MGSFV?! Chapter 546: VIP Seats for Drama Watching; It's Free Anyway—Might As Well Believe a Little
"Hmm…"
A few comnt bubbles floated silently across the screen.
Hokuto tapped his chin in thought.
Should he head back to the Golden Courtyard early to grab a VIP seat for the show?
To, ahem, observe—purely as a bystander, of course.
After all, if sothing unexpected happened, he could still step in and say, "Keep it up!" …
Wait, stop them!
Stop them, seriously.
Kevin probably wouldn't care.
Kevin: "...?"
But the Miss i standing behind Kevin… was no ordinary person.
Though she'd behaved rather "normal" in this world, Hokuto clearly couldn't underestimate her just because of that—right?
He wasn't particularly interested in i vs. Golden Courtyard, i vs. Mobius and Vill-V scenarios.
Let's not even ntion the fact that if sothing like that did happen, it'd be hard to say where Mobius and Vill-V would even stand.
Just hearing it sounded dangerous.
When the city gate catches fire, the fish in the moat suffer.
If that happened, he might not be able to just stand by as he wished.
Hokuto suddenly found himself pondering all sorts of scenarios, wondering how he could control the situation later.
But did he ever consider…
That he thought he'd be a lon-eating bystander—maybe even the "referee"—
But was actually part of the drama himself?
Clearly, he did not.
...
Of course, it was still early.
No one could say for sure what accidents might arise along the way.
So the story's direction remained uncertain.
Just like the current in-ga scene unfolding in the livestream chat.
Everyone thought they finally understood.
["That's why I want you to surpass it all!"]
["Co defeat . Prove to that you're more worthy to save this world."]
[This philosophical mont is god-tier.]
[You know, I always felt like Kevin and the main cast had one key difference…
The main cast still believes. Kevin, though—he's already stopped believing.
Can I say that out loud?]
Kevin had been through so much. Having that mindset wasn't hard to understand.
But then, now that I think about it—
Kevin may say things like "just idealists' wishful thinking,"
But what he does, and what he thinks, are all deeply romantic.
[He maintains his rationality for one reason: to carve out space for his emotions to survive. Kevin and i really are alike.]
What once seed like a tenuous connection—
Was now clearly a perfect match.
[So this is Kaei shipping, huh (lol)]
Viewers couldn't help but excitedly fire off barrage after barrage.
But the story quickly took a turn they didn't expect.
Because…
As important as Kevin's exchange with the philosopher was—
Here, Kevin was only recalling it as a sudden, accidental flash.
He had no intention of reminiscing right now.
The only thing he wanted to do—
Was fly to the heavens and seize the light before the sun fell.
If soone wanted to take that light back—
They had to fly even higher.
That was the logic of adulthood—beyond childhood.
So after just a brief pause, he waved away the fragnts of mory around him.
And resud his original task—leaving the children's dream and entering the endless dark void of the outer realm.
Where he encountered another who had "actively" co to et him:
The strongest of the current era.
"The one of the Apex."
[Durandal?!]
[A challenge—or a confrontation?]
[Two peak human combatants from past and present civilizations—Kaslana ancestor vs. descendant.]
...
The two strongest people of their respective eras stood face to face.
They'd both reached the pinnacle of humanity—
But now stood firmly on opposite sides.
Yet here and now—
There was nothing but silence.
Logically, this wasn't ordinary silence, but the quiet born from imnse power cancelling itself out.
But in truth—
Kevin: "..."
Durandal: "..."
Kevin: "......"
Durandal: "......"
[???] N
As their increasingly long pause dragged on, viewers couldn't help but drop question marks in the chat.
If you're gonna fight, then fight.
If you're gonna talk, then talk.
This… long, wordless... dot-dot-dot-dot exchange…
Is everyone just trying to act cool and silent?
Funny how no one noticed until now—
Kevin and Durandal are so alike.
Of course, they weren't entirely the sa.
Until now, Kevin walked through ti to watch the civilization he reshaped—
Chasing dreams in his own shadow, seeking mories of the past.
While this girl before him was doing the opposite.
With each step, she thinned out the dream, searching for reality.
Perhaps because of this contrast, they sohow ford a mutual, silent understanding.
[Yeah, we got the silence part. "Understanding"... not sure yet.
But I guess, for two people in such opposing positions, not fighting imdiately is pretty friendly.]
[Still, I doubt it'll last. They're gonna fight.]
At this point, no one believed a re conversation could resolve their conflict.
Kevin clearly hoped that the current civilization would co to him with resolve—
And defeat him, proving with actions that they could go further than he ever could.
As Kevin put it—
The logic of adulthood.
"Kevin vs. Durandal…"
"...Huh?"
"They're fighting here inside Adam's Psyche?"
Elysia wasn't questioning why they'd fight.
Compared to her own battle with i, their reasons were far more compelling.
She was just wondering...
"The last ti they fought, the fallout wasn't small. And that ti…"
Neither had used their full strength. Not even a tenth? A twentieth?
"And we already established earlier that if dreams are destroyed by force, people might lose hope altogether. So…"
"So you're worried their fight will cause collateral damage?" Hokuto caught her train of thought.
"Exactly," Elysia nodded.
"Don't worry. Durandal and Kevin will definitely change locations."
Hokuto glanced around and added, "We can change the scene, too."
"…Oh? We're moving base now?" Elysia asked.
Leaving this cybernetic Taixu Mountain to go sowhere else?
"'Moving'? No, just switching scenes. We don't even have to walk."
Hokuto shook his head.
"...Huh?"
Elysia looked confused.
"..."
"This place was engineered by Vill-V herself.
Each room is packed with functions."
Hokuto explained.
Plenty of surprises, too.
But he'd already done "quality control" on Taixu Mountain.
Filtered out any functions that exceeded normal ntal tolerance.
Like…
Forget it. Better not ntion it.
Might induce psychological trauma.
Better to just thank Raven for her dedication.
...
Back in the ga—
Kevin and Durandal's mutual silence couldn't last forever.
Not when their positions were so opposed.
Eventually, the blonde girl broke the quiet.
"Shall we sit and talk for a bit?"
"An opportunity to interact with soone from this era—
That's not sothing you get every day."
Kevin didn't respond right away.
He simply stared at her for a mont.
Then opened his mouth:
"A comrade once told ..."
A sign of his willingness to engage.
"We are all rely living in a cave underground…"
[Plato's Allegory of the Cave, from The Republic.]
[So Kevin was comrades with Socrates now?]
[Or rather, was "Su" secretly "Socrates"? Like how "Watson" in Honkai is actually Hua.]
[Exactly! Sucrates, Huatson, and Kevin~in, always talking about survival of the fittest.]
[Co on... y'all serious?
We know Mobius said this to Kevin a few chapters ago. That comrade is her.]
[Ohh~ So it was Dr. Mobius!]
While the players debated—
Kevin, like a grandpa telling his granddaughter a story, explained the full allegory.
In short—
He wasn't like Otto.
He couldn't just abandon everything for what he wanted.
The Stigmata Project was sothing he couldn't let go of.
"Perhaps in your eyes, my arrogance is no different from his.
After all, I've been building coffins from the very start."
Durandal: "...?"
Coffins?
She didn't quite grasp Kevin's aning at first.
He hadn't worked in funeral services, right?
But she quickly realized—
In peaceti, only undertakers build coffins.
But in an apocalypse, with people dying by the thousands,
The only ones who could lay the dead to rest were the survivors.
And the stronger they were, the more deaths they witnessed.
He survived—perhaps only he survived.
Then what aning did that battle ever hold?
Was that what this veteran was asking her?
"The work we do, grounded in faith, is never aningless—no matter the outco."
"We protect the good, what may beco good, and what we deem important."
"..."
[Ragna's words to Hiko.]
[Otto told Ragna. Ragna told Hiko. Hiko told Kiana. And Kiana told Durandal.]
[Actually, small correction:
Otto said: "Destiny has always passed down its beliefs through such ans."
Ragna's line was her own interpretation of that.]
"No matter what, Kevin, you've always been part of this, too."
Why isolate yourself?
While striving to protect the seeds of beauty,
You yourself are also a seed.
One day, you too will bloom across the mountains.
[A teenager (Durandal) educating a stubborn old man (Kevin, age ~50,000).]
[Age doesn't determine wisdom. Or old people wouldn't be duped into buying snake oil.]
[If longevity ant intelligence, society would be much simpler.]
[Guys, the real highlight isn't that…
It's that despite having so little contact with Kevin, Durandal sohow knows exactly what he's thinking right now.]
...
Yeah?
That makes sense.
"Soday, the seeds you nurtured will bloom across the mountains..."
To Kevin, those words were the ultimate blessing.
Wasn't he hoping soone would surpass him?
[Actually, Durandal and Kevin have had contact.
In Legacy, Durandal even lived through a portion of Su's life.]
[Which ans, maybe these words she's saying—aren't just her own.
Maybe they're what Su wanted to say to Kevin?!!!]
That series of exclamation marks reflected the sudden emotional spike among viewers.
And it wasn't surprising.
After all, Kevin and Su never had a proper farewell.
A lingering regret.
For both of them.
Now—through Durandal's voice—
That final regret could be laid to rest.
Truly, that would be the best possible conclusion.
[Too kind and gentle to be written by miHoYo's usual scriptwriters.]
[ 1 1 1]
[So warm and uplifting—after this scene, I'm willing to believe again. Just a little.]
[It's free anyway—might as well believe a little.]
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