Elysia learned that she had acquired a very strange nickname.
She was so agitated that she practically exploded on the spot.
She flailed and thrashed—well, not quite accurate—rolled and crawled—no, still not right... it was difficult to describe.
Let's just say it resembled what Mobius, who somehow got wind of the situation and immediately sent "condolences," described later:
"Elysia must look so cute right now. To borrow one of her old metaphors, she's probably puffed up like a little pufferfish, hehe~~"
Snakes really are vengeful creatures.
Hokuto silently muttered to himself. After all, the one Elysia once described as a pufferfish was Mobius.
He quickly stood up to dodge Elysia's pounce.
Come on, it was just a chuckle—did she really have to act like she was going to bite him?
In the end, it was big sister Eden who stepped in to calm Elysia down.
"While I don't dislike people giving me nicknames, this one is just too strange. I'm a little upset."
"Hmph, I'm going to investigate! Then have a serious conversation with whoever started it."
"How could someone describe a beautiful girl like Elysia—who's beautiful in name and in person—that way?"
Hearing Elysia's puffed-up complaints—
Eden gently patted her on the back.
Meanwhile, Pardofelis mused aloud: "Actually, that nickname probably came from that part of the Elysian Realm story, right?"
"..."
Elysia, Eden, and Pardofelis all turned their gaze to Hokuto.
"Ahem."
Hokuto cleared his throat strategically.
"As the [Second], one of the leaders among the Flame-Chasers, you have to possess power befitting that role, right?"
"Or are you saying you want your in-game version to be weaker?"
Elysia stared at Hokuto for a while, then spoke with a quiet edge:
"I was just wondering if you were the one who started spreading that nickname."
"Absolutely not."
Hokuto shook his head immediately. He had no interest in making up nicknames for people.
Of course, if the players were inspired by the plot to give characters affectionate nicknames of their own accord… well, that had nothing to do with him, right?
"I'm not that kind of person." His sincerity was genuine.
...
...
Elysia had her own thoughts and plans regarding the "pink **" nickname incident.
Hokuto had no intention of dwelling on it either.
He simply continued working with the rest of the miHoYo team, preparing for the next segment of the main story.
The following days were back to regular, serious work…
As long as you excluded—
Even though Kiana had matured considerably under Hokuto's guidance, she still occasionally revealed her buggy nature. Not long ago, after the legendary "Kiana defeats Schicksal single-handedly," she unleashed another bombshell: "Kiana ends Honkai alone."
Griseo, after randomly being contaminated with strange colors, started saying things like "How do I paint the world?" "I can't draw anything," "Mei, I wasn't lying…"—stuff like that.
And then there were even weirder things, such as…
Ahem (clears throat), for more information, please watch the miHoYo-sponsored program Pardo's Dive into Honkai Impact 3rd.
In short, aside from these anomalies, the miHoYo studio was mostly very serious.
As miHoYo's boss, Hokuto strongly agreed with that statement.
Hokuto: "Though... but... miHoYo really is a serious and normal studio."
And so, in that very atmosphere—
The update day for Honkai Impact 3rd arrived.
As usual, it was Elysia's livestream. She'd been looking forward to this update for a long time, so of course, she'd go live.
Naturally, it began with an all-new opening sequence.
But this time, the opening was completely different from before.
A super cute chibi version of Miss Elf appeared on-screen, trotting along with her tiny legs and holding up a big megaphone.
Then, a slightly shrill voice rang out—
"Hyperion, Hyperion, St. Freya Academy is about to go bankrupt!"
"That bastard Overseer Otto owes 350 million Crystals and ran off chasing his sister-in-law, Kallen!"
Audience: ???
As her voice echoed across the livestream, viewers were left utterly dumbfounded.
Miss Elf's antics had truly evolved into something… beyond words.
"Otto you bastard, you're not even human."
"We worked our butts off for half a year, and you won't even pay us. Give us back our hard-earned Crystals!"
Audience: ...
After saying that, Miss Elf tucked the megaphone behind her and gave a big hop forward.
Scene transition.
The regular version of Miss Elf appeared before everyone.
"Hi~~ Did you all enjoy today's opening? I tried something new for a change. It was fun, but I was a bit worried you might not like it."
[two-eyes-go-black.jpg]
[This episode is proudly sponsored by the Hyperion Joint Wage Claim Organization™]
[Absolutely absurd. Can't hold it in. Flaming chaos. Total blur.]
[Muahaha!]
[Honestly, despite blacking out from the chaos, it was pretty fun.]
...
"Hmm…"
Elysia carefully watched the live chat reactions. "Looks like everyone really did enjoy the opening."
"As long as you're all happy, that's what matters."
She cheerfully added, "I'll keep working hard to bring you all more smiles~♪"
[Translation: Miss Elf will continue to push the chaos even further.]
[Doesn't matter. As long as Miss Elf is happy.]
"All right, time to start the stream. As always, I'll be playing Honkai Impact 3rd today."
That's what Elysia said, but before logging in, she opened her voice chat software.
"Of course, I've invited a few special guests today. All familiar faces. Say hello, everyone."
Hokuto, using Otto's voice: "Hello everyone. I hope you'll enjoy today's Honkai Impact 3rd update."
He paused, then—playing along with Elysia's chaotic intro—added:
"Therefore, I, Otto Apocalypse, hereby resign from the position of Overseer of Schicksal and officially withdraw from the organization. The debts of the Overseer have nothing to do with me, Otto!"
Kevin: "This is the first time I've seen someone dodge debt so... refreshingly."
Wait, the second guest was Kevin? Well, not too surprising, honestly.
Theresa: "..."
Hokuto and Kevin had somehow blended seamlessly into the bizarre atmosphere Elysia had created.
It was... weirdly impressive.
Should she say something to match the mood?
...Better not.