by Nikita Thorn
You have served your 30-minute sentence. You may now leave and reclaim your belongings from the reception.
Seiki could have sworn the cell door automatically swung open without anyone touching it. He watched Kazuki, not quite sure what to think of what just happened.
“There,” said Kazuki, sounding pleased. “Now if you for some reason do not enjoy my company, you can walk out of here any moment. May I come in now?”
The Society member seemed friendly enough, and from Seiki’s vague impression of their previous encounter—wherever it had been—he remembered he harbored no ill-feelings toward him.
Kazuki seemed surprised at his hesitation. “Seiki-san, we’ve met. Taira Mansion?”
“Right,” said Seiki slowly as he began to recall the details of his duel with Hiro of the White Crane Hall, which somehow involved a unique blade, and which also managed to end in a territory invasion. At the time, everything was too new for Seiki to have formed an opinion, but now, thinking back, all that screamed nothing but trouble.
Seiki crossed his arms over his chest. “No recruitment attempts, no job offers, and definitely no game of any kind, all right?”
Kazuki raised an eyebrow in confusion, before grimacing. “I see. It’s Fuyu, isn’t it?” He appeared to be hiding a smile. “You deal with her for more than five minutes and she’ll give you a serious case of paranoia. You see, I mentioned to her that you’d make a great combat researcher for us, and the next thing she had to drag you into a clan war, and I’m not talking about the siege. Good thinking on that, by the way.” The man chuckled. “No, Seiki-san. We’re committed to the advancement of scientific knowledge about this world, so we don’t involve ourselves in clan politics. And we are definitely not the Ichikeya, if you know what I mean.”
Seeing that Seiki was still guarded, Kazuki let out a solemn sigh and continued. “All right. I’ll cut to the chase. I’m here because I want to ask you a question.” A mysterious smile then reappeared on his lips and a gleeful glint sparked up in his eyes. “And in exchange, I will tell you the significance of the fireworks that are about to go off all over the city in ten minutes, which I’m sure will be of your interest.”
“You know, that’s exactly what I’d call a game right there,” said Seiki.
The Society member’s smile deepened. “Well, it is a game, Seiki-san.”
“Okay, and that is exactly Fuyu’s strategy.” Seiki somehow had a feeling Kazuki was imitating the Ichikeya ninja girl.
Kazuki studied him for a moment in an expression of one straddling both sides of RP. “But… it works?” he said in a little voice, sounding a little hopeful.
Seiki had to laugh. Everyone was in a different kind of game, and maybe Seiki himself had also been playing all along, in his own version. Sometimes, it was really difficult to tell who was playing and who was serious, but then perhaps there was no real distinction, and perhaps that was even part of the allure. At least, he now knew, and he would go into it with his eyes fully open. After all, in the middle of the noise, Seiki was hoping for some kind of answer.
“It does,” he admitted. “Because I’m now curious.”
“So?” said Kazuki.
“So, yes, you may come in,” said Seiki, as his mind tried to anticipate what the man could want from him. “And thanks for spending the Favor for the bail, unless that’s part of your strategy to earn my trust.” Seiki suddenly thought of something. “You know, in fact, I wouldn’t even be surprised if you told me you were the one who hired the Shadow Manor to attack me on Trade Street so we could have this conversation right here.” He paused, before adding, “And, uh, I reserve the right not to answer whatever question you’re about to ask.”
Kazuki’s eyes widened. “Wow,” he said after a while. “Fuyu really got to you, didn’t she?”
Seiki chuckled. “All right. Come in. I haven’t got long.”
As soon as Kazuki was in the cell, he turned his back to the corridor, and his expression sobered. “I’ll get straight to the point, Seiki-san,” he said. “You and your friends killed a rare fire-rat a few days ago.”
Perhaps Seiki should not be surprised, since loot records were public. He quickly racked his brain, trying to figure out the downside of admitting to this, but could find none.
“Come on, Seiki-san,” said Kazuki as Seiki hesitated. “That’s a Crimsonfire Tekko you have on your hand. It only drops from the fire-rat. And your friend has not been shy to show off his new piece, so now half the world is running the instance hoping to get it.”
“Okay.” Seiki gave in. “Yes, we killed it.”
Kazuki looked at him expectantly. “And?”
“And?” said Seiki.
“What else, Seiki-san?”
Seiki regarded the man cautiously, but his expression betrayed nothing.
“All right, if you’re not willing to tell me, how about I tell you what happened instead?” said Kazuki. The man appeared to be studying Seiki’s reaction as well. “So, you killed the fire-rat, got your drops, but you didn’t leave straightaway. Then something else happened, and you came across something like…”
In his hand was a small, unmarked black stone cylinder, exactly identical to the one Seiki and his friends had spent the past three days wondering about.
Seiki took a deep breath. He had never been a good liar and there was probably no point in trying to hide that. The man’s simple question, however, came with several obvious implications: he knew about the runs, the rare boss, and the Shadow Lord encounter, and it was clear from the way he asked that he already knew Seiki’s answer.
Kazuki purposefully held up his black stone and let it catch light. Seiki fought the urge to look down and check its shadow on the floor. Instead, he steadily met the man’s gaze. “If you’re really neutral and committed to knowledge, why hasn’t the Society published anything on rare bosses? Why the secret?”
“Like good scientists, we don’t publish unverified reports,” said Kazuki. “We don’t publish anything that we cannot reliably reproduce, and we still don’t know what triggers rare bosses and why after you kill them there’s a chance to get unlabeled quests that give you unlabeled items. Yes, we know all about that, so feel free to check the shadow.”
Seiki glanced down to the floor under Kazuki’s feet. On the wood flooring, the man’s faint shadow seemed to be holding a tiny horned serpent.
“Ah,” said Kazuki in slight delight as he saw that Seiki knew exactly what to look for. “So this thing does drop from the Nezumi Temple. Thank you for confirming.”
Seiki realized then that since he had not said anything, Kazuki had no way of being certain he had a similar stone in his possession. By demonstrating that he knew what the man had meant, he had made it obvious this was not the first time he had encountered such an item.
Seiki laughed grimly, wondering if he would ever learn how to play this game.
Kazuki, again, seemed to have read his thoughts. “Oh, trust me, Seiki-san, you’re doing a lot better than you think.”
Kazuki’s response held several other implications, but Seiki no longer trusted himself to ask anything else without revealing any more information about the run and the mysterious black stone. After all, Ippei had wanted to keep it a secret.
“Strange, isn’t it?” Kazuki went on in a low voice as he turned the stone around in his hand. He shivered, grimaced and put the stone back into his pocket. Seiki could only guess the man just felt the cold of the evil effect exuding from the item. “We at the Society took the liberty to call it a shadow seal. You see, it’s the shape and size of a Japanese name stamp.”
“What do you actually want?”
“I want the whole world to start sharing knowledge, Seiki-san,” Kazuki said. “That’s what I believe in. Clans just love keeping secrets so they can keep good things to themselves. But trust me, the entire human civilization was built on people being able and willing to share knowledge, and that’s the purpose
of our Society.”
Kazuki paused for a little, and Seiki was quite certain what he just said was honest. “But I understand that the decision to do so may not be entirely up to you. So yes, think about it, consult your friends, take as long as you need, and come find us when you’re ready.”
Kazuki smiled. “How about this? There’s a festival coming up after all, and I assure you our Shinshioka Scientific Society hosts a superb party. During the event, you’ll meet some more of our members and have access to our full records, which is a privilege people would kill for. I mean the two-Honor-Point kind of killing.”
He laughed, then reached into his chest pocket and handed Seiki a neatly folded piece of paper.
You have received: Formal Invitation Letter [Shinshioka Scientific Society] – [Seiki]: allows access to the clan’s private reception room during the Night of the White Dragon during the upcoming Pacchi Festival. Crafted by Kazuki of the Shinshioka Scientific Society.
Seiki studied the item in his hand. The invitation was pre-written with his name on it, which meant Kazuki had expected Seiki’s reaction.
Seiki sighed. “You planned all this.” He understood now that this was perhaps a one-sided scripted RP encounter, and Kazuki was apparently having a lot of fun acting it out.
“Look, Seiki-san, unlike Ichikeya, our intentions are entirely honest, driven solely by the pursuit of knowledge and enlightenment.” Kazuki paused for a moment as if weighing something in his mind. “So I’ll be honest and tell you that, yes, this is sort of a recruitment attempt and I’m hoping you’ll be so impressed with our records that you will at least freelance for us sometimes. And no, I didn’t hire the Shadow Manor to get you in here. I requested a Sasu tracking on you yesterday, as well as your friend Yamura, so that she would let me know if one of you happened to be in the vicinity of our headquarters, which, if you remember, is only a few buildings down the street, and that was how—”
He was interrupted by thundering explosions, followed by something that sounded like a series of metallic applause overhead.
The muffled conversation in the prison room immediately died down as everyone was taken by surprise.
“What was that?” someone cried from the cell on the other side of the corridor.
Joyous fireworks resonate through the city! Prepare yourselves for a week-long Pacchi Festival.
The notification came with a more cheerful mood than usual, and seemed to be public as the prison now buzzed with excited—albeit rather confused—mentions of festivals.
Kazuki smiled, and his eyes sparkled.
“Time to keep my end of the promise, Seiki-san, and I do need to break character a little to tell you this next bit,” he said. “These fireworks mean that a player has finally reached Level 30, just like last time when the first player reached Level 30 in a Trade Skill, which was a few months before you started playing. Oh, yeah, sorry. I did my homework on all of you. Bad habit I learned from Fuyu. Like I said, Favors would get you anywhere, including access to all corners of the Bureau of Records. But to get back to our point, significant world-first achievements trigger a festival, a week-long world event, which culminates in a worldwide patch. Yes, Pacchi as in patch. In this game, as players progress, the world progresses a little. You see the need for scientific knowledge now? Wouldn’t it be nice to understand how it all works?”
He paused to let the information sink in, and perhaps to add dramatic effect to the next bit, which he seemed to have rehearsed. “And you might be interested in knowing who the first Level 30 is, as it might prompt you to come talk to us a bit sooner.”
CHAPTER 05
By the grace of Supreme High Lord Toshitono, Shogun of Shinshioka, Zengoro, samurai of the Rogami Clan, shall be conferred the unique title of Prestigious High Lord for being the first to reach the highest level of personal prowess, with a seven-day Pacchi Festival to be held in celebration of his achievement.
Festival effect: time-limited quests available throughout Shinshioka for all players above Level 4. Double experience and resource rewards for all Rogami Clan territory quests.
Time to festival start: 6 days 9 hours.
…
Seiki glanced up from the official notice in his hand. “What does this mean for us?” he asked, uncertain.
The visit from the Shinshioka Scientific Society had already clued Seiki and his friends in about the identity of the first Level 30, as well as the arrival of the festival, but not exactly what it entailed. And so, to get more information, Ippei had snatched the notice from a public signboard, sacrificing 1 Honor Point for minor vandalism of official properties.
“I think it’s safe to say that it means absolutely nothing,” said Ippei, sounding almost cheerful.
They were casually riding down Trade Street on their way to the Shogun’s Palace, a route Seiki was now very familiar with from his mission runs. On any other day, they would be galloping down the street as fast as possible to save time and cut down their chance of running into enemies and city brawls, but today it was difficult just to navigate through the crowds that had gathered to read and discuss the official notices plastered on every lamp post about the upcoming world event.
They had started before peak hours today, and the afternoon sun was still high up above Shinshioka, but the street was as crowded as any weekend. Presumably, more people logged in than usual to see what the hype was all about.
“So these festival quests you can only do during the seven days?” Seiki overheard Misaki of the Social Guild [Level 16] in a rabbit-patterned yukata ask. “Are they the same ones as the last festival?” Beside her, Miyuki of the Social Guild [Level 17] mentioned something about lamp parades.
Slightly further away, a few samurai from the West Hills clan were declaring they had never heard of this particular person called Zengoro before. “I thought the Nobles were closer?” said one of them. “Didn’t their leader hit Level 29 last month?”
From the mood of the city, it seemed that this news about the Rogami Clan had been completely unexpected.
“Seiki, let me see?” said Kentaro, drawing up beside Seiki on his new cream-colored horse that perfectly matched his robe.
Seiki handed the piece of paper over to the houshi, before turning to Ippei. “I guess it means that the clan will gain faster XP for a week, and that’s all, right?” From what the notice said, it did not sound as if the Rogami Clan would be given that much of an advantage, unless he was missing something vital.
“Yes, which means it’s a golden opportunity for us to get out of this clan drama once and for all,” said Ippei. “I’ve actually been waiting for something like this.”
Mairin giggled as she steered her horse around a group of people coming in the opposite direction. “What? You’ve been waiting for Precious High Lord Zengoro to hit Level 30 all this time?”
“Really, I’m serious,” Ippei said. “The Rogami would be so busy for the next two weeks scrambling to do their territory quests for double XP, and by the end of that they won’t even remember who we are.”
While his friends had been less of an obvious target than Seiki, they were still often caught up in passing kills whenever they were around him. In a way, Seiki was glad that his so-called enemies had chosen to come after him most of the time, and he had told his friends it was simply a different kind of tanking—a comment Ippei had found extremely funny.
Ippei let out a long breath. “The city could use some excitement right now. So people can stop talking about the rare monster fish out the East Gate and we can finally get on with our lives in peace.”
“In war, you mean,” said Kentaro.
“Oh, well said.” The samurai grinned.
He had asked Seiki to wait for him before completing the War Games quest line, and today they had finally managed to schedule a long session to finish the tutorial quests together. This was something Seiki had been looking forward to for the past month, so even the overall uncertainty surrounding
the Rogami festival could not quite dampen his excitement.
“But double XP for the Rogami Clan means their levels will skyrocket,” said Mairin. “And soon, you’ll have all these crazy obake maxed at Level 30. How is that good news for us?”
Ippei waved his hand in dismissal. “You don’t have to worry about that. Clan territory quests are a joke. Takes hours of your life to finish one.”
Mairin raised an eyebrow. “And as someone who doesn’t do clans, you know this because?”
“Because I’ve done them,” said Ippei. “Give it up, Foxy.” He chuckled. “Like I’ve told you. I’ve never been in a clan because I can’t be bothered. Clans can sub out these territory quests and I’ve freelanced quite a few in Beta whenever I needed gold. Not the best thing to do with your life, but, hey, your horses need to eat and your gear needs fixing. And then when you’re going deep in War Games, you start collecting multiple sets of armor, then it gets out of hand.”
Kentaro laughed. “Didn’t know the Great War General Ippei of Betaland had problems with runaway expenses.”
Ippei smiled at the comment. “Number-wise, you actually get much more XP for the same amount of time just doing repeatables in the city. So I guess the only thing that will happen is the Rogami will rack up a bunch of Clan Honors and clan resources, since suddenly every member will be very motivated to do the quests.” He stopped to consider the implications, and then shrugged. “So, unless you have a daimyo territory out the East Gate, there’s nothing to worry about.”
“What about the Society?” asked Seiki. After some consideration, he had come to the conclusion that gaining insights into things like rare bosses, Sheathed Blades and unlabeled instances would not hurt his personal goal to get a firmer grip on the world. “They seem to know a bit about how it all works. And the guy seems to think this Rogami festival thing is going to be bad for us.”
“Didn’t the guy straight out confess he’s trying to recruit you?” Ippei shook his head. “Of course, he’s going to try to scare you and make you feel like you need them.”