The Girl Who Didn't Cry Wolf

POV - Yui (1st)

I materialized near a river. From what I recall, Hegemaniac should be somewhere here. I didn't want to stick around with Tally long enough to check the exact co-ordinates. I guess I'll just have to look around...

Also, what the heck am I wearing? A green string bra, some underwear, and that's it? There's mosquitoes here!

Ack! I hate Tally so much...

Anyway, there's an NPC here. Maybe he'll know where Hegemaniac has gone?

"Howdy," he said, "what's a woman doin' out here? You should be tendin' to your husband and kids. What're you doin' in this jungle, lookin' for the Vietcong?"

"Um, no, I'm looking for someone named Hegemaniac. Would you happen to know -"

"Look, I don't care what you want. You're a woman! Y'know, the nation began to decline when we gave women the vote. Without 'em, would've never had Carter, wouldn't have had Obama, wouldn't have had Biden. Doesn't matter what women want. In fact, I'll tell you what you want. You want more immigration, open borders, rights for blackie, Stonewall, abortion, eh? That's it, isn't it?"

"No, that's not it, what I want is -"

"See, I told ya. Now, I don't go saying I'm psychic and all, that's for them hippies, but I tell you what: a little Reagonomics know-how, and ain't nobody gonna tell you that you aren't psychic. It's all about- you know, our President Reagan, greatest philosopher on Earth. Sociology's a dirty word, I get it, the liberal professors done ruined it with their Marxist creed, but tell you what, Ronnie Reagan boiled down society to a science. A science! And Reagonomics is its crown jewel, y'know, if he was Newton then that's his gravity, if he was Einstein it's his E=mc squared. But he ain't neither of 'em, he's greater than them, he's Ronald Reagan. And ain't anybody want him to be anyone else."

"...I see. But -"

"Exactly. You know, when I was young, I was told that the meaning of life was simple: win one for the Gipper. And that's when I realized, man, that's it. That's all there is. If you can see that, then, well, that's a great step forward."

"Alright, thanks. Now can you help me?"

"Yeah, I can help you. Nothin' like some good ol' American wisdom to smack some sense into a woman, eh? Well, have I got just the story for ya. It's called 'The Girl Who Didn't Cry Wolf.' Old American fable, my grandpappy told it to me when I was young. I'll try to explain it to ya like he did to me.

"Our story starts in a small town, let's call it AMERICA. Now, all them townsfolk, they were gathered in the church to thank the Lord Jesus. A righteous folk, eh? But one girl was standin' around on the border, walkin' around all depressed-like, let's call 'er Bella.

"So Bella was doin' that, when suddenly she see a pack of them wolves walkin' about, droolin' and howlin' like the wild animals they are. An' what does she do? She thinks, 'Well, maybe I should warn the others, so we can keep these animals out of this here town.' But then she goes an' does the opposite, she decides that ain't nice, so she just ignores the wolves and lets 'em in.

"And then there's more wolves, they saw their friends get in, so now they want to come in too. They're all sorts of wolves, terrorist Mozzie wolves, black African wolves goin' around behavin' like savage apes, gay wolves, the whole shebang. An' she thinks, 'Well, it will just add some diversity to the town, y'know?' So she lets 'em in.

"Well, by now, crime in the town has began to skyrocket. Can you believe it? Can you believe it, eh? Dead townsfolk everywhere, good, law-abidin' people. The police, they're stressed out, man, they're just walkin' around all guns blazin' 'cause of all of the wolves. But it's too much for them, man. And they're just pleadin', 'No more wolves! Lord, free us from these here wolves!'

"What happens next d'you think, eh? Well, then there's more wolves comin' in. And there's some lions too, taggin' along with their African friends. Even some Jap wolves, worst of the lot. Some of these wolves, they ain't even normal wolves, y'know, they gone around gettin' expensive surgery to change gender, all that crazy stuff. Y'know, if li'l Bella just told the guys in town, they'd be ready, they'd come out and shoot the buggers before they come close enough to stand a chance. But that ain't happenin', no sirree.

"You see, Bella's become set in her ways, she's subscribed to the liberal ideology now. She thinks, well, we gotta let the wolves in, or we're intolerant and 'bigoted.' Some geniuses in the town, true American geniuses, they figure out a plan: if they can build a wall before the next wolf pack, and deport the wolves already here, then America gonna be a great town again. But the girl, she turns a deaf ear to those guys, she thinks they're bad dudes and their supporters are bad boys. She tells 'em, 'Why you guys cryin' wolf, eh? I ain't seen any wolf.' And by the time the next pack comes a-wanderin', nobody's prepared for it.

"Then them wolves come in, and they ransack the rest of the town. They be eatin' all the townsfolk, they just walkin' through the churches and walkin' off with people like it's a fast food joint. But soon they gonna run out of people there. So then they come for the girl. And those mozzie wolves, those awful mozzie wolves, they ain't content to just eat 'er. Nah, they gonna be rapin' her first, y'know, 'cause ain't nothin' a mozzie wolf loves more than our white women. And then those African wolves, remember 'em? They'll get involved too, They're like monkeys, man, they can't even wear shoes. But give 'em a white woman, and they'll wear her for years, it's a miracle if they ever stop.

"Then some Mexican wolves, y'know, they come up in their cartels. Y'know, she's a fan of 'em, so she starts cheerin'. So then some Mexican wolf comes up, chops 'er up, puts 'er in a taco. The wolves all happily eat her. And they live happily ever after. So that's the story, lassie. And the moral of the story is: y'all want to let illegal immigrants in, but then it just won't be America, y'know? It just won't be America."

I was slightly flustered at this story, especially when he insulted the Japanese, but I tried not to let that show. There's no sight of Hegemaniac in this area, and he can't have moved on because of the sandstorm, so he must be somewhere here. The NPC must have seen where he went, right? But he's like talking to a brick wall... So I'll just have to walk around looking.

Fortunately, I can get a bird's-eye view from above me which bypasses all Hiding skills, as an admin privilege. It's not from that far up, only a short way above my head, but it should make it easier to find him...

But I can't see him from here. There's clearly a large sandstorm still raging in the desert, so he can't have escaped through there... But wait, what's that? There's some blood stains on the river bank!

That must mean he's here! He's a true fiend, if someone died here then it's probably his doing.

I walked over to the river bank, leaning over slightly. Well, I don't see him here... Still, I might as well try a bird's-eye view again.

There he is! He's resting on a rock in the middle of the river! What a strange hiding-place, no wonder I hadn't found him. Well, now I'll just have to take my chance and try to convince him....

Haha, dressed like this? As if. He'd just be wondering how some prostitute found their way here from Amsterdam. This is hopeless, and it's Tally's fault. But I guess I have to try.

POV Switch - 1st (MC)

"Hegemaniac! I know you're there, on that rock! Please reply to me, I'd like to ask some questions!"

That's a bit unsettling, but I should probably stay silent. After all, it could just be a lucky shot in the dark bluff by someone trying to scare me into giving up my location. I'll just have to see if it's a fluke.

"Hegemaniac, come out now! Please, you have to talk!"

Why does she sound so sad? I can tell that she doesn't like me, by the stern tone of her voice when she say 'Hegamaniac,' but mostly she just sounds desperate. What does she want?

"Listen, I'm an admin! I know where you are, I've checked. So give up on your hiding act, or I'll punish you."

Well, that's a different matter.

"Alright, fine. I'm here. Let's talk," I declared.

Looking around, I saw a girl standing on the edge of the river. But the weirdest part is what she was wearing. Barely anything! As soon as she noticed me looking, she tried to cover herself with her arms to hide her body, and I couldn't keep myself from laughing. "What are you wearing, girl? Is this how admins dress for the job?"

"Um, it wasn't my choice, okay? Some perv did this. Don't... don't judge me for it! It wasn't my fault! None of it was!"

Huh. What's she talking about?

But leaving that aside for a moment, there's something more interesting to these remarks. I believe her story about being an admin: she seemingly appeared out of nowhere, has no Guild, and has barely any of the dirt or marks on her body that most players would get by journeying all the way here. Besides, it's not as if she walked here easily in those clothes. However, if she's not even in charge of what she's wearing now, how much authority can she really have?

If she's an admin, she must play quite a minor role. Surely, if she had much power, she'd be able to at least control what her character was wearing. So would she actually be able to do much to me? I doubt it.

"Look, I want to discuss your behavior here. It just isn't right," she said, half-crying. "You've-you've killed so many people! Look, even here, I can see some bloodstains from more people you've killed!"

"I didn't kill them. It was the piranhas. You can ask the NPC here, if you doubt me."

She turned to the American, and asked about the river.

He replied, "Yeah, those doggone piranhas, they're no good. They must have eaten that guy, y'know? That's why we gotta avoid South American immigration, y'know, first it's the Mexicans, then it's the Brazilians, then the Peruvians, then there's piranhas hopping on over the border. It ain't right."

"...Okay," she responded. "Okay, fine, maybe you didn't kill them. Well, what about Daisuki? You murdered him!"

"He challenged me to a duel, and set the conditions to make it a fight to the death. I didn't have a choice there."

"Oh, really? Actually, yeah, I guess that could have happened."

"Yes, that's what happened."

"OK, then," she said. "That might have happened. We just assumed that you had been the one trying to cause disruption, since we all knew Daisuki well from the beta test and you were just some upstart who had caused a fuss in the market. But maybe it wasn't your fault... Well, I still have problems with you. But maybe we can come to a deal."

"What kind of deal?"

"I just don't want you going around causing problems in this server. I have enough problems as it is! So..."

"Look, this server sounds like the least of your problems. You sound really sad about something, and you keep crying. Well, what is it?"

"You can't order me around!"

I rolled my eyes. She didn't want to talk about whatever it was.

"Fine. But whoever's ordering you around is clearly enjoying himself. Can he see you in here?"

"Ugh... Please don't talk about him! Please!"

I see. So she's particularly alarmed about one person...

"Look, just because he's done something to you, you shouldn't take out all of your anger on me. It's not my fault. Go and deal with him yourself."

"I can't! I can't, I couldn't... Please don't make this about him! Look, I don't hate you. I wish I had never become admin here... Then I'd never have met him, never have had to deal with everyone hating me. And it's not like there was much point, anyway, you're still doing fine even without the skills..."

She collapsed onto the ground, crying.

Wait, what's this about the skills? Is she suggesting that she deliberately withheld them? That's news...

If that's the case, then I'd better kill her. But did she have the authority to hold them back? And, if so, why did she give them back? Perhaps she was demoted or punished for manipulating the server unfairly. But I'll try to be conciliatory at first, to see if she tells me anything.

"It's alright, I got the skills back. Thanks for that. What was the delay?"

"Um... You did? Oh, that's great! I was just..."

POV Switch - Yui (1st)

Why did I just tell him about the skills? That's the best way to make him hate me!

I'm lucky that he's on a rock right now. If Tally forced me to talk on level ground, then Hegemaniac would probably have just tried to kill me as soon as he could.

As a low-level admin, I still have some powerful self-defensive skills, though I'm not allowed to attack players in order to prevent admins from disrupting their servers. I think that the Fallen God can do all sorts of things, but he doesn't want every admin to do it because then it becomes a pain for him having to micromanage each of us. Still... It's not worth the risk. This guy is dangerous, and I have no idea when Tally is going to send me in to talk again. If you asked me a couple of days ago, I'd say that the last thing I'd want is to die at Hegemaniac's hands...

If you ask me now, I realize that there's a few things that are worse. But it's still not something I'd like to do.

Well, I only had one purpose here, right? To get Hegemaniac to behave better.

"Look, I just have one request," I said. "I don't want you killing other players. Alright? I don't like what you do to the rest of the world, either... But, as a compromise, can you just agree not to kill other players? At least for the time being?"

"That's not up to me," he replied. "There's players hunting me already. If one of them attacks me, I'll have to fight back. Did you set them after me? Then I don't think you'd have the right to prevent me from fighting back."

"...Alright, fine. But what if there was somewhere safe that you could wait? Let's say that I lifted the sandstorm slightly, so you could hide in the desert? It's large, I doubt anyone could find you, and there's some nomads who could give you any necessary resources. Just 48 hours without killing anyone, please."

As I envisioned a whole 48 hours of tranquillity, with all players co-operating and getting along in these Japanese servers, my eyes misted over slightly. It would be like a dream... Except that I still had to go back and deal with Tally. And he'd be smug, saying that his plan worked. I hate everything.

"If I went in there, what's to stop you from bringing the sandstorm back, with me trapped inside? I don't have any reason to trust you, especially after what you said about the skills."

"Forget that! Please forget all about that... I wasn't thinking straight, I promise.... Look, there must be some better option. You just need somewhere safe to hide for a while, right? Well, I'm sure that staying on that rock would be a hassle, but I can get you onto the river bank easily using the Player Safety Measures to move you out of a hazardous position. On the other side of the river from me, that is... I know there's no players in that area, so as long as you head off towards the town and don't hurt anyone, it should be fine."

I was slightly frustrated that this would all be counted as Tally's plan. If it worked, maybe they'd keep him in charge of me permanently! I almost wanted it to fail...

Letting him run away wouldn't accomplish much, would it? I could keep him quiet for a while, if I managed to deceive him about his directions and send him to somewhere unpopulated, but he might figure out the ruse and change direction. As soon as he ran into other players, it would be a fight again. And I really didn't want more conflict here, again... But this is my war. I should fight it, not Tally! Not anyone else! I don't care if he stops, if it's Tally's doing.

I bet the perv is still gawking at me through the screen. He probably doesn't even care about the situation with Hegemaniac. He just thinks that, if he solves it, he'll be ENTITLED to have his way with me. And he's probably already planning his moves, watching me barely clothed...

I hate everything.

POV Switch - 1st (MC)

An interesting offer. While I could wait for tomorrow to head off towards town, this means I could get a head start.

"Alright, I'm listening. So I should just head straight towards town, and avoid any players?"

"Yes. Oh, and one more thing," she said. "I'll put your name in as an applicant to Guilds, to see which Guild will invite you in. Once you have a few invitations, you'll have to decide on one. I think having a Guild might help you mellow out."

Much less interesting. I don't like the thought of having a Guild... All the same, it's not the worst thing in the world. After all, I have a Guild chasing me, the top Guild in the server. If I have some mooks to protect me, then it might even be useful, even though I don't like the idea of handling Guild members' BS. There were a couple of guys who guarded me from Kirito back near the cave, and even though I don't think they stood a chance against him, at least they bought me some time. What Guild were they from, again? Well, it might jog my memory if they send an invite, but I'm not going to accept unless it's generous enough.

I want a Guild that would respect me enough to make me a leader, or at least treat me as the most important member. I am definitely not willing to reform in order to please some Guild who think they can 'fix' me... Which reminds me.

"Fine, fine. Well, thanks for the help, admin. Good luck when you get back, I'm sure you can fix him!"

If I can't kill her yet, at least I can leave her more traumatized.

Anyway, although she's crying, she still managed to activate her admin powers and teleport me onto the other side of the river. She almost seems sad to see me go, since it means she'll probably be leaving the area to return to whoever she's so upset about. Well, someday I'll show her that he's not her worst problem.

"Look," she sputters, "You have to do this, for me, please! Just don't kill anyone! We admins are very powerful, you shouldn't cross us. Just stick to your end of the agreement, don't fight anyone, okay? The town is that way."

She points into the distance. Hm. I have a map, so I already know the directions to town, but I'll pretend to follow where she says.

But she's definitely not pointing the way to town. Is she lying to me? Then that confirms what I suspected. If she's trying to sabotage me, then she probably also did that with the skills. She probably wanted to keep them away from me, in order to prevent me from using them to harm people. And maybe she also skewed the quests to make it difficult for me to pass. If so, then this idiot almost had me killed. And I won't show any hesitance about killing her, when I get the chance.

Still, I eventually did get the skills, and currently she doesn't have much authority. I doubt that she can do anything if I break my agreement... So I might as well call her bluff.

But for now, I'll let her leave, thinking that I'm complying.

"Alright, no fights, got it," I shout out behind me. "Thanks for helping!"

She puts a hand to her heart and rests against a tree, as if enjoying this temporary peace. It will be shorter than she expects.

As soon as she disappears, I swerve off in the direction of the town. My task from here is much simpler. I just have to find some weakling and steal his weapon. After that, the rest is just a matter of technique.

The Knights of Blood might be protecting their weapon stores, but are they protecting their weak members? Let's find out.