MGSFV?! Chapter 528: She Offered a Deal I Couldn't Refuse; Gotta Add Bonus
"These puppets aren't gonna move, right? No way… if something that dangerous was allowed in here, the site supervisor must've really been phoning it in."
Hearing Vill-V's delighted voice, Raven scanned the many puppets on stage. Her gaze grew worried, but then she shook her head, dismissing her own guess.
But then Hokuto—who'd been listening—calmly added:
"But the site supervisor is Vill-V."
Raven: "..."
She froze for a beat, then slowly began to grumble:
"Abusing her authority? That's even worse! Is this how she repays the money you gave her?!"
The more she spoke, the more serious her tone became.
And to be fair, despite how Raven often seemed like a slacker—whether in-game or real life—when you really thought about it, she always did what needed to be done.
In reality—
Through a series of coincidences, she helped Hokuto out during a staffing crisis when he needed to scale production quickly—but was worried new hires wouldn't mesh with the rest of miHoYo.
Originally, she just wanted to find a landing spot for Sora and her crew. But after Hokuto and Sora strong-armed her into joining miHoYo, she stuck around. Sure, she talked about quitting for a peaceful solo life when the time was right…
But her actual work ethic never slacked.
And lately, driven by her dream to make a new game, she'd even started working harder.
In-game—
She did a lot for World Serpent. Her tone might've been casual, but she basically always nailed every mission.
More importantly—she kept strictly to her role. Never overstepped.
You might think higher-ups don't like that kind of non-initiative?
Then you probably haven't seen the "work culture" in World Serpent.
Hare, Prometheus... now even Gray Serpent—each one practically screaming "I'm a double agent." And when two double agents clashed, betrayal was guaranteed.
By comparison, Raven—who never backstabbed or did anything extra—was a model employee.
Even Kevin would tear up at her dedication.
Raven's love for her job? Easily top-tier among all Honkai characters.
...
So when Raven snarked, "Does Vill-V even deserve her paycheck?"—Hokuto wasn't all that surprised.
However…
That assumes she got paid in the first place.
"To be honest," Hokuto said seriously, "I've never paid Vill-V a single cent for this job."
"...What??"
Raven looked properly shocked.
And then—
"You actually haven't paid her?!"
She fired off accusations like a machine gun:
"So this whole thing—could it be Vill-V's way of demanding payment?"
"How dare you stiff her?! Aren't you afraid she'll blow up the entire studio the next day?!"
Just look—Mobius is already collaborating with Einstein and Tesla on "time crystals" and has published several papers on it.
Sure, scientists in Hokuto's past life tinkered with that too.
But Vill-V in real life? Definitely capable.
Even Natasha thinks she could blow up the studio—if she wanted to—and it probably wouldn't take her long to prep either. ()
"But if that's the case, it's an easy fix, right? Just give her what she's owed... maybe throw in a little bonus for 'emotional damages'? That should get her to chill."
"Besides, you and she get along pretty well."
Raven advised Hokuto—who pretty much got along with everyone—to stop resisting and just pay up. It's not like he couldn't afford it.
And hey, paying your debts is basic decency.
Hokuto: "..."
He gave Raven a side-eye, then continued:
"The truth is... I'm not refusing to pay her. It's that Vill-V never intended to be paid. Natasha can vouch—I'm not making this up."
He added that last part just in case.
Raven: "You realize that last sentence completely undermines everything you just said?"
Then she pivoted—to a new direction for her rant:
"Seriously? She didn't want your money, and you still let her take the job?! You of all people should know that 'free' is always the most expensive."
"First of all, among everyone I know, Vill-V is the most qualified for something like this. If I wanted the venue to be perfect, she was the only option."
He explained further—
Mobius wasn't great with this kind of thing. Tesla could do it, but... let's say she wasn't exactly a specialist in "creative flair."
He definitely didn't want to come back after a few weeks only to find Tesla had built an industrial assembly line.
Which was… entirely possible.
Dr. Lobster's aesthetic tends to lean a bit... utilitarian.
"Then shouldn't you at least have signed a contract? Laid out some clear constraints?" Raven asked.
"Secondly—do you really think any sort of written agreement could stop Vill-V from going off-script? If she's involved, some chaos is unavoidable."
"Mm..."
That... did sound pretty accurate.
"Of course..."
Hokuto, as always, spoke with total honesty: "The main reason is—she offered me a deal I couldn't refuse."
"And... what was the cost?"
Now understanding the full picture, Raven turned to look again at the Theater of Domination.
...
Still, now that she thought about it—
"Wait, we've been chatting for ages, and Vill-V hasn't said a word? Not even a peep?"
Raven stared at the puppets—realizing something was off.
This wasn't a game. Time didn't freeze just because the protagonist was monologuing.
Their conversation had lasted quite a while now.
But none of the puppets had moved—and Vill-V, who was so hyper before, had gone silent.
"Well..."
Hokuto opened his mouth to speak—
"Dear audience members, please use your passion to defeat the Herrscher of Dominance."
Vill-V's voice rang out again. Same tone as before. No hint of irritation from being left hanging.
Wait—that line… hadn't she already said it?
Something felt off.
Was that a recording? But she had responded to Hokuto's question earlier...
Raven couldn't make sense of it.
Vill-V, however, had clearly anticipated their confusion.
"...Earlier I said reality isn't like a game—time doesn't stop when the protagonists speak. But if it's a performance, then exceptions can be made. Unscientific rules? Totally fine."
"That way, it makes the performance more fun..."
"Mm..." Raven held her tongue.
"..." Hokuto remained silent.
"Well, now that you've finished talking—"
Vill-V's voice kicked back in, her tone rising theatrically once more:
"The production, Theater of Domination! Officially~ begins~!"
Click-clack—click-clack—
Mechanical joint sounds echoed from all around the zone.
The string-bound puppets... began to move.
Raven: "Vill-V, you're serious?!"
She watched as the puppets began twitching—and then started closing in on them.
Listen, she wasn't the game version of Raven—the World Serpent officer.
Fighting? Yeah, no thanks.
She quickly turned to Hokuto.
"What do we do now?"
Hokuto: "..."
But he didn't answer.
Raven: "..."
"...I heard you secretly trained in Taixuan arts ages ago. Are you ready to go full wuxia? Time to 'crush' our way out?"
Wait, did she misunderstand what Taixuan was about?
Even a master Taixuan strike couldn't crack metal or alloy... If you tried, your hand would probably break first.
Hokuto: "..."
He gave her a side-glance, clearly speechless.
Just then—
Vill-V's voice rang out again.
"Dear audience members, please use your passion to defeat the Herrscher of Dominance."
Raven: "Why are you repeating the same line three times?!"
"And passion isn't even something you can manifest physically—how am I supposed to use it as a weapon?!"
Vill-V: "Why, of course..."
But before she could finish—
Hokuto: "Why, of course... since this is a performance, the audience just needs to enjoy it. Even if we want to increase their immersion, there's no need to literally toss us onstage for a real fight. That'd lack all sense of aesthetics."
"So..."
He paused, then gently patted Raven on the shoulder.
"I'll leave it to you, my dear Miss Natasha."
Raven: "???"
"Trust me—just shout, 'I will fight for all that is beautiful in this world!' and everything will work out. If you think your bestie's line, 'I can't do anything,' sounds cooler, you can shout that instead—or whatever else you like."
"...Huh?"
She was totally lost.
So she asked.
"What do you mean?"
"No need to understand—just do as I say."
Hokuto started gesturing with his eyes—hurry!
Because even though the show had just begun, their brief conversation had already let the puppets close in.
Knowing Vill-V, there might even be a "defeat CG" prepared.
He'd rather not find out the hard way.
Hmm...
He glanced at Raven beside him.
Maybe somebody else could take the hit instead of him… cough, never mind.
Raven: "Why do I suddenly have to yell something like that...?"
She clearly wasn't on the same page. And let's be real—Hokuto's instructions lacked all context.
Besides—
"Don't you think that's kinda embarrassing?"
If the atmosphere were right, fine. But shouting a line like that out of nowhere?
Hokuto: "Is it?"
Raven: "I think it is, yeah."
"Then..."
Was Hokuto going to give up and do it himself?
"End of year—I'll add a month's worth of bonus to your annual salary. Will that help you overcome the cringe?"
Raven: "..."
She went silent.
Then, in a low voice—
"Hokuto... are you implying I don't care about my dignity?!"
She paused again—
Then followed up with three words that best captured her mood:
"Gotta add bonus!"
"...Sure, sure. We'll talk."
...
...
"So that's how it got resolved?"
They were still in the venue—but Hokuto and Raven were no longer surrounded by puppets.
Now standing beside them were Himeko, Kiana, and the others.
That line came from Kiana—after hearing the story.
"But what happened right after Raven shouted?"
"Simple."
Hokuto pointed toward the Theater of Domination, where dozens of Keys of Truth had descended from above.
"Raven's passionate shout triggered Vill-V's hidden mechanism. The Keys of Truth helped us defeat the Herrscher of Dominance."
Basically, it was voice-activated.
The keys dropped and fired harmless white beams—stunning or disabling the puppets.
It was just a performance, after all.
"Ohhh, I see."
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