by Nikita Thorn
“Yes,” said Ippei.
Seiki hesitated. “You mean, as themselves?”
“Yes.”
“Uh, with… memories?”
Ippei gave a half-smile. “Yes, in the sense that you’re asking.” Still strangely amused, the samurai leapt to his feet. “Okay, let’s go. Talking about respawning, my fourth guy should have done so by now since I did ask my unit to go and buy time by getting themselves killed while I tried to negotiate with Kato to let me keep the Jade Card. It’s been almost an hour, and the bleeds should fade pretty soon. We’d better go see what’s on the noticeboard. Usually, it’s something good.”
Seiki emptied the last drops of his cup and followed his friend back through the side door.
The fort was nothing like when he first walked through it. It seemed that every player in the area had gathered around the board, and many more were coming out from one of the buildings in an endless trickle. Seiki could only guess that was where the fort’s private territory for players was located. Just like Shinshioka and the Wilderness, this place was turning out to be more populated than it looked.
“I wish I still had a run left,” muttered a samurai labeled Minamoto of the Honor Warriors [Level 19], who was blocking much of the space with his unit of fifty soldiers. Around him, other people were shouting to their friends to come have a look, or yelling at the samurai to dismiss his unit.
Pushing their way through the ever-expanding crowd, Seiki and Ippei eventually managed to reach the wooden board. Seiki was surprised to find that the notice that had gained so much attention was actually very short.
Written on Shinshioka’s red-and-black-trimmed paper, it read:
Urgent! Suspicious activities spotted in the Muraki Woods. All available units please report to Lieutenant Kato in the central hall. [Time remaining: 2 hours 53 minutes]
Around them, the dozen or so players were calling for groups, or busily writing and sending messages off with post pigeons. Seiki could only look questioningly at Ippei.
“We might be in luck.” The samurai glanced around with a thoughtful yet slightly worried expression. He then spotted something in the crowd and a decision seemed to have clicked in his mind. With so many players about, Seiki was not quite sure what his friend had seen.
“Okay, you gotta come with me right now,” said Ippei. Without waiting, the samurai started rushing off toward the central hall, pushing through people. “Come on. You need to finish the Kato quest now.”
“This is not new,” Seiki said as he followed him out of the packed crowd.
Genta and the other three villagers ran to join them. But seeing that Seiki was going in the general direction toward Lieutenant Kato—like he was supposed to—none of the villagers said anything, except Saburo who was still talking about how he could not wait to kill more demons.
The central hall, made of dark wood and unpainted, was nowhere near as large as the Shinshioka’s Hall of Command. Racks of weapons lined all empty walls, and in the middle was a bare open space, which led to a raised platform on the far end with a floor writing desk that seemed dusty from lack of use. Seiki had no time to appreciate the interior as Ippei took him straight to Lieutenant Kato, who was standing on the side, studying a map.
The lieutenant looked exhausted, but was now back at full health.
“First, get these two quests,” said Ippei.
The lieutenant lifted his eyes from the map. “Ah, Seiki. Have you—”
“Yes twice to whatever you’re going to say, lieutenant,” Seiki cut him.
Quest accepted: Explore Muraki Fort [Level 14]. Orient yourself within the fort. Find and visit your private room, the fort kitchen, the stable, and the armory office. You will receive: War Token [x1]. 255 XP.
Quest accepted: Captain Sakurai [Level 14]. Talk to Captain Sakurai about further upgrades to your troops. You will receive: War Tokens [x3]. 255 XP.
“They’re just giving out Tokens right now, aren’t they?” said Seiki.
“Only in the beginning,” said Ippei. “Sakurai’s over here.”
Wasting no more time, Ippei led him through a side door through a room.
As soon as Seiki stepped through the doorway, a notification updated:
Quest objective completed: Muraki Fort [Level 14] – Visit the armory office. Three more objectives remaining.
The room was a little more spacious than the one in Shinshioka’s Hall of Command, but gave pretty much the same haphazard feel. The Armory Officer had magically transported himself here from Shinshioka and was sitting in his office behind piles and piles of documents on a raised tatami platform. Seiki was sure the man was in two places at the same time, and that if he went back to the Hall of Command, Captain Sakurai would also be there, too.
He carefully found his way through the maze of boxes to get to the man. “Hi again, captain,” said Seiki, marveling at the state of mess the room was in, which was even worse than his office in the city. The boxes contained pretty much the same random pieces of NPC armor and weapons.
“Now it’s a: skip, yes twice, healing potions please, and another yes and an accept,” said Ippei in such a way that Seiki was not entirely sure if he was serious or not.
Seeing that his friend seemed in a terrible hurry, Seiki decided to simply go along with his plan.
Captain Sakurai put his hands on his hips as Seiki approached. “I see that—”
“Skip.”
Quest completed: Captain Sakurai [Level 14]. You have received: War Tokens [x3]. 255 XP.
The captain began again. “Your unit will—”
“Yes to whatever you’re going to say, captain.”
War Tokens cannot be refunded once spent. Are you sure you want to spend 3 War Tokens to equip your unit with a utility slot?
“Yes.”
Captain Sakurai nodded. “Now, Seiki, you must—”
“Healing potions?”
Are you sure you want to spend 2 War Coins to add Healing Potions to your unit’s utility slot?
“Yes, I guess,” said Seiki in slight surprise. “Didn’t know I had War Coins.”
He did have three, of which two were deducted. Unlike War Tokens, which were used for permanent upgrades, War Coins were used to purchase consumables and fix player gear.
“Toga!” yelled Captain Sakurai, and the poor soldier—who had also transported himself to the fort—came running in with a tray of ceramic bottles that he handed out to the four villagers.
Quest completed: Captain Sakurai [Level 14]. You have received: War Tokens [x3]. 255 XP.
The Armory Officer nodded in satisfaction. “You are now ready to—”
“Accept.”
Quest accepted: For Shinshioka [Level 14]. Investigate Muraki Woods. You will receive: War Token [x1]. 420 XP.
“I have absolutely no idea what I just did,” said Seiki.
“I have no idea how you just did what you just did,” said Ippei.
“I’ve gotten good at remembering verbal instructions. How do these slots work exactly again?”
Ippei dismissed the question in his usual manner. “Don’t worry. We’re ready for now. Let’s go.”
Genta and Ojisan looked slightly confused, and Seiki simply told them he had no clue what was happening. Inspecting them, however, revealed additional information:
Player’s War Unit [Seiki – Level 14]
Members: 4
Unit Base Level: 14
Weapon: Iron Tantou (Level 1)
Armor: Basic Armor Set (Level 2)
Utility Slots:
[Standard Slot] – Consumable: Standard Healing Potions
When they re-emerged from the central hall, many of the people were already breaking off into smaller groups and riding out the gate, presumably to tackle the Muraki Woods event.
“Urgent Events are much more challenging versions of a standard event but give you double rewards for everything,” said Ippei. “They’re random.
They pop up about once or twice a week and are on the board for only three hours, so you only have a very narrow window to start it, and an hour per stage to complete once you do.”
“So we’re just lucky that it happens to be Muraki Woods right now?” He was starting to understand what Ippei was trying to do. Beating something on the first try gave extra rewards, which varied according to the base difficulty level of that event. So if they managed to finish this in Urgent mode, he guessed they could expect even better rewards. “I guess we need a group for this?” From what he had heard, every war event was tuned for 8 players upward and scaled accordingly.
“We already have one,” said Ippei as he walked toward the group of players who had gathered near one of the weapon racks on the edge of the courtyard. There were about forty people around, but most of them seemed to be NPCs in identical uniform, most likely from the same player unit.
On his way, Ippei turned to nod casually at another group of four NPC soldiers, who quickly ran toward him and fell in line.
Realizing these four were Ippei’s personal unit, Seiki inspected them and found that they did not have individual names, and were all labeled Shinshioka Soldier [Ippei – Level 14]. All strong-built men between their late twenties to early forties, none of them appeared anywhere as talkative as the four Asano villagers.
Seiki had more questions about managing units in general, but that was when he saw what Ippei was doing and decided he had more pressing matters to worry about.
The group Ippei had his eyes set on turned out to be five higher-level West Defenders. There were two ryoushi girls with long bows strapped across their backs, plus two men who bore no visible weapon and whose classes Seiki could not easily guess now that they were in uniform. The highest-level player was Level 20, a well-built woman with a high ponytail and two long swords hanging from her waist, labeled Umiko of the West Defenders.
“You sure about this?” asked Seiki. The lowest member was Level 17.
Ippei apparently did not share Seiki’s concern. “This, my friend,” he said with a faint smile. “…is how we launch our war careers. So, uh, I guess try to look like you know what we’re doing.” He then raised his voice to hail them. “Good evening, West Defenders.”
That caught their attention. And as the West Defenders turned to face them, Seiki realized he had indeed seen the Level 20 samurai Umiko before. First in the Taira Mansion invasion, when she tried to kill him. And the second time in an alley between West City and South City, when she did not try to kill him, but the outcome had been pretty much the same.
She was the only player in the group with a gold flower insignia on her chest armor which most likely indicated a higher rank. Her seal horse was heavily armored.
Surprisingly, the recognition seemed to be mutual, and Umiko showed no sign of enmity. “So,” she said, dragging the word on playfully. “The kakigouri boys are finally out the West Gate.”
Ippei went straight to the point. “Are you doing Urgent Muraki right now?”
A smile touched Umiko’s lips as she guessed his meaning. Still, she raised her brow and asked nonchalantly. “Yeah. Why do you care?”
“We’d like to join you,” said Ippei, as if walking up to a group of strangers and asking to join their group was the most natural thing to do.
Umiko giggled and turned to Seiki, her eyes gleaming knowingly. “Finally sick of the RP life, eh, Reiji?”
Seiki did not expect that. “I’m really not Reiji.” He remembered now how she had been thoroughly convinced he was an alt of someone called Reiji of the Shinshioka Scientific Society.
The West Defender samurai waved her hand. “Whatever. Who else could have pulled that kind of crap you did at the White Crane Hall?” She stopped for a second to rub at her nose. “Unfortunately, as intrigued as I am, I don’t see how allowing two fresh Level 14s in is going to help our chances.”
Seiki secretly agreed with her.
“Come as yourself, then we’ll reconsider.” Umiko looked at him pointedly, apparently not giving up on her conviction.
One of the ryoushi girls turned to ask her clan mates in a low voice who Reiji was supposed to be.
“Society guy,” replied the other ryoushi. “He suddenly stopped playing a few months back.”
Someone mentioned something about Taira mansion, but Seiki did not recognize any of them, and they did not seem to recognize him either.
Ippei met Umiko’s eyes. “Most of your main players have already used up their weeklies,” he said matter-of-factly. “And your own casuals are probably stuck in their own Hitsu run at the moment.” He nodded at the group. “So now you have two ryoushi, one houshi, and one ninja with a highly-specialized unit, which leaves your own as the only melee unit. And since you’ve opted for a balance build, you’re a bit lacking in number. Considering the spread-damage nature of Muraki, I’d say you’re going to have slight problems staying alive.”
He nodded toward the players in the middle of the courtyard. “So you can take your chances with some random people and hope they know how to do the locks, stack for the drain, and not to mention hit those seals.” He paused, for effect. “Or you can let us in, and we’ll map and reposition the whole thing for you, and bait during the melee phase if necessary.”
Umiko blinked and stared at him in a slightly bewildered expression shared by the remaining four West Defenders.
Then, the Inscribed Card of the Life Spring appeared between Ippei’s fingers, which he flipped around casually as if performing a magic trick. “We even brought our own rez,” he said with a little smile as he looked back at them. “So you can keep all your cards.”
Silence fell, and Ippei’s smile broadened as perhaps he knew he already had them. Seiki could not help thinking that his friend was in the completely wrong line of work, since it was obvious the man really knew how to close a sale.
The samurai continued, more seriously now. “We’ll pull our weight, and we want a fair share of the group loot.”
The West Defenders exchanged glances.
“Uh, who the hell is this guy?” muttered Kaito of the West Defenders [Level 18], a tall lean man with short-cropped hair, most likely the group’s houshi—judging from the small black wooden wand on his obi.
Even Umiko seemed rather impressed. Still, she narrowed her eyes. “We have strict criteria for recruits, especially if you want a spot in our main army,” she said, guessing that this showing was some sort of an audition to join their clan.
“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that, lady. It’s quite the opposite.” Ippei looked them all in the eye. “Consider this a trial run,” he said. “When you want our service next time, it’s not going to be free.”
“He said ‘when’, not ‘if’,” muttered Michiyo of the West Defenders, one of the ryoushi.
Ippei smiled as he looked at her. “Exactly.”
CHAPTER 08
It did not take Seiki long to realize that most people had the same feeling about Muraki Woods he and his friends had about Nezumi Temple.
As the first war event players came across, Muraki Woods held a special place in most people’s hearts. Ippei seemed to have vivid memories of the first time he and a random group of ten players—with their fresh troops straight out of Captain Sakurai’s Armory Office—tried to tackle it in Beta, before wiping terribly. As the most frequently-run event, however, Muraki Woods was unfortunately the first event people eventually grew tired of. Located literally on the doorsteps of Muraki Fort, people ran it for a quick War Card when they found themselves with unused weekly runs right before the reset. And a few months in, just the mention of it was enough to fill people with a sense of mild dread.
“You can only kill the same demon lizard so many times before it gets old,” said Ippei.
The event consisted of only one stage: an encounter with a band of demonic troops who had trapped and corrupted a giant lizard. As the storyline went, the enemies were in the process of tr
ansporting the caged beast to unleash upon the nearby Togatsu Village. The players’ task was simply to stop them and slay the demonic reptile.
The beast was placed under a sedating charm, maintained by three Demonic Sorcerers. Once the Demonic Sorcerers were dead, the enchantment faded, and after about ten seconds the lizard activated its first ability Shockburst to break out of the cage. The explosion dealt damage to itself and massive damage to everything within a hundred feet of it: demonic troops, players and NPC units alike. The encounter then entered the second phase, where the now-free beast went into its defensive stance and tried to heal itself by absorbing health from everything in its surroundings. The further away you were from the beast, the more percentage of health it took. To counter this, a melee unit usually had to stand in the air cone in front of the lizard and sacrifice some of their health, or the damage would drain the whole raid and most likely kill weaker ranged units.
“Basically, at eighty, forty and ten percent health, it heals back up ten percent, taken directly from you and your troops. Between those are just melee attacks,” said Ippei. “Pretty simple once you figure it out.”
“And that’s why you need several melee units?” Seiki guessed. Ippei had said the encounter was damage-heavy. Surviving a health drain right after an explosion would be a challenge, not to mention the melee attacks.
“You’re really starting to think like a tank now.” Ippei sounded a little amused. “You know, focusing on the damage you’ll take, not damage you’ll deal. Well, you’ll be happy to know that since this is the first event, they give you a little help. After the sorcerers die and the explosion goes off, the three seals on the cage are still there. I mean, if you manage to find them in the wreckage. Hitting these seals with any special ability sends out a sedating spell and our friend lizzy is dazed for about four seconds, giving you time to heal, or just run out of there.”
Seiki was not sure if Ippei was cluing him in on the strategy or indirectly trying to remind the West Defenders of this fact. All he knew was he had no idea how his four villagers would survive anything Ippei had just mentioned.