[Death Knell(+220/-218)]
[+1 Con. Qi]
[-30 -Resentment]
[+30 Resentment]
[+10 Karma]
[Last Rites II Enhanced(+220/-218)]
[+1 Con. Qi]
[+1000 +Resentment]
[+1000 Karma]
[Ghost Pot: +220/-0]
[Resentment: +2235580/-201134]
[Current Condensed Qi: 1835929/26892626]
[Current Qi: 604170/957945100]
[Current Karma: 107570507/234520515]
The naked dirt encrusted figure stops screaming. Their head comes down, eyes gaining a hint of life as they slowly focus. The eyes dart around. The figure notices me. I remember I glow in the dark.
Oh... That was a bad idea.
-I’m about to pop,- I squeak into a resounding silence. -Oh, this was a bad idea...-
“Help me,” the possibly not corpse rasps and I lose my shit.
I come to in my void screaming in a mind melting rainbow, crab walking backwards.
-What the fuck was that!-
Silent Howl:
Remember Sorrow’s Roost?
Someone’s trying to create lasting Resentment.
You should farm it.
I recoil so hard I gag. Holy, shit. That’s impressive. I didn’t even know I could gag physically. I know I’ve done it a lot mentally, but the flesh just didn’t. I’d do a little mouth flutter and push away with my arms and legs, but this is an actual gag. Not just a choking on something coming out or trying to go in.
-Focus!- Little Corpse snaps, pacing with his teeth bared.
-Ha! No...- I squish down and start grooming. Gonna be clean and empty... -*M’yup.
- ? Not gonna think... Gotta get cleaner... ? -
- ? Gonna get cleaner, cleaner, ? -
- ? cleanercleanercleaner! ? -
-Stop!- Little Corpse growls, trying to pull my grooming arms away from my body.
Dumbass.
The arms are just to move the mess to the mouth. I curl up and directly comb my silk with my mouth bits, using my other legs to part, shift, and collect. It’s easier with the comb arms, but they’re not the main part of the process.
-Inversely, cleanliness is emptiness, and I’m working on it!- I murmur, encouraging myself to ignore him. -Wiping away all the bad thoughts... It worked in Thousand Valleys...-
-Tch! Didn’t you say they used you as a filter?- Little Corpse grunts, trying to wrestle me for some reason. I think I count as a girl too, so why doesn’t he just go after them?
-Yeah, but you have to get away from the bad thoughts first,- I remind him while trying hard not to remind myself what bad thoughts I’m washing away. -There’s just food here. And a bed. Oh, gods, and people...!-
I panic as I remember that the whole point was to get away from hunans, and now they’re in my void. Again! Didn’t I stop bringing them in? Fack! I should have got the Death Moths! Where’s Granin?!
-Calm down!-
-Fuck you, snowflake!- I try to shed scales and Essence as quickly as I can, the world going less kaleidoscope and more emo palette. -Why aren’t I getting notifications for Scale Cloud?! Miasma up your ass! Go flesh melting dust! Get re-customised! Enjoy character creation, bitch!-
-*You’d have to change your rules so that your minions are affected by your nonsense in your void,*- the fack face in the shitty armor says, hitting all the me’s super hard in his little snark off.
... Wait. I slowly stop struggling. This is my void. I moved from the Emperor’s reach and no one else has figured out how to override my permissions. I can set an auto-kick rule!
I gasp and buzz in excitement, wondering why I’m hearing boss music for myself, -- I have a theme song? Does it have lyrics or is it just this percussion instrumental? -- and set a new rule.
-Auto kick all hunans!- I crow, relaxing as I wait for the dude and his girlfriends to piss off.
And they don’t.
Yet.
They all look distracted. Wait! Something’s happening! The girls, -- why’s that sound familiar. Me and the girls getting booze-y? Oh! The wine cook-off! Right. -- and the armored fuck face get up. The girls start cleaning up a table while the armored dude carries me inside. Through an empty room that needs to be decorated, -- seriously, this place has no personality, -- into a hallway, into a back bedroom.
-Da fuq you think you’re going to do back here?- I don’t have holes and any ones I will have are gonna have teeth. Prepare to be surprised, future sister.
-Rest,- he says, tucking me into the bed. That’s new. -We’ll report the Resentment generator.-
The fuck did he just call me? I watch as he somberly marches out of the room.
That’s right. You better run... I yawn and start nodding off, curling up and idly grooming myself.
I wake up on full alert. I look to my Logs, find out I startled myself because I was going to remember, and meditate on, the Resentment farm torture dungeon I accidentally went to, then just stop reading and stare off in blank annoyance that I can casually read up on things my brain is actively trying to protect me from.
-This is bullshit!-
Now my brain feels like it’s sizzling. Fack! I drone loudly while going back through my logs to find this torture dungeon bullshit.
Looking for Broken Servants. Why? Scroll back. Wanted to find more Little Corpses. Why? He’s cool and all, but what compelled me to actually get up and go looking. He can’t read.
-Okay?-
He can’t read and I thought this was awesome why? Scroll back. I graduated from Graves to Mausoleums. ... Wuh?
-Oh!- I passed the test to go from the outer court to the inner court, but they’re all morbid sum biscuits, so it goes from basic bish graves in a graveyard to buildings.
Yeah, but then what happened?
Oh! He did the PR thing. Cool. Girls and I ate. They’ve been touching my antenna, I just assumed they didn’t notice. Fack.
Observation join Self-preservation. Yes, right over there. Thank you.
Da fuq is an “Immortal Dragon Pearl”?
[Ghost Pot: +420/-0]
[Resentment: +1235580/-201234]
[Current Condensed Qi: 1836049/26892651]
[Current Qi: 503970/957945100]
[Current Karma: 107570507/234520515]
[Resentment Wallet: 200C.St.,113R.Sl.,228R.Sh.,0D.M.R.N.,1D.P.]
[Mortal Wallet: 12E,692K,180P,697R,179Da,258De,2605k]
[Spirit Wallet: 0Dr,0Ph,0Th,1325Di,126Co,10679St]
Yep, it’s in my wallet. Scroll back.
-How much?!-
Fack! Wait. That was my reaction last time, too. Heh.
So I got brain addled by a fear and rage Resentment miasma dungeon? All the kink shaming. Every microscopic fragment of it. Not an evil sect my ass.
No. Wait.
-Motherfuckers... There’s always gotta be one!-
Always! That casual Friday shows up in a wife beater and a speedo dipshit. That wannabe stripper-tard that shows up in a fishnet body-stocking and a thong on Halloween. Gods, why?!
You need Resentment. Go out into this Resentment Realm to collect it. Then someone goes, “but what if I...?” and pulls this shit. Ugh!
-You sound awake, but you don’t look any different...- Little Corpse says, peeking his head in around the door before just looming in the doorway.
-Why the fuck would I look different?- I snap at him, not at all amused by not remembering all this assery to the point where I have to go back and get pissed off all over again.
-You went up a Realm.-
Did I? Is that why I can’t remember anything?
Silent Howl:
Before you check, you went up a sub-realm.
Remember how your Realms have an upper and Lower?
You did mutate, but it cost a bit...
-And you changed your silk from Celestial Silk to Karmic. You gather and shed Resentment better now. Your scales are still Essence storage, but now a few are for Regard and Resentment.-
-What?- I look down to see that I’m all ebony all day with sparkles of dark glitter and the occasional flash of pearl. -*So if I get pissed off I change fortunes now?
-Wait...- I narrow my eyes already seeing the planet sized turd heading my way. -How much did changing my silk cost?-
Fuck whatever they’re saying! I can’t hear right now! Logs!
One-million positive Resentment so that I can hold 500 willing souls, -- I’m tapped out at 420, and all of my good feelings are going up in smoke, -- and one-thousand unwilling souls. Because clearly we can’t have nice things, but I can take all the garbage I can hold? What is this bullshit? Still feeding me garbage?
Silent Howl:
And you went out looking for more.
You were hoping to find more hidden murdered cultivators.
You might have found how they’re made.
I grunt and keep reading, because what else? How else was I fu-cucked? Pretty sure it’s not over yet. I just woke up from it not being over yet. What else did I forget or miss?
Graduated, unlocked 200 good, 500 bad, girls gave me +20 on good. So that’s 220 and 500 from the Sect and the girls, then the rest I read was from going up a Realm to the same Realm... Tch.
Lost 2 million positive Resentment on a Pearl, -- whoo? Don’t know what it’s for, -- and on upgrading from 200 and 500 to 500 and 1k. Did some Qi condensing, that’s useful, didn’t accept a Patron, but Little Corpse was networking with the other Grave Lords, which pissed off Widow’s Sigh, and we saw Heart’s Disarray.
You know what? I need a win.
-Everyone pack up! We’re going to curb stomp someone,- I call out, staring in disgust at my spotless void of a body knowing I’m about to get dusty AF, so why all the hard work?
-Silent Howl wants us to remind you that you can get a win by clearing out the Resentment Dungeon,- one of the girls says and I bristle and gnash my mouth bits at her.
-People are hell! Why would I want more hunans in my void?- I snap.
-Not in here. Dump them in the inner grounds. The place where we were going to have the manor? The place with the shops?- Little Corpse says as he double checks his armor.
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Release a bunch of trapped people who were tortured in a dungeon naked and filthy in the middle of the wealthy part of town? We’d be bringing attention to an injustice and helping get them to people who can help. Who knows? Maybe some of these people went missing.
-Let’s do our good deed for the day!-
-Can we visit the monks afterwards? To find out more about Regard and Dragon Pearls?- Little Corpse asks quietly.
Tch. I guess I am being kinda a dick, but hunans started it! And they keep doing shit!
-Well, we’re not hunans, we’re your Ghosts!- one of the girls snaps, pouting and standing off to the side.
-Could’ve fooled me...- I grumble. Who keeps treating who like a lap pet?
-Enough,- Little Corpse barks, glaring at the two girls. He makes sure to make contact with both of them until they look away, and I wonder if this is some dominance thing or if they’re in trouble for playing tea party and not killing things. -If they keep refusing to fulfil their end of the contract, they’ll eventually weaken down to Broken Servant level,- Little Corpse points out.
-So the plan is for us to transfer over, and transfer people to the courtyard of the Sect Grounds?- Technically the Grounds weren’t the elite area, it just wasn’t the Hovels.
-Transfer, take everything, and transfer people to the courtyard of the Sect Grounds,- Little Corpse clarifies.
-I can get onboard with that,- I stammer, trying to smother a growing panic. -So I go in, ring ring ring, drum away, and you guys will start freeing people?-
-Let’s try it,- Little Corpse shrugs. -If it doesn’t work out, we transfer out.-
-Ready?- I ask while idly cleaning my combing legs.
Silent Howl:
Go already!
[Death Knell(+420/-218)]
[+1 Con. Qi]
[-30 -Resentment]
[+30 Resentment]
[+10 Karma]
[Last Rites II Enhanced(+420/-218)]
[+1 Con. Qi]
[+1000 +Resentment]
[+1000 Karma]
[Ghost Pot: +420/-0]
[Resentment: +3441610/-204043]
[Current Condensed Qi: 1836052/26892905]
[Current Qi: 503960/957945100]
[Current Karma: 107571622/234520515]
I transfer us out, start up the drums, and tone. Wait, I have to start the drums now? I focus on the drum thing while Little Corpse frees the person who won’t stop staring at me. I approve a transfer to the Courtyard of the Vengeful Ghost Sect mountain village Grounds, -- there’s more than one? -- and Little Corpse is gone, along with the person who was in the chains on the ground.
Yoink. I bank the chains after the girls pull them from the wall, and then we get to work.
[Death Knell(+420/-218)]
[+1 Con. Qi]
[-30 -Resentment]
[+30 Resentment]
[+10 Karma]
[Last Rites II Enhanced(+420/-218)]
[+1 Con. Qi]
[+1000 +Resentment]
[+1000 Karma]
[Ghost Pot: +420/-0]
[Resentment: +3547640/-204890]
[Current Condensed Qi: 1836055/26893159]
[Current Qi: 503950/957945100]
[Current Karma: 107572637/234520515]
The girls pull the chains from the walls, inhaling enough Resentment to weaken them, exhaling the Resentment into their little purses. Are they going to give that Resentment to me or hold onto it so they don’t have to worry about their contract? One of them pouts, stomping her foot but neither of them look at me before they go back to work.
[Death Knell(+420/-218)]
[+1 Con. Qi]
[-30 -Resentment]
[+30 Resentment]
[+10 Karma]
[Last Rites II Enhanced(+420/-218)]
[+1 Con. Qi]
[+1000 +Resentment]
[+1000 Karma]
[Ghost Pot: +420/-0]
[Resentment: +3547640/-204890]
[Current Condensed Qi: 1836065/26893171]
[Current Qi: 503850/957945100]
[Current Karma: 107572687/234520515]
Little Corpse comes back, breaking the chains free from wrists, ankles, necks, or weird half-skull masks that cover up the top half of heads, blinding people, or the bottom half, muting them. I don’t blame the girls for just pulling the chains out of the walls. Not sure what would happen if the people noticed they weren’t corpses.
[Death Knell(+420/-218)]
[+1 Con. Qi]
[-30 -Resentment]
[+30 Resentment]
[+10 Karma]
[Last Rites II Enhanced(+420/-218)]
[+1 Con. Qi]
[+1000 +Resentment]
[+1000 Karma]
[Ghost Pot: +420/-0]
[Resentment: +5228670/-205812]
[Current Condensed Qi: 1836073/26893431]
[Current Qi: 503790/957945100]
[Current Karma: 107573727/234520515]
But why am I losing Karma? Logs say...? I’m losing Karma for gathering Resentment? But I gain Karma from --. Ah... The sect breathing technique. Or is it because I’ve advanced in the Sect? Or is it because I’ve got so much Resentment? Fack! How do I filter to find out.
-You’re losing Karma because we’re dumping the people in the Sect grounds instead of taking them to the monks,- Little Corpse says before transfering off with his next load.
I freeze. Didn’t know that was an option. Well.
[Death Knell(+420/-218)]
[+1 Con. Qi]
[-30 -Resentment]
[+30 Resentment]
[+10 Karma]
[Last Rites II Enhanced(+420/-218)]
[+1 Con. Qi]
[+1000 +Resentment]
[+1000 Karma]
[Ghost Pot: +420/-0]
[Resentment: +5859700/-206684]
[Current Condensed Qi: 1836081/26893691]
[Current Qi: 503730/957945100]
[Current Karma: 107574767/234520515]
-We can gather them in the square, they’re being treated for now, and then we can take them all to the monks at once,- Little Corpse suggests.
Oh, my gods, can we double dip? I squeal in excitement and pride. That’s how to min-max! Make a fuss, tell on everyone, then take them to safety? As long as no one else comes for the free samples...
-I’m on it,- Little Corpse sighs. -*You’ll have to break the chains and transfer them to the monks. Not Sorrow’s Roost!*- he says pointedly.
-Go to where the monks are so I can find out where that is,- I tell him before I bend down and eat a mouthful of definitely not dirt and rust. -Why?!-
-You can come back to this spot now,- Little Corpse nods. -It’s a much better marker than just telling yourself you’ve been here.-
Mouth full of cinnamon. It’s just cinnamon. Not choking, yay. Just. Cinnamon.
[Death Knell(+420/-218)]
[+1 Con. Qi]
[-30 -Resentment]
[+30 Resentment]
[+10 Karma]
[Last Rites II Enhanced(+420/-218)]
[+1 Con. Qi]
[+1000 +Resentment]
[+1000 Karma]
[Ghost Pot: +420/-0]
[Resentment: +5965730/-207531]
[Current Condensed Qi: 1836084/26893945]
[Current Qi: 503720/957945100]
[Current Karma: 107575782/234520515]
-Cursed Soil...- Little Corpse says, crumbling the red not-clay in his hands before dusting them off. -Keep an eye on her,- Little Corpse tells the girls before moving away.
How does he leave without making a transfer request?
-He’s had a marker for a while,- one of the girls mumbles through a pout.
-And you’ve counted as one for a while,- the other girl grumbles.
News to me.
Simple farmer murdered by evil cultist learning advanced movement techniques and magic says what?
-What,- Little Corpse chuckles. -I’m here. Some of the new monks aren’t happy. Start sending them over.-
-Yeah, but how?- I can’t leave the girls here by themselves, and we need someone at the square to keep a headcount.
-Upgrade the other servants, please,- Little Corpse says, and I realize I’ve never even meet the other six.
-Four,- one of the girls says.
-Two didn’t make it,- one girl says in a tone that says they did something offended or got stomped as stress relievers.
Huh. Did not realize those evoke the same flat tone. Meh.
[Death Knell(+420/-218)]
[+1 Con. Qi]
[-30 -Resentment]
[+30 Resentment]
[+10 Karma]
[Last Rites II Enhanced(+420/-218)]
[+1 Con. Qi]
[+1000 +Resentment]
[+1000 Karma]
[Ghost Pot: +420/-0]
[Resentment: +6071760/-208378]
[Current Condensed Qi: 1836087/26894199]
[Current Qi: 503710/957945100]
[Current Karma: 107576797/234520515]
-Can’t they just take Ghost Soldier corpses from storage?- I don’t wanna pump up some randos. They might not be hunans, but they sure as hells aren’t my familiars.
-That’s what felt off,- Little Corpse says, appearing next to me with a small squad of Corpse Soldiers. -These are your four Ghost Servants. They’ve been taking care of keeping your pot clean, handling the dragons that escape, and keeping the grounds from becoming overgrown.-
Pffft. Not my servants.
-Who’s in charge? Me, Little Corpse, or the two girls over there?- I ask, all four immediately pointing at Little Corpse. The girls sputter and Little Corpse rolls his eyes. -Whoever would have guessed...?-
Little Corpse stares at me and I smirk while trying very hard not to focus on what I’m seeing. He looks up, looks back at me, then turns around to see the four pointing at him, all while wearing the same flat expression. He slaps at their hands, trying to get them to point at me, but they all just lower their arms and take respectful steps back.
-I don’t know them and they don’t know me,- I point out to him. -I don’t know if I’ve been sustaining their Resentment levels, but I have a feeling you’ve been paying them with stones, yeah?- No one’s come to me for shit with their independent asses using up my resources. I get to see the “oh, shit” look as his body tenses but his face goes slack. -Yeah, so, Mr. Undead Corpse Manipulator. Get your shit together and have your guys help out.-
-I’m so sorry,- Little Corpse groans, burying his face in his hands.
-I’m not. Less work for me!- I raise my forelegs and wander into my void. -People to help the girls, people to watch the square, and you can deal with the monks. ? Have fun! ? -
-I’ll get on it,- Little Corpse sighs, before I’m standing in my void with a random Corpse Soldier. -He’ll be waiting on you.-
-I can take care of myself! Thank you,- I shriek before turning to thank the Corpse Soldier as he shuffles the dishes on the table around to move them closer to me while adding more to the other side. -Okay, yeah, thanks...-
-Aunty hasn’t been able to revoke my permissions in the Inner Void, so thank you,- Little Corpse sends back and I’m stuck between eating and trying to figure out what Aunty’s game is. -Tch! Eat in the dungeon so you can keep Purifying it!-
He’s got a point. The dude with no expression just starts disappearing dishes. Mm’kay... I take a peek at the Logs to find out how and he’s got permissions under Little Corpse’s permissions, and his name is Demon Claw.
-*Why?*- I ask Little Corpse while I make a Gate for the group to retreat into when they get too... Resentment-y.
The Corpse Soldier tasked with helping the girls stops removing chains to help Demon Claw move the table and food. The girls also stop to move the table and food. I don’t stop staring at them trying to figure out why the food is suddenly so important or are they just taking a break from the depression?
-Keeping you fed keeps us able to stay longer to gather more Resentment,- one of the girls reminds me, the two men quietly murmuring agreement.
-Fair enough,- I acknowledge while eating out of one of the dishes. I can feel, and see, -- not wearing a mask, asshole, -- the disgusted judgement of one of the Corpse Soldiers attending me. -How are you going to serve me and get mad when I enjoy the food?-
[Death Knell(+420/-218)]
[+1 Con. Qi]
[-30 -Resentment]
[+30 Resentment]
[+10 Karma]
[Last Rites II Enhanced(+420/-218)]
[+1 Con. Qi]
[+1000 +Resentment]
[+1000 Karma]
[Ghost Pot: +420/-0]
[Resentment: +6177790/-209225]
[Current Condensed Qi: 1836090/26894453]
[Current Qi: 503700/957945100]
[Current Karma: 107577812/234520515]
The two servants are blasted backwards, disappearing in a cloud of Resentment before crashing down in my void, just beyond the Gate.
-Ah...- Guess they don’t have immunity. -Oops.-
And they really aren’t my servants. I stole the bodies, but I didn’t steal the... Servants... But I stole the spirits of the previous Corpse Soldiers. I stole someone’s Ghosts!
-Little Corpse! Did you rob me!-
Did he really steal them from me? Accidentally or on purpose? Accidentally on purpose? Wait. Who do the girls serve?
