━━━━━━ POV ━━━━━━━
It didn't take long for the entirety of New Leaf to learn of greatly shocking news.
"Psst, did you hear? The Demon King's an NPC!!"
"Bro, why are you whispering? Everyone fucking knows!"
"This is so damn confusing! He's not a player anymore?!"
"Never was. Still, why is our village the only one with a hidden NPC?!"
This last question rested on everyone's mind. What exactly made New Leaf special, and where had the Demon King come from.
The answer was obvious: Seraphine! It had to be her doing, right?!
Everyone wanted to interrogate her, but she had disappeared. Was she laying low? What secrets did she hide? They needed to know!
As for the D.L. members, they were suddenly so damn proud of the Holy Pink One. The cultists had been right about her all along. She really was special!
But the one people wanted to see the most was Jack.
There were tons of players camping at the spot he had logged out. They simply couldn't sit still as they awaited his glorious return!
As he appeared in a flash of purple, the entire village echoed with cheers.
"G-guys, he's back!! The Demon King's back!!!"
"Damn, this purple glow is as awesome as ever!"
"Where is he going when he disappears if he's an NPC?!"
They wanted nothing more than to swarm him to ask so many questions, but they knew better. Hell, there was already an army of cultists coming cover to defend him.
Many couldn't help but chuckle. A bodyguard for the Demon King was about as useful as ice skates in the desert!
Jack'O glanced at them all before giving a small smile.
"Oh? You guys prepared a welcoming ceremony? How nice." He chuckled before adding.
"Still, you guys sure are bored to be waiting here. Or did you need something? I'm afraid I'll be busy…." He frowned.
How could he act so freaking casually?! Bored?! Did he not know the commotion he had caused?! But then they realized the issue: an NPC couldn't see the promotional videos!
None dared stop him as he began walking, heading for the Training grounds.
The players were akin to tiny duckling as they diligently followed behind, watching his every move with rapt attention.
Eventually, they reached the Chicken Arena.
There was a super VIP section in the back that had access to. He casually stepped in, leaving his stalkers stuck outside.
"What do you think he's gonna do there?"
"Maybe take back the Arena? After all, the Chief confiscated it."
"Will there be another fight or something?! Can the village even survive— Damn!"
The man suddenly stopped talking as all the players showed shocked expressions. Every key figure in the village was coming over!
There was that CPR dude, that crazy cultist guy, and all the fucking NPCs! They were all well-dressed and appeared incredibly solemn!
Even the Village Chief was there! His face twitched non-stop, and he seemed to have a murderous glint in his eyes. Would he directly attack the Demon King?!
"Can you feel the tension?!"
"Of course, I can! This looks like a post-war meeting."
"Sparks are bound to fly. Heck, maybe the war will resume!"
They couldn't help but gulp as they awaited the results. This could quickly turn ugly. What if the Village Chief and the Demon King clashed again?! Oh god!
They held their breath, picturing how crazy everything must be inside. Would there be another Devil apocalypse? They trembled with fear and excitement…
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
An incredibly tense meeting was ongoing in a dark room deep inside the Chicken Arena. There was currently a stand-off, with neither party willing to give up.
"Are you out of your fucking mind?! There's no way that people will accept that! "
"I should ask you the same. We need to save those poor ignorant fools and show them salvation! Everyone needs to understand the Demon King's greatness!"
"What you're proposing is madness! At this rate, we'll be nothing more than a goddamn cult!"
"What is wrong with you?! We ARE a cult! We worship the Demon King, so of course people will call us one! So what?! We are the enlightened ones!"
"Some of us just want to play the fucking game! Stop trying to brainwash the other players! We're just a group of really chill dudes striving for the top! That's how guilds should work!"
"That's exactly what's wrong with!—"
"Enough!" Jack's voice interrupted their argument.
People were worried about Jack and the Village Chief fighting, right? Fuck, they should have seen those two! As usual, CPR dude and Head Cultist guy were clashing, giving others a headache.
As for the actual meeting? It had been adjourned very quickly.
Jack had just given them a list of tasks with complaining. They had all gasped for a while and looked at him with crazily heated gazes, but that was it.
In any case, they were waiting to keep appearances up for the crowd outside. It would have been anticlimactic if the negotiations had ended after a few minutes.
As for Jack being an NPC? They hadn't even breached the topic as the two fools were way too busy bickering.
Jack sighed before disparaging them both.
"Stop arguing. Are you five or something? Also, both of you are missing the point."
"Ah! Please enlighten this lowly one, my Lord!!"
"What point?!"
"CPR dude's method is better to draw in new blood, but Head Cultist is right. We need to assure their loyalty over time. There is no point in having a faction without unity."
With Jack's intervention, the two finally stopped quarreling….for about two minutes. Yep, they were already butting heads again.
"Are you crazy?! One should not mess with what is sacred and pure! This is the proof of our allegiance!"
"You dumb cultist, I never said to get rid of it, but we need to revamp it! REVAMP! Just look at how badly it's drawn! We can barely recognize Moon Moon or our leader!"
"That's just because you're one blind son of a bitch! So what if the lines are a little wobbly?! You need to see it with your heart above all!"
Now the two were arguing over the D.L. emblem. This time, however, Igor was the one interrupting them.
"What the hell are you calling badly drawn and wobbly?! I poured my soul into this. Bunch of ungrateful bastards!"
Jack could only look at them feeling like facepalming. Their shouts were so loud that they made the very walls tremble and startled the Chickens, making them Cluck even louder.
Meanwhile, the Chief approached, softly talking with a voice barely audible.
"Boss, are you sure you want to proceed with the plan? You could easily take over I.R.L. and make D.L. become the sole power in the area."
"That would be as boring as idiotic." Jack chuckled as the Chief nodded gravely. This man truly deserved the "King" in his nickname.
"Alright, let's go out. The guys outside should be ready for us. You should lead the way, Chief…"
━━━━━━ POV ━━━━━━━
While this happened, all the players outside the Arena were shaking as they heard the angry screams.
"Oh god, someone will die for sure!"
"I didn't know such fury was humanly possible!"
"Their anger is making even the goddamn walls tremble!"
"What are they even saying?! I can't hear the words because of all the clucking!"
"I have no clue, but this isn't going to end well. Will New Leaf even survive this?!"
It probably wouldn't…
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[A/N] Hype! Feb Mass Release Time! 🔥
Day ?: Lost Track of Time.. Bunch of chaps coming today. Here's a Gecko 🦎