Even though some players were worried that Vill-V might pull something catastrophic… the story continued.
Actually—
From the dialogue between Elysia and Vill-V, it wasn't hard to tell: Vill-V's original self was almost too humble.
Perhaps this was the Dunning-Kruger effect in action:
The wiser one becomes, the more one recognizes their own ignorance.
Vill-V, in the early era of the Previous Civilization, had already reached unfathomable levels of genius. Yet her self-confidence was strikingly low—so much so that it bordered on self-loathing.
After all, she became a master of mechanical engineering through self-study in just three months.
And yet, her self-evaluation at the time? Merely "a slightly gifted fool."
After watching that memory, Original Vill-V nodded slightly in reflection.
"Yes… there was a time I really hated myself… that period of deep self-deprecation."
"I spent my whole life reconciling with my inferiority complex. Now… I can finally manage to look at myself somewhat objectively."
Standing beside her, Mei faintly understood what it was Vill-V had been searching for… and that she had likely already found it.
Elysia frowned briefly at this point in the story, but quickly relaxed again.
She realized she might've guessed wrong.
The reason all the Vill-Vs wanted to develop a Kevin-specific weapon might not have been to troll Kevin after all—
But rather…
She was just about to connect the dots—her intuition in such matters was usually sharp—
When suddenly, a line of dialogue popped up on-screen:
(Check on the status of Kurikara.)
"Mei, you finally remembered your dragon."
Elysia put aside her thoughts, making a jab as she moved Mei toward the platform where Kurikara was "playing dead."
Moments later—
That big vehicle-disguised-as-transportation, ahem, Kurikara, was awakened by Mei.
Original Vill-V also approached Mei at this point.
"What do we do next… to get to her? After all, my cognition still spans a very wide field."
Mei responded by gently patting Kurikara and signaling it to lower itself.
Seeing this, Original Vill-V grew nervous.
"Wait, don't tell me you're planning to ride this dragon…?"
The story progressed to one of its most iconic moments.
⚠️ Incoming overload of cuteness!
"Ready?"
"Eh!?"
Original Vill-V didn't even get a chance to answer before Mei pushed her onto Kurikara.
"W-Wait! Don't push me—"
"Ah… Aaah—"
The intellectual image Vill-V had maintained crumbled in an instant.
This gap moe was just too good—it never gets old.
Originally, this scene was completely dark with no CG, which players found disappointing.
But in this alternate world, there was no way Hokuto would let such a golden moment go un-animated.
Which only deepened players' love for Original Vill-V's unexpected adorableness.
[CEO Mei, this is hilarious.]
[Isn't this the first time Mei's dragon has been ridden?]
[Kiana: ???]
[Miss Original is so cute~!]
[Justice-slicer! Justice-slicing intensifies!]
…
Amid the rising wave of "justice slicing" chants, the game's perspective shifted.
Kurikara carried them straight to Vill-V The Villain.
The final showdown was imminent.
When Vill-V The Villain saw Kurikara flying toward her—
She was… stunned.
…?!
"That's the Herrscher of Thunder's…"
But before she could finish—
Mei had already landed.
"I think, out of respect, you should at least remember my name," Mei said coolly.
That line instantly reminded players of Kalpas.
Especially that iconic: "Raiden… Herrscher!"
Classic.
But then they remembered Brother Kalpas was already…
Oof. Right in the heart again.
Meanwhile, Original Vill-V was climbing off the dragon, visibly shaken.
Seeing her like that, Mei sighed helplessly.
"Well, at least I found one of your weaknesses. Not that it'll be much use."
Across from her—
Vill-V The Villain stared at Mei… and naturally noticed who Mei had been talking to.
The situation had shifted so suddenly, but when she saw a being identical to herself, she didn't even need to think to reach a conclusion.
"So it's true… we're all just dispensable appendages, and you're the only trunk, aren't you?"
"As long as I don't disappear, you'll always exist."
Faced with this accusation, Original Vill-V cleared her throat and placed her hands on her hips, trying to sound a bit more dignified.
"Ahem… definitely not dispensable… but you're right about the second part."
"This is our first time meeting… right? Hello?"
But her soft voice, and the way she suddenly greeted her mid-sentence, utterly undermined any effort at gravitas.
Miss Original really is gentle and warm.
Especially now, facing off against her malevolent self—the contrast was stark.
Players couldn't help but marvel again at the voice acting.
The last time we saw something like this was probably between Fu Hua and the Herrscher of Sentience, right?
But Fu Hua and the Herrscher were voiced by different actors. (Well, sometimes Fu Hua dubbed for her?)
Still, many of the Herrscher of Sentience's "healthy" and "mighty" vibes were uniquely hers.
But Vill-V… Vill-V was a solo act. And yet so perfectly executed—
A soft-spoken intellectual and an unhinged joyfully chaotic villain.
No wonder the players were in awe.
[Vill-V's VA is incredible!]
[If I closed my eyes, I wouldn't believe it's the same person speaking.]
[Real-world Miss Vill-V might actually specialize in multiple personalities.]
…
Of course—Vill-V does understand multiple personalities all too well.
But back to the story.
Vill-V The Villain smiled coldly after hearing Original's words.
"Yes, I'm doing great. Thanks for asking."
"So you finally found the courage to show up?"
"I wouldn't say courage…" Original shook her head. "But… I did lie to the Conductor once. I think… I should tell you the truth before everything ends."
"Who you really are… that's what you've always wanted to know, right?"
The villain—always so smug—widened her eyes for the first time.
She stared at Original and said:
"Another lie from the fraudster, is it?"
Even Mei was taken aback.
Come to think of it… Vill-V had never called her counterpart "The Villain" in the story so far.
And with Original's line just now—
Players suddenly paid more attention to the strange quotation marks around "Vill-V The Villain's" name.
They had thought it was just for emphasis before, but now?
Maybe not.
In-game, Vill-V The Villain waved her hand.
"This… is not something you need to tell me. If you dared show up here, you should know—we're not equals."
Original replied candidly:
"Right. You're all that remains of me after being corrupted. If you disappear, I'll probably vanish too."
"To be precise—definitely."
The moment she confirmed that, viewers in the stream chat exploded again.
[Wait, does this mean Original is going to sacrifice herself to defeat Evil Vill-V and save Mei?!]
[No way! That's way too predictable!]
They floated the idea…
Then immediately tried to deny it themselves.
Miss Original's sacrifice? Please, no…
…
Regardless of what players speculated—
Original didn't deny it. In fact, she confirmed that without a miracle, there was no alternative.
The death flag was high and waving.
And for some reason, Vill-V The Villain looked provoked by her optimistic talk of miracles.
In hindsight, that makes sense, especially with what's revealed later about her true identity.
How could someone as proud and confident as Vill-V The Villain not be irritated by this throwaway remark?
Especially since—no matter how you slice it—she did originate from Original.
So the fight began.
Yes, "fight."
"So, when you said 'we'll defeat her'… what you meant was… you'd watch while I did all the work?"
"Strictly speaking… I never said we, and I'm not watching either."
That's what she meant, right?
Original Vill-V: "We're gonna go beat her. You do the beating, I'll do the going."
But in reality…
Original didn't even go.
As Vill-V The Villain deployed her turret—
Mei had no choice but to charge forward.
A rematch between them.
Mei now understood her opponent's patterns much better than before, making the fight slightly easier—
But only slightly.
Because, as Original had said—
Vill-V The Villain possessed half of Vill-V's cognition, and her combat power was no joke.
She even had the bandwidth mid-fight to mock Original.
"This is your big gamble? Genius Vill-V, letting a Herrscher repeat her failure?"
Original stood off to the side, perfectly relaxed.
Not even pretending to help.
She had the time—and the mindset—to argue back.
"I told you I'm not a genius… that word has shown up way too many times today."
Mei: …
You've got time to chat, but not to lend a hand? Stop slacking off.
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