MGSFV?! Chapter 337. Broken; Hua's Luck
Hua felt like she couldn't quite comprehend the bizarre scene in front of her.
The Herrscher of Corruption slowly withdrew her gaze from the collapsed creature on the ground.
Then, two lines of text flashed in the game, describing her current change in expression.
[The Herrscher of Corruption's gaze swept past Hua, seemingly unconcerned by her presence. Her expression bore an almost sorrowful loneliness.]
[In the past, this expression would occasionally appear on Elysia's face, but for various reasons, people always thought it was just a facade.]
These lines, depicting the Herrscher's expression, left players both curious—curious about what had gotten into her—and vaguely uncomfortable.
Back then, the sorrowful loneliness that showed on Elysia's face was likely due to her fear of her true identity being revealed, right?
She loved everyone so deeply…
That she was terrified they might stop smiling at her if they ever found out the truth.
It was this thought that stirred a faint sadness in the players' hearts.
Still, they quickly repressed that rising melancholy and returned their focus to the story.
After all, they truly didn't understand what loneliness could possibly mean for the Herrscher of Corruption.
Especially after figuring out why Elysia had felt it—now it made even less sense.
With lingering confusion, they continued watching.
…
In the story—
"So you've come, Hua."
The Herrscher's voice was laced with sorrow and helplessness. "What happened to them… they shouldn't have done that, right?"
"I loved all of you so much… and I… loved them, too."
As she said this, her eyes stayed fixed on the ground.
Her tone shifted from helplessness to confusion, then to anger.
"Tell me, Hua… what would you do if some of the people you loved insisted on hurting others you loved just as much?"
"What would Elysia have done?"
What would Elysia have done?
No matter what happened—hurt, betrayal—she would continue to love everything equally and unconditionally.
But it was clear: the Herrscher of Corruption could never do that.
In fact, perhaps no one but Elysia could.
From the moment the Herrscher of Corruption chose to become Elysia, she had already taken a fundamentally wrong path.
Of course, Hua wasn't going to think about any of that. She simply responded with a slow and quiet:
"...?"
Seeing Hua's usual "Who even understands what you're saying?" expression again—
This time, the Herrscher of Corruption reacted far more violently than before.
Earlier, she'd only been slightly shaken.
Now? She was gritting her teeth—completely losing her composure.
"No matter what her intentions were, she ultimately chose to become your enemy, didn't she?"
The moment she finished speaking, Hua instinctively adopted a combat stance—
A sensation born from countless brushes with death, one she could never explain, but always trusted.
Then came the feeling—a blade at her back.
The overwhelming fear as the Herrscher of Corruption's power surged, shredding through Hua's nerves.
(This power? If she really wanted to defeat me, she'd only need…)
Just one strike.
Hua had barely formed the thought—
When that strike already landed.
"Urgh…!!"
A casual blow, yet it nearly knocked her consciousness into darkness.
Her heavy breathing from the impact made the players flinch in their seats.
They could hear the pain in the voice acting. It hurt to listen to.
But the Herrscher simply stared down at her coldly, asking in a strange tone:
"Hua… Hua? You can still hear me, right?"
She knelt down beside Hua, voice soft, but disturbingly eerie.
"Don't worry. I'm in control—I only took away your ability to move. I'd never let you die just like this."
It must be said: the Herrscher's demeanor and voice right now were truly chilling.
Sure, she'd never been "normal," but she seemed even more broken, more twisted than before.
Like someone whose eyes had lost their light—something had snapped.
"Now you see I wasn't lying, right? If I really wanted you gone… it would've been effortless."
"When you wake up, everything will be over. You can struggle against me then—as long as you want."
[That tone… that phrasing… this Herrscher is seriously terrifying…]
[Sage of Senzang, "I wasn't lying" (hallucination)]
[No no no, when Otto said that, he actually laid out his whole plan. The Herrscher of Corruption is still hiding her motive.]
Back in-game—
The Herrscher rose after whispering to Hua.
Her awareness expanded again, stretching across the heavens, seeking the source of the earlier disruption.
"Some people… just aren't going to be so lucky."
Her expression twisted into something far more malicious.
"Those who turned my companions into… that..."
"..."
In mere moments—
She found the culprit.
"Oh… so it's you?"
Who…?
Just as the players were about to wonder—
The writers wasted no time revealing the answer.
A familiar voice rang out:
"Of course, who else could it be but me?"
[It's Mobius!]
[I knew it! Let's go, Doctor—lay out your plan!]
[Honestly, with all the foreshadowing, I'm not even surprised. Snake-sis supremacy!]
[Suddenly I feel safe. Snake-sis, my superwoman!!]
…
Some players had guessed it. Others hadn't considered it.
But no matter what, everyone's hype shot through the roof.
As their emotions boiled over—
The screen shifted again.
Time rewound to fifty thousand years ago: a conversation between Mobius and Klein.
Players who'd paid attention to Elysian Realm Echoes might find this scene familiar.
Because it was the continuation of Hua's recollection Warrior's Reminiscence: The Fledgling and the Snake.
It detailed the outcome of Mobius's artificial Herrscher of Corruption experiment in the Previous Era.
Mobius had succeeded.
In fact, there were two successes: herself… and Hua.
Yes, the Herrscher-like powers Hua had just displayed weren't accidental—they were her true abilities.
It's just that Hua had never known the experiment had succeeded. Mobius had never told her.
Combined with how Feather Dust and the Herrscher of Corruption both manifested similarly through mental abilities, this gem had remained hidden in plain sight until now.
Players watched this lore-packed revelation—
Everything clicked. All the previous threads aligned.
And though it was a surprise, it… wasn't.
After all, the experiment's clues had been thoroughly foreshadowed through three of Hua's fourteen Elysian Realm Echoes:
"Fracture" (Hua steals the black box sealed with the Herrscher of Corruption, at Mobius's request)
"Drifting Away" (Hua falls unconscious after the experiment, Mobius performs surgery on her)
"The Fledgling and the Snake" (Mobius invites the awakened Hua to resume the Corruption project)
Looking back—it would've been stranger if Hua had no connection to the Herrscher of Corruption.
[I remember Mobius once said the experiment had a 0% survival rate. Hua surviving it is insane.]
[That's nothing. Before that, Hua survived both the "Meta-Morph Reagent Awakening" and the "Divine Resonance" experiments—both with 0% survival odds.]
[…So basically, Hua has god-tier luck.]
"Hua's luck, huh?"
Elysia blinked as she read the barrage of comments.
Speaking of Hua's luck…
Always hitting pity on gacha? No crits in Memorial Arena? Zero drops in co-op?
Hmm… just thinking about it was a little…
"Mr. 'Otto,' is that why you gave Hua such good fortune in the game—out of pity for her luck in reality?"
Elysia tilted her head slightly, curiosity flickering across her face as she looked toward Hokuto.
"This…"
Hokuto hesitated. That one wasn't easy to explain.
He couldn't just tell her: "Don't be fooled by Fu Hua's terrible luck day-to-day. When it counts, she's the luckiest person alive."
As if she'd saved all her luck just for key moments.
"Fu Hua's luck isn't as bad as you think," he finally answered vaguely.
"Is that so?"
"Yep. Kiana once told me—Fu Hua left the house to buy groceries and actually made it back home before 8 p.m."
He dropped a completely inexplicable anecdote.
Elysia, however, understood perfectly. She smiled and asked, "If I may ask, what time did she leave the house?"
"Six o'clock… Think about it: twelve convenience stores in two hours, and she found everything she needed. That's basically a 12-pull with a drop. Pretty lucky, right?"
Hokuto adjusted his mask slightly as he replied with unreadable calm.
"…For Hua, yeah, I guess that is lucky."
Elysia thought about it for a moment, then nodded in slightly uncertain agreement.
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