92 The scapegoat 1 (2/2)
The last choice would be a man full of scars. His pitch-black hair and ferocious eyes were a telltale sign of his lifestyle. His aura was aggressive and overbearing, there was no room for complaining in his presence.Well toned muscles could be found on his body, further underlined by the scar tissue that had developed after this person had sustained this many injuries. IF he did not die at this place, then his end would have come soon regardless. This person is the easiest one to distinguish out of those 3 given the state of his body and the unique aura emitted by his corpse.
I could not decide on one of them, they all had their advantages but none of them was fitting the image I was going for. The perfect fit would be a combination of those 3, with only the best attributes being used to accomplish this instinctive impression, that my scapegoat is supposed to have.
What I want is an impressive figure, that looks old but wise with sharp eyes. Just one look at him would be enough to know that he stands above his peers. He should be a role model for those NPCs and his bearing should be reliable because everybody has to entrust their worries and burdens onto him. His entire person should emit authority and his iron-heart will not be broken. He should be able to see the big picture and should stay calm while everyone else has lost their mind.
This person should be fat, nor should his eyes invoke fear in every onlooker just because they are in his presence. A bloody tyrant is not my aim, I do not want him to be feared or loathed. I want a person, that can represent the small and pitiful NPCs. Not someone who rules over them.
It might seem like my choice of words was poor if I wanted to find a person like that. But a good leader would analyze this situation and recognize, that the only choice, their only path to life was to serve their new masters with everything they have. They had no other chance. Fighting or discussing the situation, nothing other than a foolish delusion.
But looking at the 3 possibilities nobody invoked that kind of image. They all had some characteristics that did not fit. Whichever option I pick, some disadvantages would come with them.
Well as a person of great ethics I would not dare to desecrate the body of a living person. But since they are currently dead, I am not bound by my morals. And people say that Iam not mindful of those around me.
It was time to put my extensive knowledge collected by dissecting players to good use. If nobody is suitable for my tastes, then I just have to make it into one. I can't be too picky about the quality of my specimen, I will just use whatever I can get my hands on at this point.
I have no use for the body fat, so I am just going to remove his eyes and use them as a replacement for the eyes of the wise and calm man. They have a much bigger impact if I combine those 2 assets and bring them together.
While the face was no imposing enough the rest of his body was entirely disappointing. I just had to remove the newly created head and put them on the body of the well-trained man. This entire construction was only held together by the magical slime, that was inside of my body.
This expenditure needed to be compensated by the intake of all the byproducts resulting out of my little operation. It was a convenient way to dispose of the remaining evidence as well. Although it took a lot of work to convince to get it in the first place. Cutting open my own body was not an option.
The ant queen was strangely calm and did not hesitate to bring me the precious substance. This detail alone should have convinced me that something was up, but those worries were part of a future where I was not enslaved or found myself an early grave.
What is one more thing on my huge piles of regrets anyway?
While I was looking at him I noticed several things that needed to be changed. His teeth were rotten to the core. Those had to go, I decided to insert the teeth of a young woman in their stead., This way his smile could look genuine. I also found replacements for his ears that were too pointy, for a finger that was abnormally large in comparison to the rest of his hand. His lip tissue, that was plastered by small blisters and scares due to his not so promiscuous lifestyle. His eyebrows that were too thin and his facial hair or the lack of it that was reminding me of prepubescent boys.
All of these had to be changed, to make him look the exact way I wanted him to appear. While I was busy working on accomplishing my scapegoat the surrounding crowd had undergone a subtle but alarming change. The devotion shown to those players has turned into fanaticism.
This detail did not go unnoticed to my ears, as I could hear sounds of their faint mumbling. Speaking directly to them served to confirm that they can understand English. As I was buried underneath the mountain of bodies, I heard snippets of English and I wondered why the tenant inside of me ignored those pleas and their conversation, in his detailed description of the ongoing results.
Though I had no idea, why those players were capable of understanding English as well. This development was alarming, as there might be more chances that I do not know off.How much time had passed? Why exactly was I transported to this place along with this very common NPCs? Was this part of the event the Observer had spoken about?
My pile of regrets and worries seems to be growing by the seconds. I could only sigh thinking about the trouble looming at every corner. It is not like I have made many friends for life in this world. A lot of folks would love to meet me though I am quite sure about that. On top of that, I am still perceived as an NPC and looking at the fate of those poor souls, I do not like my chances.
Future me surely will have a lot of things to complain about and I would like to apologize about the future trouble right at this moment. I might not have the time left to do so in whatever fucked-up future I find myself in.
” The players have stopped questioning the NPCs and start to resume their activity.”
Seems like the small ruse did not keep them busy long enough. I have barely finished my scapegoat and these players are already threatening to discover me again. Seems like I was fortunate enough to buy at least 5 minutes to create this lovable person.
I might not have more than a minute until every last NPC has been resurrected. My cover was getting narrower as I was still contemplating my actions.
I could not solely rely on the scapegoat. I needed some sort of insurance, another diversion that could captivate their attention for a moment.Seems like I need an eye-catcher. A smirk crossed over my lips. This could more than work.
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The leader was quite displeased after they had wasted so much time on finding something that does appear to not even exist. Outwards it may appear as if he was not affected and still calm and composed but on the inside, a fierce volcano was currently threatening to break out at any second.
The members of his groups had known their boss for a long time and they knew that they had to hurry up to avoid a disaster.Much was at stake for their group and they could not afford to waste their time anymore.
They had split their group and tasked their NPCs to kill each other. The killed NPCs were then revived by another person before returning into combat.They had to hurry up to compensate for the time they had pointlessly spent.The rest of the group was searching for and hiring every NPC they could get their hands on. Only a single player was tasked with reviving the rest of those corpses that had yet to be revived.
Those freshly revived NPCs were then sent to join the fray. This way the could ensure, that their NPCs were trained the fastest way possible. The sounds of battle were appeasing their leader little by little, as their progress could be watched by the naked eye.
The mountain of corpses had disappeared and only a few bodies were left. After reviving yet another body. he stopped for a split second and admired the handsome and noble NPC he just recruited. , but this restoration did not last long and he was back to reviving yet another person. He did not notice that this person was missing something important and just revived the next person.
It was not until he had revived the last corpse that he realized that something was amiss. While the last NPC was currently standing up with his back facing him, he saw the empty eye sockets of those NPCs he had revived prior. Only after the NPC had turned around did he notice where all those eyes had gone to. His gaze was greeted by a multitude of eyes staring at him simultaneously.
He was caught off guard by this situation and wanted to usher a scream, but before he could he felt a sudden impact on his right knee cap. His body ached backwards and a small hand pressed onto his mouth preventing any sound escaping from his lips. Then he heard the voice they had spent so much time searching for without any success.
” All this effort for just one measly guy. I should not complain, it makes the following part a lot easier. Sorry buddy, you are just unlucky that it had to be this way I had something else planned but this way it is a lot more convenient”
Though he could not reply as his life came to an abrupt end as his throat was slashed. His body dropped to the ground as his life was slowly fading out of his body. Mustering the last remnants of his strength he tried to turn around to see the face of his attacker. Yet the only thing that greeted him was the body of the strange NPC will all of these eyes still staring at him.
” Please don't try to sneak a peek. It is better for both of us.”
As the light of his eyes extinguished, he swore to get revenge when he respawned. But it was too late by then...