-King-
I stood by the gate watching as one after another people poured in. They varied from men, to woman, to children, and even a few house pets.
There were quite a few dogs, some cats, and one lady even brought in a snake. As interesting as the snake was, it paled in comparison to the pet Phoenix.
I always thought it would be bigger and more…. Fiery, but this thing looked more like a bright red parrot. It even spoke on occasion.
It would say things like “he has a small pe pe” Or “he makes me watch” my favorite so far was “you smell like fish oil… but you taste like roast beef.” Whatever the hell that meant.
Some people were just hilariously cruel. I felt bad for the bird and even worse for its owner.
The owner of the overrated bird was an old lady that went by the name Norma. She told me she found the thing fighting off a stray cat.
Best guess was it was abandoned by a player. It was level 41 and had the epic name “fire cock”
I don’t think the lady understood the joke name and I wasn’t gonna be the one to tell her.
I did advise her to change its name, and to my relief she had already been thinking of a few.
Feeling a little awkward at the influx of people, I put my arms behind my head and turned my gaze to the golden light above.
Over the entire property loomed a giant golden dome, that expanded over us like a fancy circus tent.
The massive shield was covered from one end to the other in magical runes. Each one seemed to feed power into the next, creating a chain of constant flowing focus.
It would keep enemies out while allowing the citizens of Entropy to pass without a problem.
The players were also allowed in, but there weren’t many. The ones that did come in started demanding we let them into the castle. We refused of course.
That didn’t stop them from eyeing me. Letting them inside would basically be like breaking my ribs open and exposing my heart to the enemy.
Maybe that was a bit too graphic. Basically, letting them into the castle would grant them access to our guild core and that was a big no.
From my understanding most of the higher level players Fled the city. You’d think as players they’d ban together to fight off the hoard of monsters, but nope.
Frankly most of us aren’t in the mindset to sacrifice ourselves. We play games to escape life, not to throw ourselves into an even more stressful situation.
Which begged the question. Why did the raiders rush into battle knowing there was a big chance of dying?
The thought of another Erickdom situation made my blood run cold. I'd rather focus on the shield.
The shield provided everyone with buffs. Stuff like stat boosts, accelerated HP regeneration, Accelerated focus regeneration, resistances and even a canopy of stealth.
Even if the shield fell, these buffs would still stick around for another hour. As long as you were under the protection the buff timers didn’t go down.
All 20 squads had come through here for the extra boost. Hopefully it would give us an edge.
Most of these benefits were only active for the NPCs and the raiders. The trust between guild members and none guild members was very, very thin.
Thanks to the canopy of stealth, this place was virtually undetectable to enemies.
We might as well not even exist. The only ones that could really find this place were the NPCs. The players just kind of followed along.
It's not like we were hiding it from them. We basically used the word of mouth to get people here.
Once we got the quarantine area clear of civilians, sapphire and I were left with the task of bringing the NPCs to the…. Castle? Mansion? House of horrors? Sure… why not.
The rest of the city kind of just followed along. Apparently Shadow was able to command them through the menu.
It’s a bit like an order of delegation, except it’s a single command to gather in the castle. Think tornado warning. It only works if you are willing.
I think we’re only here to make sure no one steals stuff, and to help keep the peace.
I couldn’t believe the raiders spent a whole 20k crystal, and a whole ass dragon core for a temporary over powered shield.
It was a one time use type of thing. Apparently, it’s foundation was installed forever ago, as In order to use it, you needed to first install six rune towers around the area.
From what our mage told me. The towers were located underground. It was apparently Isaac’s idea.
This way during a siege, no one would be able to knock them down preventing the raiders from putting up a new shield. The guild core was everything.
It didn’t protect against ground spells but it did limit the amount of damage it could take. Not everyone had ground magic on hand.
That hot cat girl said there was three of these shields set up, and that all we needed to do was activate them.
It really wasn’t something I was comfortable with doing, seeing as it was way too expensive, and I didn’t want to be held accountable if anything went wrong.
The shield was supposed to last twelve hours and all to protect these people that they barely knew.
The thought made me angry. Not because they didn’t deserve the protection, but because I was reminded of the screams of the people we left behind.
Why couldn’t Eric do something like this? He could have easily replicated the shield, but he decided to hunker down in his fortress and leave everyone else to die.
From what I understood. Erick made a killing off of selling iron and coal. His empire was supposedly loaded.
He could have easily hired a bunch of combat ready NPCs and provided them with gear and equipment.
That would of taken care of the wyvern problem and even provided some peace through law enforcement.
I know we’re not supposed to force the NPCs into slavery, but when your born knowing how to fight. It really does make a difference.
Sure I could get mad at Erick, but no matter how much I wanted to hate him, I know that I’d abandoned people too.
There was room in the hummer for a few more. Hell, even before then. We made it into that fortress and locked others out.
All so we could get our hands on the best equipment. There wasn’t much left but we sure as hell got out with a handful.
Seeing all this, all the help the raiders had given to the people in the city. It only highlighted the crap we pulled.
We tried to turn this place upside down and rule over the rubble. We weren’t trying to save lives, we were trying to cut a place for us in this shitty world?
We were just as bad as the monsters of this world, hell maybe even worse. Monsters don't abandon their own.
I guess we got a lot to make up for. I might not be able to go back and save the people we abandon, but at least I can try and help the ones that are here now. Still…
It pissed me off to know how weak I had been. How easy it was to save yourself and let everyone else burn.
On our way out I remember running over so many people. Their cries, the horrible crunch of their bodies as they begged for help.
The thought nearly gave me a heart attack. My chest felt like a drum. My hands felt sweaty.
I remember cowering in the back of that stupid hummer like a god dam cowered, while everyone else did their best to keep us alive.
It didn’t matter if I trained my level to max and found some crazy gear. I would still be the same guy that ran away. The same guy that did nothing when Lina was killed.
How does Boner do it? How can he run out there without a second thought? Meanwhile I’m standing here under this insane protection.
Perfectly cozy in my castle that’s full of food and warm beds. Sipping on coffee and eating pancakes. Playing arcade games and taking fancy baths.
I should be out there too right? I should fight like Boner, or hell I could even do something like Rosy and monitor the raid.
The more I thought about it the more terrified I became. The thought of having my body torn apart made me feel sick. Just like when boner had his arm ripped off.
Looking at my hands, I felt helpless. They were trembling like a diabetic with low blood sugar.
I couldn’t even hold my knife in this condition. “Useless as ever king” Boner always says that and he's right.
Even now all I wanted to do was find a hidden place, and lay low for a while. If only it were that easy.
I sighed and felt a tug at my arm. Turning my attention to the intrusion, I was met with the big round eyes of a little girl with braided hair.
She was accompanied by a bunch of other kids all of varying ages and sizes. They all looked somewhat cautious, as if afraid of me.
Me of all people. I must have been sending out some serious vibes. I need to calm down.
Taking a breath I relaxed and stood up straight. Somehow I felt a little braver. My heart seemed to steady itself, as my dark thoughts receded into the back of my mind.
I didn’t really like kids, but these weren’t your average trouble making children. For one they were all frightened.
I smiled and asked “What’s the matter?”
The girl seemed to relax at my cheerful demeanor. She must have been the bravest of the bunch, since the others didn't want to come near me.
“Can you play with us?” Her face gave way to doubt, almost as if she was expecting me to say no. I couldn't help but notice she was missing a few teeth.
She was around that age. No more baby teeth I guess. I really didn’t want to play with them, but the mood around here felt really tense. Maybe I can change it a little.
I was told to try and keep everyone calm. Cheering up a few kids wouldn’t just make the kids happy, it would also cheer up the parents as well.
In the end we played hide and seek. Everywhere, but the inside of the castle was fair game.
It was easy to find them since my heightened perception allowed me to hear their breathing, or spot things that were slightly out of place.
Favorite hiding places included the bushes, behind parents, in trees, the shrine, the stables, the dojo, and the garden.
The braided girl especially took a liking to the garden, and the strange plants that grew there.
I had to pull her away from a man eating plant. That was how I banned everyone from exploring the garden.
I was actually starting to have fun. There was something cool about using heightened senses to locate the kids. It made me feel like a hunter tracking a deer.
When it came my turn to hide I used stealth. Though it didn’t take long for the braided girl to find me.
I was a bit baffled by her finding skills. It was impressive and for some reason, it would always be her that found me.
The whole thing was all a bit suspicious, so I checked out her stats, and found her perception was abnormally high for a level 1 NPC.
I later talked with her parents and from our conversation. It seemed like she was able to train it up by simply playing a game with her dad.
The game was simple. All she had to do was point to where the marshmallow was.
The marshmallow was hidden under a cup, and the father would shuffle it with four other cups.
Apparently she was very good at it. Her name was Sheila. She kept asking me about unicorns, and if I’d ever run into one during my travels.
She was way less impressed with me once she figured out I was as ordinary as she was.
I spent a bit of time talking to everyone only to find out that one of the boys in the group had been rescued by Boner.
His name was Arthur. He carried a wooden sword around, and had this insane cloak. The cloak had some serious stats.
I wonder if there was some kind of crazy quest I could unlock by talking to him. It didn’t seem that way.
When I asked about the cloak, he told me lady Aku – who ever that was - had given it to him. Maybe that was someone from our guild?
Opening my menu, I checked the guild tab but didn't see anyone with that name.
They asked me about my travels and if I had any cool stories to tell. I decided this would be a good opportunity.
Rumors were great for building reputation and could be used to inspire hope and faith.
So I spun a tale. One full of adventure and great feats. About how I traveled across the world in search of a magical potion that could break the petrification curse off the fairy princess Nia, Daughter of the fairy queen Titania and fairy king Oberon.
Using a bit of old world fairy tale lore I crafted the perfect story. Taking elements of travel from the odyssey. Along with the grate feats of Heraclius and other hero’s of mythology.
“Whoa! How did you got out of the dragons tummy!” one of the younger boys asked.
I smiled leaned in a little and said “ it was easy all I had to do was pull out the spices I got from the demon lord and sprinkle them around the dragons stomach. It gave the dragon a tummy ache and he threw me up.”
Simultaneously, all the children went “Ew!” and followed it with laughter.
The story went on as I piled lore on top of lore. With each sentence the children’s eyes grew wider.
Sometimes they were terrified other times they cheered. What was for sure was I had captured their attention.
As time went on more and more children gathered. Even some of the adults had shown up to listen in.
I was good at telling stories. It was a skill I acquired thanks to all the creepypasta narrations I did online.
My channel wasn’t super popular but I still enjoy the content creator lifestyle. I didn’t have the best voice but I could tell a story.
The story ended after nearly 30 minutes of talking. Even I was tired after all that. That didn’t stop Sheila from asking. “Why didn’t you date the princess?”
What do I say to that? The people of this world couldn’t exactly be held to modern day standards. Nowadays the whole damsel in distress thing was considered controversial.
Just because you save a girl from something didn’t automatically make her your girlfriend.
Even if she felt some kind of attachment to you. It would probably fade after a week or two. It’s better to leave things as they are instead of taking advantage of a life debt.
I don’t want to start teaching kids things I’m not sure about so I went with the most real excuse I could think of.
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“I wasn’t her type. We decided to just be friends.” Even in my wildest dreams I was still being friend zoned. The thought that I literally friend zoned myself made me chuckle.
It was probably better this way. If I’d said we were happily in a relationship they probably would of asked to see her.
Not only that but it would of prevented me from getting a girlfriend in the future.
Imagine pretending to have a fake girlfriend only to lock yourself into a fake relationship.
Eventually the kids were called over by their parents and I was finally free. I decided to check out some of the more attractive NPCs.
Just because the me in the story was friend zoned didn’t mean the real me had to be.
I’d like to say it went well and that I had a date waiting in my future, but that would be a lie.
One girl called her father to smack me around. Another took it into her own hands and slapped me. Most of them just straight up rejected me and called me a creep.
I wonder if it has anything to do with the scum boost I had. For some reason anything I wore gave me what the system called a “scum boost”
When I first logged in my scum boost was at 50%. Right now it was more like 19%.
In the old world I used to be able to make friends and even get girls, but as soon as I enter the new world all that went to shit.
Not only did players and NPCs treat me like I was the worst. My so called friends now secretly hated me.
Well, at least it felt that way. It was more like they thought of me as the annoying friend that they couldn’t wait to see fall.
Of course some stupid curse couldn’t stop them from pitying me. They still had the memories and experiences of the guy I was back in the old world.
That was probably why they kept me around. When I told them about the de-buff they said I was crazy and that it wasn’t a thing.
I suspected it was something only given to certain people like myself, who just so happen to try to hard when it came to girls.
My theory was confirmed when I met a guy with the same issue back in Erickdom.
The only thing we had in common was the fact that we were into chasing tail, and we both had high dex stats.
That made me suspect it might have something to do with character types. Maybe whatever the hell brought us all here doesn’t like me?
Whatever, no one was more of a creep than Isaac. Skipping around and pretending to be a little girl. What kind of creepy shit is that!
Well, that dude was also insane so who knows what goes through his head. I have a right to be mad. He nearly blew us all up.
I tried again with another beauty. “Hey, how are you doing? Do you need any help with anything?”
The girl had short brown hair and green eyes. She gave me a onceover as if trying to find any hidden intentions.
“No… I’m fine.” Was all she said before turning the other way.
The question was genuine. I was legit trying to offer help. While I did want to help, I was also hoping to strike up a conversation with her.
Being hospitable was the perfect excuse to talk to all of them. Of course I also asked people I wasn’t trying to hit on the same question.
Not because I thought it would make me less creepy, but because I figured I’d be killing two birds with one stone. Fulfilling my duties while hitting on girls.
No matter what approach I took they all seemed to look at me like a fat turd in a urinal. It was really starting to mess with my self-esteem.
“are you a toaster, because I’m looking for someone to take a bath with tonight.” Slap!
“I always thought happiness started with the letter H but my happiness starts with U.” punch!
“Are you part phone charger? Cause I'm dying without you.” Punch! Punch!
“Relationships should be 50/50. I’ll give you my last name and you scream out my first!” Shove!
“are you hiring? Cause you look like you have a couple openings that need filling.” The girl was a bit confused, so I jumped into my next pick up line.
“you're magnetic! My zipper is falling for you!” She didn’t get that one either so I tried the next one instead.
“kissing is a love language. Want to start a conversation with me?” she got that one and slapped me across the face.
She must of asked someone about the other stuff I said, because she later came back blushing like crazy and slapped me twice more. I moved on.
“Your body is 60% water, and I'm thirsty as FUCK.” That time I got a kick to the balls, followed by a punch from who I presume to be her boyfriend.
What was with this world!
You know for an anime inspired world this place really sucked! I was supposed to be over powered with a cheat skill, and have lots and lots of anime waifus following me around, and fighting over me! What kind of fantasy story am I in!
The only explanation I could think of was I wasn’t the main character. A side character then? Did that make Boner the main character?
He does have the image going for him, and he even ran out into battle like a badass. That makes sense. So…. Does that mean…
Crap! No wonder I’m having such a shitty time! I didn’t follow the plot! Right now Boner probably already awakened as the chosen hero and has all kinds of crazy abilities and spells!
I bet he got a dragon waifu too. When he gets back I’m totally gonna… gonna. Huh, what could I do to an over powered protagonist? Probably nothing. His plot armor alone is enough to send me to the moon.
I could see myself trying to attack him only to accidently trip on my feet and land on the sharp end of my knife.
While deep in thought, a soft gentle voice called for my attention. “Excuse me.”
I looked back to its direction. God had answered my prayers and had brought me my own waifu!
I stood up straight and gave her my most confidant smile, as I puffed out my chest.
In the deepest manliness voice I could manage I asked “Yes, do you need anything?” I immediately coughed afterwards deflating like a balloon.
She gave me a strange look, and I was sure that I blew it. Even with devine intervention I still can’t get a girlfriend. Well, whatever this probably isn’t the time to chase tail.
To my surprise the girl laughed before coughing to regain her composure. This kind of made us even in a way.
She blush in embarrassment, then cleared her throat. “Ahem, those primordials over there are trying to steal from Arthur.”
The girl pointed her finger to a group consisting of two guys and a girl. They were cornering the same kid that Boner had saved.
A woman seemed to be trying to get to her son, only for the female player to hold her back with very little effort.
People were gathering around them, but it didn’t look like they were going to do anything.
The NPCs were to low level, and the other neutral players looked like they were on the wrong side of the whole thing.
This was a bad situation. Which meant…. Well, fuck me sideways.
I looked back to the girl. Her name tag showing up as Poppy. “I'll see what I can do.” Using party chat I sent sapphire a message.
Party chat:
Grand_king23: Hey Sapphire. Do you see the players over there harassing that kid?
Shaded_Sapphire: Yeah, just noticed it. You should really do something.
Grand_King23: Me! What am I supposed to do!?
Shaded_sapphire: Stab them! You shit head!
Grand_king23: but…. can I really do that? There so much higher level than me.
Shaded_Sapphire: If you do nothing then the other players will walk all over you and that means the guild will be in trouble. Besides, you have all the guild perks and the protection of the giant ass shield. Let's not forget the new gear.
She had a point. I was stronger now. With my new gear I could probably take them. I eyed the muggers in an attempt to get a better look at the situation.
The girl was a level 31 ranger. She had a shot gun strapped to her back. The guy tugging at Arthur’s cloak was a level 32 monk.
He didn't have any weapons on him. Most likely the guy was only good at punching things.
The other guy holding Arthur down, was a level 29 dualist. He carried a two handed long sword at his side.
They were higher level but the guild gave me better gear and stat boosts. I wanted to be a cool anime protagonist. This was my chance. Who knew, maybe this was the start to my episode one.
I went into stealth and made my way over. Zigzagging, I weaved my way through the crowd until it got so packed that I couldn't get closer.
Using the meager stat points I had in strength and the feather weight enchantment on my boots, I jumped over the crowd locking onto my target.
Take out the highest level first!
Activating the ability poison edge, I slammed into the monks back forcing my new knife into his kidney. He screamed in pain as his blood bubbled around my knife.
The dualist drew his blade taking a stance straight out of an anime, as the monk tried to pull me off.
For some reason the hulking brute couldn't get a grip on me. His muscles were too big preventing him from reaching me.
I wonder how he washes himself. He probably has to hire someone to do it for him. That’s probably why he needs that cloak…. How sad…
I didn't hesitate as I twisted my knife before ripping it out, and stabbing again. I activated paralysis on the second stab hoping it would stop him from moving.
The chance of it working was 25% and with the skill upgrades, it was up to 40%. Lucky for me, it fucking worked!
the guys screams of agony and fear died down to a gargle, as foam started to volcano out of his mouth.
A moment passed before He went limp falling to the ground like a sack of dead puppies.
I couldn't believe that worked! It never works! I almost cheered in excitement when I remembered I was in the middle of a mugging.
The other guy held his shaking blade up to me while holding onto Arthur by the hair.
Arthur cried “Let me go!”
The way he was standing made me feel like he’d watched to many movies. I might be able to cheese this.
He seemed to realize this was a real fight as he skipped all the fancy movie sword play and held it against Arthur’s neck. My confidence dropped a hair at that.
Even if this wasn’t the case, he had longer reach and my whole build was centered around sneak attacks. I was out in the open and Boner wasn’t here to distract them.
Intimidation it was then. I needed to take this moment while they were still spooked. “leave the kid alone! That cloak is his! It was given to him by the guild! If you hurt him the guild will hunt you!”
I did my best not to sound like a bitch, but my legs seemed to betray me with the slightest hint of a shake.
That was when the girl pulled out her shot gun pointing the double barrel at me, but before she could fire, a shot of distorted light flew down and blew the gun right out of her hands.
She screamed in pain as the shot tore off a few fingers. The mother was able to get away from her in the panic, and looked to be contemplating on how to save her son.
Sapphires accuracy was insane. I knew her old man was a gun nut, but I didn't know she was so good. She only seemed to get better as time went on.
The dualist looked up spotting my teammate on one of the towers and went pale.
In his shock his hold on Arthur waned and the kid was able to slip out and run to his mother.
The man cursed wanting to go after him but held still when sapphire shot near his feet. He dropped his sword not wanting to be shot.
The ranger was hunched over morning the loss of her fingers. Both her index and thumb were missing while her middle finger and ring finger were bent in strange ways.
I felt more confident this time, as I bent down and picked up the gun. Then took the sword. “That cloak belongs to Arthur.”
The sword was dropped into my inventory, while the gun was brandished against its original owner.
I've never held a gun, much less fired one, but they didn't need to know that. I waited a bit for Sapphire to come down.
Once she did we escorted the three players into the dungeon where they were locked up.
I don't know how I felt about locking people up, but these guys kind of deserved it.
Who goes around stealing from a kid? It's not like they would be locked up forever. There wasn't much of a law system in place…but.
We could probably let them go once this whole boss thing blows over. For now it was easier to lock them up than deal with them throughout the day.
I was surprised to see there was already a guy down here. He kept going on about how the kingdom was corrupt, and how he needed to save the princess.
The guy even tried to recruit me with promises of training me into the ultimate killing machine.
He was bat shit crazy. I think I understand why he was locked up. He kept calling sapphire “milady” and going on and on about how they would make beautiful children together.
The guy seemed to think she was my slave or something. Made me down right uncomfortable. Even Sapphire was at a loss for words..
We ignored him. The fact that he was a player and not an NPC made it all the more creepy.
I wonder if this guy was under a similar de-buff to my own? Maybe… but I think he might actually just be a creep. The air around him felt like poison.
He didn't actually smell thanks to the cells ability to cleanse its inhabitants, but somehow he just gave off a feeling of toxicity.
Sapphire and I headed back up stairs. She decided to check on Austin before taking her post again.
I headed outside to try and reassure everyone. I could only imagine what they would think after seeing what happened.
As soon as I stepped outside I was met with a wall of angry players. They all started yelling at me.
“What did you do with them!”
“You Fascist!”
“You can't keep people prisoner!”
“Scum bag!”
“can I use the restroom?”
“Let them go!”
I was speechless as I took a step back into the castle. The mob marched forward. I slammed the door shut and was immediately assaulted by loud banging.
The door seemed solid enough to hold, as runes started lighting up on its wood and steel surface.
The whole thing glowed a bright red. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but the screams of the people outside left me wondering.
Party chat:
Shaded_Sapphire: What’s going on!? Why’s the building on fire!? What did you do!?
Grand_king23: We’re under attack! The building is defending itself!
I ran to the nearest stairs and up to the second floor. I was a bit disoriented and ended up running around for far to long, trying to find the right window to observe the situation.
When I did finally find the correct side of the building. Well, let’s just say I was shocked.
Not only was there some kind of fire wall around the bottom floor, but there was also a bunch of gargoyles running people down.
The players were having trouble handling the level 100 monsters. Before anyone could die, I looked through the guild tab turning everything off. Then restarted the whole thing putting everything on passive.
It was basically a reset. Immediately the fire wall stopped spitting fireballs at people and the gargoyles flew back to the castle.
Like cats they seemed to lay in the grass in front of the building soaking up the warm sunlight.
The runes on their bodies dimmed as they stared at the players ready to pounce at the slightest hint of violence.
I was expecting everything to go back to normal, but apparently the building wasn’t convinced the danger was gone.
Party chat:
Shaded_Sapphire: You should probably talk to them. You know, try to be all diplomatic and what not. Otherwise we might just end up with more bodies to bury.
Grand_king23: ME! Why me! I'm not qualified for that! I’m just a low paid intern! This should be the guild leaders job! What am I even supposed to say?! Sorry my house tried to kill you. Fuck that! They'll tear me limb from limb!
Shaded_Sapphire: Anything is better than nothing. The whole point of inviting the players in was to build trust with them. You know, so that they spend money and sell resources to us. Resources and income we desperately need.
That was part of orientation and it was later elaborated when we were asked to hold the fort down.
She had a point, but why couldn’t she do it. There was no way I could convince those people to be chill.
Grand_king23: Can’t you do it?
Shaded_Sapphire: No, it has to be you.
Grand_king23: Why though? I’m not like you or the others. Every time I’ve had to do something, I always fail or curl up into a ball.
Shaded_Saphire: You were doing pretty good a moment ago. You’re the one that talked to everyone. They know you better than me. You’re the one that saved that kid. It was pretty wholesome watching you play with those kids. It has to be you King.
Grand_king23: Fine… but if I mess this up you better not throw me under the bus. It was your idea to have me play peace keeper.
Shaded_Sapphire: Always covering your ass huh? That's the King I know, and tolerate. For both our sake, I really hope this goes well.
I sighed holding my head as the stress of everything settled in. Putting a little thought into it, I decided to use the second floor window like a podium.
I sat on the window looking out to the frightened people below. The NPCs were far off to one side trying their best to stay out of the situation.
The players were being nice in that they didn't use them as hostages. It probably didn’t occur to them that the NPCs weren’t on their side.
In their mind, they probably thought the NPCs were in a similar boat. Mob mentality and all. I’m outraged therefore everyone should be outraged.
If things got desperate, it would probably go the same as Erickdom. The thought filled me with despair.
Back in Erickdom, everyone was civil in the beginning. That was until they got desperate. You'd be surprised what the human mind will rationalize to ensure its survival.
“Everyone that has beef with my guild gather around! Please do not attack! If you attack the property will defend itself!” My voice wasn’t the loudest but it was enough.
The players all scowled at me. I could tell they wanted to attack. It looked like no one had died. Some had burn marks, while others had bite marks, or broken bones.
If I had to say how many players there were, I’d say about… at least 60. There levels and gear was as diverse as the different types of plants in the garden.
As far as high level players went there were only a handful. We would still be fucked in any form of PVP. Even with the help of the castles defenses.
The only thing that might save us was the fact that they weren’t organized. My best guess was that most of these people hadn’t even left the city.
They were just a mismatch of random people. No combat training or anything. The only experience was a few hours of gaming.
They stared at me with their eyes full of fear and anger. They kept their distance, not wanting to be attacked by the fire wall and the gargoyles that surrounded the house of horrors. Well, all but one.
There was a man in heavy armor that walked forward. He did not fear the protections of the castle. In his right hand he held a flaming sword.
Before we could get into it, I checked his stats. The system marked him down as a level 40 paladin. Everything else was hidden. That seemed wrong.
His gear was obviously over powered. Oh… it probably had to do with the difference in his dex and my perception.
Isaac had mentioned that was the reason he looked like a level 20 instead of his actual level 100.
He was obviously high leveled. Made sense considering he had the most current gear.
I’m pretty sure there was an event promising that specific style of armor and sword.
The fact that the event started only recently told me he wasn’t the gaming for hours on end type, and was more the kind of player that spent large amounts of real world money on event loot boxes.
Premium players were the worst. I’ve got a bunch of hours under my belt and this guy pays his way to the top pretending to be a badass.
The man spoke in a deep booming voice. “My name is Xiander! I represent the neutral players you see here! We demand that you free the players you wrongfully imprisoned!” This dude sounded like he was auditioning for a movie.
What was this guy talking about? Wrongful imprisonment? Did he not see them trying to mug a kid?
I couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m sorry but they were not wrongfully imprisoned, also its more like a time out. We plan to let them go once the boss is taken care of.”
It was perfectly reasonable. It’s not like they were being tortured or anything. I wouldn’t say it was comfortable, but it’s not that bad considering they would only be there for a short amount of time.
The guy looked at me like I was the scum of the earth, or whatever this godforsaken world was called.
“You are obviously flaunting your power and abusing the players and NPCs! You don’t deserve to rule over this land! I say give it to the people! Look at you hiding in your fortress while the rest of us suffer!”
Now he was really getting on my nerves. Hiding in my fortress! He was under our shield too! So what if he wasn’t inside the castle! He was literally standing under a roof that was worth $12mil in old world value!
I nearly had a heart attack thinking about how expensive and temporary the shield was.
It’s like gambling but worse. We might be attack, we might not. Either way it was bad.
This guy was only looking to rally people against us. He wanted to take our resources and put himself in power.
As the thought struck me it all felt familiar…. Shit, didn’t we try to do something like that? But… It’s different now…. I didn’t understand then… none of us did.
You can’t just give all your stuff to someone else. They won’t appreciate it, because they didn’t put the effort in to make it happen.
What would be the point of building anything if everyone else could just take it from you.
In our case we didn’t take it. We joined it and now we’re helping to build it up. I might not be able to claim it now, but one day my efforts here will build a tree that everyone after me will sit under.
I sound like my dad. Oh how the turn tables. I chucked to myself. I wonder what else I’ll learn in this shitty world, and what else it’ll take from us.
Some of us lost our voice, others our peace of mind, some became more like animals, and others finally figured out how useless they truly were.
These people are insane. Its not like I own anything. Just because I work at Walmart doesn’t mean I own the store.
This was somehow different. When we did it. We were pretty desperate. We literally had nothing. We were hungry and tired.
At that point we were contemplating selling gear to feed ourselves. The last of our money went to buying a plate of fries for Austin.
Comparing these people to us. No way. Just look at them. Their clean and full of energy. They might not have a source of income but they sure as hell aren’t suffering.
This guy was trying to make us look like bad people. We didn’t abandon anyone and we certainly haven’t flaunted our power. Who the hell talks like that anyway?
“We’ve been nothing but kind to you people! We brought you under our protection and you all just want to tear us down and take what isn’t yours!” I felt like such a hypocrite.
Xiander looked annoyed. “fine! Be that way!” he lifted his sword and activated a sacred art. “heavenly slash!” his blade glowed a bright gold turning the flames on his weapon from a dark red to a radiating yellow.
Swinging his blade down an Arc of golden light lashed forward cutting through the flames and damaging the door.
This was bad. He smirked in satisfaction, but just before he could attack again, a hand knocked on his armor as if knocking on a door.
I hadn’t even seen her approach. She was short with blond hair tied back into a neat ponytail. She wore a pair of overalls and held a decent sized war hammer.
There was something about the smile on her face that made me want to run away. It was like the air around her was on fire.
Xiander turned around and had a hole punched through his armor. He let out a pained grunt as spit flew out of his mouth. Then fell to his knees followed by the longest wheezing sound I’d ever heard.
It was almost as if she’d forced all the air out of his lungs. I was terrified. If she could do that to him then what chance did I stand.
At least she was kind of hot. I wonder what my dad would say if I brought home a midget?
The short lady shook her head. “There will be none of that, thank you.” She looked back at the other players. They all seemed to drop down to the floor as if in a bank robbery.
I checked her stats. She was an NPC that went by the name Cindy. Her level was 1? Was this another per vs dex situation.
I loocked her up in the guild tab and saw her true numbers. My jaw dropped at the insanity that stood before me. This girl was a straight up monster.
I couldn’t help but wonder how powerful a level 92 NPC would even be. She was marked as a blacksmith. That wasn’t even a combat oriented class.
Party chat:
Shaded_Sapphire: Please tell me she’s on our side.
Grand_king23: uh… yeah, I sure hope so. Otherwise we are so fucked.