"Jump?" Swiss looked down the edge of the cliff. Sharp rocks formed spikes below. To jump would be instant death.
The young man sighed, "Yes. Jump. I have nothing to live for. What's the point?" he said, loosening the tie around his neck. A fine quality black suit and tie with a red shirt softly graced his skin.
"The point? Now that's a good question. What is the point? A dot on the map? The end of a needle? The tip of a spear? How on earth do we pinPOINT the POINT?"
"Haha… Got quite the knack for semantics, don't you?" The man replied. Even his laugh was soft.
"Trololol. You got a cute laugh bro. Where'd you get it?"
The question gave rise to a venomous vile in the young man's throat. He shook his head as if to shake off the question. He readied himself for the end of the road.
"Farewell." He said, beginning his lean over the edge.
"WOW! DUDE! What is your rush?" Swiss blurted.
"What do you mean? I have no will to live." The well-dressed maniac replied.
"Yeah, but… If you are going to off yourself anyway, then there isn't a rush, right? I mean, you are going to die anyway. You decided it. So why not humor one last conversation with a stranger?
"… I don't know." The man felt unsure of himself.
"Exactly! So sit down! Give me some company. I won't bite!"
'Ugh… why not?' The young man swept his white hair to the side and reluctantly sat next to Swiss.
"Thatta boy! I'm Swiss, by the way. You?"
"Jinzo. Ken Jinzo."
"Wow, shit name."
"…"
"I'm kidding! Gosh, I know you are suicidal, but you should loosen up a little bit. Nice to meet ya, Jinzo!" Swiss extended his hand, to which Jinzo shook. "So… Why don't you tell me what all this kill yourself business is all about?"
Throughout his long years of playing OPO, Swiss had encountered many a gamer who talked about killing themselves.
In a game like One Piece Online, full of toxic gamers striving for a competitive edge, such talk would be pounced upon as weakness.
[swaglord619: lawl do it]
[fodderkid_8: yah kys]
[skinnyfat: kys]
[KangaCantCount: kys]
[1x1x1: kys]
[doomlord3009: kys]
…etc
…etc
It was always the fodder noobs that had no regard for life, so you could make the argument that these kinds of assholes should just be ignored.
But to Swiss, this behavior made him feel ashamed to be a part of the OPO community.
A few times did OPO players tragically kill themselves.
Somehow, Swiss had managed to cross all of their paths during their final hours.
TDLR: Swiss is experienced with being one of the last people to see someone alive.
This fact somewhat ate at him, whether he wanted to admit it or not.
"Where do I begin?" Ken Jinzo struggled to find an acceptable way to tell his story.
"Why don't you just retrace your steps from here?" Swiss replied, handing Ken Jinzo the bottle of sake.
"Okay…" He took the bottle and had a large chug, "I have been walking on eggshells my entire life."
Swiss raised a brow, "Let me guess, got married early?"
"Haha, no. I mean with my family.
My father died when I was young, so it was just my mother and me. She ended up overworking herself to death, so I had to go live with my aunt and her family.
The husband, son, and my aunt were terrible to me, especially after I started showing more talent than the son."
Jinzo told the story like he had gone through it a million times in his head.
"Trolol, so it's a case of a bitter aunt taking in her sister's son, eh? Wow, bro, sounds like you had it toughhhh." Swiss said to Jinzo in a teasing tone, wanting to bust Jinzo's balls but not wanting to trigger him over the edge (literally).
Jinzo ignored him, "My aunt's husband is a bad man. He moved here to Zealandia with his Yakuza organization. To gain their approval, I did everything I could to help out. But never did I get accepted." Jinzo said bitterly.
"There's your problem," Swiss said, reaching over and yanking the sake bottle from Jinzo's hands, "You had a loser mentality from the very start. Nice people don't get ahead, oh no… They get fucked. When is the last time you have seen an asshole get what was coming to them?"
Jinzo's silence was all the reply Swiss needed.
"Exactly! Who gets screwed up the ass? NICE PEOPLE!" Swiss asserted.
It's not that Jinzo didn't agree. Rather, he felt like it was a harsh way to view things. Surely, he thought, the world was more rewarding towards upstanding people who did good things.
Swiss was not done, "But I'm not saying we should just be assholes. No! I'm saying we need to throw away that nice guy, 'please accept me!' attitude. All it does is give off a weak scent that cunts smell from miles away! Like flies, they will flock. Yuck."
"…" Jinzo had to admit to himself that he was somewhat channeling that sort of energy. But he did not fully accept that a change in his attitude would alter how his life had gone.
"So what made you so dejected? Is this the result of you harboring years of feeling like an outsider?" Swiss theorized.
"No. Tonight I asked my uncle-in-law to help me follow my dream of opening a tea house. The money my parents left me should have easily covered it. But instead, he feigned as if I was betraying the family. Told me to leave and never come back."
"TROLOLOL!" Swiss laughed with tears in his eyes, "What a bunch of assholes! THAT'S who you are moping over?"
Jinzo simply looked out to the bay and sighed.
"Cool sword!" Swiss changed the subject, eying up Jinzo's weaponry, "May I see it?"
Jinzo unsheathed his katana. The moonlight reflected off the blade, exposing its crimson red color.
"Wow, that looks funky. Did you just slice some people or something on the way here?" Swiss asked.
"No. My ancestors fought in a great war centuries ago. It is said that this sword cut down so many men that eventually it got stained the color of blood crimson." Jinzo robotically retold the short version of the story he was told many times.
"Damnnn. So that sword must be worth a pretty penny, huh? Why don't you give it to me?" Swiss propositioned.
Although Jinzo was eager to end his life, for some reason Swiss asking for his only possession that reminded him of his real family ate at his heart.
"No." He promptly replied.
"Why not? You're going to die anyway!" Swiss reasoned.
"Why do you want it? You look like you have a magnificent sword yourself. A jade-green hilt? Looks mystical." Jinzo looked at the cutlass Swiss had received from Lockett.
"I fucked up." Swiss said it almost proudly, then continued, "I wager the money I could get from pawning that sword could help me recover."
Jinzo did not like the answer "No! I'm not letting you have it. This sword and I shall rest at the bottom of the bay."
"Well, in that case.." Swiss stood up and brushed the blades of grass off his pants, "We may as well jump together."
"What?" Jinzo looked up at Swiss, shocked.
"Yep. I have found myself in a different world, far away from home. Someone gave me a chance and I blew it on a silly bar fight. I may as well kill myself along with you." Swiss said.
"What? No! That's unfair!" Jinzo stood also and defiantly stared at Swiss.
"Fair? Life isn't fair. Here, take my hand. Let's jump. We can make it a race. The last one to die is a rotten egg!"
"I won't."
"You won't?" Swiss hid his amusement at Jinzo's answer.
"That's right. I won't let you come with me."
"Well, aren't you selfish! I can bloody well jump wherever I please! Now, come on my dear Jinzo. Let's get this over with."
"No!"
Swiss was playing with Jinzo, he had no intention of topping himself. But Jinzo's borderline contradictory behavior intrigued Swiss.
A man who had no value for his own life, yet places value on others.
Swiss took a good look at Jinzo. His white hair, his sad brown eyes, his small frail body. Then he laughed under his breath
"Trolol. In that case, why don't you tag along with me?"
"Pardon..?" Jinzo looked at Swiss, confused.
"Yeah! Why not? You have nothing to live for, yet you are stopping me from dieing with you. We may as well form a team! A suicide pact, if you will."
Jinzo could not believe the selfishness and manipulation coming from Swiss, "… You're crazy."
"Am I? Sounds like fun in my opinion. Don't you want to open a tea shop? Travel the world with me and I guarantee you we will find some of the best tea plants this world has to offer! Trolololol!" Swiss was not going to take 'no' for an answer.
He held his hand out to Jinzo once again, "What do you say? Suicide pals?"
Jinzo inspected the hand, then the face of Swiss. Something in the eyes of Swiss told Jinzo that he knew more than he was letting on. An aura of romance surrounded Swiss that made him alluring.
Jinzo sighed before reluctantly saying "You have forced my hand. Fine. Suicide pals it is."
"YOSH!"
They shook hands. To be more accurate, they clasped hands like bros. It was the beginning of a glorious broship.
"Trolololol! Good! Now, you said your asshole uncle-in-law was part of the Yakuza around here?"
"Correct."
"And you just got disowned this evening?"
"Correct."
"Great." Swiss gave Jinzo a mischievous smile, cracking his knuckles and then saying
"I have an idea."