Operation story: WR-5

Operation

Story

Because the original Chinese texts of Who is Real use Classical/Literary Chinese with wordplays that are impossible to be translated into English, some of the following texts may not be necessarily true to the context.

Previous WR-4	Next WR-ST-2
Characters
Kroos Lava Mr. Nothing Saga Dawn Little Girl Storyteller Villager Villager Ink Spirit
Backgrounds
1 2 3

Before operation

“

Saga shares a thrilling story with Lava while shopkeeper Dawn offers what may very well be clues to the young operator. Kroos and Mr. Nothing also rejoin the others, but before they can relax, the sky begins to change.

”

<Background white>
[Saga tells a tale to Dawn and Lava.]
Since childhood I grew in a monastery in Higashi. Be that as it may, I was only adopted by the old head priest. I was not a true monk. This name too, Saga, is one I only sought from him, at the time I determined I would descend the mountain and enter the secular world. After I departed Higashi, I resolved to wander far and wide. I saw the great mountains and rivers of Yan, captivating me to linger. A childhood memory came asudden, of the day I charged in error into the head priest's garret. In it a deal of clutter was piled, dust like snow, yet held some rarities that roused the childly heart in me. Among them, a large picture scroll most caught my interest. The box that held it, I only remember 'twas taller at the time than myself. Only later did I happen to learn, it was the witness of all the travels of my head priest, in the times he wandered as I do now. 'Twas near a hundred meters, and a work of no renowned artist. For half a day I implored him, and only then with reluctance did he unfurl the scroll for me. It has been however many years. To this day, I still cannot forget the falling leaves borne down by the wind, and my still-healthy head priest opening that scroll across the monastery courtyard– I... I had never before seen such magnificent mountains and rivers. What I do not understand to this day is how scroll was not meticulous as a true, vivid and lifelike "masterpiece" of ordinary, yet true enough, one was there in the blink of an eye. In the late autumn season, I felt, sensed the abounding vitality of those midsummer waterfalls– Ah, mistake not "one was there" as an adjective of mine. In that instant, it was as if truly, in reality, I found myself in the painting, visiting as a fowl flies over the forests. Mountains risen in layers of peaks, ponds filled with pebbles, tree shadows swaying, I was below a waterfall, vast, one I could hear! But when I dazedly returned to my senses, it seemed I was only drawn in by the painting, lost staring at it and nothing more. The fit of shivers I even had, coming from those midsummer mounts and streams back to the late autumn courtyard, lives deeper in my memories yet. My head priest told me this painting came to him from a chance meeting, along the K'u-t'an River in Yan. At the time, he was just slightly younger than I am now, only a mere novice monk. The chieh-tu-shih patrolled the south, and the regular way was blocked, the only option to take a river ferry. Countless sails fluttered along the river, but far in the distance he sighted a lone boat, along the riverside, as though it did not belong to this scene full of life. My head priest was curious, and followed it close. That lone boat sailed steady, unwavering. From the other vessel he caught one glimpse of her, gazing to the zenith of Mount Sky like one would in preparation for ascent, its clouds and mists winding round. For a moment he was sheerly confounded, nearly falling into the water, and within a single breath, that person saved him. The woman was magnificent beyond compare. She spoke not a word, taking him all along the riverside, shoring at Fei-shan Crossing, walking for Mount Hui-ch'i. Repaying her kindness for saving him, all the way my head priest made meals over fresh firewood, carried their bags and cut down the brambles, toiling day and night. The woman seemed to never need sleep, and whenever my head priest turned in for the eve, he would dream of past events he had never seen before. After waking, he would forget them deeply, feeling as though he had dreamt, and as though he had not. After several recurrences, he fell into prolonged thought. The two of them were clearly travelers side by side, yet appeared as if two strangers, reflecting upon themselves deep in their own solitude. On a certain day, the two arrived at a place of graceful mountains and rivers, and it seemed to move her. She stopped and gazed from far above, watching for several hours. My head priest asked her what she was doing, and she spoke: she was painting. Painting a scroll, a scene of crude mounts utmost risen. My head priest was compelled to a brief nap, and when furiously awoken, he realized he was still inside the boat upon the K'u-t'an River. There was never any Fei-shan Crossing, and never that seemingly transcendent woman. Only new before his eyes now was a picture scroll, holding this exact painting.
<Background 1>
Lava	What was that woman called?
Saga	I know not.
Lava	He never asked?
Saga	He never dared.
Lava	......
Saga	Moreover, when dreams seem fantasy, truth seems false, when what passes is perhaps a year, yet may be a snap of the fingers – between other worlds – where should one go to ask?
Lava	......
Saga	Travelling the country of Yan, I inevitably find myself thinking back on this story. Poring over it, it may have only been my head priest putting on a show for me, haphazardly making up a story. But in my queries all across Yan, I was surprised to find this "Scene of Crude Mounts Utmost Risen" has some small reputation. 'Twas said it was an obscure artist about a hundred years prior who left it, and past relatives of the Emperor could not obtain it with all their riches, giving it its fame. By fortune I was close to Mount Hui-ch'i, and I had the sudden thought to take this chance, to see whether or not I could find the sublime scenery in that painting... Hah hah. I found enchanting hills and waters in the mountains, and before I could react, I had already ended up here.
Lava	The cottage on Mount Hui-ch'i. That's exactly where we were too... Could this place be a dream?
Saga	If it were a dream, then to thee, I would only be its illusion, and thou would be unable to trust my words. If thou art unable to trust, then how dost thou judge the scenery before thee, Lava? Is it a dream, or not?
Lava	Slow down... you're gonna give me a headache... Okay, then do you know how to get out of here?
Saga	Travelling to this day, I still have not come to understand how I may leave of my own accord.
Lava	To this day? How long have you been staying in here?
Saga	For a very, very long time. Allow me to count...
[Dawn appears and reminds Lava and Saga to taste the tea.]
Dawn	Your tea'll get cold soon. Don't get lost chatting; give the tea a taste.
Lava	Ah... thank you. (Phew...) Hm? Now that we mention it, Miss Dawn, don't tell me you're also...?
Dawn	I'm just a local pawnbroker. Miss Lava... I really appreciate your kindness, and admire your intent to protect the villagers from the Ink Spirits, but please think more about your own safety, if you have the time.
Lava	Those monsters aren't a threat to Rhodes Island's elite.
Saga	Words without falsehood. The good Lava is a person of fine ability. You need not worry!
Dawn	If true, then I suppose it's alright. Miss Lava, I've got a question, and I'm not sure whether I should ask it.
Lava	Ask away. You don't really need to be that reserved with me...
Dawn	Miss Lava, have you ever looked close at the moon in the water? No matter how the moonlight in the water is torn apart gleaming on the waves, when all comes to a calm, it will still be that same full moon. If you pity the moonlight in that time it flickers across the water, then it's not at all necessary you wet your shoes and brave the cold. Miss Lava, so as to fish up that moon in the water, would you... give your utmost thought?
Lava	I... I don't think I would? There's not much sense in doing things like that, is there? What's got you mentioning this out of nowhere?
Dawn	I don't know what that bright moon of yours looks like, Miss Lava, and I have no way to point out where you're falling short. But the moon in the water, in the end, is only the moon in the water. It's not necessary to do it for our sakes.
Lava	You mean...?
[Kroos and Mr. Nothing enter the pawnshop.]
Mr. Nothing	Benefactors! My benefactors! You're alright, aren't you?
Kroos	Oh, man, you even got tea going, and you still didn't call me over.
Dawn	I assume these two are also esteemed guests of P'o-shan Village? I'll go brew the tea, and bring some pastries too. Take your time to chat.
[Dawn leaves to get some teas and pastries for the others.]
Kroos	And who might this be?
Lava	The shopkeeper here. She's called Dawn. Dawn like the daybreak.
Mr. Nothing	Benefactor, what of those Ink Spirits? Oho, I see! Surely, with your invincible might, you drove them all away!
Lava	–Is that little girl safe yet?
Kroos	She's safe. Safe and sound.
Mr. Nothing	Ohh, ohh, benefactor, how could you doubt me so... I've waded through dangers extreme without shedding a tear, and now I am somewhat sad...!
[Dawn returns with the tea.]
Dawn	Here's your tea.
Kroos	Mmm... I can tell it's expensive with just a whiff.
Mr. Nothing	How insightful, benefactor! Plain folk like me could only reckon it bitter. We'd never make sense of the taste.
Dawn	It's just ordinary tea. They only sell this one kind in the market. Please forgive me if it doesn't suit you.
Kroos	Phhaahh~ I might be used to black tea and coffee, but there's just this special kind of taste to Yan tea whenever I try it.
Saga	My hometown also has tea whose flavor can be said to be unique. If the chance should come, thou must allow me to display my skills.
Lava	Haaahhh...
Kroos	Alright there, Lava? You getting sleepy?
Lava	I'm not. I just kind of chilled out suddenly...
[Everyone enjoys the tea.]
Dawn	Tea nourishes the heart. What troubles you can't be resolved just by rushing about.
Lava	We still don't have much of a lead.
Saga	In the world within the painting, one can only take things slowly.
Lava	Oh, yeah! Saga, have you ever seen this thing before?
Saga	I do not know at all... Only, I know not why, but I feel I have seen this object somewhere in the past...
Lava	Really?!
Saga	Allow me to think... ho... this texture... this material... I have, somewhen, somewhere, experienced it before...
Dawn	–!
Kroos	Huh? The light reflecting off the tea...
Lava	What's up?
Mr. Nothing	Ho-hohh!? What's happening? Why is everyone standing up?
Saga	The sky?
Dawn	It's turning day...?
<Background 2>
[Several Ink Spirits are spotted in the alleys.]
Ink Spirit	Gkhaa!
Villager	H– How did these things get near here?! This is the noontime street! N– No, the horizon... wh... when did the sun move over there? What's happening in Mount Hung-tung!?
Ink Spirit	Gkhaa!!
Villager	Aaaghhh! These things, they're– they're eating people–! Run, get out of here!
<Background 3>
Storyteller	...It passes on just like this, sun rising and moon setting, as it should be. Hmph. Does she mean... to disturb my peace?
<Background 1>
Lava	What... what's happening? Why would the sun...?
Kroos	–This is how the sun's meant to be, Lava.
Lava	Huh? Well, of course I know that, yeah, I'm just wondering why it went back to normal– Wait. Right. This is what's normal... what I was just thinking...?
Mr. Nothing	Benefactors, why do I sense a great commotion in the village that way?
[A male villager rushes into the pawnshop...]
Villager	Help me– help me! Help–
[...as an Ink Spirit catches up with him...]
Ink Spirit	Gkhaa!
[...but Lava kills it with her Arts before the Ink Spirit could attack the villagers.]
Lava	Are you alright?!
Villager	I'm– I'm alright, so this is where you were, that's great, great! Those monsters just aren't afraid of sunlight anymore now! They're in the village, ea-ea-ea... eating people!

After operation

“

Somehow, the cycle of day and night returns to normal, and the Ink Spirits no longer fear the sunlight. They take to massacring the villagers while Mr. Nothing shows unexpectedly proficient martial arts in trying to protect the innocent, but still, he fails.

”

<Background white>
The haze is the blood of a city. I once saw the silhouette of the moon made indistinct, leaving only a round mark as if carefully carved high above, the moonlight along its pierced boundaries flowing into the sky, smearing whole. I once saw the home I loved taken by a sea of flames. I was forced across the hard mountains, from one peak to another. I've seen the victims of famine gnawing away at each other. In times of fighting drenched in blood, taking place within a hair's distance, people can seem like nothing ever happened, look ahead of them, and walk on. I've seen that long, long road. I used to puzzle over why everyone would choose the same path, why death is predestined, why we are only numbly walking down ways that will meet again. I've seen the barrens and the verdant mountain waters. Seen friends who stumbled down once and so never climbed up again. Seen the looks in parents' eyes in that brief, brief moment they wanted to abandon their own. –I've seen you. I recognize you. The look in your eyes. The lofty, ice-cold, solitary look in your eyes. More than a Catastrophe's onslaught, than your mother and father abandoning you, than struggling in starvation on the brink of death, it puts sorrow for you in me. The greatest of all sorrows. Are you looking at me, or are you looking at yourself? I remember– how I once asked you this.
<Background 2>
Villager	Stay away! Get back!
[The Ink Spirit attacks the male villager and bites his arm.]
Villager	It– it bit off my hand– ha, haha– why can't I feel any pain at all, why–
[Another Ink Spirit attacks a female villager...]
Ink Spirit	Gkhaa!
Villager	Eek–stay away!
[...but it is killed by an Arts attack from Lava as she rushes to the villager's side.]
Lava	Are you okay?!
Villager	Why did you only just come?! Why did nobody sound the bell?! Where'd the vigilant monk go?! You know we trusted you, so we did what you said! Why! Why did my husband have to die?! How can you make up for that?! How?!
Lava	We'll talk when we're safe.
<Background 3>
Little Girl	Waaahhh–mama, mama! Give my mama back!
Ink Spirit	Gkhaa!
[Mr. Nothing attacks the Ink Spirit threatening the girl with a kung fu attack that kills it.]
Mr. Nothing	Whoa, there! Even less close for comfort!
Little Girl	M-Mister, mama, mama–
Ink Spirit	Gkhaa!
Mr. Nothing	Let's ignore this fellow for now! There seems be something disastrous afoot outside! Young lady, hold on tight, we're going to slip out of here!
[In a deja vu, Mr. Nothing picks up the girl, carries her and flees the scene...]
Ink Spirit	Gkhaa–! Gkhaa!
[...and an Ink Spirit chases them.]
Mr. Nothing	Another one?!
<Background 2>
[Lava kills several Ink Spirits with her Arts, but more of them shows up.]
Lava	I can't– I can't deal with this!
Ink Spirit	Gkhaa–! Gkh!
Lava	Where the hell did they all come from?! Damnit, there's no way I can hold back this many–
[Saga shows up and strikes one of the Ink Spirits...]
Ink Spirit	Gkh...?
[...killing it before she comes to Lava's side.]
Saga	Though they may figures in a painting, there is no need to slaughter them all... observing such a scene only serves to inspire outbursts of sorrow. Lava, I am here to watch this place. Thou would best hurry to take others to refuge.
Lava	You...
Saga	Worry not for me. I have traveled many times here. I have had all manner of thought on the future, anxieties indeterminate– –but for that in front of me, I have never been one moment nor fraction irresolute. Leave this to me.
Lava	Alright. Keep going east. When you're done, find me and we'll converge.
Saga	Understood!
[Lava rushes off as more Ink Spirits show up.]
Ink Spirit	Gkhaa!!
Saga	I am here! None shall come forward!
[Saga single-handedly kills several Ink Spirits with her naginata.]
Ink Spirit	?!
Saga	Those who pass this line– shall be cut down.
<Background fades out and in>
[As Mr. Nothing carries the girl across the alleys...]
Little Girl	Waaahhh–
Mr. Nothing	Ow, ow! My dear young lady! Might you be able to stop pulling on my hair!
Little Girl	Mamaaa– mamaaaa–
Ink Spirit	Gkhaa!
Mr. Nothing	These cretins only keep gkh-gkh-gkhing! How can things so bent on chasing you not spit out a human word or two?!
Ink Spirit	Gkh... ...DON'T... RUN...
Mr. Nothing	Good heavens, I was only joking! You need not! You absolutely need not–!
Little Girl	*whimper* Mister, l– look in front!
Mr. Nothing	Eh?
Villager	Yaaagh!
[Mr. Nothing bumps into the female villager.]
Villager	A–Are you that fortune-teller...? Where are the other two heroes? Behind you, behind you!
Ink Spirit	Gkhaa!
Villager	Why did you bring it over here!? Think of something– think of something!
Mr. Nothing	What can I possibly think of?!
Villager	Lead them away from here, away!
Mr. Nothing	I... I'm...
[The little girl cries loudly.]
Little Girl	*whimper* Waaahhhh, mama, mama–
Mr. Nothing	......
Villager	Oh, just stop crying! Stop! Stop crying, girl! Agh! Those things are looking at us! Get out of here, get out of–
Ink Spirit	Gkhaaaaaagh!
[Suddenly Mr. Nothing strikes the Ink Spirit with his fan, killing it.]
Villager	Huh...? Y-You used your fan?
Mr. Nothing	Hide yourselves further away.
[Mr. Nothing faces another Ink Spirit...]
Ink Spirit	Gkhao? Gkhaa–
[...and easily kills it...]
Villager	In one move...?!
[...before striking another...]
Ink Spirit	Ao!?
[...and killing it.]
Villager	A-Amazing...
Mr. Nothing	...... Ow-Owie, it hurts so much, it hurts so much–just what are these things, and how can they look so soft, yet be so hard when striking them?
[The villager, impressed by Mr. Nothing, blushes at him.]
Mr. Nothing	Oh, stop goggling at me. The proverb puts it well; even a cornered burdenbeast will bite. Here, we'd best just hurry on our way!
[Another Ink Spirit shows up before Mr. Nothing, but it is promptly shot dead.]
Ink Spirit	Gkhao...
Mr. Nothing	?!
[Kroos reveals herself.]
Kroos	Man alive, Nothing, your kickboxing work's not bad, but you've never done a rescue business like this, eh? Deal with the enemies in front of you without checking movement on your whole perimeter, and sooner or later you'll give yourself grief.
Mr. Nothing	Ah, ahahah... that was quite dangerous just now! My apologies for the grief I gave you, benefactor. Only thanks to you am I safe and sound.
Kroos	Alright, quick, go and get everyone left into shelter.
Mr. Nothing	Er, what about you, benefactor?
Kroos	Me? Don't you mind, I walk light as a feather. They won't ever notice me.
Mr. Nothing	(Can the single skill of light-footedness really explain that?!)
Kroos	And then... how do we cut down these Ink Spirit numbers fast...?
[A fire is sighted in the garden ahead.]
Villager	Eyaah! Wh–what's that fire in the garden?
<Background fades out and in>
Saga	Hoo! This blaze soaring skyward makes quite a spectacle! Ho? Could it be that the name "Lava" held this exact meaning?
<Background 3>
Lava	......
[Kroos rushes to Lava's side.]
Kroos	Lavaaa.
Lava	Confirm the extent of all enemy scatter in the vicinity for me.
Kroos	This big of an arena?
Lava	I'm worried about the surrounding buildings getting caught up, so I've been sort of keeping my Arts tied down... ...but there's just too many enemies. If we keep dragging this out, I'm concerned casualties are going to end up tough to estimate.
Kroos	Roger. Special times, special methods, right. I'll find a high vantage point. You focus on casting. I'll help you sort all the ones outside your Arts range. I guarantee I'm not gonna miss a single one.
Lava	Good. I'll submit the mission report afterwards... after all, it's not just the Infected that Rhodes Island helps.
Kroos	Infected...?
Lava	What's up?
Kroos	Huh... nothing, actually. By the way, Lava. You seen Mr. Umbrella-Boiler anywhere?