Real World – Kai Maddox

  I'm such an idiot. The shadows were useless at that point—there was no reason to do that other than to piss him off even more. Of course he's a kid. I... No, we should've all realized it sooner. Maybe Finn did. He's probably around the same age.

  Kai took a deep breath, trying to recompose himself, and checked his phone. Mai had responded to his message:

  "No can do. Emilia won’t do this again. 'Sort your problem on your own,' she says. I sort of agree—you totally went too far. Come back when you sort yourself out."

  Crap. Better to just try and fix it now.

  Kai quickly put his helmet back on and launched the game.

  Legendria – Sheko Ruun, Greater Matador

  Sheko turned toward the gate behind him, only to realize he had been sent back to the city gate.

  “Damn. Better hurry.”

  He broke into a sprint toward the arena but was quickly intercepted by Finn and his party. They had clearly been looking for him.

  “You happy with yourself? Congrats on the win, by the way,” Finn said, his anger palpable.

  “You know why I was running this way, so you already know my answer,” Sheko replied, his voice calm but his mind racing. He wanted to slip past them before things got worse in the arena, but this conversation couldn't be left unresolved either.

  “Oh, can I really?” Finn scoffed. “It seemed like you told Mai you’d take some time off to clear your head, but here you are, back online. So what is it? Regretting your choice and trying to take back your prize?”

  “No, I don’t regret giving it back—even if Phantasm doesn’t know. I came back because I realized I can't fix things from outside of Dendro.”

  Finn studied him for a moment before responding. “Fine. I’ll take your word for it. But you’re still banned from my raids until you actually do fix things. And if you pull something like that again, no second chances.”

  “Fine. But in that case, I should tell you—I have a score to settle with Kaizo.”

  Finn let out a deep sigh, rubbing his temples. “Were you even talking about Phantasm in the arena, or was all of that just projection?”

  “Hey, that’s uncalled for,” Sheko shot back. “I get the hostility, and I know I screwed up. But I’m being honest with you—Kaizo killed me on my first day in the Overworld. It’s only fair that I get to pay him back for it.”

  Finn exhaled through his nose. “Fine. I can see that. Does your sister know you’re planning to kill her party leader?”

  Sheko whispered his answer before repeating it louder so they could hear. “I set her up to join their group. She’s fully aware of it.”

  Finn fell silent, turning the information over in his head. One of his friends—Sheko thought it was their alchemist healer—spoke up.

  “Finn's right. This whole getup you’re wearing, your constant self-focused attitude... You’re exactly what you accused Phantasm of being. No wonder your embryo makes you spin everyone around you—like a metaphorical sun.”

  Sheko’s rage flared as they ganged up on him. He instinctively reached for a throwing knife, gripping it tightly in his hand. The others noticed and shifted their stances, ready for a fight. But before things could escalate, Sheko took a deep breath and slid the knife back into his trench coat.

  He's right. Even my items are screaming for attention... but this isn’t right either.

  “It’s uncalled for!” Sheko snapped. “I didn’t stalk him or turn everyone against him! I screwed up once—after he screwed up too! I’m not a bully! You have to give me a chance to fix things. Otherwise, people will just isolate themselves and never try to form connections again.”

  His voice cracked.

  The group collectively winced, realizing the situation was more serious than they first thought.

  Finn was the first to speak, cutting through the tension before it could spiral into a shouting match.

  “Sheko, you’re right. That was uncalled for. Thomas, drop it. And don’t judge someone by their embryo ever again. What would that make me? A spider, trapping people in my webs?”

  Finn injected a little humor into his final words before stepping aside, motioning for Sheko to pass. His party followed without another word.

  Sheko moved quickly, outpacing the carriages that shared the road with him. Yet, to him, it still felt agonizingly slow. After how terribly his conversation with Finn had gone, he didn’t want to imagine what might happen in the arena. If not to at least apologize, then he needed to find someone who knew how to contact Phantasm.

  After a few minutes, Sheko arrived at the arena. The constant stream of people coming and going made it easy to blend in. Among the crowd, he spotted a group dressed in black—the same people who had cheered for Phantasm earlier. They were just leaving the gate, starting to split up, when Sheko called out to them.

  “Hey, you guys. You know Phantasm, right?”

  They all started talking at once.

  “The loser—” Sheko managed to make out before their voices clashed, overlapping in a mess of noise.

  Yeah, obviously, that’s the kind of company he’d end up in.

  “Sure, him. So, do any of you know how to contact him?”

  Again, they all tried to speak at the same time before one of them silenced the rest.

  “We don’t give out real-world information. Ever. You can join if you want, though. We let Phantasm hang around, but it’s not like anyone ever lost to him, when fighting seriously. Still, you’re showing potential, newbie.”

  Sheko narrowed his eyes. “Does he speak for all of you?”

  The group gave a general confirmation.

  “Great. Then you can all scurry away. Clearly, you’re cut from the same cloth Phantasm is.”

  The group immediately turned hostile.

  This is getting ridiculous. If I were definitely weaker than them, they probably would’ve already killed me... like Kaizo did.

  As they squared up against him, one of them lunged forward with a dagger, trailing behind it a row of mirror images. The attacker was slow and unskilled—a pattern Sheko was certain the rest shared. With a quick sidestep, he dodged the dagger and countered with a straight kick, sending the attacker stumbling backward.

  Despite the hit, the group snickered. Their confidence was misplaced. Even so, they all rushed in at once, attempting to gang up on Sheko in the least coordinated attack he had ever witnessed.

  Jumping back, he narrowly avoided a wave of shadowy arms grasping at his legs—one of them even tripping another attacker. Before the first attacker could strike again, Sheko caught their arm mid-swing, spun them around using Odysseus, and flung them into the last approaching melee fighter.

  He quickly scanned the group—one of them was missing.

  Behind me.

  Sheko spun around just in time to dodge a throwing knife aimed at the back of his head. Reacting instantly, he threw a knife of his own, but the attacker vanished into the shadows of the alley.

  “Okay, we had some fun,” Sheko said, dusting himself off. “Now stop this! I came here to ask about your friend, but I realize you’re just a bunch of edgy kids hoping people will tell you how cool you are.”

  Realizing he was about to go on another rant, Sheko took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He had grown up as the weird kid, and there wasn’t much good to remember from those years. Conforming just to be a little less ostracized had only left him feeling pent-up. Hopefully, what he said next would make some kind of difference.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  “Listen, it’s fine that you all share an aesthetic—even if most people probably think it’s goofy.”

  The group, who had been ready to attack again, froze in confusion.

  “Maybe one day, you’ll look back and agree it was silly,” Sheko continued. “Or maybe, if you just loosen up a bit, you’ll actually have fun. We’re in a game, after all. I’m not much of a people person either—just like I assume you guys aren’t—but it’s a good thing you have people who share your interests, right? That’s the wonder of the online world. Don’t go following random people to the ends of the earth, but... the friends you meet here—and I think you are friends, at least in the loose sense—are real people. These relationships have value.”

  Seeing that the group wasn’t moving to attack again, Sheko let out a sigh of relief before continuing.

  "Now, I think I’ll look to see if someone else might help me find Phantasm."

  As he finished speaking, the missing member of the group suddenly appeared midair behind Sheko, ready to strike again. Sheko ducked under them and raised his fists, but the attacker relaxed their posture when they saw the others had stopped.

  "I guess we’re good now?" they said, their calm tone throwing Sheko off. He hadn’t expected them to accept a withdrawal without some kind of explanation from either side.

  Before Sheko could reply, the attacker continued, "Combat with masters is pretty common, don’t worry about it. I assume we’re fine now? If you wanna find Phantasm, maybe talk to his previous party."

  This guy is throwing me into a spin. I guess not all of them are identical. Maybe he's really more about the aesthetic than the edgy personality the others have.

  "Eh... yeah, thanks," was all Sheko could string together.

  The one who had hushed the group at the start turned and departed with the rest. They all still walked with their eyes staring at the floor and their hands in their pockets. Sheko figured what he had said was just a convenient excuse for them to cut their losses in the fight and would soon be forgotten as ignorant ramblings. But as the last of them joined the others, he noticed them starting to talk amongst themselves.

  Maybe it was arrogance on his part. Maybe he knew nothing about them. But he could hope—just hope—that this was actually a change for the better in that group.

  If these weren’t Phantasm’s former party, though, then I guess it’s gotta be someone else.

  As he thought about it, the answer practically walked into him.

  A group led by a knight in full plate armor greeted him.

  "Congratulations on beating that menace. Maybe he’ll quit, and we can finally stop hearing about someone complaining that we led a horde of aggroed monsters into their grinding spot. Or stop having to explain that the guy they constantly see with us and who killed them is actually impersonating us."

  Sheko was a little confused that someone would congratulate him for winning in earnest after that second round. But these were probably Phantasm’s biggest victims and detractors.

  "Could you tone it down maybe? I'm actually kind of down from that second round..."

  Before he could finish, the knight interrupted him.

  "Yeah, breaking down like that made you look like a villain. Feels kind of crap, huh? Never had it this bad with Phantasm before, but he’s thrown tantrums with us before—especially a big one when we finally kicked him from the group. Don't worry, I'm sure it'll blow over in a bit."

  "That's actually almost the exact opposite of what I wanted to say. Listen, I'm sure he earned your animosity, but I don't think we're doing any good holding grudges against an obvious kid. I let the moment get to me and made myself say stupid stuff."

  "Why should you apologize for something that's right? When someone steals from you in real life, you don't feel bad for kicking their ass."

  "Well, maybe we shouldn't take it so seriously in a game. Dendro is a completely closed economy—you don’t actually lose anything if someone steals digital money from you. And I think if you almost kill someone for stealing from you—or in this case, publicly shame someone—you’ve crossed a line. Not every wrong justifies any and all consequences."

  "Hey, publicly shaming him after he tried to do the same to you—or how he constantly hurts our reputation—is just an eye for an eye. Maybe you think you're better for turning the other cheek, but that's a good way to end up taken advantage of."

  "Well, to that, I’ll say that the entire quote is 'An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.' I assume you're a bit more mature than Phantasm and can figure out your own issues. I hope. But if you please—can you tell me how to contact Phantasm?"

  "Sure. I still think you're making a huge mess out of one of Phantasm's tantrums, but whatever. He blocked me almost immediately after we kicked him, but it should still be active, I'm sure."

  The knight took a notepad from their backpack and wrote down Phantasm’s username for a real-life chat app.

  Sheko made sure to copy it to his phone using the camera function before continuing to his hopefully final stop for the day. A small nap before the fight had been enough, but now his avatar's sleep deprivation was really starting to mount. Unlike pain or injuries, sleep deprivation was pretty much identical to the real world—which meant he was agitated and felt a constant pressure at the back of his mind.

  He made his way back to his pit in the arena, but other than a long line of people waiting for their turn—some of whom recognized him and reacted as he'd expected—Mai was gone. Either she had let the chest be stolen or had taken it with her. Gambling on the possibility that she had taken it anyway, and knowing Emilia absolutely wouldn’t let them store it again, he ran to the Silly Daredevil.

  Sheko walked into the hall just in time to see Mai opening the game menu to log out for the day. Phantasm's chest was left on the table behind her for some reason. She spotted him at the doorway and dismissed the menu. Before she could rip into him, Sheko spoke first.

  "Listen, I'm dead tired and had to talk with Finn, Phantasm's murder, and his real fake team. I know I screwed up, but I'll talk with him. I already got his contact—I just didn’t want to pass up a chance to tie things up all at once if I could."

  Mai cracked a smile when he listed his encounters but quickly returned to her stoic expression.

  "What did you mean by the second two you mentioned?"

  "Well, the edgy all-black group that Phantasm seems to be a part of—the ones that watched him in the arena. They reminded me a bit of crows, so I thought it fit because..."

  "Yeah, a group of crows is called a murder," she finished for him. "And the real fake people?"

  "Yeah, apparently, the illusions he brought to the raid weren’t random or a one-time thing. He uses the image of his original team after they kicked him—impersonating them. You probably noticed them booing him. It was honestly bizarre. They were trying to cheer me up and told me that I shouldn’t worry about Phantasm’s tantrum."

  "Oof. I hope you don’t actually think what you did was fine and are just apologizing now to cover this up. Because let me tell you—I really can’t figure out your deal. One moment, you’re telling me how important I am to the team, then the next, you say it’s fine that I’ll never be as good a fighter as you because I’m not a combat job like you. Then, you argue with someone who could squash you for disrespecting Nue and Emilia. What is your deal? Tell me, if I had slighted you and we decided to settle it in a duel, would you have gone and ripped into me as well?"

  Sheko bit the inside of his cheek, trying to figure out how to calm Mai down without lying to her. He was a good liar, and he could think of a dozen lies that would make him look better.

  I could say I knew the real team before and was doing it at their behest. Or maybe push GesStar under the bus and say it was originally his idea to mess with Phantasm. But any of those would just shift her anger onto someone else, and if she cared to check, she wouldn’t just cut ties—she’d call me out. And Finn would probably support her because I’m already on thin ice.

  "Listen, I assure you that I’m trying to answer as truthfully as I can," he finally said. "I think my only excuse for why I ripped into Phantasm so badly is because it was a sort of perfect power fantasy at that moment. That small crowd looked bigger, and I thought it’d be so cool to be some mastermind. But I guess even when villains are cool, they’re still hated for a good reason."

  Sheko paused, hoping Mai would lighten up, but he didn’t notice any change in her expression, so he continued.

  "Maybe I had a right to his loot, maybe not, but how I handled it was awful from the very start. I even planned the whole thing with the medium from the beginning. I had turned that rant over in my mind and just didn’t think there was any possibility other than fury as a result. And yeah... even that is pretty bad."

  Mai opened the menu again, ready to quit, but Sheko pressed on.

  "I don’t know what I can say—while staying honest—that will make it fine. I guess it’s best that I’m at least trying to correct it. As for you and Nue... I really can’t say, because I never thought this would come up. You’ve been charitable and supportive since we met, and I’ve been worse. But I don’t think that if we had come to a head, I would’ve ripped into you like I did Phantasm—even without hindsight.

  Now, with Kaizo and me protecting Nue—I'll be frank. It was about half about Nue and half me having a beef with Kaizo. The first day I logged into Infinite Dendrogram, I met him and went to grind with GesStar for a short bit. Honestly, I got nothing against the rest of the team. From what I can gather from Tsuno and my own experience with GesStar, they’re fine—or at least as fine as someone could be as a debt collector for the bank... kidnapping people."

  Mai jumped in with an outburst.

  "What?! They’re kidnappers? And you knew about it? How did you let them stay around?"

  "If it makes it better, I did do something about it back then. When we met back in town, Kaizo was carrying a sack with a debtor inside. I cut the sack and let them free—but Kaizo killed me two seconds later. And I got an extra second only because Odysseus awakened. I still don’t know if Kaizo ended up screwing with my Embryo. So yeah... that’s my grudge with him."

  "Okay, I guess this is better. You’re just a thrill-seeker, then? Still doesn’t excuse how you dealt with Phantasm, but I can forgive—as long as you really follow through. I do wanna kill Kaizo now. How the hell is he walking around freely when it’s easy to find out he’s a kidnapper?"

  "Well, he’s acting fully within the law. Now, whether the law is just is a different story. But if you care so much about that, I think I can tell you the whole truth. My sister didn’t end up with his group by coincidence."

  "Please, no. Another mastermind revenge plot?"

  "Come on. Kaizo totally deserves it. I promise I won’t make it a personal attack—it’s just tit for tat. He killed me in open-world PvP, so I get to kill him in open-world PvP."

  "That’s stupid. There’s gonna be a ton of collateral damage. Why not just do it in the arena?"

  "Not the same thing, not the same price. I want it to be exactly the same. But I did consider collateral damage. Well... sort of. In a month, real-world time, there will be the anniversary event. On one hand, there will be larger crowds, but on the other, security will be higher for this kind of thing. And there will be a lot more high-level Masters around to play damage control.

  Now, if you help me set up the situation beforehand, we can definitely prevent any collateral casualties. I’ll be honest—I thought GesStar and Kaizo were on strained relations right now based on my skimming of Kaizo’s streams, but that seems incorrect. Tsuno was supposed to stop his team from interfering, but now I think I need extra help with GesStar. What do you say?"

  "I say that this is insane, and you probably shouldn’t go through with it. But also that it sounds exciting, and it’s totally against someone who deserves it. I’d prefer if we could ensure there won’t be casualties for sure."

  "Fine, I’ll see what we can manage. So... we’re good?"

  "Not yet, but I’m amiable. That’s three months away—I’m sure I can forget until then. Well, I should get to sleep. And I think your avatar needs to sleep as well."

  "Yeah. Good night."

  "Good night."