MGSFV?! Chapter 529: Man Dies for Wealth, Bird Dies for Food—Raven, You're Both?!; The V-Gate
"And Vill-V? What about her?"
"Speaking of which, Kiana, didn't you run into Vill-V earlier too?"
Rather than answering directly, Hokuto threw the question back at Kiana.
"Yeah."
Kiana nodded. "We ran into her over in the Corosten sector..."
"What happened?" Hokuto pressed.
"Well..."
Kiana's expression turned... complicated. "It's hard to explain."
"What's so hard to explain?"
Bronya chimed in, stealing a glance at Hokuto—grinning all the while.
"We got to experience the joy of beating the crap out of Otto in Corosten... That soulium avatar face of his creaking under pressure—suddenly I completely understood why the Herrscher of Reason smiled so brightly back then."
Hokuto: "...?"
Okay. Maybe Vill-V's imagination really went off the rails this time.
Even he couldn't quite guess what kind of "surprise" Vill-V had prepared in Corosten that could bring Bronya such joy.
That aside, the key point was—
"And after we cleared it, Vill-V gave a brief farewell and disappeared... Said she had something else to handle."
"Huh... so it's the same on your end? Just like with us—Vill-V finished her act and vanished?"
"Pretty much. She said this rehearsal revealed a lot of issues she hadn't considered."
Hokuto nodded. "Like how, before asking the audience to express their passion, she didn't provide enough narrative buildup. That left them emotionally unprimed, which severely impacted the show's effectiveness."
"So...?" Kiana asked.
"She's planning to add more flair, probably..."
"Whoa, whoa—aren't you going to stop her? You do plan on opening this venue to players soon, right?"
Raven couldn't help but interject. The moment she heard about Vill-V's plans, her internal alarm went off.
"More flair? Isn't that... a bit risky??"
"I can't be the only one who suffers—cough. It's fine. I trust Vill-V to show a little restraint. And I'll be conducting the necessary quality checks."
Hokuto's face was serene, as if his words were pure honesty.
"...You sure?"
Raven looked skeptical.
If even the QA person has ulterior motives, it's hard to expect actual quality control...
Overthinking. Definitely overthinking.
(Trustworthy smile.jpg)
...
After they exchanged updates on what happened over the past few hours—
Just as Hokuto expected, Kiana, swept up in a "since I'm already here" mood, decided to poke around the venue a bit.
She knew she had to return to the studio soon.
But, of course, that led to her triggering one of Vill-V's amazing "inventions."
And thus... she ended up playing what was, in hindsight, a pretty fun game.
It had all happened so quickly that they didn't even have time to inform Hokuto they'd be late—leading to everything that followed.
That was the gist.
"Alright, I've got the whole picture now. Time for you all to head back to the studio. Elysia and Mei are still waiting for you, Kiana."
"Ah!!"
"You seriously forgot because you were too busy playing?"
"No way... Let's go! We shouldn't keep them waiting."
That settled, the next steps were simple.
Hokuto had Himeko escort Bronya and Kiana back to the studio.
He himself stayed behind to "inspect" every area of the venue.
Of course, just in case—he kept Raven back as well.
Because... well, Raven was surprisingly useful.
He'd already seen that firsthand and planned to get the most out of her today.
After all, he did pay extra. No point wasting it.
What's that?
You thought the "bonus" only covered one task?
Well...
If Raven really thinks that, then Hokuto will just have to remind her that the debtor is always the boss.
"?"
Raven—who was in the middle of saying goodbye to Kiana and the others—suddenly felt a chill.
"You're not coming back with us?"
Bronya lowered her voice mischievously. "Staying alone... Doesn't it feel a little 'dangerous'?"
She was clearly teasing.
"No worries. I've got this."
Raven shook her head confidently—as if she couldn't possibly fall for Hokuto's tricks again.
In truth, it wasn't about avoiding his traps.
She was just quite satisfied with the "extra" Hokuto offered earlier.
Her request for "more pay" wasn't about money—but for additional help from Hokuto in game development: things like exclusive dev insights, code optimization, character design, etc.
"Uh..."
Bronya looked Raven over again, nearly blurting out—
Man dies for wealth, bird dies for food. You, Raven—are both. That's dangerous.
But in the end, she didn't say it.
Instead, she just waved and left with Kiana and Himeko.
If Raven says she's got it handled—then they'd believe her.
Worst-case scenario? Raven thinks she's got it handled, but actually doesn't.
Then it's not Bronya's problem. In fact, she might even get to hear some entertaining postmortem details about Raven's "glorious failure" from Hokuto later...
Could be fun (屑.jpg)
Ahem. Anyway, it's not like Hokuto or Vill-V would do anything bad to Raven.
As for what happened between her and Hokuto during their "inspection" of the venue—
Well, for various reasons... we'll save that for another time.
Bottom line: Hokuto didn't finish inspecting all venue zones that day.
...
Now let's jump to the next day.
Still at miHoYo—or rather, not in the studio this time.
Instead, they're inside the newly completed venue.
Even though it hadn't been fully inspected, the zones that had been cleared could be decorated and safely used for the livestream stage.
Initial zone: the train car.
"I heard... a lot happened here yesterday?"
As one of the founding members of the Ladies' Gossip Club, Elysia always had her ear to the ground.
"..."
"You do remember today's schedule, right?"
Hokuto ignored her comment and got straight to business.
"Of course. I remember it perfectly."
Elysia nodded.
"Then let's get started."
As he spoke, Hokuto slipped on his mask and stepped beside her—indicating today's pairing was once again Elysia + "Otto."
Makes sense. He had to be here.
And Elysia... well, not just because she always hosted—she was the very first person to livestream Honkai 3rd, after all.
So beginning with her now was only fitting.
"All set."
...
Everyone else stepped back.
The official miHoYo livestream went live.
[They're here!]
[Classic duo: Otto + Elysia]
[The background looks different today?]
The waiting fans sent in their first waves of comments.
[Background? Really? Looks the same—train car like before.]
But no—it was very different.
Last time, the "train" set inside the studio was just a digital backdrop.
This time, it was real—hand-built and finely detailed.
You could reach out and feel every element.
[It's totally different. I see at least ten changes—last time was a fake backdrop. This time, there's real glass windows.]
More fans quickly realized the venue was something special.
[Wait a sec... is this related to yesterday's "secret livestream" clip...?]
Speculation and excitement surged.
...
"Welcome to the Honkai Impact 3rd new version's special livestream event. I'm your host—Elysia."
She waited for the right moment, then gave her opening line.
"Of course..."
She gestured beside her.
"Here's your old friend, Mr. 'Otto.'"
"Hello, everyone. I'm happy to be back in the livestream—let's enjoy the fun together."
Even with the mask on, Hokuto's voice carried a warm smile.
[...]
[???]
[!!!]
"Seems like everyone's reacting with great enthusiasm..."
Hokuto looked to Elysia.
"Shall we get started?"
"Enthusiasm?"
Elysia almost spoke up—but with her experience, she knew better.
There was no point teasing Hokuto. He would never change course.
So—on with the show.
She quickly adjusted her expression.
"I saw the comments—many of you noticed today's venue is very different from the usual."
"But even so... what you've seen is just the tip of the iceberg."
[That's just the tip?!]
[So there's more?!]
[GKD!!]
Excitement peaked.
This time—Elysia was happy to reward that curiosity.
She stepped forward, chatting casually as she walked across the initial zone.
Eventually, she stopped at a door.
Hokuto followed beside her—smoothly filling in the gaps in her commentary.
The two moved in perfect sync.
Professional Combo.jpg
Meanwhile, Rita worked the backend, ensuring the stream's technical performance stayed flawless.
"Elysia, go ahead—everyone's dying to know what's behind the door."
"Behind this door is... our first livestream location."
[First? So there's a second? A third?]
"There's definitely more than one."
Elysia responded to the chat. "As for how many exactly..."
She glanced at Hokuto.
She was curious too. Aside from the zones in today's plan—how many more did this place have?
"Everyone wants to know how many zones there are?"
Hokuto replied with a strangely broken sentence structure—
Giving people the feeling that...
"I know what you're about to say..."
Based on past experience, Elysia already had a good guess.
"'Mr. Otto,' you're about to say: no comment, right?"
She didn't even ask—just stated.
"Actually, no."
Hokuto shook his head. "What I meant to say is—I want to know that too."
"Wait—you don't know either?"
"Mm."
He nodded. Seriously.
His explanation?
"There's just too much built here."
After witnessing Vill-V's talent firsthand, he had to admit: Master V's spatial efficiency was unparalleled.
He only asked for a venue the size of one building.
But walking through it yesterday felt like navigating four buildings—without reaching the end.
"Too much?"
Elysia hadn't expected that answer.
She blinked.
If Hokuto wasn't lying (and he had no reason to), then the zones here were so numerous he'd lost count?
Then...
Her eyes lit up.
So many things to explore. So many fun things to discover.
She was hyped.
"Sounds like great news to me."
"But for now, let's focus on the present..."
The venue wasn't publicly open yet. Full exploration would come later.
Saying this, Elysia reached out and pushed open the door.
Eeeek~
With a soft creak, it slid open—revealing what lay beyond.
A subtle red glow washed over everyone's eyes.
But Elysia stepped inside without hesitation—
Only to immediately realize something was off with the ground beneath her.
She turned, wanting to ask Hokuto what was going on—
"..."
"???"
—only to see a towering, hazy silhouette rise where the door once stood.
"This is..."
"It's the famous scene of the Herrscher of Sentience."
Hokuto looked up as well.
Though for practical reasons—like limited space—Vill-V didn't recreate it 1:1, opting instead for a "half-frame composition" that achieved the same emotional impact.
Still... the shock value wasn't any less.
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