by Nikita Thorn
“This is a quest Free Slot, a type of Kenshibu. Sword and fan dance. Have you even heard of such a thing?” Okugata’s voice was gaining a bitter edge.
There was a hint of danger in her tone now. Even with no idea what was going on with the woman, Seiki felt he did not want to be part of what was about to happen next. He had learned enough, and it was time for him to simply turn around and walk out the door.
The smart thing to do was to perhaps give a noncommittal answer and excuse himself, but Seiki could not shake the thought that after what she had done for the meeting, after the desperation she had unwittingly revealed, she deserved better than that.
“I’m sorry.” Seiki looked at her. “I appreciate the offer. I really do. I’ll never forget what I saw here, but I have to say no. I have my reasons, too, to play the game the way I want.”
Okugata went silent for a long time. “Let me show you something else.” She reached for the storage box and produced another item.
“This is a weird bracelet. It dissolves in water. Then it comes back to your inventory. There’s no function to it. No one knows why. I believe it’s a glitch. Someone copied an item and forgot to change its property.”
Before Seiki could ask what this had to do with anything, he felt a weight on his arm. Next to him, a figure had appeared, her face painted white, her bright red lips curled in a seductive smile. There had been no sound or movement. One moment she was not there, and suddenly she was, clinging onto his arm.
The woman was wearing a different costume than the rest of the performing dancers. Her kimono was bright pink, her hair held up in a geisha bun with golden jingling pins in her hair. “Seiki-sama,” she whispered. There was suddenly more than one voice, and they were coming from all around. Another identical pink-clad woman landed on his lap. Seiki’s uncomprehending mind somehow conjured up images of a secret entertainment district Yamura had once mentioned, filled with courtesans.
“Seiki-sama,” they repeated the chant.
Struggling to come to terms with the hallucination, Seiki pushed them off, only to realize he could not make his arms move. These NPCs were protected by whatever mechanics were preventing violence against other players.
A knot of panic twisted around his heart. Feeling both feet on the ground, Seiki turned to unleash a Slide. Out of the corner of his eyes, he caught a glimpse of Okugata, who was now on her feet, with yet another item in her hand.
Seiki’s eyes widened. He did not immediately recognize the object, but something in his subconscious started screaming even before his memory triggered.
It was a ball the size of an apple, wrapped in yellow. The last time he had seen it had been during his escape from the Palace Prison.
“This is also another item that shouldn’t exist outside of instances,” said Okugata, her voice now icy cold. “But… sometimes accidents happen.”
The item slipped from her hand, dropping straight onto the direct flame from the floor lamp. Yellow power exploded.
You are affected by Kurochie Debilitating Powder. 11% toward complete paralysis.
The effect tingled on his skin, spreading numbness through his body. Seiki held his breath as he let loose his Slide.
The guiding trajectory on the floor fizzled.
Seiki stared, his mind reeling. He had been able to will the Slide. The activation had gone off. It had taken one of his two Slide charges as well as the corresponding energy.
62% toward complete paralysis.
Around him was now a sea of colorful silk and painted faces, pale hands clutching onto his body, pulling him downward. Seiki traded health to max out his energy and slammed everything he had into another Slide that should take him right to the door.
The trajectory once again faded. The numbness overtook him, his body went limp and he collapsed onto the floor under the weight of the dancers.
You are now paralyzed. Time remaining: 2.59 minutes.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you,” said Okugata. “Under this piece of cloth, what we’re sitting on is a Yaegumo Mattress. For some strange reason they don’t consider them to be… solid ground, if you get my meaning. I’m sure you’ve never heard of anything like that either.”
Seiki could still move his head slightly, and he glanced at the floor. From his struggling, he had managed to land halfway outside of the boundary of the mattress. Indeed, his fingers could vaguely feel the tatami even when he could not move them.
Seiki forced himself to calm down and think it through. If he dropped his health low enough with Blood Rush, he could activate Strength of Will, and that, perhaps, would clear the effect before the paralysis timer was up. He was now out of Slides, and he needed them to escape. The first Slide charge would be at an odd angle, so he needed both charges to be sure.
“Move out of the way, girls,” said Okugata. “We don’t want Seiki to miss the performance.”
Less than sixty seconds, he told himself.
All but two of the dancers let go of him and disappeared out of his view, replaced instead by the original dancers, who had been directed to move closer. As soon as he remembered what the dance featured, Seiki immediately understood, with horror, what the masked woman was going to do.
“Let me bring the performance to you.” Okugata lifted her foot to trip one of the dancers. “Oh, careful there.” She closed her grip around the performer’s sword hand and directed it downward.
Seiki’s body was already numb. Yet he still felt a piercing cold shoot through in his chest as the blunt blade stabbed deep down at where his heart would be. He stifled a gasp as Okugata waved the dancer away, leaving the sword lodged in his torso.
“Getting stabbed there usually kills you immediately,” said the woman. “But luckily, we’re under the protection of Lord Shogun’s Banquet and your health won’t drop by a single point. Loopholes. If I go a bit higher, you actually start drowning in your own blood. You’ll never experience it in normal play, since that also kills you immediately, but in this situation…”
Seiki forced himself to control his breathing. His first charge of Slide came off its lockout. His panicking instincts were screaming at him to use it, but he knew he needed both to get to the door, and he made himself wait.
Okugata continued. “I do understand, Seiki. It’s pride, right? I completely understand. But is this safe little refuge you’ve made for yourself worth risking? It’s a world without consequences here. You might think you’re not afraid, you’re not going to give up. But how much inconvenience can your friends take before they decide it’s just… unfun. How long does it take when they decide it’s not worth the trouble? When the experience sours? Why be so selfish?” Her voice was raised as she pointed toward the window at the White Dragon in flight. “Starting with that. See if I make empty threats. See if any of your friends get to enjoy one bit of it. And, oh, I can do much worse than this, Seth. Ask yourself what else do you even have in life? Is it really worth risking everything for stubborn pride?”
Seiki stared at her. She had called him by his real name. His mind went blank.
Okugata had already wrapped her arm around another oblivious NPC dancer.
Ten seconds. Seiki gritted his teeth as the woman made good on her promise. Once again, she tripped a nearby dancer and directed her arm downward at an angle. Seiki forced himself not to wince as the blunt performance blade slid across his neck.
Seiki felt the cut. It was much worse than what Renshiro had once done. The sharp cold paralyzed the back of his throat. He gasped for air, but his lungs were filled with liquid. He could taste blood. His ears pounded. His head started spinning as his vision darkened.
Seiki, an unfamiliar voice yelled frantically in his mind. Listen, my friend has crossed a major line. I’ll help.
Seiki did not really hear what it had to say. His mind was screaming. The second charge of Slide took forever to complete. Three seconds. Two seconds. One.
Seiki grabbed blindly at his health to
activate the Blood Rush trade. He did not care how much. Strength of Will snapped into action, and he could feel his body again. With one knee on the tatami joined by the Earth-link Enchantment, the first Slide shot him to the side into a pile of pink kimonoed bodies. Feminine gasps sounded as hands fell off him. Something cool landed on his skin as a voice yelled something incomprehensible in his mind. Seiki scrambled over the pile of cloth and limbs and hair pins to find himself on all fours, and he burst forward in the longest Slide he could manage toward the door.
The shoji panels rattled as Seiki slammed into them. Grabbing the door with bloodied hands, he slid it open and threw himself out, crashing heavily onto the polished wooden floor of the corridor. His head still spinning, he turned back to see if he was being pursued, and he caught a glimpse of Okugata’s white painted wooden face staring at him from above her blood red kimono. Behind her was a host of other identical masked figures, standing in the middle of a golden room against the backdrop of the White Dragon in the dark sky behind them. The image seared itself into his memory as the door slid shut.
The corridor was suddenly very quiet.
Seiki pushed himself up into a sitting position against the corridor wall. He was breathing heavily. His hands were shaking. His whole body was shaking. He still could not feel the upper left half of his body. Every breath was ice in his throat. He spat out a mouthful of blood, part of his brain trying to tell him that he should be impressed how close it tasted compared to the real thing.
His head still spinning, he looked down at his body. The long blade was still lodged deep in his chest, and he weakly raised his right hand to grip the hilt. He had energy, but none of his abilities would help him remove a sword from his heart, so Seiki simply pulled. The weapon was almost too long for him to do so by himself, but it eventually came loose, and he let it clank down on the floor beside him and continued to gasp for air. Something warm rose in his throat and he spat out another mouthful of blood.
Seiki sat for a long time, trembling.
Then, dazedly, he dragged himself up, staggered down two floors of stairs, grabbed the relevant invitation and slid the door open.
The Sumire Room was much smaller, and had a modest-sized open-air deck, which no one was using, as his friends were all gathered in the middle of the room. A large hotpot was boiling, giving off an appetizing smell of freshly cooked meat and vegetables. It was a scene of slight chaos, since Kentaro seemed to want to do everything himself, and NPC servants looked a little confused as they tried to assist. Strewn around the room were purple cushions that matched the purple flowers across the walls, with cups and sake bottles lying everywhere and servants trying to clear them up.
“No, no, that’s mine,” Yamura was saying, wrangling a cup away from a confused servant’s hand. “I’m still drinking this. Can’t you just tell them all to go away?”
Mairin, now somehow in bright festive yellow robes with flower pins in her hair, turned toward the door in delight. “Hey, you’re—” She gasped. “You’re… bleeding.”
Seiki suddenly felt as if it had been such a long time that he had utilized speech that he had almost forgotten how to do it.
His friends gaped at him for a moment, most likely checking his health, which was now full. Ippei’s expression clouded over, as he was the first to understand what had happened.
Still breathing heavily, Seiki simply stared at his friends.
Mairin leapt to her feet. “What do you need?” She rushed over, pulled him in and closed the door.
Seiki looked at her, and then at the rest of the room.
“Sit down?” suggested Mairin.
He nodded, before following her to one of the purple zabuton on the floor.
“Here, best seat in the house,” she said gently.
Seiki dropped himself down on the unexpectedly comfortable seat. Kentaro handed him a ceramic cup full of clear liquid.
Seiki gulped down the water.
“Something better next?” asked Kentaro.
Seiki nodded, and Kentaro poured him another cup of clear golden liquid, which was cold to the touch through the ceramic cup.
Seiki downed it. It tasted like spiced sugar, not as fascinating as what Master Tsujihara once gave him, but close enough. Kentaro poured him another.
The houshi lifted his hand and Seiki felt a Heal washing over him. His health was already full, and so it did nothing. He shook his head. “I’m not hurt. It was just…”
He was not sure where to begin.
Ippei sat down opposite him. “Fifth floor?”
“This is the glitched invitation?” asked Yamura.
Seiki nodded. He still had no idea where to start, and Mairin quickly grabbed a few more cups for Kentaro to fill and pass around so everyone would have something to do besides staring.
Seiki drank two more of Kentaro’s mysterious and strangely non-alcoholic liquid before a strange epiphany hit him. His eyes snapped open as he looked at his friends. “Renshiro has four Slides,” he said breathily. “I now know why you want four Slides.”
That was the last thing anyone was expecting.
Ippei blinked. “Who again?”
“The outlaw ronin guy,” said Mairin.
“You okay?” asked Yamura.
Seeing his friends’ concerned expression finally broke Seiki out of his daze and he let out a weak chuckle. “I was prepared for anything, but they still managed to scare the hell out of me. Most of the people were NPCs. She was controlling them...” Thinking back, it was perhaps just an elaborate show with rapidly changing tricks to keep him from figuring out how it was done. He closed his eyes and tried to recall exactly what had happened. “She… yeah, she confirmed this herself. Called it a… quest Free Slot.”
His friends had blank looks on their faces, but they let him collect his thoughts.
“From the very beginning… it was…” Seiki suddenly turned to Kentaro. “Okay, do you get a notification when a guest is about to open the door?”
The houshi nodded. “If you’re paying attention, you can keep an eye on a live list that shows guests who have stepped onto the floor with the correct invitation.”
Seiki let out an exhausted laugh. “Of course, it’s that simple. They’re players and there’s a way to do all these things without breaking the rules, like a giant magic trick. You can grab your own troop members and that doesn’t count as PVP. Loopholes.”
He just had a crash course in advanced loophole exploitation. Okugata and her crew knew exactly what they were doing, and he doubted he could have been even the least prepared, considering how much he did not know. Seiki groaned and rested his forehead in his hands, only to realize that his left hand was not empty.
In it was a golden hairpin. It must have come off one of the NPC courtesans when he was scrambling over them. Holding it in his hand had stopped it from fading away.
Seiki’s eyes widened as he recognized another major clue. “Okay, wait.” He looked up at his friends. “I’ll be right back.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Whether or not there was a proper way to announce one’s arrival at a clan’s banquet instance, etiquette was the last thing on Seiki’s mind. He tapped on the door frame of the fourth floor Shobu Reception Room twice and let himself in.
For a clan that only had five official members, the Shinshioka Scientific Society’s room was unexpectedly crowded.
About twice the size of Kentaro’s third floor room, the space was loosely divided into smaller sections separated by folding panels. The theme here seemed to be white, purple and gold, with the corresponding flower motif painted in clusters on the bottom half of the wall panels.
The guests, at least forty of them, none of whom Seiki instantly recognized, were scattered around in casual groups as they engaged in either conversation or game.
In a corner, four people were taking turns experimenting with a tower of toy wooden blocks, each trying to use a small wooden hammer
to remove a middle block without collapsing the whole stack. A few other players occupied another corner as they compared what appeared to be fishing equipment. Like all the other floors, the room had an outdoor deck connected to it, where a dozen more people were enjoying the view of the White Dragon above Shinshioka’s skyline.
The crowd ranged from around his level up until the high twenties, most of which were from clans Seiki had never heard of, and some without. After a second he realized they must be the Society’s freelancers.
Seiki scanned the room for familiar faces and was relieved to locate the Society members in the far left corner. All five were present, four of whom Seiki was already acquainted with. The fifth member, Yutaka of the Shinshioka Scientific Society [Level 25] was a young man with loose shoulder-length hair, who Seiki guessed was a ryoushi. They were sitting on the floor, gathered around a large colorful ceramic plate that had apparently just been removed from a gift box.
No one saw Seiki when he approached as their attention was drawn to the Kotobuki Clock they had just unwrapped. The clockface was two feet across and featured a painting of a mythical deer in the middle. Its rim was bronze and showed unfamiliar symbols where numbers should be.
“But we already have a clock,” Suzuyo was saying, sounding confused. “That’s it, Kazuki? Nothing else?”
Kazuki was sitting on the floor beside her, rummaging through the crumpled paper wrapping that had accompanied the item. “No, that’s it.”
Ikumi shrugged. “I suppose we could use one more in the library.”
“At least it tells ancient time… ah, Seiki!” Kazuki looked up and a smile spread across his face, replaced by a slight frown when he noticed the blood that had not completely faded from his sleeves.
The rest of the Society members looked at him and exchanged quick glances. Considering they knew about the mysterious invitation, they must have guessed what had happened.
There was no time to explain, however, and Seiki went straight to Ikumi and crouched down in front of her. “When the masked people invaded… you called the costume a dance kimono. Why specifically ‘dance’?”
