Chapter 7 – Living After Midnight

Week 1 and a Half of the Game

The Player Character known as Midnight ran through the dark streets of the world that she had been trapped in. She was being pursued by Dreads and she was beginning to lose energy. She turned down an ally and ended up being trapped. She panicked and was slowly backed up to a wall with the Dreads approaching her. She shut her eyes and awaited her fate. As her eyes were closed, she could hear the sounds of the Dreads yelp and then finally go silent. She opened her eyes and saw the Dreads vanish into thin air. Now standing before her was a figure, but she couldn’t make their face. In uncertainty, she spoke to the person.

“W-who are you?”

In a feminine voice, the figure responded.

“I am the one who saved you from death.”

“T-thank you, but why did you bother to?”

“Because I can offer you something even greater than life. A power that would enable you to hold both life and death in your hands.”

“Why me?”

A shadowy smile could be seen from the figure.

“Because you are much more talented than you think. Will you take my offer?”

Midnight was a bit indecisive for a moment, then replied.

“If it will keep me alive…..Yes.”

“Very good, now just follow me.”

And with that, Midnight followed the dark figure into the night bound for something she hoped would keep her alive for as long as possible.

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Week 4 of the Game

Kazama slowly opened her eyes and noticed that her surroundings had changed. No longer in the room she had killed the boss, she now lay in the bed that her and Nabiki had woken up in.

“How did I get here?”

A voice from the far side of the room startled her.

“We carried you back after you passed out.”

It was Shohei who spoke to her and he smiled when she sat up a bit in the bed. She looked down and noticed she was fully clothed this time. Kazama looked around the room for Nabiki, but she didn’t seem to be there. Shohei could tell that Kazama was a bit anxious to see if she was alright.

“She perfectly fine Kazama. Nabiki has been worried over you for day and night. I just sent her to go get some well-deserved sleep.”

“Night and day? How long was I out?”

“You were knocked out for a little over a week. You’re lucky to be alive after that fight.”

Remembering the fight made Kazama frown a bit.

“I’m still confused by it. As I was blacking out, I heard the game system announce that I had killed a player character named Midnight. But I thought she was just a boss…..”

Shohei crossed his arms a bit and responded lowly.

“And you did, or at least so it seems…”

“What? Did I or didn’t I?”

“You killed the mini-boss yes, but not the player character named Midnight.”

Kazama was a bit curious at this revelation.

“How are you sure of that?”

“I know because I had someone look into it for me. Every death in this game is recorded by the games system officially for everyone to see. When Midnight the mini-boss died, only the boss died, however the player lived on. According the games system at least…”

Shohei got up and headed for the door.

“I will leave you for a few moments to get ready. Once you are, meet me out in front of the cathedral.”

When he had left the room, Kazama stood up and gathered her thoughts. She ran the memories of the battle over and over in her head, to see if there were any clues that might help her. But nothing seemed to pop out to her other than seeing the girl scream as she broke into thousands of little bits of pixels.

“How could she have survived?  Are those hackers behind this addition to the game?’

Kazama pushed the thoughts out of her head and got herself ready for whatever lay ahead.

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Fully ready for whatever lay ahead, she rushed out of the room and down the stairs. With a hefty push, she opened the door and made it outside. She was greeted by slight breeze and the light moonlight illuminating the night. Shohei turned to the sound of her loudly opening the door and put is finger to his lips.

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“Sush! You have any idea how late it is right now?”

Kazama strode to him with a quizzical look on her face. There were plenty of people out and about tonight and they all seemed to be making their own set of loud sounds.

“Does that really matter right now? I see a lot of people out right now….”

“Urk! Your right, but still. Keep it down. There’s gotta be some people trying to get some sleep right now. Now, let’s go.”

He entered the street and Kazama followed closely. Her stomach began to growl loudly and she pointed and complained to him about it.

“Ive been out for a week, so the least you could do for me is feed me well…”

Shoehei sighed loudly and opened his players menu and selected something. In his hand materialized a loaf of bread that did not in the least look appetizing to her. He held it out to her.

“Here you go, the best thing I can offer you. It’s the cheapest thing they have in this world and it’s called black bread.”

Kazama accepted it in disgust, clearly displeased that the first meal in this game was a loaf of bread. But instead of complain more, she took it down like nobody’s business. Shohei was a little shocked at how she ate it. Eyeing his shock, Kazama spoke between bites.

“What? Is there something on my face?”

“Ah! No! Just fine! I hope that helps you feel better…..”

Kazama beamed and thumbs upped him as she finished the bread.

“It’s good enough for now. I will just have to have you treat me something more filling later.”

Shohei stopped in front of a building and spoke up.

“That will have to wait. Where here.”

He held a door open for her and beckoned for her to enter. Kazama did as he wanted and walked into a room illuminated by candles and a fire. A figure in a chair by the fire stood up and bowed to Kazama as she entered the room.

“Welcome to my humble home Kazama. I am very pleased to meet you finally. Shohei has spoken highly of you.

“And who are you?”

Kazama was a little confused by this new person. The figure walked up and allowed his face to be seen now. He was about the same age as Kazama and had light blonde hair. He smiled at Kazama and spoke.

“I am Shershiro, the master thief and informant at your service.”

He bowed low to Kazama and Shohei who had walked in laughed a bit at him. Kazama still was a little confused and Shohei spoke for her benefit.

“When did you become a master thief> Last I saw you were almost caught by some players you ditz.”

Sheshiro flashed a creepy creeper smile and spoke to Kazama, ignoring Shohei.

“Don’t mind him, he has a hard time believing in me. But, I believe I delivered well for him this time. You have important business with me, no?”

He guided her to a seat across from him and she sat down. Shohei remained standing behind her, slightly squinting at Sheshiro for ignoring him. Sheshiro sat down and got to business.

“So, I heard from Shohei that you killed a mini boss all by yourself? That’s quite a feat.”

“Well, yeah. But it really wasent that hard…”

“Ahhh,” He raised his finger and twirled it in the air, “But the hard thing was the fact that instead of an NPC boss, you got the real deal. Am I right?”

Shohei was tired of Sheshiro’s charms and let it show when he spoke up.

“Just get to the point for her Sheshiro. No need to draw things out.”

Sheshiro cut Shohei a look, then went back to speaking.

“Well, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted,” He glared at Shohei and continued. “What you killed wasn’t a new thing to happen.”

“It wasn’t? But aren’t bosses and the like supposed to always be NPC controlled through the games system?”

Sheshiro leaned back in his chair and put his hand under his chin.

“Well, the answer is both yes and no. Yes, most if not all bosses are NPC’s and thus are ran by the system.” He stopped for a minute to see if she was following him. Happy that she was, he went on. “But your case is different. A few other people have rumored that what they killed were real PC’s like you and me. However, all the people supposedly killed were never made apparent in NWO’s death records of players. The hackers made it so that whenever a person die, everybody can find a record of when, where and how they died. However…”

Kazama interrupted him.

“However the one I fought is not dead….at least not her player character….”

“That’s correct. But from what Shohei told me about this event, this Midnight shattered into millions of pixels just like anything when it dies in the game. This could always be an error by the game system….maybe.”

“Kazama said nothing and brought up her players menu. She went to her inventory and selected the gilded cross from it. With a loud clang, it materialized onto the coffee table between her and Sheshiro. He whistled at the sight of it and Shohei was silent.

“Pwhoo, lookie what we have here. This looks like a rare item. Where did you get it?”

“From the boss. This was all that was left after she disappeared.”

Sheshiro picked it up and examined it closely.

“Hmmm, this drives the nail into the coffin more. Only the weapons of a player character can be left behind. If it was a full blown NPC boss, everything would have gone with it.”

He placed it on the table again and rested his hand under his head.

“This is troublesome. If a player can become an all-powerful boss….”

Shohei spoke up finally.

“He or she could rampage over the other players and control the game”

Sheshiro sighed wearily.

“Yeah, that’s what could happen. There are two very troublesome facts. One, this Midnight is still alive, and two is—“

“That the hackers are not behind this….”

Responded Kazama.  Sheshiro looked troubled at her.

“Yeah, that’s the worst part of it. The hackers would never let some have power like that. If they did, you and I wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.”

“So,” Began Shohei, “There’s something or someone else at play with this?”

“Unfortunately yes. But why they would do such a thing is a mystery.”

“It doesn’t matter to me,” Said Kazama as she returned the cross to her inventory. “I won’t let this bug me. I will find the person behind this and make them pay for this. Weather or not Midnight died, this should never have happened.”

Sheshiro pooped his head up and brought his own menu up.

“Ahh! That reminds me! Seeing as Shohei had me go digging, I found something that might help you out, maybe even tie in.”

Kazama looked a little wary at what he would say. He continued on.

“There seems to have been a large amount of players disappearing around the old magical academy here.”

“How many have gone missing?”

“A large amount, all reported to have gone investigating it like anything in this game. There are no records of death for them, so they must still be alive somehow.”

Kazama didn’t need to hear anything more. She stood up and thanked Sheshiro for the information and began to leave. Shohei followed, but turned back and smiled.

“Thanks for the help man. I will play you for it sometime.”

“No problems, you just make sure everything goes alright from this….”

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When they had exited the building, Kazama turned to Shohei and smiled.

“Thank you for taking me to meet this Sheshiro.”

Shohei smiled and rubbed his head.

“No problem, I’m just sorry you had to learn important information from the likes of him. But now what will you do?”

Kazama smiled more now.

“First things first, I will let you treat me to something fancy! Then we will worry about this later.”

“Fine, I know a little place around the corner, let’s go.”

Kazama followed him and slowly thought to herself.

“I will check this place out later. I don’t want to get Shohei or Nabiki involved in this. It would hurt me if a real girl got hurt instead of me. That’s why I will not involve her in this matter.”

She let her thoughts drift into the night as she followed him down the street.

End Chapter 7