Elysia was introducing the mbers of her "Realm Project Team" on stream.
Hokuto watched her stream and silently complained in his mind.
Kiana, who was sitting close by, noticed the strange expression he couldn't quite hide. She assud he, like herself, had been stunned by Elysia's antics this ti.
"Hahaha, Hokuto, did you also think Elysia's opening was hilarious?"
"..."
"This intro of Elysia's..."
Hokuto thought for a mont, then gave a very asured response: "Kiana, if you already find it funny now, wait until you finish the new story—it'll definitely be even funnier."
And he wasn't wrong. After all, Elysia had assembled a delightfully absurd "Realm Project Team."
"Hokuto, that phrasing... why does it sound a little suspicious?"
Kiana frowned slightly, her expression sothing like 0.0.
"Suspicious? I'm just sharing my honest impression. Hmm, probably because you don't yet know what's coming."
Hokuto squinted, his tone laced with deeper aning: "I'm telling you, the story gets really exciting later."
"Huh? Really? Don't tell it's like people guessed—Kevin's finally going to—"
"Kiana… you probably shouldn't discuss story developnts with Hokuto..."
i cut in with a complicated expression.
As soone who, in this "snowy mountain manor mystery" setup, played the detective protagonist role, i's involvent in the plot was close to 90%, if not 100%.
So besides Hokuto, she was likely the most inford about the new main story.
"Huh? Why not?" Kiana didn't understand.
"I'm just worried that if you talk too much with him, you'll end up having so... strange expectations."
i was worried that Hokuto would mislead her.
Though her vague warning only made Kiana even more curious.
But just as suspicions began to form in her mind—
"It's starting, it's starting!"
A shout from the stream pulled her attention back.
Elysia had just finished her introductions and was already booting up Honkai Impact 3rd to play the latest main story.
But before she clicked into the chapter, she noticed a new event prompt on the bridge screen.
Just two short lines of text and a silhouette that clearly resembled Elysia.
[This month only, clear all current main story chapters to receive a free outfit for "Miss Pink Elf♪."]
[Wow, just like I imagined—purple is also super cute~♪]
"This is a new skin for Elysia? And it's free?"
Elysia studied it for a mont and made a judgnt.
"I can't believe MiHoYo is actually giving away a new Elysia skin for free~~ That's so generous~!"
After all, Elysia was currently a top-tier popular character.
Even if the new skin was sold at a premium, many players would still buy it.
Like last ti, the "Miss Pink Sweetheart♪" skin had generated massive revenue.
But now, another new skin was being given away for free?
"I just don't know what the new skin actually looks like. This image is just a silhouette."
She hadn't yet made the connection to "Faded Miss Fairy."
anwhile, the stream chat was already going wild.
[A free new Elysia skin? That sounds amazing!]
[You're being too naive. In other gas, sure, a move like this ans the devs have a conscience. But MiHoYo... is different. Completely different!! I have every reason to believe MiHoYo's true goal isn't profit—it's our annihilation.]
[Honestly, maybe MiHoYo's just scared that the new plot will hit us too hard and we'll storm the headquarters. So they're giving us a free skin to pacify us.]
[You know what? That actually makes a lot of sense.]
In truth, releasing this skin now made for a perfect emotional balance.
But Hokuto didn't think too deeply about it.
[I don't want a skin! I want Elysia! Give back Elysia!!]
[Where's my Elysia? Where's my Elysia?! Scriptwriters, have you seen Elysia? (darkened)(knife emoji)]
...
Elysia glanced at the stream chat.
To stop things from spiraling in a weird direction, she stopped delaying and imdiately clicked into the new main story.
The opening screen was pitch black. A few lines of text flashed by.
"If one day, all it takes is pulling the trigger to save the majority..."
"Kevin, what would you do?"
For so reason, Kevin rembered Elysia had said sothing like this before.
What would the wise sages of the past, who saw through the ages, say in such a mont?
—"A man's fate is his character."
A profound, if sowhat cryptic, prologue.
The screen gradually lit up.
The story picked up where the last chapter left off.
i and the Fla-Chasers were discussing Elysia's disappearance.
She stepped forward and directly asked Kevin:
"'Elysia is dead'—can you explain what you ant by that?"
The players' attention sharpened imdiately.
They were also deeply invested.
Maybe... Mobius was just bluffing?
However—
Aponia said: "You'd best not press him, i. The next thing he'll say is—'It's none of your concern.'"
Players: "..."
Welp, not surprising.
After all, the Realm is full of cryptic speakers.
Why would they give you the truth straight?
Still, it was frustrating.
"...I figured as much. But that doesn't an the question is aningless," i replied—mirroring what players were thinking.
Aponia, seeing this, consoled: "There's no need to be hasty right now anyway. Su... isn't he still verifying the facts?"
i looked over at Su.
He had been sitting with his eyes closed in a trance-like state from the start.
Granted, Su always had his eyes closed (strikethrough).
At this mont, Su was combing through all Elysian Realm data in search of any trace of Elysia.
But it was clearly a massive task. The Realm held 50,000 years of redundant data.
So Su requested i's help in cleaning up the junk data.
[Oh, I get it now—Su is the forensic expert in this snowy manor mystery. Makes sense, he was a doctor before.]
[Don't worry, Su hasn't opened his eyes yet, so things aren't too bad.]
**[Yeah, Elysia once said there are four levels of seriousness among the Fla-Chasers:
Su doesn't react.
Su reacts but keeps his eyes closed.
Su reacts and his eyelids twitch.
Su opens his eyes. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ novel(ꜰ)ire
Elysia wouldn't lie to us—so I believe things aren't that bad.]**
[Everyone's thinking of Elysia now...]
[...Elysia, my dear Elysia... sob sob.]
[She's definitely okay! She's just... missing.]
...
In-ga.
i quickly accepted Su's request.
"I'll do my best."
They imdiately set off.
Though they appeared calm on the surface, players could feel the tension beneath.
anwhile, the scene transitioned.
i and Su arrived in a data space.
There, i encountered a few projection remnants from the Previous Era.
"Of course I know they fought life and death battles... but aren't we the sa?"
"What makes them so special? Just because they were luckier? Beca monsters and still lived?"
After hearing that, players couldn't resist having i slash the projections a few tis.
Not just because their words were annoying—didn't Su say to clean up junk data?
They assud that ant hacking these phantoms apart.
But they were mistaken.
The real junk data was...
Suddenly, a swarm of Honkai Beasts, soldiers, and monsters made of data appeared.
They charged i endlessly, without pause. Even i began to feel overwheld.
Players also felt cornered by the onslaught.
Just then—
"Step aside, Herrscher of Thunder."
A cold voice echoed—calm, but reassuring.
Kevin had appeared, though no one noticed when.
A terrifying frost swept through the battlefield, freezing every corrupted data enemy in place.
Even the weather changed to snow.
i raised her blade to assist—
But all she saw were frozen data monsters crumbling to ash.
The battle ended in an instant.
[One hit kill?! Grandpa Kevin is OP!]
[With Kevin here, I feel so safe.]
[You can always trust Grandpa Kevin!]
"Kevin's presence is powerful," Elysia muttered, impressed.
"After all, he's theoretically the strongest in the Realm. He should feel that impactful."
Vill-V chid in: "And that presence is exactly what puts everyone at ease, don't you think?"
"Look—the audience is really fired up now."
"Mm."
Elysia nodded. "Since Kevin's stepped in, things at least won't get worse."
"Mm..."
Pardofelis let out a hesitant sound.
Nobody else reacted, except Mobius, who asked:
"Pardofelis, did you have sothing to say just now?"
"N-nope!"
"Really?"
"Of course!"
Since she had already accepted Hokuto's hush money, Pardofelis naturally wasn't about to leak spoilers.
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