LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 12: Lady’s Vow
Middle School: Freshman Year
Lady logged into Empires Online early in the morning before school, nobody else from his empire was playing at the time. He accessed his empire's vault and removed all the funds before logging off. One of the features that many players had complained about was the lack of logged activity in the game. In order to save memory. Many actions weren't logged or stored and couldn’t be viewed by players.
This also applied to an empire's vault meaning players could deposit or take things but nobody would know who did it. This was part of the reason that only three members of an empire could access the vault, the empire’s leader, co-leader, and treasurer. It was a system built on trust and unfortunately for Anna and Michael, they both had placed their trust in Lady.
He walked to school and the day continued as normal. He barely paid attention to any of the lectures. He couldn’t wait to get home. At Lunch, he made sure to sit near Anna and Michael's table in order to listen in on their conversion. The two had grown even closer over the past few weeks thanks to the time they spent playing Empires Online with LadyKiller and the charade they kept up with online while pretending to be dating. If things had continued like that, it’s certain that the two childhood friends would soon actually start dating but that would never come to pass.
“Are you ready for the upcoming ranked war Anna?” Michael asked. “Yea, Ladykiller gave me some leftover enhanced mithril so I should be able to craft new armor before it starts.” Anna replied. Her excitement was palpable. “Oh, is little miss MagicalGirlLover really ready for war?” He chuckled. She flashed a pouty expression and pounded her small fists against his chest. “I told you not to call me that in school, Idiot. I told you it was just a random name, It doesn’t mean anything.” Michal smiled as he grabbed her hands, stopping her weak and playful punches. “Sure, sure. Just keep telling yourself that.”
Lady watched them talk for a while longer before leaving the cafeteria and heading back to the classroom. Their sugary atmosphere was nauseating but he had to ensure their relationship was progressing. His plan wouldn’t be nearly as satisfying unless he tore them down at their highest. The rest of the day was a blur as Lady sat through the rest of his classes. He arrived home and immediately booted up his computer.
Just like most afternoons, MagicalGirlLover and HadesKnight673 were already on by the time he got home. He joined the two of them and decided to play through a few matches before he enacted his plan. There was a pleasant atmosphere between the three as they amicably chatted and fought monsters in the game. Finally though, It was time. Lady began typing in the chat
LadyKiller: Hey, did either of you touch the stuff in the vault, It’s empty rn
HadesKnight673: No, I haven't touched it
MagicalGirlLover: Me neither
LadyKiller: Well unless it’s a glitch, someone removed everything
MagicalGirlLover: Are you sure you didn’t just take it out and forget?
LadyKiller: Of course not. Listen, if you guys did it, just fess up, I won’t be mad.
HadesKnight673: Damn you’re right. Everything is gone. I swear I didn’t touch it. It was probably MGL, she might have done it on accident or something
MagicalGirlLover: What, I’m not that stupid, If anyone did it, It was probably you. You're always bragging to your friends about all the stuff you have in game.
HadesKnight673: Yea, and you just happened to get promoted to TREASURER the day before our vault is looted
MagicalGirlLover: Why the hell would I steal something in this stupid game. I’m only playing because you begged me to sign up and pretend to be your girlfriend to impress some guy online
HadesKnight673: Liar
LadyKiller: Please stop fighting, I lost 12mil Gold. I don’t care who did it or why. Even if you already spent it, please just tell me so we can get this sorted out.
HadesKnight673: I swear I didn’t do it dude. Just kick her. She probably stole it.
MagicalGirlLover: Calm the **** down. It’s just a video game
By this point, Lady just sat back and watched as their relationship devolved. Neither of them suspected that Lady was the one who had taken everything out of the vault. Why would he after all, Nearly everything in it was donated by him to begin with. Not only that but he was the one that had helped the two when they first started playing. He had given them high level gear for free, carried them through low level areas and boss fights, given them advice about how to get better, and much more.
He was their best friend online and someone they both trusted. Why would he betray them? Simply because he hated them. Their argument had devolved even further at this point, MagicalGirlLover had been banned for the overuse of explicit language in chat and HadesKnight673 was one-sidedly attacking her. It was beautiful. After a while, they both logged off.
So far, everything had gone to plan, that was until lunch the next day. SMACK. A slap echoed through the cafeteria. Anna had just hit Michael across the face. There was blood dripping from his nose. He looked up at her in awe. “What the hell was that for you bitch!” He yelled. “You did it didn’t you?” She asked while shaking “You lied to him and told him I was your girlfriend, You lied to him and told him I stole everything. All you do is lie because you only care about yourself.”
Michael stood up and shoved her back causing her to fall. “Shut the Fuck up you liar. You’re just jealous aren't you. Because I was spending so much time with him online, you wanted to ruin that right.” By now, there were students circling the two and filming the argument. Lady hadn’t expected things to progress so fast. Anna stood up and punched Michael in the face. Two girls grabbed her and pulled her back. Several boys also held back Michael who was preparing to retaliate. By this point, the teachers had arrived and were pushing their way through the crowd to break up the two.
Michael and Anna were absent the rest of the week. The next Monday, Anna had returned but Michael was still gone. Lady soon overheard that he had transferred schools. Anna’s friends had stopped talking to her at school and she was largely ignored by the other students. Everyday, Lady would attend school and every night, he would stare blankly at the computer as he received messages from MagicalGirlLover.
MagicalGirlLover: Please, I didn’t do it
MagicalGirlLover: Please believe me
MagicalGirlLover: I’m sorry
MagicalGirlLover: I can pay you, just tell me how much
MagicalGirlLover: Please, don’t leave me
Was this what he had wanted? Was this how things were supposed to go? Why did Michael and Anna care so much about him online? Why did they trust him so much?
Suddenly, realization hit Lady like a truck and he began to cry. The bonds he had forged between the three of him had seemed so superficial to Lady but to Anna and Michael, they were real. All of the conversations he had with them about anime and video games were not just the lines of a play he had been performing to move the characters through the acts but were his honest thoughts and feelings.
The two of them had created a genuine friendship with him and enjoyed the time they spent with him online. Lady didn’t realize it at the time but he had as well. He had fun. His goal to bring the three of them closer together had then break those bonds had succeeded. He had gotten his revenge. So why did it hurt so much?
He cried as he muttered to himself through tears “It’s not fair.” Why did the two of them have to become his friends online? It was all supposed to be fake, so when did he actually start to care about them? Lady sat there and drowned in the overwhelming sea of conflicting emotions. As he sunk further and further into the abyss, a sudden sound pulled him back to the surface. It was the sound of a notification in Empires Online
MagicalGirlLover: Please
Just one word. That was all it took to change Lady. He knew that revenge wouldn’t help him. The past few weeks were not enjoyable because he was progressing his plan for revenge but because he had managed to make friends online. Now he had hurt those friends. He had hurt Anna and ripped her away from her friends and the person she loved. He didn’t want to hurt anyone like that ever again. As he wiped the tears from his eyes, he typed out a message.
LadyKiller: I believe you.
At that moment, Lady decided that he would be friends with her online. Regardless of how she treated him in real life, he wouldn’t abandon her. Lady would replace the people in her life that he had taken away. He would atone what he had done by enduring whatever she did to him. Maybe his resolve was a sign of kindness, maybe weakness. It mattered not. On that day, Lady vowed to never leave her side as LadyKiller and never reveal that he was Lady.
