HC:Pacifist | Ch. 122 - Blown (Patreon)

As the elevator descended, contrary to his expectations, he discovered he wasn't the last to arrive at the meeting. Drake, H, and Pete were missing. The first person he saw was Maggie, who was cleaning components in the racks. Mario was off the distance running diagnostics on a gatorbot that wasn't working correctly. Usually, he did this shortly before going out to roam the sewers. He should be at the end of one of his cycles.

Off to a corner, he caught sight of the other members of the 14th.

"Hello!" called out Roth.

Everyone immediately sprung up into full alertness and ran toward him. As they drew closer, Roth noted how different they looked. The differences were minor, but their eyes had gone from being normal to being entirely black, like the eyes of an insect. Roth also noted that on their hands, there was an extra thumb popping out from their hand next to the pinky. They had succeeded in their quest! Before he could congratulate them, he was met with aggressive questioning that threw him off.

"Who are you? How did you find this place?" they asked him angrily. What was wrong with them? Why didn't they recognize him?

"Relax," said Mario. Everyone turned to him. Since he kept to himself most of the time, it was impossible not to give the cyborg one’s full attention whenever he spoke. "It's Pax. He's just wearing a mask." Of course. The mask! Roth had forgotten that he looked different with it on, and his friends had been caught by surprise. Seeing the old soldiers still looking suspicious, he pulled off the plastic mask from his face, revealing the familiar Pax form to them.

"Oh, it's you, Roth. You scared us. I thought someone else had found out about our secret hideout."

"Sorry about that. I'm still getting used to wearing this disguise." After a few moments, he turned to Mario curiously. After all, Mario was a level 15 wild boss. Roth was at a higher level than him, and it shouldn't have been so easy for it to see through the mask.

"Mario, how did you know it was me?"

"You fooled my alligator eye, but you couldn't fool my cyborg one," he explained. Roth frowned. The mask was especially powerful against evil NPCs. But could a machine really be considered evil or righteous? Maybe the mask didn’t work well against cyborgs.

"Hmmm... Who's that?" This was a new interaction. Mario never spared any attention to what was outside. What could catch Mario’s attention like this? Roth followed Mario's gaze and looked at the screen. Roth saw the familiar form of Xana with her two drones circling her outside. Beads of sweat started to form on his forehead, and he felt his heart grow cold. Their hideout had been blown.

Mario had reacted because Xana was at a much higher-level than he was, hindering him from leaving the hideout and roaming. Whenever very high players appeared on maps, the bosses didn't come out. How had she found them?

"Roth, what's wrong with you?" Tried the sergeant worriedly, "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Mario, does she know we're down here?" Asked Roth in a panic.

The soldiers were now on alert, seeing Roth's panic and manic look. Mario kept calmly running diagnostics on the gatorbot he was fixing. "Hmmm... she seems to have a pair of jumbo 430X. Those can't possibly peer through my lab's security. She doesn't know you're here."

"What's going on, Roth?" Roth was hyperventilating and felt his head grow light.

"Sarg, that's Xana. She... she found me. I don't know how. They are out to get me. I need to run. I need to..." Roth felt a jolt of pain hit his face, sending a rush of adrenaline through his body.

-9 HP.

You've been attacked by SergeantSarg.

The sergeant had just slapped him!

"Get yourself together, lil' Roth. Didn't you hear Mario tell you they don't know you're here? Relax. Only we know about this place!" turning to Emily, he barked. "Emily, I want you to let the squad know about this situation. Tell the ones who haven't made it here yet to be extra cautious. No one is going to come down here until we clear this out. Our hideout might have been compromised. Get H to think up some alternative hiding places."

Roth massaged his sore cheek and panicked as he saw the familiar figures of Gary and Wilson arrive outside.

*

"Well, that explains how he's been able to avoid us for so long," said Wilson as he looked disgusted at the sewers around them. The smell was hard to bear.

"I hadn't thought he'd be in the sewers," agreed Gary. Even though the guild had asked him to come to check out the incident that happened two days ago, he hadn't for a moment considered that the Slayer could be down here. He was such a proud character. To resign himself to be down here in the middle of all this filth was not like the Roth they knew. Perhaps they had broken the legendary Slayer.

"Do you think he noticed one of your drones was following him?" suggested Wilson.

"How could he, Wilson? My drones can detect him from hundreds of meters away. He is at best level 15. How could he have enough perception to notice them from so far away." Gary looked at the clock. They had a few hours until the meeting with Xerxes. His timing couldn’t have been worse.

"Let's review what might have happened here. What are the most likely scenarios, Xana? What can make one of your drones lose track of a target?"

Xana pondered for a few moments. "There are skills and items that mess up with my drones. Scramblers and similar things. But that would only make sense if he had noticed he was being followed."

"OK. What else?"

"There could be a passage here that leads somewhere else,” said Xana.

“Very well. Now we're talking. Let's see if we can find anything.”

The group of three spread out in the chamber. Wilson knocked at walls, trying to hear sounds betraying a hollow place on the other side. Xana's drones were half-submerged in the sewage, scanning every inch of the floor under the water while Xana kept tapping commands in the console strapped to her arm. Gary focused on the different pipes and tubes that led to this place, looking for a hidden passage.

*

Roth paced before the screens while the sergeant drummed his six fingers on the table. Everyone was already on a conference call, and the sergeant had succinctly debriefed the entire group.

"How did they find you?" asked Drake calmly.

"I don't know. I thought that the mask was good enough to fool them." His eyes landed on Xana's drone. No... He then looked at Mario's cybernetic eye, flashing red. His eyes widened as he recalled what had happened outside the Peace Corps a few days ago. Was that the reason why Xana had seemed to spot him? When her drones spotted him, they saw through his disguise, but she failed to do the same. That would explain it! Her machines saw him, but she didn’t.

"The drones! If Xana could get the drones to look for me, my disguise might not fool them." Roth punched the table angrily. The mask didn't work well against machines. "I can't believe it! After all the trouble I went through to get this mask, it still wasn't good enough to fool them."

"The good thing seems to be that they do not know where you've gone. Look. They are clueless about the entrance to Mario's lab. How did you even find this lab in the first place?"

"I have a skill that comes with an epic title."

"Epic? Is that any good?" Everyone gave Drake a judgmental look.

"Roth, I thought your friend here was capable, but he has no gaming sense. He keeps asking stupid questions."

"I know." Turning to Drake, he added. "Yes, Drake. It is very, very good."

"Is it possible that it's something you have and they don't?"

Roth hadn't considered it. "Maybe..."

"Good! That means that you're safe for now."

"What if I sneak through another exit?"

"Hmmm... it seems that what's shielding you from those drones' scanners is the equipment in Mario's lab. You're going to stay here and wait. If you need something to be brought to you, one of us can get it for you. But for now, we'll wait. They can't stay out there forever. If at least Xana leaves, I think you'll be able to sneak past them, but for now, you'll have to be patient."

"Alright, I'll try." Roth took deep breaths, "Thank you, everyone. I'm feeling better now."

"Well, everyone, the clock is ticking. This incident only shows us that we must continue our planned meeting. Our enemies are onto us, and we must hasten if we want to protect Roth and his family." Everyone exchanged looks and nodded.

"Therefore, I'd like us all to go over how things are progressing. Let's start with you, H." H was one of the players that hadn't made it to the lab in time. He now spoke to the group from what looked like a private reading cubicle inside the city's library.

"Hello, everyone. May I start by thanking Charlie, Benny, Sarg, Emily, and Pete? By becoming uglier when they changed races, they made the rest of us look better." A chuckle went through everyone except for Emily, who clenched her teeth. Roth was still too nervous to laugh, but he appreciated H’s efforts to lighten the mood.

"I haven't been able to go through everything in the Pegasus’ database, but I've focused on the information about quests and hunting grounds. I've made sure to put it for sale at low prices to get it to the most people possible.” He allowed himself an evil smirk while he adjusted the glasses that weren’t there. “Hunting grounds and quest lines that had been monopolized by Pegasus players have been overcrowded, and it has caused a few ripples. Pegasus will soon come up with another guide for their new members, but it was a quick way of making a buck and dealing a blow to Loki." Roth stood dumbfounded at the mention of this. What an evil plan.

H continued, "Additionally, I've priced out some guides, and so far, we've amassed a little over 6000 gold." Roth gulped. That was much more money than Roth was expecting. Selling information seemed to be a thriving business! His mind instantly went to the guide that he was holding off on buying because it was too expensive. Perhaps it would be worth talking to H about it after the meeting.

"Excellent job, H. It'd be fantastic if you could finish going through it this week. Feel free to ask for help from us to continue. These funds will be important. Additionally, since there are these common funds, if you're short on money and can use some of it to speed your progression, feel free to talk to H, and he'll get it for you." H nodded while he took notes of everything that was being discussed.

"Let's move on to the rest of the 14th. Any news on the unions?"

SergeantSarg took the initiative and answered on behalf of his companions.

"Most of the week was spent changing races."

"Any chance you can share the race's details with us?" tried Roth.

"Sure. Here."

Roth got a copy of the notifications that the sergeant had received when changing race.

Congratulations, you've become a Thumber!

Thumber (Hidden Race)

Race Description: You have been injected with the mutagen the late Dr. Von Hilbert developed. The changes to your body give you more acute vision and skillful hands.

Racial Effects:

Unlocks insight;

+5 dexterity.

Racial Skills:

[Knack for Crafting]: Passive. +5% crafting rate success.

It was a race with seemingly simple effects, but that only provided bonuses. Unlike other races, such as the lizardmen, who gave a greater reward to stats while giving a debuff to others, with thumbers, there were only upsides. It was a class befitting of someone who wanted to focus on crafting. The +5% crafting race success bonus might not seem like much, but Roth guessed that the more one walked the path of crafting, the more difficult it would be to get a reasonable crafting rate.

"After we changed races, we each changed to our respective professions."

"What was your impression of what the other players feel?" Beads of sweat started forming on Roth's forehead. No! He had become a tailor but hadn't talked to any of his colleagues. He had gotten so caught up in dealing with the NPCs that he again forsook what mattered the most.

"Most players beginning to work as craftsmen are either being sponsored by a guild or hoping to be hired by one."

"Any discontent we can exploit?" The sergeant shook his head, signaling he hadn't noticed anything. Emily, the soldier who had become a carpenter, chose this moment to intervene.

"I've noticed a slight discontent at the fact that there is a lack of an alternative. It's either serving under a guild and doing what they mandate or lagging behind."

"I've noticed the same thing, too," commented Benny, who had become a chef. “Some of the craftsmen are creative and don't like to feel tied to a guild.”

"Good! That's what we're looking for. I want you to stoke this fire of discontent every chance you get. Complain. Find those who are unhappy with the status quo. Lay the ground for when we can create an alternative."

"Roth?" All eyes turned toward Roth. The fact that several eyes were now alien threw Roth a little bit. "What do you have to report?"

Ch. 121 - Cast On

INDEX

Ch. 123 - Surprise