MGSFV?! Chapter 456. The Unhurried One; Why Are There Cheats in Honkai Impact 3rd?
So, why did Grey Serpent ultimately win the "Literary King" title?
Clearly, the Queen was a master of language—using parallelism and metaphor like a class rep in literature (and she even added ☆s to her lines).
Otto, meanwhile, was the patient teacher type—capable of spouting lines like "He may have no father, but he still has me."
The reason was actually simple...
Because the other two were dead.
Two of the three great literary masters had already passed. The one who's still around—how could he not be crowned the king?
Truly—if you want to be "the best," is ability important? Of course. But more importantly, you need to outlive the competition.
If you can just outlast everyone better than you, then you'll naturally become the strongest.
And Grey Serpent, who could spawn endless clones, had an overwhelming edge in this regard.
Honestly, even players couldn't think of any surefire way to fully eliminate him.
You could kill Grey Serpent once, twice, even three times—but as long as he wanted, he could appear before you again, completely unscathed.
Like... right now.
In fact, this wasn't even the first time Grey Serpent came looking for Mistelin.
Not long ago, he had come to Siberia specifically to seek out Stigma Awakened individuals.
After all, as the site of the Second Eruption, this place was a natural filter—
Anyone who managed to survive here likely had a high probability of being awakened.
But during the mission, he made an unexpected discovery—
Mistelin.
A natural Conceptual Form of the Schariac Stigma.
This changed his plans.
He began to tirelessly, persistently invite Mistelin to join World Serpent.
Even if each invitation cost a Grey Serpent's life, he never once relented.
This alone showed how important Mistelin was to the Stigma Project—
At least in Grey Serpent's judgment.
[The Grey Serpent Protection Society strongly condemns this abuse!]
[Wait, does that really exist...? (doubt)]
[Grey Serpent's pretty busy—recruiting Hare on one side and Raven on the other.]
[So you guys do remember Raven was recruited by Grey Serpent during the Second Eruption.]
Yes—
Miss Natasha is Russian too.
Come to think of it, "Natasha" is a super common Russian name.
Just like "Wei," "Jie," and "Li" are in Shenzhou.
And for someone like Raven, who lived through the Second Eruption—
It makes perfect sense that she'd have resentment toward the Herrscher of the Void.
That rumor online...
About wanting to go down with the Void Queen because her island was bombed—
Well... that's actually true.
Let's just say—it's a mix of new and old grudges.
[Because Grey Serpent isn't working alone—he's doing 99% of World Serpent's tasks.]
[Even the most hardcore grinders can't compete.]
[On behalf of World Serpent, we thank Grey Serpent for his selfless dedication.]
[Actually, we should be thanking Mobius, right? She made Grey Serpent... come to think of it, all of Mobius's mechanical dolls are workaholics.]
[Strange lore unlocked.]
...
So—how did Mistelin respond to Grey Serpent's relentless pestering and proposals?
"The 'Stigma Project' you speak of... even if that's the 'reality of the future,' I still have no interest."
Looks like our Miss Mistelin gave a decisive rejection.
Then again, any normal person would decline the invitation of someone as obviously sketchy as Grey Serpent.
Though, Mistelin wasn't exactly normal.
So where was she abnormal...?
"Take it as a personal request—please leave this place..."
"Even now, I still haven't gotten used to... watching life around me wither because of me."
Grey Serpent calmly shook his head. "There's no need for that."
Come on, it's just death.
As if he hasn't died before?
For him, dying is as mundane as eating or drinking.
A serpent does not fear death.
"With how long I've been near you, this vessel's long past repair."
Imagine being so composed when facing imminent death—
That pride...
"Just like all the times before?"
"Correct. And this time, I offer a condition for you to join World Serpent—what you truly desire—"
Grey Serpent deliberately paused—
Prompting Mistelin to glance sideways.
Even players leaned in.
He then enunciated slowly and clearly:
"Death."
"?"
"...I don't quite understand your meaning." Mistelin frowned.
"Since I can always find you, learning everything about you wasn't hard."
Seeing her refusal, Grey Serpent laid things bare.
"For instance—because you're in constant agony far beyond hell itself, you've attempted suicide dozens of times."
And there it was—
Mistelin's abnormality:
She was constantly seeking death.
And worse yet—
She actually kept acting on it.
[Mistelin wants to die? Because she can't control herself and might hurt others?]
[She's becoming more and more different from Hare on the Moon.]
Players were shocked by Grey Serpent's revelation.
Mistelin wanted to die—but she seemed sincere.
Hare, meanwhile, even when she said she wanted to get along—it always felt... off.
Not that Hare was lying, but—
How to put it... Hare always felt like she was talking to herself.
"I want to be friends with you. You don't need to understand why—just believe me."
Yeah—no.
Even grade schoolers know not to talk to strangers, okay?
If they believed her, wouldn't that make them dumber than a child?
That strong impression of Hare made it very hard to reconcile the fact that Mistelin and Hare were "the same person."
They couldn't help but wonder what happened in between—
How did Mistelin become Hare?
But before they could get too lost in thought—
Grey Serpent, in his usual snarky tone, brought things back.
"And about half of those attempts—
I had the privilege of witnessing them live."
The script even highlighted "live" with brackets.
Which naturally made players imagine him standing nearby, spectating Mistelin's suicide attempts like...
Mistelin: ☂☂☂
🔥🔥🔥
Grey Serpent: | 😐
[Live broadcast: "Stigma Crystallization's Weird Behavior Highlights"... I'm dead.]
[LMAO. Grey Serpent is so savage.]
[You've stolen all the bamboo. The pandas are starving.]
Players reacted this way—
So of course Mistelin had plenty of thoughts.
She gave him a full-on disgusted look and bluntly stated:
"You really are... disgusting."
[Disgusted =-=]
[That tone and expression are everything. (lol)]
[This "ugh" attitude is the essence.]
But even faced with Mistelin's overt disdain—
Grey Serpent still grinned.
He even shamelessly added:
"My methods have never included 'making others find me cute.'"
And the thing was...
[...He's not wrong, though.]
You couldn't even argue with him.
Mistelin: "..."
She was speechless at how brutally honest he was.
"And your creativity in self-destruction was certainly unexpected—if not incomprehensible."
"You don't need air, yet you dove into deep water; you're not a real body, yet you tried stabbing yourself."
"I came today precisely to end these meaningless acts—and to offer something more concrete."
He might as well have said:
[High EQ: Ending your futile struggle.
Low EQ: You're a moron, and I can't watch anymore.]
Mistelin still declined, firmly.
Not because Grey Serpent's words were offensive—
But—
"Sorry. You're a little late."
"You know, I can awaken the Stigma within people at will—"
"But I also know, from the moment we first met, that you had already abandoned that method."
"But... what finally gave me the strength to refuse you was precisely this—
That I finally saw someone who could withstand a forced awakening—
And not wither."
[!!!]
[Who?! A random NPC? Or someone we know? Could it be... Bronya?]
[Wait—Bronya doesn't have a Stigma, right? Herrschers and Stigmas conflict. If she awakened a Stigma, she couldn't be the Herrscher of Reason.]
[Yeah, I think that's canon.]
...
Hearing Mistelin's reason,
Grey Serpent couldn't help but marvel at her luck.
He'd been searching high and low for suitable candidates—
And he knew how rare they were.
"Awakened Stigma hosts are one in ten thousand—
Once lost, they're near impossible to find again."
So—
Without warning, he raised his signature pistol and aimed at a nearby house.
Inside it—
Was that very Stigma Awakener.
Stigma hosts, he desired.
Conceptual Forms, he also desired.
But he could not have both.
So he would abandon the Stigma host—
And choose the Conceptual Form.
"...You?!"
Mistelin gasped.
Players also leaned in.
Was he really going to pull the trigger?
They were dying to know what happened next.
But—
The screen suddenly cut.
The memory ended right at the critical moment.
Players: ??? That's where you cut it?
Fortunately—
The subtitles clarified:
Before Grey Serpent could pull the trigger,
His body was completely corroded by Honkai energy.
In other words—he didn't get the shot off.
[Whew—thought they were cliffhanging us again. At least we got a result.]
[Lately, the main story's been surprisingly generous, huh?]
[Well, considering we just got a full re-broadcast of the Second Eruption... generous, yes, but not too generous.]
As players chatted—
The game returned to Bronya's perspective.
The "Conceptual Seed" she had just analyzed now resembled her own form—like a flipped Othello disk.
If she kept this up—
One by one—
She could reclaim the Herrscher of Reason's core.
But—
Was it really going to be that easy?
Obviously... no.
Hare wasn't going to just sit back and let Bronya work.
In the time it took Bronya to modify one Conceptual Seed—
Hare had already inserted dozens more.
???
How is it fair for Bronya to "drop one stone" while Hare "drops ten"?
Players: We're reporting her. Someone's using cheats.
...
So, since Hare wasn't playing fair—
Bronya had to adjust her strategy.
By reading Mistelin's memories—
She could find Hare's weaknesses.
Cue memory #3.
Still in Siberia.
This time, the event occurred between the first and second memories.
Mistelin attempted suicide for the first time.
She failed.
And once again, her descent caused uncontrollable destruction—
Erasing all life around her.
She was just an idea of the Stigma—
As long as the Schariac Stigma existed, she could never die.
Realizing this—
Mistelin was shaken to her core.
Unable to accept the fact that she couldn't even end her own life.
The game cut to free control.
To show Mistelin's confusion, the UI now only gave players a single "forward" key.
Very... immersive?
Elysia: ...
Players: ...
Fine. Let's call it "special narrative mode."
With that, Elysia pressed forward to move Mistelin.
But before they'd taken a few steps—
Several twin-tailed, red-eyed, purple-haired Knight-class Honkai Beasts rushed toward her with intense momentum.
Picture this:
A deadpan, tiny, twin-tailed girl, expressionless, astride a mechanical beast—
Swinging a massive weapon at you nonstop...
Yeah.
Dangerous indeed.
Was it not?
At least, Elysia quickly tried to dodge them.
But then—
Something unexpected happened.
The only direction key—stopped working.
"..."
"???"
Do they really have to make the "confusion" this realistic?
Players frantically spammed the key—
Unable to stop themselves from griping in their hearts.
Even though time had passed—
The writers' obsession with detail clearly hadn't changed.
Still—
Their complaints couldn't fix anything.
No matter how much they spammed the key, Mistelin didn't move.
Just when it seemed like her "second life bar" was about to be eaten by the Knight Beasts—
BOOM!!
The enemies suddenly exploded in a chain of 999*n criticals.
They dropped—
Right before Mistelin's "confused" face.
Players: ?
Knight Beasts: WTF?! CHEATERS!!
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MGSFV?! Chapter 457. This Sudden Spike in Knife Content—Now This Feels Like the miHoYo We Know
No doubt about it.
Those knight-class Honkai Beasts had just reached Mistelin—
They didn't even get the chance to drive their massive lances "firmly" into her body as they had surely intended...
Before they were subjugated by Mistelin's invisible aura and collapsed one by one—lifeless.
If they retained any consciousness after death, they probably had a lot they'd want to say.
In their next lives, they'd want to become Judgment-class Honkai Beasts...
Wait, no—they wouldn't want to be Honkai Beasts at all. They'd rather be Valkyries...
Hmm, but even that didn't seem very safe...
Is there even a single safe profession in this world? (Tragic.)
Sorry—turns out there isn't.
In the world of Honkai, all professions are either high-risk or higher-risk.
Mistelin's display, without question, drew the full attention of the players.
[What terrifying spiritual pressure (confirmed)]
[No wonder we don't have an attack key here—Hare doesn't need to attack.]
[Hare when?]
[She kills mobs just by walking—one loop and it's a full clear.]
[Has Honkai Impact 3rd finally given up its action-game soul? (bold claim)]
Of course, jokes aside—
The fact that Mistelin could simply walk and cause Honkai Beasts to spontaneously collapse gave players a much clearer sense of just how intense her Honkai disruption really was.
Even Honkai Beasts couldn't survive it—let alone normal humans.
Calling her a mobile natural disaster would almost be an understatement.
...
As players had those thoughts—
In-game, Mistelin continued her unconscious march forward.
And as she walked, more and more Honkai Beasts dropped dead, one after another, just like those earlier knights.
Honestly—
If you stripped the confusion off Mistelin's face, added some serious BGM...
This could totally be a final boss cutscene.
Hmm...
As Hokuto watched Elysia progress through the story, a few thoughts flickered in his mind.
Would some player turn this small, extra bit of mission design into something completely novel—something he never saw in his previous life?
Truth be told—
He hoped they would.
He was very much looking forward to being surprised again.
And to feel the same emotion as before—
That same twitch at the corners of his mouth, moved by the players' joy.
Back to the main thread.
So, Mistelin kept walking a long way.
Just as she finally started to suppress the confusion in her heart—
She ran into something unexpected.
Ahead of her, a squad of mechanized Titans was being swarmed by a large number of Honkai Beasts.
[So Titans actually do fight Honkai Beasts? Every time they show up, they're usually ganging up on me with the Beasts.]
[That's because they are Beasts—just shaped like Titans.]
[Flash Titan: Titan King Fist, incoming!]
[Blink, zero-frame, one-punch Titan!]
[Valkyrie Fragments (meme face)]
[...Damn. The old trauma rises again. PTSD triggered.]
"Thank goodness Abyss has been reworked... otherwise..."
Even Elysia shook her head.
Back in the old Abyss days—
If a Titan had the Blink buff, it could teleport right in front of you and deliver a haymaker.
Basically—if you saw the blink effect, it meant you were about to eat a punch.
And that punch hurt. A lot.
To put it simply: it was an R-flash.
Not only did it hit like a truck—it was smart.
Afraid yet?
Anyway, the Titans in this story segment weren't that scary.
They were just... regular.
So—
With the Honkai Beasts increasing in number, the Titans gradually began to falter.
At this rate, no one from the squad would survive.
"..."
Mistelin saw this, fell silent, and wore a worried expression.
She stepped forward slightly—as if she were about to leap down and help.
...However—
Her actions stayed firmly at the level of "as if."
She clearly hesitated.
It was obvious—
She knew her presence would do more harm than good. Helping might just hasten their deaths.
And just as she pondered—
Tap tap~~
A series of crisp footsteps rang out.
Grey Serpent appeared before Mistelin once again—or rather, this was the first time he had ever appeared before her, chronologically speaking.
Still clad in black robes.
And most importantly—
Still holding that black umbrella!
"Does Grey Serpent always carry an umbrella year-round? Is there some deeper meaning to it?"
"Deeper meaning? Nah... more like—
'Don't you think carrying an umbrella looks cooler?' That's probably what Grey Serpent would say."
"..."
Honestly, yeah.
That does sound like something the taciturn, dramatic Grey Serpent would say.
...
As mentioned earlier—
Grey Serpent had come to Siberia seeking suitable candidates (a.k.a. "picking up children")—
But stumbled upon the greatest side discovery of all: Mistelin.
In truth—
He'd been searching for Mistelin for a long time.
But today was the first time he'd gotten the chance to meet her face-to-face.
And also the first time he invited her to join World Serpent.
Mistelin responded bluntly:
"If you intend to use me as a weapon—
Then you've got the wrong person."
"And even if I set aside my own will—
Anyone who tries to weaponize me... will only hurt themselves first."
"You misunderstand," Grey Serpent shook his head.
Then stated a simple fact:
"You would not be a weapon greater than the Sovereign."
That...
What a unique way to prove he wasn't trying to weaponize her.
Is this like saying—
Because you already have a nuke, there's no need to develop missiles?
Well—
It could be that simple.
As long as you're the only one who owns that nuke... and it's cheap to use.
World Serpent had Kevin.
If a top-tier fight ever broke out, just let Kevin swing once—and it'd be handled.
Kevin-senpai gave World Serpent confidence.jpg
And if Kevin couldn't solve it with one swing?
Then World Serpent would just pull out something else.
So—
In Grey Serpent's eyes...
Mistelin's uncontrollable Honkai disruption wasn't the point.
What mattered—
Was that she could do something even Kevin couldn't.
[Something even Kevin can't do... could it be awakening Stigmas inside humans?]
That's a power previously mentioned—
Mistelin could awaken dormant Stigmas within people at will.
[Wait... but didn't Jackal forcibly awaken an entire city's Stigmas back in Skydome?]
[Yeah, and Mobius's prototype Stigma Project could do that too.]
[If that's true, then... why is Grey Serpent so obsessed with recruiting Mistelin?]
Players were puzzled—
And Mistelin, in-story, also asked:
"What exactly is it you're after?"
"Perhaps... things you consider completely worthless."
Instead of answering directly—
Grey Serpent turned to look toward the distant battlefield.
Where those Titans had been fighting the Honkai Beasts.
"'Otto'-san, you're keeping secrets in the plot again," Elysia couldn't help but mutter.
"Well... Grey Serpent's true goal regarding Mistelin has already been hinted at in earlier scenes."
Hokuto paused—
Then seriously offered Elysia a reply.
He wasn't lying—
There had been foreshadowing before.
Just, as Grey Serpent said—
Most players probably dismissed it as trivial backstory.
"Is that so..."
Elysia wasn't suspicious.
"But... which part was the relevant hint... I don't think I can guess..."
She mused aloud, tapping the screen gently.
Hokuto didn't speak again—he had no plans to give her further hints.
...
Back in the plot.
Why did Grey Serpent suddenly turn toward the battlefield?
Because—
While he and Mistelin talked, the Titan squad had been annihilated.
The shrieks of the Honkai Beasts faded into the distance.
And on the pale ground, only the wreckage of the mechs remained—
Soon to be buried by snow.
"...Seems they didn't make it."
"So—at this very moment—
Do you still regret not acting to save them?
Or... does their death, not by your hand, ease your guilt?"
[Wasn't the Second Eruption not caused by Mistelin?]
[But it's true that those Beasts emerged because of her—that's why Hare is so conflicted.]
[In short—Sirin was the quake. Mistelin is the aftershock. And this aftershock might be even more destructive.]
So then...
Did Mistelin try anything to prevent being an aftershock?
Of course.
In addition to her suicide attempts—
She once tried sealing herself away—cutting ties with the world of humanity.
Sounds decent, right?
But sadly—
That failed too.
Because as long as she existed, she would continuously generate Honkai Beasts.
And she couldn't control them.
They'd attack humans and cause wave after wave of disaster.
Naturally—
This raised another question among players:
Did Mistelin really need to blame herself so harshly?
After all—
When craftsmen make guns, no one blames them for every person shot, right?
In fact, if someone did say that...
People would wonder if they were a bit... off.
"In my opinion, no one should ever be punished for the talents they're born with."
In-game, Grey Serpent voiced the same thoughts as many players—
Without sugarcoating it.
"But still...
I'm a Schariac.
Do you understand that?"
Mistelin—
The crystallization of salvation as a concept—
Could never forgive herself on those grounds.
Players: "..."
Of course.
Someone born to save humanity—
Yet cursed to destroy all she touches.
The instinct to protect, written into her genes—
Now clashing against her helpless reality.
To her, this was the cruelest curse imaginable.
No wonder she kept seeking death.
[So she's the embodiment of humanity's desire for salvation—yet constantly, irreversibly harms humanity?]
[She really is a literal living Black Abyss White Flower...]
[This sudden spike in knives... now this is the miHoYo we know and love.]
...
Of course—
Mistelin's pain, confusion, and despair—
Had nothing to do with Grey Serpent.
He wasn't here to console her or preach about positivity.
Surely no one thought Grey Serpent was actually a kind-hearted educator, right?
At least—
Most versions of Grey Serpent weren't.
"I see...
The one thing I truly care about—you never mentioned.
To you, it's just some meaningless temporary measure."
"Still—even with precedent, I couldn't be certain you'd be capable.
So now... this life's true value must be revealed."
"There's one thing you do—
You think it's merely a way to preserve people's stories.
That it doesn't truly redeem those who died because of you."
"But to me...
It represents a miraculous future."
Grey Serpent spoke calmly—
Unbothered by the fact his body was about to die.
He revealed the real reason he had sought Mistelin's cooperation.
Mistelin had a special power—
She could transcribe a person into pure data and preserve them as a Conceptual Form.
In other words—
She was a mobile hard drive with infinite capacity.
When people died, their life stories would be recorded,
Become part of a Conceptual Form,
And live on as pure Stigma data—without soul or awareness.
Isn't that exactly what the current Stigma Project was doing?
Not exactly the same—
But very, very similar.
"So it was this part?"
Elysia understood at last.
From the beginning of Mistelin's story—
She'd demonstrated her ability to read and store data from objects.
"So...
Is the current Stigma Project something Hare came up with?"
"Doesn't that mean Dr. Mobius's fifteen drafts were wasted?"
"She spent so long revising those plans...
If she knew none were used in the end—would she be mad?"
Hokuto: "..."
"Probably not.
And without those fifteen drafts—Hare couldn't have developed the sixteenth.
The current Stigma Project...
It's more like a continuation of what came before."
"At least... it wasn't scrapped back to version one.
Thank goodness."
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