On Hokuto's side, he was trying to comfort Seele.
Elysia finally managed to suppress her delighted auntie smile.
"This time's main story was unexpectedly sweet."
Wearing a sugar-overloaded expression, she proceeded to the .
The next morning, everyone was summoned by Dr. Einstein.
After an investigation, it was confirmed that the source of the chaos was the Herrscher of Dominance—the same Herrscher once known as the Herrscher of a Thousand Personas in the Previous Era.
However, the abilities displayed by the current Herrscher were different from those recorded in the Previous Era.
Dr. Einstein speculated that just as human civilization evolves, Herrschers too may undergo certain changes.
And according to the analyzed data, the next target of attack for these Dominance Herrschers would be Anti-Entropy's Salt Lake base.
To defend against the unpredictable assault of the Herrscher of Dominance, Bronya and Seele were stationed at Salt Lake.
Just as Seele was about to confess her secret (Veliona) to her sister, mysterious mechas suddenly began rampaging through the base.
Seele and Bronya fought their way through the machines, and in doing so, discovered a spatial rift.
As Bronya prepared to destroy the rift with an attack, the space twisted—and both of them were sucked into the Theater of Domination.
The Herrscher of Dominance, who had long awaited their arrival, impatiently appeared before Bronya and launched into a barrage of trash talk.
"Bronya Zaychik, born in Siberia… ugh, let's skip to the good part! After enduring a rather forgettable bedridden life, she finally became the Herrscher of Reason, how delightful!"
"But alas, after obtaining the core, she hasn't won a single fight! She lost to the leader of World Serpent, got stuck in the Sea of Quanta, and even fell asleep while fighting the Herrscher of Sentience, hahahahaha!"
"She got where she is today purely through dumb luck—just happened to pick up a Herrscher Core! Look at her peers, isn't every one of them better than her? She doesn't even dare to claim the name 'Welt' for herself."
The ridicule was sharp and piercing.
Players who had just calmed down found their blood pressure spiking again.
[My hatred for this thing has surpassed Otto! What kind of cursed puppet is this?! Deserves a beating!!]
[That mouth is pure venom! Give the bamboo back—you're starving the pandas!]
[Ordinarily, we'd advocate the Flower Kingdom's character culture here.]
Players were clearly provoked by the puppet's lines.
Bronya remained calm in the face of such mockery. The puppet's insults couldn't shake her mental defenses.
To find a way out, Bronya decided to investigate the theater.
After a detailed analysis, she resolved to defeat the Herrscher of Dominance to escape.
But the moment she went all-in—she was trapped in a lavish cage, and her Herrscher of Reason powers vanished.
At this point, many players were stunned.
Wait... was Bronya really destined to "lose every legend"?
Since becoming the Herrscher of Reason, aside from her first battle, she hadn't won once.
Does this even make sense?
Just as indignation began to rise, Mobius calmly offered commentary: Google seaʀᴄh ɴoᴠel Fɪre.nᴇt
"Tch. Why are you all so worked up?"
"Bronya didn't lose because she's weak—it's just that..."
Elysia had initially wanted to comfort the audience, but upon hearing Mobius speak, she held back her words.
She blinked and let Mobius continue her analysis.
Seele rushed in after hearing explosions, rescuing the weakened Bronya.
The two moved together, searching for a way out while encountering numerous puppets radiating negative emotions.
One puppet said: "I work overtime, get ignored, get dumped with the worst tasks... and even at lunch, I get smaller portions than others."
Another said: "Why does the client have so many demands? 'Make it bigger but also smaller'? 'Colorful black'? Here—take the pen and draw it yourself!"
Another muttered: "Mom, Dad, Uncle, Aunt—they all prefer my sister. They always tell me, 'You should be proud to have such an excellent sister.' Even when picking gifts, she gets first pick, and I get the leftovers."
These lines shocked players more than expected.
Even Mobius paused her commentary on Bronya's losing streak.
Even though the players, with their omniscient perspective, knew these were Herrschers trying to mess with Bronya and Seele...
The puppets' words felt too real.
They reflected the very things that happen constantly in the real world.
Things that... players themselves might have experienced.
Some began to feel... conflicted.
"In our everyday lives, we all have bad days. Even I have moments when I'm not happy."
Elysia noticed the shift in mood and spoke gently, her voice full of healing warmth.
"Sorrow, pain... we all go through them. But we also experience happiness, joy, and beauty."
"We never wallow in despair like these puppets, right? These puppets are just too extreme. Don't let yourselves get dragged into that kind of thinking."
[She's right. Sure, sometimes clients are frustrating, but I still eat, drink, play, and laugh after work.]
[Too much negativity really does drag you down... but hey, if I still have the energy to read negative things, I guess I'm not that down. 23333]
[Honestly though, these puppets are sick. They lash out at innocents. How are they any better than those they hate? Hypocrites.]
[Exactly. Acting like they're righteous. Who gave them the right?]
[You guys are all being serious, but I gotta ask—what was Mei, as a miHoYo artist, feeling when she heard the line about "colorful black" and "radiant white"? I still remember those lines from Dust of Her Passing LOL.]
[Not me—I just want to love my OTP~♪]
Seeing the recovered bullet chats, Elysia smiled and resumed the main story.
Seele, like the players, had been affected by the puppets' negativity.
But Bronya brought her back to her senses before things spiraled out of control.
They continued onward and eventually found themselves back at the place where they had first fallen into the Theater of Domination.
Just as they were feeling helpless, a horde of Dominance puppets appeared, flaunting the Herrscher of Reason power they had stolen from Bronya.
And that wasn't even the worst part—
The puppets were using her Herrscher power, but the overload it caused was still affecting Bronya herself.
Maximum insult, maximum injury.
[Excuse me?? I eat, and YOU foot the bill?]
[Who are these account thieves?! Blood pressure through the roof. I need meds.]
[Don't worry, remember what Shibao said?]
[Shibao: Of all the cores to steal, you picked the Reason core? That thing's cursed!]
Players cracked jokes, vented their anger, and spammed memes.
But in the game, Bronya didn't lose her composure.
She coolly identified a spatial weak point in the theater.
This made the Dominance puppets nervous—they couldn't allow actions that deviated from their script.
Soon after, Seele stepped alone into the weak point to face the Herrscher of Dominance once again.
Facing overwhelming restraints, Seele chose to relinquish control of her body to Veliona, who could unleash her full power.
After a heart-melting exchange:
"I want to call you by the name you love."
"...Seele. That's the name I love most."
Even in the cold world of Honkai, this sugar hit didn't lose its sweetness.
In fact, it elevated it.
A light piercing the darkness.
A fire warming the frost.
A sweetness that endures despite the collapse.
These are the things truly worth cherishing.
Death bloomed in crimson.
Starchasm Nyx descended upon the theater!
This was her stage now. As a nightmare, she would deliver agony to her foes.
"Come play with Seele."
The moment Veliona appeared, her charisma turned lethal.
She twirled her scythe and chain claws like whips, ripping the puppets to shreds.
Her laughter made some players wonder—
Wait, who's the real villain here?
But they quickly shoved those thoughts aside.
Finally! The blood pressure Herrscher gets punished! So satisfying!!
They were like two giant slaps straight to the face.
THIS is how you deal with people like that—
Slap them twice in the face!
Still gonna yap, huh?!
Some players who were at the same story point as Elysia during livestream just kept fighting.
The more they fought, the better it felt—completely unstoppable.
All that earlier frustration from the puppets?
Now it was pure catharsis.
miHoYo, you really get me!!
While players indulged in righteous violence...
Suddenly, a new voice echoed in-game.
A puppet named "Lili."
"Wow! Your hair's gotten longer! Long hair suits you!"
Veliona, puzzled, found the puppet Lili and exchanged words.
"You are... that voice. I remember—you're the one who talked to me before."
"So happy you remember Lili! Pretty lady, did you come to see Lili? No? You want to leave? Aww, what a shame, such a shame, clearly—"
Just as it seemed like another annoying speech was coming—
Players felt their temples throb. Blood pressure rising.
Veliona silenced the puppet with a crisp slap.
"When did I say you could speak?"
"Chirping endlessly, repeating everything twice—you're so damn noisy."
"Your creaky voice is disgusting. Your color scheme is disgusting. Your joints are disgusting. Your eyepatch is disgusting. And those weird things on your head—ugh, disgusting. Cabbage might've been cuter."
[Ai-chan: Can't argue with that, honestly.]
[Veliona nailed it! BRILLIANT! I don't need blood pressure meds anymore.]
[Did miHoYo's writers just have a breakthrough?! Today's story is sweet and satisfying!]
[Suddenly I have faith in the writers. Can't wait for the next arc.]
Veliona chased down the puppet.
After a sequence of pursuit, she caught and dismantled it—piece by piece.
Though some players were a little disappointed.
They hadn't vented enough.
Those blood pressure puppets deserved to be destroyed a hundred, a thousand times over!
Next, Veliona encountered Bronya.
She tried to pretend to be Seele, but Bronya saw through it instantly.
The two had a conversation, and ultimately came to an understanding.
Before Veliona faded, Bronya asked her name.
"Just call me Seele. Hm? Not distinctive enough… ah, but don't call me 'Sill,' or you can just guess what'll happen."
"To keep it simple, use 'Veliona' and 'Seele' in situations where you need to be specific. It sounds weird, but I can accept it."
[Sure thing, "Sill." Got it, "Sill."]
[Everyone above—go let Veliona file your claws!]
[Pfft~~ does that include you, too?]
"Getting a cute girl's name wrong is a no-no! I'd never make that mistake."
As she said this, Elysia confidently typed two characters in the stream chat:
She quickly deleted and retyped.
"Blame the input method."