MGSFV?! Chapter 511. Kiana can cook???; The iconic mont that almost got Kevin to silence soone
Similar to the players, in the ga, Raven also found Gold Serpent's "burial together" speech to be a bit... too thoughtful—beyond what any normal person could accept.
So...
"Yo... you're becoming thoughtful too, huh? When are you planning to go find yourself a chanical girlfriend?"
She very "sincerely" suggested that perhaps he could improve his emotional intelligence by getting a chanical girlfriend.
When it cos to sarcastic comnts, Miss Raven seems just as professional—just usually suppressed by the "soul of a working stiff."
Now though...
She's not working anymore, is she?
The most carefree mont for a working stiff is the mont they quit (lol).
"..."
Gold Serpent, however, remained expressionless at her words—though to be fair, no one could ever read an expression on his face.
After all, he truly has a chanical brain.
"Forget it. I really don't like chanical brains that much... So if there's nothing else... I'll be going."
Seeing his lack of response, Raven waved her hand dismissively.
Gold Serpent finally reacted.
But his reaction was...
"Before the outco is revealed... you should flee, Natasha Cioara."
"You are now an enemy of World Serpent too."
A very boring standard villain line.
[Also, the way Gold Serpent talks gives the feeling he's about to get thinly veiled soon.]
[So many death flags.]
...
Upon hearing Gold Serpent's threats, Raven said no more. She simply looked up at the sky—which held no celestial bodies—and left.
She was heading to find Kevin to ask him sothing.
Though... she nearly walked in on an iconic mont, the kind Kevin might silence soone over with Skyfire (fog).
That aside.
Elsewhere, in a space only a paper-thin wall away yet impossibly distant...
i wasn't in a typical slumber. Instead, Gold Serpent had sealed her within her Herrscher Core using an unprecedented thod.
Before experiencing it herself, she could never have imagined that the Stigmata Project could be applied in this way.
However...
i looked around...
Unlike the vivid amusent park dreams from before that were invaded by the imprint...
This ti, it was completely blank?
[What's going on? Did it bug out? Why is everything blank? I thought we'd get to see sothing again this ti (maybe we'd revisit Lant of the Fallen)]
[Maybe it's just as you said before—the Stigmata Project's bandwidth really is insufficient, so... the models haven't loaded in yet.]
Soone offered a hypothesis—or rather, an analogy.
[Huh? If that's the case, then the Stigmata Project is really...]
[Honestly, if that's true, humanity might sue World Serpent for false advertising. They promised sweet dreams and fulfilled wishes for everyone, didn't they?]
[First of all, don't be fooled by humanity's numbers. In terms of power... those who understand, understand. There's no way to sue World Serpent. Secondly, World Serpent never advertised that—how could it be false advertising? (lol)]
[Emmmm... can't argue with that.]
After a wave of playful banter...
As usual, other players began offering more practical insights.
[Is that really the point? Shouldn't we be focusing on the fact that—for so reason—the Stigmata Project might not even let you dream? (Which honestly isn't the worst part.)
But what if those who can't dream also can't get out of the Stigmata Project? Wouldn't that be like spending a lifeti in a pitch-black room with nothing? That's just...
And the worst part is—it actually seems possible. After all, World Serpent doesn't seem the type to just let you leave because you ask.]
[Stuck in a dark room with no hope of living or dying... that's way too... painful. Just thinking about it gives goosebumps.]
[...] *N
...
In the ga, i had a similar reaction when she saw the blank void.
"This clearly isn't a simple dream."
"Based on the essence of the Stigmata Project... Could it be that they don't even have enough materials to create a dream for soone anymore...?"
"My own cooking... tastes terrible..."
As i pondered, a voice quite similar to her own—but clearly more youthful—echoed in.
"Hm?"
She responded with a light murmur, frowning as she looked in the direction of the voice.
There, in the once-empty void, appeared... another version of herself?
This "self" was muttering about her tragic high school days, when her family fell into decline...
i: "..."
Was Gold Serpent really trying to break her by doing this?
This is a bit...
Looks like she's being underestimated.
"Hmph. World Serpent really underestimates ."
Without hesitation, i delivered a slash, dispersing the illusion.
She also swiftly eliminated the Honkai Beasts that appeared afterward for no apparent reason.
After all, those Honkai Beasts were only...
[Feels like I haven't seen these basic Honkai Beast models in forever.]
[Well, no starter village mobs would appear in later maps—that's normal for any ga.]
[True... fair point.]
These beginner-level Honkai Beasts stood no chance against the current i.
Like mobs from the starter zone trying to fight a max-level boss—naturally crushed without resistance.
[By the way, if i had been this strong back then, how would the story have changed?]
[Even without Herrscher powers, after all she's been through, i's combat skills alone are more than enough to handle basic Honkai Beasts.]
[General i—now, super strong!]
Indeed.
If she had this power back then...
Even i in the ga had a fleeting thought—
If...
[In that accident, she hadn't relied on the favor of Honkai, hadn't used the title of Herrscher to erase all threats...]
[It wasn't so light-hearted youth tale passed on indiscriminately. Through swordsmanship learned since childhood and power already rooted in human essence, she escaped with her closest friend—]
[She never beca a Herrscher, and her encounter with Schicksal never even happened.]
Then the story...
Just as this thought crossed her mind, i's world began to change.
Dreamlike, illusory colors surged from the void, attempting to fill the blank space.
An illusion ford.
Players: What? What's happening?
The players' eyes sharpened as they watched the in-ga cutscene.
Looking closely, they could discern the content of the illusion.
Hmm... it seed...
To be the exact scenario i had just imagined?
But what does that an?
With confusion in their eyes, they began to think.
In the story—
i: "..."
After a mont of silence, i quickly...
"So... this is your thod, World Serpent."
It seed she finally understood sothing.
Using hyper-realistic material drawn from the Stigmata Project, they let "another her" rewrite her own story.
Rather than share soone else's happiness... correcting every regret in your life by your own hand creates a far more intoxicating dream.
[Ah, I see—no wonder the world started blank.]
[A blank canvas is easiest to paint on.]
[Wait, the Stigmata Project can do this? Reconstruct a world from soone's thoughts? Simulate an alternate tiline?]
Even those players who were just mocking the Stigmata Project's "bandwidth issues" had to admit—they'd underestimated it.
It's more powerful than it seed.
[Impressive. This may not be a luxury all of humanity can enjoy, but it's undeniably powerful.]
...
Back to the main thread.
i had seen through World Serpent's intentions, but since she had no counterasures for now, she chose to adapt rather than resist.
She kept moving forward.
The illusion and the story within it continued to unfold.
At the sa ti... it grew increasingly real.
[That's right. Honkai doesn't vanish into thin air—but it can be completely avoided.]
[When people no longer strive to change the world, their power is instead enough to maintain their present life—especially since these two girls have always had good luck.]
[The world may be changing drastically, but that has nothing to do with them; as ordinary people, they at least have each other.]
[...]
Like a story's prologue, the subtitles appeared one after another as i walked, flashing silently on screen.
When the text disappeared—
The illusion had beco almost fully real, and i stood just in front of it.
She paused to observe.
Then...
"Tch..."
i suddenly scoffed, clearly disdainful.
Just like how so authors end rebirth novels with "it was all a dream"—once you know everything was fake... no matter how beautiful the process, does it still matter?
"Fine."
With that thought, she reached out, touched the illusion before her, and allowed the dream to flow into her mind.
...
The ga screen transitioned, beginning to show i—and the players—an alternate tiline.
In that alternate tiline—
i and Kiana had completely avoided Honkai, living a peaceful and happy life.
For example...
They could even enjoy this kind of dostic slice-of-life in Honkai Impact 3rd.
The two were in the kitchen together—Kiana chopping vegetables while i heated the wok. It couldn't be more heartwarming.
[Is this really sothing I can see in Honkai Impact 3rd? Am I dreaming...? Oh wait, I am. That's fine then.]
"Actually..."
Two light words rang out next to i in the livestream room.
But she waited a mont and didn't hear the rest from that certain pink-haired girl.
So i took the initiative: "Actually what?"
"Umm... actually, I was just saying, this part kind of reminds of how you and Kiana are in real life..."
"..."
"There's no way... real-life Kiana's cooking is way scarier than ga Kiana's."
"Huh?"
That line from i was overheard by Kiana beside her, who let out an obviously displeased groan.
"i~~~~~"
"Alright, alright, let's keep watching the story."
Elysia stepped in to diate, gently tapping the ga screen.
This version of Kiana—fabricated by the Stigmata Project—might be better at cooking.
At the very least, the worst she'd do is accidentally cut her finger.
"Ahhh... I was too careless..."
Not, say, blow up the kitchen.
"Hehe... it's fine... I can still help."
"Kiana, actually... if you didn't 'help,' we'd probably already be eating by now."
i's voice was full of evident exasperation.
[Huh? Why does the na tag here say '???' instead of i's na?]
[Also, her voice here—though loving—is still her Thunder Herrscher tone. Shouldn't it be the gentler version from before that?]
The first question is simple—because this isn't the real i, so it's labeled "???".
The second question, on the surface, seems like a casual one—but digging deeper, it sparks many thoughts.
For instance...
This dream version of i is based on the tiline where she never beca a Herrscher and fled Nagazora with Kiana during their Chiyou Academy days.
So what kind of person would i be if she had never beco a Herrscher?
What would her personality be like?
Hmm...
Perhaps the nickna "Raiden Queen" that i once had says it all?
Perhaps "non-Herrscher i" would've been a more queenly character?
But here's the question.
If that's true, why did i soften after becoming a Herrscher?
At least at the beginning of the main story, Raiden i was known for her gentleness.
She even earned the nickna "Rice Cooker Wife."
Oh, and that nickna ca from her stamina stat.
If the Hyperion had served bitter lon juice als from the start...
As ntioned earlier—
After Lant of the Fallen, soone renad the stamina drinks and icon, tricking everyone into drinking bitter lon juice for years.
Truly heartless!!
But then again... definitely sothing that person would do (lol).
Ahem.
If things had started differently, perhaps i wouldn't have ended up with the nickna "Rice Cooker Wife" after all.
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