Anyway—
The conversation between Mobius and Vill-V had far too many twists and turns to fully grasp.
And in the story, at the very end of their dialogue—
Mobius posed one final question.
"I have one last question."
"You… who exactly are you?"
"...?"
Back to the present.
"The Villain" Vill-V was clearly shaken by the memories that resurfaced.
"Yeah… who… exactly am I…?"
She muttered softly, then suddenly clutched her head as a splitting pain struck her—
Uncontrollable pain surged through her skull, as if devouring her entire consciousness and thoughts.
Even her name in the game started to blur.
From ['Malice' Vill-V] it gradually turned into [■■■■■]
After about five waves of searing agony—
She clutched her no-longer-aching head, and realized with a jolt… she was Mei??
The players were stunned.
That scene of Vill-V turning into Mei was absolutely mind-blowing.
Was it that Mei nearly got assimilated by Malice?
They definitely hadn't expected that.
And the reason Mei managed to escape assimilation was, of course, because someone had been helping her from the shadows.
But who could possibly manipulate things inside the mental domain of "The Villain" right now?
The players were curious.
So they quickly moved Mei according to the mission prompt to stand before a mirror—triggering a new encounter.
The camera cut to a sunlit study.
A gentle voice greeted her: "Hi, you finally came…"
Mei immediately recognized the voice: "This voice… it really is you."
Before her sat a young woman on the sofa—the original Vill-V, Vill-V's true self.
She gently closed the book she was holding and placed it on her lap, then said softly, "How should I introduce myself to you? Long time no see? Or… is this our first meeting?"
Compared to the other Vill-Vs, her true self appeared much more soft-spoken, elegant, and reserved—unlike the flamboyant personalities split from her.
There was also a neat easter egg: this Vill-V's self-introduction mirrored that of "The Villain" Vill-V, and even the background music was a distorted variation of Malice's theme.
Naturally, her appearance sparked a flurry of discussion in the livestream.
[Vill-V's true self is actually kind of pretty.]
[Didn't you all swear before that you'd never forgive Vill-V, and now she's just "kinda pretty"?]
[True self and Malice are different—let's make a righteous distinction.]
["Righteous distinction," huh? That's a new one.]
Some viewers argued that the true self shouldn't be lumped together with "The Villain"
Others with keen eyes noticed a subtle detail.
[Her hair color's different from the other Vill-Vs—this Vill-V has single-tone hair. The others are two-tone.]
[They're all two-tone? I never noticed.]
[So Vill-V's rocking a two-tone poofy cut?]
"Two-tone poofy cut?"
Elysia blinked at the barrage of comments. "That's a very vivid nickname~~"
"Vivid?" Vill-V immediately challenged. "I don't think so."
"Please don't give Vill-V strange nicknames, thank you."
"Strange? Then… Vill-V, what kind of nickname would you like?" Elysia asked curiously.
"Hm…"
Vill-V gave it some serious thought, then answered: "How about… 'Genius Inventor Extraordinaire'?"
"Hah?"
Mobius, who had been standing nearby, couldn't help but roll her eyes.
"The genius inventor who specializes in making 'genius little junk'?"
"To be frank, your so-called 'genius little junk' is entirely useless except for spreading pollution."
"Auntie Mobius Doctor, please don't say that," Vill-V explained. "Wasn't there that time when Pardofelis almost got caught by Kalpas during a supply run, and it was thanks to my single-soldier cooking set that she managed to escape?"
"Vill-V-san, how do you know about that?! I never told anyone!" Pardofelis jumped in, startled.
"Oh, I just hid a camera inside the gear I gave you. Not important."
Vill-V neatly skipped over that very important point.
And continued: "The important thing is, I believe that just like the difference between a genius and a fool often comes down to circumstances, so-called 'genius little junk' can become an 'amazing great invention'—if used in the right place."
"So, anyone interested in placing an order—"
"Alright, alright."
Elysia quickly cut her off, forcibly ending the topic.
"Let's get back to the main story. We can talk about other things later."
...
Back to the story.
After meeting Vill-V's true self, Mei—having been deceived by Vill-V multiple times before—directly asked if she could be trusted.
Vill-V's true self replied obediently, "I may not have the right to say this… but I hope you can believe me."
Mei took a deep breath. The true self's overly well-behaved tone left her with no room to stay mad.
The same went for players who had held deep resentment toward Vill-V. They, too, softened.
Mainly because they knew by now that the true self and Malice were genuinely different.
Mei analyzed the situation objectively: "It's true that you were the one who saved me from 'Malice.'"
Seeing that Mei was willing to communicate, Vill-V's true self sincerely explained many things.
For instance, the current chaos in Elysian Realm was indeed caused by the Herrscher of Corruption.
And that it was the Conductor who decided to cut off "The Villain" in order to halt the Herrscher's progress.
"Perhaps… in that situation, the Conductor realized that that region would choose betrayal—leaning on its special abilities to side with the Herrscher of Corruption, and destroy the rest."
"In that case… I would survive, hidden in the darkness where no one could find me."
"That's why she did what she did. After all, the one who knows me best… is still myself."
As Vill-V's true self talked about the other personalities—
The players came to a clearer understanding: each Vill-V personality was a fragment split from the original.
Each one was relatively independent.
You could even say—
What "The Villain" did was her own doing, unrelated to the others. They were victims too.
[So, the Vill-V we're pulling for—cough, I mean the one that joins the roster later—is it a good Vill-V, a bad one, or a mix of both? A complete Vill-V?]
[We won't know until she's officially released.]
[Wait a sec—weren't we all saying we'd never pull her?!]
[We're not pulling. We're just analyzing her lore. (serious)(serious)]
...
Clearly, the players' attitude was shifting.
But let's put that aside for now.
Because Vill-V's true self soon brought up something very important.
She continued speaking with Mei.
"It's just that… I've lost most of my data and am constantly under surveillance by the Herrscher of Corruption."
"To avoid detection and speak with you, we had to meet here… Thankfully, she also wanted to lure you in."
Mei understood: "To eliminate me completely."
"Exactly," Vill-V's true self nodded.
Mei then asked, "Then… Kevin, Pardofelis, and Mobius…? Their sacrifices seem meaningless."
"Yes, they were. Completely meaningless," Vill-V's true self didn't deny it. "So… they shouldn't have happened."
Hm?
Huh???
The players were visibly stunned by that statement.
What did she mean?
["Shouldn't have happened"…]
Does that mean there's still hope? That a twist is coming?
[Could Elysia have guessed right again? Cat Cat, Snake-sis, Kevin—are they all coming back?!]
[Would the writers really be so merciful? I doubt it.]
[But after all this buildup, not bringing them back would feel pretty rude, wouldn't it?]
The players were suddenly full of anticipation for what's to come.
In-game, Mei was equally stunned.
She quickly pressed, "What do you mean…?"
Vill-V's true self didn't hide anything.
"The strongest and the master of Elysian Realm would naturally be targets the Herrscher of Corruption wants to eliminate first… and she could quietly help it accomplish that."
"That's easy to deduce."
"How? For Kevin, she probably said something like… hoping he'd be a key piece, activated through her Kevin Destruction Button."
Wow. She even predicted her own prediction.
Vill-V's true self just launched herself into orbit with that one.
Truly, no one understands Vill-V like Vill-V does.
"Though her intent was deception, what she said was still true. That's the mark of an expert. And the backdoor does exist."
"So if she wants to close that door, we simply won't let her."
"It's the same with Pardofelis. When she disappeared, the Herrscher of Corruption hadn't arrived yet."
"So right now, she should be with Kevin. When we free Kevin, we can free Pardofelis too."
"And Mobius… has already seen through her lies."
Hearing this, Mei finally relaxed.
The players also let out a collective sigh of relief. Some even smiled again.
No one actually died! That's great!
And if they can be brought back, there might not be any irreconcilable grudge between them and Vill-V after all.
Maybe it really was just a misunderstanding, and they can still…
cough cough cough cough
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