A/N: Thank you too Falling Pixels for Following and Favoring and thank you TheEliteWolf for commenting
Now on with the story!
Rotsen gasped for air as his leg was kicked. He slowly started to wake up as Kitub hovered over his chair. They were both currently in the guild base. It was warmly underground guild base located in a secret location on the 35th floor, deep in the Forest of Wandering. It was hard for players to find the base if they aren't a member. Today he and Kitub had a job together, despite both their dismay. Their task; eliminate the rival mercenary guild, The Black Hand. Rotsen laughed when he first heard the name, remembering history class.
"Get up, kid, we got a job to do."
Rotsen grumbled as he arose from his seat. Every guild member had their own room and bed. Rotsen however never uses his bed because of his paranoia. He knew Kitub and several other members didn't like him. Sleeping in a bed in the game will cause you to fully shut down until 6 a.m. Resting however allows you to wake up at any time you want. The Beater wanted to stay as alert as possible in the mad house he both worked and lived in.
"Where are they?" Rotsen as he walked out of his cold, gray brick room. It was dull since he never bothered to decorate it like everyone else. He never had the time since Oshoku always threw jobs at him since he was one of the top members. The only thing he had in his room was his chair, his dusty unused bed, torches hanging on the walls and small chest.
"They're on the the 4th floor, surprisingly." Kitub answered as they continued to walk down the cold hallway, heading for the guild teleporter. "Apparently they got a base hidden somewhere. We would've known more if our scouts weren't so weak and died on us."
Rotsen glared at Kitub as they walked. He disliked his views on human life, especially since he's third in command. "How are we going to approach this?"
"You take up the recon," Kitub answered lowly as he stood atop the dark blue platform, holding out a blue crystal. "I'll hang on the rooftops and you go on ground. After all, your still extra-meat for us."
The Beater ignored him as he stood along side him, pulling out his own crystal. It was the same thing with Kitub. He would insult him as a spare body or something on those lines, but when it mattered he would crawl and beg for Rotsen to save him if he couldn't handle it. Once the teleportaion was done Rotsen scanned the surrounding area.
It was midnight in the town of Lorbia's Teleport Gate Plaza. The streets were deserted from both players and PC's. In low level floors the standard time for PC's to go to bed was midnight, a way to get the players to be use to either logging out or go to an inn and spend some coin. It was practically like advertisement for them to either have room for other people to join the server and to make them spend more time playing to pay off that night in the inn.
The Beater raised his cloak as started to walk off the platform, leaving Kitub on his own. Like he said, they needed to split up and recon. It was more of privilege than a chore for Rotsen since it gave him time away from Kitub.
In his train of thought he walked in the shadows of the shops and buildings, making sure his detection level was low. He had to look for any signs of the Black Hand, meaning their logo. It was a simple black hand with white outlining with a open eye in the center. It wasn't going to be hard to find. It would, however, to find the entrance.
Rotsen bit his tongue as he knelt deeper in the shadows as he saw two figures enter the streets. They were both tall and dressed in a dark brown cloaks. Their hoods were drawn up so their faces were covered. Thankfully the Beater didn't need to see their faces to see the logo plastered on their cloaks.
The player fixed his gloves as he arose. Once he knew they were out of ear shot he jumped onto the side of the building, climbing to the roof, getting a good view of the other two players. Rotsen continued to hop from roof to roof as he fallowed them, staying a building behind them. The Beater took notice of the town square they were approaching. It would expose him too much if he kept it up, meaning he'd have to let them go and catch up with them once they passed.
As Rotsen landed on the last building he stopped and grabbed his daggers, turning around and blocking an attack. He lowly grumbled as he saw a figure covered in a gray cloak grit their teeth. The figure was about his height, meaning it wasn't that tall, and the only signs of human life he could see was their mouth, arms covered in a black material and two locks of blonde hair, one was dyed red while the other was red.
The figure grumbled back as they drew back their katana and tried to attack him again. Rotsen continued to block with his daggers, stopping the attacks in either mid swing or cutting them off completely. When yellow energy covered the figure's katana Rotsen knew it was time to stop this. He caused both his daggers to be immersed in dark blue energy and countered their attack, causing their katana to fall out of their hands, allowing an opening for him to hold one dagger at their throat and using his other hand to hold the figure close so they wouldn't struggle out of the hold.
The figure let out a frightened squeak as their hood fell off, causing Rotsen to take a double take. He looked over the situation, getting both a better view of the figure and their position. The attacker in his hold was a blonde girl, shutting her eyes tight, waiting for death to come. Her hair was tied into two long pigtails, with both ends having been dyed. The Beater was able to tell this player wasn't a member if the Black Hand. The answer came from both her reaction to death and her armor not bearing any guild symbols.
He let the female player go, drawing back his daggers and loomed over her. She was knelt down, gasping for air and holding both her hands at her throat, not believing what just happened.
She was brought back when he lowly asked, "Why are you fallowing me?"
She swallowed hard, trying to find her voice as she looked up, trying to look as tough as possible. "H-how couldn't I? It's obvious your a member of the Black Hand, and I want revenge on you all!"
The Beater sighed as he opened one of his hands, revealing the Laughing Coffin logo on his palm. "Get it right, idiot. I'm a member of Laughing Coffin."
The color from the girl's face started to drain as she realized she attack the wrong person, and knowing that she could die for real now. She tried her best to stay calm and keep the little control of the conversation she had, wanting to turn it all around.
"S-sorry mister. I guess I should apologize. But anyways, I should go. I got a problem of my own to fix, but what am I saying, its not like a cold killer player like you would ever help a poor defenseless person like me."
Rotsen's eye's widen as she finished. She thought she got a good grip on him with her deception skills, but really it was the exact opposite. Several words started to echo his mind as flashbacks of a certain boss battle field him mind. The words being "I'm sorry," and "cold killer."
"What's wrong little girl!?" The Beater asked in a tone that couldn't be described as urgent or painful, but possibly both?
The girl ignored his comment about her size and answered. "Just a simple story of revenge of a fallen comrade." The Beater raised an eyebrow as he finished, wanting her to clarify. "Alright, alright. I want revenge on that guild for killing my friends. We were in a guild together and a rival guild paid them to try and kill us all off. I was the last to survive and so I'm here to seek them out and slice every last member's heads off! Or just the leader. Either one is good. What's even better is that I know where it is. Only thing is that I need some fire power. And since you were able to counter my undefeated skills, I suppose I can give you the honor to help me."
Rotsen's eye twitched as he listened, getting a too of a reminder of a certain red head he knew. He did however put up with it when he heard her mention about the entrance. He quickly weighed his options, seeing a good chance of all of this turning out in his favor.
"Fine. I'll help. Just take me to the entrance."
"Wait, seriously? No pay? No death threats of me leaving you alone? No test for me to prove myself to you!? What's your angle!?" She whispered shouted into his ears, making him start to regret his choice to help her.
"None of your business. If you want me to help then take me to the entrance now or I'm off."
The player sighed, knowing now they wasn't anyway to figure it out now. She held out a hand to him and smiled. "Names Midnight. What's yours?"
Rotsen eyed the hand. After several weeks of being with the Laughing Coffins he learned not to trust others so easily. He slowly reached for it and shook the hand, also helping her up as he shook it. "Rotsen."
"Grudgingly to meet you Rotsen. Now, fallow me!" Midnight shouted as she picked up her Katana and ran off towards the right, completely opposite from where the two Black Hand members were walking towards.
The Beater sighed as he ran after the girl, quickly looking around to see if they didn't draw any attention. When he knew the coast was clear he ran after her, hoping nothing out of hand will happen.
-:-
"Stay down," Rotsen muttered to the girl. He used a hand to pull her down, closer to the roof. He didn't want them both to be easily discovered and right now she was starting to test his patience.
Midnight grumbled as she knelt down next to the Beater. They were knelling above a back entrance to a general goods shop. There was a guard armored in bronze armor, holding the Black Hand symbol on his chest. He held a broadsword at his side as he stood. It was obvious he didn't like standing there, guarding a door from the possibilities of intruders or such.
Rotsen drew out one of his many disposable daggers, along with a small jar. He popped the lid open as he selected the substance. As his finger glowed he traced his finger on the disposable dagger. Before Midnight could ask what he was doing he threw the dagger. It pierced through the air at immense speed. It pierced through the guards armor, causing him to stumble and fallow with a low thud.
His health bar could be seen as they both jumped down, showing he lost half his health and that he was paralyzed. Rotsen paid no attention to the guard as he opened the door, waving a hand for Midnight to fallow. They both entered the back of the general store, seeing bottles of food, liquids, and other materials. The walls were filled with shelves from both food to alchemy to leather working supplies and material.
Each step the Beater took didn't cause the wooden floor beneath them to creak. As for the female player, it softly moaned with each step her leather boots made. She fallowed him towards the back, where shop owners' office would normally be. As they walked Rotsen's eyes scanned the area, making sure there wasn't going to be any surprises.
He raised a hand, causing Midnight to halt. In front of them was a dark painted wooden door, with a sign having a boar's head painted on it. Rotsen knelt down to the knob, peering into the key hole. He grinned as he stood up, mumbling for her to hear.
"Level four bronze lock. Irritating to the begging level rouges and thief's to pick and break into. Gives even experienced players trouble if they don't focus on their daggers and put their mind set on just speed."
"Congratulations, your geek," Midnight mumbled under her breath as she crossed her arms, her patience slowly depleting. "So what now? Are you gonna pick the lock in under record time or something? Or maybe there's a special key from a mini boss you have."
The Beater chuckled as he peered back to her. "Here's some advice; no game is ever perfect. Meaning there is always bugs in the system." As he finished his statement he drew out his daggers, causing the dark blue energy to engulf them. He flipped them so their hilts were pointed forward. He thrust them both onto the door, causing the door to fall off it's hinges and crashing onto the floor.
Midnight peered past him, seeing the silhouette of a desk, chests, and shelves. She patted his back, mumbling to him as she looked for the torches. "Way to make an entrance."
Rotsen chuckled as he drew his daggers back, blinking several times as Midnight lit several torches. The room itself was made of dark shaded wood. with the Black Hand symbol burned onto the back wall. The shelves matched, all holding jars of semi-rare and expensive materials, along with scrolls and books. The desk in the middle sat alone with a large leather chair. Paper and several other booklets were scattered along it with ink containers and quills.
The Beater walked over to the desk as Midnight dug through the chests, as if something was calling out to her. His beat was on gold and other materials. Rotsen hovered himself over the papers, seeing they were mostly just supply reports for the shop. That was until one was written differently from the rest. He scanned the paper, seeing it was titled, "S.S.A. REPORTS" and was connected to several other folders.
He picked them up, opening the folders. In them showed pictures of child players, all under the age of thirteen or so. It listed birth dates, age, weight and physical attributes. This cause the Beater to ponder on the files until he scanted further down the files, seeing prices on them all. His eye's widen as he laid the papers down, seeing dozens of photos and files, trying to see what was pulling them all together and why the Black Hand wanted with children players. That was until it started to connect as he scanned the front of the folders and the address book that hung to the corner of the desk.
He looked over S.S.D. and found the full name and last they reported. "Sex Slave Auctioning. November 30th, 2023. Over twenty sold, making Ten Gold pieces." The air in the Beater's lungs escaped him as he dropped the book down, reality starting to hit him hard.
"T-this... this is sick..." Rotsen mumbled, grabbing Midnight's attention. She peered over to him as she was looking over a rare lance. She dropped it and walked over to him, wanting to see what he just saw.
As her eye's scanned over everything on the table she gasped, covering her mouth. "My god..."
Rotsen's eye's dilated as he detected something. He looked up as he yelled. "Get out here! Show yourselves! Or is the Black Hand this cowardly!?"
The Beater grunted as he threw the papers down to the floor, causing Midnight to flinch. He gritted his teeth as he walked out of the office and into the general store. Before them was over seven players, all armed to the teeth with different types of weapon and armor. Behind them was a female player clad in orange ropes with the Black Hand logo plastered on her chest. By her side was a silver lance. She had long blonde hair tied back in a long braid. Her blue eyes were pinned on the Beater, showing nothing but cold and teasing eyes, almost like a cat's eyes when they stock their pray.
"My, my, its quite an honor to have a leading member of Laughing Coffin here in my little shop." Her voice was silky and smooth, reminding the Beater of a certain member her knows. "Seems you have quite an interest in my work."
Rotsen scoffed, eying her closely. "Work. Is that what you call it? Selling kids to pedophile players?" He started to laugh, covering his face with his right hand. "You all... are just... so sick... and pathetic..."
"Laugh all you like, were still one of the most feared orange guilds on the lower floors."
"Oooo," The Beater mocked, recovering from his laughing fit. "Mighty impressive! You can frighten players that think slimes are terrifying!"
Midnight mumbled under her breath, catching the Beater's ear. "Have you seen their eyes? They have no souls!"
"Ah, so quick with the snark. Of course that's all you really have going on is there? A witty retort to distract everyone from from what you really are; a sad, lonely little boy with no one who loves him. Someone so dead inside he'd use a survivor from one of my jobs as bait."
"Shut the fuck up," Midnight ordered loudly, growing very angry with the leader. "Its bad I have to listen to you speak and go on and on, not drawing into my urges to kill you, but accusing of someone to be exactly like you is just so ridiculous."
"Oh no, she's right," Rotsen said loudly, catching her off guard. "I would so do that."
"WHAT!?" Midnight asked in anger and surprise, her eyes now glued on him.
"And to top it all off," the leader said, catching their attention back to her. "You play The Tough Guy; this invincible worrier you can never hope to be in the real world. Getting stuck in this game must be the best thing that ever has happen to you. But there is one thing this game will never let you hide, something you can never escape; your imperfect form, your physical appearance that will always cause others to never trust you and dislike you with one look."
Rotsen was suck back into laughter, covering his face with his right hand again. Midnight eyed him in worry, wondering if the Black Hand leader really did get into his head.
"Looks like my work here is done. I do so enjoy our chat but I really must be off. We'll be taking your inventory now, if you don't mind."
"OH REALLY!?" Rotsen asked loudly, having a crazed look in his eye. The covering in his face allowed the cloak that covered his face to fall and allowing his untamed hair to drip onto his face, only allowing one of his eyes to be exposed. "YOU REALLY THINK YOU CAN DO IT!?"
"Oh, I believe with this many men, you'll both be down in a minute." As she spoke the other members took a step towards them, readying their weapons.
"Don't worry Rotsen," Midnight mumbled, drawing out her katana. "I'll help you out."
"Aw that's adorable," The Beater said aloud, patting her head. "You think they're a threat. Well you just sit tight, the shows about to start."
As he finished talking to her he took several steps towards them all, hanging his head low so his face could not be seen as he continued to laugh in a insane tone, causing them men to take a step back.
"Uh, boss," one of them said as he looked back to her. "This guy is a member of Laughing Coffin, and you did said he was a top member. Are you sure you want us to mess with this guy?"
As Rotsen drew out his daggers the leader started to assure her men. "Please, the boy's all talk. And now that I've broken him he's not even that anymore. He's nothing but a gibbering mess that's clinging to straws."
"Ooo, another one of your amazing theories!" The Beater called out, raising his head slightly. "Tell you what, I'll give you the first shot. See how that goes."
Silence filled the room as another armed member spoke to her. "Boss I think this might be a trap."
"Enough, your all level 28 and there's seven of you! I think you got this! Now kill him!"
With that their weapons glowed into a rainbow of colors as they ran towards the Beater, slicing, stabbing, and hitting him as they got to him, all jumping back to give the others room to attack and not hit each other.
Midnight's hand started to tremble as she saw his health bar slowly go down. She drew her blade as she started to speak to herself and weigh her options. "My god, I was hoping this wasn't going to come to this. Looks like its up to me to save his a... wait what?"
She blinked several times as she saw his health bar go from a quarter empty to one hundred percent full. As they started to slow down the attacks and stop to catch their breath they all knelt down to the ground or to their knees, taking a breather.
"Ow, you all must be really out of shape. That or the game transposes your original physical and medical features and transferred them to you."
"What are you idiots doing!? Quite fucking around and kill him!"
"I don't understand!" One of the men shouted as he stood back up. "We threw everything at him! How is he still standing!?"
"HOW!? Well it's really simple, something all gamers should know. You see, yeah fucking slut, you think you got me all figured out, but there's one thing you didn't count for; my numbers are bigger than yours!" As he said that he exposed his player title, showing his health points, name, and level, exposing that he was level forty. The room filled with gasps as he continued. "Funny really, get to a high enough level and your basically untouchable to anything under you. My health replenishes faster than you can take. We can do this all night and you would still get nowhere close to killing me. But I got good news; you see, there's no need to wonder where your God is. Because he's right here... and he's fresh out of mercy."
The room was silent as they all looked at him and towards their leader. She grunted as she took a defensive stance, drawing out her lance. "Way to prove my point, kid! Lording over your states like your some kind of God! Your strength is nothing but an illusion to cover,"
Before she could finish Rotsen ran to unbelievable speeds, throwing four disposable daggers each at every man, killing them all. He then stood in front of the leader, his daggers deep into her stomach and chest.
He glared at her as he spoke softly to her. "I'm getting really tired of your first year of psychological school shit."
Her eyes widen as she coughed up red code, her health bar slowly going down. She struggled to speak but she managed. "Enjoy this while you can, this'll be the deepest you'll ever get into a women."
She drop her lance as she burst into code, dying from the blood loss. He sheath his daggers, sighing as he spoke softly. "Sad. She spent her last seconds in life mocking someone that just doesn't give two flying fucks."
He looked back over to Midnight. She gave him a confused and fearful look as she tried to say something. "Are you alright?"
"H-how could you do this? I mean, I thought you lost it, I thought she broken you!"
The Beater scoffed, shaking his head lightly. "As if. That stuff only happens to a small number of people. It only works if she does that to a person that cares about their image. I just don't care about other people's opinions on me. I only care if they have tunnel vision, like her."
He started to walk towards the exit as he purposefully dropped the Laughing Coffin logo card. He was about to leave when Midnight called for him. "Wait, where are you going?"
"To base. My work is done here."
"Wait!" She grabbed his arm, making him stop in his tracks. He looked down to her, seeing her face sweat from tension that once filled the room. "C-can I come with? Can I be a member too?"
Rotsen eyed her, as if she was crazy. He jerked his hand free from her grasp as he brought his hood back up. "Trust me, you don't want to be apart of it."
As he said that she watched him walk out of the shop. He stood in the cold air as he saw the sun start to rise. He shook his head before climbing atop the roof, running towards the teleporter. He didn't have time to find Kitub. He needed to leave the scene of the crime.
As he ran he gripped onto his stomach, feeling an aching feeling as he remembered the conversation he and the Black Hand leader had. It reminded him so much of the fight he had with Vulgar, how he tried to kill him, how he stabbed him in the stomach, not killing him but wounding his spirit. This was going to take a lot more time to get over.
A/N: What'd you think of his chapter? Love it? Hate it so much you'd pay me to stop? Leave a review for me to know if you like it or hated it.
Also, remember if you do like it and want it to continue then leave a review, fallow, or a favorite. I'm not a mind reader so please let me know.
Till next time!