Back to the main topic.
No need to dwell on anything else—just as Mei arrived at the amusement park, she heard one of the most flamboyant personalities of Vill-V, the Great Magician, loudly proclaiming her extravagant lines.
The camera panned across the amusement park.
It showcased a place that looked dreamlike, yet filled with all kinds of bizarre attractions…
A claw machine that didn't catch dolls but people, a balloon-popping game that seemed normal but on second thought wasn't, and a roller coaster—except it had no seats, you had to stand while riding. One couldn't help but question whether this coaster was really meant for humans.
All in all, a theme park with a style that was a bit romantic, a bit cute, and a bit strange.
After all, this was something Elysia personally contributed to during its creation.
That it ended up like this was completely understandable.
[What a beautiful scene, and the BGM is so joyful.]
[It's just a pity… if only Elysia could accompany Mei to play here. That thought suddenly makes me sad.]
Vill-V the Great Magician continued her monologue:
"Welcome, dear audience!"
"What you are about to witness is the grandest live illusion of the century!"
"Performed by the once-in-a-century genius, the great magician—"
By this point, some players were ready to clap along with the atmosphere.
And then...
Mei cut in coldly: "Come out. Before I draw my blade."
"..."
Vill-V's narration was immediately cut short.
She revealed herself before Mei in an instant.
A textbook example of instinctual self-preservation.
Players: ???
It hasn't even been that long, and Vill-V, how did you become like this?
[LOL I'm gonna die laughing at this part.]
[Instant submission (not really)]
[Looking for someone (physically)]
[President Mei: I have no emotions.]
Seeing Vill-V get steamrolled by Mei, and in such a hilariously cowardly way, had players laughing out loud.
Their earlier gloominess quickly faded.
This is what we call MiHoYo's emotional balancing.jpg.
Though for the players mocking Vill-V now, let's hope they can keep that energy later.
Vill-V appeared before Mei and complained:
"Ah, not only did you barge backstage mid-performance, but you even threatened the magician—what a troublesome guest…"
Mei remained expressionless: "Vill-V… this isn't the time for jokes."
"Oh? Because Kevin is dead?"
"You… already know?"
"Those paper slips raining from the sky are everywhere. It'd be hard not to know."
Vill-V spread her hands and sighed: "To think, after the Elysian Realm, I've once again lost the front-page headline. And to Kevin of all people—makes me feel a bit of a failure."
If this were Hokuto's previous life, the livestream would be flooded with [Elysian Realm Wang Feng] jokes.
But in this world, players simply shared Mei's bewilderment toward Vill-V's attitude.
"You don't seem shocked at all. In fact… you seem completely unfazed."
Vill-V could only begin to explain to Mei.
She believed the memory versions in the Elysian Realm were of people already deceased—epitaphs written by the Thirteen Flame-Chasers themselves.
Rather than the Elysian Realm, it should be called the Tomb of Fading Flames.
Disappearance of the memory forms was only a matter of time.
Precisely because dying sooner or later meant the same, she still had the mood to host a magic show.
This logic...
Mei looked at the overly optimistic Vill-V with an expression of "Is she mentally unstable... sorry, she really is."
Mei thought for a moment and, remembering something, used it to change the topic.
She asked Vill-V about Sakura's whereabouts—since Vill-V was the last one to see her.
Vill-V answered honestly.
The night Elysia vanished, Sakura came to her to retrieve the Seven Thunders of Redemption, and drew her blade right in front of her.
"You noticed she was acting abnormally, yet didn't stop her?"
"Don't put it like that. What could I have done—stand in her way and get sliced into two Vill-Vs?"
…That's true.
In terms of combat power, Vill-V and Sakura were clearly worlds apart.
If things got serious, Vill-V might be reduced to 'w4w', 'vv11vv', or 'V11V' states...
"Why are you suddenly so concerned about Sakura? Don't tell me… you suspect she killed Kevin?"
"You'd best give up on that idea. Taking down Kevin alone without alerting anyone? That's impossible."
Vill-V declared that when it came to dealing with Kevin, no one had more authority than her.
"I'm the undisputed expert on this. The number of attempts I've made must outnumber Kalpas's burned outfits by dozens of times."
Kalpas: ???
"The total count of Kevin-targeted weapons I've developed exceeds four digits. Yet none of them have succeeded—not in reality, nor in the Elysian Realm."
Kevin: Four digits… what kind of sin did I commit?
"No one's ever succeeded at this—I've been racking my brain daily trying to figure out how to kill him."
Vill-V even looked a little proud about that.
Viewers couldn't help but feel a little speechless.
[Vill-V: I have extensive theoretical experience in eliminating Kevin.]
["But only theoretical experience."]
[Vill-V is clearly just here for comedy.]
[So the conclusion is: Kevin can't be killed. Which means... those paper slips were definitely fishy!]
[Kevin: You don't get it. This is part of the plan.]
As expected, the livestream crowd were natural-born meme-makers. Someone even quoted Kevin's earlier in-game words.
Back in the story, Vill-V kept rambling about her countless schemes against Kevin, then seemingly had a delayed realization.
"Wait? Judging from what I've been saying… doesn't that make me the most suspicious one?"
Mei stared at her: "Hard to say."
"Ah~~"
Vill-V let out a sigh: "Looks like I need to show you a few selections from my Kevin-targeted arsenal. Though I don't like revealing my failures, I must clear my name."
"Well then… dear audience, which one would you like to see first?"
Mei saw Vill-V's expectant look.
After a moment's thought, she agreed to take a look.
At the same time—
Three options appeared on Elysia's screen while playing the main story.
[Kevin-targeted Arsenal: Model 7]
[Kevin-targeted Arsenal: Model 99]
[Kevin-targeted Arsenal: Model 135]
Seeing those choices…
Given her past experiences…
Elysia suddenly had a bad feeling.
After all, Honkai Impact 3rd's choices always meant high difficulty.
She'd crashed and burned before because of it.
After some hesitation, she clicked one.
But this time, neither Elysia nor the players needed to worry much.
This time, it was just a few mini-games. Nothing too difficult.
Because Vill-V's so-called [Kevin-targeted weapons] looked more like [Kevin-teasing weapons], or [death-by-laughter weapons].
Or maybe—[death-by-being-dumbfounded is also a flawless tactic]?
So that's how it is. That's what she was trying to use to defeat Kevin?
[Kevin: Hmph, flashy nonsense.]
[Now I understand why Vill-V never wins… just go build Divine Keys instead.]
[Divine Keys? Don't forget Vill-V added a bunch of baffling 'surprise' features to those!
Like the 3rd Divine Key, Seven Thunders of Redemption, which she fitted with a "mood system" that changes form based on the user's emotions—and once turned into a slingshot in Raven's hands.]
"Pff—"
After trying the three Kevin weapons, Elysia couldn't help but giggle softly: "Kevin… what do you think of Vill-V's very creative inventions?"
Creative?
That was quite a euphemism.
Kevin could only respond tactfully: "[Kevin-targeted weapons] being what they are, perhaps I should feel lucky."
"That's true."
Elysia smiled and then offered another theory.
"Maybe Vill-V didn't really want to defeat Kevin. Maybe she just wanted to cheer up the ever-so-icy Kevin."
That theory actually sounded kind of plausible.
"How perfectly like you, Elysia—that romantic fantasy," Vill-V suddenly chimed in, "but unfortunately, it's not true."
"Hm?" Elysia let out a small confused sound.
But before she could say more, Mobius had already reminded her in her signature tone:
"I recall someone said she might not tell the truth today."
"Mm… that's true." Vill-V didn't deny it.
Her ambiguous attitude left Mobius with nothing more to say.
Elysia then jumped in: "But I feel like you really do have a romantic side, Vill-V~~"
"Who knows, maybe you'll do something utterly shocking and unbelievably romantic later on."
"..."
Vill-V thought about what would happen next in the story, and figured that probably wouldn't be called romantic.
But—if you looked even further ahead, she did indeed do something super romantic.
Crossing the ages…
She "entrusted" Mei to send a letter to Elysia.
All to help Elysia resolve the deepest regret in her heart.
To let her know—the world had changed because of her.
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