Chapter 187 - Lena ponders the rules of society.
Back in the present, Lumi couldn’t help but feel a surge of satisfaction thinking about it.
It made him want to burst out laughing.
Lumi had essentially hijacked Nexarch’s own efforts. This created a compounding effect where on on end, they were benefitting him. On the other hand, by using resources on him, he was also in effect removing some of the enemies plans from the equation by producing a financial deficit.
Two birds with one stone.
If he was narrating this to Lena, she’d definitely find a funnier analogy. Two... civilians with one bomb? It sounded like something she’d say. Maybe.
Regardless, the whole situation with Nexarch investing in their own eventual demise... it was beautiful, really.
A voice suddenly brought Lumi out of his thoughts.
Wait a moment, Actually, there was not just one voice. Somehow, there were multiple voices coming up from ahead.
He looked up and realized he and Lena were surrounded. A complete stranger stood directly in front of him. And beyond him, a few dozen strangers were crowding around them, making noise, talking at him or about him or both simultaneously.
"Oh." Lumi lightly nodded as he understood now. "I see."
Players.
Of course there were players. Plenty had relocated to Elenora in anticipation of the upcoming raid. The announcement had specified Elenora as the site, so anyone serious about participating had made their way here over the past few days.
And given that Lumi was the most famous player in Masteria Online, it made sense that they were crowding around him the moment he appeared.
Lena, too, was surprisingly popular. She was the third most famous player, despite not socializing with anyone at all in Masteria except Lumi.
Well, she had posted nonsense on the forums. Random comments, bizarre statements, occasionally disturbing comments. But still, that only served to further endear her to the community.
The crowd pressed closer, voices overlapping as everyone tried to get his attention at once.
"Lumi! Hey, Lumi!"
"Where exactly is the geometry of the rock? It’s the one that’s an l-"
"How do I get equipment for-"
"Do you have any spare-"
"Is it true you soloed a world bo-"
Lumi tried to process the barrage of questions and failed. There were just too many people talking at once.
Then one voice cut through the chaos, louder than the rest.
"Lumi!" A woman pushed to the front of the crowd, purposely posing for him. "Lumi, you’re so cute! Wanna spend a night together?~ I’ll do anything. Anything."
She emphasized the last word with a suggestive smile.
The commotion quieted down a bit, as various players stayed quiet, interested in how Lumi would react.
Lumi blinked. Hey, wouldn’t Lena explode from this? He looked over. Lena’s entire body went rigid.
The woman continued, apparently oblivious to Lena’s reaction. "I mean it. Anything you want. We could even-"
Lena’s eye twitched. How dare she!
This wasn’t an empty promise. Players could indeed do as she was saying in Masteria. People had figured that out within the first week.
Now think about it from Lena’s perspective.
Some random woman was openly, in front of her face, propositioning her boyfriend.
Not subtly. Not with plausible deniability. Just straight up offering herself up.
Could anyone ever let that slide?
No. Of course not.
The only thing stopping Lena from attacking on the spot was that she didn’t want Lumi’s reputation stained by her impulsive actions. If she just murdered someone in the middle of town, people would blame him for not controlling his party member.
Or something like that, she didn’t really know. There was a mission more important than her pride, so she wouldn’t move without his permission.
She did want to just kill her, but she couldn’t let that happen. Lumi’s reputation mattered too much.
But oh, she wanted to. She really, really wanted to.
Then another voice rang out from somewhere in the crowd.
"Hey Lena!" Some random guy shouted. "Are you pregnant yet?"
Lena’s eye twitched again. She slowly turned to look at Lumi, her expression carefully controlled but her eyes screaming murder.
Though they shared no words, the question was obvious.
Can she PLEASE attack them?
Lumi considered it for a moment, then nodded. He even added something. "Be yourself."
Obviously, he knew why the players were being like this. It was just a game, right? A place to be silly? A consequence free environment where you could say whatever you wanted without real world repercussions?
But letting Lena go wild on them would have many benefits.
One, it would showcase her strength. Respect among players was built on power. If she could casually demolish other players, that would establish her power as something concrete, but just a rumor.
Two, it would cement the fact that she was with him, given by her reaction. Was that important? In the grand scheme of things, he didn’t know. But it certainly wouldn’t hurt.
Three, Lena wanted to. He wasn’t going to pretend that wasn’t a factor.
The moment Lumi nodded, Lena moved.
"Finally," she said, her voice suddenly cheerful in a way that promised violence.
She raised her wand and cast without hesitation. "Holy Arrows!"
The spell materialized instantly, dozens of light arrows shooting toward the woman who’d propositioned Lumi. The woman’s eyes went wide as she tried to dodge, but Lena’s aim was perfect.
The arrows struck her directly, depleting her health by over half in a single attack.
[HP: 187/412]
"What the fuck!" The woman stumbled backward, shocked. "You can’t just-"
"Holy Arrows!" Lena casted again, not giving her time to finish the sentence.
The woman teleported away on the spot, yet somehow, despite teleporting away, the second barrage brought her health down to critical levels.
[HP: 34/412]
"B-But how!?" She couldn’t understand it. Teleport was overpowered! How could anyone hit a teleporting magician? Why was she predicted?!
Lena stopped, deliberately leaving her alive. She walked forward slowly, her expression surprisingly light.
"You know," Lena said, "I could kill you right now. It would be so easy. One more spell and you’d be dead."
The woman backed away, terror replacing her earlier confidence.
"But I won’t," Lena continued. "Because Lumi wouldn’t like that. He’s so nice. So merciful. He doesn’t want me to murder people just because they annoyed me."
She tilted her head, her smile widening. "But I want you to understand something. I would absolutely love to see your insides spill out. I’d love to watch your organs hit the ground. I’d love to hear you scream as I tore you apart piece by piece."
The crowd was dead silent now.
"I’m not doing that," Lena said sweetly, "because of Lumi. Only because of Lumi. So maybe you should think about that before you open your mouth again."
She turned to the guy who’d made the pregnancy joke. "Holy Arrows!"
He tried to dodge but failed. The spell caught him mid-movement, dropping his health precipitously.
"You too," Lena said. "I’d love to rip your throat out. But I won’t. Because Lumi is a good person who doesn’t want me to murder idiots for fun."
Then she turned to the crowd at large. "Anyone else want to make jokes? Anyone else want to test how merciful I’m feeling today?"
No one spoke.
Lena’s smile was radiant. "Great! I’m so glad we understand each other!"
The crowd slowly backed away, giving them a wide berth. The woman and the guy who’d been targeted scrambled to their feet and fled, disappearing into the streets of Elenora.
Obviously, Lena wasn’t stupid. It was just a game, right? Many would think her reaction was overblown, like getting severely offended at internet trolls. But it didn’t really matter to her.
Because she was important. She was one of the strongest players, and close to Lumi, the number one. Lumi’s events, future guilds, and whatever he does, is something people want to be a part of.
By having power within that structure, she forced anyone who wished to stay part of the social structure to respect her.
Whoever said that society was the will of the people?
No, the rules were those imposed by the powerful. And she was the powerful now.
Lumi watched the reactions ripple through the remaining players. Some looked terrified. Others looked impressed. A few looked like they were reevaluating their entire approach to interacting with famous players.
Perfect.
Classic good cop, bad cop. Lena gets to be the crazy violent one, and he gets the reputation boost for being the reasonable restraining influence.
After a moment, one player worked up the courage to speak. "So, uh. The raid is still happening, right?"
Lumi put a hand up, his expression calm and professional. "Yes. The raid will still happen as scheduled. Everyone is welcome to join."
The tension in the crowd eased slightly.
He continued, shifting into helpful mode. "If you need to prepare, I’d suggest grinding against the Darkuna in a party. They are decently strong, but you can handle them with preparation if you are at First Rank. For equipment, there’s a smith in the market district who offers decent prices on gear."
He paused, thinking. "For materials, the herb gardens west of town have useful plants for alchemy. You’ll want health potions for the raid. Stock up on at least twenty if you can afford it."
The players were listening intently now, several of them taking notes.
"Any other questions can be posted in the forum thread," Lumi finished. "I’ll answer what I can before the raid starts."
With that, he turned and headed toward the airship. Lena followed immediately, practically skipping.
When they climbed aboard, this time, no one stopped them.
The crowd parted silently, watching as they took off and flew away into the Elenora sky.