Happy Chapter Day everyone!
ANNOUNCEMENT:
More Chapters & New stories Incoming:
Special thank you to all my seedlings who have made it possible for me to continue writing and add more stories to my schedule. Including original writings that are in works.
You can get updates on all of that on my Tumblr. Or type KATSURA369 (Find my socials)
CHAPTER 38
Killua explained to Gon and Sakura about RPG games and their basic storyline. Your character would start at level one, and you would need to perform quests that increase your stats and level up. As that happened, you would get main events that would push your ranking higher. And as he put it, they had just passed that level and had gotten to the main event. With Biscuit's Nen training, the three of them could collect cards together and unlock new levels.
That explanation went a little over Gon's head, but Sakura understood the analogy. However, it also brought something else to the surface.
"How much of this do you think we should take as a game, though?"
"What do you mean?" asked Killua. He looked at Sakura, unbothered by the speed they were running to get to their next destination. Even though it had been over two hours, no one was panting out of breath, in spite of their pace.
While Sakura didn't know much about video games, she knew that everything occurring behind a screen wouldn't typically inflict real-world damage. But Nen had somehow made it possible to do what exactly? Were they turned into pixels and absorbed into the game to be watched behind a screen? Or was there something else going on?
"Think about it like this. Greed Island is supposed to be a game, and it has features like a game would, but somehow it's physically possible for us to interact with it."
Gon's lip curled in confusion, "Is that something we didn't already know?"
"Yeah, did you hit your hit?"
Sakura rolled her eyes. "I mean, we're still flesh and bone despite being pulled into a place that simulates a real video game. With what was it you called them, Killua…NPC?"
"Yeah, non-playable characters that have a limited set of commands. They're mostly either for decoration to fill spaces, or for players to advance by completing tasks for some of them." Killua said
"Yeah. Just like a video game, as you said. But did you ever stop to wonder how it's possible for us, the players, to show up here?"
"Can you get the point?"
Sakura decided that she should just rip the bandage off her theory and expose it. "Because I've been thinking that maybe the reason for all of this is that we've been placed in a world where a game could be simulated."
Gon couldn't hide his cross eyes at that statement, which wasn't making sense to Killua either, so he didn't feel too bad about not being as quick to catch onto her theory.
"What I'm saying is." Sakura inhaled, "Could this place still be out in the real world?"
They all skidded to a halt in the dirty road, looking at each other like the answer was somewhere there.
"You think that we're still in the physical world then?" Biscuit queried, folding her arms. "That would make a lot of sense."
"Is that even possible?"
"But then how are we able to do all those things with the items around here? Like turning rocks into cards?" Gon asked. It wasn't just designated items that could be turned into cards, as they discovered, but even simple everyday items that could be picked up on the side of the road.
"It is possible that nen was used on such a large scale?" Killua couldn't mask his skepticism. He knew that Nen was an incredible power, through his own experiences with it, but there had to be some kind of limit, right?"
Sakura shook her head. "No idea. Honestly, when we first came here, I thought maybe this was some kind of illusion."
Killua clicked his tongue and threw his hands behind his head. "This is gonna give me a headache. Let's not think about it."
"He's right." Biscuit said. "After all, it's better not to get distracted by details that deflect you from your goal."
Sakura sighed. "Alright then."
..
..
Their next lead had taken them further out into a forest more lush than usual, not because it was untouched by people, based on the stone paths that had been carved out into it. This was their first stop after gathering information. Gon, Sakura, Killua, and Biscuit were now set near the front of a towering wall, but they could see the mansion through the gate as well, still on the path leading to it.
"Kind of reminds me of your place, Killua," said Sakura, her arms folded.
"My house was way bigger," He said, instead of is, which didn't go over her head. But it brought a twisted sense of comfort to Sakura, knowing that her friend, intentional or not, was telling her that he wouldn't be going back to that place.
There was as single guard in front of the gate, must've been another NPC as well.
"So what do we do?" Gon asked. "Can we just go up to him?"
Killua put his hands in his pockets, smirking. He moved before anyone, "I'm going to sneak in. You guys deal with the guard, alright?"
They were barely able to open their mouths to argue that it was unfair that he got to go breaking into the mansion, while they stayed outside because Killua already zipped up and started jumping through the trees before taking a single leap to get over the walls, and of course, with Zetsu, and his silent movements, he hadn't alerted the guard.
"Could've at least let one of us go with him." Sakura pulled her face into a pout. "I mean, there are four of us."
"Yeah," Gon also looked a little disappointed, staring at the mansion with clear eyes that read he wanted to go and look inside too. "Should we go after him?"
Sakura held out her hands and shrugged, her eyes light. "No, I'm sure he'll be back soon."
"But what if something happens inside?"
"That'll teach him to be so cocky. If not, we get a new card out of it at least."
Biscuit looked between them, a satisfied smile on her lips. She noticed that Sakura had finally started to take a step back and line up with the boys instead of just moving ahead to shield them. It was going to be a long while before they could be standing on equal ground as fighters, but at the pace the boys were going, it seemed that they were determined to reach the peak Sakura was standing on as well, so she wasn't too worried.
'That's entertaining in its own way,' Biscuit thought, holding a hand over her mouth.
"What's up, Biscuit? Why do you look like that?" asked Gon.
"Huh, what do you mean?"
He poked his cheek, "Well, you seemed kinda….
Gon couldn't get the word manic, but Sakura had placed it as a label on Biscuit's head when she saw that familiar look in her eyes. However, she wasn't foolish enough to fill in that blank in front of their teacher.
The three walked up till they were in front of the man's gate, and the well-suited guard.
"We're looking for the Gold Dust Girl. Is she here?" Gon asked. Sakura and Biscuit weren't sure if this was tactics on his part or if he was just being genuine in his question.
The guard didn't even look swayed, but that wasn't entirely unexpected, as this person was actually an NPC with his behavior program encoded like steel bars.
"I assure you no such girl exists, and even if she did, you would never be able to find her. Not with all the traps you would have to get past first. Only certain people can go in and out. This goes for the young lady you are looking for."
'So she is here,' They thought. And given the guards' blunder, there might be a problem with his coding. Killua did say NPC's will do that sometimes when the programmers get lazy.
"Found her!" Speaking of Killua. He came through the door on the other side of the wall, pulling along a young girl with a neat dress, twin buns, and blank eyes. "She was hidden in a room underground."
"That was fast," Sakura observed. "I thought there'd be traps."
"There were, but they were easy to get through."
The guard looked at them with his jaw dropped, now and moved to attack Killua, holding out his fists. He attempted to throw that fist, but it didn't take much effort for Killua to send him flying with a punch that reminded them of Biscuit every time Killua called her old hag. He came floating back down in the form of a guard. Gon caught it.
Killua smugly held up the A-ranked card of the gold dust girl. While Gon held onto the F-ranked bodyguard.
"Yes!"
..
..
They didn't waste any time moving on, looking for their next card and eager to see what the rest of Greed Island had to offer. Now with their armor polished and skills sharpened, Sakura noticed a change in the air around Gon and Killua. They were moving forward with more confidence, and she was glad for it.
Their next stop was Antokiba for the monthly tournament. This time, entering the area filled with players, they were much more relaxed with their collection of spell cards to protect themselves from other players. They'd learned the hard way that preparation wasn't optional, and that hunters or not, kids were always going to look like easy targets.
The game this time was tug of war and could only be played in teams of two. However, given that there was only one card available as the prize, it meant that whoever you teamed up with, you would have to be in cooperation afterward to decide its fate. Which was something this game also seemed to encourage: strategic alliances. But this could also result in a constant tension between teamwork and self-interest.
"Smart design," Sakura murmured as they signed up. "Forces players to negotiate even after victory."
"Yeah, but we don't have that problem," Gon said brightly. "We're already a team!"
The tournament bracket displayed on a large board showed sixteen pairs competing. Sakura studied their opponents; some looked like seasoned players, others were clearly newcomers trying their luck.
Sakura, Gon, and Killua made their way through the rounds easily. It didn't matter how many, or how big, or whatever tactics; there was no match for their raw strength that had proven to be enough to win this game. Even with using Nen as an enhancement, it was next to impossible to go against Sakura's chakra-driven power. Gon and Killua's developed strength from pushing sixty-ton gates wasn't anything to trifle with either.
Almost tossing the teams over the line and into the audience stands became a pattern. Biscuit found it amusing to watch as their opponents would dig in their heels, muscles straining, then suddenly find themselves airborne.
At the end of the day, they were on that stage, in front of the crowds, announced as the winners of that month's prize. The Paladin's necklace.
It was only a drank card with over 80, but the player who wore the necklace would be able to cast the spell Reflect, meaning that they can repel spells that are cast directly onto them, and they can also undo the transform or fake spell on cards to reveal the truth.
This is great!" Sakura exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "Now, when we exchange with players, we won't get scammed!"
She'd been worrying about that exact vulnerability without a way to verify cards; they were sitting ducks for anyone with Transform or Fake in their spell collection.
"Kinda strange that we can only get this card once a year," Gon pointed out, turning the card over in his hands with a frown. "So if we change it back into the necklace, we can't turn it into a card again. Is it worth it?"
"It's D-rank," Killua said, like the answer should've been obvious. "That means we can use Recycle on this card."
Of course. Sakura mentally kicked herself for not thinking of it first. The spell card system had specific rules. D-rank and below could be duplicated with the right spell.
"Who's going to wear it?" Sakura asked, looking between the boys.
"You do it, Gon," Killua said without hesitation. "Then you can hold onto the cards as well."
"Really? Thanks you're the best Killua!" Gon slipped the necklace over his head.
Killua rubbed his nose, looking away with poorly concealed embarrassment. "Seriously, how can you just say that kinda stuff...Anyway, where do we go next?"
"I already told you, we're going to the gambling town of Dorias," Biscuit chimed in. "There's a way to get three new cards there."
"And how do you know that?"
She gave a sinister smile, "I didn't just spend all that time in Masadora dwaddling."
While Biscuit hadn't been open to helping them with training any more than giving them the necessary instruction, that didn't mean she was going to let all of them fall behind as players. They all shared one common goal: to clear the game. And while they were training, she was picking up the slack for the main quests. She gathered information, approaching players with the facade of a scared little girl who just wanted to return to the real world, and they took the bait every time.
"You just like scamming people, don't you, hag?"
Sakura moved away instinctively as Killua was sent flying through the air again.
"You never learn, do you?" Sakura called out, smiling.
..
..
With the Paladin's necklace in their arsenal, more cards had fallen in what seemed to be easy mode into their laps. They managed to exchange with players for a witch's love potion, risky dice, and a memory helmet. And while they had taken this as a simple task now, Biscuit knew it was far from the truth. It was their training that had turned the task of running a marathon into a stroll.
"We have one memory helmet, four witch's love potions, three king white stag beetles, four gold dust girls, and one paladin's necklace."
They decided to take inventory of their special slot cards, so they knew what they had and could exchange them for.
"We've got everything we can get for now. The gold dust girl was pretty funny. She got locked up when you guys went in."
"Yeah, not sure how that worked." Sakura rubbed the back of her neck.
"We have more dice than we could convert into cards," Gon noted, holding up some risky dice. Sakura closed his fist quickly, wrapping her hand around it with a nervous tick of her eyebrow.
"Gon, maybe don't shake those things. You remember the rules about them."
"Oh yeah."
"Let's get more cards. I want to use our spare cards as soon as possible."
Sakura took out the witch's love potion that they had turned back into an item. Several pills filled the bottle in her hands.
"This card allows the caster to make someone fall in love with them. The activation requirement is that you first kiss the pill, and then you have your target ingest it. Providing these two conditions are met, the target will fall in love with you. Each pill lasts one week. Each vial contains 500 pills." Sakura squinted. "You don't think this actually works, do you?"
"Should we find out?" Gon asked curiously.
"NO!" Biscuit said, swiping the bottle from Sakura's hands and tucking it away. "No one's messing with these things. Got it?"
Just then, there was the sound of beeping, a familiar chime that came from someone's binder. It was Gon's. He opened and turned to the back, while Killua, Biscuit, and Sakura gathered around to see the message that had appeared on the back. A player had cast Fluroscopy on him. Allowing a player to view all restricted slots of a player they had previously been in contact with. However, Gon had the option to cancel it with the Blackout curtain.
"Blackout curtain on!" Gon called, holding out the spell card. It vanished into a puff of smoke, but they knew it had taken effect. That's when the binder started to ring again, only this time it was someone attempting to cast Contact.
"Hey, it's been a long time, Gon."
"Who is this. I'm not sure we've met before," Gon said bluntly. Truly unfamiliar with the voice, but Sakura did not misplace them just yet.
"He's one of those guys who tried to steal the sword of truth from us in Antokiba." Sakura decided to take a jab. "The one with the stupid hat,"
"Oh, I know that voice, can't poison me from over here, little girl."
"You got an acompany on you Gon?" Sakura asked, speaking towards the book.
"What do you want?" Gon asked.
"You've gotten better. What kind of magic do you use?"
"Hard work."
"Hahaha, Okay. Do you want to trade? I have card 66. Witch's diet pills, and card 27, Book of VIP passes. Discuss with your partners. It's been two minutes, so I'll give you a minute to think about it."
There was no doubt they were going to take the offer. It wouldn't be practical to let this chance go. They agreed to take Book of VIP passes in exchange for one of their witch's love potions. Nothing much else came from this exchange, not even words when the group arrived for the swap. Gn handled it and checked the card to make sure nothing was cast. In the end, everyone walked away with what they wanted.
"We've got seven types of cards in just three days," Gon smiled at his binder.
"We'll have even more cards once we get to Dorias," said Killua.
Hey, love
So, you just read that chapter.
And now you're sitting there. Staring at the screen. And thinking about bookmarking till the next update?
Well you don't have to wait.
Right now, over on my Ko-fi, there are 3-6 chapters ahead of what's publicly posted. That means that moment you're dreading or hoping for Sakura? It's already written. Sakura has already walked through what comes next and I promise you, she does not disappoint.
What's waiting for you over there:
The chapter directly after this one
The plot reveal I've been building toward since chapter one
3–6 full chapters to binge
And coming soon: My author notes-the unhinged behind-the-scenes commentary only Ko-fi readers get.
I write this story because I love Sakura the way you love Sakura.
If this story has lived in your head rent-free, made you feel things you weren't ready for, or made you want to throw your phone across the room in the best possible way the early access chapters are for you.
Thank you for reading.
Check out the SCHEDULE POSTS On Tumblr, and if you like my stories, want to give me some extra support to help the creations of new stories and can't wait for the latest chapters consider joining me as a special member of my seedling troupe:
TYPE: Katsura369 into the Search Bar Or www. Tumblr . com / blog / katsura369
EARLY CHAPTERS FOR MEMBERS NOW: BUYMEACOFFEE
-Kunoichi amongst Heroes chapter (103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108)
-Kunoichi amongst Pirates chapter (47, 48, 49)
-Crossroads of Fate chapter (39, 40, 41, 42)
-Through the Looking Glass chapter (53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58)
- (Bleach crossover) Kunoichi amongst Reapers: (4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-Commission: Demon slayer x My hero academia (PART 1 & 2)
- Kunoichi amongst Benders (Avatar x Naruto crossover) (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
-Kunoichi amongst Heroes WHAT IF SPIN OFF: Dorms and Exams
-SPECIAL HALLOWEEN CHAPTER: Shinigami amongst Shinobi
THANKS FOR TUNING IN BUT NOW I'VE GOTTA TUNE OUT