MGSFV?! Chapter 416. Senti? Trying to Act Tough; Don't Etch Everything into DNA
At this point in the story,
between the "Kiana × Mei" sweetness and the comedic slice-of-life interludes,
the sugar levels were through the roof.
Players couldn't hold back their smiles, completely immersed in the joy.
Especially when…
The game screen shifted.
Time returned to the present.
The Herrscher of Sentience now stood before the trio who had entered the world bubble.
And began to employ a few "rhetorical flourishes" to perform a tiny bit of bragging.
"[Ah yes, the great Herrscher of Sentience thought, 'Forget it, no need to stoop to the level of these relics.']"
"[...Let's just restore the world to normal and head to the next one.]"
"[And so, the great lady snapped her fingers—though merely a symbolic mental gesture, it had a very real effect.]"
"[With that casual motion, the unknown force that had shrouded the world bubble in stagnation quietly dissipated, as if intimidated by her presence.]"
"[Air, gears, everything that had once fallen silent… began to move again.]"
[Senti's joyful bragging time.]
[Well said! The great Herrscher of Sentience is invincible!]
[Senti's always right! Uh-huh, uh-huh!]
Though her tale had been… heavily embellished,
players didn't seem to mind at all.
In fact, they responded quite 'cooperatively.'
But then—
"—But that's not how it went, is it?"
Who said that? So blunt! Don't you know how to humor a child?
Ah… it was Kiana. Never mind then.
She and the Class Monitor—two sides of the same coin.
Ahem, we'll set that aside for now.
Naturally, Senti—mid-brag—wouldn't take kindly to being interrupted.
Like being one kill away from a pentakill in a MOBA, only for the last one to escape…
"Let me finish first!"
Senti instantly cut her off, speaking a bit faster now:
"I was ready to dust off my hands and leave,
but then I ran into you all—
And you were struggling so much with a few measly monsters
you couldn't even find the gate!
Isn't that hilarious? If I didn't step in and show you the difference, how would you learn?"
Mei: "..."
Bronya: 눈_눈
Their expressions turned complicated.
Senti's narration wasn't a complete fabrication…
but calling it "nonsense" would be polite.
Not a single part rang true—
And the players, realizing that, wore the exact same expression as Bronya.
It's just like the saying:
"When the Herrscher of Sentience appears,
the air is instantly filled with joy."
Even the background music turned upbeat.
Of course, all of this was just comic relief—
not the main event.
What mattered was:
With the arrival of the Herrschers,
this long-frozen world bubble regained its vitality.
And the Mei who had been sealed for 50,000 years…
was able to move once more.
Mei looked at her and said,
"Her account of events likely doesn't align with the truth, does it, Doctor Mei?"
And with that—
Mei and Mei appeared in the same shot.
"...Regardless,
it was your arrival that brought a final moment of brilliance to this dying world bubble."
Mei didn't challenge Senti's version of the story.
"As long as the outcome is the same, the method of recording it doesn't matter."
Thus, the true course of events remained ambiguous.
Still, you had to admit—
as the game's officially designated storyteller (for now),
Senti's version was pretty entertaining.
A story that stirs emotion is a good story—
so long as it stirs positive emotions.
Where Mei focused on the over-embellishment,
Kiana noticed something else entirely.
"No… that's not what I was curious about."
"Herrscher of Sentience, why do you…"
She paused.
Then gave Senti a peculiar look.
On-screen, her internal thoughts flashed:
[Why does she seem to obey this 'Mei' so easily?]
[She even looks like… her subordinate?]
Senti: "..."
Even though Kiana didn't finish her sentence,
Senti clearly picked up on the implication.
And so—
she launched into a glorious performance.
One that could be recorded as a Honkai classic.
Worthy of rewatching and savoring.
She looked around awkwardly,
stepped stiffly to Mei's side,
straightened her posture,
and tried very hard to give off a vibe of "I'm totally not affected."
Senti: Trying to Act Tough (Part I)
This pose—this whole act—
Why did it look even more like a subordinate?! 😂
And she couldn't even keep it up.
The moment Mei glanced over…
Thanks to Hua's memories—
Senti reflexively dropped back into a posture of trust.
"Tch. It's all that old fossil's fault for being so passive…"
[Huh? That works??]
[Help! This is getting funnier and funnier.]
[Is this… instinct etched into DNA?]
[Don't Signeteverything on DNA!! (rage)]
Exactly!
If you're going to etch anything into DNA,
make it something good.
Like:
"This is our final lesson."
"This is our way home."
"Karen must survive."
"I told you—we must move forward."
Fortunately, no one could hear these internal jabs.
Otherwise, things might've gotten messy.
The chat was booming:
[Class Monitor: You didn't expect this to be part of my plan, did you?]
[Since Hua used to be Mei's subordinate, and Hua obeyed Mei, then Senti obeys Mei. It all makes sense.]
[Blame the old fossil.jpg]
[Class Monitor gets a demerit (bushi)]
Players roasted Senti's performance mercilessly.
Meanwhile, in-game—
Senti muttered to herself a bit,
then, sensing everyone's increasingly amused stares,
stiffly changed the subject:
"Let's not dwell on such trivial details.
Surely you have more important questions, right?"
"…That's not wrong," Kiana admitted.
Mei followed up:
"Very well. Herrscher of Sentience, we'll set your situation aside for now."
She turned back to Mei:
"Doctor Mei—it's a pleasure.
Now I finally understand where that [guidance] was coming from."
So—
the player choices earlier really had been from the Herrscher of Sentience.
But the spatial anomalies Mei detected?
Those were Mei's doing.
In the end, both had been working to gather the protagonists here.
As someone living in a world bubble,
Mei clearly understood that her world was but a fleeting mirage.
And thus, she urgently needed the main team's cooperation.
[Mei isn't even human. Trapped here for 50,000 years and still capable of thought?! Anyone else would've gone insane!]
[Terrifying.]
[No wonder even those broken minds still held faith in Doctor Mei.]
[Kinda like Kevin. Bearing the burden alone.]
[Is this… couple aura?]
The mood was getting heavy—
But it's okay.
Senti was here.
After Mei finished,
she even thanked Senti, very considerately:
"To think—despite it being our first meeting,
[Hua] was willing to lend me her strength.
I am deeply grateful."
"…[Hua]?"
Hearing that name, Mei's expression shifted.
"Hey, you—"
Senti immediately snapped:
"How many times do I have to say it?
Stop calling me by that outdated name!"
What then?
The great Herrscher of Sentience, perhaps? (lol)
But didn't you want to be called Fu Hua earlier?
"Hm? Did I?"
Mei looked puzzled.
Then calmly complied:
"Alright then. I'll call you [Senti], as you prefer."
That line—was masterclass manipulation.
No one would believe it wasn't intentional.
[Or we could call her Sentibae!]*n
Kiana, with perfect comedic timing, chimed in:
"Senti?"
As everyone knows—
if someone brings up your embarrassing nickname at the worst possible moment,
your shame multiplies exponentially.
What once made you want to dig a hole with your toes
now makes you want to excavate an entire stadium.
"You… I…"
Senti's eyes bulged.
"What do you mean 'my preference'?
I never called myself that!"
Senti's reactions were just too good.
Messing with her was way too fun.
...Ahem, not that we condone bullying.
[I'm dying of laughter.]
[The Herrscher of Sentience has had her awareness modified. Now she believes she did say that. (troll)]
[Hey! I did not say that!]
"Pfft~~"
"Honkai Impact 3rd's slice-of-life comedy is just too good."
Elysia blinked happily.
As someone who had written event scripts before,
she knew these scenes were harder to write than serious plot.
Because the only standard was simple:
It had to be funny.
And to make something as naturally funny as Honkai's daily life…
was no small feat.
"It's all thanks to Senti," Hokuto smiled.
"Interesting people bring interesting stories."
"So you mean—if we establish solid character settings,
then the moment we let them interact,
the story writes itself?"
Elysia was clearly thinking about her next event script.
Might as well get some advice.
"Ah… not exactly."
Hokuto answered earnestly.
"Usually we start by designing an interesting scenario—
then consider how characters like Senti, Kiana, or even Elysia would react."
"Once those responses are written, the full story tends to form naturally."
"Ohhh~~"
Elysia looked thoughtful.
"Alright then. Elysia, let's continue the main story first."
Hokuto reminded her.
"We can talk writing later—I have a few new ideas you might find useful."
He knew exactly why Elysia was asking.
She clearly wanted to do justice to the Flame-Chaser event arc he'd mentioned earlier.
"New ideas, huh?"
Given that idle chatting during a livestream had its limits,
Elysia didn't push further.
She tapped to proceed.
...
The story resumed.
"Let's return to the topic at hand."
Mei broke the cheerful mood with perfect timing:
"You all understand the basics now—so, about my proposal…"
According to this world bubble's Mei,
her bubble had been sealed as part of a deal with World Serpent—
to act as an [exile zone] for the Stigma Project.
But Mei wasn't content with merely being sealed.
She wanted her world bubble to live on.
Durandal had attempted something similar before.
But for Mei, doing the same now was much harder.
Even so,
as a genius among geniuses,
even just a projection within a world bubble,
she had come up with a method to sustain it.
So, should they help her?
Honestly—
Even if Mei didn't convince them,
there's no way Kiana's team would want to be trapped here forever.
In the end, they reached a preliminary agreement.
And since the world-bubble Mei only needed the power of the
[Herrscher of the Void] and [Herrscher of Sentience]—
"So, you need the Herrscher of the Void and Herrscher of Sentience—"
Bronya asked:
"Then… does that mean Mei and I don't need to participate?"
Mei nodded:
"For now, yes."
"Then may we step away for a bit?"
Bronya looked to Mei.
"When we reunited, Mei mentioned she had something important to discuss with me privately."
Mei: ?
She didn't remember that…
[What, a debate over who's the better Herrscher of Reason? (bushi)]
[Kiana: You two have secrets too?]
[Honestly, there's no point hiding it. Not like you'll succeed anyway.]
But Mei, having been around too many cryptic people in the Elysian Realm,
caught on quickly.
She instantly adapted—
faking a serious tone.
"I need to speak to Bronya in private about Doctor Mei."
Mei:
"By all means."
That unspoken trust was more than enough.
One of Mei's best lines:
"Unlike a certain clumsy man."
Kevin: …
Kevin: She's right.
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