MGSFV?! Chapter 527: What's Under the Girl's Skirt? The Contractor's Easter Egg? A Few Surprise Illusions
"Woooow~~"
Elysia, hearing Mei recount some of those early days at miHoYo that no one had ever really talked about, couldn't help but let out a cry of wonder.
She really hadn't known those details before.
After all, stories like this in novels usually get glossed over with a vague "the game was in development for a long time."
The kind of thing no one mentions unless someone else brings it up first.
"So Mr. 'Otto' really said something like that to you all."
"Surprised?" Mei asked.
"Not really," Elysia replied. "After all... no matter how you look at it, you could tell Mr. 'Otto' was truly happy while working on Honkai Impact 3rd."
Yes, no matter how you looked at it.
"So hearing that he said that—it actually makes a lot of sense."
"Mm..."
Mei nodded lightly, agreeing with Elysia's assessment.
Although...
Hokuto was truly happy while making Honkai 3rd... the reason he was happy was a bit debatable.
Why was he happy?
If he were just a normal company boss, Mei could easily give a 90% accurate guess: he made a popular game and made a lot of money.
But... Hokuto was different.
Like Elysia said—his thoughts were always hard to pin down.
"..."
...
"Seeing everyone discussing you so passionately—don't you have any thoughts about it?"
Meanwhile, outside the streaming area—
Rita turned and asked Hokuto, who had been watching nearby.
"Happy, of course. What else?" Hokuto answered without hesitation, which made it hard to tell if he was being genuine or not.
Rita: "..."
She studied him for a moment, clearly about to follow up with something else—
But Hokuto suddenly turned away from the screen, glancing toward the office door.
"Come to think of it... why hasn't Kiana returned yet? Bronya and Himeko, who went to the venue with her, haven't come back either. Isn't it getting a bit late?"
"Maybe... they found the place too fun and decided to wander a while?" Rita guessed.
"Hmm... even if that's true, Himeko went with them. And with her personality, if they were going to stay longer, she'd definitely send us a message."
A perfectly reasonable analysis.
"To let us know they'd be late—so we wouldn't worry."
Then Hokuto turned and asked Rita, "Did you get any message from Himeko?"
Rita calmly lifted her phone from beneath her skirt—yes, from inside her skirt folds. Oddly enough, it looked weightless, yet somehow held so many things.
It wasn't clear if this was just Rita's skirt—or everyone's.
"I haven't received any message from her."
"Hmm..." Hokuto fell into thought.
"Are you overthinking this?"
They weren't the only ones standing outside the stream area. Another voice cut in—
Miss Natasha.
"Kiana and the others just went to the newly finished venue. The video transmission came through fine. They probably just got caught up having fun and forgot to message us."
That did sound logical—by normal standards.
"Hmm..."
Hokuto heard Raven's comment but didn't reply. He seemed lost in his own thoughts.
Raven rolled her eyes. "Then what do you think is going on?"
"I think..."
Hokuto offered his guess: "The issue lies in them deciding to explore the newly completed venue. But not because they forgot to message us—rather..."
"I haven't run a quality check on the venue yet. So they might've triggered some strange mechanisms—meaning, they've hit a few 'small' snags."
"Huh? Quality check? Strange mechanisms? What do you mean?" Raven was confused.
"It's... the contractor's 'inevitable' little Easter eggs—some surprise illusions."
With that, Hokuto began walking toward the office door. "So I'll go check the venue myself..."
Before he left, he turned to Rita.
"Rita, I'll leave the stream to your care."
"Don't worry, I'll watch over things for you."
She gave a gentle smile and, in a concerned tone, added, "Please be careful. The magician's 'surprises' might be harmless, but they can be quite troublesome..."
"If you're gone too long without bringing Kiana and the others back—I might have to bring a team to find you... I really hope it doesn't come to that."
"...I feel like there's a hint of anticipation in your tone." Hokuto gave her a rather complicated look.
"How could that be? Of course I wouldn't be looking forward to seeing you forced to stop your constant running around and obediently wait to be rescued—that kind of extremely rare sight."
Rita shook her head earnestly.
Her denial was basically an admission.
Hokuto: "..."
He was momentarily speechless, but quickly composed himself and said:
"Well, I wouldn't mind, as long as you bring more people—so you don't end up getting caught like me. That way... instead of everyone focusing on how I failed, they might enjoy seeing how you fare instead?"
Rita: "Ah~~" Still smiling: "You seem even more excited about that than I am?"
Hokuto: "Haha, of course not."
He chuckled, then shook his head. "Anyway, that's enough talk—I better hurry and check the venue."
"I'll go with you," Raven volunteered.
"Hm?"
Hokuto looked at her, then at Rita, and gave a nod.
"Sure. You can come. You might be able to lend a hand."
...
That was the situation.
Hokuto suspected Kiana might have run into something in the newly constructed venue.
So he and Raven headed over.
It took a bit of time.
The two entered the venue through a side door.
Now's a good time to describe the layout of the venue that Vill-V supervised.
The massive space was divided into themed zones.
Each area had a different concept.
The starting zone—per Hokuto's instructions—was styled like a train carriage. It tied directly to the upcoming chapters.
Naturally, Hokuto and Raven entered through this starting zone.
Raven glanced around. "So this is the final product? More polished than I imagined. Looks like you really went all in."
"Of course. I poured in at least a few private-island villas' worth of funds for this." Hokuto actually looked proud for once.
Raven: "..."
"Can you not bring up private island villas? I've moved on, okay?"
"I just wanted an easy-to-understand example," Hokuto explained. "No other meaning. You're too sensitive."
"...Fine. You're the boss. Whatever you say."
Classic employee energy.
"You're acting way different from the version of you who was all fired up in front of me a while back..."
As they walked through the train zone, Hokuto chatted casually.
"Hey, making a good game is my dream..." Raven gave him a glance. "If I wasn't fired up, I'd be a salted fish."
In-game Raven might've given up.
But out here? Still some spark left.
"Nice mindset."
"After all... I've been hanging around you guys. Surrounded by so many 'cheerful, positive, healthy' people—it's bound to rub off a little."
"Thanks for the compliment." Hokuto didn't hesitate. "Let's hope my positivity keeps influencing you."
Raven: "..."
"To be honest..."
She went quiet for a moment, then rolled her eyes and said:
"If I didn't still have hopes for my dream—thanks in part to you—I was about to say: 'a bunch of cheerful, healthy people... not including you.'"
"But you didn't say it."
By now, they'd reached the junction between the first zone and the next.
Two branching paths?
"Yeah. I couldn't lie that hard with a straight face. Shame, really." Raven muttered.
She paused, clearly wanting to end the topic, then awkwardly changed the subject.
"Anyway... where do we go from here? You know this place best. And—why two paths?"
"There's a reason. We're going left."
Hokuto pointed left and led the way.
Raven followed quickly, not thinking too hard about it...
But it seemed Hokuto only answered one of her questions—'which path to take'—and not the other: 'why two paths?'
...
They crossed into the next zone—
Hyperion.
This place was even more detailed than the train zone.
Bridge, deck, cannons... and even Benares impaled on the deck by the Judgment of Shamash—overflowing with detail and budget.
Raven had to forcibly drag her eyes off the almost fully intact Benares.
"Why'd you put Benares here? Because Himeko's beatdown of her was such a classic scene?"
"Exactly. That's the only reason."
Hokuto stated plainly: the reason Benares was on Hyperion was just because of that epic scene.
"Fair enough. Expected that."
Raven paused a moment at Hyperion, then followed Hokuto onward.
After walking a bit farther—
"Didn't you say this place might have 'surprises' left by the magician? We've seen two zones now and everything looks normal..."
"But Kiana and the others are still missing, right?" Hokuto pointed out.
"Hmm... okay, so maybe they did just get lost. This place looks huge."
Raven tried reasoning again. "If it were just Bronya with her, I'd agree. But... Himeko's with them. And Himeko's always level-headed."
"I'd suggest not using 'level-headed' to describe Himeko."
"That's your focus here?"
DONG!!
Before the words had even fully left their lips—
A spotlight dropped from above.
Illuminating part of the third zone.
Suddenly, a massive form barged into their view.
A metallic puppet, black as iron, covered in intertwined threads—as if held up by them... or maybe manipulating them.
It was instantly obvious what this third zone was—
The Theater of Domination.
"Welcome! To! The Theater of Domination~!"
Vill-V's voice boomed across the zone.
Raven: "..."
Hokuto: "..."
"Vill-V, where are you?" Hokuto asked bluntly.
"I'm not physically here~"
"I just detected some early visitors via one of my clever little inventions. So I figured—why not run an early rehearsal for our upcoming surprise performance~!"
"Rehearsal?" Raven blinked. "What rehearsal?"
Don't ask...
Hokuto couldn't stop her in time.
Because—he knew. The moment someone asked, Vill-V would get even more excited.
A performance's no fun without audience participation, after all.
"It seems our adorable guests are just dying to take part... And as a professional magician, I can't disappoint!"
Vill-V paused. As if building suspense.
Then—
DONG!! DONG!! DONG!!
Spotlight after spotlight lit up.
The beams crossed in a calculated pattern, bathing the third zone in theatrical drama.
Only then did Raven realize—
It wasn't just the Dominance puppet here. There were many puppets.
"All my dear audience members—use your passion... and defeat the Herrscher of Dominance!!"
"?"
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