MGSFV?! Chapter 491: Kevin eats instant noodles without seasoning; Intermission Segment
"..."
"You put it like that, and it does make sense."
Hokuto could understand why Vill-V would think this way. After all, her favorite thing was… to reverse meanings, to subvert logic.
But… after a brief pause, he still decided to change the subject and not continue this discussion. Because if Vill-V got too excited talking about it, then today… they could forget about getting anything else done.
Anyone who knew Vill-V understood—she was a hyper-action type, and extremely capable with her hands. If she just had a sudden idea… then honestly, no one could predict what would happen next.
Basically, unless miHoYo exploded today, everything else was within the realm of possibility. And the only reason miHoYo wouldn't explode wasn't because Vill-V couldn't do it, but because she still wanted to see the later story of Honkai Impact 3rd. So miHoYo mustn't explode.
"Alright, let's not talk about this. If everyone's mostly ready, then I'll make good use of time and begin."
"Alright, I'm ready," someone responded.
"Okay." A concise reply.
"Can't wait," someone said excitedly.
What followed was the official dubbing session—nothing much to say about that. If anything was worth mentioning, it was that Elysia had a lot of fun "playing" with Kiana and the others using the megaphone. She made the small (though expanded several times with profits and now actually not small at all) recording booth feel like a real amusement park.
Having Elysia around was like having the atmosphere of a hundred amusement parks. In short—that was the situation at miHoYo for the moment.
Now, it was time for the intermission segment. Onto the official forum. With such a massive update to the story just released, players were naturally in heated discussion. All kinds of novel takes emerged endlessly.
For example:
"On Mei's Possible Whereabouts"
"On What Exactly Ai Did During This Story"
"I Know the Taste of the Sea" (Post #1): First, here's my opinion. Although Ai went to a lot of places and participated in many events, I feel like she was just tagging along everywhere—she did a lot, but also seemed to do nothing. For instance, that final time she appeared before Siegfried and Theresa—based on the flashbacks, it seems like that was a storyline that was originally supposed to unfold? So if Ai hadn't appeared, the most that would've happened is Theresa narrowly escaping thanks to Siegfried's cover, then encountering Kiana and Durandal, and the story would've gone back to "sisters cleaving the 'mountain' to save their father."
"Theresa Flying Kick" (Post #2): That may be true, but at least she made things easier for Theresa and Siegfried.
"Honkai 3's #1 Idol?" (Post #3): That's the nature of the Time Crystal—it lets you see the outcome, but doesn't allow major changes. By the way, a certain bio lab recently co-authored a new paper on Time Crystals with the Nikola Lab. If you're interested, go take a look. Don't ask me why a bio lab is publishing papers on Time Crystals—I'd like to know too. Maybe that's just how geniuses roll. We earned our PhDs by studying, they're called Doctors because that's the highest rank available.jpg
"On Overtime (Browsing Forum Casually)" (Post #4): ...
"Person of No Blemish" (Post #5): Got it—Ai's role is equivalent to QoL features in material stages or an Open World speed-up card. (Enlightened.)
"On Overtime" (Post #6): The name you picked tho...
Above were the "somewhat" serious parts of the discussion. What followed was more like…
"Could Mei's Disappearance Break Theresa's Record of Taking the Finality Strike Head-on in Honkai 3?"
"If Mei's Disappearance Is Linked to Elysia"
"SirinBella Snuggles" (Post #1): If Mei's disappearance is linked to Elysia, then in such a situation, how would Kiana react?
"Kiana Rides Mei" (Post #2): Obviously, she'd get pulled into playing by Elysia, the three of them together (confirmed.jpg)
"Elysian Realm Maiden" (Post #3): Will the writers fulfill my fantasy of Elysia and Kiana meeting? I'm really, really curious.
"No.1 Bug in the Realm" (Post #4): You're hiding some serious power, bug! It's time to show your true strength! Don't back down from Elysia! Go for it!!!
"Elysian Realm Maiden" (Post #5): Go for it my foot! Miss Fairy is #1 in the world!
"No.1 Bug" (Post #6): Incorrect.
"Elysian Realm Maiden" (Post #7): Bounce that back.
"Moral-Rich Grand Void Sect" (Post #8): Fight! Fight! Hahaha.
"Let's Talk Kevin—Why Do Birds Fly?"
"666-Cool Cool Ice Pop Hero" (Post #1): If we're talking Kevin, we can't skip that question he raised early on: "Why do birds fly?"
"AAA-Cat Buyer Hero" (Post #2): Because birds must fly to the sky?
"Handsome Handsome Handsome—Dark Night Hero" (Post #3): Because birds want to fly to the sky?
"Touch Touch Touch—No-Delay Drawing Hero" (Post #4): Because birds just can fly? (Birds.)
"Why Do Birds Fly" (Post #5): Passing by, seeing if anyone's saying why islands fly…
"Legendary Netizen Passing By" (Post #6): Why do islands fly? (Dog head)
"Why Do Birds Fly" (Post #7): Your behavior matches your ID perfectly (sharpening blade)(sharpening blade)
"666-Cool Cool Ice Pop Hero" (Post #8): Don't fight, don't fight, let me ease the tension with a joke—did you know, Kevin never adds seasoning to his instant noodles, because then the noodles would lose their "taste." (serious).
"AAA-Cat Buyer Hero" (Post #9): I got one! Is Judah really big? Judah! (Funny, right?)
"Legendary Netizen Passing By" (Post #10): I feel like yours don't beat mine—Is Pardo scared? Pa-door! (Dog head)
***: ? ×N
Everyone gathered in the thread posted question marks. Is this… a descent into hell jokes? Also, when you say this, did you not consider how the person above would feel?
"AAA-Cat Buyer Hero": ...
"Why Do Birds Fly": I suggest we XX this netizen. Who agrees? Who objects?
***: Agreed. ×N
At that moment, their mutual understanding was remarkably natural.
See, most of the posts had serious titles, but quickly went off-topic in content. Still, you could tell what players cared about from these posts.
First, Mei's whereabouts and how Elysia might reappear. Would it be like the Elysian Realm—suddenly popping out of nowhere? Or… was this just miHoYo teasing again? Elysia reappearing—you didn't really believe that, did you? (Evil writer face) No way, right? No way?!
Secondly, some players were focused on Ai, and then… Kevin's increasingly cryptic "Riddler syndrome," trying to decipher the real meanings behind his riddles would take some serious effort...
Carrying these questions, they began looking forward to the next Honkai 3 main story update. Though as per usual, Hokuto continued to intersperse some events during the tight and busy main story production schedule—as well as… that microfilm "Golden Courtyard" that Elysia had been preparing for a long time and had finally finished producing and premiered.
They didn't serve up the long-awaited main story just yet. Don't rush, don't rush.jpg
But judging from the feedback, the new event and the "Golden Courtyard" microfilm received rave reviews. In other words, players' attention had been successfully diverted. So for a while, they didn't even get around to wondering when the main story would update again.
Hokuto, using this technique skillfully, managed to preserve the players' enthusiasm all the way until Honkai 3's main story resumed its official update.
After quite a long time—another boom, an official livestream.
Preparations for the stream… This wasn't the first, second, or third time—they were already more than experienced. With proficiency came fewer chances for accidents, but sometimes, accidents weren't necessarily bad. So fewer accidents could also mean fewer fun surprises.
And with nothing fun happening, there wasn't much to talk about. After all, who would really want to watch—Rita and Durandal setting up the stream equipment, Kiana and Mei moving chairs and tables... Theresa trying to switch the host's water to a "refreshing" bitter melon juice (?), Bronya "secretly" placing Arhat on the table facing the camera, hoping everyone could appreciate the charm of Mr. Big Tree (??)... Senti dropping in during free time, only to catch the two old relics staring at each other (???)... And Hokuto designing the stream room background to look like a train carriage... That sort of stuff?
So... Ahem. All that to say, we're skipping the pre-stream prep this time. Let's get straight to the point.
At this moment, the miHoYo official livestream room was still pitch black.
[Open the door already!!]
[Congrats to Mei for breaking Theresa's record.]
[How long left? We can't wait anymore!]
Amid the players' urging—the screen gradually lit up, the darkness receded. What they first saw was not host Elysia and the guests, but... a teaser PV.
A train approached head-on, and to everyone's surprise, it was traveling through deep space. It passed by some asteroids, passed building after building... Players could even identify many familiar sights among those buildings—like the plane in Canghai City that Kiana once kicked into a skyscraper, the St. Freya Academy campus, the tower in Sky City that raised a meteor, the rooftop in Nagazora that left a wormhole...
It gave many people the feeling—as if... the train was traveling from the beginning toward… the end. But what awaited everyone at that end?
"Destiny once posed a question to the world."
As this doubt arose in their hearts—a line of text flashed past, followed by several clips. Himeko falling into the Imaginary Space, Fu Hua holding Dusk Dust, Otto throwing down the Void Archives, Seele punching through the Sea of Quanta with seven strikes, Elysia smiling as she draws her bow, Mei reaching down from the sky to grasp a fainted Kiana...
"And so, the heroes gave their answer."
More and more flashbacks followed. Finally, it froze on Kiana's radiant smile.
"Crossing a long samsara." "Creating a story for every one of us."
The past stretched out, forming vibrant light trails trailing behind the train as it sped forward, transforming into carriages one after another. Making it longer, and longer, longer still. And the destination of this ever-lengthening train was...
The PV suddenly ended.
"Hello everyone~♪ Welcome to our miHoYo official special livestream program."
Elysia's sweet voice rang out at the same time.
[Miss Fairy's here! But miHoYo, why do you cut off even the PVs now!]
[Classic supernatural ability. Not even surprised anymore. I'd be shocked if they ever don't cut.]
[Actually... I kinda got a weird feeling from the PV—like the protagonist's long journey of stories is coming to an end.]
[End? That's a word we don't say here!]
"Mm, it seems like everyone's really focused on the story direction right now, so let's skip guest introductions and get to the main topic."
Anyway, the guests were old friends of the players—Kiana and Mei.
"Mm, we don't mind. Elysia, go ahead and satisfy everyone's curiosity first," Mei smiled.
"I feel the same as Mei," Kiana followed up.
...
And so—Elysia picked up the device on the tea table and skillfully launched Honkai Impact 3rd.
"Should Project Bunny's current form… need license plates in peaceful times?"
The Herrscher of Truth gently petted Project Bunny on Elysia's bridge while wearing her signature 'ᗜ ‸ ᗜ' face. As for whether Project Bunny should be registered—let's not even get into what kind of license a Gundam would need. That's a deep question worth pondering...
But just going by Project Bunny's subsequent life path—how can a virtual idol get licensed? Otherwise, should Project Bunny introduce herself to audiences like this?
"Hello everyone, I'm XXXX, license plate Saint Ark D·ZL4219C. My master just took me out for a joyride, cleared out all the energy particles in my exhaust. Felt great. I recommend everyone try it sometime too."
Try it and you'll die?
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