It was finally time for the by-election. All of our hard work would be judged by people I didn’t have any respect for which gave a sense of de javu.
Of course, just because there was a real life event that didn’t mean I could slow down the content drops, and so there I was working to beat a new procedurally generated dungeon which would change every time that players visited it.
Only I, Helena, and Celestina were there.
“You must be running out of ideas. Isn’t this just a mix of things from previous dungeons.”
“Don’t be mean to Raphael!”
Indeed this dungeon simply assimilated random aspects from the game. You might get some rare drops easily but you might also encounter a dangerous mob or even a boss randomly. This meant that it was like gambling, and therefore was bound to be a success. The reason it was created was because an unbridgeable gap was forming between the players who had joined first and the newer players. Of course, it was going to be another headache with the unplanned effects that this was having on the economy.
“Yes, but really everything’s the same everywhere because people just want more of the same. You just need to trick them into believing that they are getting something different.”
“The next logical step is to use VR technology in arms production. For drones and the like but before we can try that we need to overcome the By-election. Afterwards we can do what we actually want to.”
Someone tugged at my shirt.
“What is that?”
This time it was Celestina who was dizzy from overusing her time-stop ability that spoke.
I looked down at a cliff diagonally down from ours, the ambience itself here was under constant change, and noticed a familiar player fighting, except that he wasn’t fighting himself but using his tamed monsters to fight for him. What was strange, what Celestina had pointed at, was the creature that he was using to fight against the mobs of hobgoblins. It was not a creature that we had added into the game. Hence its mysteriousness.
The creature looked like a fox but it had many tails. When the mobs had been beaten the fox transformed into a girl of about ten years with a hairstyle which gave the vague impression of still being ears.
“Do we approach him or stay hidden?”
“It’s no use if the kitsune girl has already noticed us.”
The girl was pointing at us.
“Let’s just deal with it head on.”
I contacted Rina in case I’d need support from the other Student Council members.
Then I waved back at the two figures. Pretending that we just hadn’t been spying on them.
“I didn’t know that you had made a new companion, Farmer. Would you mind introducing her to us?”
“My name is Rise. I was created by The Farmer’s ultimate skill bestowed by the fairy for beating this Angband dungeon.”
So this was the Saintess’s work? Great, now we had whole NPCs which were outside of my direct control just roaming around.
“Is this a skill you can use repeatedly, or?”
“No, only once. I used it on a fox which I had tamed. I was on the verge of dying after defeating this dungeon’s boss so it was a great help.”
I sighed in relief. Unless the farmer was lying this might not be as much of an issue. I might have to ask for Rina to keep the farmer under her surveillance. Unless of course the fox can detect her presence. Still even if what The Farmer was true this only meant the death of my plans by a thousand cuts at the hands of the Saintess.
“Well, I guess this means you beat us to clearing this dungeon.”
The fox girl stared at me for some reason.
“Don’t say that, we are both Populares, but it’s strange that the game’s fairy hasn’t given you a powerup yet given that you have cleared the most dungeons!”
“I wonder about that too.”
