Wrecking the Database 10 (Log Horizon/Oreigaru)

Wrecking the Database 10 (Log Horizon/Oreigaru)

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Commissioned by: Weise

Wordcount: 2731

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Nothing worth doing is ever easy. Why? Because other people are always invested in making your life harder and never easier. 

Human beings are conditioned to take every advantage they’re capable of taking, especially against other human beings. Only the top dogs of the human species survived the past. Even the most basic NEET has a semblance of a killer instinct and is willing to ruin the life of another human if there’s no consequences involved. Things like love, kindness, and fairness are special and cherished because they’re exceptional traits amongst a people who are inclined towards fucking over anything and anyone so they get what they fucking want.

Generally speaking, if you want to do something, it’ll be complicated because somebody else wants something else to happen and will get in your way. Sure, laws and policies are great, but those just puts violence in the control of people who are already rich and powerful… or are being controlled by the rich and powerful. Society is all about bringing as much people down as possible to do what you want them to do, while giving them as little as possible in return, so that you get the most that you want. 

Like an event boss should just have guaranteed lootdrops, but since the developers want players to feel a sense of pride and accomplishment, the drops are rare and differently seeded for every player that approaches the corpse. If you don’t get what you want, even though you’ve gone through a fifteen-minute final quest, you better try the fuck again or you’ll not get the newest piece of gear. 

Or, you can buy it from the store for this little amount of money and all your pride. 

Unsurprisingly, the same mentality applies towards trying to save the world.

Akihabara was filled with people who wanted to do their own thing, fight their own battles, and get everyone else to make their workloads easier while they did it. Sure, it was a revitalized community with plenty of individuals walking around living their lives, but those were all the peons who accepted the minimum standard of comfort they’ve been bred and indoctrinated to believe is the height of life. With the masses harnessed and leashed once again, the people with real power can go ahead and face off against one another.

And, the deck was just as stacked against me as much as trying to get legendary drop from an event-limited boss.

Naturally, everyone on the Round Table was a freaking freak. 

On the surface, they were all just Guild Leaders, but in real life they were people who were freakishly capable. 

D.D.D’s Krusty went to Yale University and was some sort of hedonistic emperor-to-be with family issues. Isaac called himself a carpenter, but he was actually the head of a construction firm. Eins had no information about him, besides being the head of a Guild who was out to take care of the most people, and that was suspicious as all hell. Seta was a harem protagonist. Roderick, Charasin, Michitaka, and Akeneya were all professional corporate slaves that were now heading their own corporations in a world with vast amounts of untapped resources and basically infinite money. Maryelle was a NEET that came from a private, all-girls school and had the charisma to calm the temperament of the most of the high-spec men on the Round Table.

Brains, brawn, and beauty were all assembled like mighty titans to rule over the people who just wanted to be happy, safe, and satisfied.

And, Shiroe gathered them all together, bound them by his rules, and assembled them on his arena.

Of course, trying to pawn off saving the world would have me butting heads with monsters and a freaking demon lord.

They might just be reskins, but this mechanic of not being able to kill them to get what I want is really freaking cheap!

The game of life is unfair, pay-to-win, and the randomized starting class and location is rigged!

Rigged, I say!

…

“It’s a wonder how you were able to hold your position in your company, Hikigaya-kun, if just two days of gathering information and meetings has this effect on you.” Yukinoshita was as cruel and unrepentant as always. Treading the footsteps of my ancestors, I chose the path of corporate slave, but my parents prepared me well for my future roll. I signed onto a company and job that had little interaction with others and worked a cushy position at the cost of having no chance at a promotion. It was a good deal for me, since I managed to get income and live by my own means, but it was far off from my ideal of being a househusband. Anyway, talking to once per day to my boss is fine, but the whole Round Table? Hikigaya Hachiman is not only deficient in social skills, but he takes sanity damage too. I should’ve brought Irohasu to do all the swindling instead of me. “But, I must admit that your plan is sound and will have its intended effect.”

As usual, Yukinoshita’s praise of me was a thinly veiled insult that was actually praise she rendered upon herself. 

Of course, I left most of the talking to Yukinoshita. My presence was just to confirm facts and present the information I’d gathered. While we kept certain secrets to ourselves, like where we were stationed and how to get quests from regular NPCs, information is still a valued commodity within the Akihabara. Everyone wanted to know anything that they could, but the number of people venturing outside was very limited, since most were focused on rebuilding their lives. In short, Yukinoshita had me prop up her position, working me like a horse, while she sowed the ground with goodwill and “free” information.

Free information and goodwill that was incentivized to come again via free gold and materials and equipment. 

Having a nekomimi businesswoman converse with middle-aged men without social lives, who played video games as a hobby, was almost cheating, but I was fine with that. If I didn’t cheat, then I wouldn’t be trying my best. Cheating is absolutely the best, unless someone was doing it to me, then I hate them with a passion. What I’m saying is that it’s okay as long as it’s in my favor, while anyone else who’s doing it is absolute trash.

Wait, what was I talking about again?

Right. 

Seducing older men via Yukinoshita.

And, now I’m covered in water.

I said that aloud.

“Don’t pretend that you didn’t mean to, Hikigaya-kun.” Yukinoshita pressed the bridge of her nose and shook her head. My only companion for my current campaign seemed discontent with me. I wonder why. Yukinoshita really needed to get some thicker skin. I mean, what’s a joke between two… accomplices? You know what? Yeah, she did the right think. “Let’s move on to more important matters, Hikigaya-kun. With Akihabara aware and intent on keeping their power, do you think we need to do more than we already have here?”

“I don’t know.” That was my quick and simple answer to that question. Influencing people wasn’t something I was talented in. Well, at least without them hating me afterwards. Persuasion was Yukinoshita’s specialty whilst  I was more inclined towards threats. Threats are great. They get people to do what you want because they’re afraid of consequences. Threats cost me nothing, while promises and deals with other people require “relationships,” “rewards,” and “mutual benefit.” Bleh. “We’re doing this your way. You’re the expert here, Yukinoshita.”

“I am, but if you disagree with my plans, you’ll do it your way without consulting me. If we’re to work together to survive our current circumstances, then we must trust one another. You are unseemly, unapologetic, and wholly inappropriate, but I’m willing to overcome those challenges for my sake and that of my friends.” Oi, don’t describe me like some sort of villain that you have to work with to save the world. It’s great. I feel cool being described like that. However, the death flags you’re pinning onto me aren’t nice. Everyone knows that redemption stories involving villains result in the villain dying at the end. Those death flags are so heavy that they just might break the fact that we can come back to life, y’know? “So, Hikigaya-kun, what do you think about the current circumstances? Do we need to invest more time into Akihabara or investigate other means into curtailing the coming events?”

“…They don’t care about the People of the Land enough.” As much as I disliked the thought of staying in Akihabara for any longer, the truth was that the Guilds weren’t convinced the way I wanted them to be convinced. Sure they were going to head into the future with the coming Events in mind, but they were doing it for their sake instead of maintaining the balance of the surrounding continent. There was no intention from any of the people we’ve met to strike out, quest, and slay all the monsters they come across, which was causing the continent to destabilize as the only permanent check on monsters was gone. “They’re treating them like they’re not actual people now and at this rate it’s unlikely they ever will.”

“Ah, I see. The deplorable mindset of treating others as mere stepping stones for power is ingrained in the majority of the players of this game. Understandable, given how this is obviously meant to facilitate fantasies.” Yukinoshita never minced words. Thankfully, this time her sharp tongue wasn’t pointed at me. I suppose that I could work rise up and defend my fellow players from this normie before me, but I decided against it. It wasn’t like I was going to get rewarded if I helped them out. Wait, did I just leap into that insult by my own will? “Good. We have a clear, concise challenge to overcome. What is your proposal, Hikigaya-kun?”

I took a moment to think on the matter. 

Yukinoshita and I took a booth at an inn at the nearest village to Akihabara. We drew some stares from the People of the Land. Most of the stares were respectful, but there was an undercurrent of fear amongst them that wasn’t present in my little slice of the map. There were a lot of armed men around and there was a wall around the village that didn’t exist during the game. It was a recent construction and composed of wood, while a stockpile of stone was already being gathered. Though some Players were going to find it just part of the expansion, I knew the truth.

By all means, this town should worship the ground that Players walk upon. It should be an immense, massive city that’s booming with trade with Akihabara. The moment that the quest system shut down and the Adventurers stopped coming this place should’ve sent messengers asking about how they could help. However, that didn’t happen, because it was a tutorial area, what it gave was considered worthless by all players, and most players have forgotten about it completely. It’s just a tutorial area for exploration that people never bother to visit.

Now, despite being so close to a place where Adventurers respawn and make their home, it’s still a small village that’s now fortifying itself against the swarms of low-tier monsters that players have stopped killing for cheap health and mana potions. In contrast, the effects of my work within my little corner of the map turned the little snowy-village into a small city that produced ores, gems, and metals for the rest of the continent. I was venerated like a living god, people were ecstatic to know that I could speak to them and interact with them, and I was pretty sure I would be drowning in the most majestic way possible if not for the presence of my little sister and people who knew me IRL.

But, I digress with my disappointment in my overpowered, other-world adventure. 

The exceptional people within Akihabara have been informed, but even the exceptional individuals can’t control the whole of the population. Real power comes from the masses. If the masses only want to buckle down and live in comfort, while violence, punishment, and enforcement is impossible, then nothing will happen. The Round Table’s figureheads are all comprehensively high-spec individuals that I couldn’t compare to, but they weren’t going to be able to convince the whole of the playerbase to get off their asses, risk actually feeling pain, and explore a world of unknowns and threats more complicated than the generic masturbatory fantasy that they once lorded over. 

The only way to make a population move in such a way was to make them feel fear.

And, how do you instill fear in immortals?

The only answer that I had was to make a villain, something for the common people to rally against and fight, but I couldn’t do such a thing. I had my companions and sister to think about. They were my absolute number 1 priority. I only cared about the People of the Land being treated like People, because that would mean a surge in Players taking quests to cut down monsters and stopping a snowball of event after event, until the continent was swarming with raid bosses. 

Painting a target on my back and becoming some sort of super demon lord wasn’t acceptable when it would bring unwanted attention to the people close to me.

That was that.

But, that only outlined what I couldn’t do and didn’t give me an answer.

“I see that you’re frustrated by this angle. So, why don’t we try another, Hikigaya-kun?” I almost forgot that I was sitting across from Yukinoshita and eating a meal with her. My compatriot offered me a smile. It was the sort of smile that she made whenever she had an idea. A Yukinoshita exclusive idea. An idea that low-spec, trash-tier mobs like me didn’t have… and hopefully the high-spec people on the Round Table wouldn’t see coming. “Perhaps, we’re considering this the wrong way. We are attempting to solve a problem via a solution, instead of giving the one who needs help ability to help themselves.”

Those words couldn’t apply to players, so it was obvious she was talking about the People of the Land.

I instantly wanted to protest, but Yukinoshita held up her hand.

“The People of the Land are people and so are the rest of the Players, Hikigaya-kun. And, strangers are not obliged to help another stranger. Players don’t need to fight just because they are incapable of dying.” Yukinoshita, as always, caught me off guard. I… I suppose that was how I did view the situation didn’t I? Players shouldn’t stop Players, because the world needed them to be Players. I didn’t regard the Players themselves as a factor in their own lives. Tch. “While having the Players resume their former duties would be the best outcome for the most people, no matter the lengths we went to attain it, it is a short-term solution with unknown means to sustain it. What we must focus on is curtailing the current damage, while planning for the future.”

I was sure of what Yukinoshita wanted to do now, but since she figured it out sooner and better than I did, I was gracious enough to let her declare it.

“The best way to do that is not by returning to the status quo, but by creating a new status quo where both sides can meet as nigh-equals and bringing both to negotiate. What we need to do give the People of the Land the means to protect themselves again monsters, until Adventurers are merely required instead of absolutely essential.”

So, while I should’ve known that upending the whole continent via mass-empowerment of former NPCs would solve a multitude of problems at once… I didn’t think that Yukinoshita was going to be the one doing it. In hindsight, it should’ve been obvious that a high-spec character amongst high-spec characters would do more than just rule over one city, but actually plan to take over the whole of the world. I shouldn’t have expected anything less from Yukino Yukinoshita.

No matter what, even here and even now, I can only be in her shadow and look after her from afar.