Elysia's thoughts wandered into strange territory.
After a while, she finally reined in her drifting imagination.
Anyway, pushing through the main story should eventually explain what's going on with the Faded Elf, right?
Honestly, she was getting more and more curious.
In the story.
After Mei obtained some useful intel from Griseo,
she left her in Kosma's care and decided to depart early with Vill-V.
But even after Mei left, the game's perspective didn't shift away—it remained where it was.
And slowly zoomed in on Griseo and Kosma.
The two had a conversation.
Griseo told Kosma that it was she who took the initiative to seek out Sister Vill-V, volunteering to carry out the Ark Plan in his place.
Because she knew Kosma wanted to go fight alongside everyone.
"So… after that… Kosma, did your wish come true?"
"I… I don't know."
Kosma shook his head. "Maybe I just threw my life away in vain,
failing to accomplish anything… failing to become a hero."
He paused. His voice sank slightly.
"I… I never asked anyone what became of me. I didn't have the courage to ask. I was afraid of the answer."
Players could feel Kosma's inner turmoil through his words.
He wanted to become a hero—
But did he succeed in the end?
Or rather, to what extent must one go to be called a hero?
It's a question without a definitive answer.
Perhaps that's one reason Kosma never sought the answer—
Because he wasn't sure if he could accept it.
"Then…" Griseo looked at him earnestly. "Why do you want to be a hero?"
Very suddenly, she voiced the question he had likely asked himself countless times in his heart.
"Is it because heroes are strong?"
"..."
If it had been the Kosma of the past, the chuunibyou phase of Darknight☆Hero,
he might've whispered "...Cool" in his heart.
But at this moment, he answered seriously.
"A hero… is someone who helps others. Someone who leads people to victory."
Griseo pressed further: "Does that person have to fight?"
"Mhm." Kosma nodded lightly.
"Oh…" Griseo lowered her head in disappointment. "Then I can't be a hero."
"No… that's not true, Griseo. Sometimes, what we call fighting doesn't just mean one kind of action."
Kosma tried to comfort her.
Perhaps to the other Flame-Chasers, they were both still children.
That's why even Kalpas always looked after them.
But between Kosma and Griseo—without a doubt, Kosma was like an older brother to her.
So of course, he didn't want to see her upset.
"Then… heroes…"
Griseo didn't seem to fully grasp Kosma's meaning.
Fighting wasn't limited to a single expression.
She merely continued, her voice pure but her question profound:
"Do they always have to die?"
The moment Griseo asked that—
the in-game BGM abruptly stopped.
The players, Elysia, and the others watching the story… their expressions all changed.
They unconsciously held their breath.
Kosma, in the game, also fell into a long silence.
He wanted to say "no."
But he knew—if he couldn't even believe it himself, there was no point in saying it aloud.
Heroes didn't have to die—
But in his era, choosing to become one made it almost unavoidable.
Even so,
he still wanted to become… a hero.
Kosma: "..."
Griseo stared at him for a long time, as if reading the unsaid answer from his face.
"Then I don't want Kosma to be a hero."
Her tone was so resolute. That was clearly not Kosma's color.
It might've been the first time she expressed her self with such clarity.
"Mom and Dad disappeared. I heard the grown-ups say they were heroes."
"Sister Dystopia disappeared. You said she was a hero too."
"And now, Kosma is going to leave me to become everyone's hero."
Kosma: "Griseo…"
Griseo continued: "Everyone turns into heroes."
"Then… what about me?"
Kosma: "..."
Players: "..."
Elysia and the others: "..."
A moment of shared silence.
The people Griseo had once been well protected by had passed away one after another,
leaving behind only the title of hero.
To her, maybe hero just meant farewell.
She saw many, many people become heroes—
Until in the end, only she remained.
At an age where she should've been carefree,
she had already faced too much loss.
She must be terribly afraid of it.
That single line—"Then… what about me?"—
might've been a child's cry against a hopeless era.
It wasn't supposed to be this way…
If the Honkai hadn't happened—none of this was supposed to be this way.
[That's so sweet I'm gonna cry ahhhhhhhhh!]
[My only suggestion is to have every MiHoYo staffer beat the scriptwriter up.]
Emotional danmaku filled the livestream.
[I can't help it—I need to rate this.]
[Seeing everyone start rating, I suddenly don't feel like crying anymore.]
[Seriously? You guys are gonna score this too?]
[Score away if you want—but don't underestimate the Theater of Domination! Don't forget who runs this place!]
Kosma looked into the girl's Griseo eyes, unable to speak.
He could only say in his heart:
'Griseo… being a hero isn't just about wanting to be one.'
'When the moment comes, you'll understand—
that no matter the cost… you have to do something.'
'Maybe it's for someone, or maybe something else…'
'And this time… for what I couldn't do fifty thousand years ago, I…'
Looking at those eyes, Kosma silently mouthed his answer.
He hoped she'd understand through his silence.
But in the end, he still chose to express it another way—a promise.
"This time, I might… still want to become a hero, Griseo."
"But it's not for death. It's to light up the hope of life.
We step into the night… for the sake of that dawn."
The boy smiled gently—rare for him—trying to comfort the girl.
But she only looked at him, her expression growing even sadder.
["Do heroes have to die?" How's that different from saying he's planning to die?!]
[Scriptwriters—enough already! Stop doing this! You wrecked Elysia's mood, now Griseo doesn't want to paint anymore and looks devastated!]
[Reminder: This chapter's title is "Funeral of Heroes." Kosma's death flag just lit up.]
[No way?! Is Kosma next?!]
Griseo looked at Kosma and said:
"Kosma, do you know? Every time you try to hide something from me and go off on your own, you wear that expression."
"But I don't want this. I don't want to be protected. I don't want to be left behind.
I want to be like everyone else too…
To have a color of my own…"
Everyone had always treated her like a child.
But in some ways, children are more perceptive than adults.
Griseo had long since sensed the adults' desire to protect her.
But she didn't want to be sheltered forever.
She wasn't clueless.
Her quiet nature may have just been an outer shell.
She noticed and remembered everything the others did.
In her heart, she truly wanted to help them, didn't she?
This moment served as the foreshadowing for her decision later on.
Many players could feel it.
And so, they began to panic.
Because—
the writer's blade now seemed poised above both Griseo and Kosma.
No, please!!!
[...??? I take it back, don't tell me Griseo's next?!]
[Scriptwriters, STOP! How could you hurt Griseo like this?!]
[Please… don't let me witness falling stars and fading dawns.]
...
"Griseo…"
Elysia furrowed her brows, unease in her voice. "She's not… gonna be in danger, right?"
"She shouldn't be, right? 'Otto'-san can't be so cruel to do something to Griseo—she's just a kid," Pardofelis was reluctant to believe it.
"Can't say for sure."
Elysia sighed lightly. She wouldn't dare underestimate someone's "ruthlessness."
Pardo responded with rare seriousness:
"If 'Otto'-san lays a hand on little Griseo, even I—
even I, the Can—will be mad!"
"And if you ever need help… with things like lockpicking or sneaking into Otto-san's house for a meeting, I could totally help."
Can: "Meow~~"
A soft cat sound echoed through the stream.
"Rare to hear you so serious, Felis," Elysia said, tapping the screen.
"Well, rather than guess… let's just see what happens next."
At her words, everyone refocused on the game.
Griseo looked at Kosma and said:
"So… tell me, please… Kosma… what do you plan to do?"
And then—
the screen jumped straight back to Mei and Vill-V.
Such a jump cut—
how could anyone hold back their emotions?!
[???]
[(Expletive)! Why not finish the scene!!!]
[It's bad enough being cryptic, but now you cut it off too?! I'm losing it!!]
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