A/N: Thank you for your faves, follows and reviews!
Moonlily13: I am extremely sorry, but no characters from Log Horizon will be coming in. I watched the anime so long ago, that I forgot there was a guild named Crescent Moon, so the name was entirely unintentional. I'm sorry!
Note: "Squishy" ―when a class/player is easy to get killed when targeted by either other players or monster mobs.
Chapter 3
…
Kaijou, Seirin and the Miracles gaped in shock.
First, players of this game are unable to log out for an unknown reason. Second, they're seeing what's unfolding with Kise right before their eyes. Kaijou were the most shocked, being that they knew what Kise's avatar looked like, so seeing their ace's real self was surprising. But, at the moment, even though they were far from being relieved, everyone was glad that no harm befell him...so far.
Actually, they were curious as to how Kise would behave now that he's chosen as Guild Leader. Just then, Nakamura's phone rang. Looking at the lock screen, he saw that he received a message from his older brother. Without even reading it, he knew what the message entailed.
"Guys, he's here. I'll go get him." the ash-blond said. The rest of Kaijou nodded.
"Who's here?" Riko asked, everyone's curiosity was raised.
"Shion. His older brother." Kobori said.
"What's he doing here?" Hyuuga asked. For everyone except Kaijou, they were wondering the same thing.
"Shion is a police officer. We thought that we should let them know that we can see inside the game. What if it's the same with the other players? Maybe it could help the police to solve this madness." Moriyama said with a sigh. "Hopefully."
After Moriyama spoke, the door opened revealing the Nakamura brothers. Looking at Shion, the others saw that Nakamura was like a younger version of him with glasses and thicker eyebrows. Shion greeted the group after which they dispersed and allowed the young officer to see the multi-monitors.
"Is this...Arcanum?" Shion asked in shock, pushing back his left hair fringe. His eyes were widened.
"Yeah," Nakamura answered. "We're seeing everything that happens in the game. But only if Kise's there."
"Really?!" Shion gasped. He then looked closer at the screens and noticed something, "Do players in Arcanum have to customize their avatars to look like their real selves?"
"No," Kasamatsu answered, scrolling through his phone. His scrolling then stopped and showed the phone to Shion. "This is his avatar."
"A white-haired purple eyed Elf? Quite the cutie." Shion looked up from the phone and back to the screens. "So how did it change to his real self? Where's his body?"
"At the hospital." Nakamura responded. "And we don't know what caused the change."
Shion was stumped. If his body with the NerveGear attached was at the hospital, how were they seeing the game on the boy's monitors? Arcanum isn't a table top game, so how and why was this happening? He handed the phone back to Kasamatsu and said,
"Send me that photo."
Kasamatsu did just that, and Shion bade farewell and left to inform his superiors of this situation. He was no detective, so this was out of his league. But, he told the boys that if he heard any good news, he'll be sure to tell them as long as they don't issue a gag order or something.
Shion dashed out of the house and immediately called his colleague who was at the Kōban. The elder officer answered after one ring, and Shion rattled off everything to him, and told the colleague to inform their headquarters (although Shion didn't need to). Shion ended the call, and exhaled a sigh of relief. With them being able to see and hear what's happening inside the game, and with the players looking like their real selves, Shion surmised that the investigators may be able to find out what's happening through the players' conversations with each other.
As soon as he moved off, his work cellphone rang, and he saw that it was a call from their Headquarters. He whistled, not all that surprised at the quick response.
"Junior Officer Nakamura, what is your location?" The man on the other end of the line asked. Shion looked at Kise's address plate and responded word-for-word. "We'll be dispatching an investigator, return to the Kōban and wait there."
"Yes Sir."
…
Shion returned to the Kōban and as soon as his colleague saw him, he began asking questions. Shion told him what he could, and the poor man didn't know whether or not he should be happy that this discovery could help the investigation, or mortified that everything the players did is being shown to whoever is around.
The investigator from HQ arrived and once again, Shion told him everything that he witnessed and about Kise's avatar. He wasn't sure of the other players he's seen around the blond, but they did look like how a normal Japanese would look. Soon, the investigator left and headed to Kise's house. So far, there hasn't been any report for any of the players trapped, and wondered if this phenomenon was only happening to Kise.
A couple minutes later, they had arrived and once again, Nakamura went to meet him. Shion had already messaged him that he was coming, and without hitch, the ash-blond led them to Kise's room where the others were watching the blond meeting all sorts of people.
"Good day, I'm Inoue Rihito, police investigator," the tall man greeted. He flashed their badges as proof of identification. When the group was at ease, Rihito began his questioning, and most of these could only be answered by Kaijou. The Miracles were somewhat shocked and ashamed at this, since they have known Kise longer.
When the investigator was satisfied with the answers, both he left, informing HQ of this discovery.
xx
Kise was the first one to arrive back home, glad that the process of establishing a guild was fairly easy. Prior, he had thought that he'd have to be running around, but everything was done at one place. Seeing that no one else was home, he took a bath to relax himself. So far, it's been the second day since they've been trapped, but there haven't been any fights or senseless warfare...yet.
After he was done, he got dressed, but didn't put on his shoes. He was in his house and it was clean, plus there was no need to walk around in his boots. Going into the living room, Kise once again checked for the log out button, but it still hasn't come back. Kise sighed in distress.
At the moment, Kise was looking aimless. The others were yet to arrive and he wondered what they were up to. Nevertheless, he relaxed in his chair and pondered on his next step. Conquering this game will take a lot, travelling across the land and fighting off monsters that spring up.
Kise let out a sigh.
How long are they going to be stuck here? And what will happen if they die? If this is like what Gold Digger said when they had discovered that the log out button was gone, then does that mean, they'll die in real life? If that's the case, then one mistake could cost them their lives. Kise raked a hand through his blond hair. He closed his eyes and thought. In the three months that he's been playing the game, there hasn't been an indication of anything out of the norm. There could have been, but due to him having fun and such, he wasn't paying attention.
Kise let out a groan.
This was getting nowhere. He didn't know how they were all stuck here and what caused the disappearance of the log out button. The only plausible idea they had was that terrorists hacked the system, but the police should be able trace it or even pick it up, right? But, if it isn't caused by terrorists, then who could it be? A glitch or bug wouldn't cause this. The System would have announced something, and the Game Master would have responded to their calls.
Kise felt a headache coming on.
"I think I should stop." He mumbled to himself. He was jolted up as he heard a shout and the door opening with a bang. Immediately, he drew both his katana and waited for the intruder to come in further. He wasn't going to be complacent just because he's in a game. As soon as the figures entered into view, he waited until he heard a voice,
"Raiden! Guess what?"
Kise let out a sigh and sheathed his katana. It was Gold Digger. "What is it?"
"Yahiko agreed to join." he said, taking a seat beside the blond. At this, Yahiko and Spring Breeze walked in, Yahiko bowed as he entered. Without hitch, Kise added Yahiko to the guild and let out a sigh of relief at his in-game name ―Iron Admiral. He didn't think he'd be able to stifle down his laughter or hide his disgust if he should encounter a ridiculously sounding name.
Kise also found out that Yahiko's primary class was a Summoner and his subclass was the Weaponsmith. However, he wasn't much of a player so he developed his subclass instead. Kise didn't mind, as a matter of fact, he didn't care. But what he cared about was the fact that Yahiko was going to live here as well.
These homeless bastards...Kise thought with a chuckle. But, if this continues, the place will get overcrowded. And this was his house, he wasn't running an orphanage.
"Well, where should the Guild Hall be?" Kise then asked.
"Why not here?" Yahiko said. "Seiya told me about the yard space around back. You could expand upwards and outwards. If you should purchase a guild hall now, depending on how much members there are, you'd have to expand." he continued, "It'll be cheaper to just renovate this place."
Kise gave Spring Breeze and Gold Digger the stink eye. Gold Digger pointed an index to Spring Breeze to indicate that he was Seiya. "You coached him, didn't you?" Kise asked.
"No I didn't! He asked about the guild hall and I told him! That's all!" The Archer quickly denied, shaking his head vigorously.
"Couldn't you have said that we didn't have one yet? Hmm?" Kise inquired.
"Well, I didn't want to discourage any prospective member into thinking that we're a bunch of homeless bastards." Spring Breeze quipped.
"I see." Kise then turned to Yahiko and greeted him. "Hello." He'd met Yahiko when Spring Breeze and Gold Digger went for their upgrades, but he still felt that he should greet the boy again.
"Hi." Yahiko said with a grin. He took a seat on of the chairs and looked around. "Great house you have here. You must be rich."
Kise made a nervous chuckle. Spring Breeze and Gold Digger looked at him with narrowed eyes.
"So, are you going to renovate the house? After all, this doesn't look like a guild hall. Or rather, doesn't have the right rooming to be one." Yahiko asked.
"Yeah, I do plan to." Kise sighed in agony. "I can't bother to purchase another place and go through drama as you said."
"I can help with that. I know a Guild that specializes in building and such." Yahiko smirked. "Who knows? You may get a discount."
"You do?" Kise and his other two guildmates asked in unison.
"Yeah, but as I said, you may get a discount. Depends."
Kise sunk back in his chair and groaned. He thought about the possible expenditure that he'll face, but if things go as planned, he needn't to worry. Plus, he and the others could always go hit up a dungeon to get some more money. After mulling over it, he then said,
"How fast can they start?"
"As soon as you pay them."
"Well, let's go." Kise sighed. He then turned to Spring Breeze and Gold Digger, "You guys are leaving me broke. As such, you'll be heading to a dungeon to repay me."
"As long as you come with, I'm fine!" Gold Digger chirped.
Kise's face became stoic. "I'm not."
Both he and Yahiko headed through the door, leaving Spring Breeze and Gold Digger gaping.
…
Runic Night slithered through the crowds in order to find who he was looking for. Everywhere he turned, there were posters and people advertising their guilds, enticing people to join. Of course, like before, these guilds' criteria are pretty strict, being extremely picky with their selection. Runic Night smirked. Even though if the other guilds succeed, their guild will be getting "weak" players and have to level them up.
"Well, with Raiden there, it shouldn't be a hassle." he grinned. As a Warrior, he's been scouted for raids and such before, and coincidentally, that was where he met Kise. He's got firsthand experience with the blond Cleric, and knows full well most of his capabilities.
Hastening his steps, he entered a small workshop without even knocking on the door.
"Oi, Silver! Are you in here?!" Runic Night shouted. "I have something you may be interested in!"
As if on cue, a tall black haired young man walked out. He looked to be in his early twenties ―older than twenty but younger than twenty-four. Runic Night stood frozen in shock. One of his in-game friends turned out to be his new chemistry teacher. He wanted the ground to swallow him whole at the moment, his teacher on the other hand, looked at him with a raised brow.
"Ishida-kun," the teacher started, startled to see one of his students. "You were trapped too? You poor thing."
"Ah," Runic Night didn't know how to start. "Are you Silver?"
The teacher nodded before asking, "Who were you? Judging from the way you barged in here and shouted..." he trailed off, "...you're Runic Night, aren't you?"
"Ye-yeah." He said, unable to meet his teacher's gaze. All his past actions and conversations with the man were resurfacing and oh, how he wanted to die. Could the universe have gotten any more cruel to him? First, Raiden turned out to be his sister's celebrity crush ―Kise Ryouta, now his trusted Alchemist is his chemistry teacher? Who's he going to run into next?
"No need to be so shocked and embarrassed." Silver said with a shrug. "Now, you said that there's something I might be interested in. You're free to speak."
Runic Night internally groaned. Why hadn't he picked up that Silver was someone of a professional background? The way he spoke, the way he treated his customers, the way he conducted himself in general was enough to hint at! Why was he so dense…?
"Ah, my friend is starting a guild." Runic Night started.
Silver's eyebrows rose. "Continue,"
"I can't tell you the plan until you say that you're going to join and actually join. We don't want other guilds to steal our ideas."
"Rest assured. I'll join. Seeing you now is stirring up the teacher within me. I have to protect you and guide you along the right path. And your friends too."
"Sensei! We're not in a classroom, you know?!"
"I know that. But this is a lawless world. I don't want you getting drunk, or mixed up in the wrong crowd or something dangerous that your conscience can haunt you for. You don't know who may be watching." Silver said sternly.
"This is a virtual reality! No one can be watching!" Runic Night countered.
"The Universe is quite evil, you know? So take me to your Guild Leader. I want to know what kind of plan he has hatched that you can't tell me before I join."
Runic Night chuckled. "Don't worry, it's nothing evil. Actually, it's quite beneficial."
"Hoh?" Silver's interest was piqued.
…
Spring Breeze and Gold Digger stood outside Kise's house and watched as the crafting players got to work. Kise was standing afar off, covering his mouth and bursting into tears as if he just saw his father's death. The blond and Yahiko had returned with "Famous Lighthouse", a guild that specialized in craftsmanship. Of course they had other classes, but primarily, they focused on creating buildings and renovating. Although the buildings they made were from the game commands and such, nevertheless, it still looked damn good when they were done.
"What's wrong with him?" Spring Breeze asked Yahiko. "Is he sad that he had to destroy his house and turn it into a guild hall?"
Yahiko laughed. "I wish! He's crying because he had to fork out 1.5 million gold coins on this! You should have seen his face earlier!"
Spring Breeze and Gold Digger's jaws dropped. They doubt that one player ever had so much money in-game before if they aren't money hoarders. But even so, equipment needs to be upgraded, and some need to be discarded and newer ones purchased as one increases in levels. So how was he so rich?
Curious, they headed over to the weeping blond and Gold Digger asked, "Raiden, why are you so rich?"
Kise looked at him blankly. "I told you," he said in between sniffs, "I get to join many parties because my primary class is Cleric. Plus, I do a damn good job at keeping my party healthy and debuff-free. And as such, I can go to like four raids on a good day."
"This monster!" Spring Breeze shouted in envy, totally ignoring the blond's crying face. "Why didn't I become a Cleric too!?"
"You think that being a Cleric is easy? It's hard work!"
"Wait, you are a Cleric?" Yahiko asked. He looked at Kise up and down. "I do admit that you look squishy, but I would have never guessed!"
"Really? Only Healer classes are decked out in mostly white garb like this." Kise said in a matter-of-factly.
"But you took out a pair of katana! Clerics don't use sharp weapons!"
Spring Breeze and Gold Digger laughed at his ignorance. "He's the exception."
After some more minutes passed, "Famous Lighthouse" was finished with their work and thanked Kise heartily and even commented that if he decided to renovate or add-on, he should contact them. They found out that the blond was rich, and refused to let such a customer forget them.
"Wow, construction in-game goes way faster than real-life huh." Gold Digger whistled.
"Well, that's because they're building using the game commands and not from scratch." Kise deadpanned. His tears have long dried up. They then entered the house from the left door on the covered porch and were amazed. The first thing that they encountered was a little horizontal hallway, and as they continued to their left, they stumbled upon a room. It was spacious, with only chairs and one large table.
"Which room is this?" Spring Breeze asked.
"I have no idea." Kise replied in a deadpan. He was still upset that he had spend so much money.
They then turned up the hallway and looked at the rooms on both sides. On the left, there was a smaller room compared to the first, while across from that was a spacious one that had numerous benches and tables and a small kitchen to the back.
"This is the social area." Yahiko beamed. "I swear, for a Guild Leader, Raiden didn't even know the basic rooms needed for a guild hall." He chuckled.
Kise looked away in embarrassment. "I was a solo player, so obviously I wouldn't know what the inside of a guild hall looked like." he murmured.
"I'm pretty sure that you've played other MMORPG games, right? You can't be that ignorant."
"I've never stepped foot in a guild hall before. Excuse me for going off and enjoying the games I play." Kise said with an eye roll.
They moved on, checking out the other two rooms that were left. They were quite spacious, and once again, when asked what they were for, Kise simply replied, "when the other members are recruited, we'll know".
Travelling across another hallway between the social room and another room, they ended up at the stairs and wondered what upstairs looked like, or rather, what was up there. Spring Breeze nor Gold Digger have been upstairs Kise's house before and felt that now could be a good time.
"We don't need to go up there. Showers and rooms are present. That's it." Kise said, crushing their hopes immediately.
"So we get our own rooms? Yus!" Gold Digger cheered.
Kise remarked, "Of course not. Who knows which other homeless player you'll bring in here? I can't be constantly spending money on renovations, you know?" his face then darkened. "Remember, you'll be heading to a dungeon to repay me."
"What!?" Spring Breeze gasped. "You were serious?"
"Guys, he spent 1.5 million gold coins. Be reasonable." Yahiko coaxed.
Feeling sorry for them, Kise then softened, "Alright, go to the dungeon and buy food then."
"That sounds much better." Spring Breeze mumbled. He then looked to Yahiko and Gold Digger, "Well since our house is finished, let's head out and try to recruit some players before the other guilds get all the good ones!"
And such, the trio headed out, leaving Kise alone. With a shrug, he returned to the first room with the many chairs.
…
Runic Night returned with Silver in tow but stopped short when they came up to the guild. He whistled when he saw the construct and inwardly laughed at how Kise had to turn his house into a guild hall. Upon entering, Runic Night didn't know where to go, or where Kise was. Inside was totally different from what he was accustomed to, and he looked to Silver with a wry smile.
"Uh, apparently, they renovated while I was gone."
"It looks nice, although bland." Silver commented. "You need some paint or some ornaments."
The two then entered the room that Kise was in and saw the blond sitting and looking aimless. With a playful smirk, Runic Night headed towards him and said,
"What's with the look? Sad that your beloved house is now a guild hall?" he teased.
"I wish." Kise said with a sigh. "I had to fork out 1.5 million gold coins for this. I'm not amused."
Runic Night and Silver's jaws dropped. That's a lot of money in-game.
"Why are you so rich?" Runic Night asked in bewilderment. Not even he, who runs a weapon shop holds that much money. Kise didn't answer. He was sick and tired of people asking him the same thing. Was it so unusual to have in-game money?
Hearing the silence creeping up, Runic Night then introduced Silver to Kise, and also added that he was his chemistry teacher. Kise stared wide-eyed at the man, and internally cursed the man for not showing up sooner. Maybe, just maybe, he would have been the Guild Leader instead. After all, Silver is a teacher.
Kise then added the Alchemist to the Guild and since he trusts Runic Night, Kise told him about their money-making venture. Silver laughed at their antics, but agreed to join in as well. This new discovery of being able to create something that's not in the game commands seems promising. And with him being an Alchemist and a chemistry teacher, he's bound to have some fun.
Runic Night left to join Spring Breeze and the others in recruitment, leaving Kise and Silver. Unlike Runic Night, Kise was able to talk to the teacher with ease due to his personality, and the fact that Silver is quite young. And so, the minutes passed as the two continued their chat.
"Raiden, you here?!"
Kise and Silver were jolted as they didn't hear the door. Spring Breeze and Yahiko arrived with someone else in tow. The Archer looked at Silver with a raised brow but figured that he may be a new member as well.
Coming back to reality, he then said, "We've brought a prospective member!"
"Hello." Kise greeted. "I'm Raiden, Guild Leader. And this another member, Silver." Silver nodded his greeting.
"Yo." the newcomer said with a wave. He was a tall youth, with light brown hair and matching eyes. He was dressed in a black corduroy shirt with padded and studded sleeves and dark blue pants with hand sticking down the length of the pants in a lighter blue colour, tucked into knee-high black combat boots. On his left hip was a rapier, and immediately Kise knew to which class he belonged ―Swashbuckler.
"Oh." the newcomer said in surprise. "You look a bit squishy for a Guild Leader. I thought the other guy was it."
"Mah, looks can be deceiving." Kise shrugged. He wasn't going to refute what the newcomer said. If he still had his avatar, he'd look even more "squishy". Without wasting any more time, Kise sent the invitation to the newcomer and when he saw his in-game name, the blond stared with incredulity at the boy.
The newcomer's name was "King Aiza: Lord of the Common People".
It was then that he thought of choosing people with sensible (or less ridiculous) names, but he reminded himself, he can't be picky. Still, he wondered how on Earth did that name manage to hold in the name slot? Shouldn't he have run out of letters? Kise shook his head to get rid of those thoughts.
He also found out that King Aiza's subclass was a Mage, and decided that he'll be pretty useful in combat. He was at Level 28 while Silver was an Alchemist and Assassin at Level 34. Kise then left the two explore the place, he knew he couldn't continue to talk to them as he'd just met them. He may be talkative, but not at the moment.
But, Kise's work was just beginning.
Not too long after Silver and King Aiza left with Spring Breeze and Yahiko to tour, Gold Digger and Runic Night arrived with a small crowd. Gawking in horror at these people, Kise looked at the two with shock.
"Where did these people come from?!" He asked. There was about twenty or more people present.
"Well, we advertised, and they came." Gold Digger said with a shrug. "Since other guilds are being pretty picky, I guess people will flock to us more."
"What are their levels?"
"Well, from my group, they range from as low as Level 16 to a high of Level 36." Runic Night said with pride. "Oh, and other guilds were looking for you in hopes of recruiting you. But don't worry, I told them that you've already been snatched away by a guild."
"I see." He then looked to Gold Digger, and the boy knew what he wanted.
"I got people from all over as well. The lowest is Level 10, and he just started playing a month ago. The highest is Level 30."
"Oh, okay." Kise nodded.
Due to the commotion, Spring Breeze, Yahiko, Silver and King Aiza had returned to see the crowd and the Archer's face lit up with joy. They just started and there has been so many to come already.
"Ah. Hello." Kise started to get their attention. Everyone looked at him. "I'm Raiden, the Guild Leader."
Silence followed. Kise exhaled a sigh of relief, seeing that everyone seemed to fine. However…
"You're too squishy to be a Guild Leader!" one man roared from the back of the room. He was covered in heavy armour, and the players could tell that he was a Knight.
"Is that so?" Kise asked with a raised brow. If the Knight had made that statement with less hostility and mockery, he would have bypassed it like he did with King Aiza, but no man is supposed to talk to him like that, in his own house.
"Of course! What can you do? Aren't you a healer?" the Knight asked again, his voice laced with mockery.
Kise nodded. "I'm a Cleric."
"Ha! A useless, good-for-healing Cleric like you as Guild Leader? This must be a joke!" He said with a sneer.
Kise stared, trying to hold down his anger. "Do I look like I'm joking?"
Silver had wanted to stop them from the get-go, but Runic Night held him back. He had a smirk on his face, and Silver decided that maybe if he had intervened, it would have seemed like Kise couldn't defend himself.
"Hear what? Let's duel. If you lose, I get your guild."
A clamour broke out, being that Kise was a Cleric, and throughout the history of RPG and MMORPG, Healer archetypes suck in combat. As a matter of fact, the only thing they can do is heal. So, to see this Knight challenging a poor defenceless Cleric to duel is evil. However, there were some who believed the Knight to be right. Clerics can't run a guild.
"Yeah! I'll challenge him too!" Another player shouted. He was a Warrior.
"Ha! Greedy bastards! Count me in!" this time it was a Summoner.
"Fine. Let's go." Kise said with a perk. He had been wanting to de-stress anyway. Spending that exorbitant amount earlier caused him to be pent-up with emotions. Runic Night was rubbing his hands together like an evil mastermind, planning to run a gamble to make some money. But then he remembered that his teacher was standing right next to him. Spring Breeze and Gold Digger grinned, Silver and King Aiza wanted to see just what Kise could do.
Kise led the way to the backyard, the space greatly reduced due to the renovation. The crowd followed the two eager to see the duel.
"Oh, and you can't self-heal. That'll be unfair." Knight said.
"Why not?" Kise asked.
"Because I can beat you to a pulp and all you can do is continuously heal yourself while I get tired."
"Fine." Kise shrugged.
Yet again, the crowd roared, expressing their displeasure and cheers. Kise didn't mind. But, he didn't underestimate the opponents. If anything, he treated him to be higher in level than he was, basketball taught him this valuable lesson. Since there were no referee, the crowd counted down from three to indicate when they should start. As soon as they said "go!", Knight took his stance and charged at Kise.
Due to his armour he wasn't that fast, but he had it in his head that Kise wasn't a fighter.
With a smirk, Kise unsheathed both his katana and dashed towards the Knight. He used "Aura of the Swift" to increase his movements, and then inversely held his katana. He made two slashes at Knight's chest armour, shaving his HP in half. Knight jumped backwards and held up his shield, but Kise wasn't inflexible. He moved so fast that he seemed to teleport, only to reappear behind the Knight and gave him a kick which sent him flying forwards.
Mercilessly Kise slashed at the Knight, using his "24 Slice combo". His blades gleamed beautifully as they slaughtered, everyone gaping in horror at the sight. When Kise saw that Knight's HP was dwindling, he paused and used the hilt to hit him in his temple, the Knight collapsing rather disgracefully before Kise. Due to the Cleric not knowing what would happen if players died, Kise didn't slice his head in two.
The Warrior charged up to him, brandishing his double swords. Without even a glance, Kise used "Plague of Exhaustion" to diminish his HP. Sensing that something was wrong, the Warrior stopped and looked around to see if he had walked into trap. Meanwhile, the Summoner was preparing to summon his familiars to attack Kise. The Summoner even healed Warrior while he was at it, as seeing Kise's strength earlier made them cautious.
But, Kise waited for the familiars to fully emerge from the magic circle. When the circle closed, a whopping twelve familiars were present, all had fire covering their bodies. Kise dashed towards them without using "Aura of the Swift" and opened up his grimoire while he was at it. He hadn't time to waste.
The Warrior made strides forwards in hopes of stopping Kise, the familiars trailing behind. Just then, a light appeared from the pages of Kise's grimoire, after which it faded. The Warrior made a roundhouse swing at Kise, which was followed by a volley of fireballs from the Summons. Ducking and dodging effortlessly, Kise skated his way to the midst of the group. It is here that he unleashed his attack.
From the ground went up a circular pillar of Light, the onlookers scattering not wanting to be caught up in its area of effect. However, the Warrior, Summoner and his familiars and the Knight were caught and perished miserably as the pillar faded.
This spell was called "Holy Reprisal" and its a spell that gets stronger as one levelled up.
The players disappeared into colourful pixelated fragments, Kise not having an ounce of regret that he may have just murdered three people. They say 'don't just a book by its cover', but obviously, those three didn't get the memo.
Turning to face the crowd with a darkened face, Kise said, "Anyone else?" he walked towards the crowd with an imposing aura, players were becoming frightened. Clerics weren't supposed to behave like this. "Is there anyone else who thinks they can take my guild from me? Or that I'm too squishy?"
Everyone was silent.
"How...?" One player asked. "That was...quick...and dangerous..."
Kise looked at him with fiery eyes. "I don't have the time nor energy to waste on useless trash. Naturally, I am going to dispose of them quickly." He spat with venom. But seeing how no one else had reacted to what he had asked earlier on, Kise's countenance completely changed to that of his normal disposition ―cheerful. "Great!" he perked in joy. "Now, all those who I've yet to add to the Guild follow me!"
But everyone was so dumbstruck that they hadn't moved. Seeing this, Kise turned and asked,
"You're not coming?" His voice sent chills down their spines.
"Hai!" the players scrambled and followed behind Kise, not wanting to invoke the Cleric's wrath. Instead of going back to the first room, they decided to go to the social area, since it had more space. Kise felt like he was signing autographs all over again, his hands starting to become numb. But during this, he's had his good laughs.
There were couple who had normal and reasonable names, but there were some who were outrageous. But all in all, he's got a couple occupations from the different Fighter, Healer and Spellcaster Classes, but he's gotten majority who were what he needed from the Artisan Classes. Chefs, Weaponsmiths, Alchemists, Craftsmen...he could already hear the sounds of the gold coins.
Pushing aside those thoughts, Kise looked to the crowd and said, "Alright, you're all free to leave. But be back here by tomorrow morning."
Everyone looked to each other before one Archer gave out, "I have no place to live. Couldn't I stay here?"
Kise paled. "Who else doesn't have anywhere to live?"
Everyone raised their hands.
Kise looked to Runic Night and company. The four made a playful shrug, ignoring Kise's murderous intent. Calming himself down, he sighed and said,
"Alright, I'll show you where you all can sleep." he then turned to Spring Breeze and company. "You're going to a dungeon immediately."
"What?! Why?!" Gold Digger asked.
"There aren't enough beds for all these people, and there isn't enough food to feed them." He deadpanned. "Get going."
Unable to counter, Spring Breeze, Runic Night, Gold Digger and Yahiko headed out back to Munabu Graveyard Dungeon. They chose this because Kise would kill them if they went to a new dungeon without him to help with the looting. Of course, they stocked up on recovery potions since Kise wasn't coming.
"Man, that blond is evil." Gold Digger complained as they exited.
"Well, he did spend a lot money earlier, so maybe he's broke. That's why he's venting it out on us." Runic Night said with a shrug. "We got to give and take."
"He isn't broke." Yahiko joined in. "He's got 1.5 million left. In all, he had 3 million gold coins."
"EEHH?!" The others screeched.
Yahiko stared on blankly. "Obviously he isn't broke. A player who's completely broke wouldn't be so normal right now. They'd be running off to every dungeon nearby." he then rolled his eyes. "It's common sense."
The other three were currently conflicted. They didn't know whether or not they should march back to the guild and give the Cleric a piece of their minds, or actually head to the dungeon to get some money. They chose the latter, since Kise is more likely to bust their asses like he did the Knight, Summoner and Warrior today.
Yes, they decided, they'll be good boys and head to the dungeon.
xx
Back in the real world, Kaijou, Seirin and the Miracles couldn't believe their eyes nor their ears. At the beginning, they were hearing what Kise was thinking and found it somewhat intruding. A person's mind is their private space, so for them to be hearing his thoughts left them with a guilty conscience.
But throughout the entire thing, Kasamatsu and his teammates informed the others about the different classes in a typical fantasy RPG and the different gaming terminologies. But what shook them was the fact that Kise, their friend and ace who was supposed to be of the Healer archetype, was kicking ass ―awesome too.
The way he moved and the way he looked...was somewhat similar to basketball. It was almost as though they could feel his imposing aura through the screens. It sent a chill down their spines and Aomine was reminded of when he faced the blond in Inter-High, Kagami, Kuroko and the rest of Seirin felt as though they were facing his Perfect Copy yet again.
For a Cleric, Kise was far too vicious.
After they saw him return inside the guild and added the players, he lounged about and chatted with those who he could. The teams all laughed at this, seeing Kise being the chatter that they knew and loved (and found annoying).
The quartet that went to the dungeon arrived many minutes later, and the scene moved to Runic Night, Silver and Gold Digger leaving to buy food, Kise leaving the guild and heading back to the "Famous Lighthouse" for some beds. The players were were ecstatic upon seeing him back so soon, quickly they followed him back to the guild and placed in the beds.
When Kise was done with this task, the newly recruited members celebrated in joy but Kise told them to buy their own bedsheets. Surely, he thought they couldn't have been that broke. The teams laughed at his antics, and was somewhat refreshed at his behaviour. They had imagined him to be flustered and confused not knowing what to do or how to act as a guild leader, but even Akashi was surprised at how smoothly he was taking things.
But knowing Kise, they surmised that later on, he'll be the clueless blond that they knew.
The hours passed and such, it was coming down to late evening, seeing that the players in the game were getting ready for bed as it was about the same time of day for them, the teams headed down the stairs and turned on the TV, wondering if there'll be any news. Shion hadn't texted Nakamura back yet, but they thought that maybe HQ would release something even without telling Junior Officers like Shion first.
And as they thought, there was a breaking news. It was a press conference, with the Minister of National Security and the Police Chief being present.
"We of the National Police Agency have discovered that within the homes of the players trapped in The Lost Chronicles of the Arcana, are live footage of the game. On the computer monitors in each players' houses, one can watch and hear everything that is currently happening.
"However, the footage shown on each computer only corresponds to with the presence of its owner." This was the Police Chief who spoke.
"So what do you mean by the "footage shown corresponds with the presence of its owner"?" One male journalist asked.
"For example, you and I both trapped in the game. However, my family is unable to see what you are doing, only me and my surroundings."
"Thank you for your answer." the journalist sat.
"If this is the case, how do you plan on addressing this? Are you going to acquire all the footage from all the homes?" Another spoke up.
"No we will not. Instead, we plan to watch guilds as they usually have a large amount people in the place and the same time." The chief replied. "However, we do think that we could learn what went wrong as to why players are unable to log out through their conversations."
"Thank you for your answer."
The teams present in Kise's house sighed a relief. So it wasn't happening to their ace only. It would have been mortifying to see police swarming the house everyday.
Soon, Ryouhei arrived home and greeted the group. While he was familiar with Kaijou and the Miracles (even though it's been a while since he last met them), he's never met Seirin so close before. However, he trusted his son's friends and thought that there was nothing he should worry about.
As such, Kasamatsu informed the older Kise of what was happening and the poor man blanched. He was somewhat glad that he'll see that his precious ball of sunshine is fine, but he was still torn that he's trapped in a game.
"Don't worry Kise-san," Kasamatsu started, "Your son will be fine."
"Yeah, after all, he started a guild so he has other people to do his dirty work." Aomine mumbled.
Ryouhei's eyebrows rose. "I don't know much about games, so what's this about "doing his dirty work"? I can't believe that my sunshine has such a deplorable character hiding from me."
The group laughed at the man's face. He reminded them of Kise right there, and suspected that their friend got his traits from him. After all, Ryouhei was like an older version of Kise with green eyes.
As time went by, the group headed to their respective homes, promising each other that they'll come back to watch the blond, Kaijou staying over at Kasamatsu's because he lives the nearest to Kise.
However, none of the group felt like they could sleep peacefully knowing that Kise is in such a predicament.
Thank you for reading! Don't forget to leave a review!