Grigory

I sat upon a rock as the sun began to rise, simply considering all that had taken place in these short twenty-four hours, when Atticus walked over and sat beside me.

"That certainly was a hectic day wasn't it?" He said.

I just nodded.

After that beast attacked, we spent the rest of the night gathering whatever resources we could.

We managed to find a number of animals and cactus-like plants.

I checked each for poison using the Universal Edibility Test.

Two of them smelled rotten, so we put them aside.

Because we were short on time, I put four separate plants against each inner wrist and elbow, one caused itching, and another caused a severe rash.

All that was left was two plants, so I placed each against my lips.

One of them caused burning and the other caused no reaction.

After holding it in my mouth for several hours, and then swallowing, I found an edible plant... if a bit unsatisfying and herby in taste.

While I certainly could try the rest of the parts of each plant, I needed a food source immediately, we could always try to broaden our horizons a bit later when we were confirmed not to be starving.

The silence between Atticus and I wore on for a few seconds, before Atticus spoke again.

"So, what's our next step?"

"Weaponry." I replied. "The fact that the Deathworld Game hasn't ended means that there'll be more threats, and having me take them on by myself will only serve to doom everyone."

"I'm sorry, I'm not following... why would weaponry cause more people to fight?"

"There is a certain amount of 'steadiness' gained from holding a weapon. The inherent danger of it offers an amount of peace of mind while in a crisis, which should help others get over their fears."

Atticus gave an unsure look. "Are you sure that'll be enough? That monster was terrifying from a primal standpoint, I'm not sure even having a gun would have made me feel like I could take it down."

I exhaled. "It will have to do for now."

At that point, the scout I had sent to look for resources jogged up to me. "I found some stuff we may be able to use."

I stood. "Atticus, gather everyone so we can discuss the scout's findings."

The scout gave me a dirty look. "My name is James."

"Forgive me James."

James rolled his eyes. "Whatever man."

Several minutes passed as Atticus spread the word about James' return.

A few minutes longer and people slowly began to file in.

After a total of probably an hour, everyone was there.

"Thank you all for coming, we'll begin talking about what our scout, James, has found in just a moment, but before then I have to address what just happened." I began. "The amount of time it took to gather everyone was unacceptable."

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"What is this, grade school?" A man called out as he put his feet up on a nearby rock, much to the annoyance of the person sitting there.

"No, it's a survival situation in an unfamiliar land." I narrowed my eyes at him. "You've seen the flora and fauna that live here; while similar to things we've seen, none of them are actually plants or animals that we know. This is an ongoing fight for our lives, and all of you are treating it like a day trip!"

"What's the point in getting overly worried about stuff we can't control? Besides, this place is stressful, we need to blow off some steam every now and then." He countered.

I shook my head. "You misunderstand. I'm not saying that you can't rest or that you should worry about our situation in particular, I'm saying that you need to be more prompt when your presence is required. That hour I and others spent waiting could have been spent planning our next move or gathering resources-"

"Or resting, which is how it was spent." He interrupted, stifling a yawn.

I exhaled and took it in stride as best as I could. "Waiting is not resting, it's an exercise of patience for everyone who isn't late."

He sat up and gestured around. "There's nothing to do here anyway, what's the difference?"

"You only think so because you're uncreative."

He stood up. "What'd you say to me you punk?!"

I looked him directly in the eye. "I don't have to stay here, I can leave you to the monsters."

"I think the only monster here is the one right in front of me."

I was about to say something, but I saw Atticus' expression out of the corner of my eye.

He looked like he was trying to tell me something that I obviously wasn't noticing.

So I took a deep breath and looked around me.

All of the others were clearly tired and stressed, but beyond that, they looked angry.

At me.

I was doing the exact same thing that caused the fracture of the larger group, and I didn't even realize it.

I thought for a moment, trying to figure out a plan to better my reputation with the group... but I realized I had no idea how to do that.

I had always assumed that it was the strength of Rasputin, of my previous life, that made a following... but that clearly wasn't the case, or at least it wasn't all that was needed.

So I relented.

"What is it that you want from me? Suggestions on what to do in your free time?" I asked.

He slumped his shoulders and looked at the sky in exasperation. "No dumbass, I want you to stop acting like a know-it-all prick."

"I'm trying my best to be patient, but you constantly contradict me, and ignore everything I tell you... what attitude do you expect to receive?"

"How are you any better? You did exactly the same thing!"

I held back from giving him some more choice words, and instead asked: "You say I contradict you, what is the course of action you are trying to suggest?"

He thought for a minute. "Okay, so not that one... but the other thing!"

"You say that I ignored everything you said then?"

He nodded emphatically. "Yes that one!"

"I addressed each thing you said, trying my best to explain my position, whereas you said the same thing over and over."

"Because you weren't listening."

"It seems to me that you're the one who isn't listening."

Seeing that the tables were turning on him, he made his final point. "Well, you made you king anyway?!"

"I was under the impression that I was the leader because people didn't lodge any sort of complaint with me or call for a vote, or what have you." I turned to the others. "If that assumption is a mistaken one, let me know now."

The man I'd been arguing with spoke up. "I call for a vote! If you make me the leader, you guys can do whatever you want, whenever you want to!"

A lot of faces lit up somewhat at that offer.

I sighed. "I'm not doing what I'm doing because I want to make you unhappy, I'm doing it because if I don't we will all die. As I've said, taking breaks is good, important even, but we need to focus on surviving before we worry about how bored we are or how much we don't like the work." I interlaced my fingers. "I know it's hard, and I know all of you are tired, but I need you to do what I ask, because if you don't, as leader, your blood will be on my hands for not guiding you well."

Everyone was silent for a while, before Atticus stood. "Show of hands for Eli?"

There were two hands, not including the man himself.

"Show of hands for Grigory?"

There were five hands, leaving a small number of undecided individuals.

The man, apparently by the name of Eli, slumped and stared at the ground.

I looked over everyone. "I apologize for not expressing myself well thus far, I ask only for your patience until I can improve this faulty aspect of myself."

It was at that moment that a tension I hadn't even noticed was released, at least a little.

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???

[Worldbinder Attention Required!]

I looked over the Gamemasters around me and sighed.

What did you do this time?

I opened the notification.

[Possible fault detected!]

Reason: Champion death more rapid than expected!

I licked my eyes to make sure my sight wasn't being obstructed by dust, but sure enough, on second reading I realized I had understood correctly.

I navigated to the death markers and saw something strange.

There was a massive hole covered by some sort of mechanism that was covered in leaves and detritus.

I pulled open the replays for each champion death and found that they were all the same.

A creature would step on hole's covering, it would rotate in its socket, causing the champion to fall and the other side of the covering to take its place... much like a deadly camouflaged revolving door.

I changed locations to another anomalous spot, and found a different trap that also reset itself.

I looked up recent changes to the landscape and saw that no Gamemasters or Hazard Shapers had made it... it was instead created by a champion by the name of [Juferry The Tanner].

Another notification popped up.

I opened that one, only to see an Inhabitant who was... ranching other Inhabitants of lower intelligence?

Wait...

Those are all Nemeses!

I knew that introducing deathworlders as Inhabitants would cause strange plays to happen, but I wasn't prepared for this!

I sat back in my chair.

Let's see where this goes.