"I'm fine, Elysia."
"You don't need to worry about me."
Eden tried very hard to calm her emotions.
"I just… feel like… it's all so sudden."
"Sudden… yeah…"
Elysia's voice slowly faded. "Elysia never got the answer to her question from Mei. She was still looking forward to seeing Mei the next day. She still…"
"There's so, so much regret…"
"Elysia… stop talking."
What Elysia said nearly broke Eden.
Elysia had disappeared.
And it wasn't just that Elysia disappeared.
It was that there were still so many things everyone wanted to do with Elysia.
But now, they would never happen!?
They had just come to believe in Elysia's [True Self]. They had just decided to do something real together.
But then...
When the crystal flowers bloomed, it was the moment she withered.
Only then did everyone understand what it meant to be too late for regret.
"..."
Elysia stopped speaking.
But although she stopped in time, those few words of hers had already escaped.
The players, already emotionally vulnerable, couldn't handle it after hearing her say that.
They began hammering their keyboards uncontrollably.
Who could bear to see this scene!?
[So this is what you call "healthy, cheerful, positive content"?]
[Did the writer get bitten by Kalpas or something?! If you must hurt us, do you have to pick on just one sheep!? Elysia, my dear Elysia, sob sob sob.]
[This time I'm genuinely devastated—body and soul. I always think I've grown tougher, yet every time I break down all over again.]
[When the tone of the story suddenly shifted and the ever-optimistic Elysia was forcibly made miserable, I had a bad feeling. But… I still didn't expect the writers to drop a bombshell like this!]
[I'm beginning to understand Otto now. I want to charge the tree too!]
[Everyone hates Otto. Everyone wants to be Otto.]
...
Elysia looked at the increasingly agitated audience pouring out their feelings in the livestream chat.
She thought for a moment and, with a glimmer of hope, opened the Flame-Chasers Archive.
She said, "Maybe it was just an 'accident'? In the next story chapter, Elysia will be revived, hmm…"
Considering that she hadn't recorded any voice lines for Elysia's resurrection,
She paused, then rephrased.
"At least there's a hint of resurrection… and then in the next chapter we can…"
"Let's see how the story unfolds first…"
Her voice stopped when she saw the words on the screen:
[To be continued, stay tuned]
This world was different from the previous one.
Hokuto couldn't set an exact update time for the next chapter—after all, he had to keep things from the "voice actors," so they wouldn't learn the plot in advance.
[Cliffhanger AGAIN! You're really something, MiHoYo!!]
[The earlier "prophet" nailed it. The writer would cut off the story right at the most heart-wrenching moment. I won't sleep tonight!]
[If my heart gives out, send me to see Elysia. Writer! You better sleep with your eyes open tonight!]
[Thoughts initiated. Thoughts ended. Pulling out the Corruption Core. This world is not beautiful at all!乆乆乆乆乆!]
Elysia stared at the words [To be continued, stay tuned] for a long time in a daze.
She finally let out a deep breath.
She felt entirely unwell.
A stab wound was one thing—but did they have to end the chapter here, too?
Elysia, already not very calm, was instantly filled with emotional turmoil. She couldn't stop herself from wanting to do something.
"This is it for today's stream, everyone. See you next time."
So, she quickly said goodbye to the stream, ended the broadcast, stood up, and dashed out without thinking.
By her calculations, Hokuto should be getting off work about now.
She was going to wait at the door to "properly" have a chat with him.
But the moment she stepped outside, she saw someone already standing by Hokuto's door.
"Kalpas?" Elysia recognized the person. "What are you doing here?"
Kalpas glanced at Elysia and replied in a low voice, "I have something I need to talk to Hokuto about."
"Hmm…"
Upon hearing that, Elysia immediately understood Kalpas's purpose.
She was about to say something when—
Tap—tap—
Two more people ran up the stairs.
It was Su and Kevin.
Her attention instantly shifted.
"Su? Kevin?"
Elysia put her hands on her hips, a little annoyed. "You actually conspired with Hokuto to keep this from us? This plot really scared me!"
"This..." ×2
Kevin and Su exchanged a glance.
Well—maybe not exactly a glance. Su always looked like his eyes were closed anyway.
Su explained to Elysia, "I only had a few lines. Just reading the script, I thought it was one of your usual 'jokes,' Elysia. I didn't think the story would take this turn."
Kevin nodded in agreement beside him.
"Hmm..."
Elysia knew Su had no reason to lie.
Also, out of context, just looking at Su's line combined with Elysia's personality, it did seem more like another Elysia gag.
Still—if Su, Kevin, and even Aponia could misread it and not predict such a "horrifying" development—
Then surely one person couldn't have been fooled?
That certain Doctor...
"Why are you all here?"
Speak of the devil—Mobius's signature smug and sarcastic voice drifted in.
"Dear Doctor Mobius~~ Fancy seeing you here~?"
Elysia greeted her first, then continued, "But it's perfect you're here. I was just going to ask you..."
Mobius already knew what Elysia wanted to ask. She said it herself.
"I've known all along. The ending of the story is… Elysia dies."
Everyone's expression froze upon hearing Mobius say that.
The awful memory from earlier flooded back again.
Mobius, however, remained as composed as ever—only pausing the slightest bit.
"But, let's not talk about it. Spoiling upcoming story content for others is bad."
"I also think forcing someone to change the story doesn't make much sense."
"Then… Mobius, why did you show up here?" Elysia asked curiously.
The others all realized something at once.
Right—if Mobius didn't care, then why was she here?
Mobius: "..."
Just then, Klein came chasing after her from behind.
"Doctor, Doctor! Don't walk so fast, wait for me!"
She reached Mobius's side, bent over to catch her breath, then looked up and blinked at Elysia and the others.
"You're all here? No wonder Doctor was worried you'd all be too upset… she rushed out to check on you."
Everyone instinctively turned to Mobius.
The atmosphere suddenly became awkward.
"Ah, so Mobius came out of concern for us?" Elysia said softly.
"..."
Mobius said nothing.
Of course, Elysia didn't mind her silence and simply continued:
"Mobius… is just as adorable as always~♪ Seeing you like this really cheered me up~~"
"Thank you, my dear Mobius~♪"
"...Instead of saying that, maybe think about why Hokuto still isn't back. Isn't it getting late?" Mobius tried to change the subject.
Elysia, clearly still more focused on the new Honkai Impact 3rd story, was successfully distracted.
"Hmm? Oh right, why isn't Hokuto back yet?"
She glanced at the time, then leaned toward the hallway.
There was no sign of Hokuto at all.
Logically, he should have been back by now.
"Maybe I'll give him a call and ask?"
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