Chapter 44: [44] Game Masters
Game masters...
They were people who ensured the orderliness and stability of games. They acted like referees, ensuring the rules of the game were held to a T, as well as maintaining and fixing any potential errors that may occur.
Every single game, from the most simplest RPGs to the more complex vmmorpgs had need for a game master.
Eden was no exception...
This far, the existence of Game masters has never been confirmed. All that were written about them in the forums were myths, with a lot of unproven testimonies.
But Ark knew that there was some truth to these myths.
For a world as big and complex as Eden, what would be weird was if it did not have a Game master.
Ark’s vision turned dark as the world around him blurred out of focus...
Thwack!
The very next thing he felt was a hard whack that made him stumble forward, and his skull to ring like a bell.
"Ow! What the hell?!" The world around him had changed, and standing in front of him was a very angry looking dwarf.
"You idiot! Do you know how long it took for me to fix the last error?! Are you trying to brick my fucking software?"
Ark blinked as he stared at the man.
He tilted his head a little, as though the hit hand knocked his brain down his throat, but the dwarf was not what he was looking at...
’Where the hell am I?’
Ark was atop a stone platform that seemed to be high up in the clouds. He was definitely no longer in the tutorial hall... back there it had been night, but this place looked as though it was stuck between sunset and sunrise.
Golden clouds filled the skies above, some of them had even covered parts of the stone platform and were brushing his feet. That was just how high up he was.
A little higher were three other floating platforms with golden thrones atop them, and seated atop these thrones were likely the Game masters.
The first game master was shrouded in darkness. Ark could not even tell what form he took, the shadows were constantly shifting, moving from one form to the other.
On the other platform was an entity seated in a lax manner. She had no face, but Ark could guess she was female by her long flowing hair, and voluptuous feminine figure.
She was a stark contrast to the shadowy figure, as her body was made up of a semi-transparent, golden substance.
The last throne was empty, likely belonging to the dwarf, who was strangely the most ’normal’ looking one there.
"Hey, are you even listening?! Do you want me to bonk you on the head again?"
Ark immediately turned to face him, the memory of the first hit resurfacing in his mind.
"I almost forgot! How dare you? Do you know how painful that was?"
"You sure as hell deserved it—!!"
The dwarf was still speaking when Ark rammed his shoulder into his gut and lifted him into the air.
"H-hey! What the hell do you think you’re doing?!" The dwarf’s face turned red with panic.
"I am a G-game master! Put me down this instant, you bag of bones!"
A sinister laughter escaped Ark’s mouth. "Gladly!" He raised the dwarf higher into the air, and dashed towards the edge of the platform.
The dwarf let out a high pitched squeal.
"Hey... don’t you dare drop me! Respect you elders for God’s sake!"
"I’m just following your orders chief! I hope you have health insurance!"
Soft laughter came from one of the platforms above, as the golden lady leaned forward, watching with excitement.
"It looks like we got a rather strange one this time, hehehe..."
"Does the head engineer’s predicament excite you so?" A gruff voice came from the shifting shadows. It was like a hundred echoes mixed into one tone. "Despite his... proclivities... he is the head engineer."
The golden lady let out a soft, annoyed groan. "Why do you have to be such a bore, lord shadow?"
"Everything must follow the natural order, Egeria." His voice grew a little hostile. "Such is the will of our lord."
Egeria’s voice sharpened. She crossed her legs and rested a chin on her hand. "Natural order this, natural order that..."
She groaned. "Tell me lord shadow, do you also follow the natural order while in bed?"
There was a short stall, followed by an annoyed grunt.
"The old ways have never failed."
Egeria clicked her tongue and leaned at the edge of her seat. "And yet one must learn to try new things. You know... if you weren’t so stuck up, maybe I could teach you a few tricks."
"I have no need for your perverse lessons, Egeria. You would sooner find out that my way, the natural way is indeed best."
"Prove it~"
"Will you two bastards stop flirting and save me?!" The dwarf suddenly screamed at the top of his voice.
Egeria sighed and clicked her finger. Immediately she did, the dwarf appeared on his throne, and Ark was suddenly at the center of the stage, bound by golden chains.
He did not bother trying to break them, instead he glanced up at three Game masters and fixed them with his most nasty glare.
"How do you guys run things here? It’s innocent until proven guilty you know? I haven’t even committed a crime!"
The area seemed to darken as Lord shadow watched him. "Player. You assaulted a fellow Game master before us, and yet you claim to bear no crime?"
Ark huffed. "And so what? He had it coming."
Egeria rumbled with quiet laughter. "He is quite the talker. Can I keep him?"
"I object." Ark raised his hand.
"Are you sure you want to?" Her voice turned airy. "There are a lot of... benefits I’m sure you would love to indulge in."
Ark was silent for a few seconds.
"Wait. What sort of benefits are we talking about?"
"Enough!" The dwarf immediately interjected. At this point his face was as red as a strawberry.
Ark had been summoned before the Game Masters, beings who could wipe out his planet with as little as a flick of their wrist! How was it possible that he was not phased even in the slightest??
He pointed an accusing finger at Ark and barked, "Ark Karras! You stand accused of two counts of assaulting a Game Master, nine counts attempting to brick the system with malicious intent, and gross misuse of a class effect!"
"For this reason, the council has gathered! How do you plead? Know that admission of guilt will lead to a lesser punishmen—"
"Not guilty."
Ark gave the dwarf a blank stare, then he smiled internally.
"I plead not guilty."
.
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A/N
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