Yes.
Elysia was stunned to discover that Honkai Impact 3rd had suddenly gone into emergency maintenance.
That meant even if she wanted to continue the main story right now, it seemed… she couldn't.
"Hmm…"
"Well, maybe this is for the best. I can take a break and calm myself down."
She looked at the maintenance notice and rubbed her slightly sore eyes, hesitating. A break to ease her emotions might not be a bad idea.
Otherwise, if the third segment of the story had anything worse in store… she was really afraid she'd black out on stream.
"Everyone, I'm stepping away for a bit. See you in an hour."
After speaking, Elysia didn't end the stream—she only muted the mic.
[Goodbye, Miss Elf.]
[Spiritual out-of-body experience (the stream overlay remains)]
[See you in an hour. I'm going to the official forums to go 'express' myself.]
…
With Elysia pausing her stream, a flood of viewers began pouring into the official forums.
Already ablaze with emotion, the forums reached a new peak in activity—and chaos.
After all, the posts flooding in were all like this…
"MiHoYo! Give Cat Cat back!!"
"Why was it Cat Cat?! She just wanted to live… to bask in the sun, that's all…"
"Her death broke me. The other Flame-Chasers all died with resolve, but Cat Cat… she genuinely didn't want to die. Wuwuwu."
"Cat Cat was just a salted fish! Why did you have to stab her, MiHoYo you heartless devs, 乆乆乆. If you miss her, go jump off a tower in the Elysian Realm."
Some players were sincerely venting, but others seemed to be doing so with… ulterior motives.
Even with a flood of new threads appearing every time you hit F5, two posts remained at the top of the trending list:
One was a thread denouncing Vill-V:
"Swear it here: Those who won't pull Vill-V, get in here! When she enters the gacha, we'll name and shame whoever breaks their promise!"
The other was a discussion about the next part of the main story.
Tomato-kun (OP):
"How far did everyone get in the main story just now? I just started Part 3 of Chapter 30. Anyone ahead of me?"
A certain Captain (2nd reply):
"I'm almost at Brother Kalpas's part. Anyone faster?"
Screenwriter Give Me Back Elysia (3rd):
"Still too sad about Cat Cat's death. Haven't continued yet."
Screenwriter Give Me Back Cat Cat (4th):
"Let me in the game!! I need that sheer fabric Vill-V!! Aaaaah!!"
Flame-Chaser Solo Fan (5th):
"I get it now. First they put the female Chasers on your ship, then make you fall for them, and then kill them all off. Screenwriter, thank you for warming all four seasons of my year. (dagger) (dagger)"
Captain Exclusive to Theresa (6th):
"I strongly suspect that when the writers brainstormed death scenes, some coworker made a joke like, 'Curiosity killed the cat,' and it clicked."
"The screenwriter slammed the table, downed the last of their bitter gourd juice, and started writing with inspiration."
Inch-Punch Lobotomy (7th):
"How do I ease this suffocating grief in my chest? I feel awful."
MiHoYo's Inhumanity (8th):
"Try our only recommended venting method aboard the ship: convince your friends to play Honkai Impact 3rd. Take them to the Elysian Realm. (twisted face emoji)"
"Watching them scream in the story segments… jejejejeje."
Fighting for the Beauty of the World (9th):
"You've gotten darker lately. Maybe see a therapist? I humbly suggest…"
…
The sudden maintenance had taken everyone by surprise.
And Cat Cat's death was simply too shocking, breaking players' emotional defenses entirely.
It took them quite a while to process everything before they could muster the will to continue the story.
As a result, no one had actually finished Chapter 30 yet—not even reached Kalpas's part.
Meanwhile, back in her room—
After a brief rest, Elysia tossed the balled-up tissue in her hand into the trash can.
She glanced at the clock. Still a while until maintenance would end.
She felt like talking. Especially… with Pardofelis.
So she opened a group chat with the others.
"Pardofelis, your performance this time was amazing."
Elysia spoke with admiration tinged with subtle irony.
After all, the reason her trauma hit so deep this time wasn't just the plot or in-game details after Cat Cat's death (like updated voice lines for falling off cliffs).
That deeply emotional voice performance by Pardofelis was a major factor too.
"Truly, it broke Elysia's heart." Mobius cut in.
"Hmm, voice acting, huh…" Pardofelis recalled the session. "At the time, Boss Hokuto told me…"
Ahem.
She cleared her throat, then mimicked Hokuto's tone:
"If you give your best performance, I'll pay you ten times the usual rate."
After doing the impression, she added her own thought:
"Just thinking about losing that bonus made my heart ache… so I gave it my all to sound as sad as possible."
Everyone: "..."
At this point—
Were they supposed to say, "Only Hokuto could come up with such a suitable method to get Pardofelis into character?"
Or should they say, "Only Pardofelis could be so emotionally driven by money?"
Hard to say. In any case, it all felt strangely… delicate.
What mattered most was that realizing this was how the performance was born—
Elysia and the others didn't feel quite as sad anymore.
Planting flowers intentionally won't make them bloom, but tossing a willow twig by accident just might take root.
Pardofelis's little story had, unexpectedly, succeeded in lightening the mood—
Exactly what she'd wanted to do all along.
Maybe… too well. The atmosphere was now more awkward than relaxed.
Pardofelis noticed that too.
She cautiously said:
"Um… well… it's just that Boss Hokuto was very generous with pay so… ahem… you know, fulfill the job you're paid to do."
"Isn't that normal? Like Elysia-san, you gave a great performance too. Everyone loves it."
"I was just trying to give players an immersive experience, not…" Elysia began—but then paused.
She suddenly remembered that Miss Faded Elf she voiced not long ago.
Though she didn't yet know how that scene turned out in-game, something in her gut told her…
Hokuto definitely had ulterior motives.
So she couldn't finish her sentence.
All the voices in MiHoYo… are just the screenwriters' mouthpieces.
Oh wait—come to think of it, I voice characters for MiHoYo too.
…Never mind, then.
Like this story Leave a review ; it would really help me out a lot.
Want to Read Ahead in Advance?
Join my Patreon!
+75 Chapters
Support me in
Patreon.com/BestElysium