Entering World Online…

“Welcome, Nyaa-chan. I’m sorry for the breaking and entering, the theft of your intellectual properly, I’ll be sure to make it up to you. You’ll have to forgive me, I’m old, the senility gets to me sometimes. Not recently though! Thanks to you!” cackled Myalor.

I was standing in the entryway to an aristocratic lounge that was fully open to the twinkling night sky. It’s probably that troll that Iroas was yapping on about that was sipping wine and eating cheese on a velvet couch.

Myalor was on the balcony with a light smile on his face and a upturned bell glass of wine in his hand. There was a stand near the railing on his right side with an extra glass and a wine bottle.

I get it. He’s a class act. I groaned internally as I went over and picked up the glass and wine bottle and poured myself some.

“How’d you even know I had it?”

He’s that kind of person if he would blatantly mail me like this, admitting guilt. Like I would walk away from that. He knows me, knows me far too well.

Of course, I already had a good idea.

“Mind peeping, another crime you’ll have to excuse me for. It was the end of my life you see. One last miracle, such serendipity, I couldn’t pass it up when I saw you think it. It was mere chance I peeped you after giving that skill to Cowboy. You had such shame, I felt an urge to help in some way. Don’t you think fate is amazing?”

He’s a game master. A ghost game master at this point. He used my uploader, and he probably doesn’t know about it’s terrible secret either. Should I tell him? He’s already quite a piece of work.

I was weighing in my mind exactly what merits either choice would have, I’ll guess I’ll humor him for now.

“Fate brought me Magical Girls. The world can’t be so bad if Magical Girls exist.”

“I totally didn’t get that part.”

He was groaning. Don’t mock me old man!

“I tried to watch some of it on my deathbed I was on for all those years. Cartoons? Really? And at your age? Didn’t appeal to me at all. I don’t get it, Nyaa. Could you explain it?”

It’s not a cartoon. It’s anime. There is a long history here!

“It’s Nyaa-chan. Just use the full name, I’m used to it. Magical Girls are all that is good in this world. If I could fix the world, the world would be made so Magical Girls could live there. The world would be saved by them, and through their constant battles they would grow as people and inspire everyone to greater heights. That is the future of humanity I wish to see.”

I felt such embarrassment saying it out loud for the first time. If there’s ever someone I had to be honest with, it’s this guy. I have a feeling if he’s curious he won’t leave me alone for the rest of his life, and that’s not something that’s going to end easily at this point.

“Future of humanity, huh? We share a common interest. For me, I helped you by giving you that skill at the right time to give you a way to lessen your shame. Seeing a young person enjoying themselves comforted me. It was pitiable, someone with your talent who would take his own life when the only problem was extreme self-judgement. Surely, there are other good things in this world? I mean, young girls are cute and all, aren’t you interested in older women? Did you not know the pleasures of real women, and sought only some idealized drawn version of them?”

Mental effectiveness laws existed for that reason. Anime was outlawed along with certain combinations of psychology with the art world because marketing and art became a far more exact science than before. It became too easy to convince people of this or that, to fall in love with this anime girl or buy this product.

Free speech needed to die, in order for people to have freedom. Of course, if you were a helpless type like me who would still be drawn to that sort of thing no matter what, we were left certain freedoms. Let artists be artists, and psychologists be psychologists. Combining these specific disciplines was deemed too dangerous.

Don’t look down on my ideals!

“I have a girl I’m with now and I’ve dated before, It’s not that. This feeling is different. When I first saw Magical Girl shows, I felt a great sense of peace. Everything was fixed. Everything. For the first time in my life I felt as if everything was okay. I want to see them, cheer for them, watch them win. If that happens, then the rest of my life doesn’t matter. If everyone could understand this feeling, don’t you think the world would be amazing?” I said.

“To the point where you would become your character full time with the uploader? When I saw you lose it in that Peacer city, I didn’t understand. You’d been playing for years. It just never occurred to you that what you were doing was wrong?”

Pretty much, huh. Just in a certain way really. I was always down about it, but it didn’t hurt that much until I had that uploader option ready. I should tell him about the truth.

“The uploader. I wanted to see if I could become a real magical girl. The truth was such an idea actually made me feel sick, but I still thought if I was one then how could I still be broken? But I had the idea for the uploader, and I was so angry, I was just looking for a way out of the situation. So, when I made the uploader, I sacrificed features to make it work. I couldn’t figure it out all the way. Too much neurology and biomechanics I didn’t care to research, I just wanted it done. The uploader you used, it didn’t upload your consciousness. It just drains your subconscious mind entirely. The data loss can be tremendous as well. You’re probably just a ghost right now, your memories and pieces of your subconscious mind cobbled together into a being that I supposed developed consciousness. I can’t tell, even though I’m talking to you. I’m just assuming you’re not a philosophical zombie.”

If he can think, it’s quite a mystery. I’m not a psychology major though, so I’ll pass on researching that.

Myalor cackled.

“You’re quite a piece of work, Nyaa-chan. As for me, you don’t need to worry. Ghost, a being like that troll, or even Myalor himself, I’ll take all those titles quite readily. I’m having a lot of fun, I feel young again. The best part is that I get to continue my work.”

“Oh? What’s that, world domination? Count me out.”

Me, a villain? I don’t see that. If anything, I wanted to be a magical girl, a hero. Not like Iroas! He’s just a selfish jerk who just happens to also be a nice person at the same time. I swigged some wine. Wait, I can’t get drunk off this can I? I don’t have time to check the wiki!

“I wish to bring about a great future to humanity. I was working so hard. When I fell sick of the complications of old age, I lamented that I would not be around to continue helping people build this future. I wanted to help more. To build more. I owe humanity a great debt you see, for my life was saved many times through books and self study of medical journals and a personal application of hypnosis to cure my autoimmune disease. I wanted everyone to share that joy! The magic of technology, the application of a miracle brought to mankind! Don’t you see it?”

He’s definitely one of those isn’t he. I sighed. What about the breaking and entering, theft, making yourself and making yourself an immortal gamemaster? Wait.

“Why this game? Why not the internet? You uploaded yourself here, but you said you were just using game master commands to help grant players wishes. How long were you doing that? Cowboy was the only one I know of…”

“I had no interest in games. Role playing game? How silly, if you want to fight monsters aren’t the ones in real life far more difficult than any dragon or troll hero-king? However, five years with tubes up my ass as I lay dying changed me! I wanted to see young kids having fun and bring them miracles that I wanted so desperately for myself. And so using my connections I joined the game as a game master with special privileges. Even now, they are supporting me, the owners and forces behind Mental World Online, government agencies, and the like. Before I found you. Would you like to join me? The pay is amazing.”

A job offer? I thought of my boss. I thought of Myalor. He’s a little much, but at least he isn’t into that weird stuff. Not sure what he’s going to do but there’s no way this wouldn’t be good for my career.

“Change the world, huh. Build the future of humanity, huh. I don’t know, if it isn’t magical girls, I’m not that excited.”

“What if I gave you a chance on that as well?”

What.

“You’re joking? Don’t tell me you’ve got some genetic clone lab somewhere working on this already.”

“Well, not quite. See Ahgo?”

He was laying back on the couch, looking rather sleepy. Seems he wasn’t even interested in what we were saying. Wait.

“He’s intelligent? How intelligent?”

“Human level. He has a history, a childhood, an entire kingdom, magical spells that aren’t even in the server database that were added from the client side. He doesn’t even need to cast them. I assume you’ve heard a little about him from Iroas?”

“That a girl he’s with that looks like me summoned him. He just said he was strong. Summoned monsters can’t be smart.”

“She figured out a loophole. I think it’s rather similar to your uploader from what I saw in her mind, but far more creative. She can build an entire being from emotions and her imagination alone.”

No way, with that I could do it. But, I don’t know her. Would she do it? Does she even know anything about them?

I could create the ultimate magical girl with that ability, a real one in the game. The first magical girl that thinks for itself, instead of just a drawing. How amazing.

“Myalor. World domination or whatever you want, I’ll help you. Get me in touch with that girl.”

“Can’t you just ask Iroas?”

“No, she’s not talking to him. You’re the only one who can give me her number!”

“Game master’s can’t give out personal information,” smugly said Myalor.

“Are you serious. What do you plan to do with her anyways? I can’t imagine you leaving her alone.”

“Oh, nothing, just keep an eye on her. Keep the heat off of her if someone gets suspicious. I want to keep this to myself, doing something like kidnapping her would be immoral as well, don’t you think?”

“You really seem like the type to do that.”

“And you? What would you do for your magical girls?”, Myalor cackled.