In the sweltering summer of 2025, something extraordinary bubbled up from the neon-lit streets of New Eridu and spilled into the real world. Even now, in 2026, Proxies across the globe still speak in hushed, reverent tones about the Zenless Zone Zero x LiHo collaboration—a fleeting, four-month gastronomic event that turned bubble tea shops into portals to a hollow-battered city. It wasn't just a marketing stunt. It was Operation Yum, and it was glorious.

Season 2 had just kicked off, and the game celebrated its first anniversary with a bold cross-industry initiative. LiHo, the tea brand already seasoned by Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail tie-ups, was back with its first-ever dive into the Hollows. The collaboration wasn't confined to a single corner of the internet; it turned real-world stores into living dioramas. Two outlets in Singapore—Suntec City Mall level 3 and Bugis+—were completely redecorated, drowning in the personalities of Anby, Burnice, and a mysterious new agent from Version 2.0, Yixuan.

A Proxy named Jun, who had been rinsing Shiyu Defense for months, remembers walking into the Suntec City outlet on opening day. The air-conditioning hummed against a wall plastered with chibi versions of the Demolition Squad. The counter staff, wearing themed aprons, didn't just ask for his order—they asked which faction he was repping. He chose Dennyboo on a whim.

Running from June 19 to August 7, 2025, the event packed an intense punch for collectors and casual drinkers alike. The centerpiece was a pair of exclusive medium-sized drinks, each served in character cups that quickly became holy grails on auction sites. First, there was Burnice's Summer Peach Milk Green Tea with White Pearl—a drink so decadently refreshing that sipping it felt like dodging an Ethereal's swipe and getting away with a critical hit. Then came Anby's Honey Dew Jasmine Green Tea with White Pearl, a lighter, more enigmatic brew that mirrored the calm, collected demeanor of the white-haired Soldier 11 fan favorite.

But what made the heart of every Proxy race wasn't just the taste; it was the loot. Every drink purchased à la carte came with a regular scratch card. More importantly, for every two collaboration drinks, you received a themed paper bag that was practically a weapon skin in itself. The Limited Edition scratchcard was a treasure chest in cardboard form. Scratching off that silver film could reveal a collaboration-exclusive commemoration avatar, a collectible, a namecard, a stamina item, a fat stack of 30,000 Denny, and three Senior Investigator Logs. The drop rates were as mysterious as a hidden quest, and the euphoria of unveiling a namecard was comparable to pulling an S-Rank before hard pity.

Jun's friend, a Burnice apologist named Maya, went all in. She acquired six cups over three weeks. Her desk at work transformed into a shrine: the Burnice cup held her pens, the Anby cup cradled a succulent, and the paper bag was framed. She insisted the White Pearl toppings gave the drinks a texture “synergistic” with the game's sound design. No one argued.

The collaboration wasn't without its quirks. The scratchcard rarities created a micro-economy. Trading hubs on Discord lit up with offers: two stamina items for one collectible, or a namecard for a entire pull of three drinks. LiHo staff, initially bewildered by the fervor, eventually started congratulating customers who pulled rare cards, shouting “Nice roll!” across the counter.

Looking back from the vantage point of 2026, the ZZZ x LiHo event stands as a perfect time capsule. It captured a moment when the game was exploding with new content, bridging the gap between Version 1.0 nostalgia and the bold future that Season 2 promised. Yixuan, then just a splash art on a cup sleeve, is now a heavily meta warper in the current patch. The avatar and namecard from that scratchcard? They've become badges of veteran status, wordlessly signaling “I was there when Bubble Tea broke the Hollows.”

The success of Operation Yum paved a golden road for future collaborations. Today, if you walk into any major gaming convention, you'll see the blueprint LiHo and HoYoverse laid down replicated a hundred times over. But there's still a special kind of envy reserved for those who clutch a faded, slightly sun-bleached Anby cup. It wasn't just a drink. It was a live-service event where the main quest was delicious and the daily commissions were repeatable. And every Proxy who lived through it agrees: it was the best kind of grind.