MGSFV?! Chapter 482: Despicable miHoYo; Are the Writers Masters of Psychology?
"Take a guess? Why?" Elysia stared at the free-control screen that popped up just as Durandal finished assigning teams in the game. Ahead, a portal opened by Kiana was waiting for her to activate. But she didn't rush to move the character forward. Instead... she questioned Hokuto with a puzzled tone.
"Yeah. Why do you think the story arranged for Durandal to go with everyone to St. Freya at this point?" Hokuto nodded and asked in return, actually a bit curious what kind of guess Elysia would make. After all, based on her usual style, her response might be quite... 'distinctive'? The sense of anticipation rose.
"Hmm..." As expected? Elysia let out a thoughtful sound, then... quickly took action.
"I think..." Is it coming? Hokuto smiled and tilted his head, seriously listening.
But... Elysia's reaction this time might have been different from what he imagined... She directly controlled the character to walk into the portal!
"...If I just keep watching, won't I find out why right away?" "This...?" "Sigh~~ As expected of a cute girl like me, always finding shortcuts to solve problems." "..."
Not gonna lie, that's so her. Though it didn't meet his expectations, it was certainly 'distinctive' in an unexpected way.
Elysia chose not to guess and simply triggered the next part of the story. The game screen changed. In an instant, everyone moved from Abyss City to St. Freya.
Rows of buildings—not so much school buildings, but rather... As Theresa once said, luxurious as a Viennese palace from five hundred years ago—stood in neat lines. The air was filled with a nostalgic scent.
It could be said every corner here was full of familiar traces, easily evoking memories of events that had taken place... A teacher who loved drinking, students who loved skipping class, an Academy Head who fretted over them and raised the walls twice to prevent them from escaping... Two students who loved gaming and called each other "idiot" affectionately...
Many memories that made people smile upon recalling. Even though, what followed was: The Final Lesson, The Chocolate Gate, Flamescion Everlasting...
"..." "This really is... St. Freya." "Although I just recalled it in the Herrscher's mind space recently... the real campus still hits differently."
St. Freya's students had returned to the real academy after so long—it was clear they were overwhelmed with emotions. But...
"There don't seem to be any enemies nearby. Perhaps we can begin constructing the forward base immediately." They quickly chose to suppress their emotions and focus on the task at hand.
[I thought Kiana and the others would dwell on nostalgia a bit longer, but... turns out they're all qualified Valkyries now.]
[Yeah.]
[Gotta admit, Otto was a bastard, but he did train some excellent Valkyries.]
[That's because Otto wanted to carry on Kallen's will, huh?]
[Still, I think Kiana should at least go look at the Chocolate Gate. Walk down that road. (seriously)]
Hmm...? Even Hokuto was surprised in his heart upon seeing that last comment. Nice. Players are already this well... "educated." Very gratifying.
In any case, since the players themselves demanded it, how could they not be satisfied?
Next moment. In the story, just as Kiana was preparing to help build the forward base, she suddenly sensed abnormal spatial fluctuations in the distance.
"What's wrong?" Mei immediately noticed the odd expression on Kiana's face.
"Over there..." Kiana motioned toward the distance, "...the space is really abnormal."
"Abnormal?" Durandal followed up, then after a moment's thought, said: "Then we should investigate first... Also, with St. Freya's condition unknown, everyone be sure not to split up."
"Okay."
That being said— When it came to gameplay, the game only allowed players to control the "Herrscher of Flamescion." Next, they needed to manually control Kiana to run across that long, familiar bridge.
In a way, this was... extremely "intentional" design. After all, Kiana + this bridge was clearly meant to recreate a past moment on purpose.
[???]
[miHoYo really... never disappoints expectations.]
[They even took it further, refining the details.]
[My dead memories are attacking me.]
[But what if I choose to idle here and give up—how will miHoYo respond?]
How to respond? Simple.
Just... At the end of this very long bridge— Where the Chocolate Gate once stood, and where Kiana had sensed the spatial anomaly— Place a Theresa.
That's sure to make you cooperate.
Sure enough. Just as Kiana and the others stepped onto the extremely long bridge— Theresa suddenly appeared at the far end, one hand on her chest, looking extremely weak. She stumbled forward a few steps before collapsing to the ground.
[Weren't you just asking how miHoYo would respond? Well, miHoYo has responded. Now how will you respond?]
[...?]
[Using the world's cutest Theresa as bait?! Despicable miHoYo!]
[How does Honkai Impact 3 feel like it's talking directly to me? Content that was created long ago somehow always matches our thoughts!]
[Maybe the writers are masters of psychology?]
In any case— With Theresa set as player bait, they had no choice but to control Kiana and run across again.
[Quick, quick, pass through already.]
And the design team was "kind" enough not to add more gimmicks this time. (Actually, during internal discussions, some miHoYo devs—now "educated" by Hokuto—suggested inserting flashbacks here, but Hokuto very "kindly" vetoed it. Ahem... it would've been too jarring... cough.)
As Kiana approached Theresa... Aside from running into a few clueless Imaginary constructs, nothing unexpected happened. She successfully reached her. Kiana rushed forward and cradled Theresa in her arms.
Last time, Theresa fell and was caught by Durandal. This time, she took the hit from Finality and was caught by Kiana...
Is this... some kind of "a person's fate is her personality" situation?
Theresa: ??? Ahem. Back to the plot.
After Kiana caught Theresa in her arms, she called out twice with concern.
"...Academy Head?" "Theresa! Are you okay...?"
"...Kiana?" Theresa slowly opened her eyes.
"Yeah, it's me, Academy Head. Thank goodness, it doesn't look like you're hurt." Kiana sighed in relief.
"I'm fine... it's just a side effect of the 'emergency transfer'." Theresa shook her head, then stood up, leaving Kiana's arms.
Then she asked, "But... why is everyone here?"
"Umm..." The group each observed Theresa in their own way, confirming she was indeed alright, then exchanged glances. Finally, Durandal stepped up and gave a simple summary of what happened on the moon and in Abyss City.
"...I roughly understand the situation, but—" Theresa suddenly looked at Kiana. "Although we've just reunited, I have an urgent mission for everyone."
Kiana: ? Players: ?
[Is Theresa about to...]
Durandal replied steadily: "Please give the order, Overseer."
"If the spatial rift nearby hasn't fully closed... I hope you can trace it in reverse to its origin and rescue a man from there."
"Siegfried Kaslana."
[!!!]
[It really is! Sisters saving their dad?!]
[No wonder they brought Durandal to St. Freya—it was all waiting for this moment!]
[The big one is coming?!!]
Players were shaken by the story development. This feeling— This was the feeling of reunion!
And although different from what the players were thinking... In the game— Durandal & Kiana: "...!"
The sisters both changed expressions, visibly shocked.
Kiana even blurted out: "Dad?!" Durandal: "..."
[Two shocked faces!]
[Say something, Dudu!]
[Durandal: almost shouted along with Kiana.]
[We've come this far—what are you hesitating for?! Just say it! Hurry, hurry, hurry!]
But would the psychologically masterful writer really satisfy them so easily...? Of course not. He's the type who, upon seeing players getting anxious, only says: "No need to rush."
So, after they frantically clicked to continue the story— Durandal still didn't shout those two words like the players hoped. She just calmly said: "Overseer Theresa, please issue the combat orders." Though... her speaking speed was subtly faster than usual.
"...Alright. Although time is short, I must clearly explain the necessary situation."
Theresa used the shortest possible explanation. Even Kiana could understand it.
"So, Dad... was sealed all along in the Kaslana Stigma Space by Kevin?" "Yes." Theresa nodded.
"But using only the space rift the Academy Head left during her escape to locate Kiana's father—or the Kaslana Stigma Space... is nearly impossible." Bronya suddenly interjected.
[Wait, there's more convoluted setup?!]
[Writer, be direct, simple, clear, understand?]
[Writer, where's your "psychology"? Save us!]
They doubted? Please. Even if the previous writer hadn't prepared something here— Hokuto definitely would've added something! No one understands players better than him.
Thus— After Bronya's interjection, Durandal suddenly fell silent. Durandal: "..."
Then, she took the initiative! She stepped forward. "If we add in two people who've had complex entanglements with the Kaslana Stigma Space...?"
...Two? Several people present had question marks flash in their minds. Then, they all looked toward Durandal...
And, under everyone's gaze, Durandal slowly said: "One is of course Overseer Theresa. And I..." "Yes. Though it may sound unbelievable, I am indeed an awakened of the Kaslana Stigma."
Kiana: "—Huh?"
[Oh oh oh oh oh?!]
[Is Durandal finally going to say it?!]
[Kiana: MAMA!]
[Wrong—it's SIS!]
However... "This is related to Otto, and it's extremely complicated. It'd take too long to explain everything clearly right now." Durandal became vague again: "To save time, please accept this as fact for now. I'll explain later."
[Don't say "later"! Just say it now!]
[Dudu mentioning Otto here—wouldn't that make the others think Otto experimented on her or something?!]
[Otto: Is it time for me to take the blame again?]
[Bronya's little brain is running at full speed. Brain overload! (robotic beep)]
[Bronya: I get it—you're my... senior K422.]
[...If Kiana drew that conclusion from brain overload, we'd rather she didn't think at all.]
Players kept spamming comments in the stream—but still focused on the plot. Because—by watching Kiana's reaction next, they'd know whether she truly understood— How much she understood— And whether she understood in the way they hoped she would...
As long as—Kiana gave a response.
But in the story— Kiana: "..."
She only replied with an ellipsis in her heart.
[Crap, Bronya gave ellipses, now I want to throw question marks.]
[Don't panic—sometimes ellipses are a kind of response too.]
[Then tell us—did Kiana really understand or not?]
[All I can say is: those who understand, understand. Take time to savor it.]
[?????]
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