While Himeko was getting ready to stream with Kiana—
Meanwhile, at Elysia's house.
Eden, dressed in loose casual wear, sat beside Elysia in front of the computer.
Seeing Elysia excitedly open her streaming page, she asked curiously, "Elysia, you're streaming again today? I thought you'd be watching miHoYo's official stream."
She paused, smiling slightly. "After all, it's Kiana's debut face reveal. The audience is bound to be shocked. Something that fun—you wouldn't miss it, would you?"
Right—just imagining the audience discovering that there's a Kiana in real life who looks exactly like in-game Kiana.
How is that even possible?!
Oh my god!
And so on—
The audience's reaction was bound to be hilarious.
Even Eden thought so—how could Elysia not be even more excited?
"Aiya~~ Eden, just what kind of person do you think I am~?"
Elysia's voice carried a tone of half-serious distress.
Hearing that, Eden paused in thought, then answered in her uniquely calm and composed tone:
"Hmm… a charming and fascinating Miss Fairy?"
"Humph~♪ My sweet Eden~~"
Elysia was obviously pleased, then explained to Eden, "Of course I'll watch Kiana's debut face reveal. But! I'll be streaming myself watching the stream."
"Doesn't that sound more fun~~?"
Eden gently nodded, lips curled in a soft smile. "It definitely does sound more fun. You always make things fun, Elysia. Not like Kevin…"
"Oh? You still haven't gotten over last year's year-end party?" Elysia asked in response to Eden's remark.
"Kevin was in charge of organizing the party, and what happened… Everyone ended up sitting in a circle eating noodles. That scene… was spectacular. I still can't forget it."
Though Eden's voice remained unhurried as always, there was an unmistakable trace of subtle emotion in it.
"Hahaha~~ Right, right~♪ No matter when I think about it, it's still funny."
Elysia couldn't help but burst out laughing. "But in a way, doesn't that make Kevin an interesting person too?"
"Probably only you would think that way," Eden shook her head slowly.
"Sigh~~ Kevin's trying his best already."
Elysia barely managed to defend Kevin and returned her gaze to the computer screen, clicking open the stream software and completing the connection.
Her stream lit up with pink fluorescence.
In the surrounding darkness, countless radiant branches extended outward, twirling and interweaving, forming a thick yet beautiful vine.
Elysia's iconic voice gently flowed forth.
"When the petals whisper, call out my name~♪"
Atop the vine bloomed a brilliant crystal flower.
Inside the flower sat a lovely girl, smiling radiantly at everyone.
"When blossoms grace the world, all things are born anew~~"
The girl raised her hand, and more and more crystal flowers bloomed across the screen.
"Fluttering petals dance~~ A new chapter is about to begin~♪"
"Hi~~ everyone, we meet again on this beautiful day~~"
[Elysia-sama!]
[Another completely new opening!]
Elysia specially responded to that comment in chat: "Exactly~~ Because I put a lot of effort into preparing this~~"
[Miss Fairy is so diligent. This must be her unique way of spoiling her fans.]
[I'm completely obsessed with Miss Fairy's charm now.]
With the appearance of the pink fairy, the stream room was filled with joyful energy.
Eden sat beside her, watching as Elysia bantered with the chat to warm things up, eyes curving slightly with a smile on her face.
In a golden, dazzling age—there bloomed a girl as lovely as fluttering flowers.
May time freeze this moment.
[Am I the only one torn between watching the Honkai Impact 3rd official stream and Miss Fairy's stream today?]
[Humans have two eyes. One to watch Miss Fairy, one to watch Honkai Impact 3rd. What's the problem?]
[Rita: That line sounds familiar.]
"Humhum~~"
Elysia hummed mischievously and interrupted the chat's debate. "No need to worry, everyone. Today, I'm watching the official stream with all of you."
As she spoke, she clicked open the Honkai Impact 3rd official stream.
There was already a crowd waiting, the comment feed scrolling nonstop—lively and buzzing.
Right when the fairy clicked in, it struck exactly 2:00 p.m.
The Honkai Impact 3rd official stream began.
Naturally, this process lacked the dazzling flair of the fairy's own stream.
It simply started—plain and unremarkable.
However, the image that appeared instantly stunned every viewer in the stream.
What did they see?!
Kiana and Himeko! A real, living Kiana and Himeko!
So this is what miHoYo meant when they said we'd never guess who the two beautiful girls were?
Damn! Who could've guessed that!
Who would have thought the people streaming Honkai Impact 3rd would be Kiana and Himeko?
This, this, this, this…
[Although, however, firstly, perhaps, because, therefore…]
[Abba abba abba abba.]
Some viewers were completely incoherent.
[It's Kiana! Kiana came out of the game?!]
[Teacher Himeko… ugh, I'm so glad to see you again.]
Some were emotionally overwhelmed, though they didn't say anything especially clever.
[A snowy spring night. The camellias bloom in full. The unarmored general picks a flower and repaints an old paper kite. The lanterns flicker, the tea is fragrant. Just like old times.]
[Ah! Himeko-neesan, we finally meet again!]
Some viewers got poetically dramatic, and Elysia's eyes lit up at their flair.
She wanted someone to write something like that for her too.
Mhm, once Hokuto writes her storyline, everyone will fall in love with Miss Fairy.
Then all of this will naturally fall into place.
Heehee~♪
Aiya, can't wait to see everyone madly in love with Miss Fairy~
Such a happy kind of trouble.
Of course, alongside the emotional viewers, there were also rational ones.
[Everyone calm down. Rationally speaking, game characters cannot appear in real life. Therefore, there's only one possibility—the characters of Honkai Impact 3rd were modeled after real people!]
[Wha… that's possible?!]
[When all impossibilities are ruled out, whatever remains, no matter how unbelievable, must be the truth!]
...
Countless comments flew by on the screen.
Even Himeko, who had promised to maintain control, was momentarily stunned by the viewers' passion.
A bit flustered, they looked at Hokuto.
Hokuto was also surprised by the viewers' reactions—but he had to stay composed.
He grabbed a blank sheet of paper and quickly wrote on it:
"Start with self-introductions. Remember the opening line we discussed. Take it slow. Don't panic."
"Deep breath (smiley face)."
Himeko nodded, took a couple deep breaths, and calmed herself.
"Hello everyone, I'm Himeko. And yes, you guessed it right—Murata Himeko from Honkai Impact 3rd is indeed based on me."
"Kiana's the same. In fact…"
She paused, looked at everyone, and when they all smiled back, she dropped a bomb:
"Actually, most of the characters in Honkai Impact 3rd were modeled after members of the miHoYo studio. Back then, miHoYo was short on funds—we had to cut development costs wherever we could."
"For example, Mei is actually our art designer here at miHoYo. And Bronya is our programmer."
[So there's a real Kiana in the world—and that's why there's a Kiana in Honkai Impact 3rd?]
[Now that I think about it, Miss Fairy did say miHoYo invited her to join the Honkai project. So others joining makes sense too?]
[Am I the only one who wants to see the game's scriptwriter show their face?]
[You're not alone! I want that too.]
[Want it +1]
Seeing everyone spamming comments asking for "Otto" to show up, Himeko once again looked to Hokuto.
He shook his head.
So she ignored the request and nudged Kiana lightly with her foot.
"Huh?"
Kiana—now gentle and refined like a proper lady—let out a soft "eh?"
Unfortunately, the moment she opened her mouth, she came off completely ditzy.
"Himeko… sensei! I said it right! Auntie Himeko, don't worry, I won't call you that in front of the viewers."
Himeko: "...(annoyed)"
"Kiana."
Seeing Kiana totally unaware of what she just said, Himeko smiled helplessly and decided not to argue.
"You should log in and start the game now."
"Oh, oh, oh! I was so nervous I forgot—hehehehe~~ good thing you reminded me, Himeko… sensei."
Kiana tugged at her large braids and hurriedly opened Honkai Impact 3rd on her computer.
[Every time Kiana hesitates when saying Himeko's name, I can see murder in Himeko's eyes. Hilarious.]
[I really miss seeing such a cheerful Kiana~~]
[It's like we're back at the beginning of the dream. Himeko and Kiana are still… ughhh~~]
[You're seasoned Honkai players now. Learn to find the knives yourselves.]
While the audience was busy commenting, Kiana had already logged in and clicked into the newly released main story.
Previously, Kiana had come to understand her heart and used her own will to take control of part of the Herrscher of the Void's power.
Fu Hua had also been training her within the Feathers, teaching her "Swordheart."
It left players both proud of Kiana's growth and aching at the price of that growth.
Chapter 13 continued from there.
The screen opened on a dim corridor. Gray Serpent moved forward without pause.
At the corridor's end, a thick, wall-like metal door blocked his path. He spoke the passphrase: "Destruction and Rebirth."
The massive door groaned as it opened sideways, as if resisting the weight of a thousand years.
Kevin leaned against the throne, lost in thought.
Fifty Thousand Years had passed. Power had changed hands again and again. Fire and blade had repeatedly scorched the earth. History had risen and fallen on this planet as quickly as a snap of the fingers.
Yet—compared to when Gray Serpent last saw him—this man had not changed at all. His will was the same.
Gray Serpent bowed respectfully before him and presented a weapon—Judgment of Shamash.
This was once Kevin's own weapon. He had wielded it to slay all beasts that threatened humanity, to face the divine wrath head-on.
Now—
As he gripped the blade once more, it was like reclaiming his past.
Judgment of Shamash fully awakened in his hand.
Now, with a millennium gone—
Myths were about to become reality once again.
A storm was coming.
...
Kevin's entrance remained full of gravitas.
"Why is Kevin always portrayed as so deep and mysterious in Honkai Impact 3rd?" Elysia still didn't understand what Hokuto was thinking.
Kevin shouldn't have gotten this kind of role, right?
Eden, watching the stream with her, replied, "There's no rule that says a game character must be exactly the same as in real life."
"Mm… true…"
Elysia nodded.
Even if Kevin was just a noodle-loving boy in real life, why couldn't he be the cool and powerful leader of World Serpent in-game?
Besides, they still knew little about Kevin's backstory in the game.
Maybe Kevin used to be a noodle-loving, happy boy.
It's just that… he changed after going through too much.