As most people were still staring blankly at Vill-V's shattered archive,
Pardofelis suddenly spoke up, hesitantly:
"If everyone's going to shatter… does that mean even Griseo will…"
The entire stream fell silent.
Every viewer's expression changed.
"She… shouldn't… right?"
Elysia tried to say more, but the words trailed off.
With the way things were unfolding, Griseo—being one of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers—
could she really remain safe and untouched?
Even Elysia couldn't convince herself of that.
"Well… surely 'Otto' won't be too cruel to little Griseo.
Maybe she'll get a big highlight moment and then…"
Elysia forced her prediction toward optimism.
"But wouldn't that still mean she…" Pardofelis stopped mid-sentence.
Yeah. Even that "optimistic" forecast didn't sound all that good.
"After all… this is Honkai Impact 3rd."
Mobius interjected calmly, surprisingly unshaken.
That… was unusual.
If it was Griseo at stake, shouldn't she be more agitated?
Pardofelis certainly thought so.
"Snake-lady, you're awfully calm."
"..."
Möbius was quiet for a moment, then replied slowly:
"Because all of this was destined from the start… besides, the story's direction has been obvious since this main chapter began."
"Cosma's embodiment of Dawnlight, Kalpas proving himself through Obliteration, Vill-V's demonstration of Spiral… they've all been fulfilling their Sigils through action."
She paused, a stray thought flashing in her mind.
How would Möbius herself embody Infinity?
What would she consider true "infinity"?
Honestly, even she couldn't say.
Not until the very end would she know how Möbius would act.
So she set the thought aside, continuing in her measured tone:
"Do you remember what Kevin once told Su?
'As memory constructs, we can do things the real us could never complete.'"
"It's not just Kevin.
Kalpas acted—he cleared Sakura's name and protected the Flame-Chasers.
Vill-V fused her personas and came to fully understand herself."
"In the stories ahead, I suspect each of the others will likewise fulfill their Sigils… and then take their bow."
Hearing this, Pardofelis asked softly:
"So, from what you're saying… is miHoYo giving the Flame-Chasers a 'second chance'?
Letting them try to finish what they never could in life?"
"And when each fulfills their wish… would that be the 'best ending' Vill-V mentioned?"
Möbius nodded.
"Something like that."
Then she clenched her teeth and added, with a bitter laugh:
"In some sense… perhaps we even have to thank the writers for giving the Flame-Chasers this chance to mend regrets."
"Thank them…?" Pardofelis hesitated.
After all the knives they'd swung at players, now they should be thanking the writers?
That didn't feel right.
Möbius, hearing the doubt in her tone, could easily guess what Pardofelis was thinking.
But she didn't expand on it.
Instead, she ended the topic there.
"In any case…"
"Because the direction's been clear for a while, I was already prepared."
She added, almost smugly:
"Anyway, there are only so many ways to wield a knife.
It's not like miHoYo can come up with anything new, right?"
"Uh…" Pardofelis wasn't sure whether to agree or not.
Beside them, Elysia had listened to the exchange.
And seeing Möbius so composed, she too began to feel maybe there was no need to be overly nervous.
After all—
she'd been through countless battles.
What hadn't she seen before?
Stay calm.
So…
Since Chapter 30's main story clearly wasn't over yet,
it was best to just keep going.
With that thought, Elysia was about to exit the Archive screen—
when a bullet chat suddenly scrolled across.
[Elysia, check Vill-V's archive again.]
"?"
Elysia blinked.
After hesitating, she followed the suggestion and tapped on Vill-V's shattered archive.
Then she noticed something unusual.
Unlike the others, which had become pure gibberish—
even Möbius' file—
Vill-V's archive still showed a faint, visible "V."
"'V'?"
[This V? Could it mean 'V2V'? Can any lore expert explain?]
[Impossible, V2V is a nickname players gave her. The in-game Vill-V shouldn't know that.]
[Maybe it's the English word Victory?]
...
"Victory?"
That… did sound plausible.
Elysia pondered it, then asked Vill-V herself:
"Vill-V, what do you think about the 'V' left in your archive?"
"What do I think?"
Vill-V paused in thought, then answered carefully:
"My take is that it's just miHoYo deliberately leaving 'Vill-V' not fully deleted—
a sign that I left a back door."
"It doesn't carry any special meaning."
She added with a sly smile:
"After all, the essence of magic is this: by the time you're surprised, everything has already been set in motion."
"If Vill-V truly left something behind,
no one would discover it until Mei actually needed it."
"That would be Vill-V's true aesthetic."
"Oh~?"
Elysia nodded.
"Since you put it that way, I suppose that must be it."
She steadied herself.
Since the "V" wasn't meant to be special, there was no need to dwell on it.
Time to continue the story.
A tap on the device.
The game screen loaded again a few seconds later.
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