MGSFV?! Chapter 501: Mei Who Feels Like She's Being Smothered by Milk; Trustworthy? Professor V-san
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A burst of synthetic audio buzzed in the ears of everyone trying to enter a password… Of course, none of that actually happened.
But the players' sense of disappointment at this moment? That was very real.
"There has to be romance later, okay!"
Kiana couldn't hold back anymore.
Elysia & Mei: "..."
For reasons well-known to all, the two of them couldn't really comment on that topic.
Though… maybe they could talk to Kiana about something else.
"Kiana…"
"Don't you dare spoil the rest of the story for me…"
Afraid the other two might leak plot points, Kiana cut them off first:
"Even though I'm a little worried about how the story will unfold from here, I think… I feel more moved than anything else."
"Hm?"
"Having someone like that—someone who appears when you're in a bind, guides you, protects you—is such a blessing…"
Kiana paused. She suddenly thought of someone in the Honkai Impact 3rd story who had countless ties to her and was, in her heart, the most deeply respected person…
Teacher Himeko.
"Just like Kiana in the story… if not for Teacher Himeko's constant encouragement, she probably wouldn't have made it this far…"
She clearly resonated with it.
"So that's how you think, Kiana."
"Yeah… I want to experience a story from a broader perspective."
Kiana blinked, then deliberately raised her tone:
"After all, Teacher Himeko told Kiana once—if you cry when you miss the sun, then you'll miss the stars too."
"..." ×2
"Yeah." ×2
...
[That's right, Chuchu!]
[If you cry when you miss the sun, then you'll miss the stars too.]
[The more touching it is here, the more you can't let disappointment take over—cheer up, Mei!]
[Keep going, with everyone's blessings!]
Naturally, Mei wouldn't disappoint. Once players composed themselves, so did Mei within the story.
She then approached a nearby bench and laid out all the "treasures" she had found.
In-game, a line of text flashed by:
——Visitor's Guide, theme park tickets, white cat hand puppet, student ID, bamboo sword, omamori… and a letter with nothing written on it.
The narrative's hint here was quite obvious.
They specifically singled out that "letter with nothing on it," placing it in a particularly prominent spot.
Upon seeing these items—all practically tied to herself—Mei recalled something Elysia had said before.
"Well, this is a game specially designed by the developers just for Mei. So of course the treasures would be related to her."
Related to her…?
That thought flashed through Mei's mind as she reached out and picked up the letter with nothing in it.
Because that was the only thing she couldn't understand how it had anything to do with her.
After all, it was just a blank piece of paper.
But Elysia wouldn't lie—let alone mislead her about something like this.
"..."
Closing her eyes, Mei focused fully on the envelope in her hands.
With Herrscher powers unusable at the moment, the only thing she could rely on was the Sigil she had inherited from the Flame-Chasers.
She filtered out all noise, letting her thoughts drift across a sea of stars.
A thousand stars, a thousand possibilities.
And the Sigil—usually—could guide her to the one that shined just for her.
But this time—what greeted her was pitch black.
"..."
Opening her eyes again, Mei still couldn't see any message on the crumpled paper. She couldn't even sense a trace of residual energy.
This was… why?
She didn't understand. She even found it a little incomprehensible.
Could it be that… No. Impossible.
Just as those thoughts surfaced, she shut them down instantly.
She didn't want to doubt Guide Elysia. Even less did she want to deny the legacy she'd received.
[Could it be that Guide Elysia still had important info to share but disappeared too early?]
[Probably not. Judging by the tone in her final words, she definitely did everything she could… Maybe Mei just hasn't figured out some crucial point yet.]
[It's not Elysia's fault. Surely it's not the Sigil Mei inherited that's malfunctioning? But if neither is the problem, why can't Mei solve the "puzzle" now?]
[It's a contradiction.]
...
Just like the players, Mei realized there was a contradiction in front of her.
And in the face of that contradiction, a thought suddenly came to her.
"If neither is the problem, then the one that's wrong must be…"
[It has to be miHoYo! It's miHoYo's fault, obviously!]
[乆乆乆乆乆!]
"Maybe it's… me?"
[Why would Mei be the problem?]
[Hmm… maybe it's a mindset issue? This game was custom-made by a developer for Mei, but she isn't approaching it like a game right now. From her current perspective, maybe she's missing some details? Like what's called "cognitive bias."]
Cognitive bias…
It's like those times when you lose your phone, tear the whole house apart looking for it, only to find it's been under your butt the whole time.
Maybe the phone (or puzzle) wasn't hidden in some complex way (nor was the solution complicated)—but somehow, the most obvious thing just trips you up.
Still, once you realize you have a cognitive bias, solving it usually isn't that hard.
Mei quickly came up with a solution.
Using the perspective of a "visitor," she took another look at the letter. Just calling it "crumpled" might be too vague.
To be precise, the letter was covered in folds of various lengths—so many that it looked crumpled.
"Hah… I'm really dumb."
Soon, she found the key clue.
A treasure hunt game was never meant to be completed using special powers.
"As a visitor, Mei's only task was to enjoy the experience." That's what Guide Elysia had told her from the start.
Ha.
That was so Elysia.
Say the most important thing—right at the beginning.
All we had to do… was truly believe her.
"Yeah, you're right. I just need to enjoy the process—and along the way, rediscover the memories and experiences of the past."
Following the creases, she carefully began folding the letter back into its original shape.
Under her hands, the letter slowly took the form of a paper flower.
And the moment Mei completed the paper flower—
It suddenly became vivid, then blossomed—as if someone had frozen it in a moment of beauty, crystallizing it.
In gameplay, this was shown through an animation CG. Players saw the paper flower bloom with a soft pink glow… and slowly transform into—
Something all too familiar to them…
A pink crystal flower??
[The moment I see pink crystalline stuff now, my body reflexively shudders. No joke—this is giving me PTSD.]
[You think the sly writer didn't know how we'd react? That's exactly why they used the pink crystal flower for the climax.]
[Long story short, the writer's once again being inhuman.]
...
The players' reactions were understandable.
The crystal flower held too many memories.
Still, even amid all the emotions the crystal flower stirred up, and all the muttering about the inhuman writer…
Staring at the softly glowing crystal flower long enough—
You couldn't help but want to reach out and touch it.
Elysia…
"To welcome something beautiful, you chose to change."
A sweet voice seemed to ring in the mind.
It was hard to tell whether it was audio from the crystal flower—or just Mei's imagination.
"To gain power, you learned to endure."
The flower suddenly flew away.
Mei quickly chased after it.
"To unify heart and body, you began to grow."
Following the flower's lead, she circled the theme park a few times, then—
Arrived at a location both surprising and… not surprising.
"Hiding the real treasure here? That's certainly original."
The crystal flower's final stop: the treasure hunt's starting point.
[It's the starting point of the treasure hunt?!]
[Well, Elysia knew what the real treasure was from the beginning. She just wanted Mei to enjoy some time playing with Kiana and Bronya.]
[She's so kind it hurts.]
A few comments floated by—more than a few, but less than before.
At least, not the same scale as earlier discussions.
Because in-game, the crystal flower soon moved again, drawing everyone's focus.
With the eyes of everyone both inside and outside the game upon it, it slowly descended, and the moment it touched the ground—released a cloud of smoke.
And then, a treasure chest appeared.
[Isn't this the same wooden box from that earlier PV?]
[I remember it had… something inside…]
Some players tried to recall the promo video from months ago.
But before they could remember—
Mei had already opened the chest and revealed its contents.
A beautifully crafted compass.
Along with it came—
"The end of the game is also its beginning. Like a spiral—makes sense, right?"
Vill-V's voice!!
[What?!]
[Vill-V?? Holy crap, I just got goosebumps!]
[Now I remember—didn't she say at the end of Elysian Realm that she left a "backdoor" for Mei? Is this it?!]
[It's real! The backdoor is real!!]
Unlike earlier, this time the chat exploded like a dam breaking.
Countless exclamations and emotional outbursts… filling every inch of the stream window in an instant.
Faced with such a blatant reveal, they hadn't expected the treasure to be related to Vill-V.
[How is she still CARRYING in the resurrection arc?!]
[So this is the value of a 100% must-recruit MVP.]
[Honestly, the moment I heard Professor V's voice, I suddenly felt like everything would be okay. Like no matter what comes next, it'll succeed.]
[Stop jinxing it. Seriously, STOP jinxing it! (Said three times—because it's important.)]
[Mei: "Why is the compass emitting milk? Do you guys have any idea what's going on?"]
[Don't worry—trust me, with Professor V around, this run is absolutely solid. Nothing could possibly go wrong!]
Hokuto: ...
What could he say?
Whether in-game or real life, Professor V was indeed reliable.
Even when he asked Vill-V to do something rather outrageous after her last voice recording session at the studio, she still pulled it off perfectly.
But honestly, the stream chat was full of "talent."
Most of the time, he didn't even need to do anything—
Players would load the bullet, disengage the safety… and then hand—no, shove the gun right into his hands.
...
Of course, all that bullet-stuffing from players was a story for another time.
Right now…
In the story, Mei—like the players—was astonished that the treasure was actually tied to Vill-V.
"Vill-V?!"
"Hello, dear visitor who inherited all the Sigils… hmm, or maybe sir?"
Why was Vill-V hesitating here?
Everyone who knew—knew.
If a sir wanted to obtain Elysia's Sigil, it wouldn't be just difficult—it'd be legendary.
He might run the Elysian Realm seven times and still never meet Elysia (fog).
Of course, it wasn't entirely impossible.
People like Kalpas and Kosma… Elysia even wrote them books.
Let's just say—the odds of a guy collecting all the Sigils were just a tiny bit lower than a "beautiful" girl.
Mei: "..."
Being quite familiar with Elysia's style, she understood instantly the implication behind Vill-V's words.
So—she chose to stay silent.
"First off, I have to congratulate you. The compass you're looking at right now—that's the real treasure of the treasure hunt game. And it's also a token from me to you."
[So that is a compass! I thought it was a radio that just looked like one.]
[A compass that doubles as a radio? Isn't that super cool?]
[Definitely feels like a gadget Professor V would make.]
"But I'm really curious—how did you do it? That was the handiwork of the Great Magician, after all."
"After she suggested the idea of restoring the folded letter, all the Flame-Chasers in the Realm tried it. But the only one who succeeded was the specialist. Word is—even her own Muse—Elysia—couldn't manage it."
[Kind of curious… Did Kalpas try it too?]
[He'd probably just burn the paper. Folding? Not a chance. (Dog head emoji)]
[So true.]
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