Elysia spoke as she reached into her clothes and pulled out her phone.
Upon opening her contacts, a dizzying number of phone numbers appeared, all meticulously categorized.
Klein glanced over, then couldn't help but turn to look at Mobius.
With the Doctor...
"Klein, what's with that strange look in your eyes?"
"N-Nothing at all."
"Hmm?"
While Mobius and Klein were interacting, Elysia had already dialed someone's number.
Ring ring...
Ring ring...
The call rang for a long time.
No one picked up.
Elysia: "..."
"That's so weird~~ How come the call isn't going through?"
"Maybe he knows what you're about to ask, so he's deliberately not answering," Mobius speculated from the side. "Hmm... judging by the situation, I'd say he won't be coming back tonight—maybe not even for the next few days. It's not like he's strapped for cash. Finding a place to lay low for a while wouldn't be hard at all."
"Mm, that's certainly possible." Elysia pondered.
Everyone else nodded lightly. They agreed—it was entirely plausible that Hokuto, after writing such a plot, would want to lie low for a while and avoid coming back to the Golden Courtyard.
But just then, an unexpected voice drifted to their ears.
"Hehe~~ Everyone gathered at my doorstep—what are you trying to do?"
"Hokuto!?" *n
They turned toward the voice, only to see Hokuto standing casually in the hallway, smiling down at them.
To be honest, Hokuto had considered whether he should stay away from the Golden Courtyard for a while.
After all, what's coming next in the story...
Blade Kevin? That was already bad enough, but Kevin was still alive.
The real issue was what came later. Tragic Cat, Tragic Griseo...
Especially the way Griseo's scenes would be handled.
It was likely that everyone in the Golden Courtyard would find it hard to stay calm.
But—avoiding the problem wouldn't solve anything. And if he did vanish, and the team collectively went on strike, it would seriously impact the next phase of content production.
That wouldn't do.
Hokuto considered himself a professional game developer. He couldn't let personal concerns affect production timelines.
So he had no choice but to face it all head-on.
"You..."
Kalpas immediately stepped forward.
But Hokuto, clearly prepared, raised a hand to signal Kalpas to calm down.
"Let me guess—you're all here because of today's new Honkai Impact 3rd story update? You want to have a nice long chat with me?"
"So you've already prepared yourself." Kalpas stared at Hokuto, ready to pounce.
"Say whatever you want—I'll listen seriously," Hokuto said calmly.
He paused, then added, "Of course, to keep things orderly, let's go one at a time."
"Hmm... Let's start with Elysia. She's the one directly involved, after all."
As Hokuto looked at her, Elysia immediately frowned.
"My opinion? My opinion is—fine, go ahead and stab me, but why the cliffhanger?!"
To be honest, what shocked her more than saddened her was seeing herself shattered in-game.
She hadn't expected the story in the Elysian Realm to get this dark.
The reason she came looking for Hokuto now was entirely because of that damn cliffhanger.
"I've already written the next part of the story. We can start producing it tomorrow. I'll push to get the completed update out to you—and the players—as soon as possible."
Hokuto gave Elysia a firm answer, promising to accelerate the release of the new version.
...and then continue the cliffhangers.
He'd already decided where to cut off next—ahem, not "cut off," just... production capacity limits.
"...I have another question. Do I still have scenes coming up?" Elysia asked.
"Of course you do. Don't forget what I told you before—the Elysian Realm story would 'begin with you and end with you'. You're not going anywhere."
Hokuto reaffirmed, "Though I hope you're mentally prepared. You should understand by now—I meant that seriously."
"Mm..."
Hearing that, Elysia hesitated.
After the whole "Elysia shatters" bombshell, he still had the nerve to remind her to brace herself?
Just what kind of hellish plot was coming next?
Honestly... she was starting to panic a little.
Seeing Elysia fall silent in thought, Hokuto turned to the others.
"Anyone else with questions?"
"I don't. I just want to see the story exactly as it was written," Mobius replied flatly.
For her, asking Hokuto to change the plot was meaningless.
She was quite curious what the "Memory Archive" version of Mobius would do next.
Su and Kevin exchanged a glance, and Su spoke for them both: "I don't really understand why something suddenly happened to Elysia."
"Because something took action, of course," Hokuto answered.
"I figured. From the story so far, the culprit looks like Sakura? But... it's too obvious. Which makes it feel wrong... If it's not Sakura, it must be another Flame-Chaser?"
Su probed, "So—there's a traitor among the Chasers?"
"Well... all I can say is, each Flame-Chaser has their own thoughts."
Hokuto kept it vague—any more and it'd be a spoiler.
"I don't buy that."
Su was about to continue when Kalpas cut in, "Rather than a traitor among the Chasers, I'm more inclined to believe... something else has infiltrated the Elysian Realm."
"That's also a valid theory," Su admitted, pausing before following Kalpas's train of thought.
But Kalpas continued:
"You all came here to discuss the story with Hokuto?"
He paused, then added, "That's not why I'm here."
"I came to ask—just what kind of mental state does a person have to be in to write something like this?"
He turned, locking eyes with Hokuto. Even through the mask, his gaze was searing.
"Kalpas, I didn't know you cared so much about Elysia," Hokuto said.
"Don't try to change the subject," Kalpas replied coldly. "I'm not falling for that."
"..."
"Alright, fine. Let me say something practical."
Hokuto said calmly, "The Elysian Realm story isn't finished yet. And you don't want to miss the ending... right?"
Kalpas: "..."
Everyone else: "..."
That was a little too practical, wasn't it??
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