A Funny Thing Happened On The Way to Shibuya

Yeowang is on her way out from NWA headquarters, looking curiously over the grounds and buildings with a critical eye. She pauses occasionally to chat with various guards around the area, and they seem to know her pretty well. The area inside the walls, the size of a small village, is suubstantial given the level of the surrounding area, but the main square is home to many vendors and is a good place for both Landers and players to get things they need. Yeowang doesn't seem to need anything, but she's paying close attention to see that things are running smoothly.

Akikoji smiled at a vendor as he helped the lander pick up some of his wares that had fallen off of his table. "It was great talking to you sir, be sure to come see my show, ok?" he chuckled and began to walk away, smiling at players and landers alike as he walked. His eyes scanning the crowd, he noticed a player scanning similarly to him. He approached her and waved, "Looking for somethin'?"

Yeowang arches a brow as Akikoji approaches her, and she runs a quick Inspect because she doesn't know him. Name and Alliance, but she's not a she, after all, and she squints a moment. "Okay," she says, but this game is full of crossplayers, so she shouldn't be surprised by anything at this point. As to whether she's looking for anything, she says, "I'm just making sure things are running smoothly. Are you looking to move to Shibuya? We had someone from Olympus recently, but I thought you Scale folks preferred the Tower?"

Akikoji tilted his head to one side with an inquisitive, "hmm?" before beaming a smile at Yeowang. "Oh, we do, but i mostly just do what I want. I'm actually here to put on a show in the main square later tonight! My name's Akikoji, it's a pleasure to meet you." he leaned back on his heels as he continued to look around, his attention still on Yeowang, it would be rude to ignore her no matter how pretty Shibuya was. "It's been so long since we all got stuck here and i'm only just exploring" his tail flicked in the air, narrowly avoiding a few landers that walked past, unbeknownst to him.

Yeowang smirks at doing what he wants, she mutters, "I don't do enough of that." She looks surprised at mention of putting on a show, though, and asks, "You're an entertainer, then?" She nods at it being a long time in the game, and says, "Personally, I think we're copied from our original players." She shrugs, that thought process is idle speculation. "But exploring is good. If you're strong enough to make your way out here exploring, you're no newbie, at least. The lands outside are a somewhat high level area."

Akikoji chuckled, "no no, not an entertainer, an IDOL" on the anunciation of the word "Idol" he spread his arms out wide, his overly large kimono sleeves swaying with his movement and his ribbons twirling around him. There was also a hint of magic in his voice, just for special effect, what harm could Hero's song do, right? "Mhm, personally, i'm not really sure what I believe, i'm just here to spread a little cheer. No matter what people believe, everyone needs to have fun once in a while." he allowed his arms to fall back down to his sides, once again his ribbons trailing on the floor. "But, you are right. I'm not necessarily weak by any means. Although my strengths are making other people stronger" he puffed out his non-existent chest, proud of his support abilities

Yeowang arches a brow at being an idol. "I see," she says, and her tone is skeptical. There is a slight pause, growing just slightly uncomfortable before she says, "Indeed, who can say for sure. But we welcome cheer to Shibuya, I'm sure you will be received with glad hearts if you can bring cheer here. The hard times from the recent occupation by enemy forces has passed," she refers to recent in-game effects, which Akikoji may or may not be familiar with, the recent invation by landers from another server, "but people could use a bit more levity to raise their spirits as we complete our reconstruction."

Akikoji smiled, this time, without as much energy, a soft smile, bordering on sad. "I know it's a little bit childish, but I made a promise." his gaze seemed to drift for a moment before he bounced back with an infectious energy. "Yup! That's why I decided to come here. I don't know a lot a bout it, I pretty much just heard some bad stuff went on and people needed some pep in their step." He looked in awe at their reconstruction efforts, the parts he could see from their location at least. "You're doing great. If I can be of any assistance while i'm here, let me know. I'm a doctor too, if a clinic needs any help"

Yeowang shrugs off-handedly. She is apparently not the sort of person to whom cheering up applies, coolly businesslike when she can help it, but she recognizes the desire for cheer in others. She ohs as to it being the reason he came here, and she says, "If that's the case, then thank you. We don't have a clinic per se, but the Red Chain has a fairly strong presence here." Her being their Chief Operating Officer. "If you're not familiar, they're a bit like the Red Cross, substituting the local holy symbol for the familiar cross." She's referring to the chain of the Beautiful One, the goddess in the local cosmology that is most closely associated with healing.

Akikoji bows his head slightly. "No need to thank me. I'm not like one of these cool business folk that own a business or give back to the economy. I'm just a travelling healer." bringing one of his covered hands to his chin. "No clinic huh? Maybe we could do something about that..a local clinic can be super useful in big places like this. I'll ask some of my other Doctor friends to see if we can do something about it! Even if it's just like a Doctor's without Borders, ya know?" Akikoji nodded along to the information about the Beautiful One. "I hear about her a lot, even though I have nothing to do with her" he giggled.

Yeowang is almost certainly one of those cool business folk, she owns a bank. It does give back to the community, in the form of interest, and is the only lending bank in the game. But she nods about being a travelling healer. "As I say, the Red Chain has healing pretty well covered here, but I'm sure they'd be happy if you'd like to help them." She shrugs at not having to do with the Beautiful One. "Well, if you're a healer, you have a bit to do with her, even if you don't invoke her name. In the game, deities are real and have concrete and measurable effects. It's not about belief, they simply /are/. You can choose to honor them directly or not, as you like, of course. It's popular in our secular society to disparage systems of belief, but lack belief here is a bit like not believing in gravity. It still affects you, whether you believe or not."

Akikoji Akikoji nods as he listens intently to Yeowang "I totally get what you're saying. I've just always seen them as... well people. We got lesser versions of their original talents. I should have said i don't invoke her but you're completely right, belief is important here, especially to the landers." Takes a moment to thing and spins on the spot, hanging his head back to look up at the sky. "I spent a long time alone, So, i'm still learning. But i'll be more careful to respect people's beliefs from now on." he smiled to himself before shooting his gaze back to Yeowang. "SO! You, cool lady, professional looking boss lady. What do you do? You look like you got Zeny. Self-made, maybe?"

Yeowang nods gravely as Akikoji explains his outlook. "It's probably safer here in Yamato to not pay respects to the NPC's deities. The Landers don't much care what we think, and they know players are strange and different anyhow. In the Palace Lands, who can say? Their Landers have a huge chip on their shoulders against players. It's not /entirely/ unwarranted, though they carry it too far."

As to the questions about her, she shrugs. "Zeny? No, I don't think I have any of that," she says, entirely serious. Also, not understanding that Zeny means money.

Akikoji 's eyes widen. "Huh? No Zeny? But you look like you're totally rich!" he walks around her, taking in her appearnce. He stood facing her and nodded with certainty. "Yep, and you have a rich person's fashion sense. You absolutely have to be rich, my feelings are very astute!" he was really patting himself on the back there.

Yeowang ehs? "Rich?" she asks. "Well, it's true I do not want for gold," she agrees. Her clothes /are/ well-tailored and she eats well. Real food is still the biggest premium item, and while it's not as dear as it was in the early days in the game, it's still a bit expensive. "Self-made, of course. This game has started /all/ players on a roughly equivalent footing. But I had a bit of advantage, I suppose. I understand a bit more of business, banking, and so on, than most players."

Akikoji looks for a place they could continue their conversation, maybe a bench. But he nodded in agreement. "I think most of us chose a profession or class that fit our personalities well. It made it a lot easier for people to adapt. In your case, you could fall back on business. Which is very impressive by the way." he claps for Yeowang, not in a patronising way, in a genuine, heartful way, he oozed pride for her achievements. "So, do you stay in the city all of the time? Not one for adventuring?"

Yeowang shrugs about choosing a profession that fits her personality. "I don't know if it fits my personality. It complements my skillset, I suppose, which I suppose is what you mean?" She shrugs about falling back on business. "I hope not. Business is a chore, if one that must be done so things operate smoothly. I am in favor of smooth operation, that serves everyone." But as to not adventuring, she says, "Of course I 'adventure'. That is how you play this game, is it not? I was told that by my little brother, who I must say is much better at games than I am. I find it more challenging than real life, for instance. Though I suppose we've only been in-game for two years, so I can't expect to master things that took ten years outside the game in two years of game time."

Akikoji raised a finger with a devilish smile. "Have you ever though that you find this world more difficult because you're not embracing it's true nature? You believe this is a game world, correct? That means real world rules dont apply as much, you might not be doing well because ur limiting yourself too much. Embrace the game. I shouldn't even be able to walk!" he chuckled as he did a little bit of a shuffle with his feet. "We have to learn to appreciate what we can do whilst we're here. It might not last forever!"

Yeowang shrugs diffidently. "That's almost certainly the case," she agrees. "This world is not built by people doing what is best for them, but by game designers inventing whatever occurs to them will be interesting. It is filled with wildly strange and incomprehensible things, and I certainly don't understand what rules apply in what situations, there is little logic I can follow in most situations. I do the best I can, of course. But as far as embracing the game, I think that much has been forced on all of us. We are all subject to the arbitrary whims of the game in various ways."

Akikoji sighs lightly. "well yes, we've all suffered but surely there comes a point where people have to sink or swim. If the world's beating your ass, beat it back, harder. If a rule doesn't make sense, develop something to bypass it. Games are in-built with countless ways to exploit them. You just have to know where to look, that's all. For example, if business is so boring, why not just remain the chairperson and have another player or a lander do your job? You get the money, they get the work. There are always ways around things that make you unhappy in this world."

Yeowang hrms? "Oh, business doesn't make me unhappy. And I am certainly not a micromanager. The bank runs itself, and so does the Red Chain, though I technically chair both. The world is certainly not beating my ass," she claims, though her skill in PVP is frustratingly poor. In PVE, she shines quite brightly, though, and she has little worry in that regard. "As to business being boring, that's as true here as it is in real life, but I have the expertise, if I left it to others, it would not get done to my satisfaction. It is not my /main focus/, of course. That's why I participated in the Wilds League. I have other interests beside business, but business is important as well, and must be done correctly."

Akikoji 's eyes light up, a wicked, childish grin pulls at the corners of his mouth as he claps his hands against his face. "What. Is the Wild League. It sounds like a true spectacle!" His unbreaking focus was now hyperfixated on Yeowang. She may have become the coolest person he'd ever met. Apart from Soujiro...

Yeowang smirks at Akikoji's reaction. "It's a fighting league where I come from, in Korea. I was title holder for my first year in high school. I was unable to participate in later years because of family obligations. It's probably most like MMA tournaments in style. I also held national trophies in kickboxing and junior-level MMA."

Akikoji grows increasingly more excited. "That sounds incredible! We should start something like that here! Offering prizes, belts, titles. That kind of thing!" Akikoji's excitement was cut short by him remembering something. "Oh! I wanna stay and talk about this more because I think it's cool but, I have to go perform!" he began jogging on the spot and gave a quick wave as he turned to run towards the main square. "Remember, my name is Akikoji! Come to one of my shows sometime. I will find you again cool lady, it's a promise!"

Yeowang smiles to Akikoji, and introduces herself belatedly, "I am Yeowang," and adds, "You may want to investigate the Duellists' League," as Akikoji heads out to do his show.