MGSFV?! Chapter 501: i 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 disappointnt at this mont? That was very real.
"There has to be romance later, okay!"
Kiana couldn't hold back anymore.
Elysia & i: "..."
For reasons well-known to all, the two of them couldn't really comnt on that topic.
Though… maybe they could talk to Kiana about sothing else.
"Kiana…"
"Don't you dare spoil the rest of the story for …"
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 soone like that—soone who appears when you're in a bind, guides you, protects you—is such a blessing…"
Kiana paused. She suddenly thought of soone in the Honkai Impact 3rd story who had countless ties to her and was, in her heart, the most deeply respected person…
Teacher Hiko.
"Just like Kiana in the story… if not for Teacher Hiko's constant encouragent, 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 Hiko 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 disappointnt take over—cheer up, i!]
[Keep going, with everyone's blessings!]
Naturally, i wouldn't disappoint. Once players composed themselves, so did i within the story.
She then approached a nearby bench and laid out all the "treasures" she had found.
In-ga, a line of text flashed by:
——Visitor's Guide, the 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—i recalled sothing Elysia had said before.
"Well, this is a ga specially designed by the developers just for i. So of course the treasures would be related to her."
Related to her…?
That thought flashed through i'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 sothing like this.
"..."
Closing her eyes, i focused fully on the envelope in her hands.
With Herrscher powers unusable at the mont, the only thing she could rely on was the Sigil she had inherited from the Fla-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 ti—what greeted her was pitch black.
"..."
Opening her eyes again, i still couldn't see any ssage 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 i just hasn't figured out so crucial point yet.]
[It's not Elysia's fault. Surely it's not the Sigil i inherited that's malfunctioning? But if neither is the problem, why can't i solve the "puzzle" now?]
[It's a contradiction.]
...
Just like the players, i realized there was a contradiction in front of her.
And in the face of that contradiction, a thought suddenly ca 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… ?"
[Why would i be the problem?]
[Hmm… maybe it's a mindset issue? This ga was custom-made by a developer for i, but she isn't approaching it like a ga right now. From her current perspective, maybe she's missing so details? Like what's called "cognitive bias."]
Cognitive bias…
It's like those tis when you lose your phone, tear the whole house apart looking for it, only to find it's been under your butt the whole ti.
Maybe the phone (or puzzle) wasn't hidden in so complex way (nor was the solution complicated)—but sohow, the most obvious thing just trips you up.
Still, once you realize you have a cognitive bias, solving it usually isn't that hard.
i quickly ca 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 ga was never ant to be completed using special powers.
"As a visitor, i'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 mories 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 mont i completed the paper flower—
It suddenly beca vivid, then blossod—as if soone had frozen it in a mont of beauty, crystallizing it.
In gaplay, this was shown through an animation CG. Players saw the paper flower bloom with a soft pink glow… and slowly transform into—
Sothing all too familiar to them…
A pink crystal flower??
[The mont I see pink crystalline stuff now, my body reflexively shudders. No joke—this is giving 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 mories.
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 welco sothing beautiful, you chose to change."
A sweet voice seed to ring in the mind.
It was hard to tell whether it was audio from the crystal flower—or just i's imagination.
"To gain power, you learned to endure."
The flower suddenly flew away.
i quickly chased after it.
"To unify heart and body, you began to grow."
Following the flower's lead, she circled the the park a few tis, 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 i to enjoy so ti playing with Kiana and Bronya.]
[She's so kind it hurts.]
A few comnts floated by—more than a few, but less than before.
At least, not the sa scale as earlier discussions.
Because in-ga, the crystal flower soon moved again, drawing everyone's focus.
With the eyes of everyone both inside and outside the ga upon it, it slowly descended, and the mont it touched the ground—released a cloud of smoke.
And then, a treasure chest appeared.
[Isn't this the sa wooden box from that earlier PV?]
[I rember it had… sothing inside…]
So players tried to recall the promo video from months ago.
But before they could rember—
i had already opened the chest and revealed its contents.
A beautifully crafted compass.
Along with it ca—
"The end of the ga 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 rember—didn't she say at the end of Elysian Realm that she left a "backdoor" for i? Is this it?!]
[It's real! The backdoor is real!!]
Unlike earlier, this ti 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 mont I heard Professor V's voice, I suddenly felt like everything would be okay. Like no matter what cos next, it'll succeed.]
[Stop jinxing it. Seriously, STOP jinxing it! (Said three tis—because it's important.)]
[i: "Why is the compass emitting milk? Do you guys have any idea what's going on?"]
[Don't worry—trust , with Professor V around, this run is absolutely solid. Nothing could possibly go wrong!]
Hokuto: ...
What could he say?
Whether in-ga or real life, Professor V was indeed reliable.
Even when he asked Vill-V to do sothing 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 ti, 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 ti.
Right now…
In the story, i—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 tis and still never et 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.
i: "..."
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 ga. And it's also a token from 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 Fla-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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