The stench of death hangs in the air, as you move to stand; It's throat-burning, eye-stinging, a wretched combination of overcooked meat and human waste - A palpable reminder of the flash-burned corpse curled up on the soaked floor, the melted remnants of a plastic carnival mask fused to its blackened skull.

Akira stares. The lines of his thin face become even more drawn; His brow furrows, as - For a long, frozen moment - he just looks at you, with those curiously dead eyes. He's not large, not by any physical measure of the word - His raincoat hangs loose on his sparse frame, and you're nearly of a height...But in the half-light, his shadow stretches out before him, black and awful.

Dimly, you can hear the patient drip-drip-drip of water falling from the sprinklers, uneven ripples spreading where it pools and puddles.

There's a harsh, unceremonious *thump* as he drops his green camera bag, with a disgusted snap of his wrist. You hear the jumbled sound of expensive equipment landing hard, as Akira sighs; A sound irritated and resigned at once, as he looks away, his gaze taking in the watery desolation.

"It's *always* you, isn't it?" he mutters, sounding almost resentful - "...You know, I'm not even surprised, now. Not really."

[ ] "-You're a Player, aren't you?"
[ ] "Did you do this?"
[ ] "You have some pretty gruesome hobbies, Akira."
[ ] "You're taking this pretty well, all things considered."
[ ] "Start talking, Akira. I want some answers."

[ ] "'Don't transform'?"
[ ] "'Always me'?"
[ ] "Who is *that*?"
[ ] "Who ARE you? What are you, *really*?"
[ ] "What happened here?"
[ ] "What the hell is going on?"
[ ] "What the *fuck*?"
[ ] Free.

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>22034384

Fuck me, that's an incredible amount of optins. I'm just going to hang back and let someone else pick.

>>22034384

> [X] "-You're a Player, aren't you?"

NO DUH, captain obvious. The right question should be

> [X] "You're the thief, aren't you?"

and

> [X] "What do you MEAN by 'Don't transform'?"

>>22034384

[X] "If you haven't noticed, you have a dead guy on the floor. I'm giving you the benefit of doubt, but it's going to be hard to explain it away, akira."

>>22034481

Yeah, let's go with that. I'm wondering what countermeasures he's had against the red world, too.

> [X] "You're the Thief, aren't you?"

He shrugs, brushing the question off with an irritated shake of his head. "*That* took you long enough," Akira says - His shoes splash against the soaked ground, as he paces off to the side...Apparently considering whether there's anything worth salvaging from the destruction.

You notice that he hasn't spared the corpse a single glance, from the moment he entered - His attention entirely fixed on you. There a dull *crump* as he pushes a chest of drawers over, spilling pens and odd curios into the morass. He seems to be...counting, as if trying to find a certain place...

> [X] "What do you MEAN by 'Don't transform'?"

He glances back, over his shoulder - Frowning, slightly. "-I'm sorry, I wasn't clear. Don't transform, unless you'd enjoy being torn apart by Correctors." Akira's pale eyes flick up, his head tilting to the side, alertly...Almost as if he can see something you can't.

"This place," he says, as if explaining something to a particularly dull student - With a crisp, curt unconcern that's entirely alien to you. "...It's a nest. We're standing right in the middle of it - If you tried, it wouldn't be pretty."

> [X] "If you haven't noticed, you have a dead guy on the floor. I'm giving you the benefit of doubt, but it's going to be hard to explain it away, akira."

(Continued.)

"It's really not worth the effort," he says, shortly. "-I mean, I'm not going to convince you otherwise...Since I've been so completely compromised here."

He turns his attention back to the wall; There's a *click* as he draws a penknife from his pocket, beginning to dig, to gouge at the plaster. It crumbles, more easily than you'd expect...Breaking away as he pounds on it, with the ball of his fist.

[ ] "Why aren't they attacking *you*?"
[ ] "What are you doing?"
[ ] "Where are you going?"
[ ] "What about the corpse?"
[ ] "It's a little late to be giving me the cold shoulder, don't you think?"
[ ] Free.

YOU HAVE CONTROL

Bring up the joker memory. Either he gives it up or we just loot it from him later.

>>22034793

Oh god, where would we even start.

> "If you'd just come out and TOLD me who you were, you'd have saved us a lot of time. Are you still mad that I destroyed the spire?"

>>22034384
>>22034773
>>22034793

"The worst part about that revelation is that I wrote you off because I didn't think anyone would be idiotic enough to dose themselves with the gas. Unless... damn, it's because you retreated isn't it? You had to suffer some kind of non-lethal setback, because the game works through karmic balance.

"Interesting choice of countermeasures. I've been trying to think of a way to ward my place since every Player and their cousin seems to know who I am now. Although I could do without the fireburst, I actually like my place.

"You're quite lucky you weren't here you know. The crystal this guy was carrying, it forces you into the Red World. No save, no transformation, instant bodily transfer. Thankfully Bardiel was an idiot, and didn't have bladed weapons, I'm willing to bet I wouldn't have kept my hand if today's mutt had been my opponent then."

Draw your own knife and help Akira break up the plaster. No need to give him an excuse to not look at us.

Also: "I'm guessing you have another place, but you're welcome to crash at mine. Be better than this place was at least."

How you doing OP? You on break yet?

>>22034870

"Of course not." Akira says - In a sharp, bitten-off way. "-You only nearly killed us *both*, Joker. Again. What's there to be upset *about*?"

...Yep, he's totally mad.

>>22034853

"You wish," he answers - Snaps, really. "We still have a deal, in case you've forgotten. Besides..." And he slows, the scraping noise of his knife no longer setting your teeth on edge. "-It's insurance."

"If - when - someone else becomes the Red Joker...I'd need to deal with *him*."

>>22034886

Akira's about to start digging, again - But then he stops short, at your words; Straightening, with a grunt of effort as he brushes plaster dust from his pants.

"So you *didn't* do it," he muses aloud. "Well, how about that..."

> "The crystal this guy was carrying, it forces you into the Red World. No save, no transformation, instant bodily transfer."

"I know," he says, shortly - His voice still pensive, as he looks at the charred corpse for the first time. "...It looks like he was trying to escape, before the Correctors did for him." Akira chuckles, and you detect a note of morbid amusement in his voice - "-That's not the way out, though. You can't escape from yourself."

(continued.)

> Draw your own knife and help Akira break up the plaster.

You're not carrying your knife - For good reason - but it's not hard to break the plaster. Two hard kicks send fissures spiderwebbing across the false wall - It's already crumbling, like an eggshell, as you reach in to pull large chunks of it away. There's...Yes, you can feel it.

-It's a wall-safe.

> "I'm guessing you have another place, but you're welcome to crash at mine. Be better than this place was at least."

"There's no need for that," Akira answers - Though there's a odd flash in his eyes, his voice softening slightly. "This place wasn't meant to last, anyway. I have others."

He shoulders you aside - Not too roughly - as he spins the tumblers - You note that it's a solid-looking thing, quite possibly custom made...Expensive, too. Rather more than you'd expect.

With his other hand, Akira empties out his green bag - Heedless of the cameras he's tossing to the ground, the way the digital camcorders and lens thump down against the floor. You can't quite see what he's reaching for, as he swings the door open - But you can see a series of boxes, taped shut, that he begins shovelling into the kitbag.

"You should go soon," he says, a warning note in his voice. "-We have time, but you don't want to be here when the calvary shows up."

[ ] "More Smilers?"
[ ] "I thought you said this was a Corrector nest."
[ ] "-You seem pretty confident."
[ ] "What do you mean 'when someone else becomes the Red Joker'?"
[ ] "You're not coming back to school?"
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

(On break, yes. Been rather busy with a job, unfortunately.)

I wonder if he can be even more condescening? Anyway we need to finish his stupid sword. I wonder hot natsumi would react to this news.

>>22035096

Wow, what a dick. Still, he does have a reason to be mad.

> "Look, I'm sorry about what happened with Rust Kaiser. I'm your friend, Akira, there's no need to be so standoffish."
> "WHY do you want the Fatal Abyss, anyway?"
> "What's the story with you and Hecate?"

>>22035096
>...Yep, he's totally mad.
"In my defense, I really wanted him dead.

>"You should go soon," he says, a warning note in his voice. "-We have time, but you don't want to be here when the calvary shows up."

"As tempting as the thought of slaughtering some Smilers is, I suppose you're right. Besides, it seems I've a new conscience and he'd certainly be disappointed in me. Before you go, I do have one question: How'd you find out? I went years without anyone knowing, I thought."

And for a conversation finisher: "Totenaz, I always thought you were a jackass, but I did like Akira. Stay safe; no one would be happy if you died, and I wouldn't like telling the Queen. Oh, and watch out for my black counterpart, I doubt she'll be as restrained with you as she was with me."

>>22035151
As much as I'd like to ask those questions, we ought to be going, and those are questions that deserve sessions of their own if he's willing to talk with the Red Joker who's never been anything but a dick to him in turn. Which I why I told you jackasses to tone it down while we were allied.

>>22035126

Badly. Apparently, Argent prominence doesn't like the thief.

>>22035096

>[ ] "I thought you said this was a Corrector nest."
>[ ] "You're not coming back to school?"

>>22035192
I'd much rather do aggressive negotiataions at gun point, but that's just me. I would ask him about natsumi.

>>22035243
I hope to God you meant Hecate, because we're not bringing Natsumi into this a step more than we have to.

>>22035252
Natsumi would provoke him more. That being said I don't like thinly Veild threats from our former bff.

>>22035280
I see the problem: that's Kazuya. Kazuya is the third member of Anon's trio, Akira is the outside almost-friend with odd connections and information.

> [X] "In my defense, I really wanted him dead."

A pause. It's another thing you've never seen Akira do, before - Stare like that, in autistic silence, as the gears of his mind work. You wonder if his name really *is* Akira, in the first place; Now, you're not so sure.

"Rust Kaiser...He's not smart in the same way the others are, you know," Akira says, slowly. "-But he's tough. That limits his usefulness. He is, if you like, inexhaustible cannon fodder. An unkillable soldier."

He chews his lip - "...He's been killed before - But he keeps coming back. I don't think he can die, not really; He simply doesn't *stay* dead."

> [X] "I thought you said this was a Corrector nest."

"It is. They can't follow us in...But that doesn't mean they won't be waiting outside."

> [X] "What's the story with you and Hecate?"

"This isn't the ti-" Akira begins - Then subsides, a grim little smile on his face. As if he's saying; If not know, then when? Absently - As if feeling for a long-ago scar - he reaches up, his fingers brushing against his throat.

"When you're cut to pieces in the red world...You don't die, you know. Not right away - Not until your life is *completely* extinguished."

There's an odd expression on his face - Somewhere between nostaglia and slow-burning disgust. "Imagine that, Anon. Do you know how it feels - What it's *like* - to be trapped in your head? In your own, dead body?"

(Continued.)

I'd ask about the black joker

For a moment, he looks like he's about to say something more - But then, he shakes his head, as if rousing himself from a bad dream. You feel a chill, as you look closely; There's a fine - So fine it's nearly invisible - line at Akira's throat, one that winds across the skin like a garotte.

...It looks, for all the world, like a seam.

> "WHY do you want the Fatal Abyss, anyway?"

He doesn't quite smile, as he stands; The bag is full, now, bulging, as he swings the safe's door shut. It's a chilly smile. "-Why do you want the Joker's Memory?" he asks - "Why does Pazuzu want the Nihl Sphere?"

The question hangs in the air, as he completes his packing - Pulling it up, slinging it on his shoulder by the strap.

> "Totenaz, I always thought you were a jackass, but I did like Akira. Stay safe; no one would be happy if you died, and I wouldn't like telling the Queen. Oh, and watch out for my black counterpart, I doubt she'll be as restrained with you as she was with me."

He's halfway to the door, when he stops.

"I liked being Akira, you know," he agrees - His prickly, icy demenour fading. His expression relaxes, and he nods; "-It *was* fun...To be normal for a while, that is."

He raises a hand, in salute - "...But if there's one thing I've gotten good at, in six years above ground? It's disappearing." He shrugs off his school jacket - Letting it drop to the ground, to join the sodden wreckage, adjusting his raincoat a little closer.

"It's time to move on, I think - Time to be someone else."

"Cheers."

(Continued.)

>>22035411

[ ] "What's your real name?"
[ ] "Stay safe, Akira - And godspeed."
[ ] "Who will you be, next?"
[ ] "Need any help?"
[ ] "Will we see you again?"
[ ] "What should I tell the others?"
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>22035411

Awww, shit. Did he get sewn back together by hecate? Is that what he's saying?

>>22035435
[x] Free: "Try and promise me something. Whatever happens, when we meet at the finals, we talk before we fight. I've never killed a friend and I never want to. We can do better than the ones who went before us."

>>22035435

[X] "Need any help?"
[X] "Will we see you again?"
[X] "What should I tell the others?"

[X] "We'll meet again, you and I."

> [X] "Need any help?"

He shrugs. "If you insist."

> [X] "Will we see you again?"
> [X] "We'll meet again, you and I."

"Yes," Akira says, and his eyes are shadowed. "...Yes, we will."

> [X] "What should I tell the others?"

"-Tell them, you never saw me. I was never here." His gaze goes to the pieces of camera equipment, strewn over the ground - There's something almost wistful in his gaze, quite at odds with how casually he emptied it out.

"A clean break's best, I think; Let them draw their own conclusions."

>>22035486

He nods, simply. "For what it's worth," he says; "-I think the Red Joker could have done a *lot* worse." His brow furrows, slightly - As if struck by a sudden thought, as his hand rests on the bolt.

"One last thing. The Red Joker's armor has been handed down, over and over - Again and again. A question you should ask yourself: Where did it come from?"

[ ] Free.

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>22035597

We should get the hell out of here. We've already fought one battle today, and there's going to be fireworks soon.

>>22035597
"Isn't that what the Red Joker's Memory is supposed to explain? Actually, I sometimes wonder why the Red World even exists in the first place."

>>22035597
"Fuck all if I know. If you haven't noticed, I've got daily fights to the death keeping me from pondering life's bigger questions, and that's without this mess with the Minor Trumps. I always figured whoever put the rest of the suits together included the Jokers as a booby prize: Congratulations, here's your famous suit of armor reset to factory zero and anyone who knows the one you killed will recognize that. Oh, and you can't use the badass suit you used to take out the last guy anymore, nor can you bring any of the weapons you used with you! Sure you don't want to trade Akira? I bet I'd be better at being Guyver MacGuyver than you."

After he's gone: "Wait hang on you knew the old Joker?" Because that's one question we can do without him answering.

>>22035748
Man, I think EVERYBODY knew the old Joker.

>>22035597
"Dunno. The question is whether it's been here since the beginning or if it just suddenly came in one day. Also, are you sure it's always been red? Given how much blood it's spilled it could have been white when it started."

File: 1355470721037.jpg-(76 KB, 640x480, index-bio.jpg)

>>22035748
...I just read what I wrote. "Guyver MacGuyver." HFS I think I'd buy everything in that franchise.

>>22035765
And six years ago came up again. Destiny is never left to chance indeed; I think it's time for another flashback thread. Also I'm guessing all the heirs became Players about then.

OP, how long ago did Anon become Red Joker? I know he was a Player at least six years ago, but he's been the Joker since when? And could we get an explanation as to how Players are nominated for the game, in character if possible? Thanks!

>>22035597

"The better question to be asking Akira is where did all of this.. this come from? Why must we butcher each other over and over? Is it some sick.. mechanization set up for someones own twisted sense of enjoyment? Or has it always been."

Scratch your head.

I'm not much for thinking ahead, Akira. It's.. it's all instinct and gut feelings. It's kept me alive all of these years so far,"

Shake your head side to side.

"I have too much on my plate as is to start contemplating *why the Red Joker's armour is passed down from player to player. No, What I'm more worried about is how we're going to stay in contact. You're a good, if somewhat dickish, bro. Be ashame to completely break ties...

Give a smile.

...wouldn't it?"

>>22035872

(My apologies, I missed that. One moment: rewriting. Also, the PC has been the Red Joker for six years.)

>>22035872

Ah, damnit. I fell asleep at my desk. It's been a tiring week.

>>22035886

It's fine. Play it.

>>22035873
...Not sure if OP. Looks like OP's cheating on the game with other threads.

>>22035886
Ah, there we go. I'm surprised I didn't pick up on this sooner, but I was operating under the assumption that the RJ thing was more recent. Well, that's a hint to use in the future, thanks.

>>22035916

Yeah, it hasn't been outright stated it's been six years, but OP has given hints it's been a *loooong* time.

>>22035727
>>22035775

"Maybe," he allows - "...The Red's been around for the longest time, I think. A different iteration of the game...Or just the same one, playing out towards the end."

Akira glances up; "-All this will be gone. And soon, I think," he says, with alarming calm - His footsteps clopping against the floor, as he pushes the door open.

"-I don't think the Joker's Memory has the answer. I don't think anyone *knows* the answer, to tell the truth...Or maybe it doesn't matter."

He shrugs, philosophically - But there's a bleakness to his voice.

>>22035872

Akira gives you an odd look. It's a strange one, measuring and contemplative - As if he's seeing you in a new light. "-I'll let you in on a little secret, Anon," he says. "The Red World isn't *that* different from this one. To win - To do better - to rise above...You have to step on people. Grind them underfoot. All to get to the top."

There's a humid passion to his voice, now. "-Look outside. If people could choose - if they had a *choice* - everyone would be a Player. Butchering each other, for power; That's *the way the world is*."

He laughs - A short, sharp bark of laughter. "...We only hold back, because we have to. If we didn't...Let's just say - The Red World's a lot more honest. At least *there*, you know when someone's coming for you...You don't have to fool yourself, you know?"

"...You can't pretend that you're any better, because we're all the same."

There's a real heat to his voice, as his words cut out, abruptly - As if aware, at last, that he's said far too much. From the way his face contorts, into a cold, drawn mask of spite and pent-up bitterness, you can tell he's speaking from the heart, perhaps for the first time since you've known him.

"-That's why," Akira says, quietly. "...That's why I want the Fatal Abyss. I want what everyone else wants - I want to *win*."

>>22035748

The edges of his mouth curl in the slightest smile; All the more disturbing, from the heat in his words.

"Take care of yourself, Joker," is all he says - And then he's out, the door swinging in his wake. For a moment, you sense...You *feel* - A rushing distortion, like a chilly wind - gusting through the corridor outside; You hear the rustle, as stray debris swirls around the closed-off corridor, where no wind could possibly be.

When you look out, into the hall-

...It's empty.

[ ] Free.

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>22036050
Now we listen to his advice and get the fuck outta dodge before we get surrounded by Smilers.

>>22036034
>>22036050

Wow, he's a bitter little bastard, isn't he? Jesus, what happened to him?

>>22036034

"I think not. There is a line between enjoyment and survival, and a thirst for life and a thirst for living."

"But in all efforts, people are still people, and so we do our best; You will not become a better person by not trying."

"And is that not a life well-lived? To struggle and do your best despite all odds?"

Hold his gaze.

"I have made my own mistakes in the past, and the best a person can do is learn from them."

>>22036088
He's been in the shit for way too long, maybe even longer than us.

"The horror.... the horror..."

>>22036050
>>22036075

Yep, time to go while we still have the chance.

>>22035984
OP did use six years a few times before, but I being my literary genius self interpreted those instances saying that Anon had been a Player for six years. The "long time" was a subjective 100 years as Anon fought his way from Corrector ground zero to the surface, where none of that time had gone by. I'm guessing that, like Shadows, Correctors warp space and time when sufficiently massed or with the right incentives.

>>22036050
[x] Say to the air: "There've been winners before Akira. You're smart enough to guess why none of us know of anyone but the Red Joker winning, and what he won. It's a dangerous game, the only way to win is not to play by THEIR rules. We don't have to make the mistakes of our predecessors. Any of them."

Then GTFO. It's been a long day and we have a terrorist attack to report.

>>22036050

Poor guy. He's seen far too much and probably lost a hell of a lot more to have that attitude.

What to do what to do. Getting out of here would be the smart thing to do, but hanging around to see who spooked Akira out of his safehouse might be enlightening.

Set up a few of the cameras Akira dropped to record and scatter them around the unit. Come back in a few days to recover the film canisters or digital media.

Maybe we'll get some faces. And INTEL.

>>22036128

Oh, let's not forget to hide some cameras as well. Not for video, but for audio. Shove aside some of the ceiling tiles and toss a couple cameras up there. Even if they find and destroy all of the cameras on the apartment floor, we'll still have an idea what they're talking about.

>>22036150
I doubt we'll ever be coming back here again. There's no point to doing this.

>>22036157

It's just an idea. We have readily available surveillance equipment. AKira says people are coming. Why not kill two birds with one stone by seeing who is coming for Akira while getting intel on possible enemies?

And maybe learn information on Pazzie or Argent.

>>22036183
And risk getting caught? We're out in unfamiliar territory by ourselves, and we can't even transform because then we'd be eaten by Correctors. Assuming the cameras haven't been wrecked (or if they're even the kinda that can film), it'll take way too much time to set them up and time is one thing we don't have.

>>22036089
>>22036115

-That's right.

You can't think the way he does. Whatever Akira's seen, whatever he's done...That's not the way the world *is*. You're aware of how vast the emptiness that surrounds him must be - How very lonely and bitter he is, in his self-imposed exile. Maybe that's why he feels that life is an empty struggle - Something to be endured, up until the end.

If he dies, you think, who will remember him?

No one. 'Akira' is just a name, and the Thief is a ghost.

There's more to life - Even life in the red world - than that.

>>22036128

It takes you a while; You've never been more conscious of the stench, of the fumbling in the dark, as you wedge the cameras - Setting them to 'record', their little digital lights winking to a cool green. Dimly, you're aware that the Photography Club probably wouldn't approve...But then, they're never getting these back, anyway.

You make a cursory search of the place, while you're at it - There's little left after the fire, after the flames and the downpour that followed. The rest of it is...Well, it's junk, really. Cheap novels and various bits of esoterica - The place has the feel of a temporary refuge, which was (of course) what it *is*.

It's easy to lose track of time, in the wan half-light; In the crumpled interior of the lightless, joyless building. When you're done - *done*, at last - it's a relief.

(Continued.)

>>22036200

>check battery
>pop open side panel for VHS tape to check spool
>close lide
>turn on camera
>shove into dark corner

It's like you've never even used an old, handheld camera before.

>>22036183
We don't have time to learn how to use it, much less set up triggers to start recording. The problem is that most cameras turn off if they aren't interacted with, and the likelihood of there being enough memory on a memory card or a cassette to record a few hours of video (assuming it has the battery life to stay on that long) is extraordinarily low.

And that's not taking water damage into account.

>>22036205
Don't *encourage* him!

>>22036246

I've nigger rigged old VHS and a few cassette video cameras into recording one frame every 5 seconds to save battery and film. Plus most of the cameras I dicked with had audio only as an option if you weren't recording video.

Sure it's a waste of time to set up cameras, but it's a productive waste of time. High chance nothing will come of it, but we'll never know unless we try.

>>22036280
>Sure it's a waste of time to set up cameras, but it's a productive waste of time. High chance nothing will come of it, but we'll never know unless we try.
>guys that want to kill us are closing in RIGHT THE FUCK NOW

You have some very skewed priorities.

>>22036280
Has Anon expressed any kind of interest in video technology before this point, or would he be a neophyte thinking about making a probably-useless video of the people trying to kill him that he really shouldn't be waiting around for? I'll give you a hint, it's not the first one.

OP, can we override that decision?

File: 1355473687487.jpg-(36 KB, 547x308, jokerhousecold.jpg)

No-one stops you, as you make the descent - The elevator makes a rusted screech as it grinds to a stop, as the doors open...An expanding rectangle of light spreading across the ground before you.

The air - Fresh air - is cold, but clear. At some point, a van has fishtailed from the road - It rests askew in the gutter, in the position it's chosen to occupy for the rest of eternity...The front crumpled, pushed in, the driver slumped over the steering column, half-visible through a cracked windshield.

The doors are flung open, and empty, as the first trails of smoke twist towards the grey heavens, like incense. The cold moonlight sheets down from above, dust particles dancing in the beams -

In the distance, you can hear the faint shrill of sirens, as you step out into the night; The receding shape of a walking figure, striding with purpose, growing smaller as it shrinks away into nothing, vanishing into the black.

A crisp photograph flutters past, borne on the wind; It's an old one, the glossy surface scratched - It's a rare photo of the three of you, Akira quiet and standoffish, your attention distant and unfocused...And Kazuya, smiling, as he holds the camera up for an awkward self-shot.

Akira really should have smiled, you think.

Something cold touches your hand, as you look up - Powdery white flakes sifting down from above, as the wind begins to moan.

Snow.

JOKER QUEST

EPISODE 30.5

TO BE CONTINUED.

>>22036293

Risk versus reward. The people coming cannot transform. Nor can we. It'll be solely in the physical world. Not the Red. We've demonstrated multiple times we can run as if the hounds of Hades were on our heels. Taking a calculated risk to gather *intelligence,* which we sorely need at this juncture, is al part of the risk versus reward dilemma. Damned if you do damned if you don't.

>>22036316

(It's a valid choice.

Apologies for the abrupt ending, gentlemen - But this looks like a natural break point for the chapter.

My apologies for the lack of action in this one - And the delay to the conclusion, since last week. Still adjusting to the timezones here, I'm afraid.

As always, you've been a great audience - Hope to see you again, and soon, for the upcoming chapter.

Good night, and god bless.)

>>22036326

You know, the chapters are getting really downbeat, Op.

>>22036350

It's cool.

File: 1355474106765.png-(Spoiler Image, 575 KB, 911x1300)

>>22036350
Not when majority rules against I'd say. Either way, see you.

Oh, before I forget, since I assume you're at least familiar with T2, did you know he's got a manga in Shonen Jump? It's called Shokugeki-no Soma. It's a cooking manga. Pic related.

>>22036331
The people coming had crystals that force transfer without transformation you nitwit. INTO A CORRECTOR HIVE.

>>22036394

Yes. They do. I caught that right from the start. So, what the million dollar question comes down to is are they willing to commit suicide just to kill us? Are they that fanatical to their Boss to die for him?

I like my boss, but not that much.

>>22036416

You know what I think? I don't think they're actually willing to die for Pazuzu or for the cause. From the looks of it, they're all greedy bastards, who jump at every opportunity offered.

If what akira said is anywhere near correct, the system becomes very darwinian. Since you die if you lose, you WILL fall behind the curve if you don't take massive risks or level grind.

Effectively, we're a stone-cold killer because we've spent years level-grinding. Other Players have not.

>>22036416
Pazuzu threw Bardiel to the wolves. I don't think he's going to miss a few mooks just to get at us.

>>22036416
The real question is, do they know that there's a Corrector nest on the other side of the world?

Spoiler: No. The last guy died without checking in. For all they know their fellow minion ran into us.

>>22036456

Things make sense if you're completely merciless about it. Bardiel was weakened by his burnt arm, and hence became a target. He was desperate to kill us, because he knew he'd be on the chopping block otherwise.

The weakest players die, and the stronger players become even stronger.

>>22036456

Pazzie doesn't give a shit about his mooks, sure. But what about the mooks themselves?

>>22036466

Fair point. The last guy didn't do proper recon. He/She never bothered checking in. The next bunch of cannon fodder will if they have an IQ higher than a house fly. If your fellow cult member never bothers to check in at the appointed time, you'd get suspicious and check out the last place they were.

Cautiously.

>>22036512
And so you cautiously run into a person installing surveillance cameras--or maybe IEDs! Without knowing anything about who it is they're going to recognize a fellow Player in the way that Players somehow do (ask about this in the future by the way; why can't Joker recognize Players the way others seem to?) and instantly assume the worst and use the item that ensures a tactical advantage. A small one to be sure since a Player can equip their armor on the other side, but they're going to drop the crystal and drop everyone into a horde of Correctors and us not in our armor.

Polite sage for beating a dead horse.