Waiting on the Sky to Change

POV Switch - Kirito (1st)

There was a sudden series of deaths near the town.

At least 7 small players were killed, including 4 members of the Knights of the Blood, which I've now joined.

Since our players were being targeted, we rushed to the scene of the crime. However, the perpetrator had seemingly caught wind of us, because he fled the scene before we could see him.

Who could have done this?

"This guy was clearly killed by a spear," Asuna said, turning to me. "But it looks like a rough job, all sorts of marks around the wound that indicate roughhousing to force the wound open."

"Excuse me, miss, a pretty girl like you shouldn't be talking about these dark matters," a KoB member said, with a jovial smile on his face. "Why not let me take you back to town?"

Asuna scowled. "Leave me alone. I can talk about whatever I -"

"Don't leave me hanging!" he shouted.

"You're too much of a dork for a pretty girl like me." Rolling her eyes, she turned to the rest of us. "So, my thoughts are that this killer was clearly using a weak, low-level weapon, although they seem to have been strong enough that most of these players couldn't resist. So they were using an under-levelled weapon. Why?"

"Maybe he was trying to hide his traces with a disposable weapon. Where could they have got these weapons?" said one player, named Kuradeel.

"I guess these are available in the town, right? I think I've seen some basic level spears there, a bit blunt, probably not very clinical."

"Yeah, they are there," I said, "but what level would it be? It's clearly not an absolute beginner weapon, right? Maybe levels 7-10? Well, what level are these players?"

"Levels 6 to 13."

"Alright, so this is the kind of weapons that his victims could have been using?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"...Nothing. It's just interesting. Let's check out the other victims."

"Kirito, what is it with you and dead bodies? You literally ran over to gawk at them while the rest of us were waiting for instructions. Why can't you be like these other guys, like Kuradeel, who just hover around me like creeps? Do you find corpses that much prettier?"

"Yes, but it's nothing personal."

"I'm making it personal! I won't have some newcomer converting my Guild into necrophiles, as much as it would be convenient for my personal space."

"It's alright, you can convert them back."

"...Alright, I can handle that arrangement. Anyway, this player seems to have been strangled harshly." She leaned down and softly turned the player's head to the side, revealing red marks across the right and back of their neck. "So now we have one kill with a weak weapon, and another with no weapon at all?"

"That's probably a bit time-consuming," Kuradeel said. "They don't have much motive to not use a stronger weapon, since it's obvious that they're high-level. No-one's going to seriously believe that they're a level 7 player, they probably used these weapons for some other reason."

"Hey, guys, it's alright, we know what happened!" a KoB player shouted, running over enthusiastically from town with a pamphlet. "These guys claimed the murder. They're an infamous Guild called the Laughing Coffin. Look, it says, 'It was us, we did that.' And under that there's an ad for their Guild."

He handed over the large, purple and black pamphlet to Asuna.

"''If you feel so empty, so used up, so let down,'" she began reading off it, "'If you feel so angry, so ripped off, so stepped on, you're not the only one. Have you been cancelled? Ever got the feeling you've been cheated? Did some merchant with a large beard and long nose extort your money while rubbing their hands together greedily? If you want an end to these problems, then we have just the solution for you. Have you ever considered MURDER? Contact: The Laughing Coffin.' Bloodthirsty lot."

"At least they have good intentions, not like those Klan mask guys," I said dryly.

"...Are you serious?" she replied.

"Yeah. 'If you feel so empty, so used up, so let down'? It sounds just like Kuradeel, because you keep leading him on. He's going to need some solutions soon, he always looks so depressed. Maybe he should contact them."

"You have a point. But every KoB member is sacred, and if you waste them by nudging them off to Laughing Coffin then I'll get quite irate."

"Well, looks like you guys can stop searching!" said the guy who brought the pamphlets. "We've got it all figured out."

"I mean, do we really know that they did it?" Asuna asked. "They did claim it, but they could be lying. I mean, I've heard that they've done some bad stuff, but they might not have been the culprit here."

"I think what they're saying has a certain force of credibility," Kuradeel said. "After all, if they weren't already quite infamous villains, then in all likelihood people wouldn't be taking these accusations seriously, right?"

"No, Asuna's right," I said. "I'd like it if this mystery was solved, but I don't think that we can confirm that yet."

The player who brought the pamphlet huffed, and began heading towards the town. "Look, you guys can keep fiddling around here, but if we're right then remember I told you so."

As he walked off, Asuna noticed a few other players from nearby were also walking back to town.

"Well, most players seem to have decided that's it," she said. "But I'm not so sure. If we don't figure something out soon, though, then almost everyone will go back. So, anything else that stands out about this corpse?"

"Where is this player's weapon?" I asked. "Do we know what weapon they would be using?"

"Good question, I'll try to ask anyone in the Guild who might have known this guy," Asuna replied. "But you typically only ask questions if you have an answer in mind, so, well, out with it. What did you learn from ogling this corpse?"

"There's some signs of struggle, but not from close range. It looks like the fight started with the killer grasping at him from a distance, and him trying to fend them off and keep distance. Look at the footprints, they're very shaky, probably he was retreating. But once the killer's in close range, he just chokes the guy out, very little resistance. So it looks like he was probably using some kind of spear, though not one strong enough to keep his assailant away for long."

"That's true," another KoB member said, walking over. "It's a pity that we can't see his spear, it might show us what happened."

"Maybe we can't see his spear, but can we see what it's done? Most of these other corpses are with a low-level spear, right?"

"Are they? The one I saw looked like a level 12 sword."

"Oh, did it? He switched weapons yet again?"

"So he used at least two weapons, and killed one opponent with his bare hands, but all of these weapons were low quality?" Asuna mused. "How strange."

"Didn't you mention that the range of players killed was around levels 6-13?" I said. "That's also the range of these weapons. Maybe he was taking the weapons from the players he killed?"

"That would make sense. And he killed the spear player first, and took his weapon to fight the others," Asuna said.

"Yeah, exactly. But it's not surprising that he'd take a level 12 weapon eventually, it's probably one of the better weapons he could get if he was scavenging. But if he needed to scavenge..."

"Then he didn't have a weapon, and came here to find one."

"Yes. Well, we know someone who didn't have a weapon, right? Hegemaniac."

"So you're saying he could have managed to come here and pick up a weapon? That's not good. He's back to being dangerous, then."

"It's not good, but it is what it is."

"You're right, it definitely sounds like Hegemaniac. And he's definitely not Laughing Coffin. But how could he have got here? I don't think there's any way for him to have escaped here, unless he crossed a large river. And that was too dangerous, a few of our Guildmates died just entering it."

"He must have crossed the river somehow... Unless he could find some other way. But if he did find a way out, this would definitely be the first thing he'd do, to get a weapon."

"Are you sure it's not Laughing Coffin? We at least know that they're in the area," Kuradeel said, sounding slightly aggrieved.

"Look, why would a Laughing Coffin member have done this?" Asuna said. "They probably have weapons, at least. I think this is definitely the work of Hegemaniac, and we should tell our Guild to watch out for him."

"Well, what if the Laughing Coffin members forgot how to use weapons for a moment?" Kuradeel said. "And maybe he used the low-level spear because... um, because he had a fetish for it, you know, phallic symbols and all that. As for the sword, well, maybe he just uses a level 12 sword because it's lower than 13, so it's a good luck talisman. I daresay that resolves it!"

"...A phallic symbol? That's your explanation?"

"Yeah. Like, chicks love the D, so you should understand how he could have a thing for spears...."

"Shut up!"

"Come on, you can't mean to say that you wouldn't want to grab my spear -"

"I'm serious! I'm serious, man, don't be like that. See? Even Kirito is just looking at you quizzically, and he's into corpses."

"OK, maybe you'd prefer Kirito's -"

"I said, shut up! Anyway, enough of this... Let's go back and tell the rest of the Guild, and hopefully Heathcliff if he's around."

"Yeah, sounds like a plan," I said.

We headed off to the town.

To be honest, while Asuna was the one who recommended me to the Guild, I was recruited by a mysterious invitation by 'Heathcliff.' It just said, 'Have you ever wondered why you're here? .' I haven't got the chance to meet him yet, but I wonder what he could have meant.

POV Switch - 1st (MC)

These 'Knights of the Blood' are like small fishes trying to catch a weasel.

They have so many small players, spreading around like cockroaches. It's so easy to pick them off, I've even picked up a bunch of weapons that I don't even need.

It was foolish of them to pick a quarrel with a great man of Han blood.

'A great man can bend as well as stretch,' as my uncle used to say. It means: a great man can experience setbacks, but still is great. To overthrow a peasant is banditry, but to overthrow a king is a revolution or civil war. The foolish Western communist takes pride in the spectacle of 'revolution,' thinking that it will bring a democratic populist utopia, when its spectacle is just a reflection of the king's majesty. Even their favourite 'revolutions,' the Russian and French ones, ended up with new autocracies. In China, we have a more enlightened perspective, because we can accept the truth of revolution rather than pretending that it is somehow a vehicle of some utopian anarcho-communism.

And the Knights of the Blood have revolted against the greatest king, the king of righteousness. They will be crushed even more than their predecessors in Tiananmen Square.

Before I can take on their larger members, I'll need some better weaponry. This low-level sword is workable, because I'm powerful enough to deal damage with it, but for serious combat I'd want a weapon of around my level. There probably aren't many players who have level 20+ weapons, so the easiest way to do this would be quests.

Looking around far to the West of the town, after a tiring, lone trek over several mountains, I managed to find a system of caves in a grey, dusty mountain.

There shouldn't be much to fear here, unless I run into the yeti. And who believes in that, anyway? Ah yes, India's army, which reported that they had found evidence for it. Not that that means much. Indians also believe that cows are sacred, and they worship an elephant god. I think that their whole zoological knowledge comes from seeing animal faces in their excrement, like some people see shapes in clouds.

As I walked into the cave, an NPC greeted me. He was a short, brown man with a bindi and turban. Speak of the devil.

"Hello, good sir! There is Cleopatra buried in tomb deep in this cave! She does not want to show me bobs and vagene. You must kill her, and fetch her body so that I can see her bobs and vagene. Thank you!" he said excitedly.

This began a new quest.

"...Really? That's what you're asking?" I said.

"Yes. It is a great thing, most important to me in the world! I wish you luck, stranger."

I sighed and walked further in, only to be greeted by the sound of a loud roar from inside the cave.

"That is my pet tiger. Sorry, he is in a bad mood now. He is guarding the cave, and not letting me in. If you kill him, then I will show you the hidden treasure of the ancient king Narendra. He has powerful weapons, I do not need them, because I do not even hurt a fly. I believe in the doctrine of Gandhiji."

While I wouldn't typically trust the weapons made by an Indian, I think that this might be promising in the current situation. After all, if you think of nature itself, it does not have a prejudice against Indian weaponcraft when it is necessary. The corpse flower uses the smell of a typical Indian street as its natural defense, and I am convinced that this is what truly barred Alexander the Great from conquering India. He would not be halted by a nation of vegan cow-worshipping sadhus in battle, but he may have been overcome by India's greatest weapon.

As such, I might as well see what kind of sword this 'Narendra' was using. it's probably better than the level 12 one I'm using, at least.

And a pet tiger shouldn't be that hard to deal with, right?

Otherwise it wouldn't be a pet.

Well, perhaps that's not the case. After all, the blacks are still savages, despite having been kept as slaves. People claim that the West's so-called 'police brutality' is due to racism, but I think that it is just due to the stress of having to deal with all-too-common violent black criminals. While I think that a tiger is more civilized than a black person, I will still have to be careful when preparing for this fight, especially with this weak weapon that could break at any second.

POV Switch - 3rd

The Fallen God appeared in the night sky, with a white halo that dimmed the stars around him.

"Greetings, ladies and gentlemen," he announced. "I have an important announcement to make, but before that I would like to make a confession. I have realized that placing you into this game did not achieve all that I had hoped. I wished to create another reality, that could replace the earth. But you see that this world is often obviously artificial. For instance, the NPCs in town act like robots, don't they? I wanted to be a new God, creating a new earth of people. But I have failed.

"I could not emulate the real world, still less replace it. The people there are worried about you, and their protests are all over the news as they demand an explanation. Their passion about it is something that I couldn't hope to emulate in this game."

He raised his hand to the side, and a few images of protests briefly appeared beside him.

"But I am curious.

"What if you had a chance to escape from here, and to see your families and friends again? I shall give you the chance to do so. This place is cut-throat, dangerous, and far from the world you knew. I am here to offer you another choice: the choice to fight for your freedom.

"Here is my offer. I have constructed a mighty tower to the skies, the Tower of Babel. It lies to the East of town. A natural labyrinth, you will have to navigate to the center, in order to fight a boss. Once a boss is defeated, you can move on to the next. Finally, you will reach the 100th level of the tower, its peak, and for defeating that you can win freedom. You see, the boss on the 100th level is the final boss of this game, and only by winning the game can you end it.

"You might ask how I came up with this ingenious idea. Well, firstly, because I am a genius. Secondly, it was inspired by a game named 'Talos Principle,' which features a similar tower. I am quite proud of it, and I am sure that you will enjoy it.

"But now, over to you. Wouldn't you like to reach your freedom? Then you will just have to take this challenge. Send your strongest players to the tower at sunrise, when the first boss will spawn. Then, your true fight will begin!"

Below, among players' hopeful cheering, Asuna drunkenly leaned towards Kirito, then winked and handed him a piece of paper.

"That's my number," she said. "Call me when we get out of here. You're also in Japan, right? Then we can meet somewhere."

"Really?" he said, startled.

"Yeah! I wouldn't want to lose contact after we leave. Any idea where we could meet? Maybe somewhere around where you live!"

"Um, there's a fountain just down the road, it has a beautiful, large green garden next to it.... Could I take you there?"

"Kirito... you'd better! I can't imagine a better place for it. Let's meet there, alone, got it?"

She swivelled towards him, while playing casually with her necklace of large, white shells.

"Alright, you can bet I won't forget," he said.

Giggling, Asuna replied, "Well, I don't trust you. I bet you'll forget me in seconds. Give me your number too, just to make sure."

"Got it." He scribbled down his number, and passed it to her.

She accepted it gracefully, and then turned back towards the table in front of her, straightening her large, frilly white dress.

"Excellent. I can't wait. But your friends look impatient, you'd better stop ignoring them, heh."

"They'll be fine. But your table won't, they've spent this whole night showering you with attention, if you don't pay attention to them then they'll shrivel up."

"Hm. Fine. Talk later."

Meanwhile, to the East of town, a few shadowy figures skulked towards the new, tall tower. It had a fire lit on its topmost floor, which made it easier to find.

"So this is it..." said one, named PoH.

"Do you think they'll really offer us freedom?" one of his companions said.

"It doesn't matter. The Fallen God has players more invested in the game now, they will feel thrill, heartbreak, hope and loss to extremes here. Stronger emotions than they even felt in the real world. It's less likely that we escape, than that we become so invested in this game that we forget that there was really anything else."

"You think that people can really forget that?"

"Well, 'forget.' Look, you know how people believe in Heaven? For most people, it doesn't make them less invested in the here and now, because it's just a fiction. People will always believe in some kind of escape, to 'Heaven' or to 'real life' outside here, but it doesn't matter whether it exists or not. It's just an imaginary utopia, people make it up as they go along. And someday 'escape' from here will be like that."

"So we won't be helping them to climb the tower, leader?" another companion asked, with a more businessman-like and formal tone.

"No. We should not change our course. All that this tower brings is chaos, drama, forlorn hope, heartbreak... the jokes that make a coffin laugh. So we remain as we are. By the way, did you hear that Hegemaniac is looking for a Guild? We sent him an invitation, but I doubt that he'll accept. He seems to want a Guild that will allow him to immediately become its centerpoint and leader. Perhaps, in time, he shall reconsider. But he will not be our member in the near future, sadly."

Meanwhile, the Fallen God returned to a large, empty room. He was content. His deception had taken the game to second gear, and it would soon come to life with new intensity.