Spiteful Healer-Chapter 277: Integrity

“They’re out for blood.” Andrew spoke with his eyes glazed over, due to several calls being put on hold through his ear implant. Both the implant in his ear, and his wrists, were illuminated by several green and yellow lights. He was standing just inside Nicholas’ office as he and Mike stood side by side in the middle of the room, staring forward at the wall of various screens displaying live streams of Tarolas.

“Nearly all major streamers from every network are present in Tarolas. They all just watched Seraxus fly in on the back of a dragon and have his way with the place. I don’t know how you expect me to convince anyone to invest into your gameworld when a young kid is given control of something so destructive. I think it’s time to admit that Samantha’s world needs tweaking.” Andrew crossed his arms.

“It’s because of the breach a few months back. His power should’ve never grown this much, or gotten this far.” Mike mumbled back weakly.

“They’re waiting to interview you.” Andrew ignored Mike’s response and motioned towards Nicholas’ Simbox in the corner of the room. “They’re going to ambush you, tear you to shreds.”

“They’ll blame the person who made the game instead of the users playing it.” Mike shook his head in disbelief as he said this to himself. Nicholas didn’t reply, but instead took in a deep breath and released it slowly, watching as Seraxus terrorized a smaller Tarolas village, far off from Stormtop. He was gleefully killing all of the dwarf NPCs living in it, while mocking their beards and height. No one was showing up to stop him, due to them all being gathered in Stormtop and having no easy way to reach his location.

“Unbelievable…” Andrew watched it with disbelief, turning to the viewership count. “He’s the top streamer, currently. He passed Makaroth and Feng.” Andrew pointed out, as Seraxus was now being watched by 20 million people.

“They are hate-watching him.” Mike replied.

“Doesn’t matter. This’ll be the image associated with our game, now. Nicholas. You have to put a stop to this. Nerf the sword. I’ll give you a freebie, alright? I’ll admit, this one wasn’t actually a fault of Samantha, but some outside entities. You nerf this thing and fix this problem, and I won’t consider it a part of our agreement.” Andrew pleaded with him.

Nicholas didn’t immediately reply, but instead turned towards a screen that was displaying Samantha, standing idly with her head tilted downward.

“No.” Nicholas answered after a long moment of deep thought. He then turned and began marching across the room towards his Simbox.

“No? What do you mean, no?” Andrew asked in disbelief. “You can’t be serious? You can’t seriously think it’s okay to leave something like that alone, can you?”

“He’s got a point…” Mike sided with Andrew.

“I’m not changing anything about Samantha's design.”

“You’re just being stubborn. You’re really going to throw away everything, just on principle?” Andrew asked while grabbing Nicholas’ shoulder to stop him from walking away. Nicholas turned around with an angry glare, glancing between the two.

“I’m not throwing anything away.” He said coldly, before turning his glare down to Andrew’s hand on his shoulder. Andrew quickly pulled it back to let him go, and Nicholas climbed into the Simbox, shutting it.

“Oooh boy.” Mike took a deep breath as the two exchanged worried looks, then turned their attention to the wall of livestream displays. Andrew quickly fidgeted with his wrist implant to pull up a news broadcast of a news network where an interviewer was eagerly standing by.

“We’ve just gotten the news that Nicholas, the lead designer and mastermind behind the Shattered World Online has agreed to do an interview with us, in regards to the recent events that have transpired in Tarolas.” The interviewer, a younger man wearing a black suit and tie, said excitedly. He quickly adjusted his tie and ran his fingers through his short black hair, while shifting his weight in his armless black chair in the midst of a studio adorned by Shattered World Online imagery. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

Then, spotting someone approaching off camera, the young man stood up and extended his hand in the direction he was looking.

“Nicholas, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” The interviewer said excitedly, while the viewership on this news broadcast suddenly shot up into the millions, rivaling Seraxus’ livestream.

“You as well, I’m a fan of your unbiased coverage. You’re a favorite in the office.” Nicholas appeared from offscreen and shook his hand, smiling.

“Wow, that’s quite the honor to hear.” The interviewer replied while motioning Nicholas to take a seat in a chair across from him. The two then both promptly sat down across from each other and locked eyes. “So, I think we both know what everyone wants to hear about from you right now. Everyone in the world is tuned in to the upcoming Gladiator tournament taking place on Tarolas, as well as the destruction being wrought by the Sword of Hatred wielding player, Seraxus.”

“Yes, of course.” Nicholas nodded back at him.

“With his recent attack on the city, many players have become outraged that something like that could be possible - to allow another player to have such an overpowered weapon AND control a dragon. What are your thoughts on this?”

“It’s unfortunate that so much destruction is being caused by Seraxus, I know it doesn’t feel good to lose things that you’ve worked hard for, but…” Nicholas was cut off by the eager interviewer, leaning forward.

“So are you considering nerfing the power of the sword? Because as it seems right now, it’s unbeatable.” The interviewer asked with wide eyes of excitement.

“No.” Nicholas replied coldly. “No, we won’t be interfering. Like it or not, Seraxus earned the power of that sword. Just like everyone else has played the game and earned what they have, so has he. He’s done so at great risk - the world has deemed such a power to be fleeting, and should he ever be defeated, it will all be taken from him.” Nicholas replied.

“But, by the looks of things, no one’s going to be able to beat him. I mean, we just watched him wipe the floor with Makaroth’s number one PvP player…”

“There are ways to win. No one is undefeatable.”

“But, well, he now has the employ of a dragon. The very same dragon we were introduced to during the Shattered Healer advancement quest, brought back from ancient times, flying around and burning cities to the ground. Surely you can’t think that something like that is good for the gameplay experience of others, right? I mean, not everyone wishes to opt into the PvP side of the game.”

“There is no PvP side to the game.” Nicholas cleared his throat. “There is just a world. Look…” He turned from the interviewer to face the camera. “The Shattered World online was made for a very specific purpose in mind. Our world, the one that we live in… It’s solved. If you wish to become a woodcutter, there’s machines that can do it better than you. Want to be a chef? Machines can do it better. An architect? Machines will do it better. We, as a species, have managed to develop ourselves out of basic conflicts, but… Humans are not so simple.” He paused to stare at the interviewer for a brief moment.

“We still have the desire to solve problems. To face conflict. To explore unknown worlds, to discover unknown things. To be challenged, and overcome those challenges. And it needs to feel like it has meaning, like there’s a purpose behind it. This can only be achieved inside a virtual world, where its integrity is held in tact by never bending the rules of that world. The Shattered World is what it is, and what it always will be. It will continue to hold dangers, mysteries, and the unknown, so that everyone has an equal chance to do what they wish in that gameworld. I will never impede on that, or alter it, to cheapen what the world actually is. That includes taking away threats that’ve been allowed to grow unchecked, out of control, due to the inaction of other players despite knowing the existence of the threat.” Nicholas finished coldly.

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“So, you’re saving the destruction being caused by Seraxus is the fault of the players, and not the fault of his weapon being overpowered?” The interviewer asked curiously.

“I’m saying that, if you care about the Shattered World as much as I do… If you love the immersion and realistic gameplay that you can experience in our world, then I urge you to take up arms, and fight for it. By any means necessary. Because like in our world, evil exists, and it will only be defeated by good that does not stand idly by.” Nicholas finished before standing up from his chair and quickly exchanging pleasantries with the interviewer before leaving.

While this happened, Andrew and Mike were able to view the chat log of viewers watching the stream, seeing nothing but obscenities and enraged messages being sent in Nicholas’ direction.

“Whelp, guess that’s that.” Andrew shrugged.

“There’s still a good chance Seraxus is defeated in this tournament. Hope isn’t all lost.” Mike shrugged as he used his wrist implant to change the livestreams on display, pulling up Feng.

“Do not worry, everyone. Makaroth’s champion may have fallen, but he was fighting alone. His team is still strong. And besides, it’s unlikely Synopse’s team will even be given a chance to fight Seraxus.” Feng smiled while surrounded by crowds of his guildmates outside the Tarolas arena. He then drew out his mithral katana and held it up towards the sky, so that all could see the faint purple glow of its metal blade.

“My team is on Seraxus’ side of the bracket, and I don’t intend to let him pass us.” Feng spoke proudly, which was followed by loud cheers coming from all the players surrounding him.

The stream continued on talking up Feng, with VGN broadcasters shifting their narrative away from Makaroth’s guild taking on Seraxus, to Feng taking him on. Andrew and Mike were far from the only ones watching this unfold, however. Synopse, a scrawny young man with short brown hair wearing plain clothes, watched from his couch, eying a timer counting down on his wall that was tracking how long his logout time was.

He tuned out the sounds of Feng’s livestream as it played out on a large screen mounted on his wall, and instead stared intensely as the timer ticked down its final moments from the 6 hours it began at. The moment it hit 0, he took a deep breath and slowly walked to his Simbox, climbing inside.

After logging in, Synopse found himself at the revival shrine of Stormtop. He wasn’t the only one who’d logged in recently, as countless players were appearing from the shrine and stepping off of it to make room for more. Amongst them, Synopse spotted a large number of Schadenfreude members who were throwing him nasty looks, but he did his best to ignore this.

“Synopse. Over here.” Makaroth called out to him from outside the small shrine, which was built in an elevated stone platform in the middle of a small town center. Synopse looked over the crowds of other players to see his smiling face, and noticed that not just Makaroth was there, but his four team members for the upcoming gladiator match.

Synopse forced a smile in the direction of Makaroth, who wasn’t currently live streaming, then began making his way through the crowds of other players to get to him.

“Here. Your staff.” Makaroth held out the Astral staff to Synopse, who slowly took it from him and looked at the staff intensely.

“Don’t worry about it, man. No way you were going to win 5 vs 1. We got him in the tournament.” One of Synopse team-mates said encouragingly, patting him on the shoulder.

“It wasn’t 5 vs 1. I fought with Schadenfreude backing me up.”

“Heh, yeah, but those guys kinda suck.” Another member said mockingly while motioning to Mikael as he had just appeared atop the shrine behind them. Mikael panned his eyes around briefly before spotting out Makaroth, and glaring down at him.

“I hope you’re happy, Makaroth. I hope you’re enjoying the show that our city is putting on for you. Because all this blood, death and destruction is on your hands.” Mikael shouted out at him angrily, but before he could say more he was pulled away by Mightymira and Jeremax. Makaroth didn’t reply, but instead glared up at where Mikael had been standing before shaking his head dismissively.

“Your team has already checked in for your first match that starts in a few hours. Come, let’s have a chat in private.” Makaroth said to Synopse, before giving a nod to Synopse’s team.

“We’ll be waiting at the arena.” One explained.

“Okay, I’ll see you guys there.” Synopse smiled at them and watched as they headed off, disappearing into the crowded streets. As he watched them leave, he caught a glimpse of the tamer player, consoling his lone surviving bolt hound, with his crying daughter hugging his leg. The trio were standing off to the side, being ignored by the many other players still logging back in after having been killed in the attack on Stormtop. Synopse took a deep breath then reluctantly followed Makaroth as he was led away from the crowds, and eventually finding their way into a small shop that had been partially destroyed by the attack, with the back wall of the structure missing and black smoke still rising up from the embers.

Makaroth paid no mind to this, nor did he pay attention to the non-elite NPC who was trying to clean up the shop, as most of the wares of the pottery shop had been destroyed and were in broken pieces scattered about the floor.

Once inside, Makaroth shut the door behind Synopse and glared at him.

“I told you not to try and fight him alone.” Makaroth said coldly.

“He was destroying the city.” Synopse replied defensively.

“So? What good did you do by intervening?” Makaroth snapped back. “All you managed to do was die, embarrass yourself, and embarrass me. Now they’re ignoring us, and just talking about Feng like he’s going to be some hero.” Makaroth began pacing frustratedly.

“That’s all you care about?” Synopse asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Of course that’s all I care about. That’s all that matters. That’s the point of all this. I set up this event, the biggest event in Shattered World’s history. I’m not about to have all the spotlight taken away from me by Feng. I’m not going to lose my number one spot to this bullshit zerg guild or this crazy power tripping kid.”

“This power tripping kid just destroyed this city, killing thousands of NPCs and destroying lives, and you’re still just focused on being the top streamer?” Synopse asked in disbelief while Makaroth stared back at him plainly. “Hell, he’s still destroying cities and killing NPCs. All over this island. And we brought him here.”

“It’s necessary to have a great bad guy, to put on a good show.” Makaroth answered nonchalantly. To this, Synopse pulled back his fist and thrust it with all his might into Makaroth’s face. It caught Makaroth off guard, but there wasn’t enough power behind the punch to even move Makaroth’s face, due the differences in the two players' Strength stats. Synopse saw this, and quickly corrected it by casting an empowerment spell on his fist, then punching Makaroth again before he could react. The second time knocked Makaroth back off his feet and sent him flying into a nearby store shelf, causing the shopkeeper to grunt angrily at them.

“What the hell is your problem?” Makaroth slowly stood back up, glaring furiously at Synopse.

“You.” Synopse replied with equal ferocity. “I’ve been playing games with you for years now, and you were never like this. When you signed that VGN contract, and threw away your marriage for it despite Jillian telling you not to, all because of some forced virtual marriage for your image, I stayed with you. I’m not here to get the most viewers, I’m not trying to become popular like Lilya, nor do I care about your image like Calikgos. I followed you because I’m your friend. And you told me if the fame from VGN ever changed you for the worst that I had permission to knock some sense back into you. So here I am. Knocking the sense into you. Because of this?” Synopse swung open the door to the shop so that the city of Stormtop was more clearly visible. He then motioned to several nearby toppled buildings with scorched wood and scattered debris all about them.

“This has gone too far.” Synopse finished with a deep breath as Makaroth rubbed his cheek where he’d been hit and looked from Synopse to the destruction brought to the city.

“It’s necessary. If I don’t do something drastic like this to stay on top, that kid’s going to march up here and take it from me. All because of a stupid bet. All because he’s a spiteful little shit, and all becau-”

“Because he wants to be noticed by his father?” Synopse cut him off. “Jee, I wonder what that feels like, being ignored and going along unnoticed.” Synopse shook his head at him. “I’d think that someone like you, who struggled to make a name for himself, would understand the feelings of his ignored son more than anyone.”

“Don’t talk about my family like you understand anything about it.” Makaroth roared with rage back at him.

“I might just understand your family better than you do, from all the time I’ve spent playing with you and Jillian. I still can’t believe it ended up like this.”

“I did what I did because I had no choice. No one was going to watch us, right? All these big networks and streamers just cast a shadow down on me. You sound just like her. You don’t get it, right? But I know I made the right call by signing the VGN contract. Thanks to that, I was finally able to reach the top, and I have the money to do whatever I want. Whatever we want, even.”

“And what did it cost you?” Synopse replied.

“It doesn’t matter, there was no other way.” Makaroth replied with his head down.

“Are you sure about that? Because Aegis, your own son, found another way. And it didn’t involve him signing a contract with a soulsucking network.” Synopse crossed his arms. “Maybe if you’d spent more time with your family, you’d be by his side at the top, with Jillian. Instead of alone, destroying cities and gameplay of thousands of others just to put on a good show.” Synopse added, but the moment the words left his mouth he could tell he went too far, and Makaroth stomped forward and thrust his fist into Synopse’s face, knocking him back into the wall behind him with great force without the assistance of any spells.

Breathing heavily and staring angrily, Makaroth watched as Synopse slowly stood back up and rubbed his chin where he’d been punched, shaking his head to himself.

“Heh…” Synopse mumbled before turning to walk out the door of the shop.

“Where the hell are you going?” Makaroth called out after him.

“To the tournament. Trying to clean up your fucking mess. You can turn your livestream back on, don’t worry. I promise not to ruin your ‘image’.” Synopse replied dismissively while walking down the street, away from Makaroth.

Before Makaroth could think of anything to reply with, too many other players and NPCs had got between himself and Synopse on the streets outside the shop to make it worth calling out after him. Thus, Makaroth sighed to himself in frustration, and looked down at his feet as Synopse’ words sunk in.