The Red Hand

Chapter 19 – What Does it Mean to be Real?

"Ow, Ow." Yumi cried in pain. "That really hurt; not exactly a fan of being launched into buildings." Yumi was flung across the base by Minazawa's knock-back attack to separate her from Akagi. This wasn't the first time she was separated from her master in such a spectacular fashion.

Yumi stood up, shaking off the dirt and rubble that had landed on her and readied herself for the battle to come. As she did this, Minazawa finished running across the base and stood before her, drawing her sword and raising her shield.

"Well, you didn't die on impact so, I guess that's something." She chuckled. "I guess you're pretty durable for a healer."

"Heh” she laughed. “I had a pretty strict teacher, so excuse me for being a bit hard to kill. "Yumi summoned her staff and used magic to swap into her battle clothes. “If you want to kill me, you're going to have to try a lot harder than that!”

{That said, I might be able to take a hit here and there, but I doubt I can actually beat her head on. She was a player; someone like me can't compete in terms of power or abilities. If I'm gonna win, it will have to be by outsmarting her.}

"Hey, tell me," Minazawa said lowering her sword. "Why are you still working for that bitch? I mean, in FWO you were just an NPC follower. You really didn't have a choice so I understand helping her in the game, but you're free now. So why?" This was only partially true, the NPCs of the game were very intelligent and autonomous.

"Listen, I'll cut you a deal." she continued. "Surrender and come help us; I'm sure the government would love someone like you on the team. At the very least, you won't have to die along with that master of yours," she said trying to help.

"I refuse." Yumi didn't even have to think about her response.

"That was quick." Minazawa was surprised by the immediate and unflinching answer. "I don't get it; your master murders people for a living. She takes the lives of innocent people for what? Money? Doesn't that disgust you?" She asked.

Yumi didn't respond.

"Because it disgusts me. A person, no, a monster like that shouldn't be allowed to exist and if you want to die with her, then so be it." She lifted her sword which shone with a purple glow.

"A monster? That's rich coming from someone like you." Yumi took a fighting stance, filled her staff with magical energy and fired it at Minazawa.

“What are you talking about?” the swordswoman blocked the attack.

“Your words make it seem like you're upset by my Lord's actions, but you're not actually angry that she killed people. No, you're angry that she killed other players.” Yumi answered firing off another blast.

{What is this girl talking about? Isn't that the same thing?} Minazawa thought while dodging her attack.

"If you're so against the killing of others, where were you when players slaughtered people from my world for fun? Did you help us? Did you find the player who killed all my friends and family?" Yumi asked with a cold voice. "No, you didn't; you and all the others couldn't care less when we died." she began to spin her glowing staff above her head.

"Well, I mean you were just NPCs so..." Minazawa was confused. Of course, players wouldn't fight each other over the deaths of NPCs. Right?

Hearing this, Yumi stopped preparing her attack and shot Minazawa a spine chilling glare."NPCs, yes, we were just non-player characters to you all. You treated us like objects to use and abuse as you wished, with no regard for us or our lives." Her anger was palpable.

"Do you know how many players I begged for help after my village was slaughtered? Do you know long I waited in that city center praying that someone anyone would take revenge on that man?" Yumi slammed the butt of her staff into the ground causing a small tremor."And do you know what they told me when I asked for help? They told me it didn't matter because I wasn't real, that my friends weren't real, that my family wasn't real." Yumi said on the verge of tears.

"Do you have any idea how horrible that was to hear every day for three months?" she began to cry. "To be told that my entire life was meaningless, to be told that if I died, no one would care, just because I wasn't real." she took in a deep breath.

"WELL IT SURE AS HELL FELT REAL TO ME!" she screamed, startling Minazawa.

"I watched as that player took joy in killing them all, as he happily slaughtered everyone I knew and loved. But that's ok; it didn't matter because we weren't real." Yumi said coldly.

{Wha?} Minazawa was caught off guard.

"That was until the day I met her." she wiped her tears and charged her staff. "When I told her what happened, do you know what her response was?” Yumi asked. "She got angry. She was angry that players could walk by someone begging for help. She was angry that you would allow such a disgusting person to roam freely in the world." Yumi threw a weak blast at Minazawa that was easily repelled.

"She told me that it didn't matter that my world existed inside a game; that it was just as real as the world she came from." Yumi's eyes were almost sparkling as she told the story. "She held me in her arms and told me that I was real and anyone who said otherwise was wrong. That my life had value and that she would care if I died. " Yumi's face had a twisted, almost perverted, smile on it. “Can you imagine that? The joy I felt when she acknowledged me and told me that she cared?” she let out a creepy giggle.

“Did you know, I used to be a priestess who served the gods on behalf of my village. I was in charge of managing the shrine, preparing offerings and so much more. I slaved away everyday for those gods and what did all that faith, all that service get me?” she asked rhetorically. “Nothing!” she yelled. “In my hour of need it wasn't the gods that saved me from despair, it was her! And so, I figured the gods weren't worth of my worship, my loyalty, or my service; but she was.” Yumi's face glowed as she recalled the events.

The destruction of her village destroyed her faith in the gods, and the cruel words of the players shattered her mind. What remained was little more than a husk of the bright and cheery girl that Yumi had been before the attack. When Akagi found the broken girl, her fractured mind latched onto her and Akagi became her new object of adoration. This attachment did help to heal Yumi's mind. But, it's likely that she will never fully recover from her past trauma, and to this day she still views Akagi as a semi-divine figure. Akagi's experience with her own mental health crisis has been helpful in guiding Yumi back to some sort of normalcy; even if it did require her to accept Yumi's misplaced worship.

"So, if you really must know why I won't abandon her. It's because to do so would be the ultimate betrayal of the kindness she showed me that day. "Yumi continued. "When it came down to it, the gods weren't the ones who avenged my village; it was a monster. A beautiful, kind and lovely monster saved me and I will not permit you to insult her!" She said raising her staff to challenge Minazawa, her eyes burning with passion.

Minazawa stood silently and found herself at a complete loss for words. Yumi's story completely overturned everything she thought she knew about the AI in FWO. While players knew that the tech powering FWO's NPCs was bleeding edge, most still treated them as they would characters in any other game. It was assumed that no matter how smart or lifelike they were, they were still just scripted programs with no real thoughts of their own. Sure there were a few oddballs who treated them as normal people, but most players viewed them as little more than window dressing for the games setting.

Killing non-quest related NPCs was rarely considered an issue to most, and while most people would find it distasteful to outright murder them, you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who would speak out against it. Anyone who did was quickly ostracized and treated like mental patients. They were viewed as victims of the game, and as people who lost sight of reality. This self-policing only served to reinforce the viewpoint that the NPCs weren't real people.

However, the girl standing before Minazawa was real. She cried, she got angry, and she expressed hatred and joy. How could you consider her anything else? If SHE was like this in the game, then it stood to reason that the rest of the NPCs were as well. This realization caused Minazawa's blood to run cold. Players killed them, tortured them, abused them and so much worse, all comforted in the knowledge that they weren't harming real people. When, in fact, they were.

Glass shattering sound effect.

Minazawa faltered for a moment, dropping her weapon.

{N-No! If, if that's true then that means..... Wha-what have we done.......} (Minazawa.)

Minazawa went back and forth in her mind, trying to find something, anything to disprove this notion. She thought back on her time in FWO, remembering all the interactions she had with the various NPCs. The shop owners with witty banter, the children who enjoyed playing games, and the adventures who aided the assault team. Looking back, it was obvious that these weren't just pre-made entities with scripted dialogue; but real people. They could laugh, cry, get angry and even hold a grudge. Why did she and all the other players ignore this when it was right in front of their faces? Was it because they didn't want to believe such a thing was possible? Or was it because the players wanted to keep a wall between the game and the real world?

{She said her village was whiped out by a player........ and I have a feeling I know who it was.} (Minazawa)

Her stomach began to churn as her gut told her who was responsible for the tragedy that befell this poor girl. But she didn't want to believe it, because if it was true then.......

"T-tell me," she asked weakly. "Who was the player that attacked your village?"

At this point she was praying that she was wrong.

Yumi stared at her for what felt like an eternity before answering.

"Great Fox, that was his name," Yumi answered barely biting back her anger.

Hearing that name, Minazawa collapsed on her knees. She had been right, and her greatest fear was realized. Great Fox was the name that her boyfriend Kyojaro used in FWO. She knew he had exterminated a village to access a skill he needed for his build and, at the time, she didn't care. But now, she understood that those villagers weren't just characters; but real people. And that meant that Kyojaro had committed an unspeakable act of horror.

This sudden revelation caused her to vomit on the ground as her head began to spin. That the man she loved had perpetrated such an atrocity was too much to bear.

Yumi stood across from her in complete shock. She never imagined her opponent would lose all will to fight just from hearing her story. It seemed that she overestimated her opponent's mental fortitude. In her eyes, the other players were abhorrent people, but even still, seeing Minazawa act this way made her feel pity.

{I guess that makes sense, doesn't it? Most players would likely never have done such horrible things in their world. In the game, they convinced themselves that we were nothing more than mindless drones and that it didn't matter what they did to us. With that illusion shattered and the truth made evident, I guess most people would react this way.} Yumi felt somewhat sorry for the woman.

A few moments later, Minazawa composed herself enough to speak.

"I-I'm-I'm so sorry." She began to cry. "We didn't know. We didn't know." She started shaking as she wrapped her arms around herself. "If I had known, I would have stopped Kyojaro... I wouldn't have let him do something so horrible to you. I'm sorry." Yumi's revelation had left her broken.

Yumi lowered her staff.

"You were not the one who killed my family and friends. You are not at fault for the deaths that he caused." Yumi said in a warm voice. "Besides, he has already paid for his crimes with his life; I believe that is enough."

{Doesn't she hate me? Even though I never killed anyone in the game, I didn't view them as people. I used and abused them like the rest and I acted terribly towards so many of them. Doesn't she blame me and everyone else for what happened? Doesn't she want to kill me?} (Minazawa)

"Now then, It would appear that my Lord has finished her fight with your friend." She said with a smile. "Shall we continue? Or can I consider this fight over?"

Hearing that Ishigami was defeated, Minazawa slowly stood up and placed her sword in its sheath.

"No, I don't want to fight anymore." her voice was still unsteady. "The only reason I agreed to fight Akagi, was because I wanted revenge for Kyojaro's death." she looked down. "But, now.... Now I just want to go home. I still don't agree with what she does, but I now understand why Kyojaro had to die. What he did was unforgivable, even if I do still love him." (Minazawa)

"That's good to hear. I will inform my Lord you have withdrawn from combat and will be leaving." She said watching as Akagi walked towards them. "Do you wish to speak with her?"

"No. I don't even know what I would say. I might try and talk to her later when I've sorted my thoughts." Minazawa looked at Yumi and asked. "Your name is Yumi, right? Can you go ahead and pass on a message to your master?" her voice was still shaky.

Yumi nodded.

"Tell Akagi... tell her that she was right about Hassan. We really were all idiots, just like she said." Minazawa then proceeded to jump onto the rooftop of a nearby structure and disappear beyond the base's walls.

Almost immediately after she left, Akagi appeared next to Yumi.

"Well, I guess that went better than expected, huh?" Akagi grinned.

"Yes, I must admit, I was quite nervous to fight her by myself. I was even considering sending an SOS to Chloe if it came to it." Yumi said while scratching her cheek.

"It's good that Minazawa backed down from that fight, but don't expect the other players to have the same reaction," Akagi warned. "Minazawa was on the nicer end of the spectrum. I can tell you that many won't care one bit about all those they killed while in the game." (Akagi)

"Yes, I know. I don't intend to let my guard down." Yumi said.

"Just making sure." Akagi turned and faced the main building. "Now that the final obstacle has been removed. How about we have a nice chat with the General and end this nonsense?" Akagi said as she pulled Yumi into a hug.

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