Like, never mind that she was hidden through most of the arc, if the two bozos were watching us they would know of our partner in crime number one. She´s the girl that hung around us for a long time, our second. You could argue they don´t want to deal with Yakuza, but they still had the nerve to challenge someone related to the government. They are dismissive of authority. They may recognize it, but don´t care about it.
Physically, they won´t be threatning for Gwen, not at all. But the fact they left her out of the picture is something to consider. Why they did so? Do they think she´s not a menace? It doesn´t make sense for their character, because they are chessmasters and even they know any pawn left unchecked may evolve into a queen and wreck your shit.
So, theories:
1 - They´ll try to hold her off by other means - maybe by using some convoluted scheme to prive us of our greatest helper.
2 - They want us to think we have this one trump only to use it against us, as they usually do in their home series.
3 - Both.
They want to make their own rules, fair ones on paper, but that in practice make them the most powerful people in the game. We are agents of chaos. Whenever we walk, we bring madness on our path.
I have a plan for the next phase. A crazy one, and one I wish pete himself give an oversight, by answering a singular question:
What happens if we go big and hunt two targets at once?
Going for two big targets at once strikes me as a bad idea. We should focus on one big target (probably Pito) so we can start the Arfa plot and double down on that, along with anything Pito gives us.
I think the bigger thing here is less our Persona lineup and more getting a team together. To that end, I think we should try and resolve Pito's situation beforehand and get her on our side for this fight. Maybe Zeliska. If we can get Lugh or Lievre to help, great.
Which brings us to LLENN and Pito. I still think our best play is try to mimic GGO Alternative canon as best we can - and I don't actually think the Death Gun Derby has disrupted that too much. The primary problem is what M has not told us - that is, the promise between LLENN and Pito. I think that could still play here just as it did in SJ2. Pito staked her life there as well - the only difference being that now we have magic bullshit that could conceivably trigger her NerveGear which is something we absolutely have to plan around.
I... still think M's plan is our best bet. Really, my biggest concern here is Karen's mental state. We're defeating the purpose if we accidentally prop up LLENN as a Chosen candidate in Pito's place. Honestly, the biggest thing I haven't quite been able to square is why M feels Karen can't know details - my understanding of how all this works is that it doesn't particularly matter what Karen thinks about the situation as long as Elza/Pito believes she is staking her life on the fight. We could chalk this up to M just not having as complete an understanding of the process as us but it's a risk.
That being the case here - I think the only real options we should consider are to trust M's plan or Full Disclosure. Honestly, I am personally leaning towards trusting the plan here but mostly because I'm leaning on GGO Alternative canon which may or may not play here - because if it does I think it all works out. If I didn't know that I think I'd be on Full Disclosure.
Actually, I have changed my mind. And rather than risk it being lost in a simple edit I'll explain my reasoning in a double post.
Because we don't know about the promise and how much weight it would hold with her - I think we're probably better off telling Karen what we know and hoping she connects the dots herself and raises it as a possibility. If M had simply told Karen about the promise being a valid tool here this would be so much simpler for me.
Blank also plans on shuffling to a different address after the typhoon hits, this entire encounter was predicated on Kazuma's sheer laziness which did catch them off guard.
Mmm, its funny because canonically, Blank doesn't have much, if any luck. When things happen, from their perspective its either to screw them over or challenge them.
Thats why they are obsessive and sociopathic about always being in control, there has never been anyone they could trust to have influence over any of their life.
Meanwhile Kazuma is stupidly, arbitrarily lucky, but because he's lazy and careless he keeps dropping entirely avoidable problems on himself with bad decisions, either his own or the people he's enabling. And yet he's a good person if you get past everything and force him to make a choice.
As such its really hilarious that his luck got him out of his NEET life by being turned into a manservant of two even NEETier people, and because of a tiny bit of moral fiber he got the only girl he knows to wash the little girl that badly needs washing.
And so out of pure happenstance a random event happenned that didn't screw the siblings over for no reason, and actually wanted to help, uncoerced.
Given the spirit of theorycrafting @afreaknamedpete, how long does a scene last? One round? One combat plan? Etc. I wanna know if stunning BLANK and then switching to Megumin St. Attila of Antioch and casting explosion is a viable plan.
Also, if do we need to defeat BLANK with the Colt Single Action Army in order to gain the upgrade or will merely hitting them will do? Furthermore will it be available as a mid battle powerup if it's dramatic enough occasion.
Also @ Thread if we get the Enhance Armament of Paladin we can exchange Mistcoin for more a single turn multi hit attack (up to 6 in one round), which means that if we trigger the Helena stun condition (by going Helena "Emanation of Heresiarch" -> Sokushinbutsu "Meditation" -> Paladin "Wire Paladin, San Francisco") we can start the fight by hitting BLANK 6 times while they are stunned (with +2 dice to every roll from the Colt Single Action Army [High Noon] passive) and ideally upgrade it right there and then.
Given the spirit of theorycrafting @afreaknamedpete, how long does a scene last? One round? One combat plan? Etc. I wanna know if stunning BLANK and then switching to Megumin St. Attila of Antioch and casting explosion is a viable plan.
Also, if do we need to defeat BLANK with the Colt Single Action Army in order to gain the upgrade or will merely hitting them will do? Furthermore will it be available as a mid battle powerup if it's dramatic enough occasion.
Also @ Thread if we get the Enhance Armament of Paladin we can exchange Mistcoin for more a single turn multi hit attack (up to 6 in one round), which means that if we trigger the Helena stun condition (by going Helena "Emanation of Heresiarch" -> Sokushinbutsu "Meditation" -> Paladin "Wire Paladin, San Francisco") we can start the fight by hitting BLANK 6 times while they are stunned (with +2 dice to every roll from the Colt Single Action Army [High Noon] passive) and ideally upgrade it right there and then.
St. Attila is NOT an option for the BLANK fight. Period. It takes two scenes (so twice as long as Alice Lidell takes to fire off Megido) AND renders us helpless for the scene afterward. So, in essence THREE plan phases of Hiyori doing nothing. Need I remind you that using St. Attila also consumes ALL OF OUR SP?!
Do you have ANY idea how much effort we'd have to invest to make using St. Attila work? We would be relying ENTIRELY on our party to defend us.
We could achieve the same result while putting in FAR less effort with a more versatile Persona roster.
BLANK is NOT a fight we can justify using St. Attila for.
We already have Paladin's Enhance Armament, we just haven't used it yet. And I'm pretty sure we have to get the finishing blow with the modified Colt SAA ('Plant one between the eyes of GGO's true champion' is NOT very ambiguous)
St. Attila is NOT an option for the BLANK fight. Period. It takes two scenes (so twice as long as Alice Lidell takes to fire off Megido) AND renders us helpless for the scene afterward. So, in essence THREE plan phases of Hiyori doing nothing. Need I remind you that using St. Attila also consumes ALL OF OUR SP?!
Do you have ANY idea how much effort we'd have to invest to make using St. Attila work? We would be relying ENTIRELY on our party to defend us.
We could achieve the same result while putting in FAR less effort with a more versatile Persona roster.
BLANK is NOT a fight we can justify using St. Attila for.
We already have Paladin's Enhance Armament, we just haven't used it yet. And I'm pretty sure we have to get the finishing blow with the modified Colt SAA ('Plant one between the eyes of GGO's true champion' is NOT very ambiguous)
The point of my question to afreaknamedpete was if a "scene" counts as a full battle plan and as such St. Attila is useable during the time BLANK is stunned. Though, I do admit I thought Kuro had more than 10 SP which makes it moot.
WRT the Colt, I disagree here. The entire Untouchable story was about how he couldn't land a single it and his dying request was to avenge him by hitting BLANK, I think it's a valid reading is that fulfilling his final wish is just landing one good hit on BLANK. Though, killing BLANK with the Colt is also a valid reading, which is why I asked afreaknamedpete for clarification.
@SITB there may be some terminology that hasn't been updated yet, but a 'scene' is basically just a chapter of a fight. I'm keeping it vague to make it easier for me to write, effectively you can do as many actions as you care to in a scene.
So if you want to do a plan where you summon a flood and then try to poison the water that's still 'one scene'. A 'scene' ends when something important happens.
If a plan vote is super basic (just cast X spell) and, say, nothing happens in the scene I'll probably just make the characters try again until there's a significant change in the status quo.
The whole idea is to try to make things less number/mechanics cause I don't think anyone really likes all the number stuff anyways, the numbers are more for me the QM to decide how conflicting plans/damage should be tracked.
Buffs and status effects are timed per 'scene'. Functionally, mostly due to my writing style, fights end in a handful of scenes anyways so most buffs last the whole fight at this rate, but I do want to change that.
Regarding the Colt it's simple. Hit Blank with a solid shot and the spirit of the UNTOUCHEABLE NPC will bless the weapon.
AN: My depiction of Carl Jung's cosmology is approximately as accurate as SMT's depiction of biblical mythology.
Sources: 1% Jung's writings. 1% Jung's weird art. 1% Jung blogs. 200% other stuff.
Hello there class, are you ready to be mystified? To speak to the secrets of the self? Then stop playing with your Tulpas and start paying attention because it's time for "Mr. Edogawa's VR Classroom!"
Today is our second lecture on advanced topics in Jungian Psychology! As always, please remember this is a continuation of a lecture series from many years past, still available through the miracle of the internet. Now without further ado, let us FullDive back into today's lesson! Moon Prism Power, Make Up!
As a quick review do you all remember the ultimate goal of Jungian Psychology? Individuation is the name and Active Imagination is the game. As you progress through your mental journey you will often find yourself in discussion with various thoughtforms, whether through dreams or active imagination, similar to the Tulpas I hope you are all cultivating! These can come in many shapes, perhaps an argument with your 'Shadow', or a discussion with your 'spiritual guide', and may be figures from mythology deeply tied to the collective unconsciousness. The possibilities are endless but they are not meaningless, each of these thoughtforms... hmm, let's call them «Cognitive Beings»... reveal truths about your own Self, and only through confrontation and discussion with the «Cognitive Beings» can one reach true Individuation!
Consider all the different «Cognitive Beings» you speak to through your journey as different masks worn by your Self. Remember that the soul is nothing less than an entire world, so is it any surprise that Jung's own «Cognitive Beings» fashioned themselves out of mythological figures? This is by no means an exhaustive list of the beings Jung spoke to, but it serves as an illustrative example of the depths that must be walked to achieve enlightenment!
Let us start, as always, with the beginning. The creator, the spark, the «Old One» of Jung's psyche— ATMAVICTU.
This is the back side of the gem. He who is in the stone has this shadow. This is ATMAVICTU, the old one, after he has withdrawn from the creation. He has returned to endless history, where he took his beginning. Once more he became stony residue, having completed his creation. In the form of IZDUBAR he has outgrown and delivered ΦΙΛΗΜΩΝ and 𓂓 from him. ΦΙΛΗΜΩΝ gave the stone, 𓂓 the sun.
This figure represents the primal, natural spark of inspiration— whose name means 'breath of life'. It is the oldest «Cognitive Being», one Jung describes as being with him in childhood. ATMAVICTU is a morphic entity that changes shapes throughout Jung's life, first appearing as a kabir, a dwarfish magician, before turning into a series of animals, becoming a man, and returning to a serpent. ATMAVICTU's greatest accomplishment was slaying a primordial dragon who had swallowed the sun, releasing its contents upon the earth and fertilizing the world, essentially Jung's psyche, from its corpse. ATMAVICTU at various points in its existence gives rise to almost all the other «Cognitive Beings» in Jung's Psyche, but his ultimate fate is to return to stone and be forgotten.
In the form of ATMAVICTU we can see the archetype of the 'Creator God'. One who fashions the world out of parts of himself, and cuts the world out of the body of a monster, mirroring countless myths across the world over, such as Ditolaine cutting free the nations from the belly of Khodumodumo, or the realms being fashioned from the corpse of Ymir. It is also the least active of Jung's «Cognitive Beings», being with him in his youth and growing senescent as he ages. By the time that Jung begins his journey to Individuation, ATMAVICTU was long dead and remains one of the few figures Jung never converses with.
But what's the point of a «Cognitive Being» one cannot talk to? Let us move to the first figures Jung could speak at length with— Elijah and SALOME.
A thinker should fear Salome, since she wants his head, especially if he is a holy man. A thinker cannot be a holy person, otherwise he loses his head. It does not help to hide oneself in thought. There the solidification overtakes you. You must turn back to motherly forethought to obtain renewal. But forethought leads to Salome.
SALOME, the first female «Cognition Being» in Jung's psyche appears alongside Elijah, her father, who himself was the precursor to PHILEMON. SALOME was impetuous, flirtatious, childlike, and most strangely— blind. At this point in Jung's life, he was a successful man of science, so while Elijah grew powerful and evolved, SALOME remained herself, a weak child who lacked even sight. SALOME at many points in Jung's journey expresses adoration, almost romantic in nature, and frequently attempts to seduce Jung.
Initially, Jung conflated SALOME with the myth of princess SALOME, a biblical account of a princess who seduces her own father to seek the head of John the Baptist. But as Jung speaks to her he begins to recognize the aspects of himself he has suppressed, and through Individuation progresses to see her as a different SALOME— this time the disciple of Christ in Gnostic scriptures, who bears witness to his crucifixion alongside Mary Magdalene. This shift in the view of SALOME coincides with Jung accepting his spiritual, emotional, and feminine side— in essence, responding to SALOME's love, which means learning to love himself. With this, SALOME regains her sight.
For the next leg of Jung's mental journey, he seeks to go East, metaphorically the land of spiritualism— where to the West sits the land of man and science.
His legs are as if withered, but his arms are strong and healthy. What can one do? We sit silently at the flickering fire. The night is cold. IZDUBAR groans and looks up at the starry sky above: "Most terrible day of my life—unending—so long—so long—wretched magical art—our priests know nothing, or else they could have protected me from it— Even the Gods die," he said.
IZDUBAR is a towering bull-man that Jung imagines at a crossroads. While Jung travels east, IZDUBAR travels west. Once strong and godlike now he is frail, weak, and dying. Science and reason have degraded the once god into a pathetic, distorted form of his former glory. IZDUBAR kneels before Jung, unable to even bear taking another step, and Jung carries IZDUBAR west, to bring him towards the land of man and reason. But IZDUBAR grows ever weaker, distorting, and becoming lamed. IZDUBAR is special for he is the only entity Jung shows mercy. Eventually, IZDUBAR will die in a spiritual sense, becoming a cosmic egg that Jung takes into his own soul.
IZDUBAR represents the death of spiritualism to the march of progress, literally 'God is Dead'. This is reflected in his name— Gilgamesh is the ancient hero-king whose story still is spoken of, but IZDUBAR is nothing but an early mistranslation of the name borne from poor scholarship. By Jung's time, Gilgamesh was well known as the true name, thus the choice of IZDUBAR deliberately highlights the degradation of Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh is divine, IZDUBAR is lame and diseased. Gilgamesh is a towering giant, IZDUBAR is diminutive and dying. Gilgamesh is a true legend, IZDUBAR is a clerical error. One may think of IZDUBAR being the decayed form of Gilgamesh, and one can imagine IZDUBAR decaying into ever weaker forms— until he dies and becomes nothing more than an egg. IZDUBAR represents the deformation of spiritualism from science, but at the same time he represents hope and change for from the death of IZDUBAR comes something new— the SEED of a new god.
Eventually, Jung seeks guidance on his path to Individuation and seeks out a mentor figure, and therein he meets his greatest ally.
As ATMAVICTU, I committed the error and became man. My name was IZDUBAR. As such, I opposed him. He lamed me. Yes, the man lamed me and turned me into a serpent dragon. I became healed, as I recognized my error and the fire ate the serpent. And so PHILEMON developed. My form is his appearance. Before that, my appearance was form.
PHILEMON is the «Cognitive Being» who appears the most in Jung's writings, as a wise mentor figure who teaches Jung about the secrets of magic. PHILEMON serves as Jung's spiritual guide and is by far the most prolific speaker. Whereas other «Cognitive Beings» make themselves known only briefly, PHILEMON, once introduced, is a constant in Jung's Active Imagination. He is equal parts sounding board and mentor, representing insight and revelation, and the only one Jung publicly spoke of when he was still alive. Distinctly PHILEMON is of a lineage with all the prior «Cognitive Beings», a pattern that persists throughout Jung's writings. PHILEMON advocated to Jung for the development of a 'God' within his soul, a metaphor thought to represent the process of Individuation itself.
PHILEMON himself comes from Ovid, where he along with his wife Baucis receive the disguised Hermes and Zeus as guests, behaving benevolently even in the face of their onerous demands. PHILEMON in such a role serves as the attendant to God, the wise man and guide. Jung often spoke of PHILEMON as his personal guru, and the source of his specific insights into the human psyche.
And that is where most early scholarship ends on Carl Jung, but recent discoveries have revealed the PHILEMON is but a point of transition on a much grander journey!
You hypocrite, you are the light of day, the golden glow of the upper world, you eternal yesterday and tomorrow. But the present day broke one of your wings. You are not what is effective. I am what is effective. I have effect, I do not appear. The time of the effective is there. Curse you—you may curse me—you have despised the effective and praised the wrong appearance for too long. All the world speaks of PHILEMON, but who speaks of KA?
KA is an obscure but no less important figure in Jung's Active Imagination, for he served as the counterbalance to PHILEMON. Whereas PHILEMON emphasized dreams and the future, KA was focused on the material and the present. While PHILEMON was the spirit that nurtured gods, KA was that which killed gods— by burying them in gold and gems, turning the spiritual existence of the divine into simple idols of worship, utterly robbing divinity of any meaning beyond that which is immediately tangible. When PHILEMON advocates Jung seek the gods, KA asks Jung to only see with his own eyes and ears. When PHILEMON speaks of eternity, KA mocks the very concept. When PHILEMON speaks of the infinite heavens, KA remarks upon the beauty of a speck of dust.
The KA is the name of the god-soul in Egyptian theology from the hieroglyph that depicts two arms held up in prayer, and in Jung's vision is best described as PHILEMON's antagonist. Of note Jung never truly takes the side of one over the other, for when PHILEMON calls KA his Shadow, KA calls PHILEMON his Shadow. In Jung's imaginations they are constantly at odds, never agree, and speak of the other with immense vitriol— despite being, as with all «Cognitive Beings», fragments of ATMAVICTU, merely different representations of Jung's 'Self'.
PHANES is the resplendent day.
He is the eternal undying present.
He is the velvety butterfly's wing.
He is the tree of light.
He is perfection, everything done better.
He is salvation.
So what was Jung's final answer? The spiritual capstone to the process of Individuation? That would be best summarized as the creation of a god— not a god of the material world, but one of a new, higher and more spiritual world.
The real world is the domain of ABRAXAS— demiurge, the all-powerful force that is everything in its totality. Jung references the Gnostic term of Pleroma, which refers to the complete union of God. ABRAXAS is the Pleroma of the modern world, both good and evil, god and the devil, a terrible being that must be feared. But Individuation represents a break from ABRAXAS. From the roots of ATMAVICTU are created numerous «Cognitive Beings». From IZDUBAR's corpse lies a cosmic egg. From PHILEMON the egg is turned into the SEED of a World Tree, and from within this is birthed a new god. One of dreams and light that stands apart from the Pleroma to represent a new world altogether. The child god of the new world— PHANES.
From Individuation a new self. From PHANES a new god. From a new god to a new world.
...
Well! I think I got ahead of myself there, ehehehe... looks like my spiritual Persona overtook my analytical one! It's important to always respect the real world, even when reflecting upon one's inner world, lest you get distracted and run over by a truck. Now that you're all practiced with Active Imagination through your Tulpas it's time to progress to the next step on your journey to Individuation! Do as Jung did and start formulating your own cosmology, and there's no better place than the beginning! For the next lesson, I expect you all to have at least nailed down your own creation myths! I'm partial to the Egyptian one myself, but I can't really discuss that here or I'll get cancelled... hehehehe...
That's all for now class! Next lesson we'll step back from the theoretical and go over the map of the soul. Till then I leave you all with the words of Carl Jung to think on! Remember that—
You yourself are a creator of worlds and a created being.
And so you tell Karen everything. That Kanzaki Elsa spent her entire childhood in a state of perpetual dying, forced to the edge only to be pulled back over and over. How she's desperate to seek that feeling at all costs. Karen listens in silence, not interrupting once. She has no questions. Only this empty expression in her eyes as she listens to you spill her friend's darkest secrets like you were reciting spoilers to a book she hasn't even read.
"Oh."
She responds with this awkward, blank response as she digests the revelation. The silence drags out and not a single sound is made outside the pouring rain.
"Do you need some time?" you ask, worried she may be having a breakdown.
"It's... it's not what I expected. She's obsessed with... dying?" The tall girl leans down on the table. "I can't understand that. Who can? W-what she's gone through..."
"Karen..."
"I've been so naïve," Karen says. "I thought I had it all figured out. What M-san wanted from me. If Pito's using a fake NerveGear, even if she's using a real NerveGear, if I just... if I just kill her everything will be fine! We even made a promise! That if I beat her, we'd meet up in real life and finally reveal our identities to each other! So even if...!" Karen seems on the verge of tears.
"I've always been lucky when it counts," Karen keeps going, faster and louder as she gathers steam. "So I thought everything would be fine! Pito would honor our promise, so even if I kill her, she won't die! She wouldn't break a promise! That has to be what M-san was counting on!"
"That's... good news, right?" you offer weakly. Maybe Pito wouldn't want to die so she could honor this promise. But did the promise still hold when Karen now knows everything? If Pito was dangling her real-life identity like a carrot to Karen, what would Pito think now that you've baked that carrot into a cake and crammed it down Karen's mouth?
Karen flips between despair and hope, stuttering on all sorts of half-formed thoughts. "I don't know. I don't know anymore! If Pito knows that I know, will she think I broke the promise? I can never hide anything from Pito, she'll see right through me! And... and if she really wants to die that badly, then I can't just kill her! And if I can't kill her... what can I even do? If we defeat Pito we'll just end up killing her for real!"
Karen starts hyperventilating, clutching her knees tightly.
"Karen, just... breathe. Breathe and think, alright?" Shino says, "We're in no rush. Let's take it easy and sleep on it for now, alright?"
"O-okay..." Karen says weakly. "Maybe some rest is for the best. I... have a lot to think about. I'm sorry but I need to be alone..."
You and Shino sit in the foyer of Karen's apartment building, staring at the storm building over the horizon. The typhoon was slated to hit the day after tomorrow, and for a scant few days, you'll have peace. Not even Death Gun can operate in the middle of a storm.
"Did I do the right thing?" you ask, half to the pouring rain and half to Shino. Karen didn't take all the revelations well. She's so frazzled she even bumped her head against a low-lying doorframe just trying to show you the exit. "Was it my place to spill Elsa's secrets like that?"
Shino stays silent, no doubt thinking about when you hunted down her secrets.
"Hiyori. Don't take this the wrong way, but you're actually pretty nosy." Shino says, finally. "You protect yourself with lies but use the truth like a knife. You know how frustrating it is to learn that someone you barely know suddenly just... learns all your worst secrets by glancing at you once?"
You try not to flinch at the accusation. "You think I should've kept Karen in the dark?"
Shino's response is sudden and terse.
"Hesitation is defeat. Fight with the weapon you've mastered, Hiyori. Not someone else's." Shino holds her arms against herself. "But I... I know more than anyone, how... strong ignorance makes you. When you're sure you have all the answers it's so easy to make decisions, to just blindly... pull the trigger. And look at Kyouji— that power was from his ignorance, of himself and the people around him. Incarnation and ignorance go hand in hand."
Shino continues, her voice tight and forced. "Pitohui wants to die, and she believes Death Gun will give her that chance. LLENN wants Pitohui to live so that they can fulfill the promise they made. M is stacking the deck in LLENN's favor with the Fake NerveGear, but the fundamental plan? It's to pit Pitohui's ignorance against LLENN's ignorance. LLENN simply believes that everything will magically work out if she just keeps on shooting, that's no better than what I was believing in."
M... must've realized this. His utter insistence on ensuring Karen knew as little as possible reflected an understanding of Incarnation. The less Karen knows, the more room in her heart for hope. Hope that you're dampening with the truth.
Shino turns and stares you straight in the eye. "No hesitation. You fought me with the truth. We fought Kyouji with the truth. And we'll fight Elsa with the truth."
The truth... has been your weapon all this time. The pattern you've followed thus far was just a way of giving the truth a chance. You can't overthink this, you've already succeeded twice. You've begun to notice the pattern. You know what you must do against Pitohui.
Just like Shino and Kyouji, you'll first need to break the manifestation of her Death Gun. You know the state of her delusion, the «Real Deal» of Kanzaki Elsa was not strong, was not a champion, a jester or a king.
No, somehow, the «Real Deal» of Kanzaki Elsa was a corpse.
Elsa will draw power from that twisted belief. And you need to destroy that belief with overwhelming force. That's what you win by defeating Death Gun's manifestation. By crushing them with your Persona, you violate the veneer of invincibility, and introduce the barest hint of doubt. This gives you a window without the influence of Death Gun, a small chance that will give Karen the chance to tell her truth to Elsa and force her to listen.
And for once in this morass of lies and plots, Karen's truth was pure and simple.
She just wants to see her friend.
"It looks like you've come to an answer," Shino smiles, noting the new look in your eyes. "We'll fight with the truth, however painful it may be. Now, if we're done here, one truth we can't escape from is that this damn rain isn't letting off anytime soon..."
FRIDAY - June 13th, 2025
After School
You find Shirogane Kei in his natural environment.
The tall spindly man is hunched over a computer monitor trying to chew through a protein bar with one hand while furiously clicking with the other. He's hiding in a near-forgotten corner of Shigemura Labs, in what could charitably be called an office.
It's striking just how large Shigemura Labs is. Dozens of post-doctoral students, double that amount of graduate students, and a small army of technicians and support staff buzz around you like worker bees, busy with their tasks. Shirogane himself is surrounded by piles of half-deconstructed electronics and scrawled notes, written in shorthand so incomprehensible you're not even sure it's Japanese.
"Shirogane-san?" you call out, trying to catch your friend's attention. He seems distracted.
"Hmm? Hiyori?" Shirogane asks, turning around with glazed-over eyes. "Give me a minute, I'll be done in a flash."
You lean over his desk, curious about what he's working on. And what you see is just... abject chaos.
Shirogane tabs back and forth between a dozen different windows, each utterly saturated in flashing lights and countdown timers. You see text macros built within other windows spamming the log with so many gibberish strings your eyes hurt just trying to read it. Somewhere, underneath that opaque forest of menus lies some boss that looks vaguely like an oversized chicken, but it's hard to tell when only 10% of the screen is allocated for its model.
Shirogane whispers a series of commands filled with so much impenetrable jargon he may as well be talking in tongues. Though you still cannot even remotely tell what's going on, a bar hidden in the corner of the screen flashes and the creature finally dies in an overproduced cutscene that's immediately cut short by Shirogane chain mashing the skip button. The screen briefly overflows with emotes and stickers, and just like that the fight's over.
"Um, congrats?" Either he just beat a raid boss or his computer has surrendered to a virus.
Shirogane hangs his headset on his monitor and turns towards you with a satisfied smile. "Hey Hiyori, sorry about that. An old guildmate of mine wanted to catch up, so we decided to try a raid just for old time's sake."
"Was that «Elder Tale»?" The MMO was so old it was released before you were even born. The fact it still hasn't entered End of Service was seen as something of a miracle, even when it stopped updating. "I thought you quit playing?"
"I got a bit... nostalgic. It's been so long since I last saw my avatar that I surprised myself when I managed to pull it out on top of the World Tree. For better or worse, video games are written into our brain like a language," he says, tapping a finger against his skull. "And it was like I never left. I was going to look around and help out some new players, but then some old friends showed up."
"What about your real-life work?"
He looks a bit embarrassed at being caught. "Haha, stuff has to compile, so there's downtime to be found if you look. Work is finally starting to wind down, the Augma is more or less ready for release and most of my side has been finished. I'm still waiting for Shigemura-sensei to go over my project before he releases further funds, though that... might not strictly be my business anymore."
You drag over a chair from the nearby desk. "Is something wrong?"
Shirogane shakes his head. "Nothing wrong. The opposite, in fact. Do you remember Koujiro-sensei? Koujiro Rinko?"
The name of Kayaba's coworker, one of Sugou's previous obsessions. The woman you masqueraded as when you assaulted the World Tree, and the model for Queen Mab. You still have the duplicate's data in your NerveGear's memory.
At your nod, Shirogane continues. "I've been in contact with her since the World Tree. I didn't share any sensitive information, but we talked about development and other such minutiae... she's quite a marvelous researcher. Not the type of person I expected, but I suppose you can't learn everything about a person from the dreams of a madman. We've been spending a lot of time together."
You lean forward in surprise and concern. "Wait. You didn't. Aren't you still going out with Shizuka?" This Rinko is apparently catnip to genius researchers, did she snare Shirogane too!?
"Hey, it's not like that!" Shirogane says, waving his hands defensively, "We simply share research interests!"
You stare at him flatly.
"Quit it! I'm not interested in her."
Stare...
"And I'm not going to go crazy and trap people in VR! Promise!"
Stareeee...
"I'm aware of the similarities but just cause I'm wearing glasses doesn't make me automatically evil— damn it, you're teasing me, aren't you?"
You shrug with an unrepentant grin, and Shirogane grumbles.
"Yes, yes, I'll keep my evil plans firmly on the side of the good guys," the flustered man continues. "So? What's new for the «Edge Punisher»? Even I've heard about GGO by now... sounds like a mess and a half."
Your face scrunches in like you've just sucked on a lemon. "It. Is. A. Disaster."
"Do I want to know?" Shirogane asks dryly.
"Do you have three hours to spare?"
"I have an hour— talk fast."
And so you slowly begin laying the story before him, walking through the labyrinth that is Gun Gale Online and the twisted players that make up its upper echelons. It's refreshing to catch up with an old ally, and though Shirogane lacks any insight into the game of GGO itself, it's rare that you have the time to vent like this. But right as you're about to wrap up, Shirogane holds up a hand.
"Hold on. This『 』character, they're trying to supplant this whole Death Gun conspiracy?" Shirogane asks, slowly, rubbing his chin in contemplation. "I feel like you're missing something here..."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm just spitballing, but isn't the weakest link Death Gun? Not the team, but the fundamental idea behind it."
Your confusion must be apparent because Shirogane immediately launches into one of his lectures, "Death Gun is trying to Incarnate the Black Star as a true murder weapon— this I understand. I daresay it's even clever. But where does this... Derby come into it? It seems extraneous. If I were Death Gun I wouldn't bother with a tournament, I'd just keep on scheduling murders until the rumors cement. And it wouldn't necessarily even be hard, Death Gun can afford to target players more or less at random. Death Gun's optimal move right now would just be to keep on killing— as many as possible, as frequently as possible. Yet there hasn't been another death— why? Most of them are still at large, and one of them is even a professional criminal. It makes no sense."
Death Gun hasn't... killed enough people? "I presume that murder is... hard? And I just arrested a key member." But even as you say it you question the meaning behind Shirogane's suspicion. Kyouji admitted to scouting out tons of targets, Death Gun's current goal was to demonstrate the power of the Black Star in the game. Maybe they were saving the killing spree until then?
"I've always found it best to never assume your opponents are incompetent until they've proven they are," Shirogane rebukes. "The greatest gap? Death Gun's lack of appearances. Why is he hiding? Why is he not out there killing? And if killing is too hard, why not openly threaten people? Make spectacular declarations, be seen?"
Why was Death Gun silent?
"If there's one thing I understand, it's the importance of showmanship." Shirogane adjusts his glasses and smirks at you. "Death Gun can kill at will. They have a GM in their pocket. They've already shown as much. Yet they've hardly been trying to build a myth. It's almost as if they set up the 'idea' behind Death Gun and just... walked away."
Leaving some kind of... gap?
"You think that Death Gun is setting up『 』to... become Death Gun?"
"Hiyori. Let me put it this way. Right now, between the ArFAs, your contacts, this GM from ZASKAR, couldn't you broadcast your own manifesto? Put on a mask and claim that you are the true Death Gun? Create your own rumor?"
Mitsuha, Lievre, Mikami's GM contact, each were avenues to make your own broadcast. You could make your own legend, fashion a mask of your own or...
Kyouji. He and his brother, didn't they share the «Sterben» account?
Death Gun still doesn't know. Kyouji's in hiding, but PoH must think he's arrested as well. Couldn't you just ask Kyouji for the Sterben account? The cash shop items were account locked but the equipment or even the mask...
"I see you thinking Hiyori, and I think『 』realizes it as well," Shirogane says. "Fake NerveGears. Their very own Incarnation focused on rules. It seems that they're setting up to make their own declaration. XeXeeD crowning himself champion, it's functionally similar to proclaiming himself as Death Gun with a different name. Death Gun isn't cultivating fear— fear makes you act predictably. OBERON valued fear. Fear begets order. But Death Gun? They're cultivating confusion. Mystique. And ultimately? Chaos— Hiyori, stop looking at me like that."
"For the record, are you Death Gun?" You better not catch him in a lie!
"Why does everyone immediately suspect me?" Shirogane asks defensively. "I don't even play GGO!"
Not a lie. Good.
"It feels like there's someone behind the curtain," Shirogane continues, tapping the desk in annoyance at your persistent suspicion. "Someone who doesn't care who wins. Whether it's Death Gun, XeXeeD,『 』, even if it's you, Kuro. It's not about who wins the fight but that there is a fight. Which begs the question? Who benefits?"
A clash of wills. Players all over GGO compete for their chance to be the «Real Deal», plotting against each other, killing each other. Eventually, someone will win. "Whoever wins," you say slowly, "Would be the final «Real Deal», the «Chosen» of GGO. Just like Sugou, a chance to fracture off the world. The SEED of a new world, granted onto them..."
"And that's the key," Shirogane insists. "The «Chosen», the SEED. Whoever's the mastermind they want to see it manifest, they may even want the SEED itself. Even if you stop everyone, stop even the Derby itself, by accomplishing all that wouldn't GGO see you as «Chosen»? No matter what happens someone is going to come out on top. Someone will be Chosen. And someone will be granted the SEED. And when that happens..."
The mastermind will seize their prize.
"I... if that's the case, then who benefits?" You say, clenching your fist, a sense of frustration filling your chest. "Kayaba Akihiko?"
"It doesn't seem his style, but he cannot be ruled out," Shirogane says gently. "Though truthfully I suspect our slimey loose end from Sugou's conspiracy."
The loose end? No.
Yanai?
He... knew almost everything about your attack on the World Tree. He was watching your plan unfold. He knew about the SEED, had interests in the SEED, and even knew where Kirito was. Outside of your allies, Sugou and Kayaba, who else even knew about the world-ending potential of the SEED?
"That's just my impression," Shirogane sighs when he sees your widening eyes. "None of it is fact. And it's not like you can ignore Death Gun and『 』just because they might be pawns. Just be careful that someone doesn't snatch defeat from the jaws of victory."
...
"Uh, Shirogane-san? Sure you aren't up for playing some GGO?" Not for the first time you wish you had a strategist to disentangle your spider web of problems.
Your friend simply shakes his head in apology. "Sorry... it's not... not the best time." He pushes away from the desk and begins pacing around the room. "I've gotten... more and more requests lately, and I'm coming to realize I can't commit to all of them."
Shirogane stops at his computer, still flashing the «Elder Tale» screen with a wistful expression. "Koujiro-sensei's giving me an offer. A chance to study abroad in America, all expenses paid. Funding for a project of my choosing, access to state-of-the-art facilities..."
"That... sounds amazing," you honestly say, trying not to bring up the elephant in the room.
Shirogane smiles in return. He's been looking off into the distance a lot more lately. "Yes, yes it is. Only there's..."
"Shizuka?"
"...that."
"Have you talked to her about it?" you ask, tenting your fingers.
"Not in detail. I don't think a long-distance relationship would work very well for either of us, not to mention the time zone differences. We've only been officially dating for a few weeks now... I wasn't sure if I should bring it up at all."
"I guess the question is, what do you want to do?"
"If I had the choice?" Shirogane laughs, jerking his head back towards his computer screen. "I wouldn't mind playing «Elder Tale» for the rest of my life. Every day spent with friends... surrounded by adventure... though I think you'll have objections to that," he says, catching sight of your expression.
"So long as it's not VR!" you say half-jokingly. "Please don't tell me they're making an «Elder Tale» VR version. If you turn crazy I will slap you so hard you'll feel it in the real world. I've even got a Persona that can do that now."
"Duly noted," Shirogane quickly says. "Though um... «Elder Tale» is coming off of hiatus..."
"What!?"
"In a strictly normal fashion! No VR!" he says nervously. "With the Augma coming out and the VR renaissance, the news got buried, but «Atharva» finally figured out the tax problems. They've... well, they've announced a new expansion. The first one in 5 years. After so long «Elder Tale» is coming back...!"
You can feel Shirogane's excitement bubbling over through his body language. "It's the surprise announcement of the century! You know «Atharva» is headquartered only a few kilometers away from CalTech? Can you imagine the latency? And my old friends— they're all coming back to the game. My old guild master just contacted me out of the blue the other day, says she made an account on the European server and wants to get the gang back together again."
You fight back your immediate instinct to warn him. This was nothing more than a regular video game. You used to enjoy games too before... Sword Art Online happened. "Can't you do them all? Keep your relationship going, study in America, and even play the game?"
He catches himself fanboying and shakes his head in embarrassment. "You probably don't want to hear about all this when you've got GGO to deal with, but with opportunities also come requests. For help, from you, from Koujiro-sensei, from people in this very lab to my old guild..."
You wish you could tell him not to worry. But it's clear that Shirogane has his own problems and his own life, and you'll have to trust that he knows how to move forward. "I know you'll figure it out," you say sincerely. "Just keep Shizuka in the loop."
"I will, I will." Shirogane smiles back, giving you a short bow as he turns back to his computer. "It may be hypocritical of me to say this but... don't take on too much yourself, alright? The fate of the world doesn't rest entirely on your shoulders."
If only that were true.
...But you keep that thought to yourself.
FRIDAY - June 13th, 2025
Velvet Room
You hold it within your soul— the beating heart of a new world. Do not believe the lies of the twisted one. The SEED cannot be destroyed or taken. It can only be given— only shared. Why not peer within and see what potential lies beyond the horizon?
The Scrivener of the East lights his candle in the dark, and sets his pen to the act of creation. He will guide the lost and listless into his Round Table. He will scribe a contract of potential to a boy who would be nothing more than a slave. He will save cities and raise societies. Time and time again, by trick or by wit, PLANT shall tend to his world as a gardener would his roses.
And where will you be? By his side, an ally and an equal. Evil threatens his peace, and you will be there to defend him. The grand strategy needs a capstone, and he will trust you be its deliverer. The arrogant noble will mock him but you will move in the shadow to seize secrets. You see it as a world created from a video game, but that is mere artifice. This is a land of endless opportunity, with old friends and new loves. Satisfaction from the work of one's own hands. Community, connection, and fulfillment— instead of isolation, loneliness, and despair.
The SEED of his new world is in your hands. Nurture it with his dream and yours. And when the old world has grown stale and bitter, when you're ready to step into the infinite, share it with him, as he does with you. HEAVEN awaits you both.
>The light of PLANT's SEED is growing more brilliant.
>Archetype [Idol] is solidifying! Helena now gains +1 ADVANTAGE when used in any write-in plan or action that Kuro performs in accordance with her Archetype! [Typically bonus for being an attention seeker, acting like an Idol, or proclaiming yourself to be a god.]
FRIDAY - June 13th, 2025
Evening
*THUNK* *THUNK* *THUNK*
Not this again.
*THUNK* *THUNK* *THUNK*
It's the middle of the night in a Typhoon...!
*THUNK* *THUNK* *THUNK*
Kazuma you absolute asshole...!
"Hiyori! Wake up!"
The voice, muffled by the storm, wakes you with a start. The sound of water against your window was approaching that of machine gun fire. Was the rain that loud when you went to sleep? "Shino...?"
"You've got to get up! They've just placed us under evacuation! The news is calling it a Super-Typhoon!"
You groggily grab your smartphone, suddenly realizing you have two dozen unanswered messages, most of them from your Mom. Right at the top is the flashing flood alert urging immediate evacuation. Did you sleep through all of that?
"Kikuoka's offered to pick us up, but he won't be able to drive if this keeps up any longer!"
By some miracle you manage to stumble out of bed, and grab your emergency bag with all the Typhoon rations you've purchased. You give one last wistful look at your Air Conditioner, already rattling from the oncoming storm. Please stay safe, this summer was slated to be the hottest on record..!
"Hurry, the wind's picking up!"
Shino was right. No point in hesitating.
You send off a few quick reassurances to your Mom. No way you can make it back to Sumaru City, you'll have to seek shelter locally. Kikuoka was offering to let you stay with him, which sounded like an absolutely horrible time. Thankfully you have some alternatives...
Final Typhoon rolls 3d6e5 = 4 1 6⊕
Nat 1 hit x 1! Typhoon Usagi has progressed to a Category 4 Equivalent Super Typhoon!
[ ] Stay in the Hospital and Farm >Practically nobody Dives during a Typhoon, but at least you'll have some free uninterrupted PvE farming time.
>Farms ¥20000 in GGO credits.
[ ] Stay in the Hospital and Play >Do you know what happens when all the nonexistent players leave a dead game? You're about to find out!
>Advances STRENGTH.
[ ] Insist on staying behind to protect your AC! >Your AC will be fine without you. Probably.
>Accumulates 1 point of STRESS!
>Extensively trains GRIT.
[ ] Stay at Dicey Café >The sound of rain and the smell of coffee? A student's paradise.
>Extensively trains CURRICULUM.
[ ] Stay with Meimi's Family >Are you imposing? Absolutely! Will you get to use their giant indoor sauna? Absolutely!
>Decreases STRESS by 1 point!
>Moderately trains MASK.
>Have to deal with Meimi's terrifying family!
[ ] Stay with... Subaru?
>Apparently Subaru's father's bringing a guest who has no place to stay during the Typhoon! How nice of him!
>Advances FORTUNE and TEMPLE.
>You will have an absolutely miserable time.
>Costs 10 DETERMINATION!
AN: I'll do all the bookkeeping next update when the next big plan vote goes up. Public services (and routine time) resumes June 18th, after the cleanup.
Hm...so we suspect Itsuki is behind setting the tournament for his purposes OOC, but Shiroe has a point that we could hijack the image of Death Gun for our own purposes. Make a legend that runs anathema to what they preach, a bullet that will pierce through the veil of illusions and destroy the world. I feel this could work, repeat Alfheim and use the world's weight to destroy it.
And the next choices...dang, isn´t this a tough one. Money could help us upgrade our guns and we´re kinda broke after buying the AC and the lock, advancing Strength may come up in the following days, full stress cleanse (or partial, depending if the typhoon hurt our roll on that area or we got that fucking nat 1. But then there´s the double rank-up...next rank-up for Subaru gives us the evolution and we can at least speed up the unlocking of Don Juan´s super but waste the Determination we bought this turn.
Hm...
[x] Stay in the Hospital and Play
Following my line of thought, I think growing our Black Star´s power may be relevant for the next days, for all that the double rank-up is very tempting.
This chapter is pretty clearly pointing the way forward—our weapon is exposing the truth, and whoever is behind the Death Gun conspiracy is using the weapon of confusion. Everyone's pegging their own image of themselves projecting their truth through the chaos of GGO, and can't see the death game itself is ultimately a con. We need to find its origins, and immediately cut through the noise.
[X] Stay in the Hospital and Play
I've been beating this drum for a while now—he's the dang arc Persona!
Shino continues, her voice tight and forced. "Pitohui wants to die, and she believes Death Gun will give her that chance. LLENN wants Pitohui to live so that they can fulfill the promise they made. M is stacking the deck in LLENN's favor with the Fake NerveGear, but the fundamental plan? It's to pit Pitohui's ignorance against LLENN's ignorance. LLENN simply believes that everything will magically work out if she just keeps on shooting, that's no better than what I was believing in."
A good point, with all the magic bullshit going on more lies just might cause M's overly covoluted plan to fall apart. Everything I've heard about it makes it sound so incredibly convoluted without magic that the only reason why it seemed to work was authorial fiat.
Elsa will draw power from that twisted belief. And you need to destroy that belief with overwhelming force. That's what you win by defeating Death Guns. By crushing them with your Persona, you violate the veneer of invincibility, and introduce the barest hint of doubt. This gives you a window without the influence of Death Gun, a small chance that will give Karen the chance to tell her truth to Elsa and force her to listen.
Kyouji. He and his brother, didn't they share the «Sterben» account?
Death Gun still doesn't know. Kyouji's in hiding, but PoH must think he's arrested as well. Couldn't you just ask Kyouji for the Sterben account? The cash shop items were account locked but the equipment or even the mask...
"I see you thinking Hiyori, and I think『 』realizes it as well." Shirogane says. "Fake NerveGears. Their very own Incarnation focused on rules. It seems that they're setting up to make their own declaration. XeXeeD crowning himself champion, it's functionally similar to proclaiming himself as Death Gun with a different name. Death Gun isn't cultivating fear— fear makes you act predictably. OBERON valued fear. Fear begets order. But Death Gun? They're cultivating confusion. Mystique. And ultimately? Chaos— Hiyori, stop looking at me like that."
"For the record, are you Death Gun?" You better not catch him in a lie!
"Why does everyone immediately suspect me?" Shirogane asks defensively. "I don't even play GGO!"
Not a lie. Good.
"It feels like there's someone behind the curtain," Shirogane continues, tapping the desk in annoyance at your persistent suspicion. "Someone who doesn't care who wins. Whether it's Death Gun, XeXeeD,『 』, even if it's you, Kuro. It's not about who wins the fight but that there is a fight. Which begs the question? Who benefits?"
A clash of wills. Players all over GGO compete for their chance to be the «Real Deal», plotting against each other, killing each other. Eventually, someone will win. "Whoever wins," you say slowly, "Would be the final «Real Deal», the «Chosen» of GGO. Just like Sugou, a chance to fracture off the world. The SEED of a new world, granted onto them..."
"And that's the key," Shirogane insists. "The «Chosen», the SEED. Whoever's the mastermind they want to see it manifest, they may even want the SEED itself. Even if you stop everyone, stop even the Derby itself, by accomplishing all that wouldn't GGO see you as «Chosen»? No matter what happens someone is going to come out on top. Someone will be Chosen. And someone will be granted the SEED. And when that happens..."
It's becoming clearer that all of this is just catspaw stuff so Miller and Quinella can get the SEED. BLANK succeeding in their plan would probably make all the main masterminds ecstatic and Sora himself has said they're coming up short with Glowgen. BLANK might be biting off more than they can chew for once here.
You wish you could tell him not to worry. But it's clear that Shirogane has his own problems and his own life, and you'll have to trust that he knows how to move forward. "I know you'll figure it out," you say sincerely. "Just keep Shizuka in the loop."
"I will, I will." Shirogane smiles back, giving you a short bow as he turns back to his computer. "It may be hypocritical of me to say this but... don't take on too much yourself, alright? The fate of the world doesn't rest entirely on your shoulders."
This reminds me of Phil and Nyarly's arguement. America represents Shiroe's ideal world where he can do what he wants and maybe even work on his favorite game. At the same time, Akatsuki and a lot of his friends he met in Log Horizon in canon probably would have been fine or content living their lives. Akatsuki just wanted to be an animal groomer and the premise of Log Horizon comes off as much less beign if Shiroe forces them in with him, consciously or not.
You hold it within your soul— the beating heart of a new world. Do not believe the lies of the twisted one. The SEED cannot be destroyed or taken. It can only be given— only shared. Why not peer within and see what potential lies beyond the horizon? And when you return, ask yourself— where would I rather be?
The Scrivener of the East lights his candle in the dark, and sets his pen to the act of creation. He will guide the lost and listless into his Round Table. He will scribe a contract of potential to a boy who would be nothing more than a slave. He will save cities and raise societies. Time and time again, by trick or by wit, PLANT shall tend to his world as a gardener would his roses.
And where will you be? By his side, an ally and an equal. Evil threatens his peace, and you will be there to defend him. The grand strategy needs a capstone, and he will trust you to find it. You see it as a world created from a video game, but that is mere artifice. This is a land of endless opportunity, with old friends and new loves. Satisfaction from the work of one's own hands. Community, connection, and fulfillment— instead of isolation, loneliness, and despair.
The SEED of his new world is in your hands. Nurture it with his dream and yours. And when the old world has grown stale and bitter, when you're ready to step into the infinite, share it with him, as he does with you. HEAVEN awaits you both.
>The light of PLANT's SEED is growing more brilliant.
>Archetype [Idol] is solidifying! Helena now gains +1 ADVANTAGE when used in any write-in plan or action that Kuro performs in accordance with her Archetype! [Typically bonus for being an attention seeker, acting like an Idol, or proclaiming yourself to be a god.]
This sounds really fucking bad. We should take more Nyarly Persona in the future, especially for people like Ainz, BLANK, and Rudy if they empower their SEEDS.
[X] Stay in the Hospital and Play
Time to pay the piper. I'm not going to enable Ainz and I don't care if we break our link with him. Overlord needs to go down.
More seriously, is our air conditioning really at risk of being broken? It comes off as really cheap and unfair for it to be destroyed just after we fixed it because of a mechanic that we were told would just limit our time, not kick us back from a major milestone from something we have no control over.
Farming is tempting just because it's offering a chance to mess around with GGO at a time when our new bounty won't bother us - but it appears we're "just" getting money out of it, so eh. Free STRESS reduction! Fun with ninjas!
We've kind of been neglecting this SL and he might actually be helpful for the BLANK situation. Wreck of a human being he might be, but Satoru has plenty of experience dealing with high-tier online griefers.
EDIT: There's actually a pretty good chance Ainz Ooal Gown encountered BLANK at some point now that I think about it.
We've kind of been neglecting this SL and he might actually be helpful for the BLANK situation. Wreck of a human being he might be, but Satoru has plenty of experience dealing with high-tier online griefers.
EDIT: There's actually a pretty good chance Ainz Ooal Gown encountered BLANK at some point now that I think about it.
Satoru is a coward and a bully at his core, he only tortures people weaker than him and for all their flaws BLANK will go up against people who can fight back. I don't think Ainz would be willing to risk Nazarick against an actual credible threat.
