Reparations

POV Switch - 1st (Silica)

After wandering into a forest, getting trapped in a dungeon, and running in tears away from skeletons, I have to fight my own clone?

But it should be fine, I still have - I'll need to ask him what his real name is, I can't call him Hegemaniac - to help me out!

Should I call him Hege in the meantime...?

We walked through the door and it felt like we were transported to another world, to this ginormous arena which looked like it could fit thousands of people.

But there was no one else there... Still, it was impressive, and there were even some large, half-lit white pillars circling the edge.

While I was taking in every inch of the surroundings, I was teleported away into another, smaller arena. The ground was thick with sand, and my feet sank into it.

Being suddenly transported to a fighting space wasn't good, and looking around and not seeing… Hege - was even worse.

My clone was staring at me from the other side of the arena.

So… I guess I'm on my own for this challenge? I should still be fine though, me and my clone becoming friends isn't that hard to believe! I'm sure she'd also feel lonely in here, trapped with only herself for company.

Fixing my eyes on the figure across from me, it looked exactly like me. How weird!

Starting to walk towards my clone, I saw that she began doing the same as well.

It's like looking through a mirror!

Pebbles crunched softly beneath our feet, and sand sifted quietly beneath our light footsteps - the only noise in this arena.

We met each other face to face after some walking, but rather than the intense meet-up I was concerned about, we were just silent. She looked at me shyly.

…What is it? Does she want to be friends just like me?

Usually I depend on the other person to start the conversation, and since she's my clone, I guess she does the same? So since we both depend on others to start conversations, we aren't talking?

"Uhhh, hi?"

As we both said the exact same thing at the exact same moment, after reaching the exact same conclusion, we both just stood there dumbfounded, until we burst out in laughter.

"So, what will we do now?" we said at the same time after we stopped laughing.

"..."

Since this was going nowhere, I decided to break the ice in a slightly basic way.

"What's your favorite song?"

We both asked it at the same time yet again, and this time we both flushed in embarrassment from the pointless question.

We're the same person, asking the other that is like if you asked someone what color their shirt was when you're already in front of them.

It was almost laughable.

"S-sorry," we both said again.

What is this? If I can't take control of the conversation, I'll just let her do it so we can get somewhere in this.

And yet again, we both stayed silent.

Did she have the same idea? Again?!

Amazing! We really are just like each other!

Wait… of course we're just like each other, we're clones…

Facepalming mentally at that, I looked back at her.

So, will we have the same response to any situation? And since this situation is the exact same for both of us, we keep doing the same things?

Deciding to speak up since she wasn't going to, I asserted my position.

"We're getting nowhere with this, so let me talk. Please," we both added on.

So one of us has to decide to let the other take control, but what should I do to end this stalemate?

I have no problem with either outcome, but if I try to take control and she does at the same time, we'll be left at square one. And if I try to let her take control but she has the same idea, then we'll both be completely silent, and also be left at square one.

AAAAHHH! Why is this so hard?!

Deciding to stay silent, I took the gamble.

And she stayed silent too.

…

What did I expect? We're the same person, we have the same thought process and will give the same responses to any situations, of course it didn't work.

At this point it would be easier to just fight her!

My irritation began to show on my face, and so did hers.

How do we escape this stalemate?!

Is there even a way to do it besides fighting?

Looking straight into her eyes, I saw that she had the same idea as me.

Prepared to fight her, I tensed up.

"I forfeit," she said.

…What?

Her body disappeared in a flash of light after she said that. Did she 'surrender' this fight because it wouldn't lead to anything?

Well, I guess that there's no need to think about it.

I was teleported back to the large arena.

Looking up, I saw a screen pop up in the sky.

[TRIAL INCOMPLETE. (1/2)]

So I need to wait for him to finish?

Glancing at the empty seats that looked weirdly comfortable, I decided to relax while I could.

Why shouldn't I get to relax? I've been doing plenty of work!

Sitting down in a chair and looking over the entire colosseum was nice.

It looks so ancient and beautiful.

I guess I can wait…

POV Switch - 1st (MC)

That battle was tough, but that's to be expected from 'me.'

Looking at my chest, still throbbing with pain, I winced, and looked at the spot in the ground where my sword was still embedded.

It's really too bad that he 'disappeared' before I could kill him, I could've doubled my stats and leveled myself up from killing him… I think. As it is now, the pain of the fight was barely worth it.

It would be preferable if I got rewards from killing him.

Was he supposed to disappear like that? Was it a bug? Or did someone try to deny me rewards?

Looking around, I didn't see the girl, Silica.

Good. That means she didn't see the fight, and therefore didn't see my ruthlessness.

I need to keep up the façade, otherwise she won't trust me.

[TRIAL COMPLETED. (2/2)]

That text showed up in the sky, and with it came another teleportation.

Being used to being teleported so much by now, I wasn't affected.

Looking around, I saw the girl next to me.

"Hello! How'd your 'clone war' go?" she questioned, giggling slightly at her words.

Why is she so friendly when we've met not even thirty minutes ago?

"It went well, as you can see. How about you? What happened?"

"Well… she forfeited? I'm really not sure about what happened myself."

The clone forfeited? I'm not surprised, considering how passive modern Japanese seem to be. If only my clone forfeited. Then I wouldn't be limping around like this.

I'm not in great condition for further fighting, but I mostly just feel frustrated by not being able to kill the clone and get rewards for that.

"That's good, I guess. You didn't have to waste energy fighting. There's plenty of things to fight, why fight yourself? I'll be counting on you in the next trial, since you're more energetic!" I said.

I feel disgusted right now, but I'll just power through it.

"A-alright!"

Another UI display screen came up.

[TRIAL COMPLETED. (2/2)

Will you claim the reward right now, or wait until the end of this sequence of trials? (Note: Waiting will increase the quality of your rewards.)

|Claim/Wait|

The next trial will start in one minute.]

It's actually a hard choice.

Am I confident enough in our - mainly my - abilities to clear all of these trials without needing the assistance of these items?

It's fifty-fifty.

I don't know how many trials will be ahead of me, so I might be forced into multiple tough situations one after the other with no rest.

I don't know if these rewards will actually help me to clear these trials.

I don't know if these trials will be hard enough to warrant these items, and if not, then it was a waste and I could've gotten better rewards for waiting.

However, all of my issues with this could be resolved if I have the option to claim my rewards during the trials.

If I can claim them, then I won't have to worry about the difficulty or length issue because I can just pull them out whenever I need to. I won't have to worry about possibly wasting this chance to get higher quality items by claiming them for precautions, because I won't have to claim them until I need them, and it won't be a waste if I need them.

I can do an experiment.

Wait for my rewards from this trial and see if I can claim this during the future trials. If I can't, then I can't.

Clicking on "Wait" without asking for the girl's opinion on it, the display screen disappeared, and a door opened in the wall of the stadium again.

"Why'd you choose to wait?" the girl asked me. She was only curious, no anger at my choice, which is good.

"I think we can pass these trials together, no problem."

Her eyes brightened at that. "You're right! Also, what should I call you? 'Hello Mister Hegemaniac,' sounds a bit weird. What about your real name?"

If it makes her trust me, then I can just give a fake name.

"My name is Nero. I'll just call you Silica."

"That's fine with me. Alright, let's go, Nero-Senp-"

"Just Nero. Not Nero-Senpai."

"Sure, sure!"

I'm not sure if referring to someone without using "chan" or "san" or whatever those degenerates say has a significance in Japanese culture, but I would rather commit some useless social faux pas than be called "Nero-Senpai".

The arena was large, so it would take a minute or so to walk to the open door.

I can use that.

"By the way," I started, "did you get that duel notification earlier today as well?"

Fishing information from her response is easy enough.

"Oh that? I got it, but I had just found the temple. My curiosity for the temple was bigger than the one I had for the duel, so I didn't accept. What about you?"

"I… accepted and saw the battle."

Noticing the change in tone, she became curious. "What happened?"

"It was a battle to the death between two players. And yes, they carried it out."

At that she became quiet.

Time to drive this home.

"It was… horrific. One of the players was like a demon, he slaughtered his opponent. He had no mercy, even though he easily ran circles around his enemy. I still can't believe he did such a thing. It's a good thing you didn't see it," I said, noticing her uncomfortable and slightly scared face.

The appearance of her character is that of a little girl, but I had at first doubted she was actually that age. I'm still not even sure if I'm talking to a man in a girl's body, though her responses and actions to everything have been fairly girlish and childlike. Further, I doubt that her character could move as seamlessly if it was too different from her normal body.

I guess she is actually a twelve year old female?

I really am babysitting.

"That's… not what I expected," she said, glancing towards me. "Were the players strong?"

"Their strength isn't important," I said, brushing over the topic. "It's what they did. Or more like, what he did. People are saying he's a true devil."

"You're one to talk, you just killed your own self! Ahem. What was his username?"

Lies are so very useful. What should this "Mystery Man's" username be?

"His username was White Mantis. But there's a lot of gossip around now, so some people who didn't attend are now claiming that he's called Kirito, or Daisuki, or any other big player or beta tester. They just know that one of the bigger players killed a helpless weakling, and they're making up stories that fit."

"Woah… so what happened after the fight?"

She's fully absorbed into the story now.

"I'm not sure - I left for the fields to level up and found this place. Everyone was on a hunt to put him in prison after the duel, but I'm not sure about what happened after I left."

"Alright… Well, thank you for telling me."

"Sure."

It's surprising how she hasn't noticed me limping this whole time.

I'm suppressing most of it, but anyone with eyes can see something is wrong.

Hopefully I'll be able to pass the trial like this.

And, I also haven't received a notification about being able to retrieve my trial reward. If it doesn't come up by the time the next trial starts, it's probably not able to be retrieved until the end of the trials.

We walked through the door, and another UI display screen came up.

[Trial #2: Hide and Seek.

Details: One player will be randomly designated as a "Hider" and one as a "Seeker". There will be two opponents for you to face, one for each player; the Hider Player will be chased by a Seeker, and the Seeker Player will have to chase a Hider. The first Hider to be found loses for their team. (Note: If the Hider Player is found before the Hider, then both Players lose. If the Hider is found before the Hider Player, then the Players win.)

Penalty: Death.]

Why do these trials have to be so negative for me?

In this trial, it doesn't matter if I'm a Hider or a Seeker, I'll have to depend on the girl to win.

This is a goddamn joke. There's no way we'll win. This shitty trial expects me to win relying on "Silica" of all people, while I'm limping in every movement?

I wish I claimed that reward from the former trial. There's still no indication that I can get it during the trial.

Maybe it could've helped, however little.

POV Switch - 3rd

Murmuring to herself, Yui pondered on the current state of affairs. "Hmmm… it's going quite well so far. Besides Hegemaniac, the highest leveled player in my region is a guy named 'Kirito', and he seems to be nothing like Hegemaniac, which is good," she said, nodding her head slightly as if she was proud of her work. "Hegemaniac will waste his time on these quests, and Kirito can catch up with him - besides, Kirito is more skilled, so soon he can kill Hegemaniac if needs be."

Looking at another screen in her "work area", as she calls it, she saw Hegemaniac limping towards the next trial, while Kirito was out killing a few monsters in the grassy plains.

"Darthy should start overseeing for me soon, considering I can't keep an eye on him all the time, but it should all work out!" Feeling all of her mental strain disappear, just thinking about Darthy taking the load called Hegemaniac off her shoulders.

The thought of not having to worry about that maniac nearly made her jump in joy.

Smiling to herself as she thought, 'I'm really getting my own moderator! I never thought I would, they only work for the admins with bigger territories!' she thought, her smile getting childishly bigger the more she thinks about her amazing negotiation skills.

'All I needed to do is say that it would be interesting and she accepted! If that's not considered as amazing negotiation skills, I don't know what is!'

Interrupting this joyous occasion of hers, a system message appeared. 'A system message? Administrators aren't supposed to get those, unless it's a summons by the Leader, like our 'staff meetings', as she so elegantly put them… Wait… summoned by the Leader?!'

Disrupting her own thought process, she checked the system message, and it read:

[Note: Administrator Yui, you have been summoned to the Fallen God. Report there within five minutes, otherwise, you will be forcefully transported.]

'...'

Reading over the message a few more times, making sure that her eyes were working correctly, she began shaking.

"Wa-wait, this couldn't possibly be about Hegemaniac? R-right? Leader shouldn't be punishing me for that unless I do something too bad, he usually doesn't care, so why is he summoning me this time?!" Voice shaking with fright at the prospect of punishment, she began checking all corners of her 'work space,' making sure there were no intruders or eavesdroppers like there was before.

Calming herself down, she looked further into the system message again, scrutinizing every inch of it, she couldn't find an option for teleporting to Fallen God, and began thinking through this in every way she possibly could.

Sitting down, Yui started thinking as 'logically,' and 'rationally' as possible. 'So… since there's no option to accept this, I'll have to teleport to this myself, but I don't know where I'm to go. The best bet I have is to the space where we hold our 'staff meetings', so I'll just go there. I've probably… hopefully not though - been summoned because of the Hegemaniac situation, so I'll have to think of arguments to countermeasure… counter… What was the word? Nevermind, I just have to think of arguments to defend myself.'

Continuing with her train of thoughts, she began. "I have like… four minutes to think of all this… I can try? So, to begin with, why did I do this? Well, obviously it's because Hegemaniac is evil and doesn't deserve to get his strength since he'll only hurt and kill with it, so that part is fine… What else is there? I mean, isn't that all I need to defend myself with? …Yeah, yeah! I'm safe!" Her forehead filled with sweat and her hands shaky, she began calming down at the prospect of being safe from punishment.

Smirking at how she had smartly just gotten herself out of this situation, she continued with how she would confront this situation.

"I'll wait for a little while to accept so it doesn't look like I'm panicking over a little thing like this. HUMPH! They all thought I'd be scared of this!" Her panic subsided and was replaced by confidence.

Waiting for another minute, making it look like she was in no rush, she eventually "accepted" the "invitation", teleporting herself to the black space that they were formerly in.

Looking around the space, she saw only herself and the Fallen God on his throne.

'So he only summoned me? …This is definitely about Hegemaniac…'

"Yui. Administrator of Japan. Tell me, why have I summoned you?"

"I… I don't know?" she responded, shrinking under his emotionless gaze.

"Don't play the fool, or else I'll treat you like one. Tell me. Why have I summoned you?"

'Ahhh… I'm in trouble…' she thought, her confidence shaken with his every word.

"...Because I messed with Hegemaniac?" Yui says with a small voice.

"'Messed with'? Keeping skills from him, intentionally rigging his every action to try and trip him up - and you are still failing to do that as well - and more to accompany that; all of this is just 'messing around' to you?"

"N-no - well, yes and no… but I have reasons for it!" she said, protesting his words, she began to defend herself; trying to prove that what she did was right.

"Oh? Then tell me of these 'reasons' you speak of. What warrants trying to ruin the experience of one of our players?"

"Well… Uhm, he-"

"Silence. WE all would like to hear your reasoning," he said, snapping his fingers.

With that small movement, every administrator suddenly appeared in the space, and all of them looked at her, waiting to hear her response.

"Uhhh… It-it's because h-he's evil, and giving him that power would only l-let him hurt and kill more! Y-yeah!" she replied, her voice faltering under the being's harsh words and the stares of her peers.

"That is it? How is that your reasoning? This is a game, not a fairy tale."

Rather than only her voice faltering and shaking, her whole body was now shaking.

"If that is it, then I'm afraid some… punishment will be needed. Any ideas?" he asked, looking towards the crowd of administrators.

"Hmm… how about being my slave for a day?" suggested Xing with an impassive face.

"No. While an unusual punishment is welcome, that one is… too unusual. I've heard of the strange things that you do with your slaves, Chinaman... Any more?" the Fallen God asked.

"To begin with," said the woman in blue and white clothing, "She'll need to give some reparations to Hegemaniac."

"There's a start. Yui, give compensation to Hegemaniac. Whether or not you reveal yourself to him is your choice, and so is what you give him. But we will keep an eye on it, to see if you are truly repentant. Any more ideas?"

"I have one," said the blond haired little girl. "How about a few days in my camp-"

"No. Any other ideas?"

"It is not an idea, per say, but I'd like to take this chance to state something," said Xing. "I think that our little friend here holds prejudice against the People's Republic of China and its citizens. After all, I have concluded that Hegemaniac is Chinese after investigating, and if I could find out, I'm sure that our friend here could too."

"What is your point?" asked Fallen God.

"Her punishment should be decided and executed by me, as it is clear that this is racially motivated. I can't believe we have such a narrow-minded administrator among us!" he exclaimed, supposedly outraged at this turn of events.

Yui, protesting his words, began defending herself yet again.

"WAIT NO I-"

"IN REPAYMENT, I believe that handing over a bit of… territory to me would be a plausible option. I heard that there are some islands in the south of Japan that you wouldn't mind losing, they are called the Ryukyu Islands if I remember correctly? Surely you wouldn't mind doing this for us, right, Yui? It's only fair that such a foul deed should be properly dealt with, isn't that right?" he asked to all of the administrators present.

A few murmurs were heard among them, like calling him a "land hungry beast", but otherwise, there were no objections.

Except for one administrator.

"Nah, I think that a different approach is required here," said the man in red, white and blue. "I think that Japan should be put under my protection. I think I can solve this problem with some time, racism is a trait unbecoming of a nation with a past as… beautiful as Japan. Giving territory to communists never ends well," he said, targeting Xing at the end.

"And yet you claim to combat prejudice. Tsk tsk, you have just shown your prejudice in that statement of yours," said Xing. "Communists are always the target."

"Enough. Giving the 'Ryukyu Islands' away as a punishment is fair, as well as a warning. Yui," said the Fallen God, addressing the girl that had been silent throughout all of this, shaking in nervousness. "Make more 'mistakes', and there will be harsher consequences. We have banned and overruled some of your stupid tricks, like putting a death penalty on failing quests this early. Let everyone play the game properly, without rigging it and abusing administrative powers, and we'll see what happens. Remember, we have power over you, and will overrule you or worse if you try anything else. Give compensation to Hegemaniac. Stop the steal."

Looking over the room, he saw nothing else to add on with.

"That is all. Administrators, disperse. You are no longer needed."

All were gone in a snap, and only the Fallen God was left.

"Yui's behaviour is even accidentally interfering with the rest of her server, causing bugs where players can't get rewards from some quests. But she doesn't care. I doubt she even cares about what I said. It's alright, she's under watch now, and we can bribe anyone else who was assisting her."