MGSFV?! Chapter 557. The Valks' Inevitable Path: Doubt, Understand, Become; Is Seele Still There?
At this point…
[Who made us like this? I can finally say with certainty… It's all Otto's fault!]
[Isn't this also a kind of legacy ( )]
[Don't treat everything like it's a legacy!!]
The birth of the "Valk Wraith" culture in a past life was probably a result of circumstance—or rather, a natural development once Honkai Impact 3rd reached a narrative turning point.
After the release of Rubia, thanks to the influence of several external games that didn't exist in this world, a large number of new players joined Honkai Impact 3rd.
Gradually, veteran players discovered how fun it was to watch newcomers experience the story. Watching their emotional reactions… their laughter (?)… really was entertaining.
And so, a "culture" formed. After Everlasting Flames, it even solidified into an "organization."
Of course, that was in Hokuto's previous world. In this one… the development of Valk Wraith culture…
Thinking carefully, it's almost certainly tied to Hokuto's endless stream of classic lines.
"Things are just getting started."
"Relax, nothing bad will happen (someone else is gonna get hit)."
"Yeah, yeah, Otto deserves no redemption."
"I'm really looking forward to Elysian Realm…"
These lines practically defined what made Valk Wraith culture so enjoyable.
And everyone else, seeing him so cheerful...
Though you couldn't tell from the surface—and even if asked directly in chat, he'd never admit it—if you tried to storm miHoYo HQ and force him to tell the truth, you'd only ever hear his voice, never see his face.
Always hyped up, always let down. Nothing ever came of it.
Yet somehow, you could feel it.
In the end, most others who ran into Hokuto's traps first ended up speechless… then full of doubt… then…
After the stream ended, they'd find themselves wandering into a newbie's stream, and—subconsciously—they'd start channeling Hokuto's brand of chaos.
Suddenly they'd want to try it out themselves.
And that leads to the second stage: understanding.
After trying it once, they'd often get great reactions.
Seeing another newcomer go through the same chapter and react the same way they once did—
The smile would shift from the screen to their own face.
Naturally, they'd reach the final stage: becoming.
At that moment, they got it.
So even if this world's Valk Wraith culture wasn't 100% caused by Hokuto, let's be conservative and say… it's at least 70–80% his fault.
Back to the main story.
The players in the stream kept bantering, eventually blaming everything on Hokuto.
Even if they chose to learn and become Valk Wraiths themselves—surely Hokuto still bore at least 1% of the blame, right?
But once the banter cooled, attention shifted back to the plot.
On one side, Theresa had just undergone an Artificial Honkai Eruption.
On the other, the Seele who was entrusted with protecting the dream realm away from the battlefield—
Ran into someone completely unexpected.
Hare—no, now she should be called Misteln Schariac.
After leaving World Serpent, she had reverted to the name of the First.
So although she and the First couldn't exactly be called the same person anymore, she clearly retained many of the First's traits.
Misteln's appearance, naturally, put Seele on high alert—especially Veliona.
[POV switched to Seele? Wait, is she about to transform too?]
[If everyone gets a transformation, doesn't that cheapen it?]
[Seele's different. Her link with the Herrscher of Death… It's been foreshadowed a lot.]
[Wait a second! What if Seele's evolution needs both Veliona and Misteln?!]
Just as players started guessing that Misteln might help Seele transform—
Misteln calmly stated she was just a passing bystander, not planning to get involved in their business.
Much like Kevin's stance toward the Herrscher of Sentience—whether the Stigma Plan succeeded or Finality descended, it didn't affect his survival.
Misteln was the same.
However, since fate had brought them together, she was willing to share some useful intel.
According to her, someone within the dream labyrinth might be able to help them.
And who could that be...?
Does anyone remember a being who knows the future?
Who—due to a prior confrontation with the Golden Serpent—had been sealed away?
Now that the Golden Serpent was backstabbed by other Gray Serpents and perished, and the Stigma Plan was in chaos…
Thanks to Misteln's guidance, Seele had a chance to find her.
Ai-chan?
The players quickly pieced it together.
Not that hard to guess, really.
But Ai-chan had always been a bit of a mystery to them...
As a being born from pseudo-time crystallization, she couldn't change the outcome of the story—or even major turning points.
So why was she always trying to do something?
Because… wasn't it meaningless?
After all, the ending couldn't be changed.
That was their old thinking. But now, seeing the story unfold like this—
If they were in Ai-chan's shoes, they might try too.
Being unable to change something and giving up trying are not the same.
Besides—what if something did change?
Even a one-in-a-million chance… even smaller… was worth trying.
Maybe it was because of Kevin… or Fu Hua… or Theresa, Mei, Kiana…
Or maybe it was just a wish for a more dazzling ending…
Or maybe, selfishly, a wish to make the ending her own.
Who knows?
Reality was already confusing enough.
If even in a dream, you don't dare to dream boldly… that's too sad.
Gradually understanding Ai-chan's mindset made her actions much clearer.
Though, just to say...
Even if "dreaming" in this case wasn't literal, Ai-chan, locked in a dream realm by the Golden Serpent, really was dreaming quite extravagantly.
From dusk-bound girls and battleships to Origins and Finality beneath the stars.
Her world was divided into countless slices of parallel time.
In that endless temporal stream, she lived through countless pasts and futures, witnessing endless similar stories.
Some fleeting as a shooting star—gone in an instant.
Others trickled like a stream, reaching far into the future.
[Wait? If the stories are similar and headed the same way—why are some longer, some shorter?]
[Let's use a metaphor? I started playing Honkai from launch and stuck with it. My friend quit. My story made it to this chapter. Theirs stopped forever at Chapter 25.]
[Ah, I get it. Since the witness no longer observes it, the story stops. Naturally shorter than those still ongoing.]
[Actually I'm more curious why that friend stopped at Chapter 25.]
That last comment clearly hit the mark.
[Let me guess…]
After a long silence, a new message appeared:
[Too many possible reasons. Hard to guess.]
[Queen arc ended, Himeko arc wrapped up, got emotionally wrecked, bad gacha pulls… tons of reasons.]
[…Actually, none of those ( ). My friend was just imitating Herrscher of Binding's pose and twisted their neck too hard—ended up in the hospital.
By the time they recovered, they heard Elysian Realm was about to be wiped out and got spooked (←_←)]
[Elysian Realm is so sweet! What's there to fear?! Go make your friend finish that story!! (rage.jpg)]
Best to steer away from this increasingly absurd tangent.
Still, from how the topic began...
It's clear players were seriously reflecting after seeing those scenes.
Ai-chan… was just a little too similar to players who couldn't do anything.
In-game.
A flurry of scenes that players instantly recognized kept flashing by.
As if there were countless parallel Honkai worlds.
In some sense—true.
How many people were playing Honkai right now, devices in hand?
Unclear. But definitely a lot.
If each device's Honkai game was its own parallel world…
Then yes, there were countless similar Honkai worlds.
But.
The story wasn't content with just flashing back endlessly.
Soon, it turned toward something no one had seen before.
A blurry CG appeared. Within it—an indistinct silhouette.
So as the scene appeared, players all instinctively squinted, trying to make out the figure.
And once they really looked—
Something made their hearts jolt.
Why did the silhouette look so much like Seele?
It's just…
[Seele?! She's grown up!!]
[This chapter just dropped three satellites in one go.]
[50 cents on this being future Seele in her Herrscher of Death form!]
[Bro, by then who even knows if Earth will still have Honkai. Herrscher what now?]
"Judging from the silhouette's posture—it really seems like Seele, right? Then what about [Seele]?"
Elysia also studied the CG carefully, then asked a small question.
[Maybe she's still inside Seele's body?]
"Mr. 'Otto,' is that so?"
Elysia turned toward Hokuto, scrutinizing him closely.
She had plenty of experience now—after all their verbal back-and-forths.
So whatever Hokuto said, she felt she could at least get some clue.
But...
As the saying goes: for every foot the Dao grows, the Devil grows a yard.
"Huh? What'd you say?" Hokuto replied in surprise.
"..."
"I asked, just like the others said—[Seele] is still inside Seele's body, right?"
After a pause, Elysia phrased her question more precisely.
"Ah?!"
Once again, Hokuto began with a "Huh?!"—then delivered a completely unrelated fact:
"Isn't the current [Seele] already inside Seele's body?"
"I mean the Seele in this CG..."
"Oh, this CG? Griseo did a nice job drawing it. I thought so too."
Elysia: "..."
"Why'd you stop talking?" A true master of playing dumb.
"...Forget it. I'll keep playing through the story."
Elysia thought about it and decided that instead of pushing here, she'd find another way post-stream.
Might be more efficient that way.
Back to the story.
In Ai-chan's hazy thoughts, she seemed to hear a call coming from the silhouette.
"Who is it? Who's there?"
"Am I… seeing the future again?"
The vague figure turned slightly toward her, lips parting as if to speak.
"Who are you... and what do you want to tell me…"
Sensing the girl's state, the silhouette gently shook its head, starting to fade.
"!!!"
Ai-chan seemed to realize something.
This wasn't future Seele trying to tell her something—
It was the person calling her who appeared as future Seele in her eyes.
Now, if she reached out, time would resync.
So, she grasped that sliver of light—
As gently as possible, she grabbed the other's wrist.
Time synchronized. The chaotic world stabilized.
Ai-chan focused as the petite Seele before her gave a soft thanks:
"Thank you. This time, it's your turn to guide me."
"It's you…"
Seele looked at the one who had suddenly appeared and grasped her wrist, remembering something from the past.
"Back then, in the Sea of Quanta…"
"Let go!"
But before she could finish, Veliona suddenly burst forth.
She first shook off Ai-chan's hand, then snapped aggressively:
"What are you?!"
Strangely, no one found Veliona's outburst odd.
Instead, they found it… kind of symbolic.
[Veliona: Don't touch my Seele!!]
[Veliona: I'm exhausted. One after another. When does it end?]
Ai-chan didn't take offense. She gently comforted Veliona, then even helped bring them to Theresa.
[Is Seele about to meet Big Theresa??]
But just as that message popped up—
A subtitle flashed across the screen.
The Honkai beasts that had been rampaging earlier were now gone. Not far ahead…
Lay a small figure.
[Small figure? She shrank back (sad)]
[Got excited for nothing. I wanted to see Big Teriri.]
[Theresa's height is as stable as her lifespan.]
[Is that a blessing or a curse?]
Someone asked!
[Of course it's a blessing…]
[Then…]
[May Theresa never grow up ( )]
"..."
Hokuto glanced at the chat and fell deep into thought.
Then, silently cast a glance beyond the livestream screen.
That line… sure sounded like something he would say.
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