Chapter 407: Hardcore Mode

Chapter 407: Hardcore Mode

The archway before me did not look very inviting. It was an open mouth with a strong suggestion that there was a throat attached, leading to a stomach full of acid.

More accurately, it was a dark alcove in what appeared to be a solid stone wall, but appearances can be deceiving. If you imagine the worst, thats probably what youll find. If you imagine the best, the worst will still be waiting for you, itll just have the added element of surprise.

Should I go in and have a look? Clearly, I was meant to, which made me reluctant.

Would someone set so obvious a trap for me? Id escaped from here before. Even if the regular exits had been boarded up, there was a good chance Id find another way out. So what would be the point? Maybe to delay me for a bit was the only thing I could think of.

If Maurice wanted me to return here it was probably for a good reason. Despite my annoyance with the whole he doesnt know, dont tell him, hee, hee hee approach hed taken, he was smart enough to be possibly right. That was a lot closer than most people ever got.

The whole time Id been in this world, the one thing I felt I really could have done with was a top-tier expert who knew the ropes and was looking to pass on that knowledge to a young padawan.

Thats how its meant to work. The older male teaches his acolyte the skills, the expertise, the love for the game that someone long ago handed down to him. Mentor and apprentice as part of a chain, thats the male heritage weve lost. Now we just have online walkthroughs so we can beat the game without working out anything for ourselves.

Its all very well looking back with rose-tinted glasses, but back then they were also all pederasts, so you really had to want to learn the craft if you took up an apprenticeship. These days you still get buggered but you learn fuck all. They call it being an intern.

Not only had no one in a robe with a beard turned up to offer guidance and the secret to being heroic (I suspected it involved wearing a suede jacket in a bolero cut, but how to be sure?), but a bunch of clueless people had stepped in and tried to force me into being their guy on the front line while they chilled back at HQ.

I was the equivalent of the girl who tarted herself up in the hope the guy she liked would notice her, and then got mad at all the other guys leering at her cleavage.

Theres just something about seeing someone do the thing you want to do at a master level that makes their advice seem reasonable. You trust them because they can do what they preach. The guy with what everyone considers is a pretty good guess (so many upvotes, how could it not be the correct answer?) doesnt inspire the same kind of confidence.

Where were these experts? Why had I been left to flounder on my own? Why was there no AMA?Updated from novelbIn.(c)om

All I had was the book Maurice had left for me. A walkthrough where everything would be solved if I pressed the buttons in the right order, no need to understand why.

I suppose I should have been grateful. Even if I had found my senpai, there probably would have been some kind of catch.

Pederasts, dude.

I walked up to the archway. Id have to leave my body here to check out what was waiting for me, which would leave me vulnerable, but this was the right thing to do.

That didnt mean it would turn out well, but the correct play didnt come with a guarantee of success. It was just your best chance.

Knowing it was the right thing to do didnt make it any easier to carry out, though. Why not stay out here and see how things went? Maybe everyone would end up taking each other out in the crossfire without me having to do anything.

Peter wasnt around to cause me any problems. He was a construct, whatever that was. I probably should have asked. It wasnt surprising Id been fooled. He was so realistic, even he thought he was Peter.

Someone had made a replica that accurate. A doll that believed he was a real live boy.

What if I was one, too?

What if I only believed I was me. A poor copy who had been given all of Colins thoughts and memories.

No, that couldnt be right, could it? I also had all my abilities and powers. If you could replicate those, why not just make a new person who wasnt such an uncooperative git (I know what I am) and carry on without me?

You wouldnt create a second me if you could possibly avoid it. I certainly wouldnt.

The more I thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. I knew it was also part of my subconscious attempt to procrastinate for as long as possible, but still, I felt like the idea had some merit to it.

I died well, Colin died, so they made me. Convinced me I was Colin, which wouldnt be too hard if I had all his inner workings transferred over, and then went to great lengths to hide what theyd done.

The question was, did that mean they were trying to get me to take Colins place, or was I just a stand-in until something was sorted out for the real Colin? Was he in storage somewhere, waiting for me to reach a place where we could swap. Me in the hole, him out here?

I still wasnt clear on what the issue was. I would rather have had Wesley around to help with advice and background information, oh, and also to use her mega-destructive sonic wave power, you know, on the off chance it might come in useful to lay waste to my enemies. Removing Richina from the field of play seemed a lesser achievement.

When you say fully operational, what does that entail? I asked.

Richina smiled and her body began to release a soft white glow. From behind her, three pairs of metallic wings fanned out one after the other.

Her hands lit up and beams of light extended from them so she appeared to be holding laser beams, moving rapidly and leaving after images, like she had a bunch of swords in each hand.

So what? I said. You got the fairy upgrade package to full battle-angel? A bit pay to win if you ask me, but whatever. You couldnt find a way out before I got here, what makes you think things are any different now? Killing me wont change anything.

I wouldnt harm you, said Richina. Youve already done far more than we expected. The Fairy Queen is free and the Old Gods roam the land once more. We just have to wait, now.

Wait for what?

Fairy vengeance, said Richina.

Far be it for me to cast aspersions, but fairy vengeance just didnt have the bone-chilling ring to it I think it needed to really turn heads.

When the dust clears, there will be no one to stop me. She was being a bit presumptuous, I felt. Not even Peter.

Peters dead, I said.

He never dies, said Richina. He only goes into hiding.

Hiding where? I was willing to give him the benefit of my doubt. Where was the fucker now?

Not where, who.

It took a moment for me to figure out what she meant. Hes inside someone? A construct, maybe? Peter hiding inside a construct of himself? Just the kind of retarded I deserved, but didnt need.

It could be anyone, said Richina.

Perhaps testing myself wasnt what I should have done, it was testing everyone else. Maybe I was the real me, and everyone else was fake. Even Jenny.

Then it occurred to me that Peter could be hiding in Jenny. And I

I shuddered. It wasnt worth thinking about. Sometimes the truth doesnt set you free, it just sets you on fire.

And what about you? I said to Richina. Why are you suddenly so obsessed with Peter Arthur? Youre Arthur?

If Peter could be inside someone else, it stood to reason that Arthur could, too.

Im sorry, said Wesley. I had hoped to spare you my husbands tampering.

No, its fine, I said. So, youre not trapping him here.

He could leave any time, said Wesley. He made this place.

I told you, said Arthur (via Richina). This is the best place to be right now. We wait until the fighting is over, and then we go out and sort through the wreckage. Easy peasy.

As a plan, doing nothing did hold quite a lot of appeal.

But look at you, I said. Youre all augmented and pimped out. You could take them all on by yourself.

Arthur spread his chrome wings so they formed a massive mirror behind him. This is nothing compared to what the fairies have. Theyre going to turn Fengarad into rubble.