.
Riding on the influence of the Honkai: Star Rail IP, it spread like wildfire.
Countless singers were probably green with envy at this scene.
In an age where physical albums are considered long dead, Robin's album was like a nuclear bomb dropped on the music industry.
It blew apart a market that had already become formulaic.
Forget three million copies. Many global pop stars can't even break a million in physical album sales today.
Let alone selling out in seconds. They suddenly realized—physical albums can still sell? And sell this well?
Many lucky fans posted videos online.
...
A JK (high-school girl) streamer was in her livestream, sharing her love for Honkai Star Rail passionately.
Then she saw a notification for the new album on MiHoYo's official website, immediately clicked with lightning speed.
And then—
She got it!
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"
Her ultra-high-pitched scream echoed through the stream.
The chat went wild, flooding the screen with comments.
...
Meanwhile, another place
Inside a modest home.
A few students were hugging each other in wild celebration.
Because they had just managed to secure Robin's new album.
And now—
On the local second-hand market, someone had already offered an outrageous price to buy this first edition physical album by MiHoYo, the debut release of both Honkai Star Rail's superstar and now real-world celebrity, Robin.
They loved Honkai Star Rail and adored Robin.
But more importantly, this lucky purchase could be resold at a high price to improve their lives.
...
Somewhere else, a well-dressed blonde young lady was clinging to her father, begging madly.
"I want this album!"
"I want it!"
"If I don't get it, I won't go for that dinner event in Marseille!"
Faced with his precious daughter's request, the chubby father sighed, wanting to firmly refuse,
"Chasing idols isn't something you should be doing."
"But it's MiHoYo and Honkai Star Rail!"
The daughter cried.
"Hm?"
"Is that so?"
"Don't worry, Daddy will definitely get it for you, and it'll be the rarest and most famous version!"
Upon hearing "MiHoYo," the father's attitude flipped instantly, picking up the phone right away and ordering his confidants into action...