Elysia was introducing the members 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 assumed he, like herself, had been stunned by Elysia's antics this time.
"Hahaha, Hokuto, did you also think Elysia's opening was hilarious?"
"..."
"This intro of Elysia's..."
Hokuto thought for a moment, then gave a very measured 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 something 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 meaning: "I'm telling you, the story gets really exciting later."
"Huh? Really? Don't tell me it's like people guessed—Kevin's finally going to—"
"Kiana… you probably shouldn't discuss story developments with Hokuto..."
Mei cut in with a complicated expression.
As someone who, in this "snowy mountain manor mystery" setup, played the detective protagonist role, Mei's involvement in the plot was close to 90%, if not 100%.
So besides Hokuto, she was likely the most informed 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 some... strange expectations."
Mei 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 me is also super cute~♪]
"This is a new skin for Elysia? And it's free?"
Elysia studied it for a moment and made a judgment.
"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 time, 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."
Meanwhile, the stream chat was already going wild.
[A free new Elysia skin? That sounds amazing!]
[You're being too naive. In other games, sure, a move like this means 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 me 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 immediately 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 some reason, Kevin remembered Elysia had said something like this before.
What would the wise sages of the past, who saw through the ages, say in such a moment?
—"A man's fate is his character."
A profound, if somewhat cryptic, prologue.
The screen gradually lit up.
The story picked up where the last chapter left off.
Mei and the Flame-Chasers were discussing Elysia's disappearance.
She stepped forward and directly asked Kevin:
"'Elysia is dead'—can you explain what you meant by that?"
The players' attention sharpened immediately.
They were also deeply invested.
Maybe... Mobius was just bluffing?
However—
Aponia said: "You'd best not press him, Mei. 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 mean the question is meaningless," Mei 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?"
Mei 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 moment, 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 Mei'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 Flame-Chasers:
Su doesn't react.
Su reacts but keeps his eyes closed.
Su reacts and his eyelids twitch.
Su opens his eyes.
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-game.
Mei quickly accepted Su's request.
"I'll do my best."
They immediately set off.
Though they appeared calm on the surface, players could feel the tension beneath.
Meanwhile, the scene transitioned.
Mei and Su arrived in a data space.
There, Mei encountered a few projection remnants from the Previous Era.
"Of course I know they fought life and death battles... but aren't we the same?"
"What makes them so special? Just because they were luckier? Became monsters and still lived?"
After hearing that, players couldn't resist having Mei slash the projections a few times.
Not just because their words were annoying—didn't Su say to clean up junk data?
They assumed that meant 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 Mei endlessly, without pause. Even Mei began to feel overwhelmed.
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.
Mei 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 chimed 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 something 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.
Like this story Leave a review ; it would really help me out a lot.
Want to Read Ahead in Advance?
Join my Patreon!
+75 Chapters
Support me in
Patreon.com/BestElysium