Masteria Online: Shattering the Dark God's Grand Scheme-Chapter 64 - Entei
Renan really didn’t know how to respond to that. He could only suppose that as long as she didn’t openly expose such tendencies, it might actually be useful. After all, that meant she held no psychological barrier for killing.
The right way to treat evil was with contempt, disgust, and hatred. The vast majority of the Wings of Darkness were not misunderstood people, they were not victims of circumstance. It was an organization infected by wretches.
For a moment, Renan felt a spike of anger rise up within him. The Wings of Darkness caused such callous destruction. He held himself back, however. Hate had to be directed.
Instead, he discussed the future with Lena. What it meant for Masteria to be a real world, and where to go from here.
After taking in the general information, Lena gave a harsh laugh to herself. "I see. Hehe... it’s almost funny. All this suddenly gets dumped on me. Yet somehow... I feel nice being part of something important."
Her tone shifted a bit, and a laugh came out. Not gentle, nor harsh. Just manic. "Heheheh... hahaha! You know, I understand now. I’ll try not to distract you with random things like telling you about how pigeons are government drones. Even though they are!"
She suddenly declared. "Don’t worry about me! I’ll be here, I’ll help. I’ll help you execute the command that will purge the existence of these maggots!"
"Woah." Renan was taken aback by the intensity. "In that case, thank you dear."
They chatted for a bit more time, conversation flowing between serious topics and Lena’s characteristic tangents. She told him about various things. From her time at school, her family, her house.
Finally, time caught up with both of them, and they hopped off call.
He had messages to send.
Sure, he had shown Gabriel his supernatural strength, and Lena had gained a version of it too.
However, ToraX, HazyNova, VICE, and Ryan were still top players who were extremely important to not just his future progression, but fighting the armies of the Dark One. It wouldn’t do if they made a mistake which ended in arrested development.
He needed to plant seeds of doubt about the game’s nature without seeming crazy. The good part was, since this was private and not public, he could say these things without harming his public reputation.
But of course, who would believe such a ridiculous statement? Fortunately, he’d thought about this approach during the binding ritual, using pain as a focusing tool.
He began composing his message.
[Renan: Hey, I know today was weird. I wanted to talk about some concerns I have about Masteria Online. This might sound strange, but hear me out.
Full consciousness VRMMO technology. Where did it come from? Nexarch Technologies was a nothing company before this. How did they develop something that’s decades ahead of current tech?
And the NPCs. They’re too real. Too complex. Their emotions, reasoning, personalities. It’s beyond any AI we know. There’s not even a hint of scripted responses.
Even if we assume that technology existed, what type of server could run billions of characters at such a high level? Why do we experience no lag, no ping issues, no packet loss?
Plus the system restrictions. Why can’t we talk about Earth? Why does it censor game mechanics? What purpose does that serve for a game?
The perception filter is the weirdest part. NPCs treat our disappearing as normal. But I noticed stronger ones like Merath and the Empress seem less affected. They notice we’re strange.
I’m not saying I know what’s going on. But doesn’t it feel like we’re players descending into a real world rather than a virtual one?
The more I learn, the more questions I have.
Think about it. Something’s not right here.]
He copied the message with minor variations, personalizing each for the recipient. ToraX had more casual language and jokes. VICE received a version focused on logical inconsistencies. HazyNova’s emphasized observations about NPC behavior.
None would believe him yet, but it was enough that they started thinking about it.
With that handled, Renan settled down to plan. He needed to optimize his time in Masteria.
Just grinding levels wouldn’t be enough. There was no way he alone could beat the Dark One in one-on-one combat, no matter what he did. That was an actual deity. Though he needed levels, that was a single part of the equation. He needed to disrupt Wings of Darkness operations while gaining strength, killing two birds with one stone.
All information pointed to one location. Entei.
Renan grimaced at the thought. Entei was both a continent and its biggest, most major city. It was a style of naming convention that had confused players.
"I’m going to Entei."
"Which one?"
"Yes." It was a running joke in the community, but like many jokes, it masked genuine frustration.
The Wings of Darkness had essentially taken over the continent, with the city they took over serving as their stronghold.
That wasn’t what made him dread going there, though. He’d fought the Wings before, knew their tactics, their weaknesses. No, what made Entei complicated was the Resistance.
The Entei Resistance should have been natural allies.
They fought against the Wings’ tyranny, worked to free their city, opposed everything the Dark One stood for.
In theory, they were on the same side as the Aria Knights.
In theory, they should have been coordinating efforts, sharing intelligence, presenting a united front against evil.
In practice, they were impossible to work with.
Renan pulled up his notes on the Resistance, reviewing information that kept frustrating him every time he thought of it.
The root of the problem traced back to a single disastrous day. Herene and the Resistance had planned a joint operation to drive the Wings from the city of Entei. After months of preparation, careful coordination, and shared intelligence, it should have been a decisive victory.
However, something had gone terribly, terribly wrong. A catastrophic incident occurred which forever poisoned the relationship between Herene and the Resistance.
