MGSFV?! Chapter 387. Raven, Why Does the Island Fly?
Mei's thoughts weren't exactly easy to decipher.
After all, Hokuto had long since proven in his past life: even without cooking jokes, there'd still be other jokes.
Back to the main topic.
"Elysia, don't go doing anything weird."
Mei gathered her thoughts and reminded her, slightly concerned.
"Relax, relax~"
Elysia quickly reassured her.
Though... she never said she wasn't going to make that comparison edit she thought about earlier.
So... whether Mei could truly relax? That was still very much in question.
"Alright, enough chit-chat."
"Since Mei jumped in early, let's skip the guest intro and get straight to the point!"
"We're about to~~ dive into Honkai Impact 3rd's new story content..."
"Elysia, did you only invite me today?" Mei suddenly cut in.
"Hm?" Elysia looked mildly surprised. "Why? It's just a transitional interlude. I didn't think it needed a huge guest lineup like before."
Indeed, though rare, Elysia had done solo streams before.
Like the time she covered Hokuto's special Otto & Kallen side story—it was just her, soloing the stream.
"No, I just thought... maybe having some external hardw— I mean, more people to help analyze things might help. You could get confused by this interlude."
Mei offered the reminder.
"Yaa? Mei, that's underestimating me too much..." Elysia raised her voice in mock indignation.
"But... before, you..." Mei hesitated.
"Things are different now! I can handle it!"
Elysia declared, full of confidence.
"Hmm..."
Mei blinked, then turned her head.
Naturally, she was currently stationed at the MiHoYo studio as usual.
Which meant...
Someone else was also nearby, watching with great interest.
Noticing Mei's glance, he paused what he was doing on his phone—
On screen was a group chat filled with chaos:
Group Chat:
[Today's Limited Title · One Big Happy Family · Elysia Stop Changing the Name · Tastes Have Deteriorated · The Name's Too Long · I Wanted to Add Something Too · How Could the Great Magician Be Left Out! ]
Hokuto: Are you all watching Elysia's stream?
Eden: Of course. 💐
Aponia: I happen to be off today. Where's Griseo?
Griseo: Mama Aponia, I'm watching with Sister Kiana.
Mobius: I'm doing experiments.
Klein: Doctor is holding the phone, very busy. (Overtime.jpg) (WorkingHard.jpg) (UltraHardcoreWork.jpg)
That last set of reaction images—unsurprisingly on-brand for the "Flawless One."
And unintentionally, she also exposed Mobius's actual situation.
Mobius: ...
Hokuto moved his gaze from the phone to Mei and gave her a reassuring gesture.
No need to worry about Elysia.
Everyone was watching.
If anything went wrong—backup could arrive at any moment.
Mei nodded subtly and returned her focus to the stream.
On Elysia's side, right after she'd said "I can do it"—
She didn't even wait for Mei to reply before quickly logging into her Honkai Impact 3rd account and locating the newly added Interlude Chapter 31: Stigmata Project.
And then...
She froze for a moment.
The background image of the interlude was... rather bizarre.
A bizarre, translucent, floating spirit...
With a pair of blinking 0.o eyes.
"What is this?"
Elysia stared at those Kaslana... err, Casilan™ big eyes.
She couldn't make sense of it.
"Whatever, let's just enter the story."
She tapped into Interlude 1.
The first thing she saw was a line of text on the left:
"He has no joy or sorrow, and does not belong to samsara—
In the eyes of his followers, he is a will formed directly of 'vacuum.'"
That was describing Kevin, right?
Vacuum, huh...
Elysia found herself musing.
Meanwhile, the in-game screen faded in.
A voice rang out—no identity given.
"I remember it clearly..."
"That night, I happened to walk to the window and looked up at the stars."
"I suddenly felt something strange—
As if I wasn't gazing at the stars,
But the stars were gazing down at me."
"..."
[...]×n
['Stargazing' (refers to a dish name)]
[Every star in the sky is an enemy (fog of war intensifies)]
"Wait, is that Mei's voice?"
Elysia focused on a different detail than the chat.
She thought for a moment and tapped again.
The scene shifted—beneath the stars.
Lines of narration appeared:
Just like the thousands and thousands of nights before,
The cold stars looked down upon the equally cold man.
The starry sky was unfathomable.
So was the man.
[That's a dramatic opener... who is it?]
[Cold man, deep, mysterious—who else could it be?]
[Kevin, maybe...?]
As players started to get the idea,
Raven's voice came in right on cue.
"Lord Kevin?"
"..."
No response.
"Lord Kevin?"
She called again, softer this time.
Only then did Kevin respond:
"...I'm listening."
By now, no one could really "understand" his silence anymore—
But in truth, his silence was already a form of listening.
Raven's reaction confirmed this.
She thought Kevin had just come back to his senses.
So she respectfully reported:
"Jackal asked me to inform you: Hare's project has passed verification. Awaiting your instructions."
Kevin's response aside, this line left many players scratching their heads.
[Uh... who's Hare again? And what project?]
[Wasn't Hare one of World Serpent's officers?]
[I remember Raven mentioning her briefly to Mei before... but not much else.]
A few relevant barrage comments floated by.
Elysia quietly glanced at them—and nodded.
So that's it—seems like she was mentioned in the past.
But still...
To dump so much information right at the beginning...
Where was this going...?
Maybe Mei's earlier warning wasn't baseless...
"..."
"Not a problem."
Elysia cycled through these thoughts quickly.
She noticed some things felt off, but her confidence remained intact.
After all—
After streaming Honkai 3rd for so long, even if she didn't deep-dive into theorycrafting,
She was at least half a Honkai scholar, right?
She'd seen it all.
No story could confuse her.
She clicked to continue.
After Raven gave her report,
Kevin silently studied the mercenary before him—
As if seeing her for the first time.
It made Raven feel... a little uneasy.
"..."
Then Kevin asked,
"Are the children settled in?"
Raven blinked, unsure she'd heard right.
She never imagined this man would ask such a thing.
Could it be...
She hesitated, then replied,
"I've arranged a camping trip for them. Everyone's looking forward to seeing the stars there."
"It is something worth looking forward to."
Kevin's voice remained as emotionless as ever.
And Raven realized—she may have read too much into it.
A distant owl hooted, untimely.
It reminded her of a certain Gray Serpent's funeral.
She had quietly watched as what could barely be called a corpse was dismantled piece by piece by tiny robots—
Eventually becoming a pile of nondescript mechanical parts.
Players: ???
Was that... a sneak attack knife just now?
Ah yes. MiHoYo—never misses a chance to twist the blade.
They always make sure to include these little updates on "what happened next."
Can't waste a good stabbing opportunity.
Silently fuming, the players continued watching.
...
In-game, Kevin and Raven went quiet.
Then Kevin suddenly asked:
"Raven, why do you think birds can fly?"
[Birds fly because their bodies are designed to fly, obviously! Is this a riddle or something?]
[Honestly kind of a deep question, worth pondering.]
[Birds fly to survive. Basic stuff.]
[Wait, did I just read that as, "Raven, why does the island fly?"]
[YOU WHAT—'Why does the island fly' lmaooo I'm crying]
The tone of the chat instantly shifted.
[Whoever said 'island fly' is going straight to comedy jail]
[Honestly 'sink' would work better.]
[Raven: I can't take this cyberbullying.]
Of course, the chat chaos didn't affect the ongoing story.
In-game, Raven was baffled by Kevin's strange question.
Still—she knew her commander never spoke nonsense.
Even if she didn't understand, she had to answer honestly.
"If you're asking my personal opinion...
I think birds are simply meant to fly. There's no 'why' to it."
This answer... was very "ordinary."
But—
It was also the most reasonable, universal truth.
Just like most players' reactions.
On first hearing "Why do birds fly?"
Most people would naturally think:
They fly because they're born to. Because they must.
But Kevin remained silent.
Maybe that answer didn't satisfy him?
Raven: "..."
The silence left her unsure what to do.
Kevin noticed her discomfort and shook his head slightly:
"You didn't say anything wrong."
"But Raven... would you answer the same if the children were listening?"
His question carried a different weight.
The players perked up.
So did Raven—
She thought carefully, then answered:
"No, that's not the answer they'd want."
"In front of them... I think..."
"I'd tell them: Birds fly because they want to fly.
It's the destiny they've carved out for themselves."
Her second answer—
Was clearly more idealistic.
She was addressing children, after all.
So she added a bit of "childlike wonder."
And players began to catch on.
Could this whole exchange between Kevin and Raven... be metaphorical?
The following scenes only deepened that thought.
Kevin's icy face gave no hint of satisfaction or disappointment.
He simply said:
"I hope so too."
Raven noticed his gaze.
That sentence... wasn't directed at her alone.
Suddenly, she realized—
Perhaps everything Kevin had said earlier,
Wasn't just random.
His gaze went beyond her—
Toward the endless starry sky.
...
[Now that I think about it... "Birds fly" is probably a metaphor for the Stigmata Project. Birds must fly (adapt) to escape predators (Honkai).]
[The "children" refer to the new generation of humanity in Kevin's eyes.]
["The answer they want to hear" — that line hits.]
[The whole intro gives me chills the more I think about it.]
Elysia paused again at this moment.
This segment...
"What kind of perspective is Kevin speaking from right now?"
"To the Previous Era, what is the Current Era... or, how does Kevin view it?"
"And what does he hope the Current Era will..."
She tried to understand.
"Elysia—"
"Let's continue, Mei."
Elysia interrupted whatever Mei wanted to say and resumed the story.
The screen transitioned.
One week later.
Outside World Serpent's base, in the middle of a ruined city.
Two members of World Serpent walked side by side—
Or rather, one current member and one former member.
"Raven, is there something you wanted to say to me?"
Having come up from the underground base and walked across a deserted path—
After a long silence, the former Herrscher of Thunder finally spoke.
"Who knows?"
Raven shrugged.
"If we go any further, we'll be in Schicksal's territory."
"If I really had something to say, I'd have told you back there."
Mei sensed Raven's concern and started reminiscing.
After all, she'd been in the Elysian Realm for a long time.
She'd lost touch with the outside world.
"Is Little Sora doing well?"
"Of course. If anything, he and the others have too much energy now."
Raven answered in a helpless tone.
"Did you know?
Last time I went back, I saw the villa walls covered in all kinds of doodles—"
"One of them was a stick figure rolling on the floor.
They said that one was me."
The players, who were still deep in thought over Kevin's dialogue,
Instantly snapped to attention.
[Official slander?]
[MiHoYo still on top when it comes to memes—"Island Bomb Bomb Raven" never dies.]
[Rolling?? I'm losing it—HAHAHAHAHA]
[Full breakdown on the stick figure rolling, please.]
[Raven Crying (Upper), Raven Pacing (Mid), Raven Rolling (Bottom)]
"Speaking of which..."
Elysia remembered something.
"Back then..."
When the "Island Bomb Bomb Raven" meme first took off—
"Didn't someone actually make a full emoji set for it?
I think I saw it online. Mei, you remember that too, right?"
"Well..."
Mei suddenly didn't know what to say.
She remembered it all too well.
Because that emoji set... was made by her.
Cough cough.
Back when Honkai 3rd wasn't quite as popular—
Hokuto had suggested that fan content could help boost its reach.
So she...
It was all for MiHoYo.
Absolutely not because she wanted to draw it herself.
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