Life is a GameCh9 - An unwanted meeting

“I accept”, Ice said in a determined tone. He was not going to let the chance to explore the castle slip through his fingers if it presented itself on a silver platter.

“I accept as well”, Bloody chimed in. JbRuZm

“Great!” Prince Altair looked pleased. “Damien is already asking the other members of the party to come over. There’s one missing but he will join you later. I hope you all get along.”

The last sentence was so openly perfunctory that both players knew: He didn’t care if they got along, he just wanted results. If anything, he might listen to Ice’s opinion and no one else’s.

Chrysanthemum Garden.

The door opened and Damien led five people in.

There were three girls, one guy and one person of questionable gender. Ad4TLl

One of the girls was a dwarf. Her small body carried a bag her size – dwarves were strong, and she was likely carrying a number of tools with her. Since she didn’t have any visible weapon, there was a high chance she was a lifestyle player. Her hair was ginger, braided carefully. She stood at half of Ice’s height, but her confident aura made her seem taller.

As dwarves were the only race that allowed a substantial difference between their real and ingame body, Ice had a feeling this woman was used to being tall on a normal day.

The second girl was an elven archer. She walked gracefully but with pride. She made the carpet she walked on look like a runway, not at all out of place in the castle. Her hair was brown like the bark of an oak, put into a high ponytail.

The third girl was a human mage. She looked quite arrogant with the way she ignored everyone around her. Her black locks looked weirdly charred, and only after taking a closer look did Ice realize that this was not his imagination – there actually were charred parts. It wasn’t too obvious on her darker skin, but Ice thought he saw some parts that had turned red. Speaking from experienced, he had a feeling she was a fire mage.

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The fourth… person was pointedly neutral. Their face was the kind you’d forget easily, although their hair was abnormally gray and without shine, like from an old person. There was no way to judge their class at all, Ice only knew it was a human species.

The fifth and last member…

The Ice Emperor stiffened.

He recognized the face. He’d recognize it everywhere, and he wasn’t sure if that didn’t make it worse. vAo9Ic

The human was a warrior of some kind. With his huge sword and thick armor, he appeared reliable and steady. His short brown hair was messy, but his angular face paired with the locks held a ruggedly handsome charm.

The five of them stood in a row and Prince Altair rose to introduce them to each other.

“Good to have everyone here. You have all accepted this mission, so I will cut this discussion short. This here is the Ice Emperor, who will be the leader of the group and the one to report to me. Please listen to his decisions. As you likely know, he is an ice mage. The one next to him is Bloodless Sunset, a warrior.”

Altair turned to the other side. His next words made one sigh in relief that the NPCs weren’t programmed to think of the players’ names as weird. YCnkUN

“The one to the far left is BlackstoneMcDwarf. She will accompany you to repair your equipment when needed and brew potions. She also has some knowledge of cooking. This one is Absinth, a fire mage, and she is called Spiderlily, an archer.”

One by one, he pointed at the group.

“I’m happy to say that I’ve managed to find a healer as well. It’s nice to see that you agreed after all, Little Droplet.” The slender and unremarkable person nodded. “Lastly, Knightrider is a second warrior.”

Everyone glanced at Knightrider. kxVou1

In the last month, he had managed to reach the top 50 place, though not by much. It was likely he’d be kicked out soon, but that short moment had alerted people of his existence. Rankers were wary players that didn’t underestimate anyone.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

“I have the report I was given here. Please, go ahead and use this room to discuss before you leave. The maids will bring you refreshments.” Altair walked up to Ice, patting his shoulder and smiling. “I’m looking forward to your results.”

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His childhood hadn’t been comfortable when his acne had broken out. He was an introverted kid anyway, and their harsh words had only made him retreat further into his shell. The teachers didn’t care, but they also couldn’t fully ignore it.

And so they asked the class representative to take care of him.

The class representative, Qi Zhao, was a model student who was very interested in getting brownie points with his teacher. He worked hard to get along with Jian Lin and even managed to improve the other’s grades for a time. p5GmyA

When Jian Lin heard that Qi Zhao had approached him only as a favor for the teacher, he retreated completely. Qi Zhao hadn’t seen any problem and was even surprised to see Jian Lin react so harshly. After all, they did get along, and he didn’t understand why such a small matter would be so painful for Jian Lin.

The sad truth was – because it was Qi Zhao who had “betrayed” him, and no one else. Because Qi Zhao had been a little shining light in his dark life at that time, when his parents were still busy with working. Because he had thought that Qi Zhao, unlike the others, hadn’t cared about his outer appearance.

Because Qi Zhao had been his only friend at the time.

“J-” Knightrider stopped himself. He corrected his words, looking incredibly curious. “Ice Emperor, do you remember me? I believe we were in the same class! It’s been a long time. That should be over a decade ago now!” jzgvde

There was no need to worry about an NPC hearing this kind of thing. When NPCs explicitly gave your party a room after accepting a quest, it was a safe space where the players could discuss their plans without having to worry about game terms slipping.

Ice wondered if he should lie. Say he didn’t remember, or that he was someone else, but Knightrider crashed those hopes immediately.

“You look exactly like your father. I’ve been thinking so since I’ve seen you in the ads, but meeting you directly, I have to say there really is a strong resemblance.” The warrior’s eyes narrowed happily. “I hope you haven’t forgotten me?”

“I still remember”, Ice said slowly. He remembered. A lot of things. It would be easier if the Qi Zhao of his memories had changed, but it seemed he hadn’t. “It’s been a while.” Wfs0V4

“Huh, so you two know each other? What a coincidence”, Bloody commented.

“Can we not make this a class reunion”, Absinth demanded, looking annoyed. She crossed her arms, a finger tapping up and down. “I’d like to discuss the mission. But before that… Hey, you. Are you a guy or girl?”

“Oh my god.” BlackstoneMcDwarf put a hand on her face, unwilling to be part of the conversation. Thankfully, Little Droplet was a good-natured person.

They smiled and tilted their head. “Me? I’m male, I guess.” yRsuCU

“You guess?” Absinth looked the player up and down.

“It doesn’t matter, does it?”, the dwarf interjected. “Little Droplet, do you have any preferred pronouns? If anyone in here does, please speak up.”

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Absinth rolled her eyes. Sitting in between the two, Spiderlily looked uncomfortable, with a little frown on her face.

“Any is fine, really. Let’s go with he since I’ve got a male character.” Little Droplet shrugged. HVYZvc

The dwarf lady opened her mouth but closed it with a sigh. She nodded, glaring at Absinth. It was obvious the two of them weren’t going to get along.

To ease the mood, Blood spread his hands and spoke up. “Male and used to the male pronouns. Same for Ice, I believe. Does anyone here have another name they want to go by, though? Everyone always calls me Bloody and frankly speaking, I’d not like to shout something as long as BlackstoneMcDwarf in a dangerous situation.”

The player grinned. “Blackstone, Maggy, Blacky – your pick. I react to everything.”

“Like a dog”, Absinth muttered under her breath. iUH3AO

The air crackled.

“Well”, Bloody went between them again, “this guy here is Free-flowing River but… everyone only knows his title.”

“Indeed. The Ice Emperor”, Spiderlily said from her place in the middle of the glaring women. Her eyes flickered over to Knightrider, curious.

Frankly speaking, “Jian Lin” looked a lot like his father. He should have been recognized long ago, considering how often he appeared on posters, but everyone thought that this was due to the game changing his looks. l46cFY

Some people commented in passing and as a joke that the Ice Emperor looked a lot like that one famous model, but no one took it seriously.

“Should we start… making a plan?” Little Droplet let their gaze wander over everyone, stopping at Ice who was designated the leader.

Bloody stayed quiet. He knew what a world quest meant, and he was going to leave it to Ice to reveal as much as he wished. Getting an important part in a world quest was often a thing of pure luck, but many players admitted they weren’t even that interested because they were paranoid about the result.

How would you feel, knowing that whatever you did could completely change a game as popular as this? People might lynch the one who messed up. PdMQSk

Ice was one of those with the most experience of participating in a world quest and he was also one of the two who already knew part of the outcome without even checking.

The mage glanced at the report – it stated someone seeing a piece of architecture that appeared to be a castle. After a lengthy description, there was another hidden piece of info; there also seemed to be a group in uniform wandering around. The type that castle guards wore.

Ice exhaled slowly. The castle. He folded his hands together to hide their nervous quivering. “I’d like to talk about something else first.”

“Which would be?” Absinth showed her teeth in a wide, fake smile. CdFAxX

The young man’s eyelashes fluttered softly as he lowered his gaze. “We need to make sure we will all report the same thing, no matter the result.”

Absinth flinched. Understanding appeared on everyone’s faces as they realized the ugly trap that the quest was hiding.

Chrysanthemum Garden.

Report your knowledge – or lie.

No matter what they found out, they had these two options. And this wasn’t a case of helping one group or another. No, the group that reported the verifiable truth always had an advantage and could screw over the others tremendously. 5akSqy

Either they all lied, or they all told the truth. A single diversion would cause an issue.

Up until now, world quests had allowed you to choose a number of paths to take. Some were easier or harder, some were kinder or more violent. However, there was never a case where everyone participating had to be doing the same thing. That only happened in common quests, so this was a first.

“Ugh”, Absinth groaned, noticing the issue.

They were seven people with different values. Whether to lie or not all depended on the information they would find and which action they personally believed to be better. 7m109g

Now they’d have to somehow find a consensus, and not finding one was a certain bad outcome.

“Awesome”, Blackstone said dryly. “We have an impossible task. That said, the ones reporting the truth will always have it easier because they’re safe. That’s all stuff that the prince can confirm after checking. I’m personally more on the side of the truth anyway – I want to get on the prince’s good side.”

“Let’s agree to tell the truth unless there’s a very good reason to lie”, Knightrider simply concluded. “We can’t discuss it too much without finding out the truth, after all.”

“So, what now? We are gonna explore that whole new mountain region to search for a castle? I mean, awesome that I can get there because I’m not one of the chosen people who could enter already, but aren’t the monsters up there insane?” SKWVsb

The group turned to Bloody – the more talkative one of the two who had been allowed to enter already.

“Level difference is going to be a problem”, he confirmed. “Also, there’s blizzards appearing. It’s not going to be easy to explore. What level is everyone here? I’m 78 and Ice is 79.”

One by one, every player directly stated their level. It was no secret.

“Level 72.” Little Droplet spoke first. yoCMeB

“I’m level 75”, Knightrider followed after.

“73.” Absinth and Spiderlily were next.

“I’m only 34…” Blackstone awkwardly cleared her throat. She was a lifestyle player, after all. No one expected her to have a high level. She was baggage during a fight. “But my levels in alchemy and smithing are high!”

“Well…” Bloody glanced at Ice. W1qC5p

The player pressed his lips together. He did not know if he should tell the group about the castle. He could sabotage the whole mission. What was for the best? If he went with this group, would that mean he had a chance to reach the castle before any other player did?

Why did the game allow this type of group, whose levels did not match the importance and time limit of the world quest?

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World quests, especially those that had parts limited to certain players, did not give you unsolvable problems. If the seven of them were chosen for this quest, then it was manageable within a month.


The main group for this arc is (kinda) assembled!
As a writer, I believe my stories half write themselves. Now I ended up with the plot developing into a heavy philosophical question and, like… ……..Don’t worry about it too much when it comes, everyone……. rY96hR

Bloody: “Everyone, introduce yourselves!”
Blackstone: “Hi, I’m a dwarf.”
Little Droplet: “Hello. I’m a healer.”
Knightrider: “I’m the childhood friend.”
Spiderlily: “I’m honoured.”
Absinth: “I want you all to shut up.”
Bloody: “Wow”
Bloody: “Not a single one of you used the same topic for introduction.”
Bloody: “I can see this mission going perfectly well.”

Leave a Comment

11 comments

  1. Urgh, I hate it when others just blurt out personal information Dx And that team.. I see problems coming up :’D (Or it’s just my imagination lol)

    Thx for the ch (ㅅ˘ㅂ˘)

  2. I don’t understand what’s wrong with Knightrider becoming friends to suck up to his teacher? It’s not like he was being perfunctory or acting annoyed talking with him. You don’t know who you will get along with just by looking at them. Many reasons might cause people to talk to new people and then think that they’re fun to be with.

    • Ah, try seeing this from the perspective of someone with anxiety.

      Jian Lin’s basic thoughts about himself back then were “No one likes me” “People don’t want to be my friend” “I’m not good”Now, someone approaches him – but he later realizes, this person only did the first step to get an advantage. At that moment, their current relationship is in a sensitive state anyway, because the thought process goes like this: “I knew it, there is no way someone would be my friend if they weren’t told to be. They must have hated spending time with me. Even now, they’re just being polite, I’m sure I must have bothered them a lot.”

      A mature person might react differently, and it’s another case if the trust is high enough, but Jian Lin was a child with a lot of bad experiences. This chip in their relationship was enough to break it apart. It’s the same as hearing that your parents paid someone else to be your friend. It’s hard to guess at what point exactly they might have started to actually like you… or if they were still only doing it for that favor. Especially not if you’re a kid with social anxiety.