MGSFV?! Chapter 402. Teaser Bait; Mei's First Appearance in Elysian Realm.jpg??? (Part 1)
[Actually, there's no way to be sure Otto really didn't give it, right? Kevin did get the Void Archives from Otto.]
[Maybe Otto really deliberately didn't tell Kevin? Given Otto's personality, there's nothing he wouldn't do.]
[Hmm...?]
Thinking carefully, Otto did encourage Kiana and the silly goose during the "Tree Rushing" back then.
——I will eventually die carrying all my sins, but for you who still choose to move forward…
——The ladder to conquer the Honkai has already revealed its first step.
——The road is winding, barely passable… but at its end, light truly exists.
Full of the aura of "I know everything but I'm going to speak in riddles."
Perhaps, saying nothing at all really was the best choice.
Science fiction stories often use similar setups.
In other words… although the course of history is important, personal struggle is also indispensable.
If one only believes in the direct effect of cause and consequence, it's easy to fall into historical nihilism.
In an instant, countless bullet chats flooded the livestream.
Every player was amazed by the sheer amount of information packed in this part of the plot.
They also began making second-level connections with previous storylines.
Of course, aside from the amazement, some players—thinking in bizarre ways—suddenly remembered something.
[Speaking of which, didn't you all notice Prometheus has a girl's voice? If Prometheus = Will of Honkai, then doesn't that mean everyone's previous "cute girl" theory actually came true?]
[Honkai Impact 3 is a 2D cute girl training mobile game.jpg]
[Purity—purity level increased!]
[This could very well be a foreshadowing being retrieved.]
Many really hadn't expected that a previous joke of theirs would become reality so quickly.
Looks like they had underestimated MiHoYo's purity level.
But for now, let's return to the main topic.
In the plot—
Prometheus originally seemed to want to say something, but before she could, the all-devouring darkness had already descended between the two.
The screen went black again.
Mobius said, "Well then, this should be the moment we bid farewell to each other."
"Say goodbye to this world, Prometheus."
And she too would go do something that only she could do.
To ascend to godhood by her own hand.
At this point, the atmosphere had been completely set.
A certain "fitting" thought suddenly flashed through players' minds—
Is MiHoYo about to cliffhang us?
Hmm...
They really did… just about.
That chapter ended, leading into the next:
Ai-chan·Hyperion Arc.
"Who?"
Ai·Hyperion suddenly turned around.
An unexpected person appeared there.
She had green hair and a voluptuous, mature figure.
Moreover, this mature lady… looked quite like Ai-chan…
Player: ?
Ai·Hyperion and she are acquaintances. Isn't that just Ai-chan?
Although she usually has little presence…
But this one who looks like Ai-chan's older sister—what's the deal with Big Ai?
In fact, whether or not to add Big Ai is something worth discussing.
Because Big Ai doesn't "affect" the story's progression. Whether she exists or not, the plot unfolds the same.
Even her appearance was only made possible due to the pseudo-time crystal accidentally created by the Stigmata Plan.
So why didn't Big Ai appear before?
Obviously because there wasn't the current Stigmata Plan Kevin is executing.
In any case,
Though Big Ai may fall into the "we can do without her" category plot-wise,
There's no denying—she does make the ending feel more romantic.
Therefore… Hokuto decided to leave the choice up to the players themselves.
...
Back to the point.
Big Ai's debut did indeed surprise many players,
But didn't reveal much actual information.
They could only somewhat confusedly watch as Big Ai skillfully replaced Ai-chan in operating Hyperion to escape the moon, which was about to initiate the Stigmata Plan.
Yes.
At this very moment—
That Stigmata Plan was finally about to begin.
A fast-paced BGM kicked in right on time, building a tense atmosphere.
The game perspective shifted from Hyperion to Earth.
One by one, "everyday" scenes flashed by.
Countdown: 25 minutes.
In Canghai City, the bright moon hung high. After a day's work, people were gradually entering sweet dreams.
Countdown: 20 minutes.
In Sky City, the street lights had just come on, and alleys were filled with the happy aroma of hotpot and spicy skewers.
Countdown: 15 minutes.
Moscow was about to enter the evening rush. The subway station, still relatively quiet, was about to be packed with crowds.
[I remember Moscow got bombed because of Sirin in the Second Eruption?]
[That was Siberia.]
Countdown: 10 minutes.
In Belgrade's Chinatown, people enjoyed a warm afternoon. Lazy cats stretched under the sunlight.
Countdown: 5 minutes.
Summer in the Southern Hemisphere. In Saint Ark, rare torrential rain fell. The oppressive clouds made people mistake it for a solar eclipse.
Countdown: 3 minutes.
New York welcomed another peaceful morning. A traveling painter sat on the lawn in Central Park, ready to open a new sketchbook.
Countdown: 1 minute.
At the foot of Havana's Castle of Manro, early-rising children were receiving martial arts training from their master, practicing Shenzhou kung fu, clumsy yet earnest.
It's worth mentioning—
To bring players a "sufficiently excellent" experience,
Hokuto poured great effort into each of these flashing CG scenes.
Each completed CG would circulate within the MiHoYo studio for feedback and critique.
Ensuring they were polished and realistic.
So when players saw these "everyday" scenes—
If they turned their heads, looked around or out the window…
They might see something exactly like what appeared in the game.
Upon realizing that—
An indescribable emotion surged in their hearts.
Something akin to the uncanny valley effect.
Their bodies tensed up.
Finally—
The game screen returned to the moon, also displaying Earth.
As if someone stood in that cold, dead place, silently gazing at the blue planet.
That massive blue world reflected light as clear as water.
So familiar, so intimate.
And because it was too familiar… it gave rise to a kind of fear.
This planet was about to face its fate—
The one to decide it… wasn't "Honkai," but "humankind."
Some people even looked up at the sky, feeling as if they themselves were being watched.
The countdown ended at that very moment.
It happened in an instant—
The whole world emptied. Everything was gone.
Then, everything that once existed appeared again, as if nothing had changed.
But that was merely an illusion.
Mountains, oceans, rivers, cities, and even Hyperion 300,000 kilometers away—
Everything began shifting and reorganizing under new rules.
The tiny humans within… had long since disappeared—
They became mountains, became oceans… they fused into the planet itself—
——Within the shared dream brought by the Stigmata Plan.
[...]×n
At that moment, the ever-boisterous Miss Fairy's livestream turned eerily silent.
Many remembered what Raven once said about World Serpent's members…
Some people joined willingly, but many followed the so-called "collective unconscious."
Especially when the strength of the stigmata greatly outweighed individual willpower.
They could now faintly feel that "imbalance."
Just as they were overwhelmed by emotion—
The plot quietly transitioned to the next scene.
Wait, it's a CG short?
[A short? What's going on? Is this update really just an interlude?]
Players couldn't help but be surprised.
After all, CG shorts in Honkai Impact 3rd usually convey major plot points.
Could it be…
A huge event is about to unfold?
But the start of the Stigmata Plan—a massive event—didn't even get a short.
So what kind of story would require a CG now?
"..."
They shook their heads to shake off unnecessary speculation.
Clicked directly on the short.
At the start—
The CG's quality was completely different from usual.
It had the feeling of a high-budget movie.
[Is this the frame rate they can get in-game? The budget must be exploding!]
[Didn't expect even an interlude to get a CG short!]
[Actually, thinking about it… CGs at this point are often just teaser bait, right?]
[With CGs this cool, I don't even care if I get baited! MiHoYo, please bait me more… Don't hold back.]
...
Now came the CG short that got players hyped.
Fireballs like meteors kept falling into a city already turned into a sea of flames.
It was practically the end of the world.
But soon, the perspective pulled away from the city into outer space, finally settling on a base on the moon.
Bronya was speeding through the base on a motorcycle.
Whether leaning into curves or drifting—she could do it all with ease.
A perfect display of her top-tier riding skills…
Hokuto: His comment was… Maybe Seele might become even better in the future.
Anyway, back to the point.
As Bronya showed off her riding prowess, her expression was especially serious. Her eyes fixed solely on one place, constantly drawing closer.
Next moment, the scene instantly cut to the target location.
It was the man shrouded in the power of Finality, holding the Judgment of Shamash.
Standing alone atop a mountain.
He once defeated countless Herrschers, once led the Flame-Chasers to face Finality. And now, after fifty thousand years—he bears it all alone…
Flashes of images passed on screen.
Kevin becoming a MANTIS. Mei perishing in fragrance…
The group photo of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers and Kevin… Here, someone even thoughtfully added a "particle dispersion" effect to all confirmed-dead Flame-Chasers.
Truly, the malice of the editor was laid bare.
[???]×n
At least quite a few players were dumbfounded.
But before they could formulate their words to denounce the scriptwriters—
That Heaven-rending Shamash fell from the skies.
It cut through that flicker of dumbfoundedness in their hearts, and drove their emotions to a climax.
They watched Kevin transform into a demon of karma, treading the dead sands of the moon, walking toward Bronya.
ROAR!!
A roar shattered the screen—
It was Mei!
Riding on Gurugyagya, she crossed countless mountains and likewise arrived at the moon base.
And below her—
Kiana was dashing nonstop through the base.
The burning Flamescion ignited the greatsword in her hand, finally clashing with the newly-arrived Kevin.
A slash filled with violent thunder fell from the sky.
A beam of piercing energy cannon fired from the other end.
Their target was obviously Kevin!
The players were stunned.
No one expected that a Three-Herrscher vs. Kevin fight would just suddenly appear like this.
On screen—
The Honkai energy on Kevin burst forth, knocking Kiana back, then quickly blocked Mei's strike.
At the same time, he rapidly approached her, and just as Gurugyagya below her was about to fire thunder—
He placed both hands on its head and brutally slammed it to the ground, interrupting its attack.
BOOM!!
Countless dust clouds rose, then scattered.
Kevin had already ascended mid-air, staring down at the three below.
A line of text appeared: [The Moon's Origin and Finality – "Opening"]
The short ended there.
Though the CG short was very very very short, it still made players' blood boil and left them exhilarated.
[That was too awesome!]
[Cool~~]
[In the past there were the Three Heroes vs. Lü Bu, now we have Three Herrschers vs. Kevin!]
[The last time someone got this treatment was Wendy. Emperor Windy's gold content just rose again (dog head)]
[While you all care about Buggy, Mei, Bronya, and Kevin—I'm just here concerned for poor Bella who's still getting beat up.]
[Poor Baby Dragon. Gets beat up while white, still gets beat up after turning red.]
Of course, there were also differing voices.
[Says who? I still care about how Kiana and Mei are finally reuniting!!!]
[All Kiana x Mei shippers, rise up!!]×n
[Kiana x Mei ship +10086]
A flood of "Kiana x Mei shippers" bullet chats even drowned out all others at one point.
Clearly, there were quite a few of them in Miss Fairy's livestream.
After all, Elysia herself was a CP lover ( ).
So of course, that infamous joke "Mei's first appearance in Elysian Realm.jpg"
—that had left past-Hokuto utterly bewildered—
could never actually happen.
[Blood-written petition for MiHoYo to make a full movie!]
[Two-blood petition!]
[Three-blood petition!]
...
A single CG short stirred up wave after wave of "heat" in the stream.
Elysia took a slight breath to calm her emotions—
She meant to… but realized there was still more after the short?
Now she had no choice but to shift her attention back to the plot.
With a light click—
First, a line of subtitles:
Moon.
A 38-million-square-kilometer silver-gray desert, more than four times larger than the Sahara's barren wasteland.
In a desolate corner of this lifeless planet, an ancient mechanical lifeform was tidying a room for the arrival of the "children."
It was Gray Serpent.
He murmured: "The earth is like a leaf; it grows before the flower and fruit, building a living planet…"
As expected of him.
World Serpent's literary master.
Every time he opens his mouth, it's something obscure and hard to understand.
So let's skip that…
Let's get to the point.
While reciting his poem and sighing about how being a poet might be the hardest profession in the world, Gray Serpent finished tidying the room and returned to his computer screen, starting to delete a batch of files no longer needed.
Among them was a promotional video he had poured months of effort into—
Yet it was declared scrapped without ever being used.
As for what that promotional video was?
Remember our earlier hypothetical?
If World Serpent, before executing the Stigmata Plan,
had made a global broadcast: "The Herrscher of Finality is about to descend! The world is about to end!
Schicksal is corrupt, Anti-Entropy is incompetent, only our great World Serpent has a halfway decent plan…"
Etcetera etcetera.
That video was something along those lines.
But it was never sent out in the end.
And the only one in World Serpent who could've stopped Gray Serpent—was likely that sovereign himself.
No doubt…
This was quite a meaningful development.
It really made people wonder—
What was Kevin truly thinking?
If it was due to lack of time, then that's understandable.
But since the video was already prepared—
Why not send it out?
No matter how you look at it, broadcasting the video would have benefited both World Serpent and the Stigmata Plan, right?
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