MGSFV?! Chapter 535: The Glue Stuck to Kevin's Pants; Void Archives Is Still Flipping Pages Back to the Real World
"Elysia... huh? You're interested in this fill-in-the-blank question too?"
Hokuto asked curiously at first, then switched his tone.
"Hmm... Let me guess what you would write..."
What would Elysia fill in the blank with?
"The one who, just like Kiana Kaslana, is gentle, kind, beautiful, and adorable—Elysia herself. The Herrscher of Origin who holds the same Authority, and also Elysia's favorite—the Herrscher of Thunder with those soft and tactile horns."
Basing his guess on his understanding of Elysia's personality, Hokuto tried to imitate her style.
"Mr. 'Otto,' you said that rather well... Ahem, I didn't mean that!"
Hearing Hokuto's words, Elysia reflexively blurted out half a sentence before catching herself, clearing her throat with two small coughs.
"Then what did you mean to say...?" Hokuto was curious.
Was Elysia really about to say something serious?
He had his doubts.
"Well then..." Elysia blinked. "You see, since she's both the Herrscher of Thunder and the Herrscher of Origin, if you put the two together, doesn't that make her... the Herrscher of Power Source?"
Hokuto: "...?"
Power what? Source what? Herrscher of what?
Well, as expected.
He thought as much—there was no way Elysia would say something serious in this moment.
[Hahahaha, Herrscher of Power Source, really?]
Compared to Hokuto who didn't say things directly, the livestream chat burst into unfiltered laughter.
[Thunder Herrscher + Herrscher of Origin (Human Herrscher)... shouldn't that be Herrscher of Thunder-Source? Or Herrscher of Thunder-Human?]
[Herrscher of Thunder-Human...??? I'm losing it, pfft~~ You guys are all geniuses.]
[Ahem, seriously now... "Power Source Herrscher" does kind of fit. Mei did act as Kiana's mobile power bank more than once in the story after all.]
["Herrscher of Outlets"]
[Kiana x Mei (confirmed.jpg)]
The moment that term appeared, some viewers in the chat suddenly perked up.
[Squeezing in wherever you can, huh?]
Just like that, the topic took a turn as they dove into a familiar, age-old debate once again.
...
"..."
Elysia glanced at the scrolling chat and simply chose to tap forward and continue the story.
She was just being whimsical—there was no deeper meaning behind it.
In the game—
After answering Kiana's question, Mei said she was a power—cough, cough, was misled by Elysia...
Elysia: ?
She said she's both the Herrscher of Thunder and the Herrscher of Origin.
Kiana looked at Mei, thinking back to her own transformation into Herrscher of Flamescion. She figured Mei's changes in appearance were "just" the effects of Origin's Authority and didn't pay it much mind.
"So, it's just a difference in name?"
"..."
Mei thought for a moment and nodded lightly. "In terms of understanding the Authority of Origin, I still need time. Right now, this feeling of being able to sever anything... is likely just an extra gift from Origin's Authority."
"Unfortunately, I haven't obtained more information on the Herrscher of Finality or the Cocoon."
She quickly shifted to more serious matters.
"It's fine. The doctors anticipated this,"
Said Bronya, who tactfully spoke only after Kiana and Mei had finished catching up.
No wonder later when she flew in with wings, everyone just knew to support her.
So it was... you reap what you sow. Her usual high EQ finally paid off.
"Let's bring our attention back to the present. Mei, the power you mentioned earlier—if it's not Origin's Authority, then Bronya believes it may be related to the anomaly mentioned by the Academy Head."
"Anomaly?"
Mei was curious.
And so were the players.
The "anomaly" mentioned by Academy Head Theresa probably referred to what Li Sushang and Rita experienced, right?
They clearly rescued Taixu Mountain from the Stigma Plan, but the humans pulled into that dream world never returned.
...
Could it be...
Would Duckie explain the skipped part from before?
Nope.
Don't cut away!!
But the screen suddenly faded to black, making the players feel as if their vision also went dark.
However... the actual situation was much better than expected.
The story didn't cut off. It's just that instead of Duckie revealing things, it transitioned into a flashback.
Back before Li Sushang's group had achieved results, another operation concerning Earth's future was already underway behind the scenes.
"Let's talk about another conclusion first."
It was Einstein's voice: "The Cocoon of Finality may be hidden in the deepest layer of the human dream consciousness collective."
[Isn't the Cocoon of Finality that thing under Kevin's butt?]
[Under Kevin's butt? Isn't that a chair?]
[No no no, I mean when Kevin stood up earlier, that unnameable thing Raven saw.]
Even if there wasn't a CG, everyone clearly remembered what just happened.
Hmm...
Kevin, Finality, the future...
With so many keywords grouped together, there was no way they'd forget.
Other players quickly understood what the comment was referring to.
[Oh, that? But it probably isn't. If Kevin had truly merged with the Cocoon of Finality, things wouldn't be this bad.]
[Then what did Raven see back then?]
[Maybe it was glue that stuck to Kevin's pants（）]
[That'd be pretty indescribable, alright—ghost!]
[Hmm... Kevin's shadow? Or maybe the Cocoon of Finality's shadow? Earlier in the story it was mentioned that Authority is a projection of the Cocoon. If Kevin stole its power, it makes sense that its shadow would fuse with his.]
...
As the players speculated, the game visuals resumed.
The conference room at Salt Lake Base appeared once more.
After Einstein stated her conclusion, the next to speak was Theresa.
"...So in the end, taking back Earth will ultimately have to align with surpassing Finality, huh."
Let's look at it from two perspectives.
One: recent results have shown it's becoming increasingly difficult to bring back those in the dreamworld together with Earth's space.
Two: the Thousand Realms Projection still cannot locate the Cocoon of Finality. This might mean it's hidden behind some impenetrable barrier.
[Speaking of Thousand Realms Projection, where the heck did Void Archives go?]
[Void Archives is still rolling around under the tree, flipping pages trying to get back to the real world since Chapter 28.]
[Huh?]
Some players blinked at a certain comment.
Well...
Come to think of it, Void Archives really was probably under the tree, flipping through "one side, two sides, three sides," struggling to return to the real world.
That strange image popped into their heads—
It was kind of funny, actually.
Hahahahaha...
Sorry, sorry, not that they lacked sympathy—it's just, imagining Void Archives with Otto's face failing miserably brought a weird sense of satisfaction.
[Very vivid image.]
Though the chat had suddenly turned light-hearted—
It was time to wrap up the side chatter and return to the main story.
Because this shift in mood wouldn't last long.
The next part... would be serious.
According to current intel...
The kind of barrier capable of blocking Thousand Realms Projection's sensing ability—there was only one candidate: the dream consciousness collective.
[...] *N
[So... for Schicksal and Anti-Entropy to continue their plan, do they have to dismantle the dream collective?]
[That sounds... problematic. Isn't the dream collective the sum of all humanity's consciousness? Destroying it would mean destroying the consciousness of humanity itself!]
The tone indeed changed.
Line by line, you could feel the players' shock.
This plot twist, and the choice Schicksal and Anti-Entropy faced, held their full attention.
If they choose to act decisively because there's no alternative, and end up shattering the dream consciousness collective—
Whether people live or die afterward will depend purely on luck.
That likely, no—that definitely—goes against everything they've believed in so far.
But if they do nothing, is that really okay?
They've come this far, carrying the will of so many people...
Like those familiar, fallen characters.
And all the Valkyries of Schicksal, still fighting monsters worldwide for humanity's future.
And the higher-ups just give up?
Say... "Everyone can stop trying now"?
That's even worse!!
So...
What should they do?
...
First, they had to understand why all humanity's dreams could form such a strong dream collective.
Actually, the reason had been explained earlier in the story. Hokuto just reiterated it now in case players had forgotten.
Basically...
While the dreamscape of the Stigma Plan is a shared dream of all humans, within it, every person still has their own individual dream—their own ideal world.
"Thus, the dreamer subconsciously resists facing reality... That's the simple reason why our previous methods failed to wake them."
"..."
Here comes the key point.
Faced with this situation, like mentioned before—Schicksal and Anti-Entropy seem to have no choice but to use force to shatter the dream collective and forcibly wake everyone.
As for the resulting casualties—that would be deemed necessary sacrifices.
But... are they really "necessary"?
Of course not!!
That's why this is such a thorny problem.
Thankfully, Schicksal and Anti-Entropy have a second option—though it's not much of a plan.
If humanity clings to dreams and thus makes the dream collective indestructible...
Then all they had to do—was make people stop clinging to dreams.
Hmm... that already sounds hard.
For many, dreams are far more attractive than reality.
"Many"? That's putting it nicely.
Yes, the Stigma Plan can't satisfy everyone, but... they're still just a portion.
[Definitely a not-so-plan plan.]
[Actually, maybe it's not as impossible as people think. The Stigma Plan satisfies most because their wishes are simple. And simple wishes are easier to handle.]
Players quickly began sharing their thoughts in chat.
Typing and analyzing seriously at the same time.
[Like, if someone's dream is to be rich, we could give them real money. Then ask: do you want fake satisfaction in dreams or real satisfaction in reality? Sure, some would choose dreams, but some would take the real deal.]
[Then the dream collective would start to fracture?]
Honestly—
With Schicksal and Anti-Entropy's resources, granting some stubborn people their wishes might not be that hard.
[But what if someone wishes to be young again? The Stigma Plan can't create things that don't exist in reality—but technically, rejuvenation is possible.]
Someone quickly raised a new concern.
[Bluntly, how many people in the world only wish to be young again? The dream collective's stability ultimately comes from the majority.]
[This method seems pretty viable. But it feels a bit passive. I'd say—why not aim for something more uplifting? Instead of fulfilling their wish, help them surpass it.]
[Surpass their wish?]
[Yeah, give them a greater dream their old dream can't fulfill. That would make the current dream a cage, and they'd want to break free themselves.]
[Isn't that just greed?]
[Please use a more positive phrase, like: 'As heaven moves, the gentleman strives constantly for self-improvement.']
And in the story—
Schicksal and Anti-Entropy's actual plan was, indeed, very similar to what the players thought of.
They aimed to make those lost in sweet dreams give birth to a new longing—one the original dream couldn't fulfill.
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